Currawong Creek by Jennifer Scoullar

Synopsis: Clare Mitchell, a Brisbane lawyer, has her life turned upside down when Taylor, a client, abandons her child in her office. Now she's faced with putting him in a Contingency Unit or be his temporary foster parent. Not wanting him to be in danger she decides to take him under her care.What she didn't expect was all that came with this little boy. Diagnosed with autism Jack punches, screams, bangs his head constantly, and barely talks. As things in Clare's life start to overwhelm her she decides to go to the place that held some of her happiest memories; Currawong Creek, her grandfathers horse stud. There, Clare finally finds happiness, but will it last?

Review: I really liked this book! At first I thought I wasn't going to because something about the way it started just didn't quite click with me. I think it was that there was very little buildup to the real action and instead it got right to it. It's not that it's bad, it's just something I'm not used to, but as the story went on I got more into it. I think that the writing style was great and the story development was great too.

      A little more background to the story: Clare is basically an amazing lawyer. She has a very successful career and she has a gorgeous boyfriend (who is obviously flawed in every other way which makes him completely undesirable), then she has to start taking care of Jack, a four year old boy who has been diagnosed with autism. She quickly takes a liking to him but things get too out of hand and she decides that the best thing to do is go stay with her grandfather. There her life starts taking a turn for the better. Currawong Creek is filled with vibrancy that she missed. There she's happy. Romance and endearing relationships ensue.

     One thing I really liked about this book was its focus on "natural gas" companies and the truth about them. I thought that this topic was expertly incorporated into the story and worked very well with the circumstances.

     As for characters, I love Jack and Grandfather Harry. I especially love how they are together because Harry takes to him immediately and treats him like his own family. Then there's Clare. This is the character who you always have mixed feelings about because she is genuinely a good person, but she's a good person who sometimes flies off the rail and that irks me. But it just means she's human and there's actual character development going on so this is a plus.

     All in all I think this was a great book. It got to the action right from the start and took me about two days to finish it. I'm sure if you have an entire day you can finish it then too. 

Final Thoughts: If you're looking for a fast paced book that's romance and family struggles then this is the book for you.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon

Synopsis: Christopher John Francis Boone is a young boy who is proficient in math, doesn't relate to people, and hates the color yellow. One night he finds his neighbors dog, whom he liked, dead. He takes it upon himself to investigate the death, but along the way he finds things that he wasn't supposed to find. His investigation takes a big turn that ends up affecting his life and the people around him.

Review: Even though it's not explicitly said it's obvious as you get into the book that Christopher has autism. So the story is about an autistic boy trying to solve a murder. He has big hopes of being an astronaut or a scientist. He's really gifted in math and science. He knows all the prime numbers up to 7,057. He relates to dogs and other animals, but not to humans. Let me just say that this book had a lot more hype than it delivered. I like the story, but it lacked emotion for me. Yes, the parents were frustrated and things were done that shouldn't have been, but it just lacked emotional depth. Anger and fear shouldn't be the emotions that people have. To be honest I didn't really feel a lot of pity for Christopher. He seemed just fine with his life. He had a career goal and he did what he liked. Yes, he was confused and scared at some points, but he seemed to be he understood his situation and got on with what he wanted to do. The last few sentences are about how he knows that he can do anything he wants to so I didn't feel pity, I felt happy for him. I may be a little biased seeing as I'm reading another book that has an autistic young boy and it's a lot more intense, but it could be that Christopher is older and he's able to deal with situations better. Overall this was a fast book to get through and it kept me interested all the way until the end.

Final Thoughts: I recommend this book for someone who is looking for a story that's a little unusual.

Have any of you guys read this book? :)

July Reading and JulNoWriMo

     July will be the first month in a while that I'll be able to read as much as I want and I'm very excited about that! My goal is to read 3 or 4 books this month (a lot of reviews!)

1. The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Night-time by Mark Haddon: I started it and it seems pretty interesting thus far. The main character has an offbeat attitude and it has my attention.

