The Brothers

The Great and Terrible Vol. 1 Prologue: The Brothers by Chris Stewart

This book has been on my To Read list for a few years, but I was determined not to read it until the series was out.
The battle between good and evil, between Satan and Jehovah, has been engaged.  Satan is in open rebellion and has drawn away billions of spirits.  It is the pre-existance.  It is a time of much learning and of great decision making.
Although the book is entirely fiction and much license obviously taken, there were some extremely thought provoking conversations.  Honestly I was touched by the book.  I cried for most of the read (which was quite short and easy) because I could identify with the struggle to push onward and strive to live beyond mediocracy....yet feel that you never will.  It gave me a lot to think about.
Here are some spine tingling good quotes.........
     "To get what we want we must be subtle as snakes; .................  So go to your old friends and stand by their sides.  Pretend you want to help them while whispering deceits in their ears.  Only lie when you have to.  Speak the truth when you can; for the truth, once it's twisted, is the most effective tool we have.  Coat your lies with enough truth, and they will swallow it down."     -Lucifer

     "Now listen to me, people, for this is the key-evil can be twisted into virtue if you phrase it just right.  Any vice is acceptable if you cloak it as an issue of freedom.  Any immorality is worth fighting for if you tell them they are fighting for choice, if you wrap it in the mantle of privacy and freedom.  So take their moral agency and turn it on them.  But be patient...be patient...it takes time to turn the truth upside down."   -Lucifer

     As would happen on earth, the sad truth was that many of the Father's children were willing to stand and watch from the sides, interested but not committed, not willing to join hands with Satan, but also unwilling to dedicate themselves fully to the Son.  Most would say the right things and go through the actions, but fewer were willing to make a commitment, and fewer still were willing to fight.

     "You can tempt me, desert me, or cause me great pain; you can create a dark world that may cause me to fear; you can rule your world with blood and terror, that's true.
     "But you can't win.  And I know that. Weak as I am, with my imperfections and sins, even with all of my failings, I am stronger than you.
     "I will soon have a body.  And I have my agency now.  I will increase in my faith and knowledge and power.  I am not perfect, but I will be, and there's nothing you can do!  I will become like the Father if I follow the Son.  You are powerless to stop me.  You can threaten and tempt and whisper lies in my ear, but you can't stop me Satan;  I see that so clearly now!  I can stop myself, yes, but only if I follow you." 
     -Ammon

     The evil hand stretched its cold fingers across the dry autumn land, bringing disappointment and frustration that angered people's souls.  Though unseen, it was real, real as the heat of the sun, yet cold as ice water and brittle as bone.  To some it brought darkness and a thirst for hate and revenge, jealousy and a lust for power and flesh.  To others it brought a simple sense of unease--a sense that something wasn't right, something deep and unknowable, a sense of distress for the future, as if something was coming, a sense of awkward discomfort, as if the world had changed and would never step back.  The blackness settled like a blanket, covering the earth like black snow, falling slowly and silently until it draped the whole land.


Rating 5  Excited for the rest of the series....
Rating PG  War

The Miracle of Forgiveness

The Miracle of Forgiveness by Spencer W. Kimball

After all of these years, I have never read this book before.  I finally found it at a library sale for fifty cents and decided to buy it.  I started months ago and wasn't feeling it.  But once I had one of those intense PMS days, where you see your life stretching out before you.........as you struggle up the down escalator of life...and I felt like since I was already down I could take a good kick in the teeth. (You know how sometimes you're down and you just want to really GET DOWN?)  So I set out with my pen to mark up the book.
I can't say that I am behind every word uttered in the book.  I've never been called a prude (well I take that back) so don't believe what I say......but I don't feel like I'm a sinner when I wear shorts.  Also, I drove a car in my teen years and made it to adulthood fairly unscathed.  I also have a much more tolerant view of homosexuality.  That said, the actual doctrine of repentance was five star.  There were some amazing quotes and my book is totally written all over.
In the beginning I will say that it seems harsh, but I like harsh.  Don't hold back on me.  I know Heavenly Father loves me despite the fact that I am a cold hearted, quick to anger, justice seeking, judgemental fool. And I had a lot of hope that if I can just be merciful to others, (if I can just.......be.......merciful.....) then I will also be given mercy.
My fave quote..."You can't flirt with sin and be repentant."  ......er something like that.  I guess I better stop batting my lashes then.
Grade 5
Grade PG 13 Frank discussion about homosexuality and sex.

