The Bar Code Rebellion, by Suzanne Weyn

Well, it looks like I had more of an opportunity for reading fiction on the side than I thought I would have. ^_^ Yay! And this was a good book. I mentioned it in my latest review. It's the sequel to Suzanne Weyn's The Bar Code Tattoo and I think it gave a pretty nice conclusion to the story.

The Bar Code Rebellion continues the tale of Kayla, the girl who refused to get a bar code tattooed to her wrist. There seems to be a lot more people who sympathize with her here, and think that the bar code is bad news. It makes most of the general publics' lives more miserable and even drives most to attempt suicide. Is there more to the tattoo than appearances? Kayla and her friends go on a quest to find out more, which is a bit of an improvement from the previous book, in which Kayla's goal was basically to escape and avoid detection from the system.

In addition, Kayla learns a lot of strangeness about her past. For example, how many people there are out there who are almost exactly like her. Literally. If you don't have any idea what I'm talking about, you haven't read the book, in which case I highly recommend that you do. ^_^

The Bar Code Tattoo, by Suzanne Weyn

I chose to take this book off the library shelf pretty much for 3 reasons:

1. It was written by Suzanne Weyn, and I absolutely loved Reincarnation, so why should this be any different?
2. I'd had my eye on it even before Reincarnation, since the cover and synopsis were both highly fascinating.
3. It came from the Treasure Trove.

So obviously, what was not to like? ^_^

Wow, what a story. It takes place about 15 years in the future, and not too much seems different. Oh, except for the fact that people are being required to wear a bar code tattoo in order to be a part of society. Hey, it makes life easier, doesn't it? You don't have to carry a driver's license or a credit card that you can lose. All your information is right there on your wrist to be scanned.

But is it really so wise to wear your identity PERMANENTLY on your skin?

Mostly the story follows Kayla (another teenage heroine whose name starts with a K. Isn't it interesting how many of those there are in fiction these days?), a 17 year old who, despite all the pressure from her peers and general society, is rebelling against the bar code tattoo. She has some help from her friends, as well as from helpful strangers who also know that the code is no good. She has a little romantic interest, she adapts to the wilderness, and somehow she develops psychic-like powers. (What? How on earth does Kayla do that? Bettina's not telling us enough! Well yeah, that's the point. I'm keeping stuff from you in order to get you guys to read it. ^_^)

The ending is very open, ready to be most likely concluded by the sequel, The Bar Code Rebellion. Eventually I will pick this book from the library, but for now, like I said in a couple posts previously, if I succeed in staying away from fiction, this will be my last post for perhaps a few days. Happy reading!

Book news #4

Alright, this time I'm going to be quite serious about laying off the fiction for a while. I've got a bunch of books that are important for me to read, most of which I am studying with my sister. Oh yeah, and I'm going to try reading them all AT THE SAME TIME! Maybe I've tried to juggle a couple fiction books at once, but that's different. Anyway, I look forward to all the learning I'm going to be doing. I'm going to read these books very carefully and slowly, so that I get the most out of them, so I think it'll be a while before I blog here again.

The only post that I might put up soon is for Suzanne Weyn's Bar Code Tattoo, which I'm reading by myself (I don't know if Annette would go for this). I absolutely loved Reincarnation, and I'm liking this book so far. The only thing is that with all the other books I have to read, I only have time to read this at night, when I'm winding down and getting ready for bed. Luckily I'm okay with that. I get to take it very slowly this way. But it's really awesome so far. It takes place in the future. ^_^

I'm not really sure whether this counts as fiction, but it's very thin book about a man and his daughter who own a small restaurant that is going out of business, and a successful millionaire who is a regular customer takes pity on them and teaches them the principles that made him wealthy. It's pretty good so far. My mom read it in just one sitting. I'd read it quickly too, but I have so much else on my plate.

Okay, this one is pretty awesome so far. I'm studying it very carefully with Annette, because this book teaches you all about the Adobe program Illustrator CS4 and how to use it. Annette and I are really great at learning computer programs through reading. We became experts on Flash and Photoshop and lots of other programs this way. My favorite chapter was about drawing shapes, because through experimentation we had so much fun creating awesome graphics! ^_^

This book is a nice read. My sister and I are taking it one chapter a day though. Since it has 14 chapters, we'll most likely finish it in a fortnight. If we don't skip a day, that is. It's pretty interesting, because it addresses why some people may not be getting the best out of life because of self-deprecating behaviors and thoughts, uncontrollable emotions (that one actually can control), procrastination and lots of other stuff.

We're also taking this book very seriously. Tom Hopkins is one of the most successful salesmen around, so he shares what a salesperson is supposed to do and how to be the best you could possibly be. We haven't gotten very far, so I can't say I've learned anything yet. But I'm sure I will eventually.

I actually sort of had to give up reading this book, with all the other stuff, but maybe when I'm done with the couple books at the top I'll have time to keep at it. I absolutely love Wikipedia. I like that site almost better than Google sometimes. From what I read, it was very fascinating to learn about the history of Wikipedia, and it makes me appreciate it even more.

That's it. Yes, I am trying to read all of these books at the same time. Hey, with non-fiction books it's pretty easy, I think. Some of the books are like taking college classes or something, so that's cool. I don't know how long it will be before I post again on here again, but hopefully it will be sooner rather than later. Stay tuned!

