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Ronnie's Bookshelf
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Breaking news! Shailene Woodley (The Descendents) is going to play Hazel in the film adaptation of John Green’s The Fault In Our Stars!
I am very excited about this.
Here’s the thing, tumblr: Shailene Woodley loves The Fault in Our Stars. She really does, and in her audition, she just was Hazel—at least to me. You can read what Josh (the director) had to say about it in the article above, but for me her commitment to the book and deep understanding of Hazel make her the perfect choice.
DFTBA, @shailenewoodley !
YES!
Yesterday my mom posted a picture on Facebook of my 5 year old brother Sam wearing a pair of shoes he picked out for his first day of preschool.
She explained to him in the store that they were really made for girls. Sam then told her that he didn’t care and that “ninjas can wear pink shoes too.”
Sam went to preschool and got several compliments on his new shoes. Not one kid said anything negative toward him about it.However, my mom received about 20 comments on the photo from various family members saying how “wrong” it is and how “things like this will affect him socially” and, put most eloquently by my great aunt, “that shit will turn him gay.”
My mom then deleted the photo and told Sam that he can wear whatever he wants to preschool, that it’s his decision. If he wants to wear pink shoes, he can wear pink shoes.
Sam then explained to her that he didn’t like them because they were pink, he liked them because they were “made out of zebras” and zebras are his favorite animal :)
What does it say about society when a group of adults could stand to take a lesson in humanity from a class of preschoolers?
Words cannot express how happy this makes me.Omg forever reblog
(via that-guy-called-scott)
(Source: iamnotsorry, via artemistory)
Reading a Book but not Understanding
Recently I came across a Facebook post written by a coworker about how upset she is that she has repeatedly recommended a particular author’s books. Her reasoning? She discovered that one of the books she hadn’t read before involves sex, drugs, and alcohol. She went on to lament the poor decision she made to recommend this book and then concluded that it should not be kept in the teen section because kids as young as nine or ten peruse the section. She want as far as to say the author should have known better.
That author is John Green and the book is Looking for Alaska. I’ve read it. Yes there are mentions of sex, drugs, and alcohol. I don’t have an issue with the book being in the teen section. It is specifically categorized as a book for teenagers 13/14 and up. These are things that older children and teenagers deal with. I was very upset by the Facebook post because I applaud John Green for not shying away from things teenagers will deal with and decisions they will face. He writes honestly and in a way that doesn’t condone “bad” behavior but simply addresses it.
To judge an author because you have seen children ages 9-10 occasionally pick up his book that has content you believe is too mature, is childish. Guess whose responsibility it is to watch the children going into that section? Not John Green’s, their parents. He doesn’t lie about what is in his books. He doesn’t pretend they’re all happy and smiley books. So what is his fault? Writing about things that teenagers and children wonder about? That’s not a fault.
I have always read above my age level. My parents never monitored what I read and I’m glad. Maybe the children looking at John Green books are responsible and can handle reading about sex, drugs, and alcohol. Here’s the thing, my coworker completely missed the point of the book. It doesn’t glorify these things. It looks at how someone attempts to deal with death. The message of the book deals with a teenager dealing with his first instance of death.
My point? Understand the book you are reading and the focus of the book before criticizing. There can be different meanings in books but in this case, any meaning was missed when my coworker solely focused on the mention of drugs, sex, and alcohol.
Any thoughts?
Kiss of the She-Devil
Kiss of the She-Devil
By M. Willliam Phelps
Wow, Phelps has the ability to really remind me just how much we don’t know about other people. Gail Fulton is murdered as she leaves work one Monday night and at first it seems simple. Her husband George had been having an affair, most likely he decided to take his wife out of the picture. However, as the picture forms and facts come to light, readers begin to understand that George, while not completely an innocent bystander, was blindsided by his wife’s death. His mistress, Donna is a different story. When police first call to question her, she doesn’t even ask why, as if she knows the crime they are questioning her about. What we learn about Donna is that she has no conscious.
