Sunday, September 16, 2012

3 Freshman by Steve Bensinger {Book Review}

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This is a coming to age book that takes place in 1969 when three guys decide to become roommates in college. They are each from a different background, Stan is a Mexican, Lenny is rich and trying to make it big as a comedian, while Darius is an African American who's almost a genius with a high I.Q. 


I would have done anything to grow up in the seventies, this book will show you exactly what I missed from that time. Even though it was a time of fun it was also a time of war with Vietnam being mentioned throughout the book. 

This book depicts how hard it is being in college, away from home, missing your friends and family while struggling with keeping grades up and dealing with other students who crumble under the pressure. In the end, everyone has a plan on what they are going to accomplish after college. 

This wasn't exactly my type of read, but I found it entertaining none the less. I found it hard to get connected to the characters, they had depth to their descriptions, I just didn't find them very entertaining to get my attention to stay on them. I think I would have liked it more if there was some more drama besides the suicide of a classmate. 
I give this book

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Taverlers The Meaningful Journey by Regent Jean Cabana {Book Review}

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Travelers: The Meaningful Journey

Elizabeth's Review
Written from an author who is identified as a scholar and a philosopher, but he calls himself a professional Traveler, which means he travels all year round, long term. Who wouldn't want to travel the world, and see everything there is to see. He also studies those who travel as a lifestyle and a profession, which you may think might be an educational book, but it has it's entertaining points as well. 

This book mainly incorporates his own travels including the people he met, the conversations he had, and the life experience he gained along the roads of his travels. He does not live by any set rules, and lives day by day with nothing to be predicted. 


If there's one thing to be understood, it's that travelers are different then the average tourist. Tourist's may visit different parts of the world with then intention of learning and experiencing new lifestyles, but travelers do this for a profession on a daily basis. 


Tourist's will usually use the help of tour guides, only keep to the main tourist spots, but travelers will take chances and experience traveling as it's supposed to be experienced, random and living moment to moment with the flow of life. This is the best way to learn about others culture and lifestyles, if you accept it and move with the flow. 


While going through his travels, he "hits his rock bottom" which I think of as him completely restarting himself and learning who he is and what his beliefs are based on what he has learned from those he has interacted with during his travels. 

While reading this book, I found out a little bit more about myself that I did not know. I only wish we all had the opportunity to take some time out of our lives, and travel freely and with an open mind to learn about others to help us all find ourself to lead a confident life. 


I enjoyed reading this book, but it's a book that can be taken many different ways due to the readers perspective, so therefore I give this book a 3/5

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Dark Promise by Julia Crane and Talia Jager {Book Stop}


Dark Promise
By Julia Crane and Talia Jager

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Smashwords

Book Description:
Rylie has it all - great friends, dream boy, loving family. But on the eve of her sixteenth birthday, her perfect little world shatters. A stranger claiming to be her real mother appears with a secret: Rylie is a faery whose powers will be unleashed on her birthday. Captured and forced into a new life, Rylie struggles to keep everything she loves and discovers a terrifying truth: somepromises cannot be broken.



Read an excerpt: 

My mother led her into the living room. The lady’s piercing green eyes rested on me, sending a chill down my back. My father followed her gaze. “Rylie, do you know this woman?” Dad asked.

“No.” I shook my head slowly. “I’ve never seen her before.”

“Rylie, maybe you should go to your room,” Dad suggested, his gaze demanding I do as he said.

“No. If this has something to do with me, I want to hear it.” I crossed my arms and sank against the back of the couch. 

Mom and Dad exchanged a worried glance, but turned back to the lady on the couch. “Please, go on.”

Without taking her eyes from me, the lady calmly stated, “My name is Azura, and I am Rylie’s birth mother.”

My father, who was always a level-headed man, was on his feet in seconds, his face hard. “What are you talking about?”

I felt like I had fallen into some kind of parallel universe. Did this woman just say she was my birth mother? How could she be my birth mother? That would mean I was adopted, but wouldn’t my parents have told me something like that?

My mother shook her head. “Birth mother? Rylie isn’t adopted.” She reached over and took my hand. “Believe me, I’ll never forget the eleven hours of labor.”

The woman sat perfectly still in the blue armchair across from us, with her hands clasped on her lap. “I know it’s hard to accept, but it’s true. Your daughter died shortly after she was born. I switched the infants. Rylie is mine.” 

The wind left me as if I had been punched in the stomach. I couldn’t breathe, and the room spun. I gripped the pillow next to me with my other hand as I clung to my mother.

Silence filled the room for a moment, and then my father exploded. “You need to leave now!” He pointed to the door. “Get out of this house and don’t come back without a court order.” 

The lady smiled sincerely, her face still as calm as it had been when she walked in the door. “Please, hear me out. I realize this is a lot to take in.”

“No! This is preposterous! Nobody died. Rylie is ours.” Dad’s voice was like thunder.

I studied the lady. She seemed so honest and soft-spoken. Why would she pretend something like this? Why would she ruin our family if it weren’t true? And if was true, why was she coming clean now? Something in me believed her even though I didn’t want to. I swallowed hard and rubbed my sweaty palms on my shirt. 

“Let her talk,” I said hoarsely.

“Rylie, you can’t believe her.” Dad looked stricken. 

“I’m curious as to why she thinks I’m her daughter. Let’s hear her out.” I crossed my arms and scooted closer to my mother, comforted when she wrapped an arm around me.

Dad turned back to the woman called Azura, and his frown deepened. “Fine.” He sat back down in his seat and glared. “Talk.”

“Thank you. I’m going to tell you something not many humans know, and I have to trust you to keep it secret for Rylie’s sake.” She addressed the statement to my parents.

Humans? Who talks like that?

Rylie is a faery that was raised by humans. By her sixteenth birthday, her whole life is flipped upside down and she is part of a whole new life. It's a book that. 
I give this book 





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