Reincarnation, by Suzanne Weyn

Well, it seems that I caved and read this whole book quickly, even though I promised myself I'd take it slower than I usually take books like this. But it was incredible, I tell you. What else would I expect from the "Treasure Trove?" ^_^ Suzanne Weyn... what a story-teller she is! Besides the awesome story and characters, I was astonished by the way she came up with all the words to describe everything, because you just want to keep the pages turning. The worlds that she created seemed so real, and I liked how the chapters were all organized.

It's kind of more like a collection of stories, because all the characters and settings are completely different, but there is something that connects everything and keeps one central plot. To get the book, you have to believe that reincarnation is real, i.e., when people die they are born again and live new lives, but an unconscious part of them has some memories of past lives that plays a part in their present life. That is what happens here, to all the characters. From the days of cavemen, or prehistory, to ancient Egypt and Greece in years ending in BC, to Massachusetts witch trials and Civil War battlefields, all the way to the present day. It's just the same characters playing over and over again, but in a slightly new way every time.

Every story has a few things in common. There's of course the romantic interest, a boy and girl who share true love and are destined for each other. Then there's the guy who wants to marry the girl, but he can never have her because he's a big jerk. Also there's a scheming girl who loves Jerk guy and doesn't see why Lover girl doesn't like him. Schemer girl could settle with Lover boy, and she tries that, but it never works out. Emeralds play a big part in each reincarnation, since in the very beginning Lover girl and Lover boy fought over a big green rock and wanted it for themselves. You know, because early humans loved shiny things.

With each new story, it was fascinating for me to spot each reference to a past life that the characters carried on in their next life, like an innate skill or a weird handicap, and somehow each character's situation in life seemed the same. It's pretty mind-blowing, because no matter who they are, the two lovers keep meeting up with each other and they have no idea why they feel so comfortable with each other, but pictures keep coming into their mind about how they loved each other in past lives, and they just... recognize each other. Crazy, I know. Circumstances keep forcing them apart, but in the very end they get together and are finally assured that nothing can separate them.

Sorry if this review was all vague and confusing, but I don't know how else to share it. Names aren't important, and there's really no point in going over every single story in each time. There are so many connections and coincidences that it's all one big sticky web. But just trust me on this one. Reincarnation is awesome! I have no doubt that Suzanne Weyn's other books are just as good as this, and I can't wait to read them. I probably need to take a little break after this healthy dose of fiction, though. I want to be as good an author as Weyn is, so I need to get to work.

Book News #3

Since I went to the library yesterday, I thought it would be a good time to post some more book news. We checked out a ton of DVDs, but also plenty of books. Before I get into that, I want to say that since The Compound, I've kind of decided to give reading fiction a bit of a break, and I'll be reviewing more non-fiction type books.

Currently I'm reading Dean and Me, which is a biography that Jerry Lewis, one of my favorite comedians, wrote about his years working with his straight man partner, Dean Martin, before they broke up. I'm pretty much halfway through, and it's really great so far. My sister and dad said I just had to read this as soon as I was done with all my fantasy reads, so I did. You won't have to wait too long for a review of this. ^_^

Once again in a library visit, I tackled a graphic novel in one sitting. It was the second Alex Rider book, and I think it's amazing that I was able to find it so soon after the first one! I wonder if I'll be so lucky to find the third graphic novel... I kind of doubt it. But anyway, this book was just as exciting as the one before it. It was very fun to pass my time in the library reading through Alex's adventure. It was interesting to me when he got his hair cut for the mission. He looked so different! But cool. The villain was really creepy, you just hate him. So weird how he cloned himself... the ending is quite a twist too.

Okay, now I'll get to the books we checked out that I'm very likely going to read in the near future. After the Martin & Lewis book, I'm not sure what I'll read. Annette has other non-fiction books recommended for me that I want to get to, but she decided to check this book out for herself. Since she and I have developed semi-different reading tastes, I don't know how she picks books. Random, I guess. =P Well, it's called Send, and it seems to be all about the subject of emailing, which I think is very interesting. Who knows? Maybe I'll get to it next.

Okay, now this book was NOT checked out for a bit of light reading. In fact, it's quite serious. It's a how-to book on how to use the computer program Macromedia Dreamweaver 8. All part of Annette and my digital education. We've gone through these type of books before, for learning Flash or Photoshop or how to write PHP code. We think of it like a 90-day college course. I'm not sure when this class will start for us, but if I happen to pick up some really cool tips from it, I'll try to share them with you. Or I'll just give a status update of how far we are into it.

This last book I checked out for myself. I've had my eye on it for a while on what I call the "Treasure Trove shelf". I probably won't get to it for a long time, but it makes me feel good just to have this kind of book nearby. I'll try to make this one last. Reincarnation, by Suzanne Weyn. I've never heard of her, but she seems to have written a couple interesting books. This opinion is purely based on the synopses on the inside covers, you understand. From what I gather, this one seems to be about a boy and a girl who keep running into each other through reincarnation. They never recognize each other in their different lives, but they feel the same strange attraction. I don't know anything beyond that, but I have a strong feeling that this one will be a keeper. ^_^

Before I wrap this book news post up, I'd like to add that I am also currently reading a manuscript that my awesome friend Graham Bradley is letting me read and critique, Ghost Machines. I've read a couple other of his books, which were simply awesome, and I do believe he has a non-fiction book that is in the process of being published. ^_^ So lucky of him! Anyway, I haven't gotten that far, just 3 or so chapters, but I still think it's quite good. I only read it in my spare time though, so I don't know how quickly I'll finish it. I'll definitely be sure to let Graham know as soon as I do! ^_~