Sunday, November 27, 2011

Book Review: My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult


I heard about this novel for the first time in the summer of 2009. That was my first summer at BYU and my roommate had read and loved this book. The movie came out that summer, and I went to see it with her. The movie was phenomenal, touching, and very thought-provoking. My roommate told me the ending was completely different from the book's ending, so I've known the book ending since then. I found the novel My Sister's Keeper for $3.00 a few weeks ago, and had to buy it.

This novel is tough. It's a tough subject to read about, and Picoult does a fantastic job of making you feel. Basically, Anna was a genetically engineered baby so that she would be a perfect match - the ultimate donor - for her older sister, Kate, who has been fighting cancer since she was a toddler. At age 13, Anna decides she is done; she is tired of going through surgeries and procedures that have the potential to harm her. So she sues her parents for the rights to her own body.

Picoult is a fantastic author. She did her research very well - she knows her medical and legal terms. The story is told from different points of view, and she writes in a unique voice for each character. The character's each heave their own individual story that gets wrapped up in the whole, and she does a wonderful job of wrapping up all the story lines.

I really liked this novel, and I do recommend it. It was not completely clean; probably PG-13. And if you're looking for a warm fuzzies sort of book, this is not it. This one pulls at your heart and makes you really think.
Let me know your opinion.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Thanksgiving

This is a TRUE STORY, just to make you laugh :)

One year at Thanksgiving, my mom went to my sister's house for the traditional feast. Knowing how gullible my sister is, my mom decided to play a trick. She told my sister that she needed something from the store.

When my sister left, my mom took the turkey out of the oven, removed the stuffing, stuffed a Cornish hen, inserted that into the turkey, and re-stuffed the turkey. She then placed the bird(s) back in the oven.

When it was time for dinner, my sister pulled the turkey out of the oven and proceeded to remove the stuffing.

When her serving spoon hit something, she reached in and pulled out the little bird. With a look of total shock on her face, my mother exclaimed, "Patricia, you've cooked a pregnant bird!'"

At the reality of this horrifying news, my sister started to cry. It took the family two hours to convince her that turkeys lay eggs!

HAHA! Happy Thanksgiving!

Friday, November 18, 2011

Book Review: Crossed by Ally Condie


Crossed is the sequel to Matched, which I reviewed a few months ago (you can read that review here). Condie's series is futuristic and reminds me of the Hunger Games series, just not nearly as violent and graphic. Crossed is the second book in Condie's series. It continues to follow Cassia and Ky as they escape the Society and try to find the Rising. There was a lot of internal struggle in this book; a lot of the time you are in the character's heads, reading their thoughts as they have epiphanies about life, love, and the Society. The chapters switched between Cassia's point of view and Ky's, which I thought was clever, but there wasn't a very big difference between the way they each spoke - Condie's writing didn't change between the two characters. I felt like not very much happened in this novel - they travel for a long time, learn some important things, but there wasn't very much action and, like I said, a lot of it was thoughts (which reminded me of the Twilight series). I'm not very impressed with Condie's writing. I think her ideas are good, and she has a lot of potential, but these books just aren't drawing me in. They are clean, which is always good.
Let me know your opinion on these books.
Happy Reading!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

I, Megan, Born of NORMAL Parents

Oh my goodness. I have never been so grateful for reasonable parents until this week. I knew there were some crazy ones out there, but I am SO grateful that mine are not some of them. They don't hover over my shoulder, they were reasonable when I was behind on school work, and they understood that having friends and being invited to do things was a GOOD THING. They never said I couldn't do things just for the sake of saying no, and they listened to me if I had something to say. So thank you, Mom and Dad, for being normal, reasonable, understanding, and caring. Maybe you didn't completely forget what it's like to be a young adult after all. :)

Dad, thank you for having interviews with me once a month, and taking me out on dates. Those were so fun. Thanks for letting me pick the radio station sometimes, even if you weren't a fan. Thanks for helping me with my math homework. Thanks for teaching me how important the scriptures are.

