Thursday, October 27, 2011

Saving Max [Review]

Saving Max

Stats:
376 Pages
Published 28 Sept 2011

Synopsis:
Max Parkman—autistic and whip-smart, emotionally fragile and aggressive—is perfect in his mother's eyes. Until he's accused of murder.
Attorney Danielle Parkman knows her teenage son Max's behavior has been getting worse—using drugs and lashing out. But she can't accept the diagnosis she receives at a top-notch adolescent psychiatric facility that her son is deeply disturbed. Dangerous.
Until she finds Max, unconscious and bloodied, beside a patient who has been brutally stabbed to death.
Trapped in a world of doubt and fear, barred from contacting Max, Danielle clings to the belief that her son is innocent. But has she, too, lost touch with reality? Is her son really a killer?
With the justice system bearing down on them, Danielle steels herself to discover the truth, no matter what it is. She'll do whatever it takes to find the killer and to save her son from being destroyed by a system that's all too eager to convict him.
My Thoughts:
Up until Part 3 of the book, I wasn't entirely sure I liked the book at all. Danielle, Max's mom, is one of the most annoying main characters in any books I've ever read.


The ending - giant cliffhanger - usually would've frustrated me to no end. But I thought it was quite fitting. It was a solid end to a book I wouldn't necessarily call solid.


I docked a star because of the style it was written and the countless Apple endorsements.
It was an easy read and I don't think it was necessarily a waste of my time to read. This was my Clamhouse Book Club October read :)
Previous Review:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (HP #7) by JK Rowling [here]
Currently Reading:
Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder (#1) by Joanne Fluke

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

FIR '11: Reading Question #4



If you haven't seen my list...please go check it out: HERE.
Today's Question:
How large is your personal/family collection of books? And where do you keep them?

Much like myself, my husband is also a bookworm. So when we got married and moved in together, we combined our huge book collection. Right now we currently have 2 or 3 giant tubs (those plastic ones you get at Walmart for $5) full of all the "kid" books and book series that we didn't want to read any time in the future necessarily (we have 40+ Animorph books, Goosebumps books, Area 51 books, etc.). Our bookshelf in our room is overflowing with books. We actually are thinking of getting another bookshelf. I thought to myself a few weeks ago that we kind of looked like book hoarders because not only are there books on the bookshelf...there is a huge stack on my husband's nightstand, a small stack on my nightstand with my Kindle...2 large stacks of books on the floor next to my side of the bed (by the bookshelf) and various books all over the house. The kids are little bookworms too. I cannot tell you how many books they have. Shoo. At least 100. They have books upstairs as well as little stacks in their bedrooms.
This is a very poor picture due to bad lighting in our room...but it's a 5 shelf bookshelf...there are books in it the regular way...books stacked on top of those, in front of those, etc. I also have a bunch of books IN my nightstand.
In this picture, months ago...you can kind of see the bookshelf on the left there...this was before my shopping sprees at a closing Borders and then half off all paperbacks at B&N. AHHHHH! 

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

FIR '11 - Reading Question #2



If you haven't seen my list...please go check it out: HERE.
It's Wednesday again :) Time for another question from Katrina...Today she asked...
How often do you re-read books? What does it take to make you re-read?
When I was younger, I reread books all the time. I can't count how many times I've read Charlotte's Web, Animorphs, Little House on the Prairie, A Child Called It, etc. But as an adult, I find myself rereading books less and less. I currently have 641 books on my to-read list on Goodreads. Some are going to be rereads...but I'd say 90% are new reads. Every day I add more books to that list.

Now I do reread books if a new book has come out in the series and it's been a while since I've read the series. Like the Southern Vampire Mystery (better known as Sookie Stackhouse) books...I've read them 3 or 4 times now. I had to reread Harry Potter because although the 7th book came out in 2007, I never got around to reading it all the way through and I wanted to see the 6th and 7th movies. I hope one day to reread my favorite books...that's usually what motivates me to reread books. They have to be good.