This week I read Secret Vampire by L.J Smith. She’s the author of the Vampire Diaries, so I thought I’ve give it a try. It’s the first book in the Night World Series, which is all about a supernatural community of werewolves and vampires and witches and whatever else. I got it because it was only $1.85 at 2nd and Charles, and it’s pretty short. Here’s the premise: Poppy North, your typical teenage girl who thinks she’s special because she listens to electro pop from Europe instead of mainstream music, has just begun summer vacation. Despite the odd abdominal pains she’s been experiencing for the past few months, she’s optimistic about hanging out with James, her mysterious and brooding James-Dean-esque best friend, who she has been secretly crushing on lately(surprise!). Phil, Poppy’s overprotective and straight-laced twin brother, is suspicious of James’ intentions with Poppy, due to the way he goes through numerous girlfriends a year. Unfortunately but predictably, Poppy’s plans for summer fun come to a screeching halt when she passes out in the kitchen one morning. Her mother insists she go to the doctor for a check up, and Poppy reluctantly complies. After an appointment with the friendly neighborhood doctor and various tests at the hospital, Poppy overhears the Doctor telling her parents that she has pancreatic cancer. And she basically has a 1% chance of survival. So much for summer fun right? When James visits Poppy in the hospital, he tells her he can save her life, because he is a Vampire (surprise! I definitely didn’t see that one coming, not even from the title!) He says that by exchanging blood with him, she will gain immortality and supernatural abilities, but she will have to leave her family behind because she has to “die” and wake up later. Suddenly, Poppy is faced with the most important decision of her very short life. Become a vampire and live with James, the boy of her dreams, in the Night World forever, or die from pancreatic cancer immediately? I wonder what she’ll choose... This book is really funny, just because it’s so dramatic and serious. I honestly loved it, because there was never a dull moment. It’s really outdated— the author tried to make James seem cool because he had a "cellular telephone.”Nonetheless, L. J. Smith's writing is unique and vivid. If you like books about vampires or whatever else, and you need a good laugh, then I would definitely recommend this series.
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Yesterday, I read True Letters From A Fictional Life by Kenneth Logan. It was the first book I read from the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl List this year (for anyone who isn't familiar with HRRB, its basically a club where you read around 20 books from a list and then you go to a competition against other schools in the district where you answer questions on the books you read). And yes, I actually read it in a day-it got pretty interesting and I couldn't put it down.
The book is set in Vermont and focuses on James Liddell, a Junior in high school who plays on the soccer team. In addition to being a good athlete, James is a talented writer and has developed an interest in literature. Every evening after school, he goes home and writes letters- he lets out all of his true feelings, says things he could never admit verbally, and gives advice to his family, friends, and peers- all without mailing a single letter. But lately, something has been troubling James. He wonders why hanging out with his best friend Tim Hawkin means more to him than being with his "almost girlfriend" Theresa. Suddenly, James has to face the truth, admit to himself what he's been denying for years- he's gay. He wishes so desperately that he were normal, that he could feel the way about girls that other guys do- he sees how people treat Aaron Foster, the first openly gay kid at his small-town school, and he dreads coming out. Instead, he write letters to everyone who he cares about explaining whats going on. Of course, he doesn't send them out, but when they mysteriously end up in the wrong hands, he finds himself in deeper trouble than before- because now, he has to come out to everyone he knows before the letters reach them. I'm not even gonna lie, this book was outstanding. It's such an encouraging, relatable story: at times it'll have you laughing, scared, or crying (and at one point, feeling really betrayed). I was so emotionally invested in this book, It helped me understand what it's like to have a secret that you're terrified to tell because it has the capacity to make your friends and family never want to speak to you again. I think everyone in high school should read it, because it granted me with so much understanding and acceptance, and thats exactly what the world needs right now. One thing I didn't enjoy about this book? The ending. I'm not one to spoil, so I wont elaborate, but I needed more closure!!! Aside from that, give this book a try. I started it because I had nothing else to do and I knew I would have to read it for HRRB at some point, but I finished it feeling lucky to have read it and wishing I could experience it again. Over the summer, I read A Passage to India as a part of my summer reading assignment. I had been putting off doing the assignment for weeks, and I didn't know if I would end up having Lit first semester, so I had to read this book in a hurry.
A Passage to India is set in Imperial India in the 1920s, in the fictional city of Chandrapore. It depicts the life of Dr. Aziz, a native widower of Chandrapore, who works at the local hospital to support his three young children. At the start of the novel, Aziz and his colleagues have begun to notice that tensions are rising between the natives and the elite British residents that were sent to inhabit the country. They speculate that one of their kind could never make friends with one of the British, but Aziz argues it is possible, and accepts the challenge. Meanwhile, a young woman from Britain called Adela Quested has just arrived to India to court the City Magistrate, Ronny Heaslop (a successful Englishman), and to decide if she wants to marry him. After a series of parties and gatherings that included both natives and British citizens (held by the British as a sort of social experiment), Aziz and Adela become acquainted through a common friend. Aziz then offers to take her on a tour of the Marabar Caves, a natural wonder and perhaps the only gem in the dull city. She agrees, but while they are alone in the caves, an incident occurs and Adela believes Aziz has attempted to assault her. The rest of the book covers his trial and the aftermath. It sounds pretty interesting, and it is- sort of. It has some extremely boring moments, as well as some engaging ones. Oh, and remember how I said it was set in the 1920s? Well, it was also written in the 1920s, which causes the language to sound vapid , and all the sentences to be very wordy and proper. So while it has a strong plot, I couldn't relate to the text very much. Overall, I enjoyed its themes of breaking the "status quo" and establishing general unity over a previously divided community. Want to read A Passage to India for Yourself? ☇ |
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