Snow Falling on Cedars by David Gutterson

This book was one of my summer reads. Summer seems to be the only time I have a lot of time to be able to read. I miss summer... well moving on to the book :) I very much enjoyed this book! It revolves around the death of Carl Heine in which Kabuo Miyamoto, a Japanese American, is being accused of. Carl's body was found in the sea, trapped on his own net of his fishing boat. Kabuo goes under a trial, during the anti-japanese sentiments after WWII. Ishmael Chambers who runs the newspaper wonders if Kabuo is truly innocent. Ishmael fought during the war against the Japanese losing his arm during a battle, so he formed a hatred towards the Japanese. But he continues to be in love with Hatsue, whom he grew up with. Hatsue is married to Kabuo but Ishmael and Hatsue had a romantic history when they were young, up until Hatsue was taken away along with other Japanese to a camp and Ishmael went to war. But overall its such a good read,the characters gather evidence and investigate to prove Kabuo is guilty but the trial seems unfair just because he is Japanese and therefore they quickly assume he is guilty for the murder of Carl Heine.

Reviews by other readers:

"What a fantastic book. I recommend this to anyone. It's amazing how humans treat other humans sometimes." -Robin

"what a great story.. very different from anything i read before. Crime, mystery, love, family and war.." - Jasan

"Very good story - a murder trial, with a love story entangled in it, with prejudice and hatred framing it - beautiful description of nature and the land of the pacific northwest. And you learn some history too" -Ruth

Hotel Iris by Yoko Ogawa

I quite enjoy Yoko Ogawa's japanese books. Her books are very dreamlike and captivating. The first book I read by her was The Housekeeper and the Professor which was a splendid book to read. I really enjoyed it so I was sure I would enjoy Hotel Iris as well. I was right. Another great book by her. This one was haunting and strange in a way, a story about a 17 year old girl named Mari working at a hotel her mother owns. Her mother always wants her around helping out leaving Mari with hardly any time for fun. But then she meets an older man who was kicked out of the hotel for causing a scandal with a prostitute he was with. Hearing the man's voice caught complete attention for Mari. This older man is a pain artist who lives at an island and makes Mari do humiliating things by tying her up, hitting and spitting at her and Mari despite what he does to her, loves him and seeks him again and again. So yes its strange and a dark novel but still was a good read for me.

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

I had this book waiting for me to read since December 09 and just this summer got the chance to pick it up and read.
This book is about the main character, Toru Okada living in a Tokyo suburb. It starts off by him searching for his wife's cat which meant a lot to her. Soon he's not only searching for the cat anymore but for his wife as well. During his searches he comes upon unique strangers such as a psychic prostitute, a cheerful morbid sixteen year old, and a war veteran. This books involves a detective story, a disintegrating marriage, excavating buried secrets of World War II making this book a dreamlike, imaginative book. It is a very interesting Japanese fiction novel and would recommend you picking this book up and take a read.

Reviews from other readers:

"Beautiful. Murakami recommends amazing pieces of art and music as well as weaving his mysterious and intricate tale. A story about loneliness in a city full of people, and in the midst of desperation and loss... humanity prevails.Must Read" -Alesan

"As confusing as the overall events are that take place in this novel, the surrealistic hero journey is an amazing read to see what a man will do to win in the face of odds that are unknown and beyond the hero's understanding." - Matthew

"Very strange book. I loved it. At times it dips in to the realms of the surreal." - Karen

The Boy Detective Fails by Joe Meno

I picked this book up at an independent bookstore I found with my friend in Berkeley California. Its quite a good read and I'm glad to have picked it up to buy it. The reason i bought it was because it said that it was the saddest book, and that got my attention. The boy detective is named Billy. He went off to college leaving behind a sister who he experienced fun detective games with as a child. His sister never got to solve mysteries herself. She wasn't as good as her brother who she looked up to. She commits suicide, a mystery Billy was unable to solve as to why she did it. Billy Argo stayed at a mental hospital for 10 years, and after leaving takes a job, takes anti depressant and anti anxiety pills and starts an investigation on a hard to crack case. He also starts working on putting together pieces of clues to his sister's death.

