The Sunday Salon 1.12

Volume One, Issue Twelve

One of things I wanted to have on my book blog was a comparison of my review to someone else's. I wanted people who read my review to be able to read about what another person thought, without having to search all the blogs they frequent, before they go out a plunk down their hard earned money for a book I loved and someone else didn't. (There's my thrifty and opinions editor side showing through!)

So, Balance of Opinion was born. And with every review I try to find someone on my blogroll or in my comments who has reviewed the same book as me.

I've been noticing lately is that more and more people are doing their equivalent of Balance of Opinion and I kind of wanted to know what was up. After clicking through a couple of links, I came across Dewey at The Hidden Side of a Leaf's post encouraging her weekly geek-ers to do the same.

And I love that so many people have signed up! When I checked, there were 66 people signed up.

What do you think? Have you signed up?

Fill In The Blank

Occasionally, I get a little Google Reader happy. And instead of going to GoodReads when I see a book one of you has blogged about that sounds interesting, I click that wonderful, yellow star.

And then I let it backlog for about a month.

And when I go to scribble down those titles, I usually am so frustrated with the volume of it, my hand writing gets sloper and sloper. To the point where I can't read it and GoodReads has no idea what I'm talking about.

So, maybe, you guys could help out. This is, after all, your fault.

(Alright, so it's mine. I take full blame for it.)

The Ghost by Robert _________
Eden by Tim ________
Choosing You by _________
Race by Marc ________
In The ________ by Per Petterson
Some Strange Disturbances by ________ _________

Booking Through Thursday 1.9

Volume 1, Issue 9

"Books and films both tell stories, but what we want from a book can be different from what we want from a movie. Is this true for you? If so, what’s the difference between a book and a movie?"

Yes, it's very true. I like movies to lay things out for me, to not make me think very hard. But I love it when a book leaves you thinking and wondering in "What If..." land.

The Sunday Salon 1.11

Volume One, Issue Eleven

Still writing and not reading. And trying to get through the last thirteen days of school.

Booking Through Thursday 1.8

Volume 1, Issue 8

"Scenatio: You've jsut bought some complicated gadget home...do you read the accompanying documentation? Or not? Do you ever read manuals? How-to books? Self-help guides? Anything at all?"

Complicated gadget? Mess it up and then call Dad. Or my brother.

Everything else? Nope.

The Sunday Salon 1.10

Issue One, Volume Ten

After taking the AP English exam this week I managed to read two books, Picture Perfect by Jodi Picoult and Family Tree by Barbara Delinsky.

As far as other literary pursuits, I'm not reading right now. I'm writing.

Family Tree

Family Tree by Barbara Delinsky was in the library's Look!Read! section and I decided to give it a shot.

Summary From Inside Flap: "Dana Clarke has always longed for the stability of home and family-her own childhood was not an easy one. Now she has married a man she adores who is from a prominent New England family, and she is about to give birth to their first child. But what should be the happiest day of her live becomes the day her world falls apart. Her daughter is born beautiful and healthy, but no one can help noticing the African American traits in her appearance. Dana's husband, to her great shock and dismay, begins to worry that people will think Dana had an affair.

The only way to repair the damage is for Dana to track down the father she never knew and to explore the possibility of African American lineage in his family history. Dana's determination to discover the truth becomes a poignant journey back through her past and her husband's heritage that unearths secrets rooted in prejudice and fear."

Family Tree was just okay. Nothing special. The characters were pretty caricatured at the beginning, making it hard to get into. There were several interesting story lines and but the people weren't super fascinating or thought provoking for me.

It's not really about genealogy though, its about race.

"We're all for minorities-civil rights, affirmative action, equality in the workplace-but we only ant to be white. Are we hypocrites?" (pg 149)

And it takes itself too seriously because while there is some family history, the wasn't any serious research to prove anything it said, making it a nice novel but nothing rooted in evidence.

How some of the side characters were used and present for specific purposes irritated me. Saundra & Corrine for instance. Who was the book really about? Dana's journey? Her husband's? Or the father's? Or the grandmother's? I think the idea was how all the story lines went together and they were all really dealing with similar issues though they didn't realize it, but that was not strong enough in the book for me.

Final Rating: 3

Picture Perfect

I love Jodi Picoult’s books. Obviously. Since I started this blog, I’ve read four...five of her books. (Nineteen Minutes, Mercy, Change of Heart, etc.) So for my birthday, I asked for one of her earliest books, Picture Perfect.

Summary off of Back Cover: “To the outside world, they seemed to have it all. Cassie Barrett, a renowned anthropologist, and Alex Rivers, one of Hollywood’s hottest actors, met on the set of a motion picture in Africa. They shared childhood tales, toasted the future, and declared their love in a fairy-tale wedding. But when they return to California, something altered the picture of their perfect marriage. A frightening pattern took shape-a cycle of hurt, denial, and promises, thinly veiled by glamor. Torn between fear and something that resembled love, Cassie wrestled with questions she never dreamed she would face: How could she leave? Then again, how could she stay?”

I tried really hard to like this book. I usually love Picoult’s books but I had a hard time getting through this one.

I did like her use of Indian folklore as a background but I felt like it could have been explored more, that Will's life was more interesting.

Like all Picoult books, I did manage to find quite a few quotes I liked.

"How come people don't do things like that nowadays? You group around in the back of a sedan in high school and you think you're in love. Nobody gets swept off their feet anymore." (pg. 23)

"He did not know what to say to her; he never knew what to say; he was used to speaking what others had written. He wished he'd learned long ago how to put into words the feeling that if she was gone, if she ever left, he would cease to exist. But he couldn't tell her, so he did what he always did: he slipped into the character, the first one that came, willing to do anything other than face the limits of himself." (pg. 65)

"Imagine: A world without grudges. A world free of guilt. A world where o weren't condemned for the consequences of your actions." (pg. 81)

I didn't have any connection to the characters. I wasn't pulled in like I am in any other book of hers I've read. The kick in the gut at the end wasn't there, although some might say there is nothing wrong with that.

Final Rating: 1

Balance of Opinion: Book Addiction Review

Booking Through Thursday 1.7

Volume 1, Issue 7

"Writing guides, grammar books, punctuation how-tos . . . do you read them? Not read them? How many writing books, grammar books, dictionaries–if any–do you have in your library?"

I have two. My mom bought then for me so that I may know how to get published and improve my writing.

Do I read them?

No.

What The?

Today, I was was updating my blogroll when something caught my eye.

At the end of my posts is a little periwinkle box that has stars in it. Apparently, you can rate it.

(What it is I don't know.)

Can someone explain this to me?