Long Story Short

Hello fellow readers!
I'm not much of a storyteller- that is, the speaking, talking type of storyteller. So when I found 'Long Story Short' by Margot Leitman, I hoped that it would help me with my storytelling skills- and help it did!
Long Story Short by Margot Leitman is a good guide to storytelling for a beginner. It talks about how to be more expressive, choosing what stories to narrate, what to do and what not to do and how to make your own life story-worthy.
I enjoyed it- Margot recommends to the reader some good short stories to read and listen to. She talks about how to get the audience to root for you- the trick, it turns out, is to make yourself flawed instead of perfect. She also uses some of her own stories to help us understand what she means. I'm definitely going to use some of her tips next time.
I also liked the way she wrote- it was casual and not boring. I swept through the book pretty easily, which can be hard for me, personally, because I'm not that into non-fiction books, but Margot Leitman's book held my attention.
Margot Leitman is a storyteller, comedian and writer from New Jersey. She's also written Gawky: Tales of an Extra Long Awkward Phase. She is five-time Moth StorySLAM winner.
I recommend this book for ages 12+.

Twilight- a 'Love' Story

Hey everybody!
Today I'll be reviewing a pretty popular book- Twilight by Stephenie Meyer.
Twilight is the love story of Isabella 'Bella' Swan and Edward Cullen. When Bella moves to Forks, Washington, which she calls 'the rainiest place on the planet', she expects to find boredom, misery and homesickness. But when she goes to school, she is fascinated by the mysterious Edward Cullen and his family, but at first sight Edward seems to hate her.
Gradually, though, they start to bond and Bella figures out the Cullens' secret- they're vampires. The Cullens accept her, though, but soon Bella is put in danger when a hunter wants to track her down and drink her blood...
I personally didn't find the love story to have much love. The 'love' didn't feel like actual 'love.' Edward and Bella have known each other (not very well either) for barely two months before professing their 'love' for each other, and having barely any proper conversations. Also, I would like to know more about the Cullens' (and Bella's) daily lives, including their hobbies- not just their special gifts. It would be more realistic if this was shown.
I would also prefer it if Bella had more of of a personality instead of just being a blank slate that dumps her friends the moment Edward takes an interest in her. In fact, from the moment she has her first conversation with Edward, we hardly know what happens to her at school or at home- everything is now about Edward.
Also, the plot felt pretty rushed, as did the love story. I feel like this could have been much better if the love story was slower and daily life was explained better- not just at school but at home as well. I wanted to know more about the vampires too- why did they only move to Forks, 'the rainiest place on the planet' now? How come nobody other than Bella figured the whole vampire thing out? She can't be the only girl to research about vampires, can she?
The book is supposed to be based on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, but personally I feel that Pride and Prejudice is far better- if you want a good love story I would recommend it instead.
There are four books in the series, and I have only read the first book; I'm not sure whether I'm going to read the next three.
Stephenie Meyer is best known for the Twilight series, and she has also written The Host.
I don't really recommend Twilight to anyone- but the age group would be around 12+.

The Origin and the Destination

Hello!
Like I said before, I've been reading many books by Dan Brown. In this post I'll be reviewing his most recent book Origin. This is the fifth book in the Robert Langdon series.
When Harvard professor Robert Langdon is invited to one of his former student's presentations, he does not expect the night to go totally haywire. Edmond Kirsch, who claims he has had a breakthrough in finding the origin of the universe and the future of the human race is killed in the middle of his presentation...before his discovery is revealed.
With his life in danger, Langdon and Guggenheim Museum Bilbao's director Ambra Vidal are on the run to solve the puzzle Kirsch has placed before them, with the help of Kirsch's incredible artificial intelligence, Winston. Meanwhile, the future king of Spain, Prince Julian, and close friend of the king, Bishop Valdespino, have gone missing...
Could this have something to do with the mysterious visit Kirsch paid to three prominent religious figures recently, and the murders of Rabbi Yehuda Koves and allamah Syed al-Fadl?
And what is the discovery that Edmond Kirsch has made?
Set in Spain, Origin has a good pace and while the 'destination' part of Kirsch's discovery was a bit predictable, even without the book, I did appreciate the idea of the 'origin' and 'purpose' behind the whole universe.
Dan Brown has written the Robert Langdon books, including The Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons, Inferno and The Lost Symbol and well as the standalone novels Deception Point and Digital Fortress.
As with The Da Vinci Code, I recommend this book for ages 12 and above.

Breaking the Da Vinci Code

Hey guys!
Recently I've been reading Dan Brown. I read the Da Vinci Code, and I really liked it! Loved it, I could say. I'll be reviewing it in this post.
When Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon awakes in the middle of the night to a police investigation, everything is turned upside down. The elderly curator of the Louvre who Robert was supposed to meet earlier that evening has been found dead... and he left a message pointing to Langdon. On the run from the police and with the key Jacques Sauniere has left them, Robert and Sauniere's granddaughter Sophie Neveu are on a mission to find out who killed Sauniere and why. Sauniere has also left them a puzzle to solve and the truth about Sophie's ancestors.
The mystery leads to another mystery- the search for the Holy Grail- which may not be a literal grail after all...
I really enjoyed The Da Vinci Code. I loved the historical part of the book and the puzzle-solving. The suspense, I felt, was well-done and I really wanted to know what would happen next. I also liked the characters, especially Langdon, Silas and Teabing. I especially found Teabing an interesting character.
The Da Vinci Code is one of the most widely-read books of all time.
Dan Brown has also written Origin, Digital Fortress, Angels and Demons, Inferno, The Lost Symbol and Deception Point, all of which I found thrilling and interesting. Brain-food, if you will.
I recommend this book for ages 12 and above, though for most readers it may be better for ages 13-14 and above.

