Twilight vs Twilight

Uhm yeah this the "Compare a book you've read with the movie version of that book" thingie we hafta do. Soo yeah, I'm here to compare the book Twilight written by Stephenie Meyer to the movie version, directed by Catherine Hardwicke. Mostly because I think it's the only movie I've seen that was based off of a book that I can clearly think of :S

I'm suree most people would agree with me on this - and that is that the book is waaay better than the movie, and that applies to the other books as well. And there's a few of reasons why I say that ~

►The book has so much more detail that leave you thinking about the story, while the movie left out quite a bit of it. The movie also just gives you a certain thing to look at, while it's completely up to your interpretation what the scenes look like when you read the book. You can imagine what Bella and Edward look like, instead of looking at Robert Pattinson. -.-
►While it's pretty much still the same storyline, something about the movie is just .. off. It's not that I hated it with a passion, because I did enjoy it. ish. I mean maybe it's the acting or the actors themselves, or the fact that they actually made the vampires sparkle. It just really doesn't live up to the awesomeness of the book.
►The romantic bits were more .. well. romantic, in the book. Again, it's mostly because of the whole, "completely up to your interpretation" thing.

Soo overall I definitely like the book a lot better than the movie. The movie just has so many things missing from it, in my opinion, while the book is much fuller. And I dunno, I just have something against Robert Pattinson D:< he made Edward look .. weird. :/
Aaand that's about it. Thanks for reading if you read this.

A Walk To Remember by Nicholas Sparks

I got this book by chance. It was just on the self and I thought 'oh, i should give it a try'. This is a book to remember. I absolutely loved it and would definetly recommend it to anyone looking for a good romantic book.

It is about a 57 year old man remembering what happened when he was 17. His name is Landon Carter. When he is in high school he chooses drama instead of chemistry because he taught it would be easier for him. There he meets Jamie Sullivan. She is the ministers daughter.

Landon and Jamie grew up together, but they never really talked to each other. Jamie is a helpful girl who strongly believes in God. She is the type of girl that would carry a Bible everywhere she went. Landon is the laid-back type of guy. He also believes in God, but doesnt show it as much as Jamie does.

One day Jamie asks Landon to play the lead role in the school play, and he accepts because he didnt want to hurt her. Slowly they start getting closer and they soon fall in love.

This book made me cry because of the unexpected part near the end of the story. Though i was kind of frustrated with Landon, he was still a good character.

I would give this book a 9/10 because it kind of tells me that "Love is like the wind. You can't see it. You can feel it" I absolutely loved it and I honestly wouldnt forget it anytime soon

What Every Girl (Except Me) Knows by Nora Raleigh Baskin

"I'm assuming I'll turn into a woman someday whether I know anything about being one or not. But being womanly is something you definitely have to learn. Girls probably don't even know they're learning it. But one thing for sure is that it has to come from a mother.

And a mother is one thing I don't have."

I chose this book because it seemed really interesting and i didn't have much time. I would give it a 7/10 and recommend it to anyone from 10-14.

The book is mainly about a girl called Gabby Weiss, her mother died when she was three and she lives with her dad and brother. What i found really interesting was the way she observed the little things all the other girls do and take for granted. She was almost trying to teach herself to be a woman. But when her dad and his girlfriend are thinking of getting married she is over-joyed that she finally has a mother in her life. After a lot of ups and downs, and Cleo (her dad's girlfriend) leaving and coming back, she finally realizes she doesn't have to try so hard. Being a girl is not something you have to learn, it just comes naturally.

