Welcome to Konnichipuu!

本が大好きだ！

so this section is going to be about...books! nia and i LOVE to read. Being the little nerds that we are, we spend a vast majority of our time reading, and i want to review books that i have read or are currently reading so that anyone who is need of a good book, they can refer back to here. It is SO difficult to find a GOOD book, and hopefully this list will help you guys!

Also, please let us know if there are any books out there that we haven't read yet! email hannah at hi.hanniee@gmail.com or nia at retronia@yahoo.com . Happy Reading!!

= Don't read this book!
= Read at your preference.
= An average, convenient type of read
= A good, thorough read!
= YES! Read Read Read this!

In Lucia's Eyes by Arthur Japin

by hannah

This book is amazing. nia ordered it from barnes and noble from the clearance section!

Synopsis: Lucia works as a servant girl in Italy and is engaged to
be married. But after the pox disfigures her face, she flees in shame without telling her lover. Years later, as a reknowned Amsterdam courtesan who never goes out without her veil, Lucia is at the theater when she recognizes her long-lost fiancé, Giacomo Casanova; and she cannot resist the opportunity to encounter him again. Based on a woman who appeared briefly in Casanova’s legendary diaries, Lucia emerges as a brilliant woman who becomes every bit his match. In Lucia’s Eyes is an elegant and moving story of love denied and transformed. synopsis taken from here.

Review: I loved this book. It wasn't slow and it was very easy to get into. There were many parts where I couldn't even put it down, no matter how many times i tried! it was eloquently written and the language is easy to understand. It flows really well too, and it's suspenseful! A good read, i would have to say. It's not long either, about the average length of a book.

Water for Elephants by Sarah Gruen

by hannah

Synopsis: As a young man, Jacob Jankowski was
tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. It was the early part of the great Depression, and for Jacob, now ninety, the circus world he remembers was both his salvation and a living hell. A veterinary student just shy of a degree, he was put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It was there that he met Marlena, the beautiful equestrian star married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. And he met Rosie, an untrainable elephant who was the great gray hope for this third-rate traveling show. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of love and trust, and, ultimately, it was their only hope for survival. synopsis taken from here

Review: I picked this book up from Costco while I was randomly browsing the book section. It looked super interesting and I was only interested in it because of the cover. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, I'd have to say it is one of the best written books I have ever read. Everything was laid out just right, the plot, character development, etc. I've never read a book about the circus before, and quite frankly, that sounds kind of boring. Who wants to read about the circus? But in actuality, it's not JUST about the circus, there's so much plot and it's so well thought out. I loved this book! It's long, but not super long. It took me a while to read it, but there were no boring parts. It was also easy to get into.

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

by hannah

"Sometimes, when you open the door to the past, what you confront is your destiny. "

Synopsis: Reclusive author Vida Winter, famous for her
collection of twelve enchanting stories, has spent the past six decades penning a series of alternate lives for herself. Now old and ailing, she is ready to reveal the truth about her extraordinary existence and the violent and tragic past she has kept secret for so long. Calling on Margaret Lea, a young biographer troubled by her own painful history, Vida disinters the life she meant to bury for good. Margaret is mesmerized by the author's tale of gothic strangeness -- featuring the beautiful and willful Isabelle, the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline, a ghost, a governess, a topiary garden and a devastating fire. Together, Margaret and Vida confront the ghosts that have haunted them while becoming, finally, transformed by the truth themselves.

Review: Okay, here I go again -- this book was AMAZING! Seriously, I'd have to say this is one of my favorite books. It's eerie, creepy, mysterious, a little sad and extremely interesting. This is a #1 New York Times Bestseller, and I back that up 100%. I've never read a book like this before. This book satisfies a reader in every way. It's hard to find a good book, and this book is really the definition of a good book.

Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer

by hannah

Synopsis: Twilight is a series of four vampire-based fantasy/romance novels by author Stephenie
Meyer. It follows the adventures of Isabella "Bella" Swan, a teenager who moves to Forks, Washington and finds her life turned upside-down when she falls in love with a vampire named Edward Cullen. Taken from here!

