One Hundred Years of Solitude

One Hundred Years of Solitude was written by Gabriel Garcia Marquéz, a Latin American master of magic realism.
The novel chronicles the story of the Buendía family, from José Arcadio Buendía and his wife, Ursula Iguáran, to Aureliano Babílonia and Amaranta Ursula.
Although One Hundred Years of Solitude undoubtedly has some great symbolic meaning behind its story, I enjoyed it on a superficial level - for its descriptive prose and the emotions of its characters. While the book detailed the tragic decline of the Buendía family, it somehow managed to keep an upbeat tone throughout the rather depressing events unfolded.
The isolated town of Macondo is a place where anything can happen, regardless of the rest of the universe. It is a place where gypsies pass through and peddle their magic, where it can rain for years on end, and the dead may walk and speak with the living. The tangled relationships of the Buendías, the repetition of names: Arcadio and Aureliano, and the long lives of many characters contribute to some confusion about people's identity. This is probably just another way to show that the Buendías have come full circle. This book was an enthralling chronicle of one town and the family that built it - Macondo and the Buendías.

American Gods

American Gods, written by Neil Gaiman, is an adult novel. It has a very complex plot. The writing is extremely detailed and descriptive. The details fit together as smoothly as puzzle pieces to create a beautiful closure at the end.
Our protagonist, Shadow, is in prison. He keeps persevering through his three years' sentence because he knows he has something to look forward to at the end- his wife, Laura. He promises himself that he will keep his head down and stay out of trouble. However, when he finally leaves prison, he will discover a wildly different reality from the idyllic little world he expected to inhabit with his friends and family.
American Gods is a book about just that-- gods-- lost in America, starved for attention, care, love, and belief. When war breaks out it will be left to Shadow to unearth many hidden truths and to finally discover the final deception that has convinced them all.
I personally enjoyed reading American Gods and would recommend it, although it was an extremely adult book.

We the Living

Ayn Rand, author of Atlas Shrugged, Anthem, and The Fountainhead, wrote We the Living. It was frustrating to watch the characters descend down ever-darkening paths, while I could do nothing to stop them. Frustrating as it may have been to read, I couldn't put it down.
The protagonist, Kira Alexandrovna Argounova is the daughter of Galina Petrovna Argounova and Alexander Dmitrievich Argounova. Her father was owner of a textile factory- before the October Revolution, that is. The family, including Kira's sister Lydia, travels to Petrograd, returning home. They return from several years in the Crimea unsuccessfully attempting to wait out the current regime. Labeled as bourgeois, Kira will not have an easy time in Soviet Russia. Kira was the most frustrating character for me, because I disagreed with so many of the choices she made.
Warning: Spoilers.
Another main character, Lev Sergeievitch Kovalensky is the son of Admiral Kovalensky. The Admiral was blinded in a war and unknowingly sheltered counterrevolutionaries. For this, he was shot. Leo is also considered bourgeois.Throughout the novel, Leo's loss of self is painful to watch.
 Our third important character, Andrei Taganov is a Party member who fought in the October Revolution. Andrei has given his life to the ideals he believes in. His incorruptibility makes him an exception rather than the rule amoung Party officials. As Andrei's beliefs crumble, so will he.
The fates of all three are irrevocably intertwined. This book made me very emotional. However, between outbursts of anger, I had plenty to ponder. We the Living was definitely worth the read.
There is an essay contest available here.

The Best Laid Schemes

"The best laid schemes of mice and men/ Go often awry" - This quotation from Robert Burn's poem 'To a Mouse' gave John Steinbeck inspiration for the title of his book, Of Mice and Men.
Of Mice and Men is a heartrending story of George Milton and Lennie Small, penned by John Steinbeck. While it's very short, only around a hundred pages, it is a book that will stay on your mind for a while. The two are a pair of migrant workers trying to keep a job and save up their money. Lennie is mentally disabled, but, whatever his reasons may be, George sticks with him and always tries to fix Lennie's mistakes. The two men constantly remind themselves of their goal - land that would be their own, where they could work for themselves. When their schemes go dreadfully awry, everything must draw to an end. 
Of Mice and Men is definitely a classic worth reading.