Mom, thanks for listening to me chatter even when it had nothing to do with either of us. Thanks for putting up with all my drama. Thanks for being reasonable about movies or books that weren't so great for me. Thanks for helping me learn how to be a good friend.

Thanks for being great parents.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Book Review: Rules of Engagement by Stephanie Fowers


This is another cheesy piece of LDS fiction - but I loved it! Fowers did a fantastic job of being entertaining and witty and keeping the story light even as it focused on stuff that really bugs every college co-ed. She used all of the LDS lingo, or more specifically, the BYU lingo. It was so great!

Basically, the story is told from Samantha's point of view as she tries to get a guy to like her. She is 25, and in BYU years, that's kinda old. The novel goes through her and her roommates silly (but realistic!) shenanigans as they try to catch a guy. It involved so many typical BYU scenes - ridiculous pranks, intramural basketball games, Ultimate Frisbee, "Chastity Line" jokes, dessert nights, and so much dating drama.

Rules of Engagement was totally ridiculous, but also just plain fun. And (I'm sure you already guessed this part) 100% clean. Yay! I definitely recommend this novel to anyone who wants to laugh at the dating game. And if you're a BYU co-ed, you'll appreciate it that much more!
Happy Reading!

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Halloween

I LOVE Halloween! I mostly just love the dressing up. This year I went as Tonks, from Harry Potter. :)I'm super proud of my costume, so I'm going to tell you all about it.
Pink Hair! That was the biggest part. I bought a spray-on kind that basically just sits on your hair and comes our really easily. It made my hair all helmet-y for the day though, and that was gross.
I wore multiple necklaces. In the movies, Tonks always wears a choker, so I wore one of those and then some other Tonksish pieces.
My t-shirt was another favorite. I got a plain gray t-shirt and my very artistic roommate painted on "The Weird Sisters" in green with a wand symbol. SO COOL. For those of you who don't know, The Weird Sisters are (yes, the witches in Macbeth) a band in Harry Potter.
The jacket was just because the movie Tonks usually has a hooded jacket on under her cloak.
My little sis thought I should "clutter" up my wrists, because that seemed appropriate for Tonks' puny look. Thus, lots of bracelets.
I painted my nails a sparkly purple - very Tonks.
I wore my regular skinny jeans.
I bought boots! I've been wanting flat, black boots and this was the perfect excuse to actually buy some! I got them at Payless in the kid's section, so they were cheap! Yay!
The Wand! The wand and the pink hair are what made this work. It's my roommate's wand.
The cloak is actually my graduation gown. My mom sent it to me just for Halloween.
This was easily my favorite costume ever! And people knew who I was! I got multiple randoms on campus going "Tonks!" It was so great!


Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Book Review: Saving Madeline by Rachel Ann Nunes


This novel was unlike anything I have ever read before. It was touching and thought-provoking, and even a little bit stressful. It was also romantic in a very cute, very clean way. I really enjoyed Nunes' writing, and I definitely recommend this book.

Caitlin is a public defender. She loves her job when she does protect the innocent, but hates when the bad guys go free. So in one violent case, she makes a choice that could cost her her job.
Amy is Caitlin's younger sister. She is in her twenties, but has the intellectual ability of a five year old. She is sweet, loving, and honest.
Sally is Caitlin's detective friend. She is ridiculously good at her job, sometimes too insightful to be appreciated, and a fantastic confidant.
Parker is charged with kidnapping his own daughter from his ex-wife's house. He claims that Dakota, his ex-wife, does drugs and neglects her children, putting his darling Madeline in very intense danger.
Sally is put on Parker's case, and specifically gets Caitlin on it too since Caitlin is so good at her job. Things get messy when no drugs are found at Dakota's house, making things look very grim for Parker. And Caitlin can't stop thinking about Parker, even though he should just be a client. Enter a highly attractive DA with some ulterior motives, and things get even more messy. Will Caitlin make the right decisions and trust the right people in time to protect Madeline?

This book was so good and 100% clean. I will probably track down more novels by Nunes.
Happy Reading!