IraqiGirl

Title: IraqiGirl

Author: A teenaged girl named, Hadiya

Published by: Haymarket Books

Why I Read This: It was actually recommended to the other blog The Broke and Bookish, that I belong to, for one of us to read. Someone else requested it before I could, so I decided to check to see if it was at my local library, which it was!

Rating: 5+ stars!

WOW! I don't even know where to begin this book review. This is probably by far, the best book that I've read this summer!

Hadiya, a teenager in Iraq during the war, decided to start a blog. At first she was basically just talking about her life in general, but as the war started, almost every entry she posted was about what was going on in Iraq.

The book is set up just like a diary, with the dates listed, then the title of the entry, and then the contents of it.

Hadiya makes you feel almost like you're actually IN her place, sitting there writing that particular blog entry, as if you were her. She explains everything going on and around Iraq with just enough detail to make it sound real, and not so much as fake, or making it uninteresting.

She explains how they don't have regular electricity, and how it goes in and out constantly, how they don't have clean, running water, how the streets of Iraq are so dangerous, that most of the time families refuse to leave their house for days, or even weeks because they're afraid a road side bomb, or worse yet, an American Solider, will kill them and/or their families.

Even though Hadiya did a fantastic job at explaining the situation, and what's going on, and it makes you feel like you can realize, and understand what exactly it's like to hear bombs going off 24 hrs a day, and wondering if it was someone you knew who got killed just then, this book also makes you realize that you really DON'T know what's going on there, unless you're there to witness it for yourself.

I give Hadiya major kudos for being brave enough to write such a blog, and to explain what's going on. I never agreed that we should have a war, and I definitely don't agree that the American Soliders should still be over there, but reading this made me even MORE anti-war!

Yes, we were attacked on September 11th, and Saddam Heuissan and his allies, and whoever else was apart of 9/11 did deserve us to probably go to war. However, its gone on long enough and no one really knows WHY the Americans are still over there. I think it's time to send the troops home and back to their families. It's time to stop killing thousands of innocent Iraqi's, and whoever else, every single day. It's time to stop killing the American soliders as well.

*****SPOILER ALERT*****

There is one down fall that I must comment on however. I'm not real sure if this is a spoiler or not, so just be aware and read carefully!!! But, in one part of the book, Hadiya explains how it was "Just one building that got destroyed on September 11th." Well, actually, it wasn't just a building that got destroyed, we too lost thousands of innocent people that day, including a lot of family members, not to mention the plane that went down in Pennsylvania as well. That one little bit of the book really irked me and upset me to read that.

****End Spoiler*****

All in all, this was a FANTASTIC book, and if the star rating system went higher than 5, I would definitely give it a 10! Everyone had to your TBR list right away!

FOLLOW HADIYA'S BLOG BY CLICKING HERE: IraqiGirl

Top Ten Tuesday!!! All Time Favorite Books!

Top ten Tuesday is actually a weekly feature that the other blog, The Broke and the Bookish, that I am apart of decided to create. It's

a fun way to get other blogs into the top ten lists as well! So, here is my top ten list of my favorite books of all time!

I actually have a feeling that this list is going to be hard to decide which books to add to this list. I do want to say that this list is NOT in order, it's just a list of 10 books that I came up with!!

1. The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer - how many other lists do you suppose this series is on? I told myself I wouldn't fall into the obsessive-ness of this series, but, I think it's too late.... who knew that sparkly vampires would be so addicting?
2. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult - Jodi is one of my all time favorite authors, and I have loved every book shes ever written, but I think this one is by far the best and my favorite out of all of them. My Grandma actually recommended this book to me, and ever since, I've been a Picoult junkie!
3. On Every Side by Karen Kingsbury - if you're into the books where politics, religion and freedom plays a role, this is definitely the book for you! This books takes all of these aspects and makes you see, well, every side of the issue. There was a popular statue of Jesus in a public park, and someone who didn't believe in religion/Jesus, was trying to have it removed. This book goes into the high depths of fighting against those who have different beliefs than yours, and as I said, trying to see every side!
4. Stephanie Plum Series by Janet Evanovich - I was trying so hard to stay away from actual series. I mean, this is a top ten list of favorites BOOKS! But, this entire series is just so good! You will laugh your butt off through out every book in this series. It's the type of series where you're sitting quietly in a library reading and you will literally laugh out loud so everyone looks at you thinking, "How can you laugh out loud at a BOOK?" Trust me, you can!
5. IraqiGirl - This book doesn't really have an author listed. It's the actual diary of teenaged girl growing up in Iraq with the war going on. [[ Review to come soon! ]] I'm not real big on diary type books, but this book is absolutely AMAZING! The way these entries are written, and explained, makes you see how horrible it really is in Iraq right now. This is a MUST read!
6. About Face by Fern Michaels - this book was also recommended to me by my Grandma. It's a very good book and is written in such detail, that you can actually feel as if you're apart of the characters family.
7. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson - this is probably my all time favorite book EVER written! I read this book back in eighth grade as a requirement for a class but I would read this book over and over and over again! Even the lifetime movie was good!
8. Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah - i almost for about about this book!!!! I just recently read this book, and this was an absolutely amazing book. One of those page turners that you can't put down! It's heartbreaking, happy, sad, every emotion you can imagine in ONE book!! Another MUST READ!
9. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton - this was a book that my 7th grade English teacher read to us as an assignment. It was a GREAT book. I remember looking forward to going to that class, to hear what was going to happen next. I think I may add this to my to-be-read-list, so I can read it myself rather than having it read TO me!
10. A Single Thread by Marie Bostwick - this actually has three books following it, i haven't read the third one yet, but the second was is almost as equally good as the first! If you know of anyone who has had breast cancer, whether they survived or not, you should definitely read this book. It makes you realize just how important true friendship really is!

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Title: To Kill A Mockingbird

Author: Harper Lee

Why I Read This Book: Because I've heard all of the 'hype' on it for years, and wanted to see if the book was REALLY as good as everyone said.

Rating: 3 stars

So, I wasn't even sure how many stars to give this review. I wanted to give it 4 stars, but at the same time, I felt like that was pushing it.

I was so disappointed in this book. EVERYONE who I knew that read this book, talked about how GREAT of a book it is, and how it's been a huge success since the day it was first published, etc. I didn't see the big deal, at all. I felt like it had WAY too much unnecessary information, and not enough detail into what the story is REALLY suppose to be about.

For example, in the beginning-ish of the book, they talk about how Atticus is a white lawyer, who is defending a black man. Through out the book, they talk about how Scout, and Jem were being teased because their father was defending this black man. But, Harper Lee didn't mention WHY for most of the book, he was defending this person, except by saying, "I couldn't live with myself if I didn't do it." Okay?? What is that suppose to tell your readers? It didn't tell us why Atticus was defending this man until almost the end of the book. My understanding of this book was that it was suppose to be about life back in the 50's thru the 70's and what life was like back then. How racism was, etc. But the book just kept going on and on about Boo Radley and how he never came out of his house, and about the walks that the kids took, etc. Who cares! I want to know more about what the story is about!! A white lawyer defending a black man in the older days!

In all honesty, the last few chapters of the book were the best, and I would give those chapters alone 5 stars, just because it kept my interest, and because I finally knew WHY Attitcus was defending this black man. I don't want to give too many details, in case someone wants to read the book for themselves. The end of the book is the actual trial, and the jury, and finding out whether or not this man was going to be acquitted, etc. I found myself wanting to keep reading to see what would happen. That's how I thought the entire book would be, but I was left very disappointed with the whole book in general.

So, my rating is 3 stars. The book was dragging too much, gave too much unnecessary information, didn't go into enough detail about the important stuff, and was just dry for me. I feel like I was let down horribly. Maybe because everyone gave it so much praise, my standards were too high.

I wouldn't recommend this book.

SIDE NOTE: I AM ALSO A BOOK REVIEWER ON THE BLOG THE BROKE AND THE BOOKISH! PLEASE VISIT THAT BLOG AND READ ALL OF THE WONDERFUL REVIEWS ON DIFFERENT BOOKS THERE AS WELL!!!!

Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah

Title: Winter Garden

Author: Kristin Hannah

Why I Read This Book: It was recommended to me a few times on a website called goodreads.com, via a group that I am in called college students. I read every book that's recommended to me eventually!! [[ Bring on the requests! ]]

Rating: 5 stars

In all honesty, in chapters one through seven, I would give this book 3 stars at the most. I was very bored in the beginning of the book and it took me forever to actually get into it. But once I got to chapter seven, the book started changing, and got more exciting and it was hard for me to put the book down. So, I have to give it 5 stars.

Winter Garden is about two sisters who never had a good relationship with their mother. They never felt that unconditional love that a mother gives, they felt as if their mother hated them, for whatever reason. The sister were very close with their father, however, and he became very ill. He asked his daughters to promise him while on his death bed, that they will try to get to know their mother while they still have the chance. To try to understand why she is the way that she is. Their mother talks about fairy tales quite often in this compelling story. While the two sisters were growing up, they would listen to bits and pieces of this fairy tale until one day they just stopped listening and stopped caring. For Nina, one of the daughters, she stopped listening when her mother refused to wave goodbye to her from the train platform when Nina was going on a trip when she was younger, and for Meredith, it was when her mother didn't show up for her play. These sisters didn't understand their mother at all, and didn't want to. But, they made a promise to their dying father that they would learn everything they could about her.

So, this story is about forgiveness, finding yourself, friendship, and the many emotional outcomes life has to offer. The reason I felt that the first 6-7 chapters were boring is because it wasn't really telling the story. It was just dry, boring 'information' for a lack of a better word. But once Chapter 7 comes, the story changes and get extremely exciting. With the fairy tales, it's like you're reading a story within a story. But the full on fairytale didn't come until after chapter 7. That's when it was hard for me to put the book down.

Winter Garden will leave you feeling so many different emotions. You will feel bored, happy, sad, excited, you will feel heartbroken, but wanting more. You will laugh, and you will cry, you will be shocked, surprised, and the ending is amazing. Kristin Hannah makes you feel exactly what the characters are feeling in her ever powering explanations through out the book, especially when the fairy tale is being told.

I highly recommend this book to everyone. It's a must read and if you haven't read it yet, I suggest you add it to your "To Be Read" list! I promise, you won't be disappointed!

SIDE NOTE: I AM ALSO A REVIEWER ON THE BLOG THE BROKE AND BOOKISH, WHERE THIS BLOG IS ALSO POSTED. IF YOU LOOK WHAT YOU SEE HERE, PLEASE VISIT THIS OTHER BLOG AS WELL TO READ UP ON THE AWESOME BOOK REVIEWS OTHERS ARE POSTING AS WELL!

Barbra Delinsky's Not My Daughter

Basically the book is following "trends" that actually do happen with the world nowadays. It's about three teenage girls who make a pregnancy pact while in their senior year of high school.

When I first started reading the book, I was bored. I don't know if any of you have seen the lifetime movie called The Pregnancy Pact, but I felt as if Barbara (the author) watched the movie, and/or heard about this event that actually happened and decided to do a story on it. I felt as if her book wasn't original enough. It just seemed too planned or maybe too played out.

So, these three girls decide to do a pregnancy pact while in their senior year of high school, and their parents are totally against it. The book is about trial and error, loving unconditionally, and working as a family through the rough times, rather than just the good times. I felt as if the Mothers in the book were being very selfish about the whole situation, as well as the town the book takes place in. One of the teenage girls mom, is the High School Principal and her fellow staff, school board and faculty members, as well as town members are pointing fingers and saying she could prevent it.

Honestly, I would recommend this book to either other Barbara Delinsky fans because it is an okay book. But, it's definitely not a favorite that I've ever read. As I said, it seems too played out, too planned, too much like the actual story that happened not too long ago. I feel like this particular author and/or story shows that they (the author) couldn't find anything better to write.

Maybe I'm being too honest, or too outspoken, or too harsh, but I'm not really sure how else to explain.. basically, the book was just too stereotype-ish and dry.

SIDE NOTE: I AM ALSO A REVIEW ON THE BLOG THE BROKE AND THE BOOKISH, WHICH IS WHERE I POSTED THIS REVIEW, AS WELL AS ON MY OWN PAGE. PLEASE VISIT THAT BLOG AND REFER TO ALL OF THE OTHER REVIEWS OUR MEMBERS HAVE POSTED!