Saturday, October 31, 2009

Choose Your Own Books

"Anyone who says they only have one life to live, must not know how to read a book."
-Author Unknown

This is one of the best quotes I have ever read. Why? Well because it is really true. Think about it. Every time you open a book, you enter another world. Whether it be sword-fighting, taming a wild boar, or reading about a teenage girl, you are put into a completely different place. I guess that's why I love books so much. Now, being in a different world is easy, if you are in a choose-your-own book. For those who didn't know, choose-your-own books are books where you flip to a different page and continue the story how you want to. For example, you are reading a book and a girl crashes her car. You can turn to page 100 to have her call 911, or you can turn to page 86 to have her lay there and hope someone finds her. I used to really love those kinds of books when I was younger. I had all of the Powerpuff Girls choose-your-own books.

Speaking of choose-your-own, I recently finished a book called "What if Everyone Knew Your Name" by Liz Ruckdeschel. It is the second in the series. I think there are 6 books. It starts out as a girl, Hayley, moving to New Jersey. She was originally from San Francisco, and she loves the city. She hates her new town that nobody knows about. She moves into a huge house, yet gets the smallest bedroom. She hates her room until she learns it looks right over the neighbor's basketball hoop. The neighbor is a cute boy, Reese, and Hayley knows they are meant to be together. The choose-your-own part starts on her way to school. I'm not going to say what it is, but I am going to say be very careful, or you will be very disappointed.

That's all for this post!

Keep reading, and Happy Halloween!

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

How to Choose a Good Book

"The worth of a book is to be measured by what you can carry away from it"
- James Bryce

Most of the time when I pick out a book, it isn't a winner. And I have read A LOT of books. So here are some tips for picking out ones that aren't wastes of time.
1. Read the back cover or front flap
This is the most important thing. If you only pick it because it has a pretty cover (which I have done, believe me), you will probably be disappointed. So ALWAYS read the back cover or inside flap, and make sure it is something you are interested in! Even if there seems one thing wrong with it, or it isn't exactly your style, give it a chance. But don't buy it if it's expensive and it's not your thing. You might decide you like that style better.

2. Be Flexible
You can't always know what you are going to pick. Some books might look good, some have a good cover and some are just plain bad

3. Look Inside
If you don't like poetry books, then you might want to flip through a few pages of the book to make sure you aren't wasting your money. Also to make sure the print isn't too small or hard to read.

That's all for this post!

Keep Reading!

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Library Books

"Make thy books thy companions. Let thy cases and shelves be thy pleasure grounds and gardens."
-Judah ibn-Tibbon (12th century)

Libraries rock. You can get a book for free! I mean come on, how is that not awesome? Libraries are good for school work, but there are also awesome books to read. The most recent books I checked out are called "The Book of Everything" by Guus Kuijer and "Frannie in Pieces" by Delia Ephron.
"The Book of Everything" is about a sad boy growing up in Amsterdam. His family is falling apart and all he has are his private thoughts. It's really touching and made me think about my relation to my family. Recommended for girls and boys age 12 and up.
"Frannie in Pieces" is incredible. Incredibly confusing that is. Ephron repeats like three chapters. Except the second time they make sense. It is creepy because it talks a lot about dead people. But I really liked it and would read it again. Recommended for girls age 12-18.
Thats all for this post guys! The next post will be about choosing a good book.

Keep Reading!

Monday, October 19, 2009

Books for School

"Action is the real measure of intelligence"
- Napoleon Hill

For this post, I would like to talk about the books I'm reading for school. I just finished reading two, and I am starting a third this afternoon. The first one I read was called "The Garbage King" by Elizabeth Laird. WHAT A MESS! Well at the beginning anyway. The book is about two very different Ethiopian boys. Mamo, a scrawny boy who has just lost his mother, and Dani, a rich boy living in the shadow of his tyrannical father. I had trouble following the characters and I found myself going back and having to read pages over again. It's really elusive(look it up). In the middle it takes a dramatic turn, and the end is spectacular. I recommend it for boys and girls ages 11 and up.
Another book I just finished was "Persepolis" by Marjane Satrapi. It's an autobiographical graphic novel. The main girl, Marji, is growing up in the middle east in the early 1980's. She has to find her way as a teen, while trying to cope with the government. It is EXTREMELY graphic and has some language usage. Oh great, now I sound like a movie warning. I think it was a little confusing. Even some classmates, whom were reading the same book, thought it was hard to follow.
That's all for this post, the next one will be about good books you can find at libraries.

Keep Reading!

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Welcome to the Mixed-Up Files of Izzy K

"Life is Awesome, Live it UP"

Since this is my first post, it should say something about me. And since I am a not so typical teen, my first post will NOT say anything about me. Well maybe a little something. I will say my favorite books of all time. Why, you ask? Well because this is a book review website, and you can't take me seriously if you don't know what I like. So, my FAVORITE book of all time is Eleven by Lauren Myracle. There are also other books in the series, Twelve and Thirteen, which are also great books. They are a year in the life of Winnie, a teenage girl who tells the reader about her trials and errors of everyday life. They are extremely girly books, so if you aren't the girly book type, I don't suggest you read them. Good for girls age 11-14.
Well, I think that's all for this post. And, if I say so myself I think it went quite well. Keep reading!