The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham

When my History teacher began the subject of the Cold War, she came up with a rather creative idea to help us fully understand the constant threat of the nuclear war that was present and how devastating such an event would be. She then gave us a list of sci-fi novels that revolved around this given topic and they included titles such as Taronga by Victor Kelleher, Brother in the Land by Robert Swindells and Z for Zachariah by Robert O'Brien but the one that really sparked my interest was The Day of the Triffids.
Based in modern day London after a stunning nighttime comet show that left the entire world blind, this story follows the experiences of a man that was spared from the tragedy on his quest to find and then survive with his new found love.
The pair soon find that they'll have to face harder obstacles than the stench of the blind that were left to die, but they'll come up against gangs, food shortages and, more so than anyone thought possible, the triffids.
A freak, mutant plant with unknown origins that people originally thought were rather harmless, when they're stingers were cut off of course, adapt frighteningly fast to the sudden fall of human superiority and begin to seek their revenge. Taking over towns and surrounding the survivors, the triffids seem to "learn" the ways of their victims and make the necessary adjustments.
With the world slowly deteriorating around them, Bill and Josella are left to wonder aimlessly about the "why"s of their situation. Why did this happen? Why now? Why aren't we blind as well? They begin to come to the conclusion that maybe the comets weren't an act of God, but a grotesque accident brought on by their very own mankind. Of course, they'll never know the real reason and they'll never get the answers to their questions but in this hideous new lifestyle that they must face, what else are they to think?
Told with startling clarity and intelligence, The Day of the Triffids is one of the best sci-fis I've ever read which is a rare compliment due to my general dislike of the genre. Definitely something out of this world, the story is worth the read and a must for all fans of scientific mutation.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

We're going to do things a little differently today. With this review comes a challenge; to find an English speaking high school student that has not or will not read Lord of the Flies in their schooling career.
Couldn't do it? Neither could I. The mentioning of this book goes hand in hand with a high school reading list. Now, can anyone tell me why?
As I was reading this for the first time I was trying to figure out the answer to that question. Why are so many kids forced into reading this story? Is it to make them aware of the evils in society? Maybe to scare them away from living in a world that's adult-free?
I only ask this because Lord of the Flies is one of the most savage and sickening stories I have ever read and I've read some horrors. There is an evil lurking in this text that I have never experienced before. The unjust cruelty and brutality of this tale is so blatantly obvious and so bluntly portrayed that I could not bring myself to enjoy any of the happenings within it.
It did not help that the parts that didn't contain violence and hatred were altogether boring and I found these chunks to be rather laborious to read.
I cannot comprehend, even know upon finishing it, why this story is considered a classic of English literature and why, generation after generation, school kids are reading, analyzing and disecting such a poor story.
I will admit, purely for some positivity, that the plot was not lacking and there was reason behind the characters' actions that followed what one would expect when such young children were left to fend for themselves but I do not condone the continuation of praise that this book has received since it's first publication.

One Room in a Castle: Letters from Spain, France & Greece by Karen Connelly

Very rarely in my reading career have I come across a story that transported me into itself; into the world it created so much so that the rain pounding on my window did not come from the clouds above Australia but fell onto the drought stricken lands of Africa or an olive grove in Greece or the tremendous pines of the Pacific Northwest. Karen Connelly spins her tales into a living, breathing story with a language that embraces you and shares with you its heat.
This book found me on accident. I was at a second hand book sale outside of my local supermarket. As I perused the shelves, I found a book slightly askew and when I went to straighten it out, something about the feeling of it, the weight in my hand, struck me. I gave the cover a look and considered the perchase but reading "Spain, France & Greece" really synched the deal.
Karen Connelly is a traveler and a writer; one of the greatest mixes you can come across. She throws herself into the places she visits and insists on meeting the people that hold it all together. She wanders behind the decisions of her heart and lives to share the stories with people that have yet to take the journey themselves.
One Room in a Castle reads in a way that you can hear the people, feel the wind, taste, touch, smell, see the countries and the cultures that Karen is exploring. Written for the traveler or the traveler to be without a plot or an end, it will love you with the passion of the Spanish, the delicacy of the French, the humor of the Greek and the history of the Gypsies.

