Book Reviews

Since I have no life, here are more book reviews, just for the sake of writing something.

Uprising, by Margaret Peterson Haddix

This book is based in America in 1911 before there were strict labor laws and women were allowed to vote. It follows 3 girls with different backgrounds. Two of the girls are immigrants that just came to America and one is a rich girl. The two immigrants meet in the clothing factory where they worked. One is a Russian Jew and the other is from Italy. It follows the girls as they join the strike against the factory they work for because they are constantly being cheated out of their pay. The rich girl comes into the story because she is tired of her boring social obligations and becomes friends with a college girl who attends rallies for women's suffrage. She meets the other two girls during the strike and they become friends. The rich society women help the factory girls strike because they believe that if they had the right to vote, they could help improve working conditions in factories. The factory ends up catching on fire leading to eventual changes. Blah blah. This is the book that was boring me. I picked it because its a new book. It's teen fiction, there isn't any swearing or sex. I thought it was retarded when one of the immigrants falls in love with her cousin. It's not that bad of a book but I was getting tired of waiting for the fire that was supposed to happen since it said on the cover something about the fire that changed America. So of course at the end, it finally happened and the book was over shortly after that. It's not a bad book but it's not the best book.

I'm probably the worst person to be giving book reviews. Here are books that I have really enjoyed.

Dan Brown's books, The Davinci Code, Angels and Demons, and Deception Point. Really action packed, short chapters so that you are tempted to just read one more chapter, and then another, etc. Only bad thing is, after the third book of his that I read, they all seemed to have the same plot. :p

Freakonomics by Steven D Levitt and Stephen J Dubner

This was recommended to me by Becca. Has a lot of interesting facts and theories. Some are quite amusing, like the part about naming children. I wouldn't mind reading this one again since it's been a while and I've already forgotten most of the things in the book.

White Oleander by Janet Fitch

Yes the book the movie is based on. Anytime a book makes me cry it's a good thing. Of course the book is always better than the movie. In this case, I watched the movie first and that's why I cried because I knew what was going to happen. For those who haven't seen the movie, it's about a girl whose mother murders her lover. It follows the girl as she is shuffled from one foster family to the next. It's really sad, it just makes you want to be a foster parent because of the kind of people that are out there that just do it for the money.

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

My favorite book and movie. The movie made me cry but not the book since I watched the movie first. I've read the book twice. After reading the book I realized why they cut the end of the book out of the movie, because it wasn't really necessary, and the movie had left the story at a good spot. For those of you who haven't read the book or seen the movie, it's about a girl who is sold by her family to a geisha house. It follows her as she struggles through the beginning of her life until one act of kindness from a man she meets as a child changes the rest of her life as she ends up a famous geisha. It's also a love story.

Wicked by Gregory Maguire

This book is the Wizard of Oz, from the point of view of the wicked witch of the west. It starts out from the time she is born to the time of her death. It's kind of interesting the kind of things the author has come up with to explain her behavior, like the fact that she allergic to water and that is why she melts in the end. It also makes Dorothy come across as a dumb girl in the end. Since it is an adult book, there is one part in it that made me think, "what the?" Lets just say, strange sexual content. But it is kind of fun, and made me wonder what the musical would be like.

1776 by David McCullough

This book is the book that started my history book kick. It's about the American Revolution. There are interesting facts about George Washington who is now my personal hero. It is amazing the kind of things that people went through back then, how they were starving so bad that they ate the leather off their shoes or bark off a tree. Also amazing how it was common practice to bleed people to rid the body of illness! This book is a little slow in the beginning until it gets to the major battles and then it ends at the turning point of the war leaving you with a "what happens next?" feeling. It also tells a little bit about Washington's Generals. It's amazing that America won in the end since most of everyone involved had little to no military experience. Henry Knox was a bookseller for goodness sakes!

George Washington's War by Bruce Chadwick

This one pretty much picked up where I left off with 1776. There is a little bit of repetition in the book at some parts. This book follows George Washington from before he was a general to the time he became President. It also tells how much he really shaped the role of President. It also tells you how he died. Loss of blood due to being bled for a throat infection. That's really irritating to know!

Washington's General by Terry Golway

This book is about Nathaniel Greene, one of Washington's Generals. After reading the last book I wondered how Washington's most trusted General (and who he thought of as his possible replacement if anything should happen), could not have any part in Washington's Presidency. Well, I found out why. He died shortly after the war. :( After reading about him for a while, I found out why I found him interesting enough to read a book about him. He is a complainer just like me. :) He is terribly self conscious about what people think about him, and is very prideful. It is sad what happens to him because he basically doesn't get any credit for his part in the revolution until long after his death.

George Washington and Benedict Arnold by David R Palmer

This book is about how Washington and Arnold come from similar backgrounds and how one ends up the father of our country and the other, a man without a country. It is really interesting what you find out about Benedict Arnold because I didn't really know anything about him other than him being a traitor. He started out being a war hero that nobody really recognized as being great because he rubbed people the wrong way and made them jealous, causing them to take credit for what he did. You slowly see him turning toward the path of traitor because of the lack of recognition he gets from congress, and because of greed. He marries a woman who convinces him to switch sides. It is crazy because you can see how sheer luck pretty much saves America from Arnold's treachery through a series of strange events. It's also sad because he ends up living in England after the war is over but doesn't really fit in there either. Classic case of how pride and greed can ruin a person. This is actually a really good book, believe it or not. Of course it talks about Washington too. An interesting fact is that Washington had an outrageous temper that he inherited from his mother, who he could not stand. Luckily for him, he kept it well under control.

Now you know, I am capable of saying I actually like a book. Right now I'm reading The Other Boleyn Girl, I'm only in the first 50 pages and so far so good. :) I thought I was getting burned out from reading so much and that was the reason why I was getting bored with what I've been reading so far. But now I know I'm not. Ha ha, now I'm the one boring everyone to tears! By the way, I added a link to Barnes & Noble in case you want to look up better reviews and descriptions of the books I'm talking about. Has anybody read Uglies by Scott Westerfield? It's the first book in series of teen fiction that is really popular right now but I don't really have time to read yet. It's sounds kind of silly.