It has been like over two months since I blogged and guess what I have to say about that: it's about time. haha, I'm not even going to pretend that I'm going to keep this going every week, (unless I suddenly grow like a jillion viewers *wink wink*) but I'll write when I have something to say, alrighty?

So seeing as I am a total book worm, I have decided on a new topic....*drum roll*

BOOKS WORTH THE TIME IT TAKES TO PULL THEM OFF THE SHELF!

(and some that aren't worth the energy it takes to read the title)

1. okay, lets just knick this in the bud immediately: Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn, & and whatever other phase of the moon I've forgotten: these books are VASTLY overrated. Yes, I have read each one, yes, I enjoyed reading them (for the most part, i mean, SPARKLING vampires? ....yeeeeeeah....) and yes I even read a few of them more than once but here's the deal: they're not the greatest books of all time, and the characters (or vampires/werewolves/pixies (cause we all know book number 5 is going to have them) for that matter) ARE NOT REAL. it is a book. a FICTIONAL book. and Stephenie Meyer is not the greatest author of all time. She's not even top 10, or top 100 if we want to get technical. Her writings are entertaining, yeah, but to compare them to the masterpieces like Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter or ANY work by Jane Austen is not only, insanity, but to me it is borderline perverse. I get that most teenagers don't like reading Shakespeare or Harper Lee or Jane Austen because (*cue whiney teenage voice*) "it's boring" or "it's confusing", but you have to see past the time barriers like the language or general character behaviors and look at the big picture: the way they write is beautiful. Nathaniel Hawthorne includes SO many images in such a way that it's almost lyrical, and Shakespeare was a such a genius that he was able to tell entire stories in a particular scheme (iiambic pentameter if you want to get picky). So here's the basic breakdown: Stephenie Meyer deserves to be recognized for her accomplishing the near impossible: getting teenagers interested in reading...and maybe to be recognized for a some-what captivating plot....BUT THAT'S IT. *if anyone else throws out the words "Pullitzer Prize" I am going to gauge my own eyes out with a hot, salty spoon.*

ummm.... so Now, where were we? .... (;

2. Fire by Kristin Cashore. Okay, seriously, Cashore is one of my favorite present-day authors. She's relatively new to the publishing thing, (this is like her second book) but she's absolutely brilliant when it comes to writing a captivating story. Fire is a story about a girl who is so absolutely beautiful (she's not exaclty human *wink wink*) that she has men, like king,s wanting to marry her seconds after seeing her, but she has to do all these crazy tasks like in war and not to mention doing insane things to protect herself from her pursuers. I'm not doing the book justice, really, becuase it's a FABULOUS book with just the right dosage of love story and action. Seriously, it has tear jerking so-beautiful-you-want-to-die moments and then intense battle scenes full of death and gore (but not disgustingly so). It's a "companion" to Cashore's first story Graceling (which is also a REALLY great love story with just enough action), which means the two stories BARELY relate. I didn't like the idea at first, but believe me, Cashore know's what she's doing. I recommend, though, reading Fire before Graceling because it preceeds the Graceling plot line by a few years. I didn't read it that way and i still understood, but hey, its just a suggestion(:

2. The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini. So far, his first three books (he's kind of my hero because he wrote Eragon when he was FIFTEEN and it's near perfection) have been some of the best books I've read. If you're kind of a fantasy-buff but then again not like full blown Lord of the Rings (no offense to J.R. Tolkein, may he rest in peace) Star Wars stuff, I would deffinitely recommend these books. They have a little bit of everything: love, war, adventure, elves, dragons, suspense, and literally any aspect of the awesomest fairytale you've ever heard of. Plus the main character is young, about sixteen, so he (yes, he's a he. I usually don't connect well with male main characters but Paolini does a great job at making the gender not an issue) deals with a lot of stuff we (teenage america *woohoo, fight the power!*) deal with. My only complaint is that Paolini writes so dagum slow! Haha i guess perfection takes time, though right?