My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin

Now, this story was forced on me by my mother who learnt about Miles Franklin while we were in America and then found this book on our arrival in Australia at which point she had to buy it.
This is, in a way, an autobiography of the author told with different names for the characters so that it seems more of a story than her actual life. Miles Franklin wrote My Brilliant Career when she was 16 and longed to leave her family's dairy farm and to become a writer. She holds a deep resentment of all male feelings and has sworn herself off of marriage, that is until she meets a certain Harold Beecham.
Being a Romantic, I was so hoping for the story to end happily with a white wedding but the various twists and turns of Franklin's teenage years left me always changing my theory of the ending. That being said, I was rather disappointed when I came to the last few chapters because the plan that I had constructed for her was not even close to what actually took place.
The beginning is tough because the author has a rather arrogant tone of voice and her constant disagreement with the rest of the characters [especially Harold] left me extremely frustrated.
All in all, it was a decent tale if you only count the juicy parts in the middle. I wouldn't read it again and I probably wouldn't recommend it to just anyone.

Survive the Savage Sea by Dougal Robertson

Survive the Savage Sea is a story of the author's experiences surviving at sea with his family when his yacht sunk in the Pacific Ocean on June 15th, 1972. With his wife, his three sons and a student they'd taken onboard, Dougal Robertson has to fight his way in an environment that has had hundreds of years to adapt.
The tale is told in striking detail and with brutal honesty that leaves the reader absolutely no room to doubt the authenticity. As you read, you find it hard to believe that so much could happen in such a short period of time and you just pray that they don't come up against yet another hurdle. With each new day, you can just see them all get weaker and weaker and it's astonishing that they could still find the energy to push on in search of land after one week, two weeks, three and then four weeks at sea.
A sea story told with very little boating garb, Survive the Savage Sea is a serious story of a family's will to "get these boys to land." I would definitely recommend it to anyone with a love of adventure mixed with harsh reality.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Now, I know there's pretty much no way anyone could be reading this and not know what the plot of Twilight is. But because I like to cater to the improbable, I'll provide a brief description:
Bella is a classic 17-year-old girl that moves from her beloved Pheonix, Arizona to the wet and not so wild city of Forks, Washington to live with her dad. While there she does the only things you can do in such a remote part of the Olympic Peninsula; she falls in love with a vampire.
I first read about Bella and Edward before any of today's "Twilight Mania" existed and I remember picking the book off of the shelf because I thought, "Hey, this is creative." And it is. The plot created by Stephenie Meyer is rather commemorable and if you take into account the time when the book was actually first published, the story is unique and intriguing.
Nowadays, you're hard pressed to find a book store without an Edward poster on the wall and it's even harder to find a girl that hasn't joined the "Team Edward" and "Team Jacob" debate. I say it about most books that are made into movies, the media coverage really takes away from the story itself. Take the Harry Potter series for example, every kid in the world knows who Harry Potter is but how many of them have even know what happens in the first chapter of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's [Philosopher's] Stone? The "Twilight Fanatics" can hardly be called such if they've never read the saga but the media has made it so that they don't even have to.
But back to the story: my friend once described it as "reading like a dream" and I think that explanation is fairly spot on. Everything in Twilight happens easily, quickly and perfectly, giving the reader the feeling that none of it is actually happening. Other than the obvious vampire factor, Twilight isn't a very realistic story but I encourage most 'tweens to at least read the first of the series, even if it's just for a laugh!

An Extreme Event: Updated Edition by Debbie Whitmont

A brief description of events: It's the story of the survivors of the 1998 Sydney to Hobart yacht race and what happened during their horrifying time battling the Bass Strait.
I got the book because my dad's cousin's husband heard that I'd read Braveheart and thought I, therefore, enjoyed tales of the sea. Which I don't. But this one changed my mind a little bit. It reads quickly which I love but you have to pay a lot of attention to dates and times if you want the story to really make sense to you and I don't like books like that.
But the way the author, Debbie Whitmont, blends all of the sailors' and witnesses' stories together into one coherrent tale is beyond me.
I found myself feeling actual fear for the men in the book. I prayed that they made it through and I worried when I heard of another injury or another death or another boat found empty. The only comfort I had was when the author quoted a man after the race, then I knew that they must have made it.
I also really appreciated that the book not only gave the happenings of the 1998 race, it also gave brief histories of yachting and yacht racing in general which gave me more information to go on as I read.
All in all, it's an excellent read if you're a yachtie or just like to read about them and it's a pretty great story for the rest of us!