'Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend' by Matthew Green

This book is enchanting at first sight. Even before I saw the cover, I wanted to read this book. The cover of my galley is very pretty too - although I say I don't judge a book by it's cover, I do. I really do.

Budo is Max's imaginary friend. However, Budo is quite real: he has is own thoughts and controls his own actions; he cannot be seen by other people, though, and cannot interact with the "real world". This book follows Budo through Max's daily life and struggles, and through the conflicts and worries of an imaginary friend.

Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend is narrated wonderfully - from a 9-year-old's imagination's point of view - and delves into major concepts such as death, family, and loss. It's one of those book which you can't really classify into "children's book", "young adult novel" or, "adult fiction". It really can be appreciated at any age. It's also unique - you don't get many books that have imaginary friends pondering their existences.

Overall, I'd give this book a 4.2 - it's wonderful, but not especially memorable. I know, I'm almost contradicting myself - it is unique, but not in it's writing. How do I say this - you read it, you love it, then you forget about it. It's not amazingly, amazingly special.
I would call this book a store-bought cookie. A common flavor, such as sugar or chocolate chip. It's delicious while you eat it, but then you move onto other delicacies.

October Mourning: A song for Matthew Shepard

On Sunday, October 11, 1998, the author Leslea Newman was scheduled to be the keynote speaker at the University of Wyoming's Gay Awareness Week. Matthew Shepard died the next day, as a result of the brutal beating he had sustained six days before.
Newman's incredible collection of poems, October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard,  brings back the outrage, horror, and the tragedy of that night through a myriad of voices. The fence that held Matthew as he hung, tied, through the long night. The stars looking down on him, mothers, fathers, townspeople, so many voices all focused on this one, horrific event and the guilt and pain that resulted.
Deeply, deeply moving, this is a stunning collection, and a beautiful tribute to a dark event. As sad as it is (I cried more than once) the focus is on tolerance and growth. Teens who were too young at the time would be well served by reading this book.

My food rating is the Passover meal. This solemn,  ritual feast commemorates an important event. The bitter herbs are especially appropriate to the story of Matthew Shepard.

5 stars.

'Starters' by Lissa Price

Can I just start by saying this is a terrible cover? Awful design, the person looks ugly and fake, and it has pretty much nothing to do with the book. In fact, I thought this would be a robot book at first. Plus, the little phrase is unrelated to the plot. 'Survival is just the beginning.' Ugh.

So, the summary tells me that this book is set in a post-apocalypse setting. There's a girl and her younger brother (the brother being near death) hiding from authorities that will... what? Kill them? It was never clear why they were hiding.
Anyways, to get money, the girl (Callie) sells her body. No, it's not prostitution. Her body is now a rental body that rich old people can enter and live in for a bit. The organization that controls this operation is called Prime Destinations.

This is definitely a good start. The plot is creative and full of opportunities for self-reflection, nuance, and moral issues. Heck, I think this book could even go to the level of Miyazaki, if well played.

However, the book immediately (well, not immediately, I guess - more on that later) plunged into "Oh golly Prime Destinations is so evil!" There's no thought, no real conflict (plenty of angst, though) - I would classify this book more as a chick flick book than a fantasy, adventure - whatever the book portrayed itself as in the beginning. Oh yeah, there's a love triangle. Naturally, Cassie is in the middle of it - and she obviously doesn't respect herself (love triangle wise) so I find it hard to respect her.
Also, the world is poorly built. Nothing is fully explained (as I mentioned earlier), so you can't form a picture in your head. I ended up putting a stereotypical dark gray, ashy, dead city apocalypse setting in my head - which didn't entirely fit the book. Thus, coherence was lost.

Shortly after Cassie sells her body to Prime Destinations, she is immersed in multiple conspiracies, romances, and betrayals. Sure, she doesn't know who to trust - I'm okay with that. What I ablsolutely despised was that Cassie would trust one side with all her heart - be traumatized at her betrayal and move to side 2 (whom she would also trust with all her heart) - then be traumatized at being betrayed and go back to side 1 (and trust with all her heart - you get the picture). It's so cliche, so dramatic, so.... obvious. It's boring!
In the end, I hated the book, I hated the plot, I hated all the characters, and most of all I hated Cassie. Don't read this book.

I would rate this a 1. Perhaps a Sadaharu Aoki caramel macaron (see link). It's wonderful, you expect it to at the very least be a decent dessert. Instead, you get a stale and hard shell, burnt caramel, disgusting flavor... You go from excited to ready-to-vomit. There are so many better desserts to eat (or, in this case, books to read) - don't even bother picking this one up.

The Peculiars

 By Maureen Doyle McQuerry

A story about an 18 year-old girl living in an alternate universe. She runs away to find her dad on her 18th birthday, bringing along her fingers with their extra knuckle and her sensitive, super long feet. On the train to Scree, the forest inhabited by supernatural beings named Peculiars. So starts the tale of Lena Mattacascar, who according to her grandmother has goblin blood. On the train to the edge of Scree, she meets a helpful, kind soul named Jimson Quiggly. Then, their fates are twined together and all that and life is good. Until they start getting shot at. Then they have to escape to Scree where Lena hopes all of her truths and answers lie.

