Off The Shelf

The Book of Tomorrow Cecelia Ahern 310 pages Tamara Goodwin was born into the lap of luxury, until the abrupt death of her father which leaves she and her mother swmming in debt. The two move in with a mysterious aunt and uncle with secrets Tamara hopes to unveil. But when she finds a book with no title or author, and a rusty lock, things start to go from boring to magical. When she finally prys open the lock, Tamara finds the diary is written in her own handwriting, and the enteries are dated for the next day. There is certainly no doubt that Cecelia Ahern is an amazing writer on many levels, but The Book of Tomorrow was a bit hard to get into for me. Although the first chaper was strong with deep description and metaphoric passages, I was not in love. I guess you could say that the plot builds slow and long in this book, as the last few chapters really unravel all of the up-in-the-air questions with high speed. I do not particularly care for that style of writing, but I ...

Breaking Dawn Part 2 Movie Poster In celebration of the fictional character, Edward Cullen's 111th birthday, Summit Entertainment released the first Breaking Dawn Part 2 Official Trailer yesterday. The new trailer gives viewers their first look at Bella and Edward's child Renesmee, played by Mackenzie Foy as well as the actors chosen for the Cullen's allied covens. One of the most anticipated moments of this movie, coming to theaters November 16th, is Bella in her vampire form. Many are excited to see her transformation beyond the red eyes seen at the very end of the previous film. Unlike Part 1, which focused on the romantic sections of the novel, Part 2 will finally give avid readers and viewers the action and race-for-survival they have been waiting for. Click below to watch the official trailer.

The Host Stephenie Meyer 619 pages This shouldn't have felt like a betrayal, the idea of continuing on my right and proper course. My first language, the true language of the soul that was spoken only on our planet of origin, had no word for betrayal or  traitor. Or even loyalty - because without the existence of an opposite, the concept had no meaning. -page 90 The planet Earth has been invaded by an enemy unseen. They invade human bodies, taking them as their hosts. Melanie Stryder lives in a human resistance group, until her mind is taken over by Wanderer, the invading "soul". But Melanie refuses to fade away. She fills Wanderer's mind with images from her past, including the man she loves. Soon, the two become uncommon allies, fighting to save the people they love. For my first science-fiction novel, I have to the say The Host was really amazing. As Katherine Neville says in her review of the book, "Stephenie Meyer gives a new and surprising meani...

Just a quick shout out to all of you who have taken the time to read, glance at, or check out what I've posted here on Off The Shelf. I hope you've found something worth your visit! As summer draws nearer and nearer, I've decided to post what is on my summer reading list for this year. 1.  The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky - The movie version of this book, starring Logan Lerman ( Percy Jackson and the Olympians ) and Emma Watson (Harry Potter films) will be coming to theaters this September. 2.  Looking for Alaska, John Green 3.  Paper Towns, John Green 4.  The Fault in our Stars , John Green 5.  Thin Wood Walls, David Patneaude 6.  The Red Umbrella , Christine Gonzalez 7.  The Book Thief, Markus Zusak 8.  Between Shades of Gray , Ruta Sepetys Many classics have also found their way on to this list... 9.   Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen   10. Emma, Jane Austen 11.  The Summer of M...

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: an eclipse novella Stephenie Meyer 178 pages I promise, for those readers who are sick of reading about vampires, this will be the last post about them for quite awhile. For those of you who are enjoying the last month of paranormal posting, well, you just have to wait until November when we can revisit them again. The release for the movie Breaking Dawn: Part 2 is scheduled to be November 16th. After this date, I can finally write a The Movies vs. The Books review. The Second Short Life of Bree Tanner is a short story whose main character is a newborn vampire who appeared in Stephenie Meyer's Eclipse. In Eclipse the reader was only given a glimpse of Bree, as they read the final moments of her second life. So even though we know how her story ends, this novella gives the reader a look into the more wild side of the vampire world. Not only will the reader learn more about Bree, but the stories behind Riley, and Victoria as well. Th...

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...

Breaking Dawn Stephenie Meyer 754 pages I didn't realize I was crying until it was time to say the binding words. "I do," I managed to choke out in a nearly unintelligible whisper, blinking my eyes so I could see his face. "I do," he vowed. And then Edward's hands were reaching up to cradle my face, carefully, as if it were as delicate as the white pearls swaying above our heads. He bent his head toward mine , and I stretched up on the tips of my toes  - bouquet and all - around his neck. He kissed me tenderly, adoringly; I forgot the crowd, the place, the time, the reason... only remembering that he loved me, that he wanted me, that I was his. These words from the wedding scene were probably the most anticipated by the entranced readers of Twilight , New Moon , and Eclipse . Stephenie Meyer delivered them perfectly with poise and drama. Breaking Dawn is broken up into three separate "books". Book One is written from Bella's pe...