Angels and Demons by Dan Brown

I first decided to read Angels and Demons because i loved the movie so much. One thing I loved about the book was all of the details it went into--you knew exactly what every character was thinking at each moment, and still never knew what was going to happen. I also found all of the historical references very interesting--even though it's a fictional book, I feel like I learned a lot about the history of the Vatican and the Church in general. I loved how Brown was able to create such a thrilling story about a topic that, before I read the book, really had no thoughts about it. I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone because it is just an exciting adventure and is really interesting and enjoyable to read. Over the summer, I'm hoping to read  some of Dan Brown's other books to see what other adventures he came up with, and hopefully they'll be just as thrilling to read.

The Hunger Games/Catching Fire/Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

To put it simply, The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins is one of the best series I've ever read. I liked how it was written in a way that you only knew exactly what Katniss knew, and every surprise that she encountered was also a surprise to the reader. It made the plot that much more exciting throughout the three books, because it felt like you were facing everything Katniss was alongside her. I think the way Katniss develops as a character is really interesting. She starts off as a tough, family oriented, and slightly rebellious girl who could care less about what people think of her, and I love the way that she maintains these traits throughout everything she faces in the games. What I found interesting about her character was that she did not lose herself--all the things that made Katniss unique still existed throughout the book and she just learned to embrace them and express them in a way that not only helped herself, but benefited the entire community. I also find her admirable, because she is not afraid to stand up and fight, but she would still rather choose peace, and she cares about her family more than anyone else. By Mockingjay, Katniss has really become a better version of herself. Katniss's character and the way the book was written were not the only things that I loved about these three books. They all were impossible to put down and were constantly throwing curve balls. Also, the concept is really unique and different. I find this trilogy overall to be well written, fascinating, and really exciting.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

The classic I read was Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. At first, I thought that it was really cute, but as the girls grew older, I found the book much less interesting. In the middle, I was totally bored by the book, until part two. Part two had much more going on with all the girls relationships. I was surprised when Jo turned down Laurie's engagement, because throughout the entire book I thought that they had chemistry with each other. I was even more surprised when Laurie proposed to Amy, because never thought they were such close friends. I guess I was wrong about both of those assumptions. Another thing about part two that made the book more interesting was the storyline with Beth, and how she got sick, recovered, got sick again, and then died. I thought it was an interesting twist to the storyline, and it really showed how big an impact Beth had, and how little it was noticed by the other girls. It was definitely not my favorite book, but it had its moments that I really did like about it.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

I was really excited to start Pride and Prejudice, but then when i started reading, I was disappointed. I thought that it was just starting off slowly like most other books, but then as i got further along i realized that it was not getting any better. I looked at how long it was--about 100 chapters--and I thought to myself, there is no way I will be able to finish this book by the end of the quarter, especially since its so boring. So, I decided to drop the book. I didn't think it was interesting at all, there was nothing about the characters or about the plot that grabbed my attention. I also was told by a few people who had tried reading it that it is not very good, and that the whole thing drags on slowly. I prefer fast paced books, so that was another reason I decided to drop it. Now that I'm done with it though, I can move on to another book.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte is a timeless love story about Catherine and Heathcliff. To be honest, when i first started reading Wuthering Heights I had no idea what was going on. I couldn't figure out that it was a flashback, and all of the characters were getting mixed up in my head because they were all referred to by multiple names, for example Catherine was always called "Catherine," "Cathy,""Linton,"and "Mrs. Linton." The reason that was so difficult was because there were other characters with the names "Linton" and "Mrs. Linton." I found it difficult to follow which one was being talked about. I also thought that the way it was narrated was unclear, because I couldn't tell if it was Mrs. Dean or Mr. Lockwood narrating, due to the fact that she was telling him stories and he would interject randomly, and then it would switch back to Mrs. Dean narrating the book. After a while, I started putting the pieces together and was able to figure out what was going on. I quickly became absorbed into the story and the idea of the eternal yet forbidden love that Heathcliff and Catherine had. Edgar Linton would have been the "right" match for Cathy, but Heathcliff, though he was the servant of Cathy and her family, was exactly what she wanted. I didn't like Cathy very much though, because she let her class influence her until it was too late. Despite the fact that she and Edgar Linton were married, she told Mrs. Dean "I am Heathcliff." The story of Wuthering Heights is a tragic, tear-jerking novel that I would strongly recommend to anyone who is up for the challenge of reading it.

Virtuosity By Jessica Martinez

I had mixed feelings about this book, but if there was one thing about it i loved it was the characters. Although the plot was alright, it was not intriguing enough to make me want to read on. What made it difficult to put down the book was the characters and their relationships. Carmen Bianchi, the main character of the book, is one of the worlds best violinists. She is constantly struggling, however, to break free of the "leash" her mother Diana puts on her. Carmen takes anti-anxiety pills to help her performance, so in addition to trying to break free of her mothers tight and controlling grip on her she must also try and break an addiction to her anti-anxiety drugs. Her over-bearing, music obsessed mother is not okay with her weaning off the pills, and this causes high tension between her and Carmen. Another character I was fascinated by was her violin teacher, Yuri. Although he is not a main character, he was still one of the characters I liked them most. Yuri is a very prestigious and kind of crazy retired violinist. Throughout the book, he is like a strict but loving father to Carmen. He has a very short temper, and a thick accent. He seemed very cliche to me, but for some reason I just thought he was really interesting. Carmen's relationship with Yuri has a lot of tension, just like Carmen's relationship with her mother Diana. Diana and Yuri are only two of the many characters that Carmen interacts with in the novel, but they are two of the most interesting. My all time favorite character and relationship in the book is Jeremy King and his relationship with Carmen. Jeremy is basically the British, male version of Carmen. The reason I like him and his relationship with Carmen so much is that not only is he is also her number one competitor in the race to become the best violinist in the world, but he also turns out to be the boy she falls head over heels in love with. He is her enemy, but he is also her true love, so there no matter how they feel about each other there is always going to be that underlying hate and competition. No, the plot in this book was not fantastic, but the characters defiantly were.

Letters to a Young Gymanst by Nadia Comaneci

Letters to a Young Gymnast is the story of gymnastics legend Nadia Comaneci's life. When I first started reading the book, I had no idea the what kind of detail it would go into. I figured that the autobiography would mostly be about her gymnastics career, but I was way off. Not only were there personal stories about her career and her training with Bela and Marta Karolyi, but there were in-depth stories about how life was for an elite athlete living in communist Romania under the rule of Ceausescu, as well as her defection from Romania. I found these stories about her life in Romania to be particularly interesting, because it's just so different from what I'm used to. The story about her escape from Romania was very interesting, as well as very dramatic. I had no idea what life was like, and it was interesting to read about it from a first hand account rather than from a textbook. Nadia wrote the stories in a narrative voice that made it seem as if she was telling the stories to a very close friend, and I was really drawn in by everything she wrote about. I found a lot of things in the book easy to relate to, being a gymnast myself. I have always found Nadia to be an incredible athlete, but after reading about her tough life in communist Romania and the circumstances she lived under, her victories seemed even more impressive. I found the book extremely interesting, and it really contradicts the pretenses people often have about such talented and well-known athletes. Nadia Comaneci's autobiography was really worth reading, and even though it was so short it gave so much detail and interesting information about her life, covering topics from her career, to her education, her life in Romania, and even her wedding to American gymnast Bart Conner. Even though I am generally not a fan of biographies, I enjoyed this book a lot.