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BLEACH (graphic novel)Great Japanese comic with some comedy, action, and seriousness blended together to form a great manga.
This story takes place in modern Japan where people go on doing their every day jobs. Except what most people don’t see is what one person can see. Ichigo is you basic high school kid with friends and a family except for one thing that separates him from most people -- he has the ability to see ghosts clearly. It is a rare ability in which only one in every 50,000 people will have and only a handful of people can see them clearly. Ichigo’s life changes one day when he sees for the first time a hollow and a soul reaper engaged in battle. The hollow is slain and the soul reaper disappears. Life goes on but when his family becomes under attack by a hollow he is forced to become a soul reaper to save his family.
Review by Al
The Joy Luck Club by Amy TanAmy Tan’s The Joy Luck Clubis truly one of those books that can be enjoyed and appreciated by women readers ranging from any age. The Joy Luck Club tells the stories of four Chinese women and their daughters. Each woman has their own story to tell as do their daughters, with which the reader can see the different points of views of two different generations searching for essentially the same thing-happiness. The joy luck club meets every week and was started by Suyuan Woo. Yet, after Suyuan dies, her daughter is forced to replace her in the joy luck club. It is then that her daughter learns about her mother’s dark past and becomes closer to her than she was when Suyuan was actually living. This novel is refreshingly different from most other novels because each chapter contains a different story from either a mom or a daughter that relates an individual struggle; however, each tale is connected to one another, reminding the reader of the intimate bond shared between the joy luck club. The Joy Luck Club truly is a splendid book that displays an innovative writing style by Amy Tan and a depth of human emotion and understanding. Such a remarkable story is indeed a rare find.
Also recommended: Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden, House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
Review by Deekshita
The Awakening by Kate ChopinKate Chopin’s The Awakening was one of the first American books to openly challenge a women’s constrained role in society and her desire for liberation. This novel chronicles Edna Pontellier as she realizes that she is worth more in life than just a “housewife” burdened with trivial matters. As Edna’s eyes awaken more and more each day to the world of possibility out there for her, she begins to make some radical changes -- one of these changes being that she moves out (leaving her husband and two sons) into her own apartment. Such a move was virtually unheard of in the early 1900s. Consequently, Edna must face the consequences of her behavior as she spirals down a path of unhappiness.
The Awakening, interestingly enough, was one of the only controversial books whose controversy had driven it into obscurity; most books receiving so much notoriety usually become more popular because of that attention. The Awakening, however, is still vastly unheard of even in this decade. This novel offers an interesting portrait into the lifestyle of women ruled by Victorian code, but it is not a book for all readers. It has a rather slow start and is meant for the more patient reader.
Also recommended: Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, and Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence
Reviewed by Deekshita
The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger
Before becoming a movie, The Devil Wears Prada was a New York Times bestseller for weeks. The novel chronicles recent college graduate, Andrea Sachs, as she struggles to attain her dream job in the big city -- to become a writer for The New Yorker. However, instead of landing her dream job, she lands the job that turns into her worst nightmare. Andrea ends up working in a fashion magazine, an area that she knows absolutely nothing about, for the powerfully mean Miranda Priestly in exchange for a recommendation to work at The New Yorker. Andrea’s world turns upside down as she is introduced to the glitz and glamour of city life. Yet, she realizes that the glamour is really a cover-up for a world that is filled with superficial phonies who have no real purpose in life except to gossip, party, and shop. Likewise Miranda makes Andrea’s life as miserable as possible as she sends Andrea on absurd tasks like getting a hold of the latest Harry Potter book a day before it hits stores or to pick up her dry-cleaning in the middle of the night. Andrea patiently sticks with her job so she can get her recommendation, until she notices that she has turned into a miniature version of Miranda herself. The Devil Wears Prada is a very funny book that is perfect for a lazy day. At the same time, it offers a witty dialogue and some very deep character insights.
Also recommended: Can You Keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsella, The Shopaholic Series by Sophie Kinsella
Reviewed by Deekshita
White Oleander by Janet FitchAstrid Magnussen is a girl living the perfect life with her brilliant poet mom, Ingrid, until Ingrid murders a man with poison and lands in jail. Astrid is then left motherless during a crucial point in her life -- when she starts growing up. Astrid winds up in a string of foster homes that are all very different, all of which have something important to teach her as Astrid tries to decide who she is and what she wants. Astrid’s first home is with Starr Thomas (a born-again Christian who is also a recovering alcoholic) in a trailer park. Astrid is soon kicked out after she begins having a relationship with Starr’s boyfriend. Astrid then winds up with Clair Richards and her husband. Claire provides Astrid with the perfect life -- a caring family, a wardrobe full of pretty new clothes, and lots of attention. Yet, Claire struggles from depression, forcing Astrid to look after her. After a dark tragedy in the Richards’ house, Astrid ends up living with Rena, a cynical Russian businesswomen who teaches Astrid all about money, hard work, and the real world. During all of this, Astrid continues to come to terms with her mother’s crime, which she eventually has to confront at the end of the novel. White Oleander is a very touching story about one girl’s perseverance and strength in midst of one very chaotic and troubled life.
Also recommended: The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom, Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Reviewed by Deekshita
