Confessions of a Teenage Bookworm

Meme... :)

2008-03-24T07:35:00.000-07:00

Ooooooo... I've been tagged by the fabulous Medeia Senka! Here are the rules:

- Link to the person who tagged you.
-Post the rules on your blog.
-Share 6 useless trivia about yourself.
- Tag 6 random people.
- Tell the tagged people by leaving a comment on their blog.

Let the randomness commence!

1.) My favorite element from the periodic table is #84 Polonium
2.) My friend's doodles are all right triangles. Therefore she and I need to join forces in an official nerd club.
3.) I am a Pokemon Master and have the GameBoy Color games to prove it. (Silver version is my favorite.)
4.) I want to be a Broadway musical star, but first I need to learn to sing, act, and dance. Boy, I have a looooooong way to go!
5.) I am totally obsessed with Romeo and Juliet, because it is the funniest, very near stupidest book I have ever read.
6.) Wicked is the greatest Musical in the world (closely followed by West Side Story) and I am going to write a letter to the director commanding that they make it into a movie so that everyone can bask in it's fawesomeness.

So I hereby tag Lizzy-wa, Amy-la, Scott Westerfeld, lotti-wa, sophie-la, and Netta-la.
Well... that was fun.
Polonium loving, Pokemon Mastering, meme-ing, and yours,
Bri

Saving Juliet

2008-03-21T14:08:00.000-07:00

It is my hope that we have all heard of Shakespeare's epic tragedy of two "star-crossed lovers" Romeo and Juliet. It has been regarded as one of the greatest stories of all time. Over and over it has been re-played, filmed, musical-ized, parodied, and generally overkilled. Well I am here to tell you once and for all, that the actual, original Romeo and Juliet isn't really that great. The characters are immensely stupid, and they have very little reason for what they do. This actually makes the whole thing quite funny. But I digress. For this post is not about Shakespeare's hilarious tragedy, but Suzanne Selfors much better version Saving Juliet.
Seventeen-year-old Mimi Wallingford is living every drama queens dream. Her mother is the owner of the Wallingford Theater in New York and ever since she was three Mimi had always received the main role in all the productions. Unfortunately, acting isn't Mimi's dream at all. In reality, it's her mother's. What Mimi really wants is to move out to California to become a doctor, but there's no way she's going to tell that to her mom. Finally, after fourteen years of acting, Mimi is finally getting a shot at the play of all plays, Romeo and Juliet. Of course she is Juliet. And on top of that, the Wallingford is bringing in pop sensation Troy Summers to play Romeo. Every girls dream right? Not for Mimi. For the first time in her entire acting career, Mimi starts feeling extreme stage fright and on the last performance Mimi cracks. She rushes out of the theater, Troy hot in pursuit. In her rush to escape, Mimi breaks open her vial of ashes from Shakespeare's quill. That's where the good stuff starts.
Mimi lands in the streets of Verona decked out in her Juliet costume, right at the beginning of the very play she was trying to escape. Mimi soon stumbles into Juliet and her eerie mother, and through an accidental course of events, prevents young Juliet from ever meeting Romeo. This throws the entire plot for a loop and Mimi must save herself from Juliet's mother, who has grown to hate her, Troy from the fiery Tybalt, Romeo from banishment, Juliet from her arranged marriage and ultimately, Romeo and Juliet from death. Oh, and getting back to New York might be nice too.
I loved this book. Suzanne Selfors brought new life to all of Shakespeare's classic characters. I really could connect to them. Romeo wasn't a stupid whiny brat. He was a depressed kid who just wanted to be loved. Juliet wasn't a dumb tramp. She was an energetic little girl. Tybalt's not just fiery. He's a downright a-hole. The entire plot I think was much more fun and exciting than the original, although I would suggest it more strongly to people who have read Romeo and Juliet. So I give Suzanne Selfors' Saving Juliet a wonderful 8 out of 9 kinds of fawesome!

Laughing at Shakespeare, hating Tybalt, dreaming of Verona, and Yours,

Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City

2008-01-23T13:43:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I think we all know that I have been a little (ok, really) behind on my reviewing lately. But its not entirely my fault. I am a little discouraged by the fact that you haven't been reading my reviews. *sigh* Oh well. Anyway, I finished Kiki Strike quite a while ago and I've been meaning to review it. So away we go...

