Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult

Dear Readers,

A friend once told me that Jodi Picoult is one of authors that you can only read one of their books at a time. The problem with that is Jodi Picoult writes so well that after one book I feel like I need more.
I have read many Jodi Picoult books in the past. Her books are almost a forbidden fruit for a teenage girl. They are definitely adult fiction. Many of her novels contain a court case, a love story, and an unexpected ending. Which all add up to amazing books.
If you have not read a Jodi Picoult book I would recommend picking on up. Everyone has their favorite, but personally I like Second Glance. Each book is wonderfully woven with different characters, plots, and sub-plots crossing in unexpected was. Most of her books are written from many different perspectives that add to the richness and depth of her novels. Vanishing Acts fits into the model of her typical books.
You start out the story with Delia. She is the main focus of the book. She is also the main focus of the many other characters lives. Besides Delia you hear the story from her father Andrew, her fiance Eric, her friend Fritz, and her mother Elise. Many other character parade in and out of the story. Delia has lived in New Hampshire with her father Andrew for as long as she can remember. Eric and Fritz have always been by her side. She has always been surrounded by people who love her and look out for her. But something has always been missing in Delia's life, her mother.
At the age of five her mother died in a car crash. Delia always hoped that the hospital was wrong and her mother was still alive. She always hoped that one day her mother would be the one on the other side of the door when someone knocked. She always hoped that she was on the other end of the line.
Delia starts having  flashbacks. Flashbacks of a life she thinks was not hers. She remembers a lemon tree in a hot dessert, but she only remembers living on the east coast with her father. Her question all seem to be answered when a police officer shows up at her door with a warrant for her father's arrest, but this actually turns into the beginning of new journal for Delia in which she will question everything about her past.
Vanishing Acts centers around its stunning characters. All of the acts to commit are so human, that is hard no to relate. Everything they do is a natural reaction to their situation. Many of the difficult situations in this book involve parenting. Delia's father lied to her for 28 years, but everything he has taught her has made her the parent she is to her five year old, Sophie. Elise, Delia's mother, had the unthinkable happen to her daughter. Delia must put everything aside to parent her daughter right. Parenthood, especially the hard parts, is one of the main focuses of this novel.
Jodi Picoult wonderful pieces together this story that keeps you reading. You never really know what is going to come on the next page. If you have not read a Jodi Picoult book before this novel is a stunning example of what she can do.
Lindsey

Spinning Out by David Stahler Jr.

Dear Readers,

It has been a few weeks since I have finished a book. For a while there I was on a role, but then college came... Moving and getting ready took a lot of time. But now that I am settled and have lots of free time in the mornings before class I have started reading again.
I wanted something light and easy. More for entertainment. I received this book for free from the Battle of the Books Grand Battle. I thought "hey its free, I will read it sometime". And I finally have.
This book incorporates one of my favorite musicals, Then Man of La Mancha. I discovered this musical a few years ago on the movie channels. I insistently fell in love with the characters, music, and plot. Spinning Out had the same affect.
Frenchy and his close friend Stewart decide to try out for their schools musical, which happens to be The Man of La Mancha. Frenchy assumes that it will be another one of their various pranks they have pulled over the four years of high school, but Stewart is serious this time.
As practice starts and the preformance comes closer Stewart become more and more serious. Frenchy starts to notice a change in his friend. He tries to convince Stewart to get help, but Stewart refusing says Don (Stewart's part in the play) is all he needs.
Frenchy is faced with many more things besides Stewarts craziness. He has found a girl, his mother who was recently widowed started dating a douche bag, he has to memorize his lines, and he has to deal with his grief over his fathers death. It seems as if his life is spinning out of control.
Telling you the end of the book would break the 12th commandment, so I guess if you want to find out you have to read the book!
Spinning Out takes in interesting look at the life of the sidekick. Stewart lands the lead role in the play Don Quixote, the crazy old man who charges windmills. Frenchy naturally takes the role of his sidekick best friend Sancho. As Stewart starts taking his role off stage and into real life, Frenchy must take up the responsibility of watching over his "master". Most books have a lovable, best friend character. Like Sam in Lord of the Rings or Ron in  Harry Potter. These character often offer backup to the main character, act extremely loyal, and end up providing comic relief threw their silly actions or stupid mistakes. Unlike most book or stories however this book is about the sidekick. Frenchy is suppose to have Stewarts back. He is suppose to stand up for him. He is suppose to be there for him whenever Stewart needs it. But who stands up for Frenchy?
Besides it interesting its interesting look at the sidekick, this book offers relatiable, funny characters, an intriguing plot, and wonderful references to one of my favorite musicals. If you are look for a fun, but interesting book I would definitely recommend picking this one up.
Lindsey