Here are some reviews I found from Shelfari members :

"What an amazing dreamlike world. Odd , sad and romantic with a dash of nostalgia for those who love Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, or superheroes" -andy

"I loved this. Dark humor, touching, , inventive = grand. " -Nick P.

"So heart warming yet very sad to read about this boy and his lost childhood" -Danielle

lack of updates

I been a bad blogger on this one. I haven't been updating books on here like I should have since that's the whole purpose of me making this page for you. I will be honest I have been quite lazy haha but I have been reading quite a few books which I'll soon post. Thanks all for being patient and keep on reading ♥ !

I am neurotic ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

This book is entertaining to read! Full of pages and photos that go along with what people are neurotic about. It's crazy to see how many people are neurotic about the craziest things, some normal to us but not to them, some wierd and some are just funny. Its a great book! And if you want to read more neurotic things by people once you finished the book, you can continue reading more on the book's website.

The Curious Incident of the dog in the Night-time ♥♥♥♥

A very enjoyable book! If you've read the Catcher in the Rye and liked it then you'll like this book too because they are a little similar but this book is a little more fun. Starts off when the boy finds the neighbor's dog has been killed with a pitch fork straight into the dog's body....poor dog :( The boy doesn't want to stop investigating who was responsible for this, he goes through some adventures in his neighborhood, asking question to his neighbors, re-visiting the scene of the dog crime and so on. His dad is not happy about him doing that and has asked him several times to stop doing detective work. But the boy just finds a way around what his dad said and continues on. Like the character in Catcher in the Rye, this boy is quite hard to please , he doesn't like certain things, like yellow or to be touched ...not even by his parents... yeah but overall good book :)

The Road...♥♥♥♥

The Road by Cormac McCarthy is quite an intense book actually! You really feel what the characters are going through and get very attached. This book was actually recommended for me to read by my really close friend. I would see her read this book and she could not be able to get unattached from the book. She would be left surprised , in shock and thoughtful when reading this book. She told me it was very good so I read it too and my reactions were the same as hers. The beginning didn't grab my attention at first but after a few more pages and almost halfway through is when it gets really good! Oh this book is also a major motion picture! I can't imagine how interesting the movie must be because the book is! These characters go through a very tough time , hiding from the bad people , starving and in need of food, cold and freezing themselves and in need of shelter and fire. The father does everything to protect his son from danger, he prefers to give his food & water to his son whenever he can and they try their hardest to survive. You can also get an idea how intense and sad this book is by the cover...Here's the trailer if you would like to take a peek, it gives me goosebumps just watching it.... Click HERE for Trailer

The Book of Lost Things ♥♥♥♥♥

This book is beyond Amazing!!!! I loved every page of it! So much imagination the author put into this book. Some things will just blow you away, with its darkness, monsters, and fantasy characters. I had so much fun reading this book , couldn't put it down and if I did...all that was on my mind was this book. Haha. It has become one of my new favorite books :) I am not writing anything about what it is about...., you just have to go get the book and find out yourself ;) haha

5 hearts out of 5

Like Water for Chocolate ♥♥♥

This is a pretty good book, about a love story which turns out to be a little sad. As you read you'll come upon great Mexican Traditional recipes that you may want to try out haha :) But the story was pretty good, originally in spanish and it is a Motion Picture too. Quick summary, the Youngest daughter is in love with a guy named Pedro but a horrible traditional runs in the family that the youngest daughter cannot marry at all and she has to take care of her mother until she dies. Pedro ends up marrying her older sister just to be close to her and well it doesn't go to well from there.. So check it out ^_^

3 hearts out of five

The Book Thief...♥♥♥♥♥

An amazing book I got to read and one of my new favorites. Told in death's perspective, very touching book as well as sad. I loved the characters! They were all great, it takes place during WWII/ Fuhrer. People dying, places being bombed... Jews in hiding. Another book I recommend you read, so go on... go borrow it from the library! or buy it too if you'll like :) You won't regret having this book in your collection ;)

The Lovely Bones...♥♥♥♥

I finally got to finish this book! Would have been done with it way sooner if it wasn't for homework =/. This book was very good! Way better than the author's memoir. But this book is a non-fiction and it was quite sad. There is a movie coming out based on this book in December. I really loved the characters and the Susie's point of view. Susie Salmon is the main character who was murdered when she was 14 years old. So read this book when you get the chance! Before the movie come outs too :D