Manhattan is a big place, with many great things about it. It is right there in the Big Apple, the residing place of hundreds of amazing authors, and the place thousands of tourist flock to every hour. But something you might not know about it is what is underneath. No, I am not talking about gas lines, and water pipes. Or, for you Peeps fans, I am not talking about giant worms, or apocalyptic rats. Although there are a lot of rats. No, I am talking about The Shadow City. The Shadow City is an intricate city of tunnels used hundred of years ago by criminals and thieves, but no one has set foot in it in decades. And that is where the story beginnings.

Our story starts off with twelve year old Ananka Fishbein, who discovers a large sinkhole in front of her house and goes down in to investigate. This is her first encounter with The City. But when the sink hole is filled, Ananka befriends the mysterious Kiki Strike in order to find another entrance. Kiki Strike is a ghostly pale, short, elfish girl with white-blond hair that showed up in Ananka's ritzy private school only a few days after she saw the sink hole. A little background info on Ananka, she is not rich. Her great great grandfather (or something) was very rich, but he put his money into a fund that would all and only go to his descendants schooling. Therefore, Ananka and her parents own a huge library of books about everything that fills their apartment, and Ananka gets to go to the best school in Manhattan. Together, Kiki and Ananka gather a team of delinquent, twelve year old girl scouts and call themselves the Irregulars. We have Luz, a super technical and inventive mechanic, DeeDee, a genius chemist, Betty, a master of disguise, and Oona, an expert forger and (later on) lock picker. Together, the Irregulars make a plan to map out the entire Shadow City, so that they can have control of it. But in trying to open a particularly difficult door, DeeDee causes a mass explosion that breaks a water line and knocks her out. The Irregulars rush her to the hospital, but when they arrive, Kiki has disappeared.... This is a story of a mysterious underground city, a hoard of man-eating rats, and kung-fu fighting princesses.

I loved this book. It had lots of great action and suspense and never once did I feel bored. The characters, plot, setting, everything was set up beautifully. It was also funny, which is always excellent. I was reading it under my blankets in bed to finish it. That is how good it was. Unfortunately, the absence of romance brought it down a point. So, I dub Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City 7.5 kinds of fawesome.

Shadow City exploring, kung fu fighting, man-eating rat escaping and yours,

The Last Days... (dun dun duuuuuhn...)

2008-01-01T12:12:00.000-08:00

To ring in the new year, I finished the last 200 pages of Scott Westerfeld's The Last Days, and it was so FAWESOMELY, FEXCELLENTLY, FAMAZINGLY, FOOOOOOOOOL! I love, love, LOVED it! So before I even give you my review I will tell you that it has achieved the great honor of 9 KINDS OF FAWESOME!!! Partially because I kind of stole the scale from the book, but seriously it was that good.
Okay I kind of lied.
There were actually 2 things that I didn't like about it:
1.) The cover LIED! As you can see in the picture, it says that TLD is a sequel to Peeps, but it is, in fact, a companion book. It is about five new characters, and *****SPOILER ALERT***** Cal and Lace don't even really come back until the end.
2.) The absence of science at the beginning of the book. Yes, I missed all of Cals crazy science facts. It just felt strange. But then it started to make the book more eerie and intense, so I got over it.

Okay before I even start I have to send out a super ******SPOILER ALERT****** to anyone who has not yet read Peeps, because I am bound to slip something without even knowing. So, if you haven't yet read Peeps, go read the review of it and then READ IT! And then come back here.

Our story begins with Moz (short for Mosquito) and his best friend Zahler, two amazing guitarists who wish they had a band. On the way home from Zahler's, Moz meets Pearl as they together save a 1975 Stratocaster with gold pickups and hardware (this is a really cool guitar, for anyone who is confused) that fell from the sky. Well, actually a crazy lady chucked it out her window, but whatever. Pearl, a musical genius who can play basically anything, proposes to Moz that she, Moz, and Zahler form a band, they could be the Taj Mahal of alternative, death, metal, of the New Sound. To complete the band, Moz and Zahler recruit Alana Ray, who drums in time square on paint buckets, and Pearl goes to find Minerva. Minerva ***semi-spoiler alert*** is a peep, and she has been locked into her room eating just killed chickens and garlic with her cat, Zombie. Together, the 5 create a totally amazing a eerie New Sound, but Minerva's strange singing has cause the earth to rumble beneath them and with the "sanitation crisis" getting worse, they know something bad is about to happen....

