Veronica Roth's "Divergent" and "Insurgent"

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Veronica Roth's "Divergent" series has been lauded by some as "the next Hunger Games", and while I think that's quite a stretch, I can't argue that the books aren't entertaining. Afterall, I plowed through both 500+ page books in less than two days. 

"Divergent" introduces the heroine of the story, 16 year-old Beatrice Prior. The story is set in a future version of Chicago, after the country has been engulfed and consumed by war. In an effort to prevent future wars, the population of the city has divided into five factions, in a belief that the downfall of mankind is caused by differing character traits and values. Each faction is based upon a trait that the faction holds most dear; amity, dauntless, erudite, candor and abnegation. Beatrice is a member of Abnegation and feels opressed by it's policy of selflessness. When given the chance, she transfers to the Dauntless faction, where she trains as a soldier and learns that bravery is not about being fearless, it's about learning to act in the face of your fears. 

Of course, being youth fiction, Beatrice falls in love with the first attractive guy that talks to her and he helps her through the story, so no surprise there. 

While I thought that "Divergent" was entertaining, it felt far too familiar. If you've ever read Scott Westerfield's series, "The Uglies", you'll definitely feel a sense of deja vu, which is why I was relieved when "Insurgent" took the story in a different direction. 

I found "Insurgent" to be, by far, the better of the two books. It's an action-pack story of war, intrigue and government overthrow. It's not nearly as predictable as I thought it would be. Beatrice's life is constantly in danger (of course) but aid tends to come from unexpected places. The mystery element keeps you guessing, and you find yourself cheering along with Beatrice (she adopts the name 'Tris' when she moves to Dauntless) for always following her instincts. She definitely grows into her role as a youth fiction heroine, perhaps equal to the likes of Katniss Everdeen and Rose Hathaway. She's smart, tough and brave yet she frequently shows her vulnerabililty. 

I'm looking forward to seeing where the story goes in the next book.

 

 

Jay Conrad Levinson's "Guerrilla Marketing"

"Guerrilla Marketing: Secrets for Making Big Profits from Your Small Business"

The last marketing book I posted about, "31 Days to Millionaire Marketing Miracles", was all about marketing your business online, and this book "Guerrilla Marketing: Secrets for Making Big Profits From Your Small Business" is all about marketing your business OFFLINE. 

If you've read the first book I mentioned, you'll recognize the author of the second. She actually recommends Jay Conrad Levinson's books several times and lists him as one of her mentors. Apparently, Mr. Levinson is THE expert in offline marketing, and this book, "Guerilla Marketing", which was originally written pre-internet, is a great roadmap on marketing businesses back before the invention of the web made it so much easier. 

The point behind guerrilla marketing is to find the best ways to advertise your business for the least amount of money. The book is broken down into media sections, and each section explains the method of advertising (radio, tv, bulletin boards, fliers, etc) and the pros and cons. With each method, he gives tips for saving money and questions to ask yourself to determine if that means of advertising even applies to you. 

I read the original version of the book and it was a little surreal to read, because it takes you back to a different time, and a lot of the ideas seem downright silly now (who would canvas fliers when we have Facebook), but all of the advertising means that it talks about are still applicable today. Some may longer be worth our time, but they're still feasible. The latest edition, the 4th, has been updated with more current information.

While "Guerrilla Marketing" is the only book that I've read of Mr. Levinson's, he has a whole series of books. This is the most general, and the rest focus on specific industries and uses. If any of them are applicable to you, I'd recommend them in addition to this one.

Nicole Baart's "After the Leaves Fall"

After the Leaves Fall

I'm not sure where this book came from or why I originally decided to read it, but it was the just the thing I needed. I just finished the fourth book in the Dark Tower series, and I needed to take a break from Roland of Gilead and read something different. Thumbing through my Kindle app, this is what I settled on. I guess the name jumped out at me because I never heard of it and had no idea what it was about.

"After the Leaves Fall" is a sweet, if somewhat heartbreaking, story of a young girl who's handed a somewhat crappy hand in life, and chronicles her efforts to deal with the cards as they come. The events of her life aren't horrific, just sad, which makes them much more relatable. Her mother walks out on her and her father when she's a kid, her father passes away when she's a teen, and while being raised by her grandmother, she deals with the same teen love and heartbreak that we all deal with. She makes bad choices, she loses her way sometimes, she dtruggles to find out who she is and what she wants. It's an age-old story that everyone is familiar with. In the end, the book gets a little preachy, when Julia learns to take her grandmother's advice and trust in God, but it's still good.

Nicole Baart is a master of young-womanly emotion. Every action and feeling by Julia is exactly how I remember feeling at her age. She over-analyzes, she thinks too much, she always assumes the worst. She's awkward and has trouble figuring out where she fits in. She falls in love too easily and ends up a broken mess each time. She's your typical teenage girl. 

If you're looking for a good curl-up-on-the-couch read for a cold autumn afternoon, I recommend "After the Leaves Fall".