Monthly Archives: January 2010

BOOK REVIEW: Precious (aka Push), by Sapphire

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RELEASE DATE: October 20, 2009
AUTHOR LINKS: GOODREADS / FACEBOOK
PUBLISHER: Vintage
FORMAT: Paperback
SOURCE: Purchased
BUY NOW FROM: Amazon

Precious Jones, an illiterate sixteen-year-old, has up until now been invisible to the father who rapes her and the mother who batters her and to the authorities who dismiss her as just one more of Harlem’s casualties. But when Precious, pregnant with a second child by her father, meets a determined and radical teacher, we follow her on a journey of education and enlightenment as she learns not only how to write about her life, but how to make it truly her own for the first time.

MY REVIEW (MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS)

I just finished reading Precious (aka Push) by Sapphire and have thought for the last half hour how I feel about. I’m on the fence – did I like it? Did I hate it? On the one hand, the story has potential. I felt sorry for Precious (who really didn’t seem likable in the novel – different from how I see her in the trailer for the movie) throughout the novel and was happy for her when she started to make a life for herself. Continue reading →

BOOK REVIEW: Looking for Alaska, by John Green

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Released: March 3, 2005 (Puffin Books)
Author Links: WEB / TWITTER / GOODREADS / FACEBOOK
Source: Purchased
Buy Now From: Amazon

Miles Halter is fascinated by famous last words and tired of his safe life at home. He leaves for boarding school to seek what the dying poet Francois Rabelais called the “Great Perhaps.” Much awaits Miles at Culver Creek, including Alaska Young. Clever, funny, screwed-up, and dead sexy, Alaska will pull Miles into her labyrinth and catapult him into the Great Perhaps. 

Looking for Alaska brilliantly chronicles the indelible impact one life can have on another. A stunning debut, it marks John Green’s arrival as an important new voice in contemporary fiction.

My Thoughts (May Contain Spoilers)

Looking for Alaska was an amazing book. I really didn’t know what to expect when I started it – or when I picked it up. I needed a book with a place name in the title for one of my challenges and John Green’s book had good reviews, so I went from there.

The book is about Miles who’s life hasn’t been anything spectacular. He doesn’t have any friends, he’s never had a girlfriend, and he’s really never experienced anything in life. His favourite thing is reading biographies to find out what a person’s last words were and in his reading he finds Francois Rabelais’s last words: “I go to seek a Great Perhaps.” Continue reading →

BOOK REVIEW: The Eat-Clean Diet Recharged, by Tosca Reno

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RELEASE DATE: December 1, 2009
AUTHOR LINKS: WEB / TWITTER / GOODREADS / FACEBOOK
PUBLISHER: Robert Kennedy Publishing
FORMAT: Paperback
SOURCE: Purchased
BUY NOW FROM: Amazon

This larger, revised, and fully updated edition of the bestselling “Eat-Clean Diet” offers in-depth information on exercise, motivation, maintaining fat loss, and more. Features 50 new recipes and menu plans.

MY REVIEW 

It’s hard to review this book without giving just a little bit of history about myself. Here’s the deal: I used to eat very, very badly and (of course) gained weight while doing so. In the past 3 years I have been working at modifying my diet to be the best person I can be by the time I turn 30 (next year). Continue reading →