What If?

Hello everybody!
I'm so sorry I haven't posted in a really long time... but now I have an AWESOME book to review, called What If? by Randall Munroe.
The book answers all sorts of ridiculous questions in a scientific- but fun- way. Some examples of these questions include:
What if everyone actually had only one soul mate, a random person somewhere in the world?
If every person on Earth aimed a laser pointer at the moon at the same time, would it change color?
Is it possible to cry so much you dehydrate yourself?
There are many other questions like these.. and believe it or not, most actually have pretty logical answers! I really like this book because it's pretty funny and to be honest, it's fun, if a little depressing sometimes, to read about the thousands of ways Earth could be destroyed. The author even turned the question 'What would happen if everyone on Earth stood as close to each other as they could and jumped, everyone landing on the ground at the same instant?' into the near-extinction of the human species.
I found it to be an easily understandable and and enjoyable book. It's great to read over and over again, especially some of the funnier, stranger answers.
Randall Munroe is an American cartoonist, author, engineer and scientific theorist. He is the creator of the webcomic xkcd.
I recommend this book to ages 9 and above.

Send A Million Angels...

Hello guys!
Sorry I haven't posted a review in a while! Today I'll be reviewing A Million Angels, by Kate Maryon. A few years ago, I posted a review a review on 27 April 2014 about a book called Shine, by the same author. I absolutely loved Shine, and A Million Angels was written by the same author.
Jemima's father is in the army and he has to go to Afghanistan for half a year. Jemima loves her father and is devastated by this. She's so scared for him- will he ever come back?
To make things worse, her frenemy, Jess, can't stop talking about how happy she is her dad has gone off too- and she continuously insults Jemima about her horrible fashion sense, her dad, her family, her lack of real friends...
Jemima's off to a bad start at school. She has absolutely no friends and all the kids seem to hate her. Her only consolation are the angels she draws on her arm and sends off to her father every day. But when her class is assigned to do a project on a topic of their choice, she knows exactly what to do- and it involves uniting her grandmother with her long-lost love.
That's when everything goes haywire- Jemima sets off the fire alarm, wears her gas mask to school, and lands in major trouble. But that's not the worst of it. The worst is yet to come...
The book, while with a massive potential, with a strong story line and a good writer, was not as good as Shine. It did not cast the spell over me that Shine did, and Jemima as a character, had no other qualities or hobbies other than being scared for her father. The story also felt unfocused. There are too many side plots for a book of this size(getting a new sibling, bullies, class project, helping her grandmother, getting along with her mother, seriously hurting her enemy, Ned's grandfather dying, her father going to war, etc.), and only a few were handled well. It would be better if Jemima had other characteristics and the story had fewer plot points.
I liked the idea, though, and Jess was an interesting character that I would like to read more about. The book was well-written for the age group and easy to get through. The lessons taught were definitely awesome and I liked the way Jemima helped her grandmother and gradually became happy.
Kate Maryon is a British author who likes chocolate, films, reading, eating out and lying on sunny beaches. Other books she's written include Shine, Glitter, Invisible Girl and Sea of Stars.    

Show Your Inner Star!

Hey readers!
What if you could go to a boarding school with absolutely EVERYTHING- shopping, horse stables, a gigantic library, your own room, a greenhouse, a pet-care center, a lake? That sounds awesome- just really expensive! But that school does exist- in the Innerstar University books by American Girl!
In the Innerstar University books, you can imagine yourself as a girl in this special boarding school, taking parts in all sorts of activities. But there are problems too- will you be able to go to your friend's party when it's at the lake, which you're afraid of? Will you ride in a horse show months after the most humiliating horse show ever? Will you make the right decision to keep your favorite dog safe? Can you lead a troop of girls for a hike in the woods?
These books are similar to the Goosebumps 'You Choose the Scare' books because the reader is the one making the stories and controlling what happens.
One thing that I don't like about these books, however, is that sometimes the situations are hard to believe and the decisions made may not apply to everyone. For example, one of the books, Braving the Lake, is about you facing your fear of the lake. But if you're not afraid of the lake in real life, this problem seems a bit silly and isn't relatable. Also, some of the choices are ones that you wouldn't make yourself.
These books are written by different authors and are part of the American Girl books. There is also an online website for Innerstar University which you can access if you have the book or doll.
Some books in this series are Braving the Lake, A Girl's Best Friend, Project Friendship, Taking the Reins, Fork in the Trail, Into the Spotlight, Bound For Snow and many more.
I recommend these books for ages 9 and above.