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Book Review: The Glass Castle

NOTE: This is a review of a book I had to read for school. There are going to be no gifs, since I feel like that would be disrespectful to Jeannette Walls and her family.

For my summer reading, I have to read two non-fiction books. One of which, is The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, a memoir about her life and struggles with her parents.

I liked this book WAY more than I thought I would. Especially since it's a book for school and I make it a point to not enjoy those.

But this story was just so honest and heartbreaking and unfortunately realistic. And I loved how Walls remembered all sorts of details that tied the story together in some of the best ways possible.

I also enjoyed reading the stuff that happened (but not in an enjoying-someone-else's-pain but more like this-is-really-well-done-and-you-tell-a-great-story). Like when she was 3, she was making hot dogs in a tutu and accidentally caught on fire. Or when her dad moved them around a ton throughout their childhood.

They talked a lot about family loyalty. In my opinion, I felt like Walls and her siblings didn't owe their parents anything. Because of them and their efffed-up ideals of parenthood and domesticity and what they should do with their money (the dad: alcohol, the mom: needless paint stuff and pointless trinkets that she just hoarded), Jeannette's, Lori's, Brian's and Maureen's childhood were made harder than needed. While it gave them great experiences, there are just some stuff a family shouldn't have dealt with.

Like (and this gets into the graphic part of the book) there are a lot of incidents of sexual abuse. Especially between family members. And I was just honestly disgusted. How could people do that to each other? I felt sick while reading it.

And how the parents dealt with it wasn't any better. Like the Dad used Jeannette and her body to get guys' guards down for pool (I'm not sure how to describe this but this is pretty much what happened) and Rose Mary told Jeannette that it wasn't that big a deal and how women just make too much of a big deal about these sorts of things. Which just made me angry.

But, back to the idea of family loyalty, Lori, Jeannette and Brian followed each other to New York and made their own lives there. And every (at first Sunday, then it became once a month) they'd meet and discuss things and talk about their new lives.

Rating this, I got to say it's a 45 out of 50. It was insanely well-written and well-described, but for my faint heart I just got to knock down a couple points because what happens in this book is purely disgusting. But I'm recommending it to people left and right. What are you gonna do? :)

Bye!

Owyn

Sorry I haven't posted in a while :(

But I'm working on a review right now!!

Graphic Novel Review: Drama

NOTE: Sorry I haven't been posting much I've just been kind BLAH and so BLAH.

The book I'm reading is actually a graphic novel. It's called Drama by Raina Telgemeier. It's about a girl named Callie who is in a Stage Crew when a bunch of DRAMA (get it? get it?) goes on both involved with onstage and offstage.

I really enjoyed this! I wasn't sure what I was going to expect since I don't regularly read graphic novels, but I definitely thought it was really well done. And here is why:

1. It brought up homosexuality. AND IT DID A GOOD JOB. I was very impressed how Telgemeier handled the subject.

But with that, I read a review about this subject on this book on Goodreads and I would just like to point out how stupid this person is.

He basically said that homosexuality doesn't have a place in middle reader books AND IT DOES. People like him need to stop. It's not like she's fetishizing homosexuality, she just made it a very interesting part of the story and I enjoyed reading it.

2. The graphics were awesome. I really liked the images and I thought they did a good job telling the story. And it is really awesome to see a story described in a way without words, I think that experience-part of the book is amazing.

3. It's totally accurate. As a person who's been a part of the whole behind-the-scenes thing, the fright, the worry, the annoyance with the actors: I've felt it all. But, the best part is with all the drama I didn't feel overwhelmed by all the stuff going on. So thank you, Telgemeier! You did:

But yes. This book is 88 scripts out of 95. HUZZAH

Bye guys!

Owyn

Get to the Freaking Point: A Rant

NOTE: This is a rant. I apologize for all swear words, but that being said

Have you read a book that just added so many fucking descriptions or pointless stuff in it that you just want to throw it at a wall?

I don't like to attack people's writing styles, but when you're so redundant and superfluous then I just want to not read your book.

My reaction

That opinion being said, if it's a part of the story where it's supposed to be descriptive then I'm okay with it. But really, I just like the dialogue. I don't need to read any internal struggle or stuff that I don't find interesting.

Like I kind of didn't like the Harry Potter series because there was a lot of descriptions and the dialogue was sparse.

And then I didn't like the Hunger Games because I didn't give a crap about the love triangle, or Katniss's family and stuff like that. JUST GET TO THE TEENS KILLING EACH OTHER DAMMIT.

Just give me the snappy, sassy dialogue and I shall be happy.

What do you guys think?

Sincerely,

Owyn

Great Glee Fanfictions

NOTE: This is a compilation of fanfictions I really have enjoyed reading. (Some may be a bit smutty but that's the Internet.)

