Everything, Everything ~ Nicola Yoon

Risk everything . . . for love.

What if you couldn’t touch anything in the outside world? Never breathe in the fresh air, feel the sun warm your face . . . or kiss the boy next door? In Everything, Everything, Maddy is a girl who’s literally allergic to the outside world, and Olly is the boy who moves in next door . . . and becomes the greatest risk she’s ever taken. 
My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla. 
 
But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He's tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.
 
Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.

Book Review:

The premise of a girl, who is allergic to the world, falling for the boy next door... yeah I am in! It a Sarah Dessen novel mixed with a John Green novel. I was sucked in from the synopsis. 

I am so glad that I picked it up. I could not put it down! I flew through it in 3 days. I had so much hope for the characters. I really resonated with Maddy's personality. And what girl doesn't fall for the dangerous boy at least once? There is just something so appealing about the thrill seeking, mysterious, seemingly dark boy, who you always believe has a good heart that he is hiding from the rest of the world. Now Olly, wasn't that to a T, but he was a thrill seeker and his entire existence was basically a danger for Maddy. 

Now, I won't go into too much detail, but all I will say is that I was skeptical to believe how serious Maddy's situation was. Mainly because I wanted her to have a happily ever after.... I wanted her to see the world that she had been daydreaming about her entire life. I wanted her to be able to love Olly. I wanted a lot...

I am so excited for the movie!!!!!!

Pages: 322                                                                                                                                 Rate: 5/5

Favorite Quote:

“I was trying so hard to find the single pivotal moment that set my life on its path. The moment that answered the question, 'How did I get here?'

But it's never just one moment. It's a series of them. And your life can branch out from each one in a thousand different ways. Maybe there's a version of your life for all the choices you make and all the choices you don't.” 

Nine of Us: Growing up Kennedy ~ Jean Kennedy Smith

In this evocative and affectionate memoir, Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith, the last surviving child of Joe and Rose Kennedy, offers an intimate and illuminating look at a time long ago when she and her siblings, guided by their parents, laughed and learned a great deal under one roof.

Prompted by interesting tidbits in the newspaper, Rose and Joe Kennedy would pose questions to their nine children at the dinner table. "Where could Amelia Earhart have gone?" "How would you address this horrible drought?" "What would you do about the troop movements in Europe?" It was a nightly custom that helped shape the Kennedys into who they would become.

Before Joe and Rose’s children emerged as leaders on the world stage, they were a loving circle of brothers and sisters who played football, swam, read, and pursued their interests. They were children inspired by parents who instilled in them a strong work ethic, deep love of country, and intense appreciation for the sacrifices their ancestors made to come to America."No whining in this house!" was their father’s regular refrain. It was his way of reminding them not to complain, to be grateful for what they had, and to give back.

In her remarkable memoir, Kennedy Smith—the last surviving sibling—revisits this singular time in their lives. Filled with fascinating anecdotes and vignettes, and illustrated with dozens of family pictures, The Nine of Us vividly depicts this large, close-knit family during a different time in American history. Kennedy Smith offers indelible, elegantly rendered portraits of her larger-than-life siblings and her parents. "They knew how to cure our hurts, bind our wounds, listen to our woes, and help us enjoy life," she writes. "We were lucky children indeed."

Book Review:

I picked up this book as soon as I saw that it was written by one of Kennedy siblings about their personal lives. I have always had an obsession with the Kennedy's, from the Golden President JFK to the hidden sister, Rosemary. I have always been intrigued by their dynamic and I really wanted to understand more. 

This memoir was a great insight. I learned so much about the time period: the politics that surrounded the family as they grew up (which obviously shaped JFK); the disability that surrounded the family with Rosemary; the guilty conscience of organizing the procedure that would destroy your already vulnerable daughter; the noble death of the eldest son; JFK's campaign and personality;  the tight-knit relationships between the siblings; the heart of the Golden family. 

As far as memoirs go, this is the only one that I have read about someone who isn't a pop culture sensation. Therefore, I wasn't expecting it to be light and silly (which is wasn't) or even all that interesting, but it was! I did not want it to end. I wanted more details about everything from the littlest most insignificant stories to the big and monumental ones. I wanted more pictures. I just wanted more. It was overall, magnificent. 

Pages: 272                                                                                                                                 Rate: 5/5

In Honor of Women's History Month

I have seen that a few libraries and book stores have turned all of the books, written by male authors, so that the pages face out, not the spine. I decided to do that with my main bookshelf at home. So here are the results:

From this...

To this...

So, I must say that I am rather pleased as the majority of the books that I turned around were by a singular author, James Patterson. So it doesn't appear that I am reading more male authors than female authors, just that I really enjoy James Patterson.