A Book of Dares..A Promise of a Strand Adventure

Never in my bookworm life have I ever seen so many unknown words (fictional and non-fictional) in a book until I have read this book (Well there was that Spanish translation of Ink Book …but that is more of a language than a word thing).  It made the reading even more enjoyable. 

Taking place in New York during Christmas season, Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn is told in the first person narrative of two voices, Dash and Lily who live different lifestyles but also are bookworms themselves.  It starts with a little red book found at the Strand, a place of book galore for any book lover out in Union Square. From the first page to the last page it becomes quite an anti-romantic romantic adventure. There were times where I thought I knew what was going to happen and then I was proven wrong. 

What is really interesting to me of this book was the chapters where Dash spoke. There was so much vocabulary and he had so much insight and at the same time arrogance. But where he falls for that he makes up in the building of his character. Don't worry you will never get confused reading this book. Although it was Christmas Time, I had so much fun laughing, philosophizing, and not daring to blurt out an "Oh Snap!" in reading the book. I was brought a Christmas through summer, which made it a plus. If you are in for a romantic adventure with none of the cliche, CHECK.THIS.BOOK.OUT!

Note:if you love this book you will love Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist written by the same authors of the above book. 

Jack & Josie is worse than Jack & Jill

Remember Wuthering Heights by one of the Bronte sisters in which Catherine falls in love with her foster brother? Destructive as it was, the relationship was quite intense and was repeated once again through their children. Yeah, quite a book....If it was a bit creepy or eerie then you would definitely think Josie and Jack by Kelly Braffet is disturbing.

Josie and Jack are brother and sister living in a huge home filled with lost memories of their childhood and of their mother, long dead.  Their father is the only person they have who barely comes home from work to even greet them. As the chapters progress things start to get oddly worse in their home, rocking Josie and Jack’s relationship into a spiral of intense negative emotions.

What is interesting about this book is that the disturbing part of the family portrayed here is subtle, which makes it a little more terrifying than your regular dysfunctional family. Anyone reading this book would think that everyone is crazy. But I think it’s more of an aftermath of dealing with the death of a loved one. I don't know whether to like this book or not since there was so much that wasn't revealed. This book is a question mark in itself. IF you are into that type of thing go ahead. But I'd rather walk away 

One Female Taboo Bomb: Catfight

I am not much of a fan of non-fiction but I am a third wave feminist. So when I found this title randomly standing out to me through the book shelves, I had to pick it up. Looking at the cover it almost seemed fictional to me until I read the blurb. Don’t be fooled, I don’t really buy into book blurbs, but the theme did catch my attention.  As always I started reading the actual first page of the introduction. It intrigued me and made me remember about an article in an issue of Glamour talking about competition between females and how it destroys the dynamic of female bonding. I always wondered why girls go out of their way to sabotage or dislike each other whether for a guy or a job instead of getting to know each other. 

Using examples both fictional and non fictional Lora Tanenbaum gives the reasons why both girls and women sabotage each other in Catfight: Women and Competition. Tanenbaum is not afraid to take the authority and discuss how it is.

I felt the whole entire book was an extended editorial fueled by the personal experience of the author. As a matter of fact, there were parts in books where the author included herself in example which gave the book a personal relateable touch to the book.

It gave me the more reason to continue reading what Tanenbaum had to say. There were a lot of good points she brought up such as the fact that girls hanging out with guys most definitely have the idea that is better hanging out with them than with other girls because of the competitive catty behavior associated with "girl friends"

This book wasn’t an eye opener because I already know the deal despite the fact that girls don't talk about it but it helped me clarify certain things about my fellow female peers and why there is so much competition for shoes and the attention of guys. I definitely ABSOLUTELY recommend it for all of my fellow confused gals who want to be friends with girls or who don't understand the catty behavior of their fellow girlfriends. 

Til next book review fellow book worms,

Miss Bobo

Books and Etc Galore

 So far, there are two book reviews coming up that you might not want to miss. In the mean time, I am also making some stuff while also reading the two mystery books. Along with being a book lover I am also a bookmark lover. Dog-earing books is irritating enough when you unfold and it becomes an invincible crease. So, instead of folding a page I get a nice spicy bookmark. However, its hard to spot a nice bookmark that isn't less than 5 dollars. Instead I make my own. Here is two I just recently made:

front view

back view

I find it fun making them because its a bit of a splash when opening my favorite book and seeing an awesome bookmark looking back at me. Already, one of my friends wants to buy them since she is big in DIY stuff. With the looks of it, I might just be in business.

Double the Review: Another Deadly Book

With productions like The Godfather and the Sopranos everyone knows the stereotypes of gangsters:  tough guys in control of obtaining money illegally and taking out anyone who gets in their way.  They are seen as the ultimate villains and at odd times are never really given the chance to explain how they got to where they were. For Capac Raimi, that isn’t the problem

Written by Darren Shan in first narrative, Procession of the Dead takes place in an urban setting where in day it is like any other city but in the night becomes the City for dealings, dead bodies, and of course your typical brothel. In Capac Raimi’s case, this is the perfect place to accomplish his dream of becoming a notorious gangster. Taken under the wing of an unfamiliar uncle, Raimi begins his gangster journey not realizing what is in store for him.

Reading this book was like taking a step into the gangster world. With a casual voice in the beginning, I was glad that I couldn’t drop the book for more than a few minutes. Darren Shan knows how to put good use to folklore and irony so when you see a few names that give you a question mark, don’t worry you will find out why. This book is complete action and more. There’s unexpected drama, dark humor, mystery, fantasy and of course a bit of romance. The ending was a great touch and to add a cherry on top, there was an interview with Shan himself exposing a bit on the book.  I definitely recommend this book to anyone that likes some action and bordering mad characters. Oh, and FYI, this is the first book of the City series so expect me writing a review for the next one ;)

Double the Reviews: The Attack of The Replacements

Imagine you were some sort of zombie that didn’t have decaying flesh, could speak coherent English, and had a bass to play like the modern version of the phantom of the opera. You would be living with a family that didn’t even belong to you and the life you remembered before was a blur of images or scenes that didn’t really make sense. If you haven’t had a chance to imagine, you will get that experience through reading The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff.

Written in the first narrative, this book takes place in a small town called Gentry where most families live in homes with white picket fences and a hushed secret under the floor boards pertaining to the town. Nobody wants to talk about it. But for Mackie, the main voice of the novel, those secrets are the essence to his existence. Left with vague memories of his past and a weird reaction to iron, Mackie is stuck being the weird kid of Gentry until things start shifting after the death of a baby who was also the little sister of one of the girls at school.

It can be said that this novel is like a remix of Hairstyles of the Damned and Alice in Wonderland in certain cases. With the voice of Mackie, any reader can get a chance to see how it’s like to be literally a weird basket case in an uptight town. However after a few chapters, it becomes more than just your teenage angst story once he steps down the rabbit hole or rather, deep hallway.

The whole novel is a bit of a depressing adventure since most of the time Mackie is bemoaning not belonging in his family or in the town he lives in. The ending was disappointingly average and stereotypical. Didn’t frighten me, but did impress me with the whole suspense and literary twists.  If you are into being taken aback by unpredictability you can take your chances and pick this book up.