Rumors (part 2)

      So, I am still reading the book: Rumors, because it was lost for a while and I just found it.  Picking up from the time I left off, Elizabeth is now safe and happy in California with Will.  Will built them a house, they live in a cute small town where they hear absolutley no news about New York, and Will now goes out to look for oil on a daily basis with a guy he became friends with.  One day they finally struck oil; happiness reined in Elizabeth's small cabin that day and they feasted with some money that they were saving.  But, it isn't going as well in New York as it was in California when Elizabeth gets a note from her sister saying: mother is ill and, in criptic code, that Henry might be in love with another woman.  

     Back in New York, before the message was sent, Diana Holland was awaiting the perfect opportunity to approach Henry so they could live happily ever after.  At the opera, she had done this very thing, however, he dismissed her because he was still feeling grief over Elizabeth's death.  He also dismissed her because his good friend, Teddy Cutting, told him it would be wrong for him to marry the sister of the girl he was supposed to marry that is disseased.  Diana however, took it as he still had feelings for Penelope.  Penelope was also in love with Henry and now saw the opportunity to pounce.  When talking to Henry however, she noticed he was still in depression and wanted him to be his old self again so she told him that Elizabeth wasn't dead.  This plan backfired on Penelope, because now Henry has nothing standing in his way of seeing his one true love: Diana.  Henry then goes to her and tells her why he has been moody.  She at first doesn't believe him, but sees the sincerity in his eyes and crumbles under his power.  Now, they are sort of a secret couple because no one can know about them or they would both be introuble.
        Another growing life in New York is the new Carolina Broad (Lina, the maid from the Hollands).  She has been doing well, buying things with they money she recieved from gossiping to Penelope, but one night, the maids in her hotel room stole the remaining 200 dollars in her purse.  She confesses to a Lord and Taylors sales boy that she has become friends with that she is poor and he comes up with a plan.  Carolina has caught the eye of a very wealthy older bacholor, so Tristan(the sails boy) says, stay with him and one day I will come to the room with your bills and he will pay them for you.  The plan works, but the bachalor, Mr. Longhorn, knows Carolina's identity.  Maybe he doesn't know she was a maid but he knew she was not as wealthy as she says.  He doesn't care however, he just wants company, so he agrees to pay for everything if she just keeps him company and escouts him to parties.  She agrees to this plan with no argueing and accompanies him to the Schoonmaker's Christmas Eve ball.  There she was told by Tristan that she must make more alliances, so she bribes Penelope Hayes to be her friend and invite her into her group for new gossip that she heard from Claire(her sister that still works for the hollands).  Claire told her that Diana had a hook-up with Henry one night and she walked in the next morning to them in the same bed.  Of coarse Penelope was furious, but who knows what she will do with that information; will she spill to the world about Henry and Diana's love affair, or will she blackmail Henry with it to use it to her own demise? Who knows...that is where I left off.
            While this was all taking place, Elizabeth is now returning home because it seemed like her family was introuble and Will agrees.  How will Elizabeth introduce herself back into society after being labeled as deceased for over a year and how will others react? I guess you will have to read the book to find out.
           I predict that Diana and Henry will get caught and have to come out as a couple when everyone sees that Elizabeth is not dead.  Then I predict they will get married, and upon seeing Elizabeth, Mrs. Holland will become well again.  Lastly, I think Diana, her mother, Henry, Will and Elizabeth will then move back to California where they now have money from oil because they were too good for society.  Also, because if society couldn't except what Elizabeth has done and that Diana and Henry are now a couple, then the don't need to be in that society anymore, life is too short.  Oh, and I believe that after hearing that Elizabeth is alive and with Will, I think Carolina will commit suicide, because that was her goal in life, to be with Will.
        If anyone else has any other predictions let me know, I am curious to know others input.

To see another book reviews for this book go to: http://www.yareads.com/rumours-a-luxe-novel-anna-godbersen/book-reviews/980
  

Rumors

        This is the second book to the Luxe novel, by Anna Godbersen.  As to recall what occured by the end of the Luxe novel: Elizabeth Holland faked her death to be with a poor, loved, stable boy, Will, and go out west in search of gold.  Also, her best friend, Penelope, helped enforce this death because she wanted the man that Elizabeth was to marry, Henry Shoemaker.  However, Elizabeth's sister, Diana, is the one Henry is truely in love with and Diana is in love with him too.  Elizabeth was aware of this, so this is why she disapeared; she went away not only for herself, but also for her sister.  Diana is the only one who knows she is not actually dead.