The People of Paper ♥♥♥♥

I loved this book! I may have to read it again some other day though. But I have to say very interesting book by Salvador Plascencia, I love the format in the book, the narrations by the characters and the descriptions given. You'll get attached to these characters :) A very nice book. A brief summary: It is about a father called Federico de la Fe who has a wife named Merced and a daughter named Little Merced. His wife abandons him because he couldn't stop peeing on the bed. He tried everything to find a cure for it and he did but after she had left... Little Merced inherited her mother's love for limes. She eats them when her father is not looking for not to make him sad. They leave on a journey to California and the rest you'll just have to find out. You may find it a little strange and it is a blend of fiction and autobiography but it is new and refreshing.

Lucky ♥♥

Finally I finished reading this book! I can't believe it took me 3 weeks! It usually takes me just 1 week :o[ but this book was hard to read for me because it started of interesting but then I started losing interest in it...it wasn't as exciting as I thought it would have been :/ I didn't want to leave the book unfinished...so I kept reading it now and then. The story is actually a true story by the author, it is her memoir about her rape when she was a freshmen in college, how it affected her, her family & friends and how she got through it. If you want to try reading this book, it is up to you! I am not going to tell you not to read it...because I think everyone has different taste and opinions with books. :) Right now I am reading a great book! And I am excited and can't wait to share it with you. ^_^

oh dear, I am trying my best to read my books as fast as I can, but with schoolwork and all it is getting a little hard :/ But I am sure trying to find some time for my reading! Sorry for the oh so slow posts everyone! I have some fantastic books I want to read and that I want you guys to check out! So stay tuned :}

-evelyn

Murder of Roger Ackroyd...♥♥♥♥

What an amazing book this was! Another great mystery story by Agatha Christie. She sure was a great mystery writer! So Roger has been Murdered! Last seen alive around 9 pm , so many suspicious characters, many with reasons to have killed Roger. I enjoyed figuring out who the murderer may have been! But never would have I guessed the end! It's quite a shocker! and I couldn't believe it! You must read to know what I am talking about! A very surprising ending.

I give 4 out of 5 hearts

Tales of mystery and Madness ♥♥♥♥

A book by Edgar Allan Poe and I loved it! The story and the characters are interesting and unique. Poe is a great writer and reading his stories really made me love reading a whole lot more! I learned a lot from his book too, great vocabulary , with some latin. The illustrations gave it a great touch and fit perfectly to the story. I loved that! This books comes with 5 short stories. The first one was my favorite. I really recommend ;)

The Diary of a Wimpy kid : Rodrick Rules ♥♥♥♥♥

This book may look like it is for young kids, but I quite enjoyed it too! I think it is great to read for all ages. I didn't find the first one at my local library but I got this second book of the sequel instead. It's great to read if you are bored and have nothing to do. This will make you laugh, smile and make you keep reading and I am sure you will be disappointed after you've finished reading it quickly since it is easy to read. It is a funny book :) 5 hearts out of 5

New book review coming as soon as I can...

I haven't found any interesting books lately for me to read and recommend for you book lovers. But I am off to the library today in search for one! So please be patient ^-^

Water for Elephants ♥♥♥♥♥

Where to begin! This book was beyond and beyond AMAZING! I still can't believe how great this book was and I am sad I finished it. I would have loved to keep reading it and not have it end! Sara Gruen did a great job with her story. It is about life at a circus being told by Jacob who joined a circus when he was 23 years old but now he is 90 or 93. When you read this, it is so full of detail and it makes it so real and you feel as if you're right there present with everyone else from the circus. The details helps you pictures the scene with no fail and it is a great way to see how circus life is behind the scenes when they are not performing. It's full of excitement, fun, drama, surprises & suspense! Jacob's time in the circus was during the 1930s or so and during The Great Depression too. You'll become attached to the characters, you'll find yourself laughing and you'll want to keep reading this book and not want to even take a break! and you'll see why it is called 'Water for Elephants' too. You just have to read it! I absolutely loved it and I know you will too. I HIGHLY recommend :)

5 hearts out of 5