Off The Shelf

Eleanor and Park Rainbow Rowell 328 pages “You can be Han Solo," he said, "And I'll be Boba Fett. I'll cross the sky for you.”    It's 1986 in Omaha, Nebraska and Eleanor meets Park in the most un-romantic place ever. The school bus. They instantly bond over their shared love of rock music, comic books, and disdain for the conventional. And just when they think they know each other inside and out, Eleanor's past comes shooting into the present, with enough force to blow them apart. As the winner of the 2014 Printz Honor and the 2013 Goodreads Choice Award for Young Adult Fiction, Eleanor and Park has quickly become one of the most popular YA novels of the past year. Told in a dual perspective, Eleanor and Park is a sweet and comforting read - one that is different than most other love stories. Rowell creates main characters that are very unlike others found in YA novels. Eleanor is a curly red-haired girl who dresses in oversized sweater...

The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald 180 pages I don't feel I have the credibility to really write a review of the novel, therefore I would like to use the opportunity of this 100th post to discuss what is said to be the greatest American novel of all time: The Great Gatsby . The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and beauty in the world.   - page 68 New York, 1922. The Jazz Age is in full swing, and with World War I at a close, the American people are restless, alive with post-war excitement and opportunity. Nick Carraway has just moved to Long Island looking to get started in the "bond business", and winds up buying a home next door to the grand and mysterious Jay Gatsby. After being invited to one of his neighbor's lavish parties, Nick soon learns of Gatsby's secrets, and the love he is desperately trying to find again. The following are some of my favorite p...

  Most recently, I have been suffering from an overdose of the teenage-tragedy entitled "high school." In order to relieve the stress that Honors classes so heavily pour on, I've been retreating to John Green's The Fault in Our Stars every night. I read this novel of 313 pages for the first time in one day in the midst of last August, but upon receiving the book for Christmas, I decided to re-read my Best Fiction Novel of 2012  in more depth and understanding.     I don't plan on reviewing this book again, as I've already done that here , but this will be more of an analysis, more of a thought-provoking post. I will try to make this post as spoiler free as possible, for readers who have not yet read the book. Introduction Sixteen year-old Hazel, a girl diagnosed with Stage IV Thyroid in her lungs, has always felt like she was a grenade ready to blow up, hurting everyone around her; a side-effect of death. When she attends the Cancer K...

As I promised, this post will continue to analyze the themes behind The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer. I completed the series about a week ago, so I can now think about the themes in Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. Again, please take caution when reading this post if you have not completed the books below. *Spoilers included* Eclipse and Robert Frost ~ Fire and Ice ~ Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From what I've tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire. But if I had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate To say that for destruction ice Is also great And would suffice. I instantly fell in love with this poem after I read it. And I can totally see why Meyer chose this to get the reader thinking at the beginning of the book. Meyer took this poem, and practically created two characters out of it. Jacob Black, Bella's werewolf friend whose skin is hot, fits the role of "fire" and Edward Cullen, Bella...

In reading The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer, I'm finding the books have individual themes much deeper than I originally thought. I figured I would post my thoughts and discoveries here. This post is with regards to the first two books. The last two will be discussed in a post to follow at a later date. I also would not suggest reading this post unless you have read both books. *Spoilers are included* Twilight and The Garden of Eden   "But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Genesis 2:17 This is the quote found upon turning to page one in the book. Right away, you notice it connects with the cover of the book, two pale, out-stretched hands holding an apple, but you might not understand the quote's true meaning until after completing the entire series. I surely didn't. The story of The Garden of Eden, for those with a fuzzy memory, is the beginning o...