Does your mood affect the way you feel about books?

So, I went through a pretty stressful week this past week and that is what prompted this question.

I was reading a book, but couldn't really focus or give my full attention to it because of everything else going on, and so I was wondering if your mood affects the way you feel about a book?

My thoughts on "The Sleepwalkers" by J. Gabriel Gates

(from Goodreads)

A chilling and masterfully crafted teen horror novel guaranteed to keep the pages turning, the mind reeling, and the lamp on any reader's bedside table on long after midnight.

Privileged and popular Caleb Mason is celebrating his high school graduation when he receives a mysterious, disturbing letter from his long-lost childhood playmate, Christine. Caleb and his jokester friend Bean decide to travel to his tiny hometown of Hudsonville, Florida, to find her. Upon arrival, they discover the town has taken a horrifying turn for the worse. Caleb's childhood home is abandoned and his father has disappeared. Children are going missing. The old insane asylum has reopened, and Christine is locked inside. Her mother, a witch, is consumed with madness, and Christine's long-dead twin sister whispers clues to Caleb through the static of an a.m. radio. The terrifying prophesies of the spirits are coming to pass. Sixteen clocks are ticking; sixty-six murdered souls will bring about the end of the world. As Caleb peels back layer after layer of mystery, he uncovers a truth more horrible than anything he had imagined, a truth that could only be uttered by the lips of the dead.

MY THOUGHTS

Well, I can't really say too much about this book since I was sorta of distracted, pre-occupied while I was reading it, so I am not going to. I do not think that it is fair if I try to say what I thought of this book if my mind wasn't completely into the story.

I can say thought that it did keep my attention, that I did like the characters and the book was also a little on the spooky side. But that is the extent of what I can honestly say about the story, and I apologize for that.

Take Care-



December TBR

I don't think that I have done one of these before, but I have been seeing a bunch of people doing them lately so I thought I would join in myself. I did do this on my youtube channel so if you want to check that out also.

Anyway, lately I have been flying through my books. Finishing in 2 days at the most, so I got about 9 books from the library to start off with.

These are the books I plan on reading for the month of December:

So there you have it. I already finished Solitary, which I didn't review since it is the 2nd book in a series, and I am currently reading The Sleepwalkers.

What is in your TBR pile for this month?

My thoughts on "TWEAK" by Nic Sheff

(from Goodreads)

"I smoked pot every day. I was seventeen and had been accepted at prestigious universities across the country and I figured a little partying was due me. I'd worked hard those last three and a half years. Sure I'd had some problems smoking weed and drinking too much when I was younger, but that was all behind me. I was smart. I was on the swim team. My writing had been published in Newsweek." Author Nic Sheff paid a staggering price for this swagger. Under the pull of alcohol, cocaine, Ecstasy, hallucinogenic mushrooms, crystal meth, and heroin, his life collapsed, plunging him into an abyss where swim medals and writing credentials dissolved into the next great fix. This stark account of his addiction and often-painful recovery possesses a force missing from most anti-drug diatribes

MY THOUGHTS

 

This book was very intense, raw, gritty. If you are not used to reading that sort of stuff or if you are a young teen or what have you I would suggest skipping this book right now.

Nic Sheff tells us all about his life on drugs over a less then 2 year period. I believe it was between like 20-22....

Nic does not sugarcoat anything and the words he uses can be profane. There is a lot of sex (or f*cking, as he puts it at times), a lot of drugs (and not the pot and acid type, but the needle type), a lot of lying and stealing. There are a lot of feelings in this book.

Nic is human and he does feel and we learn that throughout this book. He doesn't do drugs to have fun, although that is how it started, but that is not why he continues to do them.

This book was very scary to me. I have never been around hard drugs like the kind that Nic does in this book, so to hear first hand accounts about the stuff was really disturbing for me.