Christmas Jars

Christmas Jars by Jason F. Wright

By the same author as Wednesday Letters, comes Christmas Jars.  Hope is found as an abandoned newborn.  She and her mother make it through life with love for each other and grit.  As Hope grows up she dreams of making it big writing for a newspaper.  The Christmas that her mother dies, Hope's home is broken into.  What could be a tragedy is quickly turned into a curiosity.  Hope finds a Christmas Jar sitting outside of her house.  Her curiosity is awakened and she smells a good story.  Hope sets out to find where the Christmas Jar comes from, but finds a better story and a family.
I loved the Wednesday Letters by Wright and hoped to love this one too.  The writing was simple and easy (very easy) to read.  I wasn't completely drawn in but I do appreciate the message of the Christmas Jars.  It would be a sweet little gift.  It was also a nice way to begin feeling Christmas.
Rating 3
Rating G

Anansi Boys

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

Wow.....I don't know if I can even classify this book.  There are ghosts, myth, magic and love but it's not overly ghosty, mythy, magical or lovey.
Fat Charlie Nancy is your run of the mill guy.  He has a fiancee named Rosie and he works small stints at jobs in London.  His life only gets strange after his estranged father dies.  Fat Charlie then learns that he has a brother  named Spider, he never knew existed, and that his father may have been some kind of African spider god.
Spider moves in and turns Fat Charlie's life on its ear.  He quickly wins the love of Rosie, has Fat Charlie investigated by the police, adds a fantastical room onto Fat Charlie's flat, and eventually gets everyone nearly killed.
This was my first Neil Gaiman book although he has come highly recommended as an author.  For any one previously enjoying Gaiman, I am sure this book won't dissappoint.  He is a witty writer and uses great descriptors.  Lots of fun and funny read.
Rating 4
Rating PG 13  peril, talk of sex, murder

First Love Second Chances

First Love Second Chances by Anita Stansfield

Well it seems I wasn't quite finished with being sentimental.........and I took in the second book. 
Clean, romantic, foreign, struggle with emotions and problems unique to the LDS culture.  Sigh.  I felt fulfilled.

This is the second book put out by Stansfield YEARS ago.  Loved it maybe a hair less than the first one.

Hopefully I am now able to move on to other literature.
Rating 5
Rating PG

First Love and Forever

First Love and Forever by Anita Stansfield

This was the first book I ever read by Stansfield and that is when I fell in love.  After my last read of hers, I was feeling a little sentimental so I reread First Love and Forever.

Emily is in an unhappy marriage to the man that she felt compelled to choose after much prayer.  Ryan was able to give her the one thing that the 'other' man couldn't, a temple marriage.  The 'other' man is Michael Hamilton.  A published Australian nonmember author that Emily met at BYU.  And as far as I can tell besides being an nonmember Michael is nearly perfect.  That aside, Ryan and Emily aren't making happy memories when, after ten years Michael comes back into the picture asking Emily to leave Ryan and marry him. 
What will she do?  Even though all works out in the end..........it is a painful process.
Stansfield at her best.  This is probably my number one top pick out of all of her books....actually her first five were great.
So if you either haven't read this particular Stansfield or you just need to revisit the Hamiltons......it is a nice cozy, romantic escape.
Rating 5 I've read it at least half a dozen times.  I love Michael Hamilton.....I will admit after this reading Emily started to wear on me........but then there was Michael.......
Rating PG   Kissing, reference to marital sex.

The Best of Times

The Best of Times by Anita Stansfield

Chas (short for Charles......but she's a girl) runs the Dickensian Inn while caring for her aged Granny.  Tragedy has left her with only that.  But you know Anita.......Chas isn't alone for long once the story opens. 
Jackson is an FBI agent (finally getting warmer Anita) taking a break from the work that has consumed his life and may now ruin it. 

