Listen To The Mustn'ts by Shel Silverstein

This is something that I just thought would be kind of fun. I really like poetry so I thought I'd put in a poem that I really like every once in a while, like while I'm reading a book and have nothing else to post just then... anyway, here's the first poem.

Listen To The Mustn'ts
Shel Silverstein

Listen to the MUSTN'TS, child,
Listen to the DON'TS
Listen to the SHOULDN'TS
The IMPOSSIBLES, the WON'TS
Listen to the NEVER HAVES
Then listen close to me -
Anything can happen, child,
ANYTHING can be.

I actually just found that poem yesturday looking for a good poem to use for a project I'm working on. In my opinion it has a really good message behind it and is sort of inspiring. So, tell me what poems you guys like!

Thanks for reading,

Zibz

Where Are You Now? By Mary Higgins Clark

My mom suggested this book to me (thanks mom) and it was amazing! I really haven't read a lot of mystery books before, and definitely none like this, a.k.a. totally and completely awesome!

Story:

Ten years before the story takes place, Carolyn's older brother, Mack, disappeared. He calls his mom's house every year on Mothers' Day to say that he loves her and that he's okay. So, on Mother's Day ten years after his disappearance, Carolyn gets on the phone during Mack's yearly call and vows to hunt him down. The next day he leaves a cryptic note telling her that she must not look for her. It only makes her more determined to find her brother and she sets off on her mission. But when a girl disappears from a club and calls to tell her dad that she'll contact him again on Mother's Day, suspicion turns to Mack, and, of course, Carolyn.

This is a great book that I completely recommend! It receives 5, no, 6 out of 5 stars for being, probably, my new favorite book. Check it out!

Thanks for Reading!

Zibz

Fairest of All by Serena Valentino

Sorry I haven't updated my blog for a while, I've been really busy with homework and have had hardly no time for reading! So, my friend gave me this book for my birthday a while ago and I just read it! It was amazing!

Story:

We all know the story of Snow White. How she was forced to work by her cruel stepmother, narrowly avoided being killed and met the seven dwarfs. And of course, how she was woken from an evil spell by true loves kiss. But has anyone ever wondered why the wicked queen did it? Sure, Snow white was more beautiful than she was, but surely there's more to the story? Fairest of All tells the story of the wicked queen. It all started when she met the king and fell in love outside her fathers mirror shop. They get married and she becomes Snow's stepmother. She and Snow love each other beyond imagination, they spend days together while the king is away at battle telling stories or wandering through the woods. But when the news that the king perished in battle reaches them the queen changes. She becomes cold and closed off, only interacting with the magic mirror, a gift from three of the kings strange cousins. She becomes addicted to the mirror, craving the time when it would tell her how beautiful she was. And, if at any time the mirror says someone else is more beautiful she finds a way to banish them from the kingdom. Or worse.

Fairest of All is a great book that I had a hard time putting down. It gets a five out of five stars in my opinion, check it out!

Thanks for reading!

Zibz

Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen

So, yep, it's another Sarah Dessen book. As I said in my Lock and Key post, she's one of my favorite - actually no, she is my favorite, author. And, FUN FACT I did my book report for English on this book! I know, you really wanted to know that, anyway...

Story:

Alright, Halley and Scarlett have been best friends from basically the moment they met. They've each had their own role in the friendship, always keeping it perfectly balanced. But, when Halley is at summer camp, the perfect harmony begins to slip when Scarlett's boyfriend is killed in a motorcycle accident. Just as Scarlett is sort of getting over her boyfriends death, she finds out that she's carrying his baby. Scarlett's mom wants her to get an abortion, but Scarlett refuses, saying that she wants her baby. So, she and Halley get down to business, but, during the more than stressful time, Halley meets Macon, a funny, nice guy who she starts dating. She also has to deal with her controlling mother and her dad, who's radio station has suddenly gotten extremely popular. But, through it all, Halley and Scarlett will make it through together.

I actually read this book for book club last month, but, well, I didn't have my blog back then. So, I felt I had to put it out here now, seeing as it's one of my favorite books. It ranks a solid five, and I'm planning on re-reading it soon! If you like this book, check out some of Sarah Dessen's other novels, they're awesome!

Thanks for reading,

Zibz

Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen

Alright, so, I know I said that normally I'm all fantasy, all the time. Well, basically that's true, except for Sarah Dessen books. She's an amazing realistic fiction writer and you'll probably be seeing a lot of her books on here if you're following my blog. Anyway, I just read another one of her books called Lock and Key and it was, like all of her books, amazing!

