Apparently, the Private books are a new series for James Patterson. We're up to five or six now, and I don't see signs of stopping.
Private: Berlin is the newest in this series. Obviusly, it takes place in Germany. One of the members of the Berlin office of Private has been murdered, and the rest of the team must solve the case. The case revolves around things that happened around the time of the fall of the Berlin wall, and the effects today.
Mattie is the main character, and she was once engaged to the team member who was murdered. The murderer is also going after the victim's childhood friends, and killing them the same way he killed "enemies of the state" before the fall of the wall.
As far as the Private books go, this was not as interesting as its predecessors. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't as interesting or entertaining.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Friday, February 15, 2013
How to Save a Life
TAYSHAS book #6: How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr.
This is a book about Jill and Mandy. Jill is a high school senior whose father has recently died. Her mother decides she wants to adopt a baby. Mandy is a pregnant high school dropout who is looking for someone to adopt her baby. Jill is angry at the world, and Mandy is relatively innocent to the workings of the world.
Sweet book. It pulls at your heartstrings because it is told from both girls' perspectives. I won't elaborate, but there were too many similarities to my own life. It made the book uncomfortable for me at times.
This is a book about Jill and Mandy. Jill is a high school senior whose father has recently died. Her mother decides she wants to adopt a baby. Mandy is a pregnant high school dropout who is looking for someone to adopt her baby. Jill is angry at the world, and Mandy is relatively innocent to the workings of the world.
Sweet book. It pulls at your heartstrings because it is told from both girls' perspectives. I won't elaborate, but there were too many similarities to my own life. It made the book uncomfortable for me at times.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Gatsby
Until recently, I had not read F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. In fact, the last time I read it, I was a junior in high school, and that was twenty years ago. I just finished it today with my juniors, and I forgot how much I enjoyed this book.
It's interesting how you can see things differently in twenty year's time. Daisy has no backbone; she does what Tom wants, then Gatsby (or tries to anyway), then Tom again. I just wanted to scream, "Do what YOU want woman, not what some man wants!" Tom, well, I wanted to cause injury to him because he's such a douche bag. I mean, really? Not only do you abuse your wife and cheat on her, but you abuse your skanky mistress too? Well, aren't you classy. Gatsby, I want so much to like him, but he's hung up on a woman who has clearly moved on. A woman that he may or may not have raped, mind you. Not my cup of tea. Jordan reminds me of people in my life who are liars. Not your average, tell little white lie liars either, but the ones who lie and believe that lie to be true, even though everyone around them knows it's a lie. Nick is the only redeeming character, as it should be, I guess.
The Great Gatsby is another reason I am glad I was moved to the junior team this year. I like the book, and it's so much easier to teach something when you enjoy it.
It's interesting how you can see things differently in twenty year's time. Daisy has no backbone; she does what Tom wants, then Gatsby (or tries to anyway), then Tom again. I just wanted to scream, "Do what YOU want woman, not what some man wants!" Tom, well, I wanted to cause injury to him because he's such a douche bag. I mean, really? Not only do you abuse your wife and cheat on her, but you abuse your skanky mistress too? Well, aren't you classy. Gatsby, I want so much to like him, but he's hung up on a woman who has clearly moved on. A woman that he may or may not have raped, mind you. Not my cup of tea. Jordan reminds me of people in my life who are liars. Not your average, tell little white lie liars either, but the ones who lie and believe that lie to be true, even though everyone around them knows it's a lie. Nick is the only redeeming character, as it should be, I guess.
The Great Gatsby is another reason I am glad I was moved to the junior team this year. I like the book, and it's so much easier to teach something when you enjoy it.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
The Diviners
The fifth book on my quest to read as many TAYSHAS books as I can was The Diviners by Libba Bray. It takes place in New York City in the 1920's. The book centers around a young woman named Evie, who is a diviner. Her "special power" is that she can read a person's secrets from objects that they own. In fact, it is because of this power that Evie is sent to live with her Uncle Will in New York. Uncle Will runs a museum of supernatural things.
Strange murders are occurring in New York, and they are linked to a religious "cult." Evie and her uncle help the police solve the murders. That's the basic story. It was fantastic.
What I didn't care for was the subplot involving Memphis and his brother, Isaiah. I get that the author had to show that there are other diviners so that she can sell a sequel, but this subplot had NOTHING to do with the rest of the book. Easily, a couple of hundred pages could've been shaved off of the book had they left this out.
Strange murders are occurring in New York, and they are linked to a religious "cult." Evie and her uncle help the police solve the murders. That's the basic story. It was fantastic.
What I didn't care for was the subplot involving Memphis and his brother, Isaiah. I get that the author had to show that there are other diviners so that she can sell a sequel, but this subplot had NOTHING to do with the rest of the book. Easily, a couple of hundred pages could've been shaved off of the book had they left this out.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)