Surprise! Surprise! Why I chose the book

Yet again, I'm starting a new book. I've been really disappointed about my last book and how I quit, so this time, I tried to really put some thought into what to read. I thought carefully about all the candidates, and read the first few pages of each book. Hopefully, this new book that I've chosen will live up to my expectations. The book I chose, is "Never Give Up", by Patricia Mccormick.

As always, the reason why I first pulled the book off of the shelf was because of the name. When I initially saw the title, I didn't think that I would read the book, as it seemed like it was just another generic cheesy story of someone who keeps going after facing setbacks and achieves their goals. I couldn't have been further from the truth. This book is based off of the true story of Arn ChornPond, who is a Cambodian minor who finds himself in a work camp during the revolution. The story takes place during the Cambodian Revolution, and shows in the eyes of a child, the horrors that took place. For once, I paid no attention at all to the cover picture. I went straight to the back, and immersed myself into the story of young Arn.

I thought that I had found a wonderful book for me to read, but as I always do, I looked up the author before I started reading the book. Turns out that Mccormick is an award winning author, with numerous other works.

I read the first few pages, and I'm firmly convinced that I won't be quitting this book anytime soon. The story is written in short, broken english, and you can actually hear the voice of Arn. Let me show you an example. "No warning, the soldier, he hit the kid in the head with rifle. And the kid, he sag to the ground, like his leg go dead, and then fall in curb. I run away very scared, very fast". You can't get more realistic than that.

All in all, I think that I found a good book. It's realistic, emotional, and nerve wracking. I'll be sure to keep you guys posted as I read on.

I quit

I'm really disappointed to tell you this, but I quit my book. Perhaps I set my expectations too high, or maybe the book just doesn't cater to my tastes, but I hated this book. I know, I know, just last week I was gushing over how awesome this book was, and how I thought I'd found a crown jewel. Well, I guess if it seems too good to be true, then it probably is. Let me tell you why I hated it.

First, I thought the plot was absolutely ridiculous and stupid. The story is about a a girl named Tory Brennan who is the niece of world-famous forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan. After her mothers death, she moves to South Carolina to live with her Marine Biologist dad whom she's never met. The island next door, named Loggerhead Island, houses a top secret research institute, and her dad works there. She becomes suspicious and breaks in, and finds herself horrified to find a puppy being abused for the purpose of research. She rescues the puppy, contracts a virus that the puppy had, and obtains superhuman powers that gives her canine abilities. That is the most outrageous plot that I have ever heard. For me, I prefer plots that may seem remotely real, not plots that seem totally imaginary. Just my taste.

Second, I hated the authors style of writing. Her characterization of the characters seemed really artificial and forced. I was unable to immerse myself in the story, as the writing seemed really superficial. For example, I'll give you a quote,"Anger exploded through my veins like the Incredible Hulk"(91). I found this simile extremely childish, and unsophisticated. The author failed to develop the characters in any way, as instead of focusing on the characters rage, as the author wanted me to do, I ended up focusing on the silly simile.

All in all, this book for me was a failure. To be honest, I am a bit disappointed as I had pretty high expectations for the book.

Reading a New Book!

Today, I decided to read a new book. The title of the book is Virals and is written by Kathy Reich . I chose to read this book because of a variety of reasons. First of all, like before, and like always, the tile immediately enticed me.  I mean think of it! Virals. Reminds you of a chilling, action packed thriller. As soon as I laid eyes on the front cover, the words, "#1 New York Times Best Selling Author" jumped out at me. I realized that this might actually be a quality book with a well developed plot, and detailed characters. After the pulling the book out of the shelf, I did what I do whenever I pick out a new book, and read the back. The words "Forensic", "Sci-Phile", and "Canine quick reflexes" caught my eye. How enticing! I turned to the inside cover, and actually found out that the television series, "Bones", was based off of this novel. I'm assuming that if a director was impressed enough by the book to actually devote a T.V series, the book must be of pretty good quality.