Trash by Andy Mulligan

I really wanted to read this book after reading Ms Comer's review coz it was really interesting and i completely agree . :D I think that the title just gives it away , yeah you guessed it , its about trash. And as much as i hate to say this , its about poverty and how it affects people . This book is set in the Philippines (where i come from) and i can say dat i agree with the author , it is pretty messy back home. Anyways , the story follows the adventures of three best friends Raphael , Gardo and Jun Jun (aka Rat) and their lives as dumpsite boys digging through the Behala dumpsite in Manila hoping to find something valuable to sell . However , one day Raphael finds something that immediately gets the police on their tail and its gonna take a very long time to solve the mystery . (and yes , it involves LOTS of puzzle solving) But eventually , after lots of twists and turns and help from their friends , they solve the BIG puzzle . :D I won't focus about the plot itself in this review coz it's just gonna ruin it for you guys and you can't really tell half of this story's plot coz then the mystery's just gona confuse you . LOL . :P Moving on , what i loved about this book is the fact that it is written in different point of views , what i mean by this is dat d author splits the story in parts , like chapters and in each chapter , each character updates d reader on what they are going through . I realy like this touch by the author coz in one page , its Rapahael saying something about how he feels with their current situation then the next page Gardo says something COMPLETELY opposite to how Gardo feels . i think the author did this to show each character's personality in a unique way (WHICH I THOUGHT WAS VERY CLEVER :D) By doing this , we as the reader can figure out the mystery behind the story ourselves since the story is told from different perspectives meaning everyone tells the reader what they see with their own eyes and how they feel about it. Finally , i also like the fact that this book is written in an author's point of view that is not FILIPINO . i dont mean to be racist but , i kinda liked that coz it showed me how the author viewed the Philippines , how he felt about writing about the Philippines . Because me , as a Filipino, i am 100% certain dat if a Filipino author wrote "Trash" in their point of view , it will be COMPLETELY different mainly coz the Filipino author sees it in a different way coz he/she knows wat its like in the Philippines therefore he/she wouldve written it in a different structure . please comment !! :D Vince Exconde

Blade by Tim Bowler

A fast-paced suspense story! I have found another book that is a page turner and is exciting to read! This book was short but it is a part of a four book series. At first I disliked the main character because of his attitude and his lifestyle but as you read on you will find out more about Blade and how he had to live on the streets alone as a teenager. He is very tough and resourceful which helps him get through challenges and get away from gangs chasing after him. Short to the point sentences helps with the quick speed of the story telling. The story is colloquial and is told through Blade talking to you(he calls you Big-Eyes) as if you were there beside him which i thought was very unique and interesting. As the story progresses he will come accross one of the gang members and her child and he takes them along with them even though he prefers being alone. This helps me understand his personality more as I see his lighter and more caring side of his personality. I would recommend this to teens but not children as Balde is sometimes rude and they might learn from him. I would rate this book a 8 out of ten and I am looking forward to reading the next book to the series. :)

ARTEMIS FOWL : The Opal Deception Against the other Artemis fowl books i rate this one my second favourite topped by the first in the series. This book is the fourth in the series and takes place after the events in The Eternity Code at the end of which Artemis allows the faeries to erase all his memories about them and their encounters. This means he starts off on as clean a slate (for a criminal genius). However deep in the bowels of the earth trouble is rising in Haven City as the criminal mastermind Opal Koboi escapes confinement and sets out to take revenge on those that foiled her evil plan. This book makes use of all the features that makes Artemis Fowl an award winning book series including his sarcastic personality and Butlers real world view combined with a winning plot to make a great book for light reading

Voyage with Jason by Ken Catran

Voyage with Jason is an adventure/Greek mythology book, which is why I chose it. The book is based on the adventures of Jason and the Argonauts and their legendary quest to find the Golden Fleece. The book is slightly altered to make the story more 'realistic' compared to the old legend. The book was very interesting, because the way Ken Catran altered the story is very impressive and explained the events that are very different from the legends, but still made sense at the same time.

 Interestingly, the book was not told by one of the heroes like the other books, but by Pylos, a boy shipbuilder who was rescued from a brutal overseer by a man who seems like nothing more than a big country bumpkin. When I found out who the man was, like Pylos I was quivering with awe..

(no, I'm not going to spoil it for you!)

After this encounter Pylos is dropped straight into the strangeness that surrounds Jason's quest for the Golden Fleece with his company of heroes. That sounds grand and glorious, and it is, but Pylos views the great heroes of the Argos (their ship) with a stranger's eye. The story he tells has not been prettied up and decked out with laurel branches and gold leaf. He describes legendary people who are all too human, countries where the gods still fight over who will be worshipped and who will be forgotten, violent barbarians with scary moustaches, women with deadly grudges, and kings whose motives are highly mixed. This is a wonderfully believable book about human beings who still manage to accomplish heroic things, and about the ways they find to trip themselves and one another. 

I liked how the book had many interesting characters and most of them had different skills and personalities, but some of them were kind of lifeless; only saying one line/minor involvement. But the story was still amazing, and I loved how it was shown from the perspective of a peasant boy in a voyage with princes, nobles and heroes. I give it an 8 out of 10 because I really enjoyed the book and it was very well written by a very good author; Ken Catran makes adventure and glory both reachable and dark.

-Joseph