Nic did want to get clean and he tried a few times throughout this 2yr period, but it never lasted. One of the things that I knew and what Nic has attested to also is that YOU have to want to get clean for YOURSELF, not for others. That is the only way that it will work. Also, the people that you hang around with will be a big difference in your recovery. But most importantly, don't think that you can get clean on your own, because you can't.

There were so many parts in this book that I would summarize to my son, who is 15, to try and instill even more how horrifying drugs are. I wanted him to hear from someone who actually has been through it.

Nic has come out with another book, We all fall down: Living with addiction, that was released April 5, 2011. This book is about " eye-opening stays at rehab centers, devastating relapses, and hard-won realizations about what it means to be a young person living with addiction." (goodreads)

His father, David Sheff, has also written a book, Beautiful Boy, about his sons addiction and how it affected everyone.

If these are your types of books I definitely recommend picking this up.

My thoughts on "VARIANT" by Robison Wells

(from Goodreads)

Benson Fisher thought that a scholarship to Maxfield Academy would be the ticket out of his dead-end life.

He was wrong.

Now he’s trapped in a school that’s surrounded by a razor-wire fence. A school where video cameras monitor his every move. Where there are no adults. Where the kids have split into groups in order to survive.

Where breaking the rules equals death.

But when Benson stumbles upon the school’s real secret, he realizes that playing by the rules could spell a fate worse than death, and that escape—his only real hope for survival—may be impossible.

MY THOUGHTS

After reading the last few books that I have, that were 3*...books that were good but where I felt something was lacking or where something was lacking, it was a relief to read this book.

This book had everything for me. I loved this book! And I am so excited that there is going to be a book 2....I cannot express enough how surprised I was with this book. I was expecting another 3*, even when I was pulled in from the beginning, because with the last few books I was pulled in from the very beginning only to be disappointed the closer it came to the end. Not so with this one. I was intrigued with it from the very beginning and my curiosity and interest in the book just kept growing with each turn of the page.

I thought the whole school being run without adults was interesting and I was curious to know how it would all work out. How is there harmony in this school and how does everything not turn out like "The Lord of the Flies"...

There are gangs or cliques in the book, fighting, trouble-makers, goody two-shoes, back stabbers, and etc. also. But even with all of that going on all the kids have come to a truce and have pretty much learned how to live with each other, despite all their differences.

That is, until Benson Fisher, arrives. Benson suspects that things are amiss from the first day that he is there and when he starts to learn things, he is determined to get out of that school. The only problem, once you are there, there is no leaving.

But Benson refuses to believe this and he creates awhole lot of havoc for himself and everyone else. But if he didn't the story would have never played out like it did and Benson would never have found out the things that he did.

Robison did such a great job on this book that I cannot find anything that I didn't like about it. I cannot wait until book 2 comes out!!

Take Care-

My thoughts on 'BRUISER' by Neal Schustermann

(from Goodreads)

"There’s a reason why Brewster can’t have friends – why he can’t care about too many people. Because when he cares about you, things start to happen. Impossible things that can’t be explained. I know, because they're happening to me."
When Brontë starts dating Brewster “Bruiser” Rawlins – the guy voted “Most Likely to Get the Death Penalty” her twin brother, Tennyson, isn’t surprised. But then strange things begin to occur. Tennyson and Brontë’s scrapes heal unnaturally fast, and cuts disappear before their eyes. What at first seems like their good fortune turns out to be more than they bargained for…much more.


Award-winning author Neal Shusterman has crafted a chilling and unforgettable novel about the power of unconditional friendship, the complex gear workings of a family, and the sacrifices we endure for the people we love

MY THOUGHTS

When I first started this book I thought it was about something completely different then what it was about. I purchased this earlier in the year and I either never read what it was about and just assumed or I completely forgot. Anyway, I thought the book was about a bully, and I guess it is in a way, but it is mostly the complete opposite.