After reading the back, I realized that my heart was pounding. It seemed that this book would have no boring parts whatsoever. I let my impatience take hold, and I sat right there, in middle of shelves, and read the first few pages.The action started from the beginning, as seen with the quote "We sat, tensed, waiting" (Reichs 3). I was only on the third page and already my nerves were on edge. What was going to happen, who is going to get caught? Those questions raced through my mind as I read the book. My high expectations for this book haven't been disappointed yet. And believe me, I have really high expectations for this book. After reading the back, researching a bit on the author, and reading the first couple of pages, I think that I have actually found a hidden jewel. I mean, what more can you want? An action packed novel written by a New York Times Bestseller? I think yes! I am really looking forward to reading what seems to be an amazing book.

Book Review

Surprisingly, I managed to finish my book this week! I found that I had a lot of extra time on my hands, and thought to myself, why not read? So I did. After finishing the book, I decided to write a book review. I'll be writing a brief summary of the book, giving a description of the writers writing style, and finally giving it a rating.

This book centers around the life of a girl named Vee. She lives a perfectly normal teenage life, with her normal teenage worries. However, she finds out about a game called NERVE. In this game, contestants are given so called "dares", or tasks they must complete. These tasks are embarrassing, dangerous, and humiliating. They must record the dare in real time and post it to the website. After completing each dare, the contestants performance is reviewed by the websites board. If the performance is considered acceptable, the contestant receives some sort of lavish prize. You can also choose to watch these dares as they occur on the website if you pay a fee. Anyway, after finding out about the game, she decides to participate. But she soon realizes that this so called "game", is far more dangerous than she anticipated.

As you can probably expect, the authors writing style is full of suspense. Nearly every page in the book contains some kind of exciting or nerve-racking event. These pages surely, but gradually, lead up to the main climax point of the book. I personally really enjoyed her writing. Unlike some other books, there weren't any moments where I was even a bit bored with the novel. Often, I would find my heart pounding, which surprised me, since I almost never experience any sort of emotion from a book. However, this authors writing was so in depth, so realistic, that I was hanging on the edge of my seat 99% of the way.

Overall, I would give this book a 9 out of 10. I really enjoyed the suspense, and the tension had me biting my nails. I think that this book is probably intended towards teenagers and young adults because of its contemporary writing style. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes suspense, or action.

Vocabulary and Diction in my book

As you know, the book that I am reading is Nerve, by Jeanne Ryan. This week, I read pages 50-150. Therefore, I was able to read enough to write and comment about the writers diction and vocabulary. First of all, the author uses an excess of emotion and detail in her writing. She uses a lot of words that would be found in everyday vocabulary, and is extremely casual. Once instance of this can be seen with this quote. "The cold air rushes past me. But unlike last night, it's refreshing rather than an assault. I did it! I did it!(Ryan 55)." She uses a lot of descriptive words, such as rush, refreshing, and assault. This adds to the immersive experience that this author provides. You can actually feel the cold wind rushing past your face, and refreshing your body and soul. Furthermore, the author also makes an effective use of emotion in her writing. The line"I did it(Ryan 55)!" expresses the pure emotion that the main character felt at that particular moment.

Overall, I am really enjoying the book. The writers vocabulary was very casual. There were almost no words that I didn't know the meaning of. This really contributed to the overall story and plot. The story is really easy to understand and is full of tension and action. The author effectively uses emotional writing and descriptive adjectives to really give the reader a full immersive experience. In moments of tension, the author writes in such a way that even I feel the tension. This also happens in moments of happiness, excitement, and sadness. It's taking me on an emotional roller coaster. I can't wait to keep reading this book!

Why I chose the book

As you know, the book that I have chosen to read, is "Nerve", by Jeanne Ryan. Now you may be thinking, what made me decide to read this book? Well, there were a variety of reasons.

First, and foremost, the title seemed extremely interesting. As I was browsing the shelves of the library, the name immediately caught my attention. "Nerve". How exciting! What could such a uniquely named book be about? I took it off the shelf.

Second, the cover art seemed to indicate a novel full of action packed adventure, and nail biting tension. It featured a girl, yelling in agony, amidst a background of intriguing technological figures. Underneath, were the words, "To survive this game, choosing dare is your only option" (Ryan 0).

I instantly read the inside cover. I discovered that this book was about a girl, named Vee, who decide to play a game called, you guessed it NERVE. The purpose of the game was to co
mplete a series of dares to win prizes. However the dares got progressively more dangerous and risk, while simultaneously, the prizes grew more and more lavish. I decided, at that moment that I had to read the book.

The novel I am currently reading is Nerve by Jeanne Ryan.