Bookshelf: So Yesterday

Author: Scott Westerfeld

First line: "We are all around you."

Summary (from book back cover):

Ever wonder who was the first kid to keep a wallet on a big chunky chain, or wear way-too-big pants on purpose? What about the mythical first guy who wore his baseball cap backwards? These are the Innovators, the people at the peak of the cool pyramid. 
Seventeen-year-old Hunter Braque is a Trendsetter, on the second level of the pyramid. His job: find the newest, coolest thing for the retail market. His MO: observe, don't get involved. 
But he has to get involved when he and his crush, Jen, discover his boss' cell phone in an abandoned building--and his boss missing. Hunter and Jen are soon snared in a web of brand-name intrigue: a missing cargo of the coolest shoes they've ever seen, ads for products that don't exist, and a shadowy group dedicated to the downfall of consumerism as we know it.

Set in: Modern-day New York

Sopwith rating; 4.5/5
Again, a slight reduction for the ending, which could have been slightly more logical. The romantic element of the story was just a little overbearing as well, but not enough to distract from the story.

So Yesterday
Image links to Amazon

Kindle version: So Yesterday

This was another bargain bin find. (I did warn you that a lot of the books I like come from the bargain bins of secondhand bookstores!) I had heard good things about Scott Westerfeld, the author, though most of the good reviews were for the Uglies series, which I subsequently read and did not like. Ironic, but there you are.

So Yesterday can usually be found in the Young Adult section of bookstores, but don’t let the genre deter you. You can always get some kid to go into the YA section for you, or pretend to buy it “for someone else”…

The seventeen-year-old narrator, Hunter, is insecure in his own skin, though curiously enough he has an occasional job as a “cool-hunter”. As mentioned before, I have a soft spot for the underdogs, the wallflowers, and the socially-awkward, so Hunter is the perfect protagonist to catch my eye.

The plot moves at a breathtaking pace, with tons of cultural references (even though Hunter refuses to name brands, you know who he’s talking about, because he makes it fairly obvious), a great mystery plot/subplot, and many sly digs at “the cool”.

It does slightly annoy me that Hunter does a lot of things he wouldn’t normally do in an attempt to impress his new crush, Jen, because I don’t really like her very much, but maybe that’s just my jealously talking…

I’m studying business in college, so this book is interesting to me on an (very low) academic level, by which I mean I understood more about business and marketing reading this book than I did after three months in class. If you’ve ever wondered how cool “works”, this is definitely the book for you.  

Like this book? Check out other books on my bookshelf. 

Bookshelf: I Am the Messenger (Also published as The Messenger)

Author: Markus Zusak

First line: “The gunman is useless.”

Summary (from book back cover):

Ed Kennedy is an underage cabdriver without much of a future. He’s pathetic at playing cards, hopelessly in love with his best friend Audrey, and utterly devoted to his coffee-drinking dog, the Doorman. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery.

That’s when the first ace arrives in the mail.

That’s when Ed becomes the messenger.

Chosen to care, he makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary) until only one question remains: Who’s behind Ed’s mission?

Set in: Modern-day Australia

Sopwith rating: 4.5/5.

Took the 0.5 off for the ending—felt like it could have been resolved in a more satisfactory manner, but maybe that’s just me.

I Am the Messenger
Image links to Amazon

I got this book from the bargain bin of a secondhand bookstore.

I have a feeling that a lot of my book reviews are going to involve the bargain bin of a secondhand bookstore, and for that I apologize in advance.

Anyway, I had read some of the author’s previous work (The Underdog, Fighting Ruben Wolfe, and Getting the Girl), which I had found interesting and above average, so I thought I’d give I Am the Messenger a try.

Plot-wise, the book moves along at a fairly quick pace. As you can tell from the summary, Ed has been chosen by an unknown person to solve the problems of his suburban hometown. Playing cards with clues show up in the mail telling him where to go, adding intrigue to an already intriguing scenario. The main character, Ed, is harmless, likeable, and a dreamer.

The Book Thief
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It was the mystery element of the book that interested me enough to read the first page, but it was Ed’s personality that made me buy the book. I like the underdogs (who doesn’t?). I was worried that this book would fall into the trap of so many others, where the main character starts out at rock bottom and ends the book like Cinderella transformed overnight, but thankfully that doesn’t happen. Ed’s changes are subtle and believable, and it’s just so easy to empathize with him.

Overall, the book is heart-warming, intense, and uplifting. (A perfect read for Christmas!) Readers of this blog might also be interested in another (award-winning) book by the same author titled The Book Thief, a book set in Nazi Germany.

Like this book? Check out other books on my bookshelf.