This is the third or fourth book by Phelps that I’ve read so by now I’m used to his writing. The only negative, which is especially evident in this new book, is how he inserts his opinions about the guilty parties. By the end of the book, his complete and utter dislike for the guilty is obvious and slightly off-putting. Even so, it isn’t off-putting enough to stop reading. Phelps has a way of slightly sensationalizing the crimes he covers without making it into an enjoyable story. It only serves to benefit his books though as many true crime novels can by very slow and dry.
4 out of 5 stars.
* I received a free copy from NetGalley*
Sketchy
Sketchy
By Olivia Samms
I really enjoyed the synopsis of this book because it seemed to have a different type of heroine and altogether feel to the book. I was not disappointed. Bea is not the heroine we would all imagine. She was sent to rehab and now her parents and everyone else believes she cannot be trusted. Willa is the head of the cheering squad at Packard High School and the most recent victim of a predator. She claims she doesn’t know the man who attacked her.
Bea has developed a new skill. She can draw images from other people’s minds. She does just that as she is talking to Willa and draws a perfect image of the man who attacked her. The problem? Willa doesn’t want to admit that it is the same man
.
The biggest critique I have of this book is the predictable struggle between the former addict and authority figures. No one trusts Bea and it is a constant struggle for her to get any credibility. She also takes some incredibly stupid risks. Samms’ writing is decent and draws the reader in enough to want to keep reading.
3 out of 5 stars
*Note: I received a free review copy from NetGalley*
Is This The Life You Want?
Son
Son
By Lois Lowry
Oh how I missed Jonas. Finally the three previous books are brought together. Son is a sequel to The Giver, but part of a four book quartet that deals with the same world. In Son, we go back to Jonas’ hometown and meet Claire, a birthmother. Claire has difficulties with her first pregnancy and is switched to a position at the fish hatchery. Unlike the other Vessels, she has feelings of missing her child. Claire takes it upon herself to find her child and begins volunteering at the Nursery.
We see glimpses of Jonas in the town during all of this. As in The Giver, Jonas runs away, taking Claire’s baby with him. Claire cannot stay and wonder what happened to her baby so she leaves as well. When we next find Claire, she is in a small village and cannot remember anything besides her name. Slowly she gets her memory back and remembers that she is on a mission to find her son.
A very capable sequel that brings to a close questions left over from the three previous books. I’ve always loved Lois Lowry’s books and Son is no different. Lowry’s writing draws you in and won’t let go. I was left wanting more, but satisfied with how the story was left.
4 out of 5 stars.
Unravel Me
Unravel Me
By Tahereh Mafi
The long awaited sequel to Shatter Me is finally here. I had few concerns going into this book, the main one being the imminent love triangle of Warner, Juliette, and Adam. You needn’t worry, Mafi delivers perfectly.
Juliette and Adam are now at Omega Point, the headquarters of the resistance. Everyone is preparing for war, including Juliette. She must learn to control her powers to be of use. However, Castle (the leader at Omega Point) is frustrated with Juliette’s unsuccessful attempts so he sends Kenji to try getting Juliette out of her shell. All Juliette wants is to spend her time with Adam and revel in the fact that he can touch her. 
This sequel blew me away. I slipped right back into Juliette’s mind within the first few pages. Her fears were my fears, her troubles were my troubles. She’s supposed to be this force to help the resistance, but she can’t figure out where her displays of inhuman strength have come from and feels everyone’s disappoint. Adam is hiding something from her which weighs on her mind even more. All she wants is to be left alone with Adam.
However, the war is not waiting on Juliette to be ready. She never realized just how much Warner wants from her and how strange that is for him. She finds herself trying to hate Warner, but unable to truly do so. She has no doubt that her heart belongs to Adam, but what are these feelings for Warner?
At times I wanted to shake Juliette. Her self-loathing reaches a whole new level. Her deadly touch causes her so much pain that she lets it block out everything else. Don’t despair, by the end of the book, Juliette becomes the girl we all want her to be. Her powers are her own and she can turn the tide of the war in favor of the resistance.
And Chapter 62: Oh My Gosh. I will NOT spoil this amazing chapter for anyone. It is a chapter many people have been waiting for and it does not disappoint. Emotions and feelings come to a head and things happen that we readers LOVE.
5 out of 5 stars.
*I received an advance copy from the publisher*
