Summer is one of my favorite seasons because it allows me more time to read. I probably spent at least three hours reading yesterday to finish this book. L.A. Confidential is a book I picked up when I went bookstore hunting in Minneapolis. I finally got around to reading it. Unfortunately, this book was really disappointing. This is one instance where the movie is ten times better than the book.

L.A. Confidential takes place in the 1950s. The story revolves around police officers in the Los Angeles district. Ellroy introduces way too many characters to keep track of. However, the three main characters worth noting are Bud White, Jack Vincennes, and Edmund Exley. The three characters are all police officers in various districts within the police department. Bud White is working homicide and he purposefully goes after men who beat women. He goes against the rules and beats criminals who he feels deserve it. Jack Vincennes was working under narcotics and then gets transferred to Ad Vice which deals with pornography-type crimes. Finally, Edmund Exley is the “goody-two-shoes” cop. He follows every single protocol. He is essentially the opposite of Bud White. The novel revolves around the mystery of the “The Nite Owl” homicide. In 1953, various people were murdered at this nite owl coffee shop.

The problem with these characters is that I honestly dislike all of them. Bud White is violent and very sexist and disgusting towards women. He sees them as objects and calls women whores all the time. Now, that may just be the time period in which the novel takes place, but still, I really dislike Bud White as a character. Jack Vincennes is just a fame-hungry police officer. Edmund Exley is the good guy cop who only cares about making his way up in the police force. None of these characters are characters I appreciate.

The story itself is rather confusing. Ellroy introduces all of these different police officers and criminals and it’s really hard to keep track. If I would have known that before starting the book, I would have written down every single character and why they are related to the story.

Another problem I had with this book is how slow it was. My favorite part of the movie is when Exley and White team up to solve the crime and end the corruption in the police department. That doesn’t happen until the last 50 pages or so. All this build-up wasn’t even worth it because when everything was revealed about the nite owl, it took a while for me to fully understand what was going on.

I could probably keep going about how much I disliked this novel. If you love the 50’s time period, police corruption, and gangster activity, watch the movie. The movie is fantastic and it does a great job at keeping things interesting.

The latest book that I finished is based on one of my all-time favorite video games. This book, Bioshock: Rapture, is a prequel novel based on the video game. Before I really talk about the plot of this book or go into my review, I’m going to talk a little about the video game because that will provide some insight into the book.

Bioshock takes place in 1960. The protagonist in the game is named Jack. After his plane crashes in the Atlantic, he finds shelter in a lighthouse. Upon entering the lighthouse, he discovers that it’s a secret entrance to Rapture. Rapture is an underwater city created by Andrew Ryan. When Jack discovers the city, he finds that the city has deteriorated. Atlas, a man in Rapture becomes Jack’s guide as he explains what has happened to the city. One cause of the city’s destruction is plasmids. Plasmids are chemicals that you inject that give you powers such as shooting electricity, throwing fireballs, and telekinesis. These plasmids are really what caused Rapture’s downfall. Over the course of the game, you meet characters and discover what really happened to this broken city.

This book starts before Rapture was created. Major characters in this novel include:

Andrew Ryan: Ryan is the creator of Rapture. He creates Rapture because he believes that the world will die at the hands of a nuclear holocaust.

Bill McDonagh: McDonagh is a British engineer and he is recruited by Andrew Ryan to help create the city and protect it.

Frank Fontaine: Fontaine is a criminal who sneaks his way into Rapture. He is the main antagonist in the story along with Andrew Ryan. Ryan and Fontaine are constantly fighting over the right to rule Rapture and this causes conflict within the novel and impacts the city.

Brigid Tenenbaum: Tenenbaum is a geneticist. She helped create the plasmids and the ADAM responsible for the destruction of Rapture. She was also a scientific assistant in the concentration camps in Germany in World War II.

As a huge fan of video games, I knew I had to read the book. The book itself starts off slow. It introduces key characters and it takes a long time before Rapture is built. Once Rapture is built, the book starts to get interesting. More characters in the video game are introduced and slowly Rapture is starting to deteriorate. I really liked how most of the characters were portrayed. Andrew Ryan seems like a good person at first, but he refuses to let anyone leave Rapture and this causes most of the citizens in Rapture to start revolting. As violence increases in the city, Ryan refuses to address the issue. I consider Ryan to be a dictator and as much as he preaches free speech in the city, he refuses to listen to people who don’t agree with him. I also really like Bill McDonagh. He is an interesting character because he knows that Rapture is slowly going downhill, but he respects Andrew Ryan. This internal conflict is shown throughout the story and I found it really fascinating to read about.

