The Prisoner of Cell 25, Michael Vey

My friend recommended this book and I decided to read it, but had no idea what it was about. I thought it was an adult non-fiction book about a man in prison, boy was I wrong! This is a teen book and a fiction for sure. This was a fun and easy read. A typical wimpy-kid-turns-superhero type book. I had a little bit of a hard time getting past the shallow way the teenagers talked, but I guess that's actually more realistic than I'd like to believe. Still, I find it difficult to believe that these kids who can't even carry on a single conversation without insulting each other can hop in a car without telling their parents and drive across 5 states to an unknown designation without a map and then all of a sudden become experts at tactical warfare. Come to think of it, my son will probably love this book, every boy's dream right?

These Is My Words

This book was recommended from a friend/author who said that it is one of the best books she has ever read for character development. I would have to say that I agree wholeheartedly. I also enjoyed this book for it's rugged adventure, heartache and sorrow followed by life consuming happiness, and events that can be applied to my daily life for strengthening in tough times. I kept finding myself referring to "the book I'm ready right now" in conversations with friends about life struggles. The only part of the book I couldn't get used to was the romantic undertones. I don't read very many books with romantic scenes and there were a few that made me blush in this book, not that they were inappropriate, I'm just not used to it. There are some violently graphic scenes that might bother others, but didn't phase me a bit, so to each his own. Also, as an avid journal writer/blogger, I enjoyed the journal-style of the writing. There were a few times when I felt like the entries were unbelievable, but that's fiction right? Overall, I really liked the book.