Well after all of these years there is an armed man in one of these books!  If he were only a semi normal police officer........e.g. poor, then she would have finally hit the nail on the head.  But yet again, Jackson has saved all of his money and made great investments.
There was a lot of verbal banter.  I would have to say that this book was one of  those wordy books where I get tired of the characters talking to each other.  It moved up a notch once Jackson had to go back to the FBI.
I loved Jackson. He was like an M&M.....tough shell and sweet inside. Chas was a good woman with great faith.  She just did not do it for me this time.
I did like that this book had  tolerance for non LDS people........most of the characters were not Church members.  I also enjoyed that the various religious or nonreligious backgrounds were able to speak about values without wanting to kill each other (which would have made it more realistic).
It seemed like there was a lot of build up to the couple getting together and then ....meh, there they were. 

This was a fast, soothing read.  It is not one of my all time Stansfield faves. 
Rating 3
Rating G  So clean.......

The Book Thief

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Liesel Meminger is 9 years old when her brother dies, she is given to foster parents, she thieves her first book, she is in Nazi Germany.

"It’s a small story really, about, among other things:

* A girl
* Some words
* An accordionist
* Some fanatical Germans
* A Jewish fist fighter
* And quite a lot of thievery"

I can never do this book justice.   The writing was so descriptive it was like eating chocolate lava cake.  Every page had something I wish I could commit to memory.
The book is narrated by Death.  Death is fantastic.  He is truly poetic.......and I loved him.  The book was so lovely and destructive that I cried.
There are so many quotes I would rewrite half of the book if I put them all down here.........

"He does something to me, that boy. Every time. It's his only detriment. He steps on my heart. He makes me cry." 

"I could introduce myself properly, but it's not really necessary. You will know me well enough and soon enough, depending on a diverse range of variables. It suffices to say that at some point in time, I will be standing over you, as genially as possible. Your soul will be in my arms. A color will be perched on my shoulder. I will carry you gently away. At that moment, you will be lying there (I rarely find people standing up). You will be caked in your own body. There might be a discovery; a scream will dribble down the air. The only sound I'll hear after that will be my own breathing, and the sound of the smell, of my footsteps."

"- proof again of the contradictory human being. So much good, so much evil. Just add water." 

"The only thing worse than a boy who hates you: a boy that loves you."

 "Somewhere, far down, there was an itch in his heart, but he made it a point not to scratch it. He was afraid of what might come leaking out."

Rating 5  There were times when I felt a little anxious and the book felt long but the writing made up for it.

Rating PG 13  Lots of swearing, death, brutality......Nazi Germany. 

Shiver

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Grace meets 'her wolf' when at the age of eleven she is attacked by a wolf pack in her backyard.  After being dragged into the woods, all she remembers is the unmistakable yellow eyes of 'her wolf'.
Years later, her parents' lives revolve around each other and Grace is left to her own devices.  She waits yearly for the winter when she knows her wolf will be out in the woods watching her.  It is fall and the wolves have attacked Jack, a classmate of Grace's.  The men go out to cleanse the woods of the deadly animals.  Grace finds Same bleeding from a bullet wound on the deck of her home.  She instantly recognizes the eyes of the wolf she has loved for years.
Sam and Grace are inseparable from that moment on.  Luckily her parents are mentally out to lunch and never notice that a teenage boy has moved into their daughter's room.
Sam knows that as a wolf ages, he or she will eventually stop changing into a human.  He feels that this is his last season as a human.  Sam and Grace have finally found each other and it seems that Sam's human life span may be over.
Very Twilightesque.........fantastic writing in comparison yet I didn't feel the fierce depth of emotion that I felt for Edward and Bella.  Seems sadder and moves faster.  The parents are idiots in this book.  (Charlie is not an idiot......just a single father duped by a very quiet vampire.  Plus Charlie is a cop and thus beyond reproach.)
Rating 4  Great writing yet something was missing in there.
Rating PG 13 Grace and Sam sleep in the same bed immediately which was fine with me but considering this is a teen novel......not so great.  Grace and Sam eventually do more than sleep together......fulfilling for me of course but not too cool when its geared for teens. This part is alluded to and not graphic.  Just another good book my daughter can't read until she is 21...:)

Unhallowed Ground

Unhallowed Ground by Heather Graham

Sarah has recently returned to her home town and purchased the home she has coveted since her youth.  The historic home is in one of the oldest cities in Florida, and is ripe with ghost lore and history.  Sarah finds herself in the middle of a ghost story and possibly the target of a serial killer.  The walls of her beloved home are filled with dead bodies from ages past. Her nights are haunted by a historical ghost that just happens to look like the handsome detective Caleb Anderson (yum). Her days are filled helping Caleb search historical records that some how seem connected to the disappearance of young women in present time.

