Book Review - Soul Surfer by Bethany Hamilton

Title: Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family and Fighting to Get Back on the Board
Author: Bethany Hamilton
Publisher: MTV
Publish Date: Oct 5, 2011
Paperback, 222 pages

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A book I was really looking forward to reading and ended up a little disappointed. The book is definitely written by Bethan Hamilton who was young when the event happened, so it is normal for the book itself to be written to a younger crowd. However, I felt it was too simply written. It was written with the feel of a journal rather than a book of events with feelings. The focus was not on the story, but on how she felt and dealt with things. Again, not a bad things, but I went into it with a different focus.

I also didn't think Bethany really covered the accident itself. Again, knowing that people who are involved in a traumatic accident do not remember the accident probably makes it hard to write about it, but it would have been nice to have other people add information about the accident or somehow add to the actual event. The shark attack is what happened to her, shouldn't that be the main plot?

Okay maybe I am just being difficult or over thinking the book, but I was disappointed. I also didn't care for the movie.

Please someone tell me they liked this book. Obviously it wasn't that bad, as I read the whole thing and then proceeded to rent the movie. I am sure I am looking at it all wrong. It is getting over 4 stars on GoodReads!!!

Summary -
They say Bethany Hamilton has saltwater in her veins. How else could one explain the passion that drives her to surf? How else could one explain that nothing—not even the loss of her arm—could come between her and the waves? That Halloween morning in Kauai, Hawaii, Bethany responded to the shark’s stealth attack with the calm of a girl with God on her side. Pushing pain and panic aside, she began to paddle with one arm, focusing on a single thought: “Get to the beach....” And when the first thing Bethany wanted to know after surgery was “When can I surf again?” it became clear that her spirit and determination were part of a greater story—a tale of courage and faith that this soft-spoken girl would come to share with the world.

Soul Surfer is a moving account of Bethany’s life as a young surfer, her recovery after the attack, the adjustments she’s made to her unique surfing style, her unprecedented bid for a top showing in the World Surfing Championships, and, most fundamentally, her belief in God. It is a story of girl power and spiritual grit that shows the body is no more essential to surfing—perhaps even less so—than the soul.

Review - Two Truths and a Lie by Sara Shepard

Title: Two Truths and a Lie
A Lying Game Novel #3
Author: Sara Shepard
Publisher: Harper Teen
Publish Date: Feb 7, 2012
Hardcover, 304 pages

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Barnes and Noble ($10 Nookbook)
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I really was looking forward to this next book, but it didn't tell me a damn thing. Darn it! What is up with that? I haven't read her Pretty Little Liars series, though I have seen a few shows, but does it do the same thing? Leave me wanting to know what I have been reading about for three books now and getting nowhere? Please give me a hint!! A real one!!

Sigh, beside that I really enjoyed this book. It is entertaining. And I love that Emma is making things right for Sutton. I like that Emma is kind and considerate. I like that she finally knows what it is like to live a good, rich life when she grew up in broken foster homes. I like that she has friends, albeit crappy at times, but she does find comfort in them. I like that in this book she finally stands out from Sutton. (oops was that a spoiler?)

Check out my reviews of her other books in this series - The Lying Game and Never Have I Ever.

Next in the series,
Hide and Seek,
expected publication date
July 2012.




Summary (followed by a spoiler alert) -
Sutton Mercer watches from the afterlife as her long-lost twin, Emma Paxton, takes over her identity to solve her murder. But after ruling out her early leads, Emma still hasn’t found Sutton’s killer. A lot of people wanted her dead—but one name keeps popping up: Thayer Vega. When the gorgeous and mysterious Thayer returns to town, Emma has to move fast to figure out whether he’s back for revenge…or if he already got it.

Set in a town where friends can turn into dangerous enemies and everyone harbors dark secrets, The Lying Game is a juicy new series that fans of the #1 New York Times bestselling Pretty Little Liars series—and the hit ABC Family show—will love.

SPOILER ALERT: Do not proceed to read unless you have read this book.

Okay here is my what I think will happen. I think Sutton is in a coma and is somehow using her mind to follow Emma. I am really hoping she is not dead because she deserves a sister and a family. I think it would be awesome to find out they will live together as sisters. I still have no clue who the murderer is, but I have a feeling it will be Ethan. He is the underlying suspect as he is in the know, is close to Emma and has some past experience with Sutton. I have no idea why or how, but that is my thinking. I hope not, as they are really cute together, especially in this book, but hey, a girl can hope.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Favorite Super Bowl Commercials

Here's my top 5 favorite Super Bowl Commercials of 2012 -

#5 Seinfeld Reference -


#4 We could all use a little inspiration and Clint Eastwood has THE BEST voice ever!


#3 For creativity -


#4 Made me actually laugh out loud (last two seconds are the best)


#1 Referencing Ferris Bueller's Day Off


Did you have any favorites?

Review - Under The Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

Title: Under the Never Sky
Under the Never Sky #1
Author: Veronica Rossi
Publisher: Harper Collins
Publish Date: Jan 3, 2012
374 Pages

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Barnes and Noble (less than $8 Nookbook)
Amazon

This book started out incredibly slow and at one point I think I actually yawned, but soon I was pulled and it was a downhill race. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. After Veronica Rossi set up the plot. Aria, a Dweller, who lives in the Realms, a virtual land, by accessing them with an eye piece befriends a boy in hopes of finding out information about her mother who she hasn't heard of recently. Instead, he betrays her and loses his mind, attacking her which she records on her eye piece. She is then thrust out in the wilds to live on her own. Abandoned by the only home she has ever known, she is rescued by a Savage, Perry, who can't stand the smell of her. He, as many of his people, have a special power of being able to smell others tempers. He knows as a person feels. Aria encounters so many new things at first that she struggles to find a balance. She is chased by flesh eating humans, meets a fire creating boy and Aud's, a band of people who can hear everything. She makes a pact with Perry to help him as he will help her. Each working to end the others quest.

I deeply fell in love with both Aria and Perry. Two seriously star crossed lovers. They complete each other. (yes, I did say that) Aria is so fresh and vulnerable and Perry has so much hurt to share. They both find each other while finding themselves. I cannot wait to read what happens in the next book. I really enjoyed reading about Cinder, the boy who creates fire from the Aethers. Incredibly written.

Summary -
Since she'd been on the outside, she'd survived an Aether storm, she'd had a knife held to her throat, and she'd seen men murdered. This was worse.

Exiled from her home, the enclosed city of Reverie, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland - known as The Death Shop - are slim. If the cannibals don't get her, the violent, electrified energy storms will. She's been taught that the very air she breathes can kill her. Then Aria meets an Outsider named Perry. He's wild - a savage - and her only hope of staying alive.

A hunter for his tribe in a merciless landscape, Perry views Aria as sheltered and fragile - everything he would expect from a Dweller. But he needs Aria's help too; she alone holds the key to his redemption. Opposites in nearly every way, Aria and Perry must accept each other to survive. Their unlikely alliance forges a bond that will determine the fate of all who live under the never sky.