Lore ‘n Lit

Hi guys! My name is Laurien (pronounced how you would say Lauren) and I LOVE to read. Let’s talk about books!!

[laurienreads-blog]

I finished Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell last night. Now that I read this, the only Rowell book that I haven’t finished is Carry On. I REALLY enjoy reading Rowell’s books. This book was definitely not my favorite of hers (that’s Fangirl or Landline) but this book has a special place in my heart.

I’ve own this book since it came out and have been wanting to read it since then. I don’t know why I never actually picked it up to read, honestly. I always heard it was such a great book. Two years ago, I did hear that it was being challenged to become a banned book in high schools because of the language in the book, which honestly surprised me. After the first chapter, there’s barely any cuss words in the book. Although, this story is centered around teenagers, and if your kids don’t read the bad words, they’re going to hear them somewhere else. This book had so much more to offer than being upset about some cuss words.

Eleanor & Park is a story of two teenagers falling in love and is set in the year 1986. I think I enjoyed this book so much for the real-ness of the story. It’s not all fluffy bunnies and sunshine for Eleanor and Park. Eleanor doesn’t live in the most ideal house. Her stepfather is a real jerk, to put it nicely. She gets teased at school. She just doesn’t have the most easy life. I felt bad for her situation and was actually worried for her well being. I actually really loved Eleanor’s character. I loved her sarcastic attitude. Then there’s Park. I really enjoyed him. I thought Rowell did a really good creating his character and I loved when he broke out of his shell even more during the book.

Also, since finishing this last night, it’s given me time to reflect on the ending. Last night I wasn’t too keen on it. It sort of is “cliffhangery” but now I realize it was a great ending. I don’t think there’s really a need for a sequel. I think making a sequel to this story would take away a lot from the original story.

I do recommend picking this book up, as well as any of Rainbow Rowell’s other books. She has easily become one of my favorite authors. If you do end up reading this, let me know what you think! I’d love to know your opinions!

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I just finished Otherworld by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller. Literally just finished it and I thought it was phenomenal. Honestly, I was a little skeptical at first. I mean, I love Jason Segel as an actor. I’ve also heard amazing things about his children’s books. So, it wasn’t the storytelling I was worried about. It’s just whenever I read fantasy books most of the time I get bored. I love video games, heck I could play them all day if I was able to. But reading about some kid in a video game just doesn’t...catch my interest. But then I read the synopsis of this book, and instantly wanted it. I received it as a Christmas gift from my brother in law and couldn’t wait to start reading it. I actually read a couple of chapters while I was reading another book, which I’ve done before, but most of the time I end up not reading one book to finish the other one. All I wanted to do was finish this book.

So yes, this is about a kid in a video game, but it’s SO much more than that. Simon, our main character, witnesses his best friend, Kat, become badly injured in an accident. One that the doctors say she won’t wake up from and instead of just laying around like a vegetable, video game inventors made “The White City” which is a part of their video game, “Otherworld”, where you can do anything. She becomes part of their project but as Simon is visiting her she wakes up screaming. Simon tries to tell the doctors that something is wrong, but no one will believe him. So, it’s Simon who needs to save his best friend from whatever is happening, and it’s obviously not all rainbows and sunshine like the doctors say it would be.

There were a lot of parts in the book that reminded me of the Hunger Games. Different parts of lands that Simon traveled to had different obstacles for that land specifically. There was a land of greed, etc. But, to get Simon out alive, he had to figure out what that land was all about and outsmart the system.

I really enjoyed this book and I seriously can’t wait until the fall when the second book comes out!

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Firstly, I’d like to mention that I BEAT MY READING CHALLENGE GOAL. I know that reading 20 books in a year wasn’t a lot, BUT I’ve been in a reading slump for a few years now. Since getting my kindle in August, I read over 13 books. That’s more than half of the books I wanted to read! So I’m pretty proud of myself. Also I made a new goal for this year: 40 books!

Now for my review of The Becoming of Noah Shaw by Michelle Hodkin!

If you HAVEN’T read the Mara Dyer triology, reading this book would not be wise. This book starts up a few months after The Retribution of Mara Dyer has ended, which is the last book in the Mara Dyer triology.

I love that Mara and Noah’s stories aren’t actually over like I thought they were. I’m so glad I get to be immersed in their world again. I definitely loved this book, but there were some things that just didn’t make me love it as much as I loved the Mara Dyer triology. I felt like the beginning was a little slow. The book for me didn’t seem to be “unputdownable” until about halfway through. Michelle Hodkin is definitely the queen of cliffhangers though. I’m already trying to figure out when the second book in this series is coming out.

One thing that I absolutely loved about this book was how Michelle Hodkin changed her writing style. Noah is British and I loved how she would use British spelling for certain words. It was a small but noticeable detail, and I actually haven’t seen any review mention this small detail. It made me feel like I was more inside Noah’s head than just reading a story about what was happening.

I also really liked the realness of Mara and Noah’s relationship. I can’t really go more into details with how or why without giving away anything, especially if you haven’t read the Mara Dyer triology, so I’ll keep it at that.

If you have read this book, message me! I want to know what you thought about the ending! HOLY CLIFFHANGER! If you haven’t, I highly recommend you start Mara Dyer so you can read this! You definitely won’t be disappointed! Please, let me know what you think when you’re finished!

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I recently re-read the Mara Dyer books because The Becoming of Noah Shaw came out. I didn’t really remember a lot of what happened in Mara Dyer and I had also forgotten a lot of the characters. But, re-reading Mara Dyer was so much fun. I missed these books and for good reason. They’re SO GOOD!

If you’re unfamiliar with them, there are three books. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, The Evolution of Mara Dyer and The Retribution of Mara Dyer.

The first one starts off with a game of Ouiji. Mara is playing with her two friends and one of them asks how they’re going to die. The game board spells out Mara’s name and within six months the two friends, along with Mara’s boyfriend at the time are dead. Mara’s family ends up moving to Florida to help Mara heal from this tragic situation. But, it doesn’t help because Mara starts seeing her boyfriend. She can’t be seeing him though, because he’s dead….right?

I absolutely devoured these books. The best part of this series. The author has mentioned that they are inspired on a true events (crazy, right?). Which made me even more obsessed with these books. They are so well written and the cliffhangers at the end of the chapters made me want to stay up reading no matter how tired I was. Even the second time around, knowing I knew what happened, I still was caught up in the story. I highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend these books!

The Becoming of Noah Shaw is part of the Mara Dyer series but they’re separate from Mara’s story. I have yet to even start reading it, but what I’ve read from the synopsis it starts a few months AFTER The Retribution of Mara Dyer ends.

I hope you all will read Mara Dyer and let me know what you think of them! I can’t wait to hear your opinions!

[laurienreads-blog]

Hey!

For my very first blog post I’m gonna talk a little about myself, just so you can get to know me a little!

My name is Laurien! (It’s pronounced lor-en.) I have an amazing husband, Joey and a super adorable daughter, H. I also have the cutest stepson, K! We also have a border collie and his name is Jack!

I LOVE reading, obviously!

I work at Starbucks. I have for 11 years. It’s definitely had some hard days but I absolutely love what I do.

My favorite color changes all the time but currently it’s mint and teal.

Since I’m gonna be talking about books mostly on here, I’ll give you a little idea of the books I love to read with some of my favorites. I love the Mara Dyer books, What Alice Forgot, The Time Traveler’s Wife, Harry Potter, anything by Rainbow Rowell, and The Fault in Our Stars. My husband likes to pick on me for my love of young adult books. 😛

I do hope you all will love my blog! Definitely shoot me a message if you have questions or a suggestion of a book to read.