Paper Towns

Author: John Green

Summary: Who is the real Margo?

Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs into his life—dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows. After their all-nighter ends, and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues—and they're for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees the girl he thought he knew..

Comments: I love you John Green, I really do, even though the only other book of yours that I’ve read is The Fault in Our Stars (though admittedly it wasn’t all that great, and as blasphemous as this may sound, I love the movie better than the book *GASP* but I really liked it).

So, Paper Towns. 

What should’ve taken me a maximum of four hours to finish took away 2 days of my life. That’s 2 days I’ll never get back. I’m a very fast reader; I can finish a whole book in 2-4 hours, provided I have little interruption. But while reading this, I was looking forward to some interruption myself.

I cannot stress how boring this book is.

Q’s crush on Margo is no mere crush; it’s an obsession. An unhealthy obsession. And don’t get me started on Margo Roth Spiegelman, who’s apparently so perfect and awesome that 4 people miss their graduation to race across to country to look for this attention-seeking, self-centered bitch.

Halfway through the book I was ready to kill Margo myself.

Was seriously considering adding it to my DNF pile. What kept me going was this need to know if that bitch Margo is dead. Not gonna spoil anything here, but I must say I’m disappointed with how it ends. I leave it to you to guess why.

Rating: 2/5

Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Author: Rick Riordan

Summary:

The Lightning Thief
Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can't seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. And lately, being away at boarding school is only getting worse-Percy could have sworn his pre-algebra teacher turned into a monster and tried to kill him. When Percy's mom finds out, she knows it's time that he knew the truth about where he came from, and that he go to the one place he'll be safe. She sends Percy to Camp Half Blood, a summer camp for demigods (on Long Island), where he learns that the father he never knew is Poseidon, God of the Sea. Soon a mystery unfolds and together with his friends -- one a satyr and the other the demigod daughter of Athena -- Percy sets out on a quest across the United States to reach the gates of the Underworld (located in a recording studio in Hollywood) and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods.

The Sea of Monsters
After a summer spent trying to prevent a catastrophic war between the Greek gods, Percy Jackson's seventh grade school year seems unnervingly quiet. His biggest problem is dealing with his new friend, Tyson -- a six-foot-three, mentally challenged homeless kid who follows Percy everywhere, making it hard for Percy to have any "normal" friends. But things don't stay quiet for long. Percy soon discovers there is trouble at Camp Half Blood: the magical borders that protect Half-Blood Hill have been poisoned by a mysterious enemy, and the only safe haven for demigods is on the verge of being overrun by mythological monsters. To save the camp, Percy needs the help of his best friend, Grover, who has been taken prisoner on an island somewhere in the Sea of Monsters, the dangerous waters Greek heroes have sailed for millennia. Only today, the Sea of Monsters goes by a new name . . . The Bermuda Triangle. Percy must retrieve the Golden Fleece from the Island of the Cyclopes by the end of the summer or Camp Half Blood will be destroyed. But first, Percy will learn a stunning new secret about his family -- one that makes him question whether being claimed as Poseidon's son is an honor or simply a cruel joke.

The Titan's Curse
When the goddess Artemis goes missing, she is believed to have been kidnapped.And now it's up to Percy and his friends to find out what happened. Who is powerful enough to kidnap a goddess? They must find Artemis before the winter solstice, when her influence on the Olympian Council could swing an important vote on the war with the titans. Not only that, but first Percy will have to solve the mystery of a rare monster that Artemis was hunting when she disappeared -- a monster rumored to be so powerful it could destroy Olympus forever.

The Battle of the Labyrinth
Percy Jackson isn't expecting freshman orientation to be any fun. But when a mysterious mortal acquaintance appears on campus, followed by demon cheerleaders, things quickly move from bad to worse. In this latest installment of the blockbuster series, time is running out as war between the Olympians and the evil Titan lord Kronos draws near. Even the safe haven of Camp Half-Blood grows more vulnerable by the minute as Kronos's army prepares to invade its once impenetrable borders. To stop the invasion, Percy and his demigod friends must set out on a quest through the Labyrinth'"a sprawling underground world with stunning surprises at every turn. Full of humor and heart-pounding action, this latest audiobook promises to be their most thrilling adventure yet.

