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Correction, this is the last post

What's interesting is that I haven't written for this blog in months and yet I supposedly am getting hundreds of visitors each month. Strange.  Also the most viewed post was not actually about books, it was about       A-Rod's steroid use....But still this is the real last post on this blog. It's going to stay up because people are still going to it and I want them to check out my new blog under my new account. The URL is rachelnotrach.blogspot.com. Check it out.

New Account

Last post, got a new account. New blog soon. New account name is rachelnotrach. Keep a look out!

Not My Typical Post

Hi to those still reading this blog which I never update- I am going to break away from book recommendations and reviews for a little while and just post whatever I feel about. Today it will be Tom Flash and the Lightning Band. It's gonna be quick. Tom Flash and the Lightning Band is in two words absolutely amazing. There is so much talent in that group it is crazy. I know some people who read this aren't from the U.S, but Google them and listen to some of their music. They are great. I had the pleasure to see them play live two nights in a row and it was one of the best weekends I've had this year. Please find them and listen to them. That's all for now.

My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins and Fenway Park by Steve Kluger

Wow. This book was good. I was looking on audible.com for a book to listen to, and saw this title and without reading a description knew I had to read it. Then I read the description and knew this book was perfect.

Boston natives T.C (short for Tony Conigliaro) Keller and Augie Hwong are now juniors in high school and one of their assignments was to write about their most excellent year. For them, and one other friend, it is their freshmen year where all of their lives change forever. First Alejandra, the daughter of a Mexican ambassador, moves from Washington D.C to Boston after her father takes a job at Harvard. Second, T.C falls in love with Alejandra, though she hates him (at least she pretends she hates him). Third, Augie discovers he is gay, which T.C knew for years. And fourth, a deaf child brings them all together in ways they never imagined when they try to grant his wish.


Baseball, love and musical theater make this a good book from the start. But it was cleverly written, switching perspectives and means of communication. A lot of it is written in diary form, some is narrated, other parts are emails or instant messaging and some are homework assignments. Augie and T.C have been best friends since T.C's mother died, they are so close that they call each other brothers. The characters were extremely well created in this novel, I especially liked the connection Augie and T.C had as brothers. I listened to this book on my iPod and I could not have thought of a better way to read it. This book was seriously meant to be read aloud. The actors reading for each of the characters didn't just read the book, they acted it out. For example, T.C has a very heavy Boston accent and the actor read it with one. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes musical theater, Mary Poppins or the Red Sox.

Along for the Ride

Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

Auden, an 18 year old insomniac, decides to spend her last summer before college with her father, his new 26 year old wife and her newborn sister Thisbee in the small beach town they live in. At first she just wants an escape from her mother and a change of pace, but soon she finds herself making friends, something she has never really done before. She also meets Eli, a loner and fellow insomniac. Together they  embark on a "quest" to help Auden experience the childhood she never had.

This is now one of my favorite Sarah Dessen books. It was extremely well written, but I expected that because of the author, and the characters had depth, but that was expected. What I didn't expect was how real the story was. Sarah Dessen's books are all things that could happen and do happen, but this one I feel more people can relate to than Just Listen for instance. Many of Sarah Dessen's books deal with difficult topics such as teen pregnancy, the death of a loved one or rape. While there was death in Along for the Ride it was not the main topic. This is a must read book. So read it. Really, go out get a copy and sit down and read it.  

A-Z Book Challenge

So today I realized I failed my A-Z Book Challenge miserably. The biggest problem was not being able to find the books, so I am going to try again starting now. So look for reviews of these books and the list being posted soon.

Book Recommendations and Comments

Hi everyone. I'm looking for book recommendations, so if you have any please leave a comment. And also please don't leave comments that are advertisements, I hate to say it but I will delete them. Please have comments relate to the blog or the post. Thanks!

Splendor and Gossip Girl

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted. I have a bunch of reviews coming up for all of you dedicated readers. So because I took so long to jump on the Gossip Girl bandwagon I'm not going to do a full review and because Splendor is the last book of a series I won't do a summary.

Gossip Girl: A-

I enjoyed the story and it is interesting to see into the lives of the wealthy. It is nice to see that those these kids party they are also dedicated to their studies and makes their characters a lot less annoying than those in similar novels. It was also a good look into how gossip can spread like a wildfire and really effect someone's life.