Review: Okay, so seriously, the Twilight books are AMAZING. words can't even describe how much i love these books! Stephenie Meyer's books are often referred to as "America's Harry Potter." Honestly, I wasn't really interested in the book when I first found out about it. Nia saw the book at costco (i just realized I found a bunch of my books there...) and we bought it. A couple days later, I picked the book up, not knowing that my life would be changed forever (yes, dramatic, but very true).

Each book was amazing, i am seriously in love with Edward Cullen (who isn't!?). Nia and I got to see Stephenie Meyer twice! The first time was at a book signing in San Diego near Fashion Valley. She signed all of our books, including The Host! And the other was at Comic Con in San Diego where we got to see the entire cast of the Twilight movie! :D :D :D

highly recommended, everyone of allllll ages can read these books. I saw a little old granny reading these books, and even this huge macho guy at my gym holding Eclipse in his hand. haha, most hilarious sight ever!

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

by hannah

Synopsis: Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. The
earth has been invaded by a species that take over the minds of their human hosts while leaving their bodies intact, and most of humanity has succumbed. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, knew about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the too vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind. Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions of the man Melanie loves-Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body's desires, Wanderer yearns for a man she's never met. As outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off to search for the man they both love. Featuring what may be the first love triangle involving only two bodies, THE HOST is a riveting and unforgettable novel that will bring a vast new readership to one of the most compelling writers of our time. Synopsis taken from here.

Review: This was one of the most disappointing books ever.
:( I had such high hopes for it! Stephenie Meyer is an amazing author, but I think she should just stick to the Twilight series. The style of writing in this book is NOTHING like Twilight- and i think the ending was a little corny. The book was still good, but it was too long. I mean, it was around 600 pages! Many of the parts were repetitive and boring, and they dragged on. She could have condensed the book in half. It was hard for me to get into the book, and I didn't like it very much. I wouldn't recommend it. If you knew Twilight, then you would never have thought Meyer wrote this book.

Society of S by Susan Hubbard

by hannah

Synopsis: What if everything you knew about your
family was a lie: What if, when the lies began to crack, beneath them lay a truth so dark and deep, yet so compelling, that it pulled you inside? The Society of S, a taut, character-driven literary mystery, is the future of vampirism, told in a voice that will haunt you---and make you think. Synopsis taken from here.

Review: I found this book at Barnes and Noble a couple months ago while I was browsing the Fiction Literature. It says that if you love Twilight, then this is the book for you. So I immediately picked it up! I love reading about vampires, it's my guilty pleasure. nia likes to make fun of me for it. Anyways, this book is nothing like Twilight at all! The only relation is that vampires are involved. The book is okay, I read it in one day. It's a good "growing up" kind of novel, and there wasn't much suspense. It was thoughtfully written, and I don't know my stance on this book yet. I like it, yet I could do without it. It's your choice!

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

by hannah

"Impossible to resist. . . . Kostova blends fact and fantasy to remind us that the original Dracula legend is rooted in monstrous acts of unblinking evil." ---Miami Herald

Synopsis: Breathtakingly suspenseful and beautifully
written, The Historian is the story of a young woman plunged into a labyrinth where the secrets of her family's past connect to an inconceivable evil: the dark fifteenth-century reign of Vlad the Impaler and a time-defying pact that may have kept his awful work alive through the ages. The search for the truth becomes an adventure of monumental proportions, taking us from monasteries and dusty libraries to the capitals of Eastern Europe - in a feat of storytelling so rich, so hypnotic, so exciting that it has enthralled readers around the world. Synopsis taken from here.

Review: I LOVED THIS BOOK. I think this is the first vampire novel I read. I read it a couple years ago, and I've been meaning to read it again! It's an extremely long novel, over a thousand pages. Seriously, i loved it. Being the gullible person that I am, I truly believed the story was true after reading it. And that right there signifies an AMAZING author, believing their story! hahaha. I would recommend it to the highest level!