       Now to catch up to present time; Diana is now replacing Elizabeth in her mother's eyes, and it is her mother's job to make sure Diana recieves a proper husband.  Diana is just thrilled about this.......not! She still has her heart for one and only one person, Henry Shoemaker. 
       It is required for loved ones to grieve for a year in those times, and the year is almost up.  Diana can soon stop faking a depressing expression all the time and Henry will be open for grabs soon as well.  However, Henry doesn't know that Elizabeth faked her death, so will Diana spill to her loved one? Also, Penelope is still on the run for Henry as well; will she finally find Diana as a threat? Who will Henry end up with in the end? Lastly, how is Elizabeth doing in the west without her luxuries?  These are all the questions that have formulated in my mind while reading, and will soon be answered.
        My predictions so far are that Diana will somehow get together with Henry, after the greiving process is over, and Penelope will start devising a plan to throw off the wedding- like she was about to do to Elizabeth.  Also, I think eventhough she may love Will, Elizabeth may be a little snobish in the west and start to miss the luxuries that she grew up with.  I do not think however, that she will come home, I just believe that she will need time to adjust.  Anyone else have any other predictions?

The author of this novel is Anna Godbersen

The rest of the series includes: Envy and Splendor

The Mysterious Benedict Society part 2

        I'm sorry that I don't have another book to blog about, but I haven't been able to finish this one yet.  Where did I leave off?  Oh yes, I left off where Raynie just finished his first test.  Remember how I told you that he was nervous. Well, there was nothing really for him to be nervous about becasue he was the only one who passed the test in that class.  When the "Pencil woman"- the woman that Raynie nicknamed who gives out the tests- told the class this, they went balistic.  They were so distressed and confused that they were yelling all over the room, but in the end the finally left.  The Pencil woman told Raynie there was another test and that he must be at the Monk building at 12 o'clock and he can't be late or have more than one pencil or he will fail, and then she left.  Of course, she didn't tell him where this building was, as it is still part of the test, so Raynie went out to search.  When he finally finds the building, Raynie encounters a girl named Rhonda who lost her pencil down the gutter.  With nearly time running out Raynie makes the decision to help her.  He breaks his pencil and gives her the sharpened end, because the pencil woman said there would be a pencil sharpener at the testing area.  In return the girl offers the test answers to him, but he politely declines.  

      Upon recieving the test, Reynie wishes he should have taken those anwers; the questions were impossible.  In the end however, he follows directions and reads all of the questions and finds a pattern.  The answer to question number one is in question number 20.  He again, is the only one who passes the test, even though the girl had the answers; which puzzled Raynie.  Now he is told to wait there for others who passed.  He meets a shy boy named Sticky who didn't find the puzzle in the test and just knew the answers already, and a loud, adventurous girl named Kate; they all immediately become friends.  The wierd thing was that Sticky and Kate both encountered Rhonda too.  They try to ponder this, but can't come up with the correct reason why.
    After doing two more rediculous tests-one where they had to find their way through a house full of rooms that looked exactly the same, and another one where the had to make their way across a floor where they could only touch yellow squares- they were finally ushered into a room where they found out a little bit about what the heck was going on.  They also met a new comer named Constance.  If you want to know why they had to take those rediculous tests, then you should read the book! It is really interesting and the ideas for the tests are really cool; I don't understand how they came up with them.
     So Far I am in love with this book, it is like a mystery, because you never know what is going to happen! You would love the book too, and there are two more after this one, so give it a try.

The Author



This is the books official website: http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/features/mysteriousbenedictsociety/index.html

If you would like to purchase this book on amazon here is the link:
http://www.amazon.com/Mysterious-Benedict-Society-Trenton-Stewart/dp/0316003956

Barns and noble interview with the author, Trenton Lee Stewart:
http://media.barnesandnoble.com/?fr_story=b76229daab3e9d0539498b44eb4549bf835bf2cf&rf=sitemap

 

The Mysterious Benedict Society

     I have just started a new book called The Mysterious Benedict Society and so far it is good for the 12 pages that I have read.  The novel is about a boy named Raynie who is orphaned. He is an 11 year old boy, is "of average height, of an average complextion, his brown hair [is] of average length, and he wore average clothes,"(pg. 7) and yet he is beyond average.  This boy is very special in smarts and maturity.  He is poilite and kind to everyone he meets and yet, he gets bullied at his orphanage for being different.  Raynie is ment to be at an advanced school, but the orphanage director, Mr. Rutger, "insisted Reynie would be far better here, with a tutor, than at an advanced school,"(pgs. 5-6), and that he believed Raynie was comfortable at the orphanage; when really Raynie only felt alone. 