1984 by George Orwell

Dear Readers,

Mr. Orwell is a genius. I thought that Animal Farm was a good book, but boy was I blown away by 1984. Animal Farm and 1984 had many similarities. They both compared humans and animals, used the many of the same words like comrades and food stuff, and had corrupt governments which kept their people in the dark with fake statistics and dirty tricks. I cannot say which one I enjoyed more because they are very equal; however, 1984 contained some themes, symbols, and plot twists that I loved.
Let's start with a basic plot overview without giving to much away! Winston Smith. Our main man. A committed Party member. A worker in the Ministry of True. A typical man. Or so you think. Winston however has some things hidden under the surface. Things that the telescreen cannot see. Winston is harboring unsafe thoughts. He hates the Party. He hates Big Brother. He wants to be free. He wants to be able to carry on life in the manner he sees fit.
Why does Winston hate the Party you ask? What did they ever do to him?
Well the Party is the government of Oceania, a future state the encompasses like a third of the world. The Party has three basic principles.

WAR IS PEACE

FREEDOM IS SLAVERY

IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

The main goal of the Party is power. They want to be in power and remain there till the end of time. The Party is immortal. Individuals are expendable. To control the future and the present the Party controls the past. Events that happened in the past are not set in stone. If they do not fit what the Party wants they will be changed. All records the defy what the Party says are changed and the originals are demolished. "Who controls the past controls the future, who controls the present controls the past." On top of destroying the past the Party preforms many other atrocities. 

Now that you have some information on the Party let us dive into themes. It is my strong belief that themes are the main purpose of books, not symbols. Symbols are merely as vehicle by which the author conveys their themes. The themes in this book are golden, as are the symbols that transmit them. 

One of the most poignant themes is the destruction of self. Besides destroying the past the Party is slowly destroying the English language. The Party developed a new language called Newspeak. This language slowly decreases in the amount of words. They combine words and get rid of words with the sole purpose of restricting what people think. They are making it so the citizens cannot revolt or have thoughts against the Party because there are no words to describe how the feel. People's ability to think for themselves is slowly taken away. The Party is destroying the individual. By taking away language the Party is reducing humans to their primal instincts. They are slowly turning them into animals. (Which is interestingly the opposite of what happens in Animal Farm.) 

To show the slow demises to primal instincts Orwell uses many interesting symbols and literary deceives. One of the most interesting ways he communicates the theme is by comparing human to different animals. He compares Goldstein, the supposed leader of the Botherhood an anti-party organization, multiple times to a sheep. He compares one Party work to a beetle. Another member he compares to duck. This passage in particular shows the change from human thought to animal instinct, "It was not the man's brain that was speaking; it was his larynx. The stuff that was coming out of him consisted of words, but it was not speech in the true sense: it was a noise uttered in unconsciousness, like the quaking of a duck." The man did not think about the words he said anymore. The man did not need to think. There was no need. Winston listened to the man in curious observation. He was seeing the future the Party wanted. Not only does Orwell compare individuals to animals, he compares an entire social group to animals. The "Proles" are the lowest class of humans. Slaves are below them, but the slaves are more property that passes between conquers than human being. Proles are not Party member. Proles are the people deemed not intelligent enough. Proles are said to be like animals. They are dumb. They have no real purpose. The Party seems to think that are like animals, but in fact the are completely wrong. The Party is full of animals. The Party is the group that is returning back to basic instincts. The Proles retain their humanness. They work. They have relationships. They love. The Proles actually live. To compare them to animals is showing how much the Party is wrong. 

Another theme that is sometimes over used, but also very prevalent is standing up for what you believe. The problem with the Party is that they break down anyone and everyone who stands in their way. They do not let people think for themselves. Winston is one out so many who sticks up for what he believe in. He remembers that the past is not just the crap the Party is feed them. He remembers, and he stands by his memory. Winston decided that "Being in a minority, even a minority of one did not make you mad. There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the whole world you were not mad." Winston clings to this truth. He clings to the truth in the face of death. He knows what is right and what is wrong. Somehow in this world of animals Winston manages to remain human by clinging onto the truth. 

Mr. Orwell provides us with depths of knowledge in this novel. He gives us a guide of how to remain human while facing our primal instincts. We need to cling to the truth. "Truism are true, hold onto that! The solid world exists, its laws do not change. Stones are hard, water is wet, objects unsupported fall toward the earth's center." Cling to the truth. Cling to the human identity. 

"Freedom is the the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows." 

