Review : Admission

Book : Admission
Author : Jean Hanff Korelitz
Synopsis : Admission follows the life of Portia Nathan, a Princeton admissions officer, as she completes another year of the admissions cycle, recruiting, reading, and admitting. The book opens as Portia is touring New England, visiting schools to offer students information about Princeton and applying. While visiting the "Quest" school, a recently opened school dedicated to expanding horizons and opening mins, Portia is confronted with a blast from her past that quickly rearranges her life as she knows it.
Review : By far the most fascinating aspect of this book for me was the input about the admissions process. Two years ago, I was one of the applications that got poured over by pools of admissions officers from various schools (including the 4 Ivy Leagues that I applied for). I was one of the students that the narrarator spends a lot of the time talking about: a smart, solid, well-rounded kid with a 4.0 and a long list of AP scores and trophies, but without any stand-out achievements. After having been rejected from every Ivy I applied to, the pieces of the book in which Korelitz describes and discusses the process of admissions was really interesting to me. The late nights and the countless folders and even the decision process all made me wish that I had read this book before my own application season. I would definitely recommend this book to any high school Seniors or Juniors thinking about applying to Ivy leagues or any other private univeristies; it certainly allows for a glimpse inside the mind of an admissions officer.

My only complaint about the book regards the structuring of the plot line. It took me a day to read the second half of the book, whereas it took me nearly two weeks to get through the first half. I understand that novels get more interesting as you go along, but Korelitz took this to the extremes. It took her 300+ pages to set up the story, 150 pages to introduce the major conflict, and, after using up all of her allotted space, 50 to resolve it. After having done all of the work, reading up to the climax, I was really disappointed in how quickly everything ended. It seemed very abrupt, as if Korelitz had set a page limit and had to stop at that page no matter what. I can't elaborate anymore without giving up key plot points, but I guess what I'm saying is that the pacing was very awkward and left me wanting.

That said, I did enjoy the book. Once I got into it, the storyline was quite captivating and the premises of the novel was solid. I found most of the characters believable and relatable, and once I had finished the book, I felt that I did enjoy reading it.

Rating : 3/5

Review : Glimpse

Book : Glimpse
Author : Carol Lynch Williams

Synopsis : Told through the eyes of preteen Hope, Glimpse tells the story of two girl raised by a single mother who resorts to prostitution as a means to support her family. At the beginning of the novel, Hope walks in to find her older sister Lizzie with a gun aimed at herself and as the novel progresses, Hope reveals her current experiences along with her memories of the past as the doctors, Hope, and the readers try to discover the reasons behind Lizzie's attempted suicide.

Review : I enjoyed this book quite thoroughly! It was really quick to read thanks to the free-form style of the text along with the captivating story line; I find that as my brain becomes more adjusted to the rapid pace of the internet, I'm beginning to enjoy poetic novel  more and more, as I can read while I'm cooking dinner or waiting for laundry and actually progress in a book rather than read the same dense paragraph each time I sit down. 

That said, I felt like I did not enjoy reading this book as much as I would have had I read it several years ago. I would recommend it to 12-16 year olds. The pacing, the story line, and the language all felt like they were targeted to that age. 

Other than feeling a bit to old, I didn't have any major complaints about the book. It won't be finding it's own spot on my shelf of favorites, but I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a quick and easy read. 

Rating : 4/5

Hiatus Ending

So, I know I never made a post regarding my summer hiatus, but I figure it's about time to announce that I am returning.

I apologize for disappearing back in April. First there was the eternal drive home from New York to Texas, then I worked at a summer camp for several months, I moved out of my parents house, I didn't have internet for a few weeks, then I was job hunting, and basically my summer has been one chaotic adventure after another. While I'm still looking for a job and still working on settling in to my new house and classes start in a week, I'm ready to have something that might set a little routine in my life.

I am currently working on reading several books, and I should have a review posted up soon. Hopefully, these reviews will become regular, I'm ready to start getting into habits as school (and hopefully a job) start up for me soon.

So, keep your eyes peeled for new book reviews! I've gotten several books from authors that I need to read and review. See you soon!

Review : The Book Thief

Book : The Book Thief

Author : Marcus Zusak

Length : 550 Pages

Synopsis : Though the story is told by 'Death', The Book Thief is the story of Liesel Meminger, a young girl who has just arrived at Himmel Street, a street in the poor neighborhood of a small town in Germany, when the novel opens. Placed in a foster home with Hans and Rosa Hubermann, Liesel witnesses World War II as a lower-class German citizen. During her time on Himmel Street, she experiences love, Hitler, the war, friendship, music, life, and death. 

Review : I loved this book! I would recommend it to anyone over the age of 10, at anytime. It really was the good! The characters were endearing, and watching their lives evolve through the war was a beautiful, tragic, entrancing experience. Experience. That's a good word; this book is something that you experience, rather than read. And I loved every minute of it.

I loved the characters, the pacing, the plot, and the narrator, but in order to give a fair review, I suppose I will touch on some of the complaints I heard from others when I was talking to them about reading it.

I've heard mixed opinions regarding Death as the narrator of this novel. It's a bit depressing, and there is a lot of foreshadowing, but I really enjoyed that. It didn't give away enough to prevent me from reading to the end to find out what happened. I also heard that it was just too depressing. This could be true, but I think that with historical fiction, or non-fiction, it's not going to be a happy, ribbon-on-the-ending story. It's going to be real. And true. And people, at that time period especially, didn't always have a happy ending. I really enjoyed how true to reality the story stayed. 

Like I said, I highly recommend this book! I loved everything about it! This review is actually probably a bit scrambled, just because I'm so excited about this book. 

Marcus Zusak has another book out, I Am the Messenger, and I'm really interested in reading it over the summer! 

Rating : 5/5

Book Blog Hop (#2)

 
It's Friday, and you know what that means, another Book Blog Hop over at Crazy For Books!


I found some great blogs last week on the blog hop, so be sure to check out the other blogs below. I never realized how large the book blogging community was! Good luck with your current reading and good luck with your hopping! 


I'm currently reading The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak, I'm almost to the end and it's the weekend, so I should be able to finish it soon so keep your eyes peeled for a review! 

Teaser Tuesday

"They rode home on rusty bikes. 

They rode home a couple of miles, 

from summer to autumn, 

and from a quiet night 

to the noisy breath of the bombing of Munich."

- The Book Thief, p.370

So, I wasn't planning on getting bogged down in too many memes, but I kind of like this one, and I'm reading a long-ish book right now, so it might be a few days until my next review. This meme, called Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Should Be Reading every Tuesday. You can find instructions for participating on her site. 

Hope you're having a good week, both in the reading world and in life! =D

Blog Hop

In an attempt to get this blog rolling, I joined a blog hop hosted by Crazy For Books!

This is a wonderful idea, and I've found a lot of cool and interesting new book blogs to follow, so you should definitely go check it out!


And if you're here from the Hop: Hello! Thanks for Hopping by!