Three Sentence Book Reviews

As an avid reader and writer I have decided to expand this blog to something more than me talking about my life.  It has come to my awareness that my life is a rather boring affair, and need not be chronicled in a blog.  I have also been informed that I should expand the scope of this blog to responding to current events.  So in a compromise I will review books, both bestsellers and esoteric novels that are nearly off the radar.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

This book encompasses love and loss in the story of a girl who has never been anything but terminal, Hazel Grace is a cancer patient who goes through the most unimaginable infinity possible in the numbered days and this best-selling young adult novel's movie will premiere in cinemas this summer.  This novel is beautifully written, impeccably worded, and is an emotion-wrenching novel that will have any reader in tears by the end.  It mixes sharp humor with poignant sadness to create the most dreadfully real cancer book I have ever read and is definitely worth reading.

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

J.D. Salinger's novel follows the story of Holden Caulfield, who rebels against the conformity of life as a teenager in New York City and his revelations as he grows older and reflects both on his life as a child, his younger sister Phoebe, and the girl who went away.  While there are some who critique this book as not crossing the generational gap well, with it's language now being antiquated and Holden's views old-fashioned in places, it still holds considerable value as a literary work in today's time.  The writing style is one that cannot be replicated, the diction is unique, and the language interspersed throughout is creative and gives true insight into the mind of any teenager.

Emergency Room by Caroline B. Cooney

A short book surrounding the events of a single evening at an underfunded inner-city emergency room which frequently also acts as a drunk-tank, homeless shelter, and teaching facility for medical students.  This reads in a highly unusual fashion as each chapter is told from a different perspective, ranging from an Emergency Medical Technician to a five-year-old girl at the emergency room with her younger siblings because they have nowhere else to go.  The work dives deep into the realities of what truly happens in an emergency room, covering all of the successes failures, lives and deaths, and shows the grit and raw emotion of hospitals.

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo

DiCamillo's children's tale tells the story of Edward Tulane, a rabbit doll who has a little girl who loves him very much, but he only cares about himself; as he experiences a life he never has before had to live he loses his self-righteousness and gains the ability to love.  Although this is a story that was targeted towards children it is a book that everyone needs to read, as it is not only a beautifully written book with a both heartwarming and heartbreaking plot, but it also teaches some of the best life lessons one could learn.  The tale is beautifully crafted, the characters are perfectly built up, and the lessons will stick with you for a very long time.

Partials by Dan Wells

Kira and Samm's story is told in Manhattan, after nearly everyone else in the world is dead, due to a man-made apocalypse, which left the world in shambles and the few human survivors fighting for everything they had, mostly against the threat of "Partials" attack.  With a sea of apocalypse and dystopian future books flooding the market currently, it is rather difficult to know which ones are actually worth reading, but Wells is ones of them.  The writing is filled with humor, love, sarcasm, and loss; and the setting seems very realistic.