Courtney's Book Nook

By: Melina Marchetta I feel like I've been giving a lot of really really good reviews.  After this book there won't be so many from me because every other book pales in comparison to Quintana of Charyn.  It was simply the most beautiful book I have ever read.  It follows Finnikin of the Rock and Froi of the Exiles in the Lumatere Chronicles.  It was beautifully written and clearly portrayed how painful both hate and love can be as well as how strong forgiveness can be.  It was perfectly paced and extremely thought provoking.  This book intricately ties together all the characters from the first two books. Basically, you should read this book.  Finnikin of the Rock is the first in the Lumatere Chronicles and is followed by Froi of the Exiles.  Neither of these books are as good as Quintana of Charyn but they are still good.  Froi of the Exiles left off at a cliff hanger which is where Quintana of Charyn picks up.  I was looking forward to...

Rapture Practice opens with a note from the author, Aaron Hartzler: "Something you should know up front about my family: We believe that Jesus is coming back." This initial detail introduces us to Aaron's family, a family that believes in the rapture, the idea that Jesus is going to come back down to earth and bring good people up to heaven. Aaron has been a part of his family's religious lifestyle for his entire life. He performs in plays of Bible stories with his family. They don't go to movies, don't have a TV, don't listen to many kinds of music. They are focused on living properly so that when Jesus comes back, they will get to go to heaven. At first glance, Rapture Practice probably seems like one of those sensational stories that we see nowadays, books about someone's abusive childhood or crazy cult. What's so refreshing about this book is that it isn't sensational. The entirety of the book can be summed up in one conversatio...