The Last Olympian
Kronos and his vast armies of monsters and minor gods finally launch their assault on Mt. Olympus, which means attacking the island of Manhattan. Because the gods are away dealing with Typhon -- the worst monster of all time, who's escaped from his prison under Mt. St. Helens -- it is left to the vastly overmatched and outnumbered demigods, led by Percy, to protect New York and Olympus.

Comments: First, wizards (Harry Potter). Then vampires (Twilight). And now, demigods. I must say, I never expected to like the books this much. Rick Riordan did an amazing job with the story using Greek Mythology. It's no Harry Potter, of course. I mean, who can compete with J.K. Rowling, right? And heck, I gotta stop comparing every fantasy novel with the HP series. But I just couldn't resist saying that the series was way, way better than Twilight (sorry Twilight fans, but I'm an HP fan through and through - and, by the looks of it, a new PJ fan).

I saw the movie adaptation, but it brought no justice to the first book. I liked the movie when I first saw it, but that was before I read the book. And now, after reading, I could see there were a lot of scenes that were either deleted or edited which were important in the succeeding books.

I was sad that the series ended, but I take comfort in the knowledge that Rick Riordan may be writing a new series about Camp-Half Blood, hopefully to be released sometime this year. I just can't wait.

Rating: 5/5

The Shadow of the Wind

Author: Carlos Ruiz Safon

Summary: A stunning literary thriller in the tradition of Umberto Eco. The discovery of a forgotten book leads to a hunt for an elusive author who may or may not still be alive...

Hidden in the heart of the old city of Barcelona is the 'cemetery of lost books', a labyrinthine library of obscure and forgotten titles that have long gone out of print. To this library, a man brings his 10-year-old son Daniel one cold morning in 1945. Daniel is allowed to choose one book from the shelves and pulls out 'La Sombra del Viento' by Julian Carax. But as he grows up, several people seem inordinately interested in his find. Then, one night, as he is wandering the old streets once more, Daniel is approached by a figure who reminds him of a character from La Sombra del Viento, a character who turns out to be the devil. This man is tracking down every last copy of Carax's work in order to burn them. What begins as a case of literary curiosity turns into a race to find out the truth behind the life and death of Julian Carax and to save those he left behind. A page-turning exploration of obsession in literature and love, and the places that obsession can lead.

Rating: 4.5/5

Quote: Few things leave a deeper mark on a reader than the first book that finds its way into his heart. ♥

The Surgeon

Author: Tess Gerritsen

Summary: In her most masterful novel of medical suspense, New York Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen creates a villain of unforgettable evil--and the one woman who can catch him before he kills again.

He slips into their homes at night and walks silently into bedrooms where women lie sleeping, unaware of the horrors they soon will endure. The precision of the killer's methods suggests he is a deranged man of medicine, propelling the Boston newspapers and the frightened public to name him "The Surgeon."

The cops' only clue rests with another surgeon, the victim of a nearly identical crime. Two years ago, Dr. Catherine Cordell fought back and killed her attacker before he could complete his assault. Now she hides her fears of intimacy behind a cool and elegant exterior and a well-earned reputation as a top trauma surgeon.

Cordell's careful facade is about to crack as this new killer recreates, with chilling accuracy, the details of Cordell's own ordeal. With every new murder he seems to be taunting her, cutting ever closer, from her hospital to her home. Her only comfort comes from Thomas Moore, the detective assigned to the case. But even Moore cannot protect Cordell from a brilliant hunter who somehow understands--and savors--the secret fears of every woman he kills.

Filled with the authentic detail that is the trademark of this doctor turned author . . . and peopled with rich and complex characters--from the ER to the squad room to the city morgue--here is a thriller of unprecedented depth and suspense. Exposing the shocking link between those who kill and cure, punish and protect, The Surgeon is Tess Gerritsen's most exciting accomplishment yet.

Comments: I spent half of the night finishing this book, the other half trying to get some sleep with picturing the killer killing me. This is one terrifying read. It's hard to put down once you start it. This book gave me nightmares last night.

Rating: 4.5/5