The Violin of Auschwitz

I thought that this was a good, simple story. Any WWII story can be really inspiring. This one is about a man that is forced to make a violin for the commander of a concentration camp. This is a good, but serious story.

When You Reach Me

This was a really good book! I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone. It has a great storyline: a number of mysterious things happen to Miranda and those that surround her. She is making new friends, reading a pretty great book , and helping her mom prepare for the $20,000 pyramid. Everything ties together in a surprising way for the reader in the end. What a creative story!

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

This was a different book. I'm not really sure how much I liked it. I think the writing felt like a dream to me (or something.) It is about a girl that starts tasting what people are feeling through food. When she tries her mothers lemon cake, she can taste the immense sadness that her mom doesn't show, but feels. Kind of a downer, huh. I guess it felt a bit coming-of-age-ish to me (which I don't usually enjoy) and maybe I just didn't "get it." If you do, will you fill me in?

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

I really enjoyed this book. This is a mystery with a very quirky main character. I really like the way that the author wrote this. I was really interested in both the characters and the plot. I couldn't figure things out either. I needed Flavia (a 10 or 11 year old chemist) that is trying her darnedest to solve a murder. I would definitely recommend this one!

Deadly Little Secret

This was an okay book. It's about a girl, Camelia, that befriends Ben, a boy with a special gift - psychometry. The book seemed a little juvenile (I do recognize that it IS a young adult book) in a way that bugged me. I can accept some far-fetched plots, but this was too much for me.

Mockingjay

This was the third and final book in the Hunger Games series. I liked this book, but didn't enjoy it nearly as much as the first two. This book has a little bit different plot line and feel to it, which, for me, was too slow. I guess that I just wanted the excitement and fast-pace that the first books offered. This wasn't quite on the same level as them.