Sad news

Hey everybody!
I come bearing sad news. So, it's been really hard keeping up with my reading and I barely post anymore because I'm so behind. And school had been so overbearing and I have to read school books that don't fit in with my letters. So I think this is going to now be a more casual thing where I'll post my reviews here every once and a while when I finish a book and if it fits into an animal name then YAY! But if not I still read it.

In happy news, I just got my copy of Doctor Sleep by Stephen King Can't wait to read it. I also, just wrote a short story that I would like to post on here when it's more fine tuned.

Keep reading!
Mackenzie

Aunt Jane's Hero

So I just read Aunt Jane's Hero by Elizabeth Prentiss. I would give you a summary of it but I don't really know what the whole plot was. It had a lot to do with converting to Christianity.

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I start reading this book thinking it's going to be an easy read, but man that was painful. There was no storyline, yes the characters were the same throughout the book but I had no idea what was going on. It obviously didn't flow since there wasn't much of a storyline and it would make huge jumps. For example, talking about two characters getting married and the next minute they had a two year old. Where did their baby come from? It just appeared. A BIG issue was there was at least 10 mistakes a page. 10!!! Seriously, figure out how to spell. A lot of this problem though could be because it was a Kindle book but feel was spelt feci, I don't know anyone who spells feel like that. I'm a religious person in general and if you're not don't read this book. It was all about converting to Christianity and finding Christ. I guess it had a good message if you could understand it. It definitely challenged what I thought as my religion. Also, the title made no sense, no place in the book did they talk about Aunt Jane's Hero. Finally, the ending. I won't give anything away but the ending was not meant to be part of this book, it was like it was taken out of another book and slapped in there.I do not recommend this book, but if you want to give it a try, all the more power to you.

So, starting in September I'm going to review some old books I've read that won't count towards this challenge, just so my posts aren't so spaced out.

I'm going to read Angela's Ashes next.

Happy reading!
Mackenzie

And the Mountains Echoed

Hey everyone! I was a little unattached from the world for a while. I went on a trip to West Virginia and Virginia. Well, I got a lot of reading done and finished And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini. This book was about family ties and how poverty and war can change the connection that a family bears.

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This was an excellent book. This book was such a powerful book and Hosseini's word choice definitely played a part in that. This book truly shows how words can impact. This book showed the bonds between family members and how strong they can be, which was another piece that made the book more powerful because we've all felt strain between family members and how much love for family members we have and this really made the book more relate-able. I loved the glimpses of the characters background, when you only got a little bit at a time. One thing that was a little confusing was the timeline, there were points that it wasn't clear if it was a flashback or not. Also, there were a lot of extra characters that I felt didn't need to be included, they didn't add anything to the story. With these extra stories it felt like a lot of short stories that sort of connected to each other. It was almost like he took the most round-about way to get to the end just to add pages. This was one of the best books I've read for this challenge so far. Since I'm very close to my family, I really felt for the family in this book. I highly recommend this book.

I'm going to now read Aunt Jane's Hero.

Happy reading!
Mackenzie

Along for the Ride

Sorry I didn't update you guys, but I started and finished Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen. I think for the time being I'm just going to give up on All Enemies, sorry :( . Along for the Ride is a teen Chic Lit book about a girl who is academically inclined and who didn't have much of a childhood. She goes to visit her father for the summer before going off to college and finds something she wasn't expecting.

