A Helping Hand

Well,

        Christmas proved to be a fantastic time. And now I don't have to worry about carpal tunnel troubles! For Christmas, I got a wonderful gift: the Dragon. It is a recognition software that allows me to speak to my computer and it types for me! In fact I'm using it to type this right now! As much as I hate salesmen, I have to admit it lives up to all those infomercials. Hopefully, the website work will run much smoother and faster.


I hope to have told you more than just this little thing. But I simply run out of things to say. Nevertheless work will continue on the website on Wednesday.

See you then,
ReviewerRachel

CHRISTMAS FUN!!

Hi!
I know it's been awhile. but, on the bright side, I have just finished my Christmas Recommendation List. It recommends books for the reluctant readers, the history buffs, the sci-fi fans, the fantasy fanatics, the romantic hearts, and the happily ever after people. On the bad side, I really should not have used my hand to type 1,000 words. one word description- OUCH! haha, but, at least people will have great gift ideas, am I right?
So, go check it out! I would have loved to include things like the spy fans and the super power people or the animal lovers. However, I didn't think I had read enough of those categories to really make recommendations of 'the best'

Celebrate

Wow, I just got the ‘Catching Fire’ review up. I can’t believe it waited for 8 days. In my book, that was WAY too long to wait. Unfortunately my wrist isn’t totally better. I’m still not allowed to use it that much. On the bright side, I got tons of reading done! Here is what I read over my ‘break’

Unwind

The Warrior Heir

Beastly

Quantum Prophecy

The Wizard Heir

The Dragon Heir

The Body Finder

I am working on reading “Maze Runner” and “Eric the First”

I have a neat surprise for Friday. The author of ‘Eric the First’ asked if I would review his book, I said yes. Of course, the book was written with the target audience of young teenage boys, so I after I read ‘The Body Finder’ I thought of maybe doing a special for the American Thanksgiving Holiday. I will do two reviews on Friday; one review just for the guys and one review just for the girls. I think it will work out ok, but when the living room got painted, everything got rearranged and I can’t find ‘Eric the First’ for the life of me. Nevertheless it is my goal to do that special for the holiday. Ironically, ‘The Body Finder’ is the chick flick in writing. Another example of don’t judge a book by its cover....or rather..its title.

Happy Reading,

ReviewerRachel

RebelReader

Wow! Have I got a blog post for you!

What better for a teen reviewer than a publisher that allows teens all over the world to read books before they are published? I thought ‘nothing!’ They put two books every month on the website, and allow everyone to read them. As I searched the site more and more, I found out that there hadn’t been any books that weren’t romance novels. By ‘romance’ I don’t mean things like ‘beauty and the beast.’ I’m talking about full out uncomfortable inappropriateness. I decided to post a message on the message board and see what teens said. Well, I got what I wanted – feedback. Not in the way I was thinking though. The answers I got were……..

Colorful.

Yes, I, the teen reviewer got an earful (or rather….eyeful) of four-lettered vocabulary. But, I wasn’t mad; I was sad. The basis of teen morals seemed to deteriorate before my very eyes. I got almost 20 responses, all but 1 was negative. The analyzer inside of me waved its red flags. Why? Because I had conflicting data. Sure, I had 20 people get ticked off at me in cyberspace. But guess what? My website has had almost 4,000 views.

So, on one hand I had twenty teens who believed that that kind of romance is the pure existence of ‘teen.’ They think I’m a load of……garbage. In one word they thought me

Ignorant,Wrong.

On the other hand, I have a college, several internationally famous authors, and 4,000 views that scream at me –

Right On.

They think they drilled the ‘shut up’ into the teen.

Instead, they drove it out, cranked up the sound and turned this teen into a rebel.

(Encarta Dictionary)

Rebel- noun,

  1.Someone who rejects the common codes and conventions of society.

  2. To protest by defying a form of authority.

The Authority – Those select teens who serve and bow to earthly things.

The Crime - Standing, Speaking, Fighting.

The Defendant’s Plea –    Guilty.

Dare to Read

Dare to Rebel,

ReviewerRachel

Hello, my bloggers!

