Off The Shelf

Eclipse Stephenie Meyer 629 pages With ice in my heart, I watched him prepare to defend me. His intense concentration betrayed no hint of doubt, though he was outnumbered. I knew that we could expect no help - at this moment, his family was fighting for their lives just as surely as he was for ours. Eclipse has to be my favorite so far in The Twilight Saga. This novel dealt mostly with the battle within Bella herself, allowing the reader inside her decisions, actions, and thoughts. Meyer has a signature way of capturing her reader, and holding them hostage within the pages of the book for the time it takes them to read it, as well as after they turn the final page... The way I judge the greatness of a book though, is by how long it takes to come back to reality. My only complaint of this book is again the fact that its highly climatic scene did not come until almost the very end, therefore, the scene was over in just a few pages or so. Stephenie Meyer has again created a bo...

New Moon Stephenie Meyer 563 pages I knew we were both in mortal danger. Still, in that instant I felt well. Whole. I could feel my heart racing in my chest, the blood pulsing hot and fast through my veins again. My lungs filled deep with the sweet scent that came off his skin. It was like there had never been a hole in my chest. I was perfect - not healed, but as if there had never been a wound in the first place. Not even an hour ago, I flipped the last page in the second book of The Twilight Saga. This book did take me longer to read than the first not just because it was approximately 100 more pages, but because I was missing Edward. Yes, he does leave in this book, and in that time, Bella is in a state of miserable depression. Meyer writes so well, her analogies between a "new moon" and the characters' feelings in the book are in-depth as well as puzzling, in a good way of course. Her characters and their relationships are so carefully crafted, the ro...

Twilight Stephanie Meyer 498 pages I guess I am a bit behind the ball when it comes to reading the latest teen-novel sensation The Twilight Saga . It was the same thing with Harry Potter for me; not reading and falling in love with the entire series until three years ago. I am not really a fantasy kind of person, (I was totally shocked to walk into Barnes and Noble and see an entire section dedicated to "Paranormal Teen Romance"), but I got kind of tired of friends asking me whether I was Team Jacob or Team Edward. I would usually answer, but only to myself of course with; "Is Team Weasley okay?" or "What about Team Peeta?" So I gave in, and started the 498 page novel on Friday night; only putting it down at midnight and already on page 137. I finished it this morning (probably my fastest reading experience yet), and ran to the library as soon as it opened to check out New Moon , the second book in the series. Overall, it totally surpassed my...

With a friend who has also read the book, we watched the movie version of the book My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult on Friday. The movie was released in 2009, and some of the cast list is as follows: Anna Fitzgerald - Abigail Breslin Sara Fitzgerald - Cameron Diaz Kate Fitzgerald - Sofia Vassilieva Taylor Ambrose - Thomas Dekker Campbell Alexander - Alec Baldwin If I had not read the book, I would have liked this movie. The basic plotline was the same, but several of the key characters from the book were left out such as Julia Romano. Also, Kate, Anna, and Jesse looked too young when compared to how I pictured them. Several of the events were rushed and disjointed and the ending of the movie was also completely different than the book. On the positive side, this movie was full of emotion. Some parts were very sad, and made me want to cry. While others, sparked laughter. Again, this movie was great by itself, but when compared with the book, it did not reach my expe...

Back in December, when the movie was still in theaters, I read The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. I saw the movie, by the name of Hugo, over the weekend. The cast included the following and more: Hugo Cabret - Asa Butterfield Isabelle - Chloë Grace Moretz Georges Melies - Ben Kingsley Madame Emilie - Frances de la Tour Monsieur Frick - Richard Griffiths Overall, I believe the movie followed the book with exciting chase scenes and magical moments. The actors and director made the mystery of the Automaton, the key, and the old man, come alive for the viewer in an egaging and fun way. This movie is definitely geared toward a younger age level, as was the book. Click here to read my review of the book.

According to Parade magazine, The Hunger Games was the most anticipated movie of 2012.  The first, in a three, possibly four motion picture series was released this past Thursday at midnight. I had reserved my ticket back in February and had been anxiously awaiting my chance to see it. Overall, I believe the movie was true to the book, and any small changes they did make, did not directly impact the plot. Some differences include: -Madge is eliminated from the movie all together, therefore Katniss buys the mockingjay pin herself. -While the games take place, Seneca Crane is shown with other Gamemakers creating  the events inside the arena. -The mutated dogs at the finale of the games do not have the dead tributes features. Again, none of these changes made the movie any less fantastic, and as Suzanne Collins is listed as one of the screenwriters of the movie, she obviously was okay with the changes as well. The theater was completely full when I went yesterday ev...

Ugly to Start With John Michael Cummings 168 pages Jason Stevens is a teen-aged boy growing up in historic Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. His father is hard to please, and the tourists never seem to leave. All the while, Jason is forever unraveling stories about his family, and the town he thought he knew everything about. Cummings' new novel is made up of several short stories, all based upon the same main character. The only drawback to this novel is that it lacks a central plot line. That drawback can be easily overlooked though as clear descriptions and metaphoric phrases are not shy. The reader will have a painting in their mind drawn in by phrases like these: "Mrs. Grove had hair as red and frizzy as a copper wire." , "As I wrapped on the paint-blistered door of Rusty's whitewashed shack" , and "All around now were the greenest, picture-perfect expanses of transplanted grass, stabbed with shiny power-line polls,". Jason's ...