I'll admit that I do occasionally judge books by their covers. For the most part, it works. Matched by Ally Condie is a perfect example of when an awesome cover contains an awesome story. The Society controls all of the descisions made in Cassia's life and the lives of everyone else. For the most part, Cassia is content to abide by their rules. Then she is Matched (pre-engaged) to her best friend Xander. Instead of seeing Xander's face on her screen at home, she sees another boy she knows. This leads her to question the infallability of the Society. Though Cassia's descisions annoyed me at times, I admire her for her determination. This was an awesome futuristic story.

Recommended.

Another book that I've read recently is Spanking Shakespeare by Jake Wizner. I had read a lot of depressing books before this one and found the comedy in this book very welcome. If lewd jokes and anecdotes make you uncomfortable, you should probably reconsider reading this, if not, then I recommend this book wholeheartedly. Shakespeare, an unfortunately-named teenager, is just trying to get through his senior year without screwing everything up like he usually does. He has to deal with his crazy family, his abnormal friends, and his potential love interests. Throughout the book are excerpts from the memoir that Shakespeare is writing for a class. Such excerpts are filled with instances in which poor Shakespeare is a victim of some sort of bizarre circumstance. The characters are hilarious, offset by other, more serious characters. I also found the perspective interesting (Do all boys really think like that?). In short, this book was an awesome dose of comedy that fully earned five stars out of five.

Recommended.

So I just finished reading Trapped by Michael Northrop. If you're into the whole suspense/survival thing, this book is for you. If not, I wouldn't recommend it. There's not much in the way of romance, nor is there really any kind of heroic adventure or sci-fi element, so fans of those genres should stay away. The basic gist of the plot is that seven students get trapped in their school during a northeastern snowstorm. As the days go on, their resources start dwindling, and they must struggle for survival. The characters were believable, and the ending was rather abrupt but satisfying. On the whole I'd give it about 4 stars out of five. And it was just over 200 pages, so it's not like it would take long to read.

Recommended.

My name is Amy, and my one love in this world is books. Today, after finishing yet another book, I had this thought: why not share my love with the world? My challenge to myself is to chronicle every book I read in my blog here, in order to promote the love of reading. I hope that this lowly blog can give you some suggestions on what to read, what to avoid reading, and why you should.

Wish me luck,

-Amy