I had a fun time with this book.  It was a quick and easy read.  The setting was fantastic and made me want to head down to Florida (which I have never wanted to do before).  The historical aspect along with the thrill of the grisly and ghostly findings was the perfect mix.  Not to mention the heated romance between Sarah and Caleb.  Total sucker for a little cop love.

Rating 4  Certainly not top notch lit, but fun.
Rating R Things eventually heat up between Sarah and Caleb.  Definitely R rated love.  Danger, murder, ghosts, descriptions of dead bodies.

Under The Banner Of Heaven

Under The Banner Of Heaven by Jon Krakauer

I found this little prize stuck in the back corner of my library.  I picked it up under a misguided assumption that it was about polygamy.  Honestly I was in it for the dirty details.  Polygamy is something I can't wrap my brain around and I was interested in what this book might entail.

The book happens to center around the murder of a young woman and her baby.  Her husband's brothers and himself begin straying from the path of mainstream religion and become beyond fundamentalist.  When one of them receives a revelation that she and a group of others must be exterminated because they are in the way of the work, the young woman and baby end up with their heads nearly severed in small town America.

Krakauer, in order to illustrate his point about the violent faith of fundamentalist, deems it necessary to pull forth the ugly past of the current LDS church.  His writing style is gripping.  He is a truly skilled writer and his historical and nonfiction accounts are made palatable by his gift of writing.  On the other hand, from the blurb on the front cover until the last page, you are inundated with ugly and terrifying facts (?) that make a mainstream religion seem like its VERY ugly stepsister, the fundamentalists.  Although some say that the distinction is clear between the LDS church and the other fundamentalist groups, including various polygamous sects, it really wasn't.  Krakauer delves back to the roots of the LDS church.  It is understandable why he does this. But his back and forth style, from past to present and right to left, leaves the lines blurred, and a harmless, God loving community pegged as the murderers and rapists next door.

I did enjoy Krakauer's skilled writing ability.  I wasn't scared off by what I read.  I am however saddened that a service and faith oriented religion is even spoken of in the same breath with the other crack job, spin offs.  And I am sure as I say that, that those people probably shouldn't be pigeon holed either. Also the LDS religion's faith in God was basically ignored and replaced with the worship of Joseph Smith.  Not at all factual in that instance.

Rating 4 for skill 2 for sticking to what should have been the main idea.  It would be like me wanting to bring to light what I consider to be misdeeds of Catholics and going so far back in history that I drag in the Jews and turn on the spotlight.
Rating R Murder, rape, incest, drug abuse, language.

The Giver

The Giver by Lois Lowry

One of my all time faves!  I just read this to my 9,7,4,and 2 year old.  The kids couldn't get enough.  We zipped through in a couple of days.  This book spurred great discussion.

In a futuristic utopian society, Jonas knows nothing about suffering, hunger, anxiety, choice, color, or love.  His path is laid out for him by the age of twelve.  He has a family unit that he was assigned to.  His job will be chosen for him.  His food is provided by community workers.  Everything is the same for everyone.  Choice is made nonexistant so that a wrong choice can never be made.
When Jonas reaches his year of twelve, he is assigned the job he will train for and work in until he is taken to the House of the Old.  Jonas becomes the new Receiver for the community.  Memories from 'back and back and back' are given to Jonas by the aging Receiver turned Giver.  Jonas will hold these memories as an honored Elder.  He will abide the joy and suffering that the community will not be allowed or burdened to know. 
Jonas begins to realize that his utopian community is clearly not as ideal as he once thought.  In fact there is no choice, no emotion, no love.
One part that clearly struck me in this novel was the lack of color.  Many times I have read the same description from those speaking about the oppression of communism.

Rating 5  Everyone should read this.  Very 1984 but cleaner.
Rating PG  Some inferences to sexual feelings that they call 'stirrings' and take pills to squelch.  Also a shocking scene which I won't *spoil*.

