The Prince of Venice Beach by Blake Nelson
First of all, I am at a loss as to why this book made the list. It's not a bad book, but it's not anything special either. My experience from the past three years of reading TAYSHAS books is that there is something special about them, and I just don't feel that is the case here.
Robert "Cali" Callahan is a homeless teen by choice who has made his life in Venice Beach, California. He plays basketball, attends GED classes, and like alien movies. From time to time, he is asked to find people, much like a private investigator. He makes decent money doing it.
One day he is asked to find a teenage girl, that he ends up falling for. He believes her story, which is probably the worst thing that he could have done, and her story ends badly.
Monday, December 29, 2014
Saturday, December 27, 2014
TAYSHAS #5
When I Was the Greatest by Jason Reynolds
Ali is fifteen and lives in Brooklyn with his mother and little sister. His dad is around sometimes, but not always because his lifestyle is not something his mother wants the kids exposed to. Ali's best friend is Noodles, who has a brother named Needles that has Tourette's. Noodles treats Needles badly because of the Tourette's, and is also a bit of a thug. He steals and cheats people. Ali is not like this, but Noodles is his homeboy, so he puts up with it, and tries to fix things when he can.
One day, the three boys go to a party that they shouldn't be at, and things get real. Too real. Needles is hurt, Noodles turns out to be a chicken, and Ali kicks butt and takes names. People want to find the boys and rough them up, at the very least, but Ali's father takes care of things.
On the whole, this was a good book. Turned out better than I thought it would.
Ali is fifteen and lives in Brooklyn with his mother and little sister. His dad is around sometimes, but not always because his lifestyle is not something his mother wants the kids exposed to. Ali's best friend is Noodles, who has a brother named Needles that has Tourette's. Noodles treats Needles badly because of the Tourette's, and is also a bit of a thug. He steals and cheats people. Ali is not like this, but Noodles is his homeboy, so he puts up with it, and tries to fix things when he can.
One day, the three boys go to a party that they shouldn't be at, and things get real. Too real. Needles is hurt, Noodles turns out to be a chicken, and Ali kicks butt and takes names. People want to find the boys and rough them up, at the very least, but Ali's father takes care of things.
On the whole, this was a good book. Turned out better than I thought it would.
Sunday, December 21, 2014
Novella time
Scarlets by Madeleine Roux
Saw this on Amazon, and got it because it is a novella tied to two books I have recently read: Asylum and Sanctum. It centers around one of the minor characters in the latter, and the secret society mentioned in that book as well. Not as interesting as the books, but a decent read nonetheless.
Saw this on Amazon, and got it because it is a novella tied to two books I have recently read: Asylum and Sanctum. It centers around one of the minor characters in the latter, and the secret society mentioned in that book as well. Not as interesting as the books, but a decent read nonetheless.
Thursday, December 18, 2014
TAYSHAS #4
Girls Like Us by Gail Giles
I knew going in that this book was going to touch me in some way, and I was right.
Told alternating between Biddy and Quincy, recent high school graduates who happen to have been "Speddies," or special ed students. Biddy has moderate retardation, was abandoned by her mother, and left with her granny, who treated her badly. She was also gang raped, got pregnant, and had to give her baby up. Quincy suffered brain damage when she was assaulted by her drug addict mother's boyfriend with a brick. When they graduated, they both we on their own, and one of their teachers arranged for them to live together and have jobs.
They live in a garage apartment belonging to a wealthy older woman named Elizabeth. Biddy works as a companion to Miss Lizzy, and does some cleaning. Quincy does the cooking, and also works at the grocery store. Quincy has a giant chip on her shoulder, and it takes being sexually assaulted by a jerk she used to work with and his friend to get her to realize that in Biddy and Elizabeth, she has people who care about her.
Despite the tragedies these women face, this was a good book. Broke my heart several times, but it was worth the read.
I knew going in that this book was going to touch me in some way, and I was right.
Told alternating between Biddy and Quincy, recent high school graduates who happen to have been "Speddies," or special ed students. Biddy has moderate retardation, was abandoned by her mother, and left with her granny, who treated her badly. She was also gang raped, got pregnant, and had to give her baby up. Quincy suffered brain damage when she was assaulted by her drug addict mother's boyfriend with a brick. When they graduated, they both we on their own, and one of their teachers arranged for them to live together and have jobs.
They live in a garage apartment belonging to a wealthy older woman named Elizabeth. Biddy works as a companion to Miss Lizzy, and does some cleaning. Quincy does the cooking, and also works at the grocery store. Quincy has a giant chip on her shoulder, and it takes being sexually assaulted by a jerk she used to work with and his friend to get her to realize that in Biddy and Elizabeth, she has people who care about her.
Despite the tragedies these women face, this was a good book. Broke my heart several times, but it was worth the read.
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
TAYSHAS 2015 #3
Perfect Ruin by Lauren Destefano
The TAYSHAS list has been released, and I read two before I knew which ones made the cut.
Gotta love that the title is an oxymoron, right? It's actually a perfect title since this is about a utopia that ultimately ends up being a dystopia. Internment is a city in the sky. People on the ground (us) can't see it, but they can see the ground. In fact, some people are so drawn by the ground that they see from above, that they try to jump down to it. Most people who do this either die or become disfigured/disabled in some way. Morgan knows this well, as her brother is blind because he tries to jump. Morgan feels the call of the ground as well.
Everything is perfect in Internment, or so Morgan believes, until a teenaged girl is murdered. People aren't murdered in Internment. What's more, the girl's betrothed is the one accused of her murder. The accused murderer escapes custody, and Morgan finds herself involved with him (and others) to learn about the mysteries of the ground.
This is the first of a trilogy, and while it was ok, I likely won't read the next book.
The TAYSHAS list has been released, and I read two before I knew which ones made the cut.
Gotta love that the title is an oxymoron, right? It's actually a perfect title since this is about a utopia that ultimately ends up being a dystopia. Internment is a city in the sky. People on the ground (us) can't see it, but they can see the ground. In fact, some people are so drawn by the ground that they see from above, that they try to jump down to it. Most people who do this either die or become disfigured/disabled in some way. Morgan knows this well, as her brother is blind because he tries to jump. Morgan feels the call of the ground as well.
Everything is perfect in Internment, or so Morgan believes, until a teenaged girl is murdered. People aren't murdered in Internment. What's more, the girl's betrothed is the one accused of her murder. The accused murderer escapes custody, and Morgan finds herself involved with him (and others) to learn about the mysteries of the ground.
This is the first of a trilogy, and while it was ok, I likely won't read the next book.
Monday, December 8, 2014
A Heaping Helping of Guilt
Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher
Zoe, not her real name, begins writing letters to a death row inmate in Texas. She feels a kinship with him because she killed someone, and so did he.
Let me back up...
Zoe goes to a party and meets two boys. One is mysterious and gets her jokes, the other is the most popular boy in school. Fast forward a few weeks to the Guy Fawkes bonfire, and she sees them both again. She sees mysterious boy with another girl, and decides that no matter how much she likes him, it wasn't meant to be because he has a girlfriend. So, she starts "dating" popular boy, Max. As it turns out, mysterious boy is single, and his name is Aaron. And, oh yeah, he's Max's older brother.
Even though Zoe is dating Max, she loves Aaron. He loves her too. They plan to tell Max, but things go awry, and one of the boys ends up dead.
Over the course of the year following the death, Zoe writes to the death row inmate, telling her the story of how he killed one of the boys who loved her.
Zoe, not her real name, begins writing letters to a death row inmate in Texas. She feels a kinship with him because she killed someone, and so did he.
Let me back up...
Zoe goes to a party and meets two boys. One is mysterious and gets her jokes, the other is the most popular boy in school. Fast forward a few weeks to the Guy Fawkes bonfire, and she sees them both again. She sees mysterious boy with another girl, and decides that no matter how much she likes him, it wasn't meant to be because he has a girlfriend. So, she starts "dating" popular boy, Max. As it turns out, mysterious boy is single, and his name is Aaron. And, oh yeah, he's Max's older brother.
Even though Zoe is dating Max, she loves Aaron. He loves her too. They plan to tell Max, but things go awry, and one of the boys ends up dead.
Over the course of the year following the death, Zoe writes to the death row inmate, telling her the story of how he killed one of the boys who loved her.
Saturday, December 6, 2014
Ugh....Capote
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
A nonfiction book about the Clutter murders in Holcomb, Kansas in 1959. Sounds like it would be a great read, right? True crime and all that. I wish I could say it was a great read. Three hundred forty-two pages that took an inordinate amount of time to read because it is bogged down with unnecessary details. It took seventy-five pages before I even got to the murders.
The book is separated into parts, and some parts read more easily than others. The part leading up to the murders drags, so does the part immediately after the murders. The book's pace doesn't pick up until Smith and Hickock are arrested.
I never thought I would say it, but this book has too many details. There were things included that took up several pages, but weren't relevant to the story at all. Case in point, one chapter is dedicated to one of the residents on death row who is there when Smith and Hickock are. Another chapter is devoted to two more death row residents. Who cares? This was unnecessary. There are other instances of irrelevant details, and it was a waste, in my opinion.
I don't understand why people gush about what a good book this was. It wasn't that great, and it dragged on too much. Maybe the book will be better. I hope I never have to teach this book because I don't think I could subject others to this crap. I do know this though: I will never read another work by Capote. He's overrated, and his writing uninteresting.
A nonfiction book about the Clutter murders in Holcomb, Kansas in 1959. Sounds like it would be a great read, right? True crime and all that. I wish I could say it was a great read. Three hundred forty-two pages that took an inordinate amount of time to read because it is bogged down with unnecessary details. It took seventy-five pages before I even got to the murders.
The book is separated into parts, and some parts read more easily than others. The part leading up to the murders drags, so does the part immediately after the murders. The book's pace doesn't pick up until Smith and Hickock are arrested.
I never thought I would say it, but this book has too many details. There were things included that took up several pages, but weren't relevant to the story at all. Case in point, one chapter is dedicated to one of the residents on death row who is there when Smith and Hickock are. Another chapter is devoted to two more death row residents. Who cares? This was unnecessary. There are other instances of irrelevant details, and it was a waste, in my opinion.
I don't understand why people gush about what a good book this was. It wasn't that great, and it dragged on too much. Maybe the book will be better. I hope I never have to teach this book because I don't think I could subject others to this crap. I do know this though: I will never read another work by Capote. He's overrated, and his writing uninteresting.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)