3. The House of Night Series by Kristen and P.C. Cast. Now because of Twilight, I can't mention the word "vampire" without everyone making preconcieved notions about what they think it's about. Well for your information, this series was written BEFORE twilight, so HAH! anywayyysss....this is a series with a lot of volumes, like I think they're at about 7 now. I won't lie: i didn't like the books at first. The Cast's have an interesting style of writing that is almost like speaking, and at times they can be a wee bit cliche but for the most part, they're pretty entertaining. The series is about a vampire fledging who has like super powers (not really) names Zoey who is chosen by the vampire Goddess Nyx (it is fiction people) to defeat this fallen angel guy who zoey was created to love. Blah blah blah, long story short: they're a bunch of quick-read highly entertaining and amusing books that often times end in very surprising ways...highly recommended for when you have to do ccross-country car rides. (:

4. The Mortal Instruments Trilogy by Cassandra Clare. For all of you athiests/nonchristians out there let this be a warning: THIS IS A CHRISTIAN SERIES. BUT, all the same, it's not even as religious as the Chronicals of Narnia books (which are also highly recommended). Now, heres the deal: there is an epically mahor plot twist at the end of the first one that made me put the series down, pout about it lividly for a few weeks, go so far as to give dirty glances at the cover, and mumble under my breath obscenitities every time i saw it. That being said, let me tell you that the plot twise GETS BETTER. do not be like me! don't wait months after reading the first because you are so angry. if you continue the series, everything works out in the end *wink, wink*. They're very well written and a decently original plot. Part love story part sci fi, the series is worth the time to pick it up (or press a button for all you Amazon people).

***oh, and they're about to make a movie about that one, looks pretty good if you ask me(:

5. Dear John by Nicholas Sparks. This is one of my friend's favorite books of all time, and after reading it, I'd say it was decent. If you love heart breaking love stories that will really leave a lasting impression on you: any book by Sparks is right up your alley (he wrote The Notebook and A Walk to Remember if those stand out to you.) It follows the story of two teenagers who fall madly in love until the boy is deployed to Iraq. "Dear John" refers to the letters they continuously right back and forth throughout his tour.

The book was well written and easy to understand, true to Sparks' nature, but my thing with him is this: every one of his NUMEROUS books (seriously, the guy's got like a jillion (and sadly, i've read almost all of them)) follows nearly the SAME plot line. He has yet to surprise me. Break my heart? yes. Bring me to tears? yes. Write something i didn't predict happening? No. It's a good book if you aren't picky and need a good love story, but other than that, you may just want to read it because the movie is coming out soon and it looks really good. (but then again, anything with Channing Tatum looks good, right? that boy is yummyyy(;)
Click here for the Trailer!

6. The Uglies Series by Scott Westerfield. So I have mixed feelings about this series because he had such a great thing going until he wrote the fourth installment in the series, The Extras. The three that are worth your time are: The Uglies, The Pretties, and The Specials. The series basically follows a girl named Tally in a world (I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be like the future) where once you reach 16, you have an operation that turns you into basically the most beautiful person imaginable. But with this operation, there is rumors that they might change your mind too. Throughout the three books Tally continuously overcomes everything she's not supposed to be able to while living in a world obsessed with beauty. Its got a lot of different stuff: sci-fi, the occasional love scene, but the majority of it is just mystery crossed with action. The reasonI hate the last one so much is because Westerfield pulled a lets-change-all-the-characters-but-keep-it-apart-of-a-series book, but unlike Cashore, he sucked at it, so the last one was just a random installment not even worth the time it takes to utter the title. (:


7. Percy Jackson and The Olympains Series by Rick Riordan. So this series started out as a school assighnment (I really do realize the shock in there) for me, but I ended up REALLY liking it because (1) it's an uber easy read and (2) I'm a closet mythology buff and this has just enough action to be a good mythology story. I think they're up to five books, and seriously, Riordan is one of those few gifted authors who have the ability to make sequals just as good as the original. I won't lie: it is a young reader's choice, and at times i have to roll my eyes from the naivety of the characters, but for the most part, its very readable. Now I have a confession: I haven't had the opportunity to read the finale in the series (I think it came out in about August?) but I have every intention to do so! I just have been a little busy lately (I'll get back to why in another blog). The movie coming out for this one looks REALLY good too. I'll post the trailor for those of you who are interested(:
Click here for the Trailer!

So This is my list as of now. I'm going to be periodically coming back to this entry and adding things as I read them, or as you guys keep sending me recommendations! I got one the other day for the Harry Potter Series, and I swear I am gunna read them, I just want to finish the movie series to end first! haha (yes, i am a TOTAL Harry Potter movie buff).

Keep sending in your comments and emails! I really love getting them! (my contact info is under my picture(;) Thanks for reading!
-the original unreasonable teenager