Ok, so like I said, I thoroughly adored this book! It had everything. Zahler could make me laugh, Moz, near the end almost made me cry (why did he have to smash the poor, innocent... well I won't give that away.), and, okay I will admit it, I hated Minerva. But it was that kind of love to hate way, you know. The plot was not only exciting, but it was also eerie, almost like a horror story but so much better.This book had EVERYTHING! You name it, this book probably had it. YES!

Last Days adoring, cover uncovering, Minerva hating-ly yours,

The Complex Infrastructure Known as the Female Mind

2007-12-31T11:44:00.000-08:00

As some of you might know from This Post on my other blog, I LOVE the band Relient k (because they are so fawesome). And when I found out that my favoritest band in the world had written a book, well, I just HAD to read it. I didn't even really care what it was about. As it turns out, this is a book about girls, for girls.
First a quick quiz:
1.) Have you ever wondered what a boy was thinking?
2.) Have you ever felt like you don't fit in?
3.) Have you ever felt strangely drawn to the bathroom mirror and don't know why?
4.) Do you ever wonder how some girls could possibly be so popular while others aren't?
5.) Do you want to know why it takes a girl longer to get ready for school than a guy?
6.) Do you own 1 or more Relient K albums?
7.) Have you ever cried during a movie?
8.) Do you like boys?
If you answered yes to 3 or more of these questions then this book is for you.

In an attempt to understand the female mind, Matt, Matt, Brad, Dave, and Mark Nicholas have researched and describe 12 different types of girls, from the Athlete to the Homecoming Queen to Vanilla Pudding. What is Vanilla Pudding you ask? It's not just a delicious desert any more, read the book to find out! What kind of girl type are you?After exploring the many types of girls, they go into the only 2 types of guys! But guy types have a special secret to them... Then the guys start on relationships, first with girl-girl friendship, and then onto the ever so mysterious guy-girl relationship. They finish off with a short survival guide that I can guarantee will help you in any relationship.
I think I like this book almost as much as I like the band. I mean I REALLY REALLY liked it. It was helpful and insightful. I am a girl yet they seemed to know more than I know about myself and my friends. It's like they're psychic or something. I also learned a lot about guys that I might never have known otherwise. I had fun comparing the many girl types to my friends and family, and trying to find the one that is me. The authors also filled this book with wit, voice, and humor that made it all that much more enjoyable. And the survival guide was perfect. Overall very entertaining and educational. I dub this book a phenomenal 8 kinds of fawesome!!!

Boy-ponding, Mind-exploring, Relient K-loving-ly yours,

Peeps (or for the Brits: Parasite Positve)

2007-12-30T15:28:00.000-08:00

For my second reviews, I read Scott Westerfeld's Peeps. This was Scott Westerfeld's new, fresh taste on the Vampire. In his version, Vampirism is a disease, a parasite. The parasite causes the "vampire," or peep, to hate everything they used to love. They trash all their stuff, they hate the sun so live underground, and they eat people. The parasite causes, yes, cannibalism. It also causes black fingernails, super strength, an intense craving for meat, advanced night vision, and overall insanity.
Luckily for our main character, 19-year-old New Yorker Cal Thompson, he is only a carrier. This basically means he still has all the side effects minus the hating stuff, cannibalism, and insanity. But it's not all peachy keen. The parasite withing him makes him extremely horny, and whoever Cal kisses (or bites, as if he would want to do that) gets the parasite.
Our story begins with Cal catching his eighth and final girlfriend that he had kissed/infected after he had been infected with The Parasite. When this is accomplished, Cal is set with the mission of finding the girl who infected him. Unfortunately, the bar Cal met her in doesn't exist, he was drunk the whole time, and he only remembers one thing about the girl who'd infected him: her first name is Morgan. That's it. In his hunt, Cal meets Lace who now lives in Morgan's old apartment. The previous inhabitants of Lace's whole floor have mysteriously disappeared and strange things have been written on the walls in blood. With the help of Lace, Cal is launched into an eerie expeditions, full of rat infestations, possessed peep cats, strange monsters rumbling in the Underworld and smelling of death. But if Cal doesn't act fast, the whole world might be infected...
I REALLY liked this book. It was full of action, mystery, voice, creepiness, and, of course, romance. Also, every other chapter, Scott/Cal describes a real life parasite, which added so much substance to the book. With all the amazing science, he almost had me thinking the parasite was real. It's not. Or at least, I REALLY hope it's not... Anyway, I rate this a whopping 8 kinds of fawesome!