Lindsey 

The Fuck Up by Arthur Nersesian

Dear Readers,

This was one of those books that I bought and read because I knew that my parents would disapprove and I needed to be a little rebellious. I will not lie the title is what drew me to the book, but after I read a few chapters I started to like the story as well.
I found this book to be rather similar to The Catcher In the Rye. It was about a man, so young he is almost a kid, wandering around New York basically fucking up his life. The difference was I did not completely hate the main character and he also found sort of redemption and meaning at the end of the story.
This review would be a lot easier if I could remember the name of the main character, but for the life of I cannot. Its not that I wasn't paying attention; the book is told wonderfully in first person. The main characters name is seldom mentioned. So I will just refer to him as he or him.
When the book starts out he has an okay life, but after some poor decisions that all goes down the tube. He loses his girlfriends and therefor his place to live because he was "dating" (more like going on walks in the cold and not getting any) with a girl from the movie theater where he worked. He gets fired from his job, so he has no money.
He ends up on his friends couch. Still torn up from his break up he doesn't do anything, he doesn't shower, he doesn't eat, he just lays there. Eventually Helmsley, his friends, get him up, showered, feed and sends him out into the world. He tries hard to look for a job, but with no qualification and no degree (he dropped out of college right before graduating) he can't find one.
Eventually he finds work at a gay porno theater (don't worry there is no pornographic descriptions in the book). This job brings in a colorful cast of characters and a messed up set of events. He drifts between women, houses, and sexuality.
After losing his job at the porno theater for stealing money, getting attacked twice and sent to the hospital, meeting two women and losing them in a matter of days, getting a poem published in a magazine, having a friend die, and getting seriously drunk multiple times, he ends up at a men's shelter.
This was my favorite part of the book. It is sad. He suffers. He finds him self in the same place with the bag men he has always sneered at. He realizes that people are not just in this situation because they can't find a job. After starving, freezing, and peeing in doorways he is finally picked up out of the gutter by the most unlikely person. I don't want to spoil the surprise if you read it, but it kinda makes you reconsider you first impressions of people.
I read this book mostly to be rebellious, but I ended up learning a few things. People are not always who we think they are. Bag men are not always lazy people who don't want to find a job. Sluts from the Broncs are not always awful people. It would do us all good to look beneath first appearances, and remember that sometimes we all fuck up. 
Lindsey

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Dear Readers,
If you noticed I did post the review of Animal Farm on the same day as this one. It read these books is rapid succession. They both took me about a day. And all I can say is wow. After reading over 900 pages of fantasy in the past to week, the 350ish pages of these two books seemed so much more important.
The Catcher in the Rye also has the unapproachable feel of a classic. You think it is going to be high and lofty and over you head. Well, you thought wrong. The Catcher in the Rye is rather simple. It is just the story of a teenage boy. It is just three days of his life. Three days in which you learn all about his life philosophies, his family, his "friends", his likes, his dislikes. Basically you learn everything about this kid. Holden Caulfeild is his name.
Holden is one of those characters that was written to be hated, and after you realize that the book is rather enjoyable. After you realize what a phony this kid is, you can laugh at his haughty comments and crude mind. He tries so hard not to be corny or phony, but in the end he turns out to be the biggest phony of all. For all of his hard work he is rewarded with nothing. He continually calls everyone else fake, but he can't look in the mirror and see how fake and empty he is. That really irritated me. It made me want to chuck the book across the room sometimes. Holden thinks he is all that and a bag of chips, and it can kinda get annoying. When talking to anyone his first thought is that they are phonies. I want to know how this 16 year old boy can know so much about life.
I truthfully cannot tell you what you are suppose to get out of this book. I can tell you what I got out of it, but I doubt that it is exactly what Salinger intended. I found that after hating Holden I was motivated to never act like him. At the age of 16 he acts like a three year old. He never considers the consequences his actions have. He never stops to think about how other people feel. They are all phonies and fakes and he doesn't give a damn. By trying so hard not to be fake he becomes exactly what he hates. He pushes everyone away. Holden is the perfect example of what I do not want to be.
Maybe there is something different, something deeper that Salinger was writing about, and maybe I am just to shallow and corny to understand. But I feel that it is sort of refreshing to have a main character who you hate and whose sole purpose it to show you how not to live.
So if you ever find out what the ducks go in the winter please tell me.
Lindsey