2. Currawong Creek by Jennifer Scoullar: I also started this one and I it cut to the action right away. It's a bit weird for me to read a book that doesn't build up to the action, but it's a nice change of pace. I like it thus far.

3. Milltown by Jimmy Higgins: I haven't started on this one yet, but the plot seems so good.

4. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein (I hope to get to this book): This has been on my reading list for a while now and I really want to start on it. Of course I hope to read the entire ser

     I really like the selection of books I have so be on the lookout for reviews! Now one more thing: JulNoWriMo. It stands for July Novel Writing Month. The goal is to try to write 50,000 + words in the month of July. It's a fun challenge that is supposed to show you that you CAN write a novel. If you guys want to check it out you can go here: http://julnowrimo.com/index.php?page=about and find out more about it. It sounds like a lot of fun and you never know what you could end up with. I'll keep you guys posted on the progress in my Friday posts, I hope you guys join me! What books are you guys reading this month? Also, have any of you already started on JulNoWriMo? :)

July Book Haul

     It's that time of month again: BOOK HAUL! I'm very excited about this book haul because I went with all classics. I was inspired by the Rory Gilmore book list so I got some books from there that I was really interested in. Best part of this haul? Five books for 25 dollars! Guys, I don't think I've ever bought five books for twenty-five dollars. I love used book stores. So let's get to the haul:

1. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain: I remember my parents reading this book to me when I was little, though I'm a bit sketchy on the details. I'm excited to read this. This book is about a young boy named Huck Finn who runs away with an escaped slave to the Mississippi. It covers themes such as racism, war, and freedom.

2. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl: Like the majority of people I had to read this book when I was in middle school and once in high school (I think), but I really liked it so it's going to be fun to re read it.The story of Anne Frank is one I'm sure we have all heard at some point of our lives. She and her family spent two years hiding from Nazis in a secret annex in Amsterdam. This diary documents her going through the fear of being caught, going hungry, and being a teenager in this situation.

3. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair: I've been hearing about this book since my AP U.S. History class and I've always wanted to read it, but just never got around to it. It's about an immigrant family that moves to Chicago in the early 20th century, The book follows their struggles, the horrifying conditions for workers in the meat packing industry and the filth and contamination in American Food.

4. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne: It's a classic, need I say more? I've always been very interested in Jules Verne and I've been meaning to buy this book specifically. It's about a professor that joins a mission to hunt down a sea monster and ends up being the captive of Nemo, the captain of the submarine that they're in.

5. The Portable James Joyce by James Joyce: I originally only wanted one James Joyce book (Ulysses) but when I saw this I couldn't just leave it. It's a compilation of a lot of Joyce's famous works. It has short stories, poems, and even full books. I'm really looking forward to this book.

     I'm so excited to be able to read these in the future! I'm working on a few other books now (be on the lookout for that post soon) but there will be reviews later on about these books. Have you guys read any of these books? :)

Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit by Daniel Quinn

   

Synopsis: A pessimistic man sees an ad: "TEACHER SEEKS PUPIL. Must have an earnest desire to save the world. Apply in person." He gets angry. He lost all notion of saving the world a long time ago. But he goes anyways. The last thing he expected to see was a giant gorilla behind a glass panel. Even less for said gorilla to talk to him. Enter Ishnael, a giant educated gorilla with a story all of his own. So begins the story of a man who becomes the student of a gorilla who wants to show him how exactly human's are destroying the world and what they can do to save it.

Review: I really liked this book. It was well thought out and made me question things such as, how much of what we believe in is actually true? Why do we belive that the world was made for us and solely us? I personally belive that a book is great if it challenges your way of thinking. If it pushes your boundaries and has logical and justified reasons for doing so then you know you have a great piece of literature. I like that Ishmael,  the gorilla, asks questions instead of answering them and just lecturing. At one point all I was thinking was " If all teachers were like Ishmael then I don't think we would have such a huge problem with lack of critical thinking skills. ". I also really liked the main character. Not because he understood every concept of the lesson right away, but because he reacted the way you expect someone whose entire perception of life is being challenged to react. He was confused and didn't understand certain points and sometimes he wasn't the brightest, but he worked through it and came up with his own conclusions. I also don't want to give out the sense that Ishmael was perfect and wise. Yes, he was extremely educated and knew many things, but he was also flawed and you see that as the book progresses.