Science pondering, vampire loving, parasite infecting-ly yours,

Review Numero Uno: An Abundance of Katherines

2007-12-30T14:14:00.000-08:00

Ok, so this is kind of cheating the system, because I already posted this review Here on my other blog, but I am posting it again! *Maniacal Laugher*

As my first attempt, I have review John Green's book An Abundance of Katherines. Colin Singleton is a -- or was a -- child prodigy, but he's not really a child anymore. After graduating highschool at age 17 and having been dumped by his nineteenth Katharine (K-19), Colin feels like he just doesn't matter. Colin had dated 19 different girls named Katherine --well technically only 18 different girls but you have to read the book to understand. No Kats, no Katies, god forbid a Catherine. K-A-T-H-E-R-I-N-E. But even after being dumped by each and every one of them, K-19 finally broke his heart. So instead of continuing to lie face down in his carpet, Colins best/only friend Hassan (don't worry he's not a terrorist) takes Colin on a road trip to ease the pain. This road trip take the dynamic duo all the way from Chicago to Gutshot, Tennessee, population 864, where Colin meets Lindsey Lee Walls who's mother owns the local tampon string factory and offers Colin and Hassan jobs interviewing the townspeople. So Colin and Hassan end up in Gutshot, and... well I'm not going to tell you. *evil laughter* you will just have to go read the book!!
Ok, opinion time! I really did like this book in the long run. It had a solid plot, romance, deep characters, even a bit of mystery, not to mention LOADS of humor!! :D And on top of all that it has a good amount of beautiful math that would make Dess* proud. Oh! oh! and it also has tons of random fun facts that would even make Hunter** jealous! So yes I liked this book a lot. But what I didn't like was the constant profanity (I'm sorry I just can't help it). Although John managed to only drop one F-bomb ("fug" is like every other word though). Also there were a few -- ahem -- "naughty" scenes. Nothing real bad but again I can't help myself. It just bugs me. So as long as you are over the age of 13 and know how babies are made (or at least have a general idea) then don't be afraid to read this book. Overall, I rate it 6.5 kinds of fawsome.

Cheating-ly, fugging-ly, anagraming-ly yours,

*What? You haven't read Midnighters?!? Come on! GO READ IT NOW!
**Again, have you not read So Yesterday?! Ouch! Now you're going to tell me you haven't even read Uglies. You have read Uglies haven't you?!

UPDATE: Oh my gosh! I almost forgot to mention, Colin loves anagraming. I also loved that about the book.

Nobel Cause

2007-12-30T11:25:00.000-08:00

In honor of the noble cause that is teen (really everyone) reading, I have set up this entirely separate blog to review any book that I read. I love reading and I think everyone should read more often. I usually like most books that I read, especially right after I finish it, so most of these will be positive reviews. Also, if you would like me to read and review any book, just leave a comment on the most recent post and I will add it to my list. So before the reviewing begins, a few brief points:
1.) The Rating System:
I will be rating every book that I review by "Levels of Fawsome" the highest being 9. This idea was stolen from Scott Westerfeld's book The Last Days (I hope you aren't mad Scott-la, after all I am using it for good instead of evil, right?). I actually still have yet to finish TLD but I assure you as soon as I finish you will be seeing a review on it.
2.) Other good review blogs:
I actually kinda stole the idea to have this blog from the 3 evil cousins, who's blog is 9 kinds of fexcellent! Following their style, there is also Maelstrom. And of course by my fellow Scott Westerfeld fan, we have Amy-la's reviews. These are all great book reviewing blogs made for teens by teens. Check them out.
3.) A little about me:
I am a teenager and I love to read. I hope to frequently be reading and reviewing books, but you know how life can get. I also have another amazing blog HERE that is just all about my life and such in general.

Let the ravenous reviewing BEGIN!

Rapidly reading, reviewing, and stealing,
Bri