Animal Farm by George Orwell

Dear Readers,
After the awful, awful fantasy I decided it was time for some real literature. Animal Farm was a very good idea.
I finished this book in less than 24 hours. It is like 114 pages or something really close to that. It is really short, and it goes by really fast. This book is a really unintimidating classic Classic come with the reputation. They are suppose to be hard to read and hard to understand, but Animal Farm defied those stereotypes. It was a very quick read, and you didn't have to understand all of the symbols to enjoy and understand the book.
So the jist of the plot is animals on a farm in England overthrowing their master. It is not a very hard plot to follow. There are not many twist and turns, characters with hard names, or far off places that make no sense. It is a rather simple book to read.
But what makes it extraordinary is the symbols. Now if you have kept up with me from the beginning you know I am not a big symbol girl. I absolutely hate it when other people tell me what to get from a book, so I will keep this brief.
Besides being about animals who learn to talk, read, walk, and run a farm, the book is about the corruptive forces of power. Once a  person or pig has a taste of power they long for more. They want all they can get. After Farmer Jones is over thrown there are promises of a wonderful life with full bellies and backs that are not over worked. Plans are made for happiness and easy lives. The pigs start to take charge, but after they start they can't stop. The easy and peaceful life the animals wishes for is a distant dream over shadowed by the harsh reality of the power hungry pigs.
This book is not just shinning a light on how awful pigs can be. The pigs are meant to represent humans, as a matter of fact every animal on the farm is. I am not going to make a worksheet so you can clearly identify each different part of society represented by the animals, I believe that you can figure it out. I do find it strange how Mr. Orwell decided the represent society with animals. Is he saying something about the human race? Is he using pigs as leader, horse as the mindless workers, donkey as wise but stubborn for a reason? I cannot pretend to know everything Mr. Orwell had in mind for this book, but as you read you can clearly see a statement being made. I will not tell you everything he is trying to say; go read the book and find out for yourself. Hopefully you find as much meaning and wisdom in this short simple book as I did.
Lindsey

City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

Dear Readers,

Wow what can I say?
I normally like the books I read, but this one was a struggle and not in the good way. It was almost painful to read. It just really wasn't good at all. I normally don't like to trash authors or their books, but this book kinda deserves it. After making it through the first four books in the series I should have at least been rewarded by something good. After the long wait for this book it wasn't even worth it.
Let me plunge into my criticism of this book by starting out with a comparison to the rest of the series. The first four books were pretty good. The first three I loved. They were enticing. They were exciting. They were different. I thoroughly enjoyed reading them. The fourth one was sub-par, and I was hoping that the fifth one would get better. But it didn't. I believe there is a direct connection between the covers of the books.  The first three books had bodies but you couldn't see their faces, but on the fourth book Cassandra got cocky and the cover art starting including the faces. It left less up to imagination. It also just pissed me off.
The prequel series is rather good. Maybe because the main character isn't the dumbest person ever. The Clockwork Prince which I blogged about before is a pretty good. The plot isn't muddled with stupid actions by stupid characters. But City of Lost Souls definitely is.
Okay lets start out by bashing the character. I don't think I have read a stupider character than Clary. At first she seemed adventurous and fun, but as the series continued she started to take unnecessary risks and make very very stupid mistakes. She acts like she knows things, but everything she thinks she knows ends up being wrong. At first I thought that her relationship with Jace was cute, but that also faded as the series went on. As Clary's mother pointed out in this book, her and Jace are just not meant to be together. They have gone through so much. First they couldn't love each other because they weren't the same race. Then they didn't know that they liked each other. Then after confessing their love they found out they might be siblings. Then after that found out they weren't related Jace was possessed by a Greater Demon. Then Jace was connected to Clary's evil sick mined brother. And here is the kicker this all happened in the first six months of their relationship. So clearly they just need to stop, but they don't get the hint. Clary is willing to risk everything, every innocent human life on earth, for her lover Jace. That is not healthy. The relationship is just weird.
Jace is also a very annoying character. He is soooooooooo full of himself. He believes he is the best thing since sliced bread. I just can't stand him.
Basically every other character in the novel runs around like a chicken with their head cut off. They make plans that make no sense and have about a .0001% chance of working. All of this up to do is about Jace, who has on multiple occasions been a complete asshole to everyone. But lets not forget that Shadowhunters make stronger bonds with each other than humans, so their unreasonable and retarded actions are completely called for.
The only redeemable character in the book is Simon. Not only his he hilarious, he is the only person with sense in the book. He lets Clary go, but agrees to take the ring as a life line because he realizes, unlike Clary's mother, that he cannot stop her. When everyone is freaking out about how they are going to find a weapon, Simon puts on his big boy pants and takes action. Simon is really the only person who makes sense in the books. He is also the best comic relief. He is a nerd who makes many references to comics, movies, and t.v. shows. He is way better than Jace, but Clary should not have ended up with him because she doesn't deserve him. Cassandra said that she had thought about leaving the series with book 4 and making a graphic novel about Simon. I have one question for you Cassandra, WHY DIDN'T YOU DO THAT???? It would have been infinite times better than the shit you ended up writing.
The plot is basically all of the retarded characters running around doing retarded things. Nothing they do really makes any sense. They all act on impulse without thinking about the consequences. Not much more needs to be said about the plot.
This is just a really bad example of fantasy. It makes me want to throw up. I am sorry that this book is out there for the public to read. So don't pick this one up. Just leave it on the shelf in the Paranormal Teen Romance section because that is where is belongs.
Lindsey