Hello Fellow NerdWriters/NerdReaders

I am starting to feel a bit guilty for not updating this in over a month, but since I have been so busy that I haven't had time to finish any books lately, I thought I would just pop in, notify you that I am still here, I haven't forgotten about you and to warn you that, as school is coming up quicker than I could have ever imagined, many of my book reviews in the coming months will be most likely books that I will have read for school. That doesn't discount the fact that they are probably brilliant books and deserve just as much, or more, attention as the books I would read normally, but I just wanted to give you a heads up. To all of you heading back to school, I hope you find the time to read a few good books and if not, let's hope that you have to read good books for class. If you come across any brilliant books that you think I should read, let me know in the comments :)

Best Wishes!

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

I bought this book immediately after seeing the trailer for the upcoming movie. I had wanted to read this book for a while, but I could never get my hands on it. Luckily, my mom has a Nook. From the minute that I bought the book until 2:40am, I didn't put the book down. I became a bit obsessed.

In The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, the narrator, going by the nome de plum "Charlie", writes a series of letters to an anonymous person recounting his first year of high school. Charlie is shy and bookish, his only true friend, Michael, committed suicide the year before. He's a little lost in the world. He is taken under the wings of two seniors, Patrick and his stepsister, Sam. These two introduce Charlie to new people, drag him to new events and get him to participate in his life again. Charlie learns a lot about friends, love and just about everything our parents don't want us to get involved with. He discovers the perks of being on the outside, but also the advantages of being a part of a group of amazing friends.

I wanted to read this book because I am a bit of a wallflower and a story about an outsider? Sign me up! And I was pulled into this story because I could understand Charlie's emotions. The moments when he felt completely alone because his friends were out of town or going to college were moments that I knew well. Of course, there were other things that I couldn't relate to, such as the large amount of drugs that Charlie and his friends do, but that didn't change the root of the story. A teenager, lost, scared for his first year of high school and completely friendless, finds a place for himself amidst the drama of the teenage life. It's a story that I know very well because it is my story. I was that teenager my freshman year of high school, looking for my place in the cafeteria. It was my friends' story as well. In this book, it's shown that it's not just Charlie who is looking for his place. It's everyone. His brother, off to college on a football scholarship; his sister, getting ready to leave the comfort of her high school to go to college; Brad, the high school quarterback who is struggling with his sexuality; Mary Elizabeth, trying to find the right guy; Patrick, trying to stay afloat after losing the one he loved and Sam, the girl of Charlie's dreams who just wants someone to fight for her and prove how much she means to them. This book is for those people who are struggling to stay afloat, trying to find something to hang on to. This book is a reminder that we are all lost, but if we reach out to one another, we can survive.

The plot of the book was spot on, exactly what I was hoping for. The only downfall, that I saw, of the entire book was the author's word choice. The book is supposed to be written by a high school freshman and I understand that, but after reading books with such beautiful word choice and elegant syntax, this book's writing fell a bit flat. It took me a while to see past that, but once I did, I was able to enjoy this book immensely. If you're starting high school or college or anything new and you're feeling a bit lost and lonely, pick up this book. It's a good reminder that what we are feeling is normal and that things could be a lot worse.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

I probably wouldn't have picked up Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs immediately if it hadn't been for my favorite author, John Green, highly praising it in his video blog. Not only that, but it skyrocketed to the top of the New York Time's Best Seller's list. I'll just say that my expectations for this book were extremely high. And I was not disappointed.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children tells the story of a sixteen year old boy named Jacob who, after witnessing the awful (and slightly graphic) death of his grandfather, he sets off to better understand his grandfather's last words to him. He finds himself on a journey to a small Welsh island, searching for the remarkable orphanage his grandfather grew up in. The stories that his grandfather told of the orphanage leave Jacob a bit skeptical about the whole thing, but with old photos in tow, he sets off to uncover the truth of his grandfather's childhood and find out just who these strange children in the photos are. What he finds might just prove to be more dangerous then he could have ever imagined.

I will be honest and tell you that for the first eighty pages or so, I was a bit scared by this book. The mystery of who these children are, mixed with the eerie and authentic photographs, left me a bit...uneasy. The thing was, I couldn't put the book down. I wanted to know who these children where and why were they so peculiar. By the time I was halfway through the book, I found myself excited when I stumbled across another picture in the book. They added so much to the plot of the book, because as Jacob was finding the pictures, so was I. It brought me into the book more and more. As for the characters, I couldn't help but love Jacob. He was an outsider, only had one friend in the world and didn't really have a definite path in life except to work for the family business, something it is very clear he has no interest in being a part of. He wants to badly to believe that what is grandfather is saying is true and when he finds that it is, it's really satisfying, not just for him, but for me. The peculiar children, despite having gifts beyond the imaginable, they are surprisingly easy to believe. They have layers to them, secrets that are hidden within them and stories they wish they could forget. They hold within them with ancient aura, yet uphold their childishness with ease. It makes me want to get to know them more. I wanted to know more about them, what other peculiar children were there and what amazing gifts did they have.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It kept me wondering what was going to happen next and although there were instances when I had to re-read a sentence or would crack a smile at something a bit cheesy, I loved the idea. I wanted all of my books to have surprise pictures in them, something I could look forward to as I read. I began to love the strange children in the photos and I was right beside Jacob as he not only discovers the truth, but finds where he belongs. My only complaint about the entire book was the ending and that was only because I wanted to know what happened next. They row away in their boats and then what? The end. Where do they go? What becomes of the children? If this book has a sequel, I will be in line at midnight to go buy it because this was a book that had be on my toes until the very end and sent me flying over the edge, looking for what came next.

Every Story Has Beginning

This is the beginning of something I hope to continue for a long time. I have always had a great passion for books and have been known to loudly advocate for books that I enjoy. This isn't going to be a place where I tell you what books your should or shouldn't read, because in the long run, that is completely up to you. This is a place where I want to share the books I loved and comment on the books I wasn't as enthused about.
Now, I'm not going to review for the masses, because in all honestly, I am not exactly what one would consider as a part of the so-called "masses". I'm going to review for people like me who liked books that I like to read. This is the place for the young adults who couldn't put down John Green's latest book or was itching to get Markus Zusak's books. I review what I read and it changed from day to day and year to year, but my story's beginning starts with the often overlooked and underestimated genre of Young Adult. Don't worry, this isn't Twilight Series Young Adult, although I will admit I have have read all four of the books. This is the Young Adult fiction that has touched the hearts and souls of teenagers and adults around the world, the well-written stories that leave us pleading for more and have us up late into the night, wondering what is going to happen to our favorite characters next. This is our story.

And every story has a beginning.