All-American Girl

All American Girl 3.5 out of 5 stars
All-American Girl is the story of Sam Madison, a teenaged artist that has a bit of the rebel side.  The book details how her life is turned upside down when she saves the President from an assassination attempt.  She deals with her new-found identity, that cute boy in her art class, David, who just so happens to be the President's son, and her responsibilities as teen ambassador to the U.N.  I thought that this was a cute, fun read and I really enjoyed it when it first came out and liked it quite a bit when I reread it this time around.

Ready or Not 1 out of 5 Stars

Its "sequel" Ready or Not on the other hand, I cannot recommend.  This book reminded me of the importance of reading what a book is about before I purchase it.  I had just bought it because I remembered "oooh, there's a sequel right?  I'll buy it while I buy All-American Girl on my Nook".  But if I had just taken the time to read the little synopsis on the website, I would have saved myself the time and money.  The main plot of Ready or Not is sex and whether or not Sam thinks she is ready to have it at "almost seventeen".  This was an entire personality shift from the first book and I was extremely disappointed.  The next statement contains spoilers.   For me, sex is a very serious thing that needs to be considered before it's done.  The worst part of this book is that after all of this debate, Sam decides to not go through with it, after making "plans" with David.  While she's waiting to bear the bad news to David, she grows upset and confronts David, only to realize that the "plans" they had made were really a misunderstanding.  For a moment she felt relieved, but then she noticed that David looked "hot" so she decided to sleep with him anyway.  That honestly felt a little wishy-washy.  It made the entire debate of the book be decided on a whim.  Once I "finished" (I pretty much skimmed the last half of the book), I couldn't help but wonder "What was the point of this?"

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

4 out of 5 stars

This book provides a rather unique experience.  It's a rather quick read I'll admit, I finished the 533 page book in less than an hour.  This book is kind of hard to describe, but I'll take a stab at it.

I will quote the author for his most adequate description:  "So what is, "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" anyway? "... this is not exactly a novel, and it's not quite a picture book, and it's not really a graphic novel, or a flip book, or a movie, but a combination of all these things."

This book is an experience rather than I read.  It truly immerses you in the world of Hugo Cabret.  It opens your imagination and helps you delve into the world of the first films.  The one drawback is because of its style, characterization and plot somewhat lacks.  Overall, I would say that the experience is rather magical.

I've recently watched the movie based on this book and I would strongly recommend both.  They are not something that I would go back and read/watch multiple times through, but the enriching experience of that first through?  Definitely worth it!

Art of Tangled and Art of Brave!

Can I say how much I love this sort of book?  Just look at the covers below!  (both courtesy of amazon.com)  Fun right?

I give both of these a 5 out of 5 on the scale. 

I absolutely love the movie Tangled.  I've watched it a somewhat unhealthy amount of times and my favorite part of the movie is easily the design/art aspect.  This book goes into the process of creating the world of Tangled.  Filled with breathtaking work and interesting stories, I can say this is one my favorite books to turn to.  I've flipped through these pages many, many times since I first purchased it over a year ago.  The book goes into the design element of the backgrounds and individual characters.  For instance at one point "Flynn" was a very large, strong knight and another version he had hair that is longer than Rapunzel's at the end of the movie! 

To say that I love this book, is a bit of an understatement.  I even purchased a print found in this book when I was in Disneyland early this month.  This one in fact (just click onto this website if interested):


The Art of Brave book contained a similar experience.  From the moment I first saw the trailer, I knew that I would be purchasing such a book if they made one.  I won't go into this one too much since the movie hasn't come out and the book is full of spoilers.  Just say I loved it and I'm looking forward to the movie!

Character Designs!

So I was messing around fleshing out character designs for my current book series Finding My voice and this was the result!

For those who have a little bit of trouble reading my various handwritten names:
Top row: Saria, Rei, and Ari
Bottom row: Armont, Agon, and Rikano

The first book of the series is told from Saria's point of view.

The second book of the series is told from Rei's point of view.

Ari, short for "Arianstellar", is an Aquaid, or my equivalent of a mermaid.

Agon is a dragon in human form

Saria's hair ended up being too red with the scan, but since I never transferred my photoshop over, I'm kind of stuck with it.  You can see the correct colors a little better here:

I'll be updating my book list soon, so keep an eye out!