A Life-Touching Story That Can Be Read in Less Than Three Hours?

Some would call this impossible. All you have to do is read Notes From The Dog by Gary Paulsen; it's 130 pages long and great for all ages, kids and adults.
I love how this book, for being so short, packs such a punch in the life-lessons department. And they're not introduced all cheesy and blunt, like in some books. The author really takes the time to introduce all these ideas about living life like there's no tomorrow in a fun way that would get the attention of just about anyone: be you a workaholic adult, a kid struggling in middle-school, or just one of those people who reads for fun *ahem, crazies!*
We start off with two friends in middle school, Finn and Matthew. They live with Finn's dad because Matthew's parents divorced and while they get situated in their new apartments Matthew didn't want to spend his short summer break adjusting. While Matthew seems to have the easy life in school, sports, and just being a kid, Finn has more trouble having fun. He's really shy and doesn't know how to talk to people, so he lives in books instead. One of his only friends besides Matthew is his dog, Dylan, named for Bob Dylan.
Then the new neighbor comes along, also named for a Bob Dylan song: Johanna (the song is Visions of Johanna). Johanna is a breast cancer survivor who is enjoying living life, and also a graduate student going to school nearby. Matthew and Finn immediately fall in love with Johanna and how she seems to enjoy everything, even plans that backfire.
The three have all sorts of adventures, from first dates to gardening to a summer job as a construction worker to notes from a dog. And that's where the title comes from; Finn's dog starts showing up with little life lessons printed on paper in his mouth. Finn knows they're not really from his dog, but they help him get through the day and discover how to be a better person and be comfortable in his own skin.
Of course, Johanna still has cancer. And when her health takes a turn for the worse, Finn and Matthew may have to complete some of the crazy plans Johanna had wanted to get around to without her.
I feel like this is one of those books where the author starts writing this book and chooses a title then the book takes on a completely different theme and the title makes no sense. But then again, maybe not, because the title hints at how little notes and good things can make a difference in someone's life, and that is how the book starts out: affecting people in a good way and changing lives, one step at a time. ♠♠♠♠

Whoa. Baby. Takes Ghosts to a Whole New Level.

Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler's Wife, has completely blown me away AGAIN with her newest book, Her Fearful Symmetry. I've heard mixed reviews about this book, but I found it really, REALLY good. It puts a whole new spin on ghost stories... in fact, the ghost in this book is not the scary part, it's the twins that are truly frightening.
You see, the story is all about twins. First there are Edie and Elspeth, in London. Elspeth was in love with an American, Jack, but when Edie steals Jack away and heads back to America, it seems the twins will never speak again. And as always, they grow old. Edie has twins in America with Jack; mirror twins, meaning one is normal, but the other is the exact inverted opposite of her (her heart's on the right, she parts her hair on the other side, etc). Their names are Julia and Valentina. Julia is the fearless bossy one, and Valentina (a.k.a. The Mouse) is the timid one, supposedly scared of everything and very fragile with her numerous health problems. But Valentina is getting sick of her twin, and wants to be her own person. She's through with feeling like half a being, especially since she's the half that never has a say in anything.
Meanwhile Elspeth gets cancer and dies, with only her neighbor/boyfriend, Robert, for company. She leaves her personal papers to Robert and tells him to read them, saying they contain a few bombshell secrets so they should never be shared. She also leaves her flat to her twin nieces, Julia and Valentina, under the conditions that they never let their parents enter the flat and they live in it a year before they sell it.
Now Julia and Valentina are living in the flat; Julia is having a ball exploring the whole new environment, especially the cemetery next door and her upstairs neighrbor, an agorophobic man named Martin who desperately misses his wife but can't leave his apartment to find her. Valentina is trying to rediscover who she is.
Then the twins (and Robert, who lives downstairs) start seeing Elspeth's ghost. At first it's just little things like shadows and pages in books being turned, but then Elspeth starts communicating with them by writing in dust and Ouija boards.
But here's when things get twisted and creepy: Valentina decides she wants to escape from her own twin so badly, she'll do anything... even fake her own death. When she enlists the ghost's help, things get SO VERY SCREWY that I was about to scream. Seriously. You'll never guess what they do.
This whole book has a sepulchral (love that word!) for a few reasons: the ghost (duh), the cemetery next door (which kind of plays a role throughout the whole book which I thought was really cool), and because of all the melancholy people in this book. Sure, there are many happy points in this book, but like all good novels, there is a definite taste of sadness in it. I think, although the plot is really sad, it starts off charmingly in a way and overall it was a good book to start off the year on. ♠♠♠♠♠