The City of Falling Angels

Our next featured book is The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt. I just picked this up at B&N today, thinking that it would be a great read for TBW.

The City of Falling Angels opens on the evening of January 29, 1996, when a dramatic fire destroys the historic Fenice opera house. The loss of the Fenice, where five of Verdi's operas premiered, is a catastrophe for Venetians. Arriving in Venice three days after the fire, Berendt becomes a kind of detective-inquiring into the nature of life in this remarkable museum-city-while gradually revealing the truth about the fire. In the course of his investigations, Berendt introduces us to a rich cast of characters: a prominent Venetian poet whose shocking "suicide" prompts his skeptical friends to pursue a murder suspect on their own; the first family of American expatriates that loses possession of the family palace after four generations of ownership; an organization of high-society, partygoing Americans who raise money to preserve the art and architecture of Venice, while quarreling in public among themselves, questioning one another's motives and drawing startled Venetians into the fray; a contemporary Venetian surrealist painter and outrageous provocateur; the master glassblower of Venice; and numerous others-stool pigeons, scapegoats, hustlers, sleepwalkers, believers in Martians, the Plant Man, the Rat Man, and Henry James.
The Washington Post - Jonathan Yardley

The book was published in 2005, so it could most likely be found at your favorite local library, bookstore, or online distributor.

Happy Reading!

Random Topic: Books to Movies

Obviously, books are made into movies all the time. Of course, sometimes the books and movies greatly differ from the other--characters are added and taken away, the plot is altered, sometimes even the outcome is changed. For the most part, the book is usually better than the movie. Sometimes though, it's the other way around. What's your stand is on books to movies? Let us know!

Keep reading The Shadow Club!!!

Lit Tricks

The Shadow Club is really built upon elements of suspense and foreshadowing(which is why it's totally not as good the second time you read it). There are tons of other author's tricks to look for while reading--direct address to the reader, similes and metaphors. . .you get the idea. So while you're reading, pay close attention to detail--it's those tiny things that come up in the beginning that play huge roles at the end!

The Shadow Club

Our third featured book is The Shadow Club by Neal Shusterman.


For Jared and Cheryl, nothing is worse than coming in second. Their idea to form a club of second-best kids seems harmless at first. But when the Shadow Club members start playing anonymous practical jokes on each other's rivals, things quickly spiral out of control, and innocent people get hurt. (From Barnes and Noble)

The Shadow Club is very thrilling, and a fairly easy read. It's very thrilling, full of secrets, and gets really suspenseful at the end!

Happy Reading!

Oops Update

I just realized that I counted the days until our next featured book would be up--I accidentally counted to 31 instead 0f 24, so our next bookwill be up on Monday!

Did Chris do the right thing?? (SPOILERS)

******SPOILER ALERT******

So did Chris do the right thing by doing what Emily asked him to do? Or was he totally out of line by helping her kill herself? Do you think that the jury was right in saying that he wasn't guilty? Talk about what you think the right thing was here!

Order in the Court

No, not Judge Judy's courtroom, but Jodi Picoult's courtroom. Most of her books have to do with the law system, and in The Pact we see this through Chris's murder trial. The last hundred and fifty pages(at least) were all part of the trial(minus the flashbacks). This may be one of the reasons Picoult's books are so popular--the law system entices readers and takes them on a wild ride through court. (We even see this in shows like CSI, Law and Order, and those two new TV shows that are on Monday nights--Canterbury's Law and New Amsterdam--both of which rock, by the way.)

So what is it that makes us so drawn to the drama of law? Is it the was Picoult's describes it all, or is it just the concept of the courtroom itself?? Share your opinion on our forum!

Keep Reading!!! :)

Who's side are you on?

So how's the reading going??

So Chris is going to go on trial for Emily's murder. . .do you think he did it? Do you sympathize more with Melanie or Gus--both have lost their children in different ways, but who's loss is worse? Share your thoughts on this topic, predictions of the ending, and other stuff about the book here, even if you haven't finished yet! :)

Next Featured Book

Our second featured book is going to be Jodi Picoult's The Pact.








Until the phone calls came at three o'clock on a November morning, the Golds and their neighbors, the Hartes, had been inseparable. It was no surprise to anyone when their teenage children, Chris and Emily, began showing signs that their relationship was moving beyond that of lifelong friends. But now seventeen-year-old Emily is dead—shot with a gun her beloved and devoted Chris pilfered from his father's cabinet as part of an apparent suicide pact—leaving two devastated families stranded in the dark and dense predawn, desperate for answers about an unthinkable act and the children they never really knew.(From Barnes & Noble)

The Pact is very suspenseful, one of Picoult's best novels. Enjoy your reading and head over to the forum to discuss The Pact and Picoult's other novels as well!

Just an Update

As you may know, tomorrow is the last day for The Book Thief to be our featured novel. Of course, don't stop reading it if you've already started--it's a great book!

So check back sometime late tomorrow or early Tuesday to find out what our next book is! :)

The Color of the Sky

If you've been reading(ahem), you may have noticed the theme of colors in The Book Thief. After finishing the novel a day or two ago, one question has stayed on my mind: Is Death the only one that can see the sky turning red/all the other colors he describes? I used to think the answer to that was yes, but then I recalled one paragraph from the ending. . .

She [Liesel] did not know where she was running, for Himmel Street no longer exsisted. Everything was now apocalyptic. Why was the sky red? And why did the snowfalkes burn her arms?(Zusak, 533)

So, can Liesel see the sky turning red? Share what you think here!

Vote for Books

So, how goes The Book Thief? I have about twenty pages left. I would be done, but I'm sitting here, updating you on what's going on with TBW.

