Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King

Publisher- Alfred A. Knoph Books for Young Readers
Publication Date- October 12, 2010
Pages- 326
Awards- Edgar Award Nominee, 2011 Printz Honor, 2011 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults, 2010 Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Young Adult Fiction

Vera’s spent her whole life secretly in love with her best friend, Charlie Kahn. And over the years she’s kept a lot of his secrets. Even after he betrayed her. Even after he ruined everything.
 
So when Charlie dies in dark circumstances, Vera knows a lot more than anyone—the kids at school, his family, even the police. But will she emerge to clear his name? Does she even want to?
 
Edgy and gripping, Please Ignore Vera Dietz is an unforgettable novel: smart, funny, dramatic, and always surprising.

I got this book from my state's library eBook program. I read it in about 2 weeks, but it would have been sooner if it weren't for school getting in the way. I got it Sunday October 7, and read 40% of it in the first week and a half and I read the other 60% last night. 

It's kind of a mystery story, but not in a Sherlock Holmes way. Throughout the whole book you're hearing about this "Charlie". A lot of the story is told through flashbacks. You have a chapter in the present from Vera's perspective, and then a flashback chapter, and then maybe a chapter from Vera's father's perspective, or "The Dead Kid's" (Charlie's) perspective. Vera knows what happened on the night of Charlie's death throughout the whole book, but she doesn't tell us until the last few pages. 

I loved the plot, I thought it was relatable and very dark. There weren't major plot twists or anything like that, it was a straightforward story, which I haven't been reading too much of lately. And it wasn't jest Vera dealing with her friend's death, she had personal demons and other problems with her life that she was dealing with.

I felt the characters were very realistic. They act like real people, not like the flawless heroes that YA is full of today, it was a breath of fresh air.

My Rating: 

This was so good guys, I highly recommend it! 

I have decided to stop putting down here what I will review next because everytime I do that, I stop reading that book. So you'll just have to be surprised. I will say that I am reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy for school, and I might actually be reviewing it on here, despite it being a school book, because I have been meaning to read it for a while now, and it's not like the typical school-assigned book.

Birthday Book Haul Part 2!

I know I had a birthday book haul last week, but I have since spent more money on more books, so I wanted to yell you all about them. I bought a few books on Amazon, and a few at a used book store.

Amazon:

Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne

This book has been stalking me on Amazon! Every time I browse this shows up under the Recommended list. I decided to get this when I was going to buy a few DVD's. It sounds really good, but I haven't heard anybody talk about it yet!

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

Everybody has read this except me! I really want to read more historical fiction, and this seemed like a good one to start with.

Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand

I saw the Atlas Shrugged movie in school but we didn't read the book (Blasphemy! In English class!) Anyways, I loved the movie and I really want to read the book now. (Part 2 of the movie came out yesterday! I WILL be seeing this!) But Atlas Shrugged was $15 on Amazon, but both it and The Fountainhead were about $14, so I decided to get both. I have only ever read Anthem by Ayn Rand, so I'm excited to read more!

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I know, I know, I already own this. But the edition I have is about the height of my hand, and they crammed a million words onto every page. I really wanted to re-read this, but I needed a new edition. So I finally caved and got a new one. I will be re-reading this soon! (The edition I already had is the UK edition, and I only got it for about 1 pound.)

This Side Of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I can't remember the edition I got (it hasn't come in yet) but I do know that it isn't this one. I needed to spend about $3 more to get free shipping so I was looking through the cheap classics and I decided on this one.

For Kindle:

American Gods Tenth Anniversary Edition by Neil Gaiman

I was about to get this at Barnes and Noble last week for $15, and I'm so glad I didn't! The next day I was browsing on the Kindle Store, and I saw this, the Tenth Anniversary Edition with Audio and Video for $3.99! I was SO excited! I love Neil Gaiman and I really want to read more of his books!

Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King

I didn't actually buy this, but I got it from my state's eBook library program. I tried to get some eBooks from my library about a year ago, but you had to do tons of stuff and install some sort of software to your Kindle and I just didn't feel like it. So I was happy to find out that they improved their program.

Used:

1984 by George Orwell

I don't know much about this, but I do know it's a classic dystopian, and I love both classics and dystopian!

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

After much thought, I have decided to buy this. I have heard a lot of good things about it, but I have also heard that the author is very pretentious, and I hate people like that. So hopefully I can enjoy the story and not worry about the author too much, because the story actually sounds good.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

I swear, if I had a dollar for every time I almost bought this, I would have enough money to buy this. It is an expensive paperback. It wasn't because I didn't think I would like it, I have read the sample on my Kindle, it was just because it was expensive (for a paperback). But I saw it today for very cheap, and I couldn't resist.  I am still about the seventh person on the waiting list at my library for this, but now I don't have to wait any longer! 

So that was my book haul, I hope you guys enjoyed it! 

Birthday Book Haul!

So yesterday (October 5th) was my birthday! I got 2 books from family, but I mostly got money to spend, because everyone knows I am very particular about my books! Last night I planned on going to dinner then see a movie. I ate dinner and then we realized we had an hour before the movie started, and there just so happened to be a Barnes and Noble in the same shopping center/mall type thing. So I got 2 more books there, and I got an eBook as well. So here they are:

For My Birthday:

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

I haven't heard too much about this book, but what I have heard has been positive. So I'm really excited for this!

The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling

Let me say this: when this was first announced, I wanted it. I didn't care what it was about. But many people have said that if the description doesn't appeal to you, then you won't like it. I understand this. The description does kind of appeal to me, and I believe that I could really enjoy it.

From B&N:

Unwind by Neal Schusterman

I have really wanted this book for a very long time. I know BookTubers love it, so I knew I had to get it when I went to B&N.

The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

I don't think I have to say much about this. It's the sequel to The Maze Runner. I was going to get The Death Cure as well, but it's not in paperback yet, and I have the first two in paperback.

Kindle eBook:

The Angel's Kiss: A Melody Malone Mystery

I'm not sure how many of you watch Doctor Who. If you saw the most recent episode, you know what this is. If not, I don't know how to explain it to you. Just WATCH DOCTOR WHO!

So yeah! That was my haul, I hope you enjoyed!

Currently reading City of Bones by Cassandra Clare and Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn. I don't think I'm going to do a review on The Book Thief, but I adored it, 5+++++++ stars!!