Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

     Yes,this is another Scott Westerfeld novel.  He is such a fabulous novelist I felt I had to include this.  As a side note: Scott Westerfeld mainly writes dystopian future type books.  If you find you are into that kind of liturature, I strongly suggest checking out his stuff.  Dystopian literature is basically the opposite of Utopian.  It depicts an undesirable future. 
     The future world being described is a world of ultimate cold cruel beauty.  When a youth, or an Ugly, reaches the age of sixteen, he/she will have a complete remodeling of the body plastic surgery and will be turned into a Pretty.  Pretties are given supermodel good looks and are encouraged to party, enjoy themselves, and not ask questions.  Tally, an Ugly, is desperately looking forward to her birthday, but she meets a girl, Shay, who doesn't want to become a "pretty".  Because of Shay, Tally is trust into a resistance group against the "pretty" operation.  Tally is forced to decide between two things that mean so much to her: her new-found friends in the resistance group, and becoming a pretty. 
     This book is an entertaining and thought provoking read.  Anyone who has ever felt self-conscious of their looks can relate to this story and also leave with new ideas about why someone would consider surgery to get looks they desire.  It also makes the reader think about the future and what kind of morals should be dominate.

Peeps by Scott Westerfeld

In the recent vampire craze taking place in books, movies, and T.V. shows, I would like to state this book was published before that started. It also presents a widely different view of vampires.
Imagine one day you find out all of your ex-boyfriends/girlfriends went crazy. Not just silly in the head crazy, but actual break everything in the apartment scream, shout, and become violent crazy. Scary huh? That's the point of view of the main character in this book. Cal Thompson finds himself in this position then is thrust into the world of 'peeps'. Parasite Positives. That's what they're called. The street term is vampire, but that's such a misconstrued word that they stick with peeps. This craziness comes from being infected with parasites. It acts like an STD on steroids. You can get it through a kiss or sweat or basically anything like that. Cal just happens to be a carrier for this disease. He does not get the bad side effects like go crazy and sensitive to light, but he gets the strength, agility, affection for rare meats, and he can spread the disease.
This book is a refreshing view on vampires and is very enjoyable. Even if vampires aren't your thing its a great read. Between every chapter of the story Westerfeld has written a short segment on common parasites in the world. At the very least you will find your self wondering about these kinds of things. The way Westerfeld approached this topic and wrote about it is in a very convincing manor. It is written in a way that makes you think, "Could that really happen?"
It is an entertaining read. I suggest it to anyone who has a little bit of adventure in them.

Poems by Emily Dickenson

     I must confess this is the only book of poetry I own.  I do not read it as if it were a traditional novel, because it isn't.  This book is a collection of all the poetry of Emily Dickinson.  I often will open the book to a random page or leaf through until something catches my eye, and I will read that poem.
     Dickinson still to this day receives criticism on her structure, or lack there of in many of her poems.  Her subject matter ranges from spiritual to emotion to that of nature.  Though many call her poetry morbidly depressing I see it as a window into a hurting soul.  For the last several years of her life, Emily Dickinson was a recluse.  I do not pretend to know her emotions and how she felt about certain things, but her writing reveals a great progression in her thoughts.  Since this is a book of individual poems and not a novel written in prose I cannot summarize it.  I can only say that, to me, she is an inspirational poet and will always be the one who sparked my love for good poetry.
     I found a beautiful tribute song to her by a man named John Salazar.  It really is a wonderful song to listen to while looking at pictures from Emily's life and home.

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

     So, I may be cheating including this book on the list because it is much older than the rest and might technically belong to that of the Classics, but I will anyway.  The basic plot of this book is a tragic love story.  Buttercup is the most beautiful woman alive.  Westley is her lowly stable boy, handsome and valiant.  Prince Humperdinck is an evil and savage prince.  Count Rugen is the cruel swordsman, and servant of Humperdinck.  Vizzini is a mastermind villian keen on logic.  And Inigo Montoya the driven swordsmen bent on revenging his father's death.  This novel has a passionate love story interwoven with exciting adventure. 
     Goldman is an expert writer who writes the entire novel as though it is a translation and retelling of another man's work.  According to Goldman The Princess Bride was originally written by a man named S. Morgenstern.  At many parts in this book, Goldman breaks from the story on several occasions to mention how in the original manuscript, Morgenstern went on for some twenty pages to talk about the trees or the weather or the history of some such thing.  Goldman claims to be only abridging this loved classic by S. Morgenstern. This interesting stand makes for an enjoyable read of such a unique story.
     There was a movie made of The Princess Bride which is quite hilarious.  Made in the late 80's, it is not the best quality movie you will ever see, but it is definitely worth it to watch.  The movie can be found Here.  I encourage all interested to first read this exciting novel then to watch the movie.  It is a pretty good retelling of the story, but as with any book-to-movie story, it's always best to read the print.

     I hope you enjoy this great story; I always do!