Anyway, there's a new poll, incase you haven't noticed. Yay!

Also, on the forum, there are options for the next book. They are . . .(drum roll please. . .)

The Pact, Jodi Picoult
The Shadow Club, Neal Shusterman
The Thirteenth Tale, Diane Setterfield
Marley and Me, John Grogan

So, go vote! Remember, every vote counts! (Please respect the rules of voting though, posted on the same page!)

Now, off to finish The Book Thief!!!

The Halfway Point

So now that you've been reading for a week(ideally), you should be about halfway to 3/4 of the way done. Or maybe, you already finished! In that case, congratulations! If you aren't that far, don't be discouraged -- you still have a week to read The Book Thief. March 10th is the last day for The Book Thief to be featured, but you will still be able to talk about this novel on the forum.

Speaking of which, maybe I didn't explain this properly: to actually join the TBW book club, you need to become a member on the TBW forum. I've noticed that we have been getting tons of visitors(at one point over the weekend we were ranked at #12 on Blogs On Top!!), but I guess everyone is missing the link to the forum on the left over there. (It's right above the poll, people!! Not to mention that it has been linked to in every blog entry.) So go join and chat about The Book Thief, any other book that your little heart desires to discuss, writing and tons of other stuff. Click here to join -- you don't have to buy a membership like some of those other clubs out there, you won't be getting fifteen thousand emails in your box from annoying administrators(ahem), but best of all -- you get to talk about what you love(uh, books. Right?) with other people that share the same interest for reading. So get over there and start talking about The Book Thief!!!

New Discussion Topic: The Theme of Colors, associated with Death
Death is always referencing colors--the colors of the sky, people, souls, etc., but what do they mean? What is he really trying to get at? Death is expressing his feelings. The sky is either red or white, and each one means something different to him or the reader. Sometimes the colors that he talks about are part of Zusak's method of foreshadowing, like the red sky usually means that something bad is going to(or already did) happen, or that people have--what else--died. The colors are the way that death talks about, well, death--to escape from it and to explain it.
So many humans. So many colors. They keep triggering inside me. They harass my memory. I see them tall in their heaps, all mounted on top of each other. There is air like plastic, a horizon of setting glue. There are skies manufactured by people, punctured and leaking, and there are soft, coal-colored black clouds, beating like black hearts.(Zusak, page 309) In this passage, Death is talking about his line of work and the wars that he has to collect the dead from. This little bit almost makes the reader feel bad for him, wandering around all alone, picking up souls . Poor death. Talk about the theme of colors and other discussion topics here.

Tomorrow there will be a new poll up, so be sure to check back for that!

Added Later: I stand corrected. I did not link to the forum in the very first post. (But that was because a) the forum wasn't done--this does take time you know, and b) it had not been established what we were reading yet. So ha.)

Words

Maybe you've noticed already, but for those that didn't, the Word of the Day from dictionary.com now appears on our site. Yay widgets! So instead of saying "LOL," you can say "cachinnate!" Please take the time to see what the word of the day is and improve your vocabulary -- it will help you do better on tests and make you seem like a smarter person(not that you bibliophiles aren't smart or anything. . . but I hope you know what bibliophile means. . .).
(Did you know that Google has its own definition? It is a verb!)

Keep reading and keep voting(the choices for the next book will be up on the forum for you guys to vote for soon!). Now go improve your vocabulary!

Oh, and finish reading the The Book Thief!

Vote for Books!

So what page are you on? Are you finished? Have you started? Let us know.

Just posting to let you know that you guys need to vote over there to the right -- how else are we administrators supposed to know what kinds of books to feature next? Every vote counts, even if this isn't the presidential election.

Keep Reading!

So how's The Book Thief coming? Has anyone (aside from myself) even started yet? I hope so. . . it's only our featured book until March 10! So get reading people, this isn't a small novel.

For those that actually have been reading, here is an analysis and some discussion questions.

One of the themes brought up in the novel that I have noticed, and it is also brought up in that website up there, is the power of words. Even from the beginning, the novel brings up the fact that books and words have power. If they didn't why would Liesel have stolen the books that she did? The words that are used around her in the context of war and for/against Hitler have a HUGE impact on Liesel. She's trying to learn to read and write, but the reason why is somewhat cloudy, but if you look hard enough(I'm not giving it away this early!) you will definitely see it!

To share your thoughts on this topic and more Book Thief, visit our forum.

Featured Book: The Book Thief

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau. (From Barnes & Noble)

The Book Thief is an amazing read, and has been nominated for this year's Flume Award.

To get yourself motivated, check out this video made in promotion of The Book Thief: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95s8GlKY40o

The Book Thief will be our featured book until March 10. You can probably find this at your local/school library, and since it is extremely popular and a little over a year old, you might be able to get it a second hand bookstore as well as your local bookseller.


PLEASE HEAD OVER TO THE TBW FORUM TO CHAT ABOUT THE BOOK THIEF!!!

Welcome to Teen Book Worm

Hey everyone!

Welcome to Teen Book Worm -- the new online book club! Here we will have two books a month for you guys to read and then head over to the forums to chat about.

We teens are always totally busy--homework, clubs, sports, friends, the works. But there's one more thing that we have in common--we teens spend TONS of time on the internet. Doing research, playing games, emailing, and just surfing the web, looking for a good website. But now it's here-- a website that you can call a club, a book club, that will be interesting, thought-provoking, and won't make your parents flip out at you for being somewhere that you shouldn't.

So here it is--Teen Book Worm Book Club!

Have Fun!
The TBW Management

P.S. You'll have to excuse how things are running for now while we're still getting the site and its forum to fully function. Any suggustions/comments, please contact the administrator.