Summer Reads: Book Two {I Am The Messenger}

Hey! I'm still alive!

Really! Look, I'm blogging again!

Summer camp entirely ate my life this summer. Like, in ways that I cannot actually process. It was a great experience, one that I plan to share with you guys eventually, but it has drained me so much. Despite camp absolutely destroying any attempt I had to stay in contact with the real world, I've actually managed to get a lot of reading done this summer. I think my tally is up to 9 books. So, here is my attempt to begin to fulfill the challenge I set out to myself earlier this summer... to recap the books I've read, so you can add them (or not!) to your to-read list!

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I read The Book Thief a while ago and absolutely loved every single page. I devoured it, wishing that it would just keep going and never come to an end. Zusak's prose was a fresh style which often made me stop and reread sentences just so I could take it all in and enjoy how he played with his words.

Needless to say, I was eager to dive into I Am the Messenger. It took me a few pages longer to get into this book than his previous one, but once I started I was again hooked. I tore through this book - I couldn't put it down (and was annoyed when, because of camp, I absolutely had to). I already cannot wait to reread it.

Ed Kennedy, the protagonist, is an underaged cabdriver who is often found playing cards with his lazy friends and talking to his foul smelling dog, The Doorman (who is hopelessly addicted to coffee). He's entirely and hopelessly in love with Audrey, his best friend. And it seems as though his life is on the fast track to nowhere.

That's when the first Ace arrives in his mailbox. Faced with a decision to follow where the cards may lead or to stick with his bland routine, Ed becomes the messenger. With this decision, Ed finds himself heading around town helping and hurting (when absolutely necessary) those whom he is steered towards. Throughout there is one major question plaguing him, who is sending the aces?

Seriously, I know I almost always recommend the books I read because I get so attached to them and love them to (sometimes literal) pieces, but read this one! Zusak really does have a unique way to tell a story.

Date Finished: 26 June 2012

Pages: 356, paperback

First Line: The gunman is useless.

Favorite Line: I'd rather chase the sun than wait for it.

Last Line: I'm the message. [Whited out, for spoiler's sake]

Recommended: wholeheartedly. and, while you're at it? Pick up The Book Thief too.