Divergent by Veronica Roth

I have just finished this book.  It is so amazing!  Set in future Chicago, we follow Beatrice Prior through the Choosing Ceremony, and into her unique destiny.  Long ago, the leaders of this futuristic nation decided that in order to keep peace and prevent war, the people should be split in to five different factions:  Abnegation- always helping others and literally never thinking of yourself

Candor- always telling the truth

Erudite-those who thirst and search for knowledge

Dauntless- the brave and courageous and daring

Amity- those who seek peace

Beatrice grew up in Abnegation.  As hard as she tried, she never felt like she belonged.  The grey baggy clothing, no makeup, always doing for others, it just never came naturally for her.  When children turn sixteen, they take an aptitude test to determine what faction most suits them.  When they enter the test, they are put through a simulation with different obstacles to test their tendencies.  When Beatrice takes her test, her results are inconclusive and she is determined to be divergent.  She then has to choose her faction without knowing what she really is.  She chooses Dauntless and her life is forever changed.  She goes through initiation and against all odds makes it through on top.  Life is not as good as it seems however when Beatrice discovers that the Erudite are warring against the Abnegation and the Dauntless are meant to fight.  Beatrice discovers the true meaning to being divergent and she helps save the day.  This is one of the best books I've read in a while and I want you all to read it.

The Hunger Games by Susan Collins

Ok, I am re-doing my Hunger Games post.  I had forgotten how utterly amazing they were.  I have been on Christmas break, as I am sure most of you are as well.  In all of my spare time, I've been catching up on my reading as best as I can.  I have finally reread The Hunger Games and can tell you they are so worth it.  You follow Katniss Everdeen, a teenage girl and head of her family, as she competes in the 74th annual Hunger Games.  She lives a life of poverty in District 12, one of the 13 districts set up by The Capitol, the all powerful government that rules what is left of North America sometime in the future.  Her dad died when she was just a girl and her mom became nonexistent.  Katniss had to fend for herself and her mother and younger sister Prim by hunting illegally with her best friend Gale in the woods.  Every year The Capitol hosts The Hunger Games to show the people they are still in control.  The Capitol hosts a ceremony in every district called the reaping to choose two tributes from districts 1-12 to compete in the games.  District 13 is no longer existing because they were destroyed years ago.  The 24 tributes are then put in to a giant arena to fight to the death for not only their lives but eternal glory and contentment.  On the day of the reaping, Prim, Katniss' younger sister is chosen out of thousands of names to compete in the games.  Frantically Katniss volunteers to go for her.  Peeta Mellark, the son of the town baker is also chosen to compete and together they make their way into the games.  They play the angle of being madly in love to make the people love them and help them out if the need be.  As the games progress, tributes are killed and Katniss does her best not to die when she realizes that Peeta has been in love with her and helping her the entire time.  She finds him nearly dead and nurses him back to help while all the districts watch on their televisions.  It ends up being the two of them left and they are supposed to kill each other.  In an act of defiance and and refusal to kill each other they threaten to eat poisoned berries to outsmart the Capitol.  They are both declared winners and are whisked out of the arena.  As they return home, Peeta is devoted to Katniss, but her feelings are conflicted over him and Gale.  This book is perfect for boys and girls because boys will love the fighting and adventure, and the girls will wrestle with wether to pick Peeta or Gale.  This is a must read for everyone.

The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder

The Bridge of San Luis Rey follows Brother Juniper, a monk in Lima, through the lives of five individuals that were on the main bridge in Lima when it collapsed.  He is trying to study their lives in the hope that he can explain that things happen for a reason.  It also expresses some universal themes like true love and happiness.  In all honesty, this book was very depressing but I did not feel very attached to the characters as they died because you only read about them for a brief moment.  I don't think I would really recommend this book as a good read, however every book makes you a better reader and it is a classic.

Alas Babylon Pat Frank

Alas Babylon is a book that I recently read for school.  Contrary to what my past experiences have led me to believe, it was a pretty good book.  It takes place in the small town of Fort Repose, Florida.  Randy Bragg is retired from the army and, living off family money, is wasting away there.  When his brother Mark gives him warning of an atomic bomb threat from Russia, he urges Randy to take immediate action.  Mark's wife Helen and her two kids Ben Franklin and Peyton come to live with him.  The bomb hits a few days later and life as everyone knows it changes drastically.  No longer was there money, electricity, and government.  It became a survival of the fittest type situation.  Randy and his street form their own family to survive.  The book focuses on their survival and adaptation to the new world.  It is a good read and I would recommend it.

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

I am terribly sorry fellow readers. I have neglected this blog for a number of weeks now.  I have been completely swamped in school work.  Ok, I finally finished East of Eden.  It was an absolutely amazing book.  I would like to formally thank Nathan for his sound and appreciated advice.  It took me a good while to finally finish it, but it was well worth it.  East of Eden is basically the  story of Cain and Abel.  I didn't actually see the parallel until the very last page.  It follows Adam Trask through his young life in to adult hood.  He gets married and has two boys.  He gets his heart broken and falls into a passive state. He befriends a few very influential men in his life that help him live.  His two sons are the parallel Cain and Abel I mentioned earlier.    All I can really say is that it is an amazing book.  I did not think I would like it at all but it is officially on my list of favorite books.  There are so many things to be derived from it.  I do recommend it however, to an older audience.  I think that you would enjoy it more if you were older, and also it has a little adult content in it.  Please read this book, it is so good.

Update

I realize that I don't typically post unless I am recommending a book or giving a review.  However, since I am reading a rather large book at the moment, it is taking me longer to read and therefore I have not posted in a while.  On that note,  I wanted to let you all know that I am still alive and almost finished with Steinbeck.

East of Eden by John Steinbeck dedicated to Nathan Terrell

  Bonjour readers of the world.  As you are all well aware of by now,  I typically only do book reviews.  However, it has been brought to my attention by a certain Thomas West that I needed to make a recommendation.  So, I have decided to make my first book recommendation post.  Nathan Terrell is an absolutely awesome and hilarious guy that I got to know over the summer.  He has an avid love for books and spends much time reading.  His most recent book was East of Eden by John Steinbeck.  He was completely in love with it and could not put it down.  It is a fantastic book that he suggested to me and some of my friends.  He said it was one of his favorite books and we should all read it.  So now me and a few friends are reading it.  I wanted to pass on his recommendation to all of you.  So please read it and let me know what you think.