The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Genre: Historical Fiction
Page Count: 552

SUMMARY (FROM GOODREADS):

Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.

I've been hearing about this book for ages and I finally picked it up to see what all the hype was about.  Well, if you haven't read this yet, this book most definitely lives up to the hype.

THE CHARACTERS:

I connected with Liesel so much.  The fact that she recognized how powerful words are and how she loved both reading and writing certainly made me resonate with her the most.  I also liked how three-dimensional she was. Problems that she came across wouldn't just pass straight through her - she would think about those obstacles and use what she's experienced in the past to help her with her decision -- she was written perfectly.

The other characters were great as well.  I loved Rudy and Hans and even Death's characters.  They were all fantastic, and if I wrote a paragraph about each, you wouldn't make it to the end of this post.

THE PLOT:

Perfectly executed. There were a couple slow spots, but the action and the suspense really made up for them.  There were twists and subplots that were compelling and that I didn't see coming. 

THE WRITING:
Phenomenal.  That's all I can say.  There was at least two quotable phrases on each page -- hundreds of beautiful metaphors and insightful sentences.  Markus Zusak's writing really made the story vivid and you knew how each scene felt, smelled, and looked like all in gorgeous detail.  He's definitely become one of my favorite authors for his writing style.

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Looking For Alaska by John Green

This is the third John Green book I've read, and it's fantastic! (Although my favorite John Green book is still The Fault In Our Stars). The characters were three-dimensional and all likable--which is rare. I'd recommend this for lovers of realistic fiction and if you liked any of John Green's other books! (Plus it won the Printz award, which is a GIANT accomplishment!!!)

Summary (from GoodReads):
Miles "Pudge" Halter is abandoning his safe-okay, boring-life. Fascinated by the last words of famous people, Pudge leaves for boarding school to seek what a dying Rabelais called the "Great Perhaps."
Pudge becomes encircled by friends whose lives are everything but safe and boring. Their nucleus is razor-sharp, sexy, and self-destructive Alaska, who has perfected the arts of pranking and evading school rules. Pudge falls impossibly in love. When tragedy strikes the close-knit group, it is only in coming face-to-face with death that Pudge discovers the value of living and loving unconditionally.
John Green's stunning debut marks the arrival of a stand-out new voice in young adult fiction.

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For more info, visit John Green's website.

~thespectacularbookworm

The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

This book was interesting. It's set in a dystopian world, and follows the life of the clone of the big and powerful Matteo Alacrán, who goes by the name El Patrón. It demonstrated a lot of social issues and while reading, you can't stop rooting for the main character.  I recommend this for fans of dystopian fiction.

Summary (from GoodReads):
At his coming-of-age party, Matteo Alacrán asks El Patrón's bodyguard, "How old am I? ... I know I don't have a birthday like humans, but I was born." 

"You were harvested," Tam Lin reminds him. "You were grown in that poor cow for nine months and then you were cut out of her." 

To most people around him, Matt is not a boy, but a beast. But for El Patrón, lord of a country called Opium--a strip of poppy field lying between the U.S. and what was once called Mexico--Matt is a guarantee of eternal life. El Patrón loves Matt as he loves himself, for Matt is himself. They share identical DNA. 

As Matt struggles to understand his existence, he is threatened by a sinister, grasping cast of characters, including El Patrón's power-hungry family. He is surrounded by a dangerous army of bodyguards and by the mindless slaves of Opium, brain-deadened 'eejits' who toil in the poppy fields. 

Escape from the Alacrán Estate is no guarantee of freedom because Matt is marked by his difference in ways he doesn't even suspect. Around every turn in this vivid, futuristic adventure is a new, heart-stopping surprise.

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~thespectacularbookworm

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

This book was pretty good. I liked Melinda's (the main character) voice -- Laurie Halse Anderson completely three-dimensionalized her. She was sarcastic and kind and real. This book is gripping and honest and I recommend this for fans of realistic fiction and fans of the book Thirteen Reasons Why. There's a movie, too (I haven't seen it though).

Summary (from GoodReads):

Melinda Sordino busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops. Now her old friends won't talk to her, and people she doesn't even know hate her from a distance. The safest place to be is alone, inside her own head. But even that's not safe. Because there's something she's trying not to think about, something about the night of the party that, if she let it in, would blow her carefully constructed disguise to smithereens. And then she would have to speak the truth. This extraordinary first novel has captured the imaginations of teenagers and adults across the country.

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~thespectacularbookworm

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

I read this book a while ago, but I remember loving it!!  When you first look at it, your first thought is - 'Wow, that's a big book' because it is.  526 pages, but half of the story is told in pictures.  I read this in just two days!  It sucked me in from the beginning.
I highly recommend this to anyone who wants a good, quick read... and plus, the movie's coming out in theatres on November 23rd, which is  Wednesday! 

Summary:
Hugo Cabret is a 12-year-old orphan, thief, and clock keeper, for he lives within the walls of a train station in Paris.  But when he meets a girl named Isabelle who has a key to his dead father's automaton, his world turns upside down as he and Isabelle try to decipher the secret.

For more information on the book, click here.
For more information on the movie, click here.

~thespectacularbookworm