Splendor: A-/A

I really wanted to give this an A or an A+, but the ending disappointed me. I won't spoil it, but not all is well in the lives of our four girls. Two are happy, two are not to start the novel. The couples we love may not survive and new ones may come up. Secrets are revealed and threaten the lives of our beloved society girls. All and all it was a good end to the series and while the ending was not the one I wanted it was still good.

So if you're wondering why I put these two reviews together it is because I often describe the Luxe novels as the Gossip Girl of the late 1800's to early 1900's. While the girls in Gossip Girl are a bit wilder, the characters in each live very similar lives. The characters are at the top of New York society and are what everyone looks at with jealousy. Yet their lives aren't really all that enviable. There are rules to the ways they can conduct themselves and many find themselves wanting to rebel. If you've read both of these series you know what I am talking about.

New Blog

Hey everyone! Check out my new blog Teen Travel which can be found at http://teenagetravel.blogspot.com/. The blog is travel reviews written by teens for teens or families traveling with teens. It is often hard to know whether a location is teen friendly which is why Teen Travel was created. Check it out!

New Puzzle

So this is one of my favorite concentration puzzles. There is another one similar to it that is harder with rectangles. So here is the triangle puzzle. Excuse any not perfect lines because I made this on paint. You can leave your answer as a comment.


How many triangles are there?

Siddhartha by Herman Hesse

Siddhartha is the story of a man trying to find enlightenment. You follow him over his many stages in life. Today for the first time I am going to use a plot description from an outside source because I cannot for the life of me figure out how to summarize this book in language people will understand.

Born into wealth and privilege, Siddhartha renounces his place among India’s nobility to wander the countryside in search ofmeaning. He learns suffering and self-denial among a group of ascetics before meeting the Buddha and coming to realize that true peace cannot be taught: It must be experienced. Changing his path yet again, Siddhartha reenters human society and earns a great fortune. Yet over time this life leaves Siddhartha restless and empty. He achieves enlightenment only when he stops searching and surrenders to the oneness of all. ~http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Siddhartha/Hermann-Hesse/e/9781593083793/?itm=1.


I disliked this book. It was well written, but it moved so slowly for a book where one chapter (about 15 pages) is three years or more. The characters annoyed me, though they had depth. Technically there is very little wrong in this book, but it was one of the worst books I've ever read. I was forced to read the book for English class, so I couldn't put it down and walk away either. The way the characters talked, though not hard to follow, sounded so fake I almost laughed. Granted it is translated from its original German, but still it must also sound fake in German. I also am one of those who doubts that one can achieve Nirvana, so the entire plot of the book is lost on me. Avoid this book unless you like spiritual quests.

Perfect Fifths

At last the new Jessica Darling book! I have absolutely adored this series, except the fourth book which I read the beginning and the end of and then stopped. This latest and last book is written in a completely different style than its predecessors which are written in diary form. This novel is written in third person, but the narrator knows what both Marcus and Jessica are thinking. Yes the focus of this novel is Jessica and Marcus. The story starts three years after the fourth book (for those who haven't gotten this far in the series stop here as spoilers from previous books will be included) where Jessica rejected Marcus's proposal. Jessica is on her way to Bridget and Perry's wedding on St. John and runs over Marcus. No that was not a typo, Jessica actually runs over Marcus in an attempt to make her flight. The rest of the novel fills in the blanks from the missing three years as Jessica and Marcus catch up with each other. The novel takes place in about 24 hours, but there is an attention to detail that has not been present in the previous books.

I absolutely loved this book. I wasn't sure because it was different than the previous Jessica books, but it really worked. It was well written and the banter between Jessica and Marcus is defiantly  what was missing in the fourth book. Fans of Jessica and Marcus get the ending they wanted and they'll be happy to see both Marcus and Jessica have their lives together. The book is well written, interesting and has everything that fans of the series want. Go read it.

NaNoWriMo Again

So, though it is only September I have signed up for NaNoWriMo again. This year however I have surprised myself and signed up for the regular one instead of the youth program. That means I will be writing 50,000 words in November. What have I gotten myself into? Just kidding, it'll be fun.

Persuasion by Jane Austen

So for school we were given an assignment to read Persuasion or Master and Commander and watch the movie of the book we did not pick. Given that Jane Austen is one of my favorite 19th century British writers I chose Persuasion. I also thought that since I didn't have much time to read on my own this summer I would review my summer reading books. So here is Persuasion by Jane Austen.

