Contest Saturday

Here are some contests that are currently going on right now in the blogosphere that are book related. Click the links to enter them. I will try to hold my own contest each month.

Win a copy of The Lost Girl HERE. Ends TODAY

Win a copy of The Listless HERE. Ends 2/17

Win a copy of Beautiful Creatures HERE. Ends 2/18

Win a copy of Nobody and Every Other Day HERE. Ends 2/20

Win a copy of Fall For Me HERE. Ends 2/28 

House Rules by Jodi Picoult

Title: House Rules
Author: Jodi Picoult
Publisher: Atria Books
Acquired: Bought
Age Group: Adult
Grade: 87% or B+
Buy It: Amazon

Jacob Hunt is a teenage boy with Asperger's syndrome. He's hopeless at reading social cues or expressing himself well to others, and like many kids with AS, Jacob has a special focus on one subject — in his case, forensic analysis. He's always showing up at crime scenes, thanks to the police scanner he keeps in his room, and telling the cops what they need to do...and he's usually right. But then his town is rocked by a terrible murder and, for a change, the police come to Jacob with questions. All of the hallmark behaviors of Asperger's — not looking someone in the eye, stimulatory tics and twitches, flat affect — can look a lot like guilt to law enforcement personnel. Suddenly, Jacob and his family, who only want to fit in, feel the spotlight shining directly on them. For his mother, Emma, it's a brutal reminder of the intolerance and misunderstanding that always threaten her family. For his brother, Theo, it's another indication of why nothing is normal because of Jacob. And over this small family the soul-searing question looms: Did Jacob commit murder?

My Thoughts::
After reading my first Jodi Picoult book, I find them very hard to resist.They always make me question myself and other morally and legally. I have to look at things from so many angles and see that the world isn't as black and white as we all want it to be. This book was no different.

Since we get chapters from Jacob's perspective, we actually know what is going on in his mind, his thoughts, and his motives. As readers we get frustrated with characters who don't reveal enough information to their friends and family, especially information that could change and help the situation entirely. I wanted to feel this way about Jacob because I wanted to believe that he wasn't guilty. If he just would have given the full story in the right way, he wouldn't be a suspect. But of course he couldn't do that and it wasn't his fault. It was the Aspberger's.

As for the plot, I was amazed. It is crazy how a lawyer can't ask if their client is guilty or not. This was even worse for Jacob, because if he was just asked to tell the whole story of what happened, there wouldn't have been such a huge disaster. I could really see the struggle of all of the characters. There was just so much evidence pinning Jacob as guilty, even though a lot of it was because of his Aspberger's. It shows just how little we concern ourselves with how we perceive each other and how we want everyone to fit the status quo, even those with disabilities.

Overall I enjoyed this book a lot. I found myself staring off to space thinking about it and how the whole situation worked out. The ending didn't really surprise me though which was a letdown. I guessed the ending right away and I spend the entire rest of the book hoping I was wrong so I could get a twist like the end of most Picoult books. Too bad it didn't happen.

The Calling by Kelley Armstrong

Title: The Calling (Darkness Rising Trilogy #2)
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Acquired: Bought
Age Group: Young Adult
Grade: 93% or A-
Buy It: Amazon 

A powerful secret. A desperate race for survival.

Maya and her friends are on the run. Having escaped a deliberately set forest fire and a fake rescue team with dark intentions, they were just beginning to feel safe again. Then their helicopter crashes near the Vancouver Island wilderness, and Maya and her friends realize they're about as far from safe as they can get.

But Maya has a secret. She can run faster, climb higher, and see better than nearly anyone else. It's part of who she really is—and it has something to do with her mysterious paw-print birthmark. Yet as Maya and her friends face unforeseen dangers, it becomes clear she's not the only one in their close-knit group who has something to hide. And if they're going to survive, they'll need all their extraordinary abilities to help them get back home.

My Thoughts:: 

I get more and more impressed with Armstrong the more I read from her. I enjoy her books so much. She knows exactly what to do to keep her readers interested, but also doesn't just give everything away too quickly. I can't believe I was able to wait as long as I did to read this book. I read so many books that it is easy to forget how much I want to read certain ones. 

For like half of this book I was so annoyed with Maya. It was frustrating how she wasn't putting the obvious pieces together faster. That she wasn't the only one with some sort of power. It was almost worse that she waited so long to tell the others about her powers. And of course, every time she tried to tell someone, something happening stopped her from doing it. Though, this did add a level of suspense to what would happen when it would be all out in the open.

The more and more referenced that we get to The Darkest Powers trilogy, the happier I get. I will have a super fan girl moment if the two groups ever interact with each other.  At least we get some confirmation that the first group isn't captured or something. I can not wait until we get even a glimpse of Chloe, Derek, and Simon.

It is going to be really interesting once the full extent of everyone's powers are revealed. I also want to know more of the back stories or whatever of how they all got into the program. I feel like we knew the events leading up to the first group being a part of the program, but we don't know much of the sciencey and history details of this group yet.

Overall I think that this was a pretty good continuation but I wish we learned more. I believe there is only going to be one more book, and I just know that I won't get as many details as I crave in it because there won't be enough time or a good reason for it.

Ted

Title: Ted

Director: Seth MacFarlane

Writer: Seth MacFarlane, Alec Sulkin, and Wellesley Wild

Starring:  Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, and Seth MacFarlane

Grade: 84% or B
 

My Thoughts::

For my 19th birthday I didn't really have any big plans. My best friends were out of town so I was just going to have a quiet night with my family. But then one of my guy friends wanted to see a movie for my birthday, so we got a couple of friends together. It took a while to decide what movie to see, since at least one of us has seen one of the top choices. But the popular vote was to see Ted, since those who saw it wanted to see it again.

This movie was so funny! I know that they were all pretty cheap jokes and not clever or anything really, but I didn't care this time. I liked that this was pretty much a straight up comedy. There was some romance, but that wasn't the focus. Since it was just a comedy, it was important that we did a lot of laughing, no matter how they got us to laugh. By the end of the movie my stomach was hurting from how much laughing that I did.

Most straight up comedies don't bother with any sort of real plot. It's just jokes on jokes during random scenes just to get as many laughs as possible, But Ted actually has a storyline going on and a sequence of events that lead up to each other. There was actual plot and development! The characters also had more depth than usual comedies. They worked so well together too! Their characters played off of each other's jokes and made it that much more funny.

Overall I think that if you're in the mood for some laughs, especially if you're with friends, watch this movie. It's one of those movies that references from it will follow you around for a while, so you might as well understand what they're talking about.