Misery, by Stephen King

This book was fantastic, and even that isn't good enough to explain how amazing this book is! Misery, by Stephen King does an excellent job telling the story of a psycho woman named Annie Wilkes who obsesses over Paul Sheldon, a famous author that writes books about historical romances. His most popular book is about a girl named Misery. When he is on vacation, he passes out and is crippled. He wakes up in Annie Wilke's house. He is at first very grateful for her, but he soon begins to realize that he is dealing with a maniac . He is put in a wheelchair so that he can't escape. Annie does not want him to regain his health and leave her. She is devastated with the fact that Misery dies in the end, and she wants him to re-write the book. Sounds crazy, right? It gets even better than that, but I don't want to spoil anymore. Stephen King is very successful at establishing characters with completely different personalities. The book was very enjoyable for me, and I know some people that didn't enjoy it any less than I did. As the book goes on, you begin to notice how crazy Annie actually is. I promised that I wouldn't spoil anymore, though, so you will have to see for yourself. It's definitely worth the read, and Stephen King has many other books that are equally as good as Misery. Annie is one of the most interesting characters that I have ever seen in a book. I didn't know that someone could be so crazy to take an author hostage just to change the ending of a book! This just shows that everyone has their reasons and their motives, regardless of how crazy or how unreasonable they are. With that said, Misery is an outstanding book with an amazing story, I highly recommend it to everyone.

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

I'll be completely honest: I don't really enjoy non-fiction books, but I think you know that by now. This book, "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote, is a non-fiction mystery book that talks about the killing of a very successful farmer in Holcomb, Kansas. This book was probably my least favorite because of the way it was written. It is pretty difficult to follow and characters seem to pop out of no where. The chapters end abruptly, and it jumps from place to place. There is also a lot of filler that is irrelevant to the story, I bet that if the filler wasn't added, the story would have flowed so much better. I think that's enough about the cons... I'll get to the positives now. The setting was great and it really set up the time period, the location and it gave us an idea of what was going on in Holcomb, Kansas. The characters are introduced at good times, however, there are so many names to remember! It seems more like a chore to remember who each character is and what they did or do. I honestly don't have much to say about this book because I didn't enjoy it too much. My favorite part was when they figured out who killed the farmer. However, it was kind of obvious and I figured it out prior to reading the last few pages. The book did do a good job with creating suspense and dragging out the moment of truth, though. Like I said, I don't really like non-fiction books, but I kinda wanted to try one out, and this is what happened. I did read the whole book through, but it didn't pique my satisfaction. I guess I'll just stick to my fantasy books!

The Road by Cormac Mcarthy

The book "The Road" by Cormac Mcarthy was my very first selection for reading in the beginning of the school year. Cormac Mcarthy is a famous author and he is known for his other book named "No Country for Old Men". His writing style is very unique, and can sometimes be very difficult to follow. For example, in "The Road" there are no quotation marks and the paragraphs don't flow very well, so it can be difficult to follow transitions. Before I get into my thoughts of the book, I will provide a brief summary. This book is about A man and his son that are in what seems like a post-apocalyptic world in which there are little to no survivors and people that are hunting the survivors. Now, this book was really touching and emotional to me. There were many parts in the book that showed the connection between the father and the son; they would always be sticking together and trying to find their way across the world. However, there were also many scary and terrifying parts. One of the scariest parts of the book is when they find their selves in the cellar of a torture chamber. They are then greeted with suffering tortured people who beg them for help. The son is disturbed and the hunters are alerted with their interference. This scene I feel completely transitions the book because it shows that the world they are on is destroyed and contains people that are suffering, and people that are causing the suffering. It also brings up a question, what is going on and why is this happening? It also makes us feel bad for the man and the child. The author does a good job setting up the scene in which the characters go through extreme terror, and at the same time makes us feel horrible and sympathetic for the characters. While this isn't my favorite book by far, I would recommend it for anyone who is interested in the story of the world of the future, a post apocalyptic universe and the sad story of two people who travel a destroyed world.