In my opinion, this book was really, very good. The characters are so there that you feel like you know them. Also, the story itself is inspiring and involving. What I really liked is that right up until the very last page, McQuerry pushed the action. Literally, right until the last two or three paragraphs, I was certain this would be a series. (If it is, yay!) But then the author ended it off quite nicely. I give it a 4.3 on the number scale.

As for my food, it is a taster tray. You start it out and you aren't too excited about it... But then, you get to the second thing and it's like, Oh Em Gee! And you get all excited about it and you just love the taste, then you eat it all up. The next food, you eat, it's more of a mellow taste. And you feel like there's something to be desired. However, you eat the final bite, and you don't know what it is, but in that one bite is a delightful taste that just wraps the whole taster dish together. And then you're like, Give me more! Because, you just love the book so much.

When I read this book, it was a ARC. However, it came out this month, maybe it hasn't come out yet, but it comes out in May. I highly recommend it.

The Fault in Our Stars

By John Green

             I was so excited when I found out the library had gotten this book.  I have heard a lot of good things about it since it came out. This novel is about a sixteen year old girl named Hazel who is dying of cancer. At the support group her mother makes her attend because she seems to be depressed (a side effect of dying) she meets a cute boy named Augustus Waters. He invites her to see a movie with him, and the rest is basically obvious. Except, of course, that Hazel is dying of cancer, and desperately wants to make him not like her so she won't hurt him when she dies. It was wonderful,  I was crying so hard by the end, so it was exactly what I had hoped for.
             This novel was like brownie pudding. Rich, fudge-y brownie layer at the top, and a pudding or half baked batter layer underneath. Yum! Like brownie pudding, this made me so emotional. If, however, you can not imagine yourself being moved to tears by the delicious decadence of this chocolate-y goodness, you probably would not like the book either.
             For lame people who think inside the box this is probably about a 4.

Zombie Provides a Great Twist on the Genre

Jeremy Barker lives by a personal zombie survival code.

#1 Avoid eye contact

#2 Keep quiet

#3 Forget the past

#4 Lock-and-load

#5 Fight to survive

An aficionado of zombie films, Jeremy understands the nuances of survival. The code guides him through the halls of his all boy private, Catholic high school. He relies on it to help him navigate life with his angry father, his absent mother, and his long-gone brother. It helps Jeremy with love, and in a shocking turn of events, it will help him with quite a bit more.

Part Lord of the Flies, part Catcher in the Rye and part Prayer for Owen Meany, this extraordinarily well-written coming-of-age story is pitch perfect, and will be particularly appealing to male teens. Fast paced and punctuated with the daily, casual brutality of boy-on-boy violence, Jeremy’s resourcefulness and intelligence glow on the page, even as he gets sucked deeper and deeper into a chilling and increasingly horrifying mystery.

I couldn’t put it down.

And when I finished it I was stunned.

This brilliant first novel by J.R. Angelella is a must read.

I give this novel (pub. Date June 2012) 5 stars. My food review is crispy ribs, with the BBQ sauce crystalized the bittersweet on the outside. As you tear in the next level is succulent, juicy, steaming meat. As your hands drip with sauce and juice you suddenly realize you are sucking on a bone, feeling like a true carnivore. It is rather a shocking end to a very confusing experience. But oh, so delicious.

J.R. Angelella  - website

'The Selection' by Kiera Cass

First, let me say that I love the cover, despite (and perhaps because of) the obvious frothiness and the girl standing awkwardly in the back. Turquoise is one of my favorite colors, and I love dresses with ruffles and mirrors.

Okay, so this book is about a girl musician in a dystopian society. She's in a lower caste, composed of artists, which means she must work very hard every day to eat food. She is then selected because she's pretty and accomplished. Excuse me, she was selected via "random lottery", along with 34 other girls, to compete over the prince. She wins, but not really, because she loves someone else, and is only competing for the free food. Story in a nutshell.

In all honesty, I really thought this was going to be a wonderful book, but no. It truly wasn't.

First, the girl. Her name is America Singer. I'm pretty bothered by the name alone (named "America", she's a singer), but it was the plethora of nicknames she had. She was called Amer, Mer, America, and perhaps Ica, Rica, and Am, throughout the book. Oh god, the inconsistancy. Stick with one nickname, please.

Then, there's the "dystopian" society. There was really no dystopia. There were some rebels attacking the royal family, and then there were poor people. There were also other hostile countries - actually, I think there was only one (China). We don't call the monarchy era of Europe a dystopia, do we?

Lastly, the plot. It's been compared to "The Bachelor" in almost every review I've seen. In my humble opinion, Cass would have caught more readers developing the dystopia then recording America flinging herself at men while convincing herself she doesn't really need them. It appears Cass just called the society "dystopian" to ride the popularity wave. I'm not even going to start on the ending (mostly because I don't remember the ending at all.)

Anyways, the book gets a 2.8; some soup of a doubtful color. Let's make it turquoise, to match the cover. Anyways, you start doubtful, but dive into the adventure. Who knows, it could really be delicious! It starts out pretty yummy, but dives down fast. Turns out it's turquoise because it has soap in it. And you never want to drink something like it again. In retrospect, though, it really wasn't that bad.

Oh my gosh, why are my reviews so long and contentless?