The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls

I am not a big fan of memoirs, I think this may be the only one I have ever read to completion, but I loved this book. The things the kids in this family went through, and made it through, are astounding. Some parts had me laugh out loud, but most of them just left me shaking my head that any adult could put their family through even one of those incidents. But, what doesn't kills you makes you stronger, and this book is proof of that. Highly recommend.

5 stars

The Black Tower by Louis Bayard

A young medical student becomes embroiled in a longtime mystery, what really happened to Louis Charles, the dauphin to the throne of England. With the help of the first documented police detective, Vidock, they set off on a mission to find out what really happened. The dauphin was kept in the tower and the young medical student's father was his doctor. Everyone was led to believe he died and was buried in an unmarked grave. But is he really dead? And if he isn't, what implications does this have on the throne?

Very fascinating story, well paced, the only disappointment is that there is no real answer to the question. No one will ever know what happened, whether the dauphin survived or not. One of the best historical fiction novels I have read in awhile.

4.5 stars

Animal Farm by George Orwell

Another book most people read in school that I did not. Just a very silly story. I understand it is a fable of sorts and that it was directed at events during WWII, but it was just plain silly. Animals learning how to write, forming a democracy when they run the farmer off the land. Too much for me. It only got 2 stars instead of 1 star because it was so ridiculous at some points I was laughing out loud.

2 stars

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

Very curious indeed. This was kind of odd. I had heard such great things about it and I read it in a day, but it was just strange.
Story about a 15 year old boy who is autistic and decides to write a book after finding his neighbor's dog impaled with a rake in her front yard. He finds out secrets about his parents split up and about other people. The book is told from his point of view. You will be reading about what happened and then the next chapter, which are only in prime numbers because the boy likes prime numbers, will be about how he solves a particular math equation. Very odd.

3 stars

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

When I told my mom I had never read this before she told me I must have been absent that day in school because every one's read this. I would have remembered if we had though, because this has moved in to my top 5 books of all time. I don't even know where to begin. There are so many ways to analyze the story, the characters, the symbolism. There is the loss of innocence, or the fact that no one is born innocent, just ignorant; maybe we are all savages deep down; the religious aspect of an Eden with no Eve. A lot of things I have read have compared Flies to The Catcher in the Rye but I personally don't see how. Rye was nothing compared to this. This was, I am sitting here typing this and I don't even have words to describe it. This will stay with me for a very very long time and is definitely going on my shelf to be read again at another time.
5 stars +++++++++++