What a B....

Becoming Grandma

By: Lesley Stahl

Genre: Nonfiction/Autobiography

Pages: 288

Published: 2016

Read: May

1 out of 5


What I learned from this book - Stahl is an arrogant, nonrealistic, selfish women. Honestly, I only read about 50 pages I was so disgusted with her views I could not read any more. Stahl states to her daughter, " ...you're going to breast-feed? Really? [I think] we had to prove we could do our jobs as well as -and just like- the men. They didn't breast-feed; we didn't breast-feed." As her daughter first struggles to breast-feed and seeks out a lactation consultant, she states "Ha! I thought. Taylor is calm and centered because I used a bottle!" I am proud of her daughter for not listening to her mom and continued to breast-feed. Some of her other ideas were to hire a maid, nanny, AND a financial assistant to help organize and pay their personal finances so Taylor could go back to her career and life. These are just a sample of her views; I was so appalled by what she openly admitted in her book. To Stahl, I must say - every day Grandma's cannot take their grandchildren to an Easter egg hunt to the White House - that is when I gave up!

A Skinny Pact??

Wintergirls

By: Laurie Halse Anderson

Genre: YA Realistic Fiction

Pages: 278

Published: 2009

Read: March

4 out of 5

This was another great and important story by Anderson. She has the exceptional skill of writing on timeless relevant topics that ultimate can affect every teen themselves or someone they know.  Although some may find the competition aspect of the disease unrealistic, I believe it can happen. Besides the well know case of the pregnancy pact in Massachusetts, there have also been suicide pacts. A competition between friends to out-skinny each other isn’t so unrealistic. The one thing that bothered me was Lia’s little sister, Emma, she acted more like a 4 year old then a 9 year old. Although she was a very minor character in the scheme of things, it was annoying to me. 

Short Stories of the unwound teens

Unbound     

By: Neal Shusterman

Genre: YA Dystopian/ Short Stories

Pages: 320

Published: 2015

Read: March

3 out of 5

I was very excited to read this book. The Unwind Dystology was one of my favorite dystopian series. The short stories in this book are on the lives of the teens before they were unwound.  It was interesting to read their thoughts, actions and tricks before they were unwound or escaped the process.  Some of the stories weren't written by Shusterman, but by family members and friends. I was able to tell the difference and enjoyed the ones written by Shusterman much more. I was able to connect with the characters more in those stories and felt they were better written. Although this book wasn't up to the standards of the dystology, it is a must read if you loved the Unwind books as much as I did.      

Doesn't compare to his Alsaid's debut novel

Never Sometimes Always          

By: Adi Alsaid

Genre: YA realistic fiction

Pages: 320

Published: 2015

Read: March

2 out of 5

I experienced the opposite feeling with this book than I just did with my previous read, The Steep and Thorny Way.  I considered Alsaid’s Let’s Get Lost one of my favorite books and this one doesn’t even come close.  Maybe my expectations were too high, but either way I was disappointed. It started out with a good premise, but quickly came extremely unrealistic and very predictable.  Two best friends, Dave and Julia, who are mere weeks away from graduating high school set about completing a list of tasks they said they would NEVER do. Although some are funny, some just don’t make sense – building a tree house in the school yard large enough for several teens to sit OVERNIGHT; organizing a scavenger hunt in just a few hours with the ENTIRE school orchestra. The characters were one-dimensional and it bothered me that while

the parts of book were written by only one character’s view it was written in 3^rd person. I believe I would have connected with the characters more if written in first person.    

Cat Winter's does it again!!

The Steep and Thorny Way      

By: Cat Winters

Genre: YA historical fiction

Pages: 352

Published: 2016

Read: March

5 out of 5

I love when I find an author that continually writes amazing books. Cat Winters is one of them. In all three of her young adult novels, she grabs the reader immediately with her powerful writing and mysterious plots.  Taking place in Oregon during the 1920’s, The Steep and Thorny Way is a retelling of Shakespeare’s Hamlet.  The main mystery is of the resurfacing of the ghost of Hank Denny, a black man, who desires to avenge his death, but that is not all. The KKK is active, mulattos and homosexuals are being chased out of town, and friends turn on each other.  Winters wrote yet another entertaining, intriguing and educational piece of work.

As a side note, she has written one adult novel, The Uninvited, in 2015. In my opinion, this book was not very good.  I am not sure what the difference was, but it definitely didn’t pique my interest or have the same twist and turns as her young adult books.

When reality can be terrifying

Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands

By: Chris Bohjalian

Genre: Adult fiction

Pages: 288  

Published: 2014

Read: February

3.5 out of 5

It took me a while to get into Emily's story. I originally started out listening to it, but the story wasn't holding my interest, so I switched to print. By the second half of story, After Cameron, I was sucked in and couldn't put down the book. It is scary how realistic this story can be - think of kids that lost parents in the Oklahoma bombing, September 11th, and all the school shootings.  Emily may have been terrified inside, but she was strong outside and did what she had to do in order to survive.  Bohjalian writes a powerful story that while depressing also shows the determination of one teenage girl. 

An YA Historical Fiction

The Hired Girl

By: Laura Amy Schlitz

Genre: Young adult fiction

Pages: 400

Published: 2015

Read: February

5 out of 5

In the year 1911, a 14 year old girl runs away after her mother dies because her father treats her like a servant. He won't give her a dime for her labor, allow her to go to school, or to own books. Joan, later known as 18 year old Janet, doesn't mind the work, but desires respect. Janet writes in her diary by candlelight after the long days’ work is complete. Her diary is similar to any teen girls in that she shares her hatred and love, however she includes her daily struggles as a servant and young girl without a mother to talk to. The entries are written with historical accuracy and language.  You will become engaged and sympathize with Joan by the end of her story.