"Family Ties" by The Minsk. Pairing: Finchel. Rating: T. SUMMARY: "With changes at home and changes at school, Finn's going to need all the help he can get." I really liked this fanfiction because it was written really well and told an interesting story. (This author just writes great Finchel fanfictions)

"Dorks Like Us" by JustTheQueenOfEverything. Pairing: Samchel. Rating: T (with some SMUT SMUT) Summary: Sam and Rachel form a friendship over their love of Disney. I love this story because it tied a lot of Disney references with the Glee life and it was funny, romantic, and adorable.

"I Only Just Found You" (Please Don't Leave Me Now) by Tarafina. Pairing: Puckleberry. Rating: T. Summary: A horrible accident opens Rachel's eyes. This is only a one-shot, but this was so well-done and it told a great story that is RIDICULOUSLY intense.

"Sour Patch Kid" by nitefang. Pairing: Puckleberry. Rating: T. Summary: Puck makes an agreement with Brittany to try to get Rachel away from Finn. This is so hilariously well-written, an interesting story with awesome character development and an awesome love story.

"Picking Up The Pieces" by MistressMalvagita. Pairing: Puckleberry. Rating: T. Summary: Shelby decided she's not ready to be a parent so she gives Beth to Rachel and Puck. I liked the way the author executed the story idea and wrote a cute parenting romance.

But yeah. That's that.

See you eventually!!

Owyn

5 Books I Will Never Read

Do you ever just see a book and there's something about it that says "Yeah no I'm not going to read you. Sorry book. Better luck next time."

So here is my list of those books (there are a ton more. But here are some).

Tampa by Alissa Nutting

I read about it on DeadWhiteGuys and even then I was like HOLY CRAP CRINGING NEVER AGAIN MY EYES MY EYES. It's apparently about a woman who has really graphic sex with 14-year-old boys.

Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

I don't think I have to justify this one.

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia + Margaret Stohl

I think the whole thing with the dreams and the witches and stuff just didn't seem like my forte. And it just seemed like it would DRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGG on. So nah.

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Have you seen the size of that thing? IT'S THICK AS SEVEN LAYERS OF HELL I DON'T EVER WANT TO READ IT.

Besides that, there's the whole "moral dilemma" thing. I think that's bullshit. Either you have morals or you don't. And I don't need to read about it.

Anything by Charles Dickens

Bye you guys!

Owyn

Check out my blog posts at the Boulder Book Store.

Book Review: The Duff

NOTE: This is a book. Yay *little shimmy*

So I decided to shop at Barnes and Noble (an indie bookstore intern? THE HORROR) because I had a giftcard. Which I spent on an awesome haul of promising books.

Which included this one: The Duff: Designated Ugly Fat Friend by Kody Keplinger. And I really liked this one.

Now I have read Shut Out by her, and I knew she liked to bring up sex and swear and stuff like that.

But BAM does this book have it. Not graphically, but kind of up-front. Like, "Hell yeah I'm having sex. Deal with it." And this I appreciated. Too many people are squeamish. I DECLARE LET THERE BE SEX IF THE AUTHOR SO PROCLAIMS.

Here are the other things I liked:

The voice is AWESOME. Bianca is an awesome character and she just had this really dry, sarcastic voice that I thought was magnificent. And I liked that she swore and she was upfront.

The romance was so... I can't find a good description so I'll just list my feels. Wesley was such a dick but he was just hiding his kind side and Bianca has been insecure and afraid of her parents' divorce and I was just rooting for them to get together the entire time.

Great message. I shall just say this quote "We're all fucking Duffs."

But yes, this book gets 233 Duffs out of 233. Keplinger did a great job.

Bye! Happy Fourth of July!

Owyn

5 Books About Sex

NOTE: This is a list of books that I think have a great message when it comes to teenagers having sex.
No gifs, because this is SERIOUS BUSINESS

Okay only gif

Forever by Judy Blume

You can read the review I already posted, but I will reiterate here that this book was very frank and I think most teenagers should read it.

Shut Out by Kody Keplinger

This book talked about how people can be shamed for being "sluts" when they actually just like sex. Or on the flip side, people being shamed (or feel shame) for not having sex yet. Boys who pressured their girlfriends, girls who bullied girls for being sluts or virgins and the great message is that sex is between you and your partner. You ROCK, Keplinger!

Looking For Alaska by John Green

I won't go into details (spoilers!) but there is a really AWKWARD sexual scene. But it kind of shows that if you do that with someone you don't care about, then you end up not enjoying it.

Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen

I like the dual stories. There's a best friend who slept with her boyfriend and she ended up pregnant and then a girl with a boyfriend who keeps pressuring her for sex (when she's seen the first hand the consequences of unprotected sex).

The Boy Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

This is a great story of having sex with someone you love. The characters buy condoms, they deal with the pressures of judgmental assholes, and try to find themselves in the midst of everything else in their lives. (And I already wrote a review of it.)

If you guys have any other suggestions (because there are a ton more) then just leave them down in the comments!

Bye!!
Owyn

P.S. My grandparents are coming into town so I might not be posting much. But I will try my hardest to keep updating!