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Next to Stephen King, Sarah Dessen is one of my favorite authors. I found this book was a guessing game. Although, it was a typical teen plot and somewhat predictable at the beginning I was playing the "Guess What Will Happen Next" game. Sarah Dessen is like the female version of Nicholas Sparks. This book followed the guidelines to a good book. First, the chapters and breaks in chapters ended with a powerful sentence or a cliff hanger to make you want to keep reading. Second, I could really feel for the characters. When the main character was nervous, I was definitely nervous. I also, got very frustrated at the main character, which like I always say is the key to a good book. At the end of the book, I got very worried that things weren't actually going to work out the way I wanted it to. There were a few nit-picky things about the book. First, the main character had a few beers throughout the book and I found it weird that the alcohol didn't affect her when it was clear she had never had any alcohol before. Second, there were a few swears throughout the book and I understand it's a book for teens but swears ether need to be cut out completely or like full on. The ones that were in the book seemed out of place because that wasn't really the type of writing style that was used. Finally, the cover was very misleading. I know, I know, "Don't judge a book by it's cover" but seriously. This cover made the book look like it would be about some girl who has it all and isn't socially awkward, and honestly I think that would turn away a reader. If I didn't absolutely love Sarah Dessen I might not have read it due to the cover. It turned out to be a really good book, and if you're into teen Chic Lit, read this book. It's an excellent beach and summer read.

I'm going to read And The Mountains Echoed. Since, it's a new book I hope you haven't become jaded of reviews about the book.

Happy reading!
Mackenzie

Angel Sister

Yay! I made it to 1000 pageviews!! Anyway on book related topics, I finished Angel Sister by Ann Gabhart. This book takes place in the 1930's when a little girl is dumped off at the local church, the church has to decide what they think is best for this little girl.

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So I really liked this book, at first it was very jumpy and a little confusing but it smoothed out. This book has flashbacks which I love in books because I get part of the characters' past. Gabhart also nicely tied together three generations which was awesome to see how the different generations felt on certain topics. I was surprised at how much religion was intertwined in this book, there was a lot of quoting the Bible and the big question "Do you believe in God?" came up A LOT. So, if you're not into religion I wouldn't suggest this book. I had such a nervous feeling reading this book because I felt for the characters and I was nervous for certain ones. I had such wide range of emotions reading this book. One night I was sobbing, the next I was so angry at the book. This book is radiating with so much hate and tension you could cut it with a butter knife. There were even a few Romeo and Juliet type romances in the flashbacks. I related to the character Kate the most, she and I definitely share the same personality and character traits. I don't think this book closed nicely, I think relationships were left of hanging I didn't like it and I don't think justice was served. There is another book after this one but the ending didn't make you feel like you needed to read it.

So, I'm going to try to read All Enemies again, but I may come back to you soon with a back-up book.

And thanks to all of you for sticking with me!

Happy reading!
Mackenzie

Stuck

Hey! So the book All Enemies by Robert Hugh McCauley, is the father of friend of mine from high school. My friend was adopted from Russia and was part of the inspiration for this book. It's a very political book with many technical terms and right now I'm having a hard time focusing on reading it especially since I'm not really a political person. I feel like it's important for me to read this book because it's written by someone I know and I want to diversify (real word?) the genres that I'm reading and broaden my horizons. So I promise by the end of this challenge I will have read this book, but right now it's too much. I'm going to read a book called Angel Sister by Ann H. Gabhart and hopefully soon I'll finish All Enemies.

Happy reading!
Mackenzie

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass

Hey everyone! I just finished Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll, which I'm counting only as on book. Sorry, it took me a lot longer than it should have. I've been so busy and sick lately. But this is a classic story most people have read about a little girl who gets lost in this crazy mixed up world and comes in contact with many different creatures.

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So I had never read this book before and I really wish that I had, but better late than never. This is definitely a book I will read again and again and to my children. The chapters are short so it makes it a quick read. Carroll is truly a clever writer to be able to create this world is crazy and twisted and exactly opposite of ours, which makes it so much fun and you can really escape reality in this book. The creatures were brilliant and so like the whole story so creative, and the descriptions were so well done you could really see what he was talking about. It's also funny, which it's hard to get an adult to laugh a children's book. I thought it was funny how everything was taken very literally, something that doesn't happen now a days because we don't say what we mean. I liked how there were real poems in there, not just ones Carroll wrote. I found myself forgetting I was in Wonderland and not in Oz. The characters and worlds are so similar. If you have never read it, go out and buy a copy and start right away. Such a good book.

My next book is a book called All Enemies, which was written by an old friend's dad. I'll give some more background in a later post. Also, I'll be writing a statistics post later this week.

Happy reading!
Mackenzie