Sty of Books

So good. So good, but the ending became a bit sappy.

I really enjoyed reading this book although some of the scenes seem like copycats of action movies. I think at one point, the logic of the world starts to fall apart and no longer make any sense. However, it's filled with action and a great page turner.

This book was a political and religious nightmare. The author clearly favored Christianity and Judaism over Islam. I think it provides a really skewed negative view of Islam, which is really unfortunate and disrespectful. I am a Christian, but from the way the author worded everything about God and Jesus, I want to become an atheist. Every time a character went on a "Jesus is my savior" rant, I wanted to close the book and run away.Good things: The book picks up speed towards the end and becomes a whirlwind of action. My favorite part is the end with all the racing and fighting. The ending is kind of anti-climatic with the whole idea that bad guys will be punished by God thing happening. I didn't read the other two books in the series, but I still understood everything going on in this one. I have no intention on backtracking because the story is complete in itself and I don't think I missed anything.

The tone of the book annoys me, and sometimes I feel like it's condescending. He talks a good bit about California but then leaves out other important places in the U.S. that will probably be affected more by climate change.It's also really annoying how he talks so much about his daughter. I get it. He loves her. But I think if he really wanted to write a book for her, he should've just gotten one copy published for his daughter and be done with it. The author does point out some great information that can be used to start discussions or inspire further research, but I don't like the way he presents it in this book.

I have mixed feelings on this one. I think the idea is a great one. Four teenage girls were born with the power of the Moon. They're the goddesses that must rid the world of evil to save it. It's a basic good vs. evil story and the super powers the girls have are pretty standard, but it's kinda presented in a new light. Noticed how I threw the kinda in there.Most of the story contains simple sentence after simple sentence with a few enthralling passages here and there. I didn't think the writing style matched the actions of the immature wanna-be adult characters in the book. It seems like the book is a mix between tweens and older teens and those are two categories that I don't think should mix due to the experience differences between them. It's rather confusing. Due to the simple language, the book seems like it's written for tweens, but since it touches on older teen subjects, such as clubbing, I wouldn't recommend it for a tween. The book definitely holds my interest for a good bit, but at other times, I roll my eyes because the author treats some subjects superficially. Sometimes the main character's relationships with the main males in the story don't make sense, and the minor characters can seem rather one-sided. To be honest, my feelings are rather neutral and I can't recommend it wholeheartedly, but I enjoyed reading it

I am biased against these types of books, so my review may not be helpful. Malcolm Gladwell creates a wonderful story in Blink: Sometimes it's better to make a snap judgment and sometimes it's better to deliberately think before you act. Information may actually slow you down when you have too much of it because most of that info is irrelevant. Instead, you should focus on what's important to make your decision. With the story comes problems. Many times Gladwell doesn't use the correct terminology. For example, this "unconcious thinking" that he sometimes refers to as "instincts" or "instinctive reflexes" are not instincts at all. They're actually called heuristics, little rules of thumb or strategies that we have developed over time to quickly make decisions in the world. Stereotypes are a type of heuristic, and we use them a lot more than we care to admit.While Gladwell did do research, I worry that he took the research out of context and gave it a new meaning. It's very easy to do, which is the problem. If you read this book, I also suggest you spend time reading through the journal articles he mentions in the notes sections. It's important for you to form your own opinion on snap judgment thinking based on multiple sources. You shouldn't trust your thin-slicing snap judgment decisions with this book because Gladwell is not a research expert. He is a journalist. If he was a decision-making expert and writing this book, then maybe you could question him just a little less but still question him.Compared to other decision-making books I've read, this is definitely one of the better ones. However, I think Gladwell misses the confounding variables in decision-making. You use heuristics and emotions to make decisions, and the only emotion he talked about in depth was stress. He's definitely right when he says that too much information can overwhelm you, and so that's why you have to narrow down your options and choose what matters to you. Some days you can sit down and write out pros and cons all day and still never make a decision, but in the end, you have to decide based on what's the most important factors for you and your purpose. When it comes to choosing what you like, snap judgments are the best, but when you're making a huge investment, you shouldn't rely on your snap judgments, but on other people's opinions and deeper analysis of a few sections of important information that focus on future possibilities of your decision. As a side note, I think it may have been useful if he added another section of fighting your thin-slicing judgment in another setting besides police work. In the afterword, he kind of includes a section about selecting musicians for orchestras, but doesn't dwell on it too much. Also as another side note, it was annoying how much he plugged his Tipping Point book in the afterword and interview section. Once would've been enough.

I really liked this book, but I'd only give it a 3.5 for a few reasons. Let's start with the good.I love that Virginia never gives up. She stubbornly keeps creating a path for her own self. She gets stuck in captive for a while, not sure what to break free or stay with what's familiar to her. Her life mirrors many children's lives in the sense that she deals with the pressures of physical beauty, finding her own place, and coming to terms with her heritage and her future. I think she's rather lucky that she's combined her identity so well, and hopefully, other readers will be lucky like her or get inspiration from her. As a character, Virginia is extremely spunky, and her antics are fun to read about.The book covers many topics, such as abuse, molestation, poverty, discrimination, growing up, formation of an identity, first loves, and friendship. Some things are covered well, especially the formation of Virginia's identity, and other things are just touched on, like first loves and molestation. I think the wide range of topics makes the book very enjoyable. It's not just one theme, but an intertwining of topics that keeps the book going. I've heard that Latin America gets much of its entertainment from the United States, just like Virginia watches MacGayver, but something about Virginia's actions and thoughts just seem too American and not Latin American. It seriously made me wonder if Ecuador actually adopted American values like this book portrays or if the author chose to insert American values to make Virginia more relatable to an American audience. I think more exploration of the indigenas' themes and culture may have added to the book, but at the same time, Virginia loses her indigena identity since she is removed from her home at an early age. The mixing of cultures makes me wonder what's Ecuadorian, what's American, and what's indigena. However, the mixing all of the cultures is probably what created Ecuador's culture in the first place.

