FIRST LINE (or two):
"Today I am five. I was four last night going to sleep in Wardrobe, but when I woke up in Bed in the dark I'm changed to five, abracadabra."
SUMMARY:
Since the author does not give too much away on the back cover of this book, neither will I. This book revolves around two main characters, Ma and Jack and is told from the perspective of Jack, a five year old boy. Therefore, the author writes in the way that a five year old would speak and think. What I can tell you is that in the beginning of the book the reader finds out that Ma and Jack are living in a small room. How? Why? These are question I cannot begin to tell you because it would essentially ruin the surprise element that the author is going for. Once you get past the first 20-30 pages or so you begin to understand why they are in this room...and I can guarantee that you will not be able to put the book down.
MY THOUGHTS:
This book in amazing, through and through. First, the author choosing to write this story from the viewpoint of a five year old boy is genius. From the first lines of the book this boy is able to grab at the readers heartstrings and not let go until the very end. It is beautifully written and because of this you can't help but root for this mother and child at every page turn.
I became deeply invested in this storyline despite the fact that the concept is so foreign to me. Maybe that's why I couldn't stop reading it - the author told a story unlike anything I have ever heard before and because of this I needed to know what happened on the next page, next page, next page...
Lastly, I appreciated how the book ended. The ending was satisfying and completely fitting. I will say no more because I do not want to give away the good stuff. However, for anyone reading this blog..this should definitely be the next book you read.
RATING:
My rating of each book I blog about will be out of five stars.
This book receives 4 1/2 out of 5 stars.
It was at the beginning of fifth grade that I first realized my love of books. My teacher used to track the amount of books that each student read in her class. I was always neck and neck with one other student, both of us having blown WAY past all the other kids in the class. (Suckers.) It got to the point that, if I remember correctly, my teacher didn't even bother me with writing a book report after each book I read. She knew I read the book, I definitely knew I read the book - time to move on! Looking back, I dare say it was a competition of sorts in the beginning but soon I just loved to read. Bottom line. End of story. From then on I always had a book on my nightstand, in my backpack when we traveled, and sometimes at family functions when things got just a little boring. (Sorry family.)
Fast forward fifteen years and I still consider myself a dedicated book worm. I believe most of my family and friends would agree. In the past few years its been tons of fun trading books with some of my cousins and aunts and discussing them as we do. Over the years I have accumulated quite the volume of books. Just as a side note...do to various reasons (which I won't bore you with now) I buy my books, usually from B&N, and do not check them out of the library or purchase them through a Nook or Kindle. Personal preference - "to each their own" I guess.
As far as the genre of books I gravitate to and read, well..., I pretty much read almost anything. When I head into a bookstore with the intension of buying a book (or two...or three) I have a bit of a routine. First, I look for a book whose title and cover catch my eye. If they do, I will pick it up and read the summary on the back. And if the summary on the back sounds up my alley you would think - SOLD! Let me start digging for my money and B&N rewards card! But wait!...not so fast!! There is one more test a book must pass in order for this book to become worthy of purchase. Before I take one step towards the check-out line of any bookstore I do one last thing - I read the first line of the book. Simple. Easy. Very quick. But the first line of any book is possibly more important to me than the summary on the back or the title on the front. I believe the first line of any book is the HOOK - either the author has you or they don't. And if they don't then it's going to be hard - at least for me - to be swayed to make the purchase. Basically, if the first line of a book doesn't "speak to me" AKA grab my attention then it is lovingly placed back on the shelf and I move on.
Recently, someone gave me the idea of blogging about the books I read. So here it is..Just for the sake of everyone clearly understanding the main idea of this blog, basically, I will summarize a book I read, pick apart the good and bad, and finally give it a rating. As a reader of my blog take my thoughts, critiques, and suggestions with a grain of salt. They are MINE..another person may read the same book and think something totally different. And that is just one of the many things that are totally cool about reading books! One book - MANY opinions! Now let's get started...