At age 19 Anne Elliot was persuaded she was to young to marry Frederick Wentworth, a member of the British Navy of no fortune and no title. Eight years later they are thrown back into each other lives when his sister and her husband, the Admiral and Mrs. Croft, become the tenants of Kellynch Hall after the Elliot family is forced to move to Bath to save money to pay their debts. Frederick Wentworth is now a Captain and has made his fortune but still has not forgiven Anne for rejecting him eight years prior.

I quite enjoyed this book and finished it rather quickly compared to when I read Pride and Prejudice which took me awhile to get into. The story drew me in even though I knew what happened having watched the movie during Jane Austen Week on PBS a couple of years before and watching it on Netflix while reading the book. Also the style of writing did not throw me off as it has in the past. The character weren't perfect, they seemed human. Of course for this book to be considered a classic it has to be well written, so I will stop with technical pieces. At points the plot moved slowly, so be forewarned. If you are not used to the style of writing that Austen uses you may have trouble, but it does not take long to get used to it. I highly suggest this book if you are looking for a substantive read which one can actually enjoy. It is not my favorite Austen book, that slot still goes to Pride and Prejudice, but it is a very good book. Enjoy!

I'm Back...For Real This Time

Hi. Sorry for not posting in so so long, but I got a job as a counselor in training at a camp and with my school reading I did not have much time to read for pleasure. I do have a few reviews for you though, including the books I read for school. Upcoming reviews include the books The Freedom Writers Diary by Erin Gruwell and the Freedom Writers, Persuasion by Jane Austen, Corelli's Mandolin by Louis De Bernieres and Siddhartha by Herman Hesse. It's late so I have to go, but those reviews should be up soon!!!

Summer Movies

Summer movies kicked off well before the official start of summer with the blockbuster Star Trek. For all those who have not seen it because they claim to not be "trekies", go see it if it is still in your local theatre. As it is a prequel you don't need to know anything about it, but there are jokes thrown in for those who know the old movies and tv series.

This summer looks to be a great movie season with the sixth Harry Potter movie coming out July 15 (took long enough, it was supposed to come out when Twilight did). Though the trailers for it have been scarce, you can find them all over the internet. If you haven't read the books in a while or ever, I would suggest reading them. Personally I just reread the sixth (for the 18th time since I got the book) in preperation for the movie. 

Also the sequel to the hit movie Transformers. Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen, though hard to believe, has even more action than the first movie. Though many critics gave it bad reviews, they are being to critical. The movie was made to enjoy, and it does. Even in the most intense battle scenes there is still humor thrown in.

And finally, The Proposal. I was kind of skeptical of this movie, it looked funny but I wasn't sure if it was going to stand out. It was very similar to many romantic comedies, but that didn't matter because it was light hearted and made me laugh. With darker and/or more depressing movies like My Sister's Keeper (depressing) and Harry Potter (darker and depressing) coming out, it is good to have a movie that is fun and light and makes us laugh.

If I started rambling, I apologize. I now leave you to go enjoy the summer and all of its movies. I will have a new review soon. however first I need to find a new book...

The Boys Next Door by Jennifer Echols

Lori has always been one of the guys when it came to her next door neighbors the Vader brothers. They spend their summers together on the lake wakeboarding and working at the marina. The youngest of the Vader brothers, Adam, is one of Lori's best friends. But Lori secretly has a huge crush on the middle brother Sean, a crush that only Adam knows about. When Sean steals Adam's girlfriend, Lori and Adam pretend to be going out to make Sean and Rachel (the girl Sean stole from Adam) jealous. But plots run deep, and there may be more to this one then what meets the eye.

I had a good time reading this book. As it belongs to the Romantic Comedies collection, it had a perfect amount of humor and romance. The characters are believable, which for these novels sometimes doesn't happen. Sure the story was slightly predictable, but it was highly enjoyable and some parts took me by surprise. I recommend this book as a beach or pool read or just a light read when you want to smile.

1 Exam Left

One more exam left! After tomorrow I will be devoting my full attention to the blog and making sure there are regular reviews. I know I have said this before but I mean it this time.

I'm Back

Woah, I haven't posted since April! But that has not stopped the blog from hitting 766 hits between November 1 and May 1. Thank you to all who visit and your patience will be rewarded as soon as my history research paper is turned in... the thesis of the paper- Japanese pop culture has invaded America.