Little Princes

I'm a member of YPG (Young to Publishing) group and as such am invited to a variety of young publishing people events/parties and the like, though I've never attended any of them. I suppose I'm a bad member. I did, however, recently sign up to receive advanced reader editions of books and write reviews and help spread the word. On Tuesday I received my first ARE! Little Princes by Conor Grennan which is published by Harper Collins and when I got my copy I was ecstatic. Not because I knew what the book was about (I had no idea) but it is a book from another publisher!! How exciting! I've been reading only Simon & Schuster books for a while now and though they are great it's nice to have some variety.

So - the book.

It's great. Better than I could have imagined by staring at the lovely cover (which really is lovely). It reads like a great piece of fiction, but it's true! Every little bit of it. The basic story is about an almost 30 year old guy who has worked in mainstream America and decides to use all of his life savings for a trip around the world. It's an idea that I think the age group I'm in (20s?) will definitely relate to and I've already thought of a ton of people that I think would love this, but I also think it's a book that MR (teenagers who care about the world) would enjoy along with my young mother and aunt. Back to the story... one of his first stops is in Nepal working at an orphanage. He's a bit hesitant at first and is doing it mainly to impress people and seem hardcore, but it turns out that he develops real relationships with these kids and thus begins a beautiful, yet sad story about the situation with human trafficking in Nepal.

Conor's voice is real, which is what I like best about this book. He seems really believable and on top of that all is a great writer. I wouldn't normally think that you could get all this in one. Incredible story, incredible writer = Impossible? I used to think it was one of the other, though I guess Jon Krakauer could compete (and they do mention him as a comparison).

Read it. You'll love it. Yes, you.

Happy T-Giving Y'all

To my fellow readers - I am thankful for you and your funny blog comments!

Cheno

House Rules

I just finished reading House Rules by Jodi Picoult.. in 2 days. Which I think lets you know immediately that it's one of those page-turner books that are especially good during the dog days of summer. I'll also preface this by saying that I've always steered clear of Jodi Picoult because her name is so big on the book cover. I mean look at that -->
Bigger than the title! Although I have read the Shopaholic books...

However, I also realize that her huge name means that a lot of people like her writing. I think I'm just a book snob. So, this was lying on the free shelf at work and since MR and Gwennie were listening to it I decided I would give it a go. 2 days later = Done. I have to admit that I really like Jodi Picoult's writing style! It's something that I never thought I would embrace and/or say. The plot moved at the right speed, the characters were well developed (each have their own chapters), and it was somewhat believable. Sure, there were a few issues that could have been resolved more quickly than they actually were, but I'm not going to give examples in case anybody else reads it.

Back to the case of each character having their own chapter/voice - Picoult knocked it out of the park. It really seemed believable and they were obviously well thought out. I also learned a lot more about Asperger's and I appreciated the "Discussion with the Author" at the end where she talks about her research with Asperger's, which included having all of Jacbob's chapters checked over by a girl with Asperger's.

I would recommend it to anyone for a long plane ride, summer beach read or holiday break. Lovely.

Next up for me: Sarah's Key!

Harry (starkid) Potter!

So dear readers... perhaps this is a challenge for someone to make an actual book post EVEN THOUGH I'm re-listening to all HPs in preparation for next weekend, when I plan to re-watch all HPs with some friends as well so that we can go to see HP7: Deathly Hallows, part 1 on Sunday! Who else is excited?!?!

I just wanted to put in an actual plug for all you Team Starkid and Darren Criss fans out there, or wannabes... which is kind of a repeat of my comments to "Gleek out." In any case, I have big respect for a college theatre group that put together a truly funny musical of HP with what seems to be a ton of talented kids who did it for the fun (just check out the outtake youtubes)!

Gleek Out

Hi.

Can we take a quick recess and talk about this week's Glee for a moment?

Was anybody else as impressed by Darren Criss on Glee? And Teenage Dream - loved it! I actually watched it 3 times on hulu. Obsessed much?

Another favorite moment, when Rachel (who is surprisingly not a major character for the past few episodes) yells "SPIES"! I laughed out loud.

I would also like to see less of Santana. I don't know why they focus on her expressions so much. They're always the same... ??

Did anybody else watch it? Did you all like this episode as much as I did?

E. M. Forster Inquiry

This is a different post. Kind of like Peddie's random one below.

Instead of reviewing a book I'm reading/have read - I would like to ask if any of you have ever read E.M. Forster and more specifically Where Angels Fear to Tread. I just picked it up off the shelf and am wondering if I should even start it. Has anybody read it or do any of you like E.M. Forster's writing? I'm pretty sure that Claire read A Room With a View, but maybe I'm mistaken. Help!

Apparently it's a movie, too! With Helena Bonham Carter, and oh, I do like her.