Story:

So Ruby has always had to take care of herself. Her parents are divorced and her dad sort of disappeared after it happened, her mom is drunk most of the time and her sister left the family ten years earlier and never contacted them again. Then, only about six months before she turns 18, her mom leaves. Ruby comes home one day to find her mom gone. She doesn't worry a lot at first, her mom leaves multiple times for a couple days at a time and then comes back after her money runs out, or her latest boyfriend dumps her. But weeks pass with no word from her, pretty soon, Ruby's landlords figure out that her mom is gone and call social services. Ruby ends up living with her sister, Cora, and her sister's husband, Jamie. The first night, she decides that she has to get out of the huge, luxurious house and tries to jump the fence, only to come face to face with Nate, the boy that lives next door. It turns out that she and Nate are in the same grade, they slowly, but surely become friends and Ruby is shocked to learn the secret that Nate is desperately trying to hide.

This is a great book I give it a solid five out of five... maybe even six, she's an amazing author! Sarah Dessen makes it really easy to fall in love with the characters in all of her books. So, if you like this story, I would also recommend, well, any of her books...

Thanks for reading!

~Zibz

Hacking Harvard by Robin Wasserman

Alright, so normally, I'm a hardcore fantasy reader, but, the occasional realistic fiction books sometimes happen across my radar, this would be one of those rare few. It's a great book with an engaging plot line and expertly mixed in humor to spice up the already hot plot line.

Story:

Two high school seniors, Eric and Max, and a college freshman, Schwarz, along with a messed up, want-to-be valedictorian, Lex, decide to hack Harvard. That's right, Harvard. See, Eric used to be friends with this girl who was positively brilliant. She applied to all these different schools and, in return, got all sorts of rejection letters that nobody saw coming. The next day, she had a mental breakdown and was sent to a hospital. Eric wants payback. Plus, Max wanted to make some good money from a bet he made stating that they could get a burn out into Harvard to prove that the acceptance system was messed up. Lex wants to do something great, even if they can't tell anyone about it afterward. And Schwarz? He basically does whatever Max does, and if that means hacking his own school, well, so be it. But as they go through the months of prep and training, they realize that the stakes are much higher then they originally appeared to be.

This book gets a four out of five stars in my opinion. Once I started reading it, I had a hard time putting it down, not just because of the exciting, fast moving plot line, but because I could really connect with the characters. I would highly recommend this to anyone that likes realistic fiction and comedy.

Also, one of my amazing best friends, Sev, has her own blog. She's an amazing author, loves her books with a passion and writes great reviews of them. Check out her blog at http://www.sevtheauthor.blogspot.com/

Thanks for reading,

Zibz

Tempted by P.C. and Kristin Cast

So I first got into this series last year when my friend sort of shoved the first book at me and said "Read. Now." And, I have to admit, I really wasn't excited about reading it, it looked dark and freaky, but, she'd used her stern voice so, reluctantly, I read. Well, I loved it. And, the sixth book, Tempted, just came out, so, naturally, I bought it the day it was released (what? I love books!).

Story:

It's the sixth installment of The House Of Night series by P.C. and Kristin Cast. Basically, this book revolves around four main themes, friendship, honesty (or lack thereof), love, and loyalty. Zoey has to figure out what to do after seemingly defeating the evil immortal, Kalona, and all of his evil Raven Mockers (basically his assistants). With her warrior, Stark, at her side along with her best friends, Stevie Rae, Aphrodite, Erin, Shaunee, Damien and Jack, she must figure out how to handle the reappearance of Kalona and the growing dishonesty among their own tightly knit friend group.

This book recieves four out of five stars in my opinion. It really grabs your attention and holds it, but the only reason I wasn't bawling at the end was because I was to shocked. Later, I saw the book and burst into tears... But, it's a great story.

The series: Marked, Betrayed, Chosen, Untamed, Hunted, Tempted and, coming out sometime in May 2010, Burned

Thanks for reading!

Zibz

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

This is one of my all time favorite books. City Of Bones is the exciting story of Shadowhunters: people that hunt demons and keep the downworlders (vampires, werewolves, etc.) in order.

Story:
Clary, a girl who loves to hang out with her best friend Simon and spend Friday nights at a club called Pandemonium, ends up in the middle of the Shadow world when her mom gets kidnapped by demons. She then meets a group of Shadowhunters that run The Institute (a Shadowhunter safe house) in New York. The group is made up of three teenagers, Jace, Alec, and Isabelle, and their metor, Hodge. As the group investigates the kidnapping, they find out that there is a block in Clary's mind that is blocking out some of her memories. They try taking her to the Silent Brothers, a group of Shadowhunters that can control and read peoples minds, to remove the block, but it doesn't work. They then take her to the person that put the block there in the first place, a warlock named Magnus Bane. After regaining a few of her memories, they set off on a search for her mom that brings them face to face with the evil villian, Valentine.

This book recieves five out of five stars in my opinion. It's a story I can read over and over again without getting bored. So, if you like it, check out it's sequals, City of Ashes and City of Glass.

Thanks for reading,
Zibz