Sunday, January 20, 2013

Books 28 and 29

Day 19: 

It's earlier than normal for me, about 2:30 and I'm headed to bed. I have a full next few days that I'm really excited about. My mom and I are headed to a little trip to the Boonsboro Inn after having reading the Nora Roberts series called Inn Boonsboro. We're going to get facials and massages, go eat pizza at Vespa, buy books at Turn the Page, watch my Ravens kick some Patriot ass (hopefully). Each room is named for a couple in literature. We are staying in Wesley and Buttercup and my mom has never seen the Princess Bride, so we'll also be watching that I'm sure. I'll post some pictures of our adventure afterwards. I read about a third of a book earlier before needing something lighter, and these next two books fit the bill.

Book 28: Uses for Boys




Author: Erica Lorraine Scheidt
Genre: Contemporary
Pages: 240
Series: No
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library
Date Read: January 19, 2013

1.5 stars
This book was about a girl named Anna. She never knew her father, and her mother was never around, always looking for her next husband, and so Anna was left alone. Then by about age 13 she realizes that she can make boys her family, morphing into the woman that her mother is and that her grandmother was, with men using her for sex and always leaving her. The book talks about the serious neglect by her mother, her drug use, dropping out of school, and her abortion at age 16 from a guy that she had moved in with. Then she meets a nice guy named Sam, with a supportive family, one that she wants to become a part of. Okay, so I did NOT like this book. I couldn't handle most of Anna's actions relating to men and with her mother, but she was able to support herself, save money, and get her own apartment. I liked the writing style, with very short chapters but there was no concrete ending. For me, the ending is a big deal. It is the last thing a reader remembers and it closes your whole story. If there had been a different ending, and if Anna had been described a little more positively, I think I might have liked this book a bit better.

Book 29: This is How You Lose Her


Author: Junot Diaz
Genre: Short Stories
Pages: 213
Series: No
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library
Date Read: January 19, 2013

2 stars
This was a collection of short stories about love. Yunior, the primary character is a Dominican man, and aserial cheater, having learned by example from all the men in his life. This cheating caused him to lose his love. Many of the stories are about girls that he cared about and lost. I was recommended this by a librarian and probably wouldn't have picked it up if I had found it on my own in the library. I didn't like Junior and the stories did not feel separate as they should, but merely like disconnected chapters, as if the author was too lazy to make it into a real story. Also, the female characters, of which there was only one speaking for herself in the stories, were not well done and most of the time they were only talked about in terms of their bodies or the sex. It was just eh. For stories that are supposed to be about love, I did not love this.

I said I was going to go to bed early, I guess 3am counts right? :P

xo,
Erin

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