My Goodreads rating is three stars. I liked that this book gave new insight into the world of Rapture, however, I didn’t like this book as much as I thought I would. I recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of the video game, but if you’re not interested in Bioshock, you wouldn’t find this book interesting.

I absolutely cannot wait to write this review because I loved every single page of this book. I finished this book last night, and I felt satisfied. I absolutely love Rainbow Rowell as an author, and I will definitely read more of her books!

Fangirl is about Cather Avery. Cather, who goes by Cath, is going away to college, and she is nervous. Cath is also the biggest Simon Snow fan ever! In this world, Simon Snow is huge! Cath writes fanfiction all the time, and her website she writes for, is popular. This book is about her experiences in college and how she grows as a person.

I absolutely love Cath as a person! She’s really shy but extremely passionate about what she loves. I would say that I relate to her because of how geeky I am.

Cath goes through many other personal experiences, including the hospitalization of her father, her mother trying to reappear in her life, and dating. I feel like these experiences really shape Cath, and it shows how close she is to her family. Cath is an easy character to relate to, and that’s probably why I love the book so much. I’m constantly rooting for her.

This book made me want to keep reading, and I read almost half of the book in a day. I gave this book five stars on Goodreads, and I even added it to my favorite bookshelf. This is my favorite book I have read in 2015 for sure.

Libraries are the most beautiful buildings. Wednesday I was feeling adventurous and I wanted to study somewhere that wasn’t my room. I decided to take a trip downtown to the county library. I had actually never been to this library before. It surprises me because I have always wanted to go, but I had never gotten around to it.

As soon as I arrived, I immediately headed up the stairs and I found a table on the second floor. On the second floor where I sat and studied, there was a huge dome with stained glass art. It’s spectacular! I ended up cranking out a lab report for two hours, but the library is peaceful. I would much rather go to the county library than the campus library. It’s nice to get away from other college students. After I was finished with homework, I wandered through the shelves of old library books.

The bookshelves themselves were pretty cramped but they were very ornate. The library reminded me of a building that could have existed in the 1800s. I like that they didn’t just tear down the building and instead kept restoring it. It shows that this building has been a part of the history that Winona, MN has to offer.

I have such a huge book backlog right now, but I managed to find some books to check out. I also opened up my Winona county library card. I checked out Rest in Pieces by Rita Mae Brown. It’s about a woman solving murder mysteries with her cat! How great is that!? Cats are amazing creatures. Finally, I checked out The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R Tolkien.

I’m not sure that I will get around to reading three library books before they’re due, but I will definitely take more pictures of the library and upload them when I go back.

It’s a lovely Saturday morning and I have my cup of coffee nearby. It’s the perfect time to write a book review about the latest book I read: The Bone Collector by Jeffrey Deaver.

I was in high school when my mom had a movie playing titled the Bone Collector starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie. I never knew that this movie had a book until very recently when I was browsing Goodreads. I knew I had to add this book and I finally purchased this a month ago.

The novel stars Lincoln Rhyme, a modern-day Sherlock Holmes. He is a forensic scientist and very well known in New York for his intelligence and arrogance. He is injured in an accident three years ago and he is a quadriplegic. At the beginning of the book, we see that he is losing his will to live and even seeks out a doctor to help end his life. His old partner from the police department, Lon Sellitto, comes to Lincoln with a new case. A man has been found buried but his skin had been sliced off to the point that the bone of his finger had been exposed. Lincoln, intrigued with the case, comes back to solving crimes. When working on the case, Lincoln meets Amelia Sachs. They form a unique bond that progresses along with the story.

I didn’t really have any complaints with this book at all. It was fast-paced and I didn’t see the ending coming at all. Then again, I never finished the movie so it was still a surprise for me. I rated this book four stars on Goodreads because I thought it was fantastic and I really adore Lincoln as a character. I plan to read more of this series when I have time!

My bookstore hunt around Minneapolis is complete! Throughout this exploration, I have eleven new books and five comic books in my collection. The three bookstores we traveled to include: Magers & Quinn, Book Trader, and Bone Shaker Books.

Magers & Quinn is located in the Uptown Shopping District in Minneapolis. I have been to this book store before, but it’s been a while. Upon entering the store, I immediately gravitated toward the fictional section. While shopping, I saw my Anatomy & Physiology lab professor from Winona State University! It’s refreshing having a conversation with one of my past professors especially because she still recognizes me.

I ended up buying four books because they were three or four bucks apiece! I liked this book store and I would go back.

The last place on our list was Boneshaker Books. This store is located right near the Augsburg campus in Minneapolis. The store itself is pretty tiny which I liked. My favorite part about this store is the used book section. Each book is around three-five dollars. The proceeds from the used book section go to helping to fund reading material for women in prison. The fact that the used books are cheap and go to a good cause made me want to purchase at least one book. I ended up finding two books while my roommate found four hardcover books worth around twelve dollars! I also talked with one employee who graduated from Winona State University! She and I talked about campus, past professors, and our experience. Boneshaker Books have a great atmosphere, polite employees, and interesting novels on the shelves. I definitely want to go back when I am back home over the summer.

The bookstore hunt is officially over, but this spring break has been memorable. I have so many different books to read and I am getting excited to read as I write this post. I definitely would go back to Boneshaker Books. I cannot wait for my summer to start so I can start flying through this wonderful reading material I have purchased.

Today, me and a couple friends explored some local book stores in Minneapolis. I absolutely love Barnes & Noble, but I wanted to find smaller book stores to support.

Once Upon a Crime is located in Minneapolis off of South Lyndale Ave. It’s filled completely with only mystery and crime stories. Once you walk in, you realize how small and adorable this store is. I really enjoyed that this store features local Minnesota authors. Jessie, the employee working is super knowledgeable and helpful.  She led us down to another room that contains discount mystery books. Me and my roommate spent at least an hour wandering this room and piling up hardcover books we wanted to read. I ended up purchasing three books: The Catalan Book of Secrets by Jessica Lourey, Privileged Information by Stephen White, and The Murder at the Vicarage Carriage by Agatha Christie. As we were leaving the store, Jessie gave us a free copy of her own book published!  She also gave me and my roommate an awesome tote bag that says “One More Book Won’t Hurt”.

This book store is terrific! I felt like I had a personal relationship with the store and the employee which is something you could never get at Barnes & Noble. I would easily go back to Once Upon a Crime again.

After Once Upon a Crime, we drove to Uncle Hugo’s Science Fiction Bookstore. As much as I love a good mystery, I also really enjoy a good science fiction & fantasy novel. I was amazed at all the Star Trek & Star Wars novels in the store. I ended up gravitating towards this book with this lovely cover called “The Court of the Air” by Stephen Hunt. The cover has an intricate air balloon on it and it definitely has more fantasy elements than science fiction. I would go back to Uncle Hugo’s. I opened up a discount membership for any future visits.

Tomorrow I start again on the book store adventure and I cannot be more excited.

Book Review Time!!!!! I love writing book reviews because books give me happiness in my life so whenever I finish a book, I get super excited to talk about it! Today I am writing about the latest book that I finished called Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige.

I found out about this book last summer. I was visiting Barnes & Noble aka. my favorite store in the entire universe and I saw that on a table they had excerpts of this book. I grabbed one because it’s free and I figured why not? I was sitting on my porch reading it and I was completely fascinated by the story. I was sad when the excerpt ended and I immediately added this book to my Goodreads list. I actually ended up buying this book when I went home with my boyfriend one weekend so it was sitting in near my desk and as soon as I finished Horns, I picked up the book.

I rated this book four stars on Goodreads. I absolutely loved the story! Our main character is Amy Gumm. She comes from a harsh life in the fact that her mother is addicted to medications and is unemployed. Amy often takes care of herself. She is sent home from school one day and a tornado whisks Amy away to Oz. She is shocked by the nature of Oz. It’s completely different from the original story. Dorothy is the ruler of Oz now and she is completely ruthless. There is a lot of violence in this book. I was definitely not expecting that from this novel. Amy is captured by Dorothy initially but escapes and ends up joining the Wicked Witches. She forms an alliance with the Wicked Witches and with their help they intend to take on Dorothy and help save Oz.

That’s the gist of the entire story. What I liked about this book is the descriptive details in the story. In each scene, I was picturing what it looked like in my head. The new Dorothy, how Oz looked destroyed, the glitter red disco balls & the constellation floor in Dorothy’s ballroom. It was told vividly where I could easily picture in my mind what Oz looked like. I also really enjoyed the characters. I like Amy a lot. I think she comes from nothing and really rises to take on Dorothy. I think her character is realistic too. Many of the choices she makes in the novel, I would definitely have done if I were in her situation.

I don’t want this review to go on forever and I certainly don’t want to spoil anything, but if you’re looking for something new to read, Dorothy Must Die should definitely be on your list. I loved the characters, the reinvented Oz and I can’t wait for the sequel! It’s called the Wicked Will Rise and it’s being released on March 31st, 2015. If you’re a fan of Oz, I think you will like this but even if you’re a newbie to the world of Oz-like myself, you will still find this book to be wildly entertaining.

CW: Horns has mentioned sexual assault and violence against women.

The feeling when you finish a book is so satisfying. I finished Horns last week and I got sidetracked but now I have time to actually write a full review on this book. I will be talking about spoilers so if you’re not interested in spoilers and want to read this book, stop reading this post right now!

I became interested in reading this book when I heard about the Daniel Radcliffe movie version coming out during Halloween. I wanted to see it in the theater, but my small town didn’t have it. I looked into this book and added it to my Goodreads list. I found out later that the writer of this book, Joe Hill, is the biological son of Stephen King. That made me more interested in reading it.

This book is about Ig Perrish. It’s a year after the rape and murder of his beloved girlfriend Merrin Williams. He wakes up the morning after her anniversary and discovers he has devil horns protruding from his skull. After discovering this, he realizes he can hear people’s deepest and darkest secrets. An example of this is when Ig visits his doctor regarding the horns, his doctor asks Ig if he should sleep with his daughter’s seventeen-year-old best friend. Ig realizes the amazing gifts his horns bring and he decides to track down who really killed Merrin.

What is so fascinating about this book, is that it didn’t play out like I thought it was going to. I thought the killer would be revealed in the last couple of pages. Instead, the killer is revealed very early on. In a section of the book, we find out more about the killer and how he displayed signs of narcissism and psychopathic tendencies.

This book is a fast read. Usually, I read books right before I go to bed, but this book I was taking with me everywhere and whenever I had any sort of free time, I would read this book because I wanted to know what happens! I felt the writing itself was intelligent and I really liked Ig Perrish as a character.

I would highly recommend this book and I think on Goodreads I gave it three stars! It was really enjoyable but I wouldn’t rank it one of my all-time favorite books. If you’re looking for a mystery with a fantasy aspect to it, this is the perfect book for you!

Happy Friday everyone! This weekend I am planning on staying in and reading, studying, and working out! It’s nice having relaxing weekends to lay around the house and read and write. Currently, I’m reading Horns by Joe Hill but I decided to start this manga that I purchased.

Manga is fascinating in the fact that you read it from right to left. Each of the panels on each page is read from right to left as well. It took some getting used to, but eventually, I was able to pick up on the pattern.

This manga I was introduced to it by a high school friend of mine. Attack on Titan is about a city that lives in protection by a 50-meter-tall wall of concrete. This wall surrounds the entire city and protects the citizens from creatures called Titans. Titans are big giants that remind me of human giants with their skin peeled off. On the cover that I posted above, a Titan is that red-face muscle creature. Our main characters are Mikasa and Eren who live in the city.

I haven’t made it far in the manga yet but I think it’s fascinating. It’s kind of like the Japanese version of the Walking Dead. I have always been interested in Manga but I have never felt compelled to purchase it until last weekend in Milwaukee. There was this really cool comic book store and on the left-hand side, they had huge long shelves with Manga on them. That’s where I found Attack on Titan.

I hope to finish this soon and if I really do enjoy it, I might pick up the second book in the series. I might blog about a full review of what I think so stay tuned for that!