       Insted of going to an advanced school, Raynie got the privledge of having the nice tutor, Miss Perumal.  They have tea and read the newspaper in the morning and work throughout the day on the rest of his studies.  She is even teaching him Tamil and usually speaks Tamil to him when telling stories.      
        One morning while reading the paper, Raynie catches a headline saying how "things have gotten desperatly out of control...the school systems, the budget, the pollution, the crime, the weather...why, everything, in fact, was a complete mess, and ctizens everywhere were clamoring for a mayor-no, a dramatic-improvement in government,"(pg. 3). Then, he catches a headline adressed to children stating, "ARE YOU A GIFTED CHILD LOOKING FOR SPECIAL OPPORTUNITES?"(pg. 3).  At first Raynie is iffy on the decision and thinks this might interest him, but his tutor convinces him completely by telling him how special and talented he is. 
       By getting a little approval from Mr. Rutger, because Raynie convinced him that he just wants to see what its about and Mr. Rutgar believes there is no harm in that, Raynie gets to take the test.  He is driven in the morning with his tutor to the testing building and is left there with luck and a pencil.  Raynie finishes the test just in time but doubts he did well by overhearing other students talk about their answers.

       That is how far I have gotten, but I predict that Raynie will get 100% on the test.  I believe he has potential and also that the book would really stink if we didn't know what the special opportunities were.  I also predict that the mysterious benedict society is made up of the kids who pass the test and maybe adults who are already enrolled and are trying to make a new society because theirs right now is in chaos. 

         The author of this book is Trenton Lee Stewart and this book is also a New York Times Bestseller.  If you would like to learn more about this interesting novel go to: http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/features/mysteriousbenedictsociety/index.html 

There are also two other books in the series called: The Mysterious Benedict Society ans the Prisoners Dilemma and The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey.

The Invention of Everything Else...by: Samantha Hunt

     This story takes place in the Big Apple; A.K.A New York City.  It starts by showing the life of a 80 something year old man, who just happens to be the inventor of the radio.  He doesn't have the life that people would of thought he would have.  He lives in a hotel room, and not a Penthouse either.  Why is he living like this? Well, the 80 year old man, named Nicola Tesla, said that it was all because a man named Guglielmo Marconi stole his idea and told the world that he was the one who invented the radio.  So insted of living the good life, Nicola spends his days cooing to pigions and even talking to them; like he can hear so well that he can hear the voice vibrations coming from pigions. 

    In the next chapter the reader is introduced to a new life, the life of Louisa and her father Walter.  Louisa is a grown woman who lives with her father in a apartment in NYC.  Louisa works in the Hotel New Yorker; which happens to be the same hotel Nicola Tesla resides in.  She discovers Mr. Tesla on her daily rounds as a maid and he facinates her. She found out about him when he was doing one of his experiments that sucked all of the power out of the whole hotel. That didn't make the hotel very happy, but he still remained a mystery to Louisa.