Mao's Last Dancer

Mao's Last Dancer by Li Cunxin

Under the crushing poverty prevailing throughout China during Mao's communist reign, Li Cunxin's life began.  He was one of seven boys born to peasant parents in a commune called Quingdao.  With newspaper to cover the walls, tickets to purchase water, scant amounts of food, and no plumbing, Cunxin grew up in a very loving family.  At eleven years old, communist leaders came to his school and chose him to begin training as a dancer.  Ballet combined with other forms of dance were being used to promote Mao's communist agenda.  Cunxin was taken from his family, which brought them great honor, and was basically tortured into becoming one of the worlds best ballet dancers.
The story follows Cunxin through childhood in his proverty stricken commune, through his rigorous and painful training, all of the way to America.  Upon arriving on American soil, Cunxin came to find the truth he had always know, shattered.  America was not the poorest country on Earth, covered with roving gun weilding mobs.  In fact everyone was beyond gracious, there were freedoms he had never imagined, monetary income was staggering, and the availability of food was nearly fantastical.

The love alone that the family members had for one another during such oppression made the book worth reading.  Historically and politically the information was made easy to read through Cunxin's fabulous narration.  Though by the end I admit skimming at parts.

The book is now what appeared to be a breathtaking movie.

Rating 3.5
Rating PG - PG 13  Not the kind of violence I anticipated.  Mostly very harsh treatment and living conditions.  Sexual relationships in adulthood.

The Lace Reader

The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry

Towner has just returned to Salem, Mass. after fifteen years of estrangement from the place and her family.  She left after the suicide of her twin and returned when her stepgrandmother went missing.  Towner comes from a long line of lace readers, which is something like being a psychic.

The setting was beautiful.  The theory had a lot going for it.  The love interest a cop (yum).  I don't think that Barry pulled it off though.  It took many times of starting and at least 100 pages to get into the book.  Not a whole lot of lace reading going on despite the title.  Towner seemed many times like she was 50 instead of 32.  By the end I was disappointed that I had finally come to feel for the character.  I felt something like betrayal........the character was infact not the character I had come to know.  I needed to reread the book, and not in a good way.

Rating 2.5  There were some good parts in there.

Rating PG 13 Sexual abuse (alluded to), alcohol and drug abuse, child/spousal abuse, suicide.

Let The Right One In

Let The Right One In  by John Ajvide Lindqvist

Right off I have to say that this book is not for the faint of heart.  It was easily the most freakishly interesting vampire book I have read.  I have to say it rivaled Anne Rice.  I also have been cured of any desire I may ever have to visit Sweden.

Oskar is a  young Swedish boy in the early 1980's.  He is a picked on, wussy, mama's boy.  I say that with the utmost respect for those kinds of boys.  His father is an alky.  His mother works and watches TV with him at night.  Oskar tries to avoid the nut job bullies.  It is a seriously depressing existance.  It as like........IKEA in a cesspool.

Oskar keeps a scrapbook of serial killers/ murders in Sweden.  He pretends in the woods near his apartment, that he is a killer.  Most likely because he lacks true power in his real life.  Then murders begin happening in the suburbs near where he lives.  This, just as his new neighbors move in during the night. 

Oskar  meets the new girl one October evening while playing with his knock off Rubics Cube on the apartment playground.  She is small, thin and reeks of death.  But Oskar and Eli form a very committed friendship.  Oskar finally finds the strength within himself to begin to stand up the the bullies.  All it took was someone else to see his value. 

There are many other story lines..........all wildly depressing, throughout the book.  Another main one happens to be that of Eli's helper.  He is a pedophile that kills (anyone.....not children)  in order to bring her the blood she needs to survive.  

Rating 4  Seriously written with great imagination.  Probably hands down the best vampire book I've ever read.  Also one of the most disturbing books I have ever read.

Rating R  Pedophilia, murder, abuse, alcoholism, sexual context, drug use, theft.........really it just goes on.  If Sweden is at all like this.........I hope to never go.

Fablehaven Grip Of The Shadow Plague Book 3

Fablehaven Grip Of The Shadow Plague   Book 3 by Brandon Mull

In this Fablehaven, a dark plague begins to overtake the creatures of light within the preserve.  Kendra, Seth and their family must find out where the plague originated in order to stop it before Fablehaven falls to the creatures of darkness.  The family is also trying to find information about the Sphinx, once thought to be one of their greatest allies.  He may actually be the head of their greatest foe, the Society of the Evening Star.

This book has treasure hunting, dragons, