2 books in 2 weeks

... okay maybe in 2 1/2 weeks.

Now that Grad school is over for the summer and thanks to some vacation time (with long flights) I was able to get in some fun reading. I read two very different books... one I thought I would love as it is about WWI and one I wasn't so sure about but ended up loving.

Click on link below for another review
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The first one was Stella Bain by Anita Shreve about a WWI nurse, and at the start of the novel has lost her memory and we follow her as she tries to paste her memories and her life together. While it starts in WWI, it seems to be more background to the story and sadly did not satisfy my WWI taste. I wish I could write more about the plot but I feel I would give some spoilers away. I will say even though it is written in third person, which usually as a feel of the author knowing all that will happen it had a feel that the author was discovering things as we were. This made for some choppy sentences and it took a few pages to get used to but once I did it made me feel like I was going on the journey with Stella Bain. The worst thing was I never really felt I related to Stella and while she goes through so many struggles I also didn't really have empathy for her. I saw this book last Christmas in an airport book store, and I almost bought it on whim but after reading it I am glad I waited to check it out from the library and save some money.

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The next book was Divergent by Veronica Roth I am not ashamed to admit that I am jumping on the fan wagon of this book post movie, but I am not reading it because of the movie, which I have not seen but want to now. I am reading it because my friend recommended it to me. I don't usually read futuristic books (minus the Hunger Games) because for the most part I'd rather live in the past, however I loved it book. It is another post-apocalyptic world, though unlike the Hunger Games, the society is trying to create a perfect utopian society, though that seems to be a veil hiding true struggles. The society is broken up into different fractions in order to preserve order of society, even though as children they go to school together, they hardly interact with each other. Beatrice "Tris" is raised in the Abnegation fraction, which focuses on selflessness and humbleness, but she has never felt to truly belong. The book starts on the day she and her brother, Caleb. take a test to see what fraction they should spend the rest of their lives in. When Beatrice takes the test she is said to be Divergent, which means she has broken the system which makes her a danger to the structure of society so she must keep it a secret. Now she must choose if she wants to stay in the Abnegation fraction or choose her own path. (I don't want to give it away what she chooses because I feel like its a spoiler but because movie trailer ad basically gives it away, I will say she chooses Dauntless). Dauntless are the fighters and the warriors of the society. Though this fraction so different than anything Tris has known she learns to fit in, and make friends, but she is always worried her secret will be found out...

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I am so glad I saw this book on sale and my mom bought it for me. These post-apocalyptic books are not my norm so I can only compare it to the Hunger Games. I was talking to my friend, who recommended it to me, and she and I agreed we could relate to Tris more than Katniss (I guess we are still teenagers going through angst). I also liked that Four (the crush) because he was a fighter. I mean Peeta is great for his pure heart but he wasn't much of a fighter... which is why I liked Four he could be strong without taking Tris' strength away (as a character) and though he was strong he had fears to overcome. One thing I didn't like was how fast the action went sometimes I had to go back and re-read passages to make sure I understood what was happening.

Divergent Trailer

Now I don't like waiting for book two... I know it is published (but I am on a long waiting list at the library) and I could buy it but I feel hesitant buying books because in a few months I will be moving to a new apartment and I don't want to pack up more books.