Attempt at a Book Review: The Hourglass Door

Lately I haven't been sure what to blog about since I find myself becoming repetitive in my posts, so I thought that I would attempt a book review (thusfar reading has taken up a huge portion of my summer), after the style of my esteemed AP Lit teacher this past year.

Synopsis: Abby's senior year of high school is going according to plan: good friends, cute boyfriend, and college applications in the mail. But when Dante Alexander, foreign-exchange student from Italy, steps into her life, he turns it upside down. He's mysterious, and interesting, and unlike anyone she's ever met before. Abby can't deny the growing attraction she feels for him. Nor can she deny the unusual things that seem to happen when Dante is around. Soon Abby finds herself drawn into a mystery whose roots reach into sixteeth-century Florence, and she uncovers a dangerous truth that threatens not only her future but the lives of those she loves.

Review:Emily Watts, a bestselling author, said, "Move over Edward - Dante is bound to eclipse you." For that quote I picked up this book at the bookstore and immediately started reading (I'm not a big Twilight fan, in case you didn't know). I did find myself making comparasions to Twilight throughout the entire book. There is mystery surrounding Dante and Abby starts to dig to find out what it is. The bad guys are the same 'type' of person that Dante is (never fear, vampires have no place in this book), and the romance that ensues between Dante and Abby. But that's where the similarities ended. Abby was a strong character who wasn't about to wait around for Dante to come and save her, unlike Bella and Edward. In fact, Abby ends up saving Dante. I loved Mangum's characters in this book, they felt real to me and made mistakes and had to learn and grow throughout the novel. The book was really quite fast paced and a quick read; it was really enjoyable as well. Unlike Twilight though, I really loved this book. It was detailed and beautifully written with interesting circumstances that were totally belieable, even though they couldn't possibly really happen. I'll eagerly anticipate the second book (which promises to be nothing like New Moon) that will be released in 2010.

Hopefully as my first book review it wasn't terrible :)

Nostalgia

Ever wished for a time that has been, but you know you can never go back to? Even though that time was scary and new, it was one of the happiest times of your life and now out you go to uncharted waters where you are afraid you might drown? I'm nostalgic for years past *sigh*, and I can't seem to get out of that rut.

Too Obsessed With Image

I have a friend who I was talking to the other day and she was telling me about her new diet. Her new one. Meaning that she has had several others before this one and she is only 17. I shake my head slowly; I really don't understand the urge to count calories obsessively or survive only on egg whites and pineapples for the fact of staying skinny. I believe that you can still be chunky and be healthy at the same time. Fat does not equal unhealthy and skinny does not equal healthy. Each person is different and so you should take in what your body needs and not everyone elses. I do believe in being healthy and eating things in moderation with exercise to balance everything out though. Denying yourself foods because calorie/sugar/carb/whatever count is too high will only result in disaster. That's where moderation comes in. If you are craving that chocolate, having a single piece and stopping there is fine. It will not throw off your "diet" and you can continue on with life. However if you deny it entirely and break down and have a piece, then you throw your diet to the wind and you might as well eat the rest of that chocolate bar because your being bad anyway. *Sigh*. I know I need to work on this stuff too (darn you exercise *shake fist*), but life shouldn't be controlled by the foods you eat. I think that we should go out and enjoy life without worrying about the food that we eat. Just eat less, eat better, eat in moderation, and exercise. As long as we are healthy, I think that we are happy.
*btw: I do love you my friend, we just have very different opinions on the matter of dieting and being healthy*

Words are just too impossible to find . . .

"Sign my yearbook."

Ah, the dreaded words.

What does one say to good friends that they have had throughout all four years of high school? How can you possibly express how much you care for them and how amazing they are without sounding completely redundant? This is possibly the last time that I will see all of these people but I cannot possibly write down all that I feel and all that we have been through in a measly five line shout-out in the blank white pages of a yearbook. Words are just too impossible to find. Too impossible to adequately express. I'll admit that I started to cry when I read through them today knowing that high school is forever over and friends are moving away and continueing on with life. An ache came into my heart as I read over my best friends and knowing that she will live in another state and I can't have long conversations with her anymore or movie nights (I really started to cry then). I can't believe it's over, but I'm glad for a new chapter to begin.

Another Random Piece of Musing . . .

What does the word 'GOSSIP' inspire you to write about? (Daily Topic)

I hate to say that I'm one of those base people who tend to dawdle in gossip but sometimes there is little else to be done. Eleanor Roosevelt once said that great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, and small minds discuss people. However I tend to disagree. What is ideas and events without people? I know she most likely meant the discussing of people to be negative or derogatory, but I'm sorry, sometimes you just need to get things out of your system on how you feel about certain people and certain things that you do. However a line must be drawn. Spreading nasty rumors is just too nasty and mean and should be avoided at all cost.

I have had several 'gossip hours' (as we have so dubbed them) with good friends as we sat around and just talked about random people and things they do. They are, in fact, very cleansing for the soul as you get all that negative energy out of you and you can move on with life instead of holding out on all those negative thoughts. Ugh . . . that sounded very hippieish (for the lack of a better word), but I really do think that way.