         One thing that never ceases to amaze me is the amount of website work. It is all fun, but I am also in high school, which involves alot of work too. Reading, writing, keeping up with the authors, all that good stuff. I have several books which I have to re-read to get a fresh perspective on things. However, this one book bothered me, I had read it but I could not remember a single thing about it besides the beginning and the end (and that it was a pleasant book to read.) Weird huh? I couldn't figure out why! It wasn't hard, it wasn't really long, I just couldn't remember! I re-read it and a day later, I couldn't even remember half the characters (which really scared me because I can remember minute details of books I had read years ago!) My solution was to bring in a friend to read and review it. How does that sound? He is younger than me, but he reads books like Inkheart and things like that. He can definitely handle this book. On the bottom of his review it will say ' - Reviewer Bradley.'  Cool, yes?

Happy reading,

 

Reviewer Rachel

P.S. Who's going to be at the bookstore Thursday getting 'The Orphan of Destiny'? It is the conclusion to my #3 Series, The Youngest Templar. I know I will be there! (That is what the countdown on the left is for!)

Hello!
I know I only have one follower, but i'm cool with that. I am just going to ask this question anyway (maybe people will see the question and join!) What would you like to see on my blog?

Happy reading,

ReviewerRachel

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I have no clue what I am going to blog about. I think that when I have something to say, I will blog it. I think sometimes i'm going to post a review. Particularly when I review a popular series (more publicity for me!) I will post it. I would love to hear suggestions from readers. I will make this statement upfront though- I refuse to read Twilight. I have not read it, so I will not trash it. I will say this though. You wouldn't even catch me dead touching that book. Why? Because, not a single person has ever been able to tell me something absolutely possitive. No, I do not consider romance to be an indefinite positive or negative, because it all depends on the content. To be frank and politically incorrect, I feel dirty just walking past the teen book shelf, so don't even think about suggesting it to me. I don't even care that I just scared away every Twilight fan, it really doesn't matter to me. Here is today's review-

Enjoy-

Reviewer Rachel

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

         The Hunger Games is about Katniss Everdeen. She is a survivor. With her father long dead and her practically comatose mother, she has sustained her family with her hunting skills. She lives in what used to be America, now called Panem. She lives in district 12, one of the poorest districts. The start of the Hunger Games is nearing. Two teens from each of the 12 districts will be transported to a closed arena and be forced to fight to the death. The last survivor wins. A rod of terror strikes Katniss as her 12 year old sister, Prim, is chosen from the drawing. But Katniss will not stand for that, she takes her sisters place on impulse. She dared take a look at her family, because for all she knows, she would never see them again.

         

        

My chosen words for this book are ‘hauntingly real’ and ‘horrifyingly familiar.’ To be honest, it would not take much to turn our world (and government) into Panem. This book gives a vivid look into what a soldier’s mental state would be like after (and during) a war, the horrors that would affect it, and the thoughts that would invade it. The night I finished the book, even though I fell asleep easily, was the most restless night of my life. I tossed and turned. I do not remember having nightmares, but I can tell that I was visited by some unpleasant thoughts. However, the book was very addictive, there is no doubt I will continue reading this series.

Hello Bloggers!

As you may have noticed, I am a book reviewer. All people can enjoy my book reviews; however, my target group is teens. That of course is my goal. I love reading! I firmly believe that if you do not like reading, it is because of one (or maybe both) of two things. A) your teachers have forced you to read dull and aweful books for 'learning' or B) when you did finally pick up a book to read, it bored you to death. Often times I walk into the teen section of book stores and I shudder. It makes me feel dirty to know that publishers are letting so much......garbage into our bookstores. Too often I have picked up a book that promises wild adventure, I read it: Lo and behold, it bored me out of my skull. My 'big beef' about (most) YA books is that it has adult's reviews are on (or in) the book. Why? Why on earth would an adult's opinion matter on a YA book? Would it honestly take too long to find a willing teen to review it? Why would I care if 'New York Times' voted it best? I hope you look to my reviews for your next read. I cover the main idea of the book (but don't give away the fun stuff!) I also cover contraversial matter such as cussing. I share my top 5 favorite books, and have a tab on my website just for links to the author's websites. I hope that you find my website useful!
http://www.rachelsbookreviews.com/

Don't forget to spread the word!

Happy Adventures,

Reviewer Rachel