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Janet Evanovich 4 & 5

Four to Score

Storyline: 9/10
Coherence: 9/10
Syntactic Structure: 10/10
Character Development: 8/10

Overall Score: 36/40

This was a very good book to read, but still a lot like the others. Not that that is a bad thing. :) I'm starting to wonder what I would be like as a bounty hunter...

High Five

Storyline: 10/10 This was def the best yet!

Coherence: 9/10

Syntactic Structure: 10/10

Character Development: 8/10 Could have used a little bit more.

Overall Score: 37/40

Though I really believe this to be the best in the series so far, I absolutely HATED the ending. It's almost like a cliff hanger, which is really a good tactic for a series writer, but horrible for a reader!

Janet Evanovich

Two For the Dough and Three To Get Deadly were so similar, that I find it unnecessary to do additional reviews. I will, however, give them each a score.

Two For the Dough:
- Storyline: 9/10

- Coherence: 9/10

- Syntactic Structure: 10/10

- Character Development: 8/10

- Overall Score: 36/40

Three To Get Deadly:

- Storyline: 9/10

- Coherence: 9/10

- Syntactic Structure: 10/10

- Character Development: 9/10 Grandma Mazur was must better in this one!

- Overall Score: 37/40

Jodi Picoult - House Rules

MY THOUGHTS: The only reason I have this book is because of my Grandma. It was a part of her collection that eventually wound up in my hands. Not knowing anything about the author or the story, I had little in the way of expectations.

As I started to read, I realized that this would be a very difficult book for me to get through, for several reasons. The story is about a boy with Asperger's Syndrome, a form of Autism, and his fight to not only be noticed as more that just a kid with AS, but also his fight through the criminal justice system.

On top of the serious nature of the story, it was also hard to read because the story is told from the perspective of each of the main characters who has their own chapter named for them. The font changes for each character and sometimes the story is repeated from the perspective of the different characters.

Aside from the difficulties described, I really enjoyed the book. It was interesting to not only learn a little more about AS, but also to see how it affects those with the disorder, but also those he comes in contact with.

EXCERPT: (page 16)

" I may be autistic, but I can't tell you what day of the week your mother's thirty-second birthday fell on. I can't do logarithms in my head. I can't look at a patch of sod and tell you it has 6,446 individual blades of grass. On the other hand, I could tell you anything you ever wanted to know about lightning, polymerase chain reactions, famous movie quotes, and Lower Cretaceous sauropods. I memorized the periodic table without even trying; I aught myself how to read Middle Egyptian; and I helped my calculus teacher fix his computer."

(page 92)

"This is where I go, when I go: It's a room with no windows and no doors, and walls that are thin enough for me to see and hear everything but too thick to break through. I'm there, but I'm not there. I am pounding to be let out, but nobody can hear me. This is where I go, when I go: To a country where everyone's face looks different from mine, and the language is the act of not speaking, and noise is everywhere in the air we breathe. I am doing what the Romans do in Rome; I am trying to communicate, but no one has bothered to tell me that these people cannot hear."

RATINGS:
 - Storyline: 10/10 Absolutely brilliant.
 - Coherence: 9/10 Sometimes it was hard to remember who's chapter I was reading. Though it is labeled very prominently at the beginning of each chapter, once you really get into the book, you seem to, in a way, just skip over that part and dive right in.
 - Syntactic Structure: 10/10 Very fluid and easy to read.
 - Character Development: 10/10 I loved how we got to experience things from all the characters perspective. It really made for a great read.

 - Overall Score: 39/40

I highly recommend this one. Though I don't feel like I've made much of an impression to future readers, I do wish to say that I thouroughly enjoyed this book and feel it was a great way to introduce the general public to the thinkings of someone with AS.

Janet Evanovich - One For the Money

MY THOUGHTS: I don't typically read the books that the mainstream public reads. For instance, I refuse to read anything Harry Potter, don't look at best selling lists, and try to stay away from most book series. But on the advice of my future mother and sister in law, I've decided to start reading the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. Since I like to read crime novels (I was a criminal justice major in college) and I like to laugh (who doesn't), I thought I would heed their advice and give the series a try.

I was a little worried about liking this book after the first chapter. There was a bit of sexual inuendo that I was uncomfortable with due to the age of the characters in the story. But once I got past it and got to know the characters better (especially Grandma Mazur), I started to get into it. It was the kind of story that I couldn't put down and I actually finished reading the book shortly after I started.

I'm quite looking forward to reading the second book in the series, as soon as my Barnes and Noble order gets shipped. I'm hopeful that the continuation of the series doesn't disappoint, but with the reviews I've read from others, I'm sure it's going to follow in the same fashion of the first book.

EXCERPT: (page 4)

"I suppose this tells something about my personality. That I'm not especially good at taking advice. Or that I was born with an overload of curiousity. Or maybe it's about rebellion or boredom of fate. At any rate, it was a one-shot deal and darn disappointing, since I'd only gotten to be the tunnel, and I'd really wanted to be the train."

RATINGS:
 - Storyline: 8/10 Markdowns taken for the first two chapters (mostly just because I was made so uncomfortable)
 - Coherence: 9/10 Character integration into the story was nearly perfect. Some books often mention characters once and then you never hear from them again. Janet Evanovich seems to have done a pretty good job here with keeping the characters active throughout the story and the diversity shown between characters was very good.
 - Syntactic Structure: 10/10 Some books I read have such bad grammar that it is hard to get past it. No problems here, however.
 - Character Development: 7/10 I wished at times that some of the characters had a little more story, especially Grandma Mazur. She was so quirky and really, hilarious!

 - Overall Score: 34/40

New reviewing guidelines

I will be instituting new ratings guidelines for the books I read in 2011. Each book will be rated on a 1 - 10 scale in the following categories.

- Storyline - Is it believable/interesting/inspiring/etc. --/10

- Coherence - Logical connections and relationships/ease of understanding/etc. --/10

- Syntactic Structure - Use of grammar/sentence structure/etc.. --/10

- Character Development - Do the characters have a good background/interact well/etc. --/10

- Overall Score - Total of points out of 40