The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini

A great book to top of the end of a great summer. I started asking a few people I knew if they have read, or at least heard of, The Kite Runner, by Majority of the replies were something along the lines of "That book... is amazing. You HAVE to read it!" I was finally coerced into reading this book after I received the same reply over and over again. After getting my hand on a copy and reading it, I have to say this: This is one of the best books that I have ever read. Normally, when someone says this, they call all of their books, their 'favorite books', however, this is definitely among one of the bests, for me at least. The book tells the story of man named Amir who recalls past events in his life that changed him as a person. He used to live back in Afghanistan with his father Baba. They were very wealthy and they had two servants, Ali and his son, Hassen. This story displays many acts of kindness, and many acts that others would look down upon. What of the most important parts in the book is when Amir and Hassen participate in the "Kite fighting", which sounds exactly like what it is. You try to knock the kite out of your opponent's hand. Before the match, started, however, the strong winds blew the kite out of his hand. Shocked, Hassen dashed after it, he told Amir not to follow him. After Amir lost sight of Hassen, he decided to ignore his words and follow him. After following him for what seems like a very long time, he found him at the dead end of an alley way. What he witnessed though, was of no laughing matter. Hassen was getting molested by three other boys competing in the contest, Assef, Wali and Kamal. Amir wanted to jump in and help, but he believed that it would upset Hassen that he disobeyed him, so he went back to the place where the contest was being held. From this we can tell that Amir is also very timid, just like Meggie from the book Inkheart. Another important part of the book is when Amir stashes money and a gold watch in Hassen's pillow. He then tells his father that Hassen stole from their house. With this being said, Baba banishes Hassen and Ali from their house. Amir doesn't say why he does this though, so it's up for interpretation. My take on it is that he couldn't handle the grief of not being able to help Hassen while he was getting molested by the three boys. Therefore, he had to find a way to dispose of him from his household. This book is wonderful and is definitely worth the read. While heartbreaking at some points, this book is still outstanding and has a great story. I would recommend this book to anyone who hasn't read it, especially to those who enjoy a good book that shows what friendship and loyalty is.

Inkheart, by Cornelia Funke

I'm normally not much of a big reader; I only read books when the school curriculum requires it. However, this summer, I picked out a fantastic book that is written in great detail and also tells an outstanding story about a young girl, named, Meggie, who discovers that her father, Mo, hides more than he shares with her. This book is called, Inkheart, and is written by Cornelia Funke. The reason why I hooked onto this book is due to the Fantasy-like feel it gives. Just the fact that the father of a little girl can read things into and out of the book is amazing and completely unrealistic! Also, the book keeps you guessing as you read and it makes you think "Have I uncovered all of the secrets, or are there still more to be revealed?". The characterization is incredible too. It's amazing how a young girl can evolve from being timid and naive, into a brave and intelligent human being. The characters in the book are unique, and each are very different. For example, you have this book binder named Mo who can read things into and out of any book he pleases. On the other hand, you have a man named Dustfinger who has a strong desire to be put back into his book, and he can manipulate fire. And then, you have the antagonists... one of them is named Capricorn, and the definition of 'evil' fits him perfectly. The fact that this book contains a multitude of characters, each being different from one another, makes the book interesting, and makes it easier for you to realize any connections you may have to a certain character.The ending of the book is perfect; it sets up the story for the other book in the series and it successfully wraps everything up. If you feel happy for the characters in the happy ending of a book, then the author must have done a great job with telling the story as well as creating memorable characters. When Mo reunited with his wife, I felt happy for him, even if he is a fictional character. This book is too good to pass up. It has a terrific story and unique characters that you can both relate to and/or hate with a strong passion. Once you start reading, you won't be able to stop until all of the secrets and mysteries are revealed, right in front of your very eyes.