Daine leaves her hometown after her mother's death. She has to find a job to feed herself and her horse friend Clover. Her first job is to take care of the Riders' horses, but then it's discovered that she has magic. Her next job is to develop her talents. In the meanwhile, divine creatures from the realms beyond begin attacking her new home. Daine must stand up to the demons but at the same time, let those she loves fight beside her.I love these types of books. It's similar to the The Chronicles of Narnia and The Ranger's Apprentice, following young children as they approach new challenges. However, these book definitely looked at kingdoms and magic in new ways. Magic consumed the whole body and has different forms, one of which is Diane's and the other belongs to those with the Gift. Both men and women fight for their kingdom. In fact, the king's champion is actually a lady knightSometimes I don't think the actions of the characters are very clear, but otherwise, it's written very well. The ending seems anticlimatic, but there are more books in the series to look forward to after this one. I'm excited to get my hands on the next book.

The is divided into two sections: one talks about the downfalls of people, especially famous ones, and the other section talks about how to improve your thinking. This book has a GIANT bias. The problems the book mentioned isn't limited to people who score high on IQ tests. Everyone can experience these problems sooner or later. They also assume that people with higher paying jobs and more power score higher on IQ tests and are therefore, smarter. That's not always the case. Therefore, I suggest you take this book with a grain of salt.The first section amuses me since all the stories about people failing, in the silliest ways, are funny. However, sometimes the sections can get confusing, especially the explanation of Whitewater and Hillary Clinton. The opening of the book really caught my attention, and I found myself reading on and on even after I grew tired of reading. The second part has lots of questionnaires and activities for the reader to assess his or her ways of thinking. Most of the questions ask you to examine your thinking, compares it against the mistakes of others, and then tells you how you can avoid the dumb mistakes.Sometimes the tone of the book becomes very condescending. I couldn't tell if the authors were being serious, sarcastic, or just making fun of people. Honestly, if you're just reading this for fun, it's an interesting read. If you want a serious self-help book, drop the book and go look somewhere else. This is not a self-help book, but one that makes you think about what you're doing. I actually didn't finish the book due to time constraints and boredom.

I loved the main characters in this story. Aibeleen and Minny's point-of-views were my favorite. I didn't particularly care for Skeeter's pov, but I understand her role in the story and why she was chosen as a narrator.

Maybe it does seem frilly because it's told from a woman's point-of-view, and the narrators tend to be more obsessed with their looks and cooking. However, it's still interesting. I wonder how different the book would be if there was a male narrator. I would definitely recommend...more I loved the main characters in this story. Aibeleen and Minny's point-of-views were my favorite. I didn't particularly care for Skeeter's pov, but I understand her role in the story and why she was chosen as a narrator.

Maybe it does seem frilly because it's told from a woman's point-of-view, and the narrators tend to be more obsessed with their looks and cooking. However, it's still interesting. I wonder how different the book would be if there was a male narrator. I would definitely recommend it to people who want to read about the Civil Rights' Era, reminding them of course, that it is just fiction.

This book started my love for reading. Frequently at my grandmother's house, my cousin and I pulled this book from her shelf and read it. We often read Go, Dogs, Go and Are You My Mother?, but all of the stories are amazing. I would highly recommend it for younger children who are just starting to read. We have the book now at my mom's house for my little nephew who's around 2 and a half. I read it to him, but he doesn't seem to be interested. His attention changes often. A two-and a-half-year-old is probably too young for this book. However, one day on my tip toes, I will sneakily change the book's location from my mom's house to my house. It really is one of my favorite books ever.

Reason for not finishing: I read the beginning of the book and also a few parts of the chapters and thought it was too messy for me. The writing isn't bad. But it is really simple and sometimes boring towards the end. I just can't stand the themes. It's way too drama filled with relationship nonsense for my liking.Stupid characters. Stupid characters everywhere. These girls need better role models. It's hard for me to decide who I hate most, but I hate Hanna the least because reading about someone getting arrested by cops is more interesting than reading about morons hooking up with teachers or stealing their siblings' boyfriends. If Emily hadn't cheated on Ben with Maya, then I probably wouldn't hate her. I think they all need psychiatric help, including the mysterious A, but after they're done with the psychiatrist, the psychiatrist is going to need some mental help, too. I'm really convinced almost all the characters in this book don't have solid good morals to keep them out of trouble. I'm glad I never had friends like these girls.

The middle was kinda iffy, but I loved the ending a lot. It made me want to keep reading more.

I couldn't stand the style and the topic of drugs. The girl just seemed like she was making stupid decisions.

I hated the main character so much that I gave up on the series. Lusting after three guys is disgusting.

I definitely liked the concept of the book. The writing is fast pace with a plot that never seems to take a breather. The actual style of writing is very nice since the word usage aligns with the time period and genre, but the stereotypical characters are extremely annoying. This book is a feminist nightmare. It explores the idea of "manhood" through violence and sexual attraction from women.The depiction of women kills the story for me. Almost all of the women in the book are shown as sexual objects, in which they lick their lips to show sexual interest in men. They're kidnapped and raped. All of them bare their bodies in some way or fashion. Even women who work with the men sexualize themselves. /begin sarcasm/ Of course, the main character gets more than one woman interested in him. He's a man after all. /end sarcasm/ It's books like this one that add to the perpetuation of rape culture. Not all women should be shown as whores or as an object to rape. Even Lauze, a woman who helps save the boat, sexualizes herself for men. It's utterly annoying and disgusting. Women have more power and skills than just sexualizing themselves for men.