       One night her dad tells Louisa that they have to go to this live radio station viewing which talks about science related topics.  He says that his good friend Azor Carter is going to be on it and has invited them to come and see him.  When they get there they find out why he is being interviewed, he created a time machine and it actually works.
        The book then goes back to the life of Nicola Tesla before he thought of the radio and how his journey first started.  He first had to come to America and was requested by a high powered man from where he lives to go to Mr. Edison about his idea about the radio.  Mr. Tesla comes across this idea when his ears become super sensitive to everything around him.  Then he learned to accept it and saw the contraption right before his eyes that would make the radio work, an alternating current engine.  So, Nicola goes to America and works with Mr. Edison for a while, but when he brings up his idea, Mr. Edison just laughed at him.  This made him mad so he quite and insted went, i think to a construction company, and dug a hole for two years.  After the two years a man called down to him to tell Mr. Tesla that Mr. A.K. Brown of Western Union Telegraph Comany wanted to start the Tesla Electric Company with him.  His waiting finally paid off.
        So far, this is all I know about the book, but I will continue on to find out more about Louisa and Nicola.  This wouldn't of been my first choice of books, but as I read it, I found it actually really interesting.  I have to mix the book genres up every once in a while, so I thought, why not give this one a shot.  It takes a little longer to read then my previous books, but it is paying off in the end.  Right now I feel really bad for Nicola, because he is just an innocent man who was robbed of his fame for the invention that he had created.  I predict that Louisa will use the time machine and go back in time to find Mr. Tesla and then she will finally know why he s a little wierd.  Then I think the two of them will become good friends. I can't wait to read more and meet the Guglielmo Marconi that stole all of Mr. Tesla's work. 

Here is a New York Times book review of The Invention of Everything Else-

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/23/books/review/Thomas-t.html

More reviews about this book at-
 http://www.bookbrowse.com/arc/arc_reviews/detail/?arc_number=17

Samantha Hunts website that gives book reviews, about the author information, you can purchase the book on her site and more- http://www.samanthahunt.net/tesla2.html

Samantha Hunt

If you would like to purchase this book, the hard cover is $18.72 and the paper back is $11.16. Here is the website that brings you to purchacing the book on amazon.com-

http://www.amazon.com/Invention-Everything-Else-Samantha-Hunt/dp/061880112X    

Here is a website for purchasing it on Barns and Noble- http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Invention-of-Everything-Else/Samantha-Hunt/e/9780618801121            

        

                                      

The Luxe, The Best Book Ever

     New York City, 1899.  High societies, ball gowns and strict manners.  This book ecompases the world of wealthy, well-to-do families and the inferiors who live in their shadows. 

      Elizabeth Holand, of the Holands, is one of these wealthy people.  She is the most proper and well raised 17 year old that you would of ever met.  This girl is also a fatherless daughter.  The one thing that the Holland family didn't know however, was that the father of the Hollands had a huge debt before he died.  Mrs. Holland relayed the news to her two daughters, Elizabeth and Diana, but what she really wanted to tell them is that Elizabeth is the only one who can save their family.  If she marries rich, then they will be fine.  

        Another wealthy man, Henry Schoonmaker also has a problem.  His father is making him go and marry Elizabeth because he wantes his son to have a respectable wife and because he is running for office.  Elizabeth has to accept the offer, even though she hates Henry; Henry is secretly in love with Diana(Elizabeth's sister) and Elizabeth is secretly in love with her coachman, which is very forbidden.  Will Elizabeth do what's best for her family? Will Diana steel Henry away from her sister? Will Elizabeth run away with her coachman? Who really knows in this society.

   So far I am head over heels in love with this book.  I love the time period it takes place in.  I wish that I could live in this period; I've always wanted to go to a ball.  It is also ver interesting how some of the rich people act.  There is one part in the book where a weathly girl named Penelope thanks her new maid and then curses to herself because she knew she shouldn't of gave her too much praise. Isn't it shocking how rude she was? I guess back then there were two types of people, the wealthy and the poor, and when the rich talked to the poor, which wasn't often, the rich had to put them in their place; how sad. 

free read reading review

I just finished another one of my free reads......shocking, I know. Hahaha... This one was the second book to Leaving Paradise, called Return to Paradise.  If you like books that are romantic, but adventurous at the same time, then this book is for you.  Well, of coarse you have to read the first book first, but you can look forward to this one :).  I don't want to give too much information out since this is the second book, but basically it is about a girl who got hit by a car and is trying to get through her bad memory by going to a RE- start program.  The boy that supposibly hit her actually had a fling with her, but left (first book), he thought that if he left then everyone would be better off.  Boy, was he wrong! He was living on his own, but happened to be spending the night with the wrong crowd, drug deelers.  To make sure he didn't have to go to juvie again, he had to join the RE-start program.  You probably know what happens next... the girl(maggie) and boy(caleb) reunit, but it isn't as tearfull as you may think. I am not going to say anything else, or I will be giving the book away.  Let me just say that the relationship between these two people isn't the most realistic relationship compared to everyday boy-girl relationships, but it is certainly a book that can't be put down!