Stardust

Stardust is Neil Gaiman's beautiful tale of Tristran, a naive boy from the small, sheltered town of Wall, who journeys into the magical land of Faerie to find a fallen star for the girl he wishes to marry. Tristran eventually finds the star, which turns out to be not a rock, but a beautiful young woman called Yvaine. Along the way, Tristran and his star meet dangerous people and helpful strangers, and endure adventures they could not have dreamt. Their story parallels those of the ancient witch queens Lilim, an enslaved Faerie woman, and the seven heirs of Stormhold, until each of their paths intersect and become hopelessly entangled. Through all of his trials, Tristran finally discovers his true home, and realizes that what he was searching for was right in front of him all along. I am a sucker for happy endings, and I love books that challenge me. Even after I thought I had solved the puzzle, I was surprised by the ending.

L.A. Candy

L.A. Candy is written by Lauren Conrad, the former star of MTV's reality show, The Hills. Her fictional book is about a 19-year-old girl, Jane, who has just moved to Los Angeles with her best friend Scarlett. At a club, Jane and Scarlett are approached by a television producer who wants them to star in his new reality show, L.A. Candy. the book mirrors Lauren's experience as a star of The Hills. Some of the other cast members appear in the book with name changes and minor changes in details. The writing is very juvenile and lacks depth, but I did find humor in the similarities between L.A. Candy and The Hills. Also, I think there was too much emphasis put on name brands and detailing the characters' ensembles. does everyone need to wear skinny jeans or a dress "accentuated by a bow"?

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner

This Eclipse novella supports the Twilight Saga the way the unpublished Midnight Sun does. For me, hearing another character's thoughts and feelings helps the story feel complete. The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner is the story of one of the newborn vampires in the "army" created to destroy Bella. Bree is only three months old when her existence intersects Bella's and her short life is ended by the Volturi. Before that, Bree describes the insatiable thirst, finding and losing true love, living in the dark about vampire rules and realities, and being guided into an impossible battle by a misinformed leader. When Bree is found by the Cullens she has no desire to fight, so they offer to accept her as their own and teach her everything that has been kept from her. Sadly, we already know how this story ends. Learning about how the newborns were deceived makes me sympathize with them just a little. My favorite part of the book was how Jasper's talent affected Bree, who was extremely confused by her rapidly changing emotions.

House Rules

This is the fourth book I've read by Jodi Picoult and she is one of my favorite writers. She puts so much detail into every part of her story, and shows each character's point of view, which makes it so realistic. House Rules is about a teenage boy with Asperger's Syndrome, Jacob, who is accused of murdering his tutor whom he had a crush on. All the evidence points to Jacob's involvement, not to mention his obsession with forensics and the fact that he constantly fidgets and avoids eye contact. Just when the prosecution thinks they have hard evidence and a cut-and-dry case, the truth starts to unravel, shocking everyone, even Jacob. The court scenes were very long and repetitive, but I was intrigued and saddened to learn more about Asperger's, especially hearing the difficulties and frustrations from Jacob's point of view.

The Princess Bride

This is, without a doubt, one of my all-time favorite books. It is written by William Golding, but is presented as if Golding abridged the story by a fictitious S. Morgenstern, including the "good parts" and his own thoughts throughout. The story begins with Buttercup falling in love with Westley, a farm boy. Westley travels to America to make a fortune for his future with Buttercup, but his ship is taken over by the Dread Pirate Roberts. When she hears about Westley's death, Buttercup agrees to marry Prince Humperdinck, but warns him that she will never love again. Before the wedding, Buttercup is kidnapped by a hunchback, a giant, and a master swordsman. She is rescued by a mysterious man in black who calls himself the Dread Pirate Roberts, and is later revealed to be Westley. The Prince captures them and Buttercup agrees to marry him if he'll let Westley go free, but secretly he tortures him to death. Fezzik, the giant, and Inigo, the swordsman steal Westley's body and take it to a miracle man, who is able to gradually revive him. The three then rush to the castle to stop Buttercup's wedding, and they all live more or less happily ever after. With its hilarious scenarios and one-liners, The Princess Bride truly is a "classic tale of true love and high adventure".