Complex Plot

I love books like Pretty Little Liars and Gossip Girl that have very complex plots. What I mean by this is they're constantly being added to and more secrets are found out which make it more complex.

For example, in Pretty Little Liars, you're trying to find out who the mysterious person called "A" is. As you're reading you're hinted that it is someone but then something else happens or someone shares a secret and you're suddenly convinced it's someone else.

To me, these are the best types of books.  I like them because they keep you interested in it throughout reading it. They very often are part of a series too, an throughout the series, you're usually trying to figure out who did what, or what happened and how. Also, in these kinds of books, I can usually imagine everything very well. It's like a movie is playing in my head and I can see perfectly what is going on.

I often struggle with boring books, I just can't seem to get into them, but with books like these with complex plots, I'm always left wondering.

Memoir

Heart beating, heads aching from the tight, high buns our mothers gave us. The smell of sweat, hairspray, and deodorant overwhelm me. I can't breath. My throat feels tight and I'm sweating. I think I might pass out . Daniela grabs my hand before I do and snaps me out of it.

“Are you nervous?” She asked.

“Me?” She nodded, “Um no, just excited.,”I lied, I'm an eight year old girl about to perform with the Mark Morris Student Company. “Not nervous at all,”

The 14 of us stand crowded in the unfamiliar tech room, reserved for performers only. We watched the older girls on the small T.V. They were amazing,

“I hope to dance like that when I'm older” I whispered into Layla's ear.

The purple and blue lights from their dance flash through the tiny windows on the door. Layla and I held hands, our way to give each other good luck, we were too anxious to speak. My leotard was making me irritated. It was itchy and I couldn't wait to take it off. It was ugly too, light blue and green velvet leotard and blue water colored chiffon skirt, with a butterfly sewed to the hip. Yeah. I hated it. We apparently looked “cute” and “so adorable”, and thats all that really mattered, so I guess we were stuck with it.

“Ready to go,” Misty and Sarah said in unison. “Break a leg!” Their faces were red and tired, like they just ran 5 miles and hadn't slept for days. They've been anticipating this moment for months.

So were we. All our practice would finally pay off and we would perform.

We walked on stage. You could hear the quiet pitter patter of out feet prance across the floor. We took our places. The first dance was fast, the “Texas Wildflower” dance, or the hoedown, as we liked to call it.

I danced the best I could, we all did, we danced for Misty, what she told us earlier was going to change us forever.

I felt betrayed and angry but I wanted to cry and hug her and never ever ever ever let go but I knew this day was coming but it could wait right she didn't have to leave? She did, we all knew it. In the middle of dance, I looked and saw her crying, I missed my music que, I was late, she's not crying anymore.

The dance teacher I've had since I was 4 years old, was moving to texas to take care of her mom after her dad died. I didn't know how to feel. All these thoughts screaming to come out.

I felt guilty for even thinking I was mad at her, everyone did. But we weren't mad, we were just confused. I didn't want to be selfish so I put on my happy, brave face.

At the end of the show, when we went to do our bows, everyone was crying, even our parents and especially Misty and us. We ran up and hugged her, one big crying circle. It was out last dance together, ever. The bright stage lights stung our red, puffy eyes.”I'm going to miss her so so much” I said to myself, “We all are.”

To this day, I remember Misty so well. The way she taught, and danced, her loud country accent, and cheesy jokes, the way she owns every room she'll ever walk into with her fun personality. How she loved to sing along the piano and sing old themes songs from ancient TV shows. Shes the teacher that taught me how to dance, she taught me all the fundamentals, she sparked the fire, and she did it so well. I miss her, but I know how shes owning up the whole state of texas.  

Tweak by Nic Sheff

In the book "Tweak" by Nic shelf, the author invites you to read his story about his painful and emotional journey and his drug addiction. The author does a great job of describing his experiences, to the point when you feel like you're going through it not him.

The main character Nic, started his addiction when he was 12 years old. At first he was just stealing liquor from his parents, but each day he did it, he realized he couldn't stop drinking. Not too long after, he started doing crystal meth, heroin, and many more drugs. By the time he was 17 he had already been to many rehabs and 12 step programs, but couldn't seem to stay sober. He started running out of money and stealing from his parents and even little brother and sister. His fun thing had turned into full on addiction that he couldn't stop.

I always wondered what it was that kept on making him relapse, and why he couldn't stay sober. I asked myself that every time I read, towards the end of the book, when he is in his final rehab, I realized it was because of his girlfriend Zelda. He always felt like she was so much better than him. And being high made him feel like they were equal. He loved Zelda but he couldn't be with her if he was gonna stay sober.

 All in all, the book shows you how much trouble you can get into and how hard it can be to stop bad habits. It took Nic a really long time to realize he couldn't stop his addiction on its own. It's amazing that Nic Sheff was able to figure his situation and stay sober.