The story is about Brewster, who is an outcast at school, who has all sorts of rumors about him flying around. It is also about a girl named Bronte, who befriends him and eventually starts dating him. And finally, it is about Brontes brother, Tennyson, who in the beginning is not at all happy about this development and is not afraid to voice his displeasure.

But what ends up happening is not what you would expect.

This book was very well written and it was another book that flowed for me. I finished this book in one night because of how smooth the story was and how engaging the characters were.

This is a sad, but powerful story. It is about acceptance, friendship, demons (the ones inside us) and it is about some strange stuff. This book also teaches us not to judge people by just what we see on the outside or the rumors that we hear. You truly need to get to know someone before you can make any sort of judgement about them.

I really felt for Brewster. He was definitely not what everyone thought him to be, but so much more. Brewster was kind, sensitive and giving.

If you haven't read this book, I suggest that you pick it up,

Take Care-



My thoughts on "Scored" by Lauren McLaughlin

Scored by Lauren McLaughlin

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



(from Goodreads)

Set in the future when teenagers are monitored via camera and their recorded actions and confessions plugged into a computer program that determines their ability to succeed. All kids given a "score" that determines their future potential. This score has the ability to get kids into colleges, grant scholarships, or destroy all hope for the above. Scored's reluctant heroine is Imani, a girl whose high score is brought down when her best friend's score plummets. Where do you draw the line between doing what feels morally right and what can mean your future? Friendship, romance, loyalty, family, human connection and human value: all are questioned in this fresh and compelling dystopian novel set in the scarily foreseeable future.


I have mixed feelings about this book and I wish there were half stars because I would have given this book 3.5 stars.

I read this book in one night which says something...first I have to say that this book flowed really well and so it was easy to keep reading w/out taking breaks (even though the book was just over 200pg)...

The story is a dystopian where there are cameras everywhere that record all teenagers. That's right, teenagers. The whole idea behind this story is that in this world you have to have a high enough score in order for any university/college in the state will be paid for you (a scholarship from ScoreCorp who owns all the cameras, etc and runs this whole 'program'). And with only a handful of people that can actually afford to pay for their kids to go to college this is very important.

There are 5 elements that you are scored on and those can greatly affect your score. One of the things that will affect your score is the people you hang out with. If you hang out with someone that is scored lower then you (the 60s, 70s, 80s, etc all stick together) then your score will drop. In order to get a scholarship you need to be scored in the upper 90s...and that isn't all...to get a job at all (if you can't afford to go to college) you need to score over a certain number. So these scores are very important.

The main character, Imani, has a score in the 90s and believes strongly in Score Corp, although not everyone does. Imanis score drops drastically through something that was no fault of her own, and she is desperate to get her score back up. Imani is already a senior and has limited time to do this. Because of her desperation she agrees to work on a her American History's final paper with a non-scored, Diego (which is the worst thing you can do)-but she has another agenda that doesn't turn out the way she expected. Imani learns some things she didn't know and is left to decide if she still believes in Score Corp. like she did before or not...

This story was very interesting and it kept me reading til almost 4am. The characters were great, but the idea of the book is what I liked the best. Cameras that track everything teenagers do. Even on the streets. Their body language, facial expressions and interprets all of that.

The whole idea of this book to me was sort of scary. Not because of the whole 'big brother' thing, but because of the things that affect your score. The people you hang out with?? Wow...You learn that you are the only one you need to worry about and no one else. You can't form any close relationships and don't even think about dating...

I really liked how the author talked about our world now (the past in the book) and made you see things differently and what could happen or already did happen.

The things I wasn't too happy about with this book is the fact that the a big chunk of the book is spent with Imani and Diego, working on this paper, and discovering things along the way, but then in the end it is was about something else. I felt as if the ending was not developed enough and the whole paper thing didn't properly end. I felt like the basis for the story was being built, and it was great, but the climax didn't really happen. The ending fell flat to me.

I hope that makes some sort of sense.

Anyway, the story was a good read and if there is another book then maybe some of my misgivings on this book will be cleared up.





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