Final Thoughts: I reccomend this book for anyone who wants to do a bit of thinking (everytime that Ishmael asked something I would stop reading and cone up with my own explanation before continuing). It's a book with a different concept and very out-of-the-box ideas, so keep an open mind and go on a journey with Ishmael.

If any of you guys have read this book let me know what your thoughts were :)

Black Rose (#2 of the In The Garden trilogy) by Nora Roberts

     Hi everyone, so I know that I've been away for a while, but I'm back and ready to write and upload a LOT more. Let's get started!
     So this book was something that I decided to pick up on a whim. I was in my school library and needed something to read, I walked to the romance section (of course) and picked up the first thing that caught my attention which was my by my favorite romance author Nora Roberts. I also did not read the 1st book mostly because I didn't notice that it was a series book until the story started to reference to things that happened in the past. But I read on even when I knew and it didn't really bother me. I could read on and not be lost because I  pieced things together.

Synopsis: Rosalind Harper is an able-bodied forty seven year old woman who is in the midst of expanding her gardening business. She has three great sons and wonderful friends who support her and make her life better, the only thing is that the ghost that has haunted her families house for generations, named The Harper Bride, is starting to get to her. Roz is finding herself more and more intrigued by this apparition and her history in the Harper house. She hires genealogist Mitchell Carnegie to investigate and finds herself just as intrigued with him. In the midst of ghosts, a gorgeous man, a thriving business and a trouble making ex-husband, can Roz manage it all?

Review: This book was typical Nora Roberts. Cheesy lines and over dramatic phrases and a strong woman who is afraid of falling in love. What was different was that these people were not in their 20's and never been married. Roz and Mitchell had both been married and had kids. The ghost thing was a nice twist too. Her story is actually very interesting. There are other twists such like vengeful ex-husbands who plan to make Roz's life a living hell. Talking purely about grammar and sentence structure, it could have been better. Have you ever read a book and a sentence just didn't sound right? Like the words just didn't go together? That happened a lot in this book. Now moving on to the characters. I liked how each character has their own separate lives and they were all incorporated in some way. I really liked Roz, but the other characters really didn't do much for me. All in all it wasn't a bad book and lovers of Nora Roberts and romance books will like it.

Final Thoughts: I recommend this book for anyone who is looking for a fast and light read. Plus it's great if you need a romance fix.

What I'm Reading This Month

     Hi everyone! This week the work has been piling on so I may not be able to give you guys a book review until Friday. That's the latest. So to not keep you guys hanging here's what I'm currently reading:

1. Ishmael by Daniel Quinn: I'm already into the book and I really like it. I really never thought that I would be reading a book about a talking gorilla.

2. The Story of Spanish by Jean-Benoit Nadeau and Julie Barlow: I won this in a giveaway on Goodreads and I'm so excited to read it! I find the roots of languages fascinating and how they're used all over the world is equally interesting.

3. Cruel Sister by David Conway: This book is about the really extreme side of sibling rivalry. They both want control of their father's company and so they go through any means necessary to make sure that the other one doesn't succeed. Apparently their is also boyfriend stealing going on at the same time. It's definitely a different book from what I'm used to. I usually like to read happy and bright books, but this one caught my attention.

4. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy: I'm reading this book for a book club that I'm part of. It's a classic and I'm really trying to incorporate classic works into my reading. I like it thus far. The only problem with it is that you really need to to your homework before buying the book and get a translation that is as accurate as can be.

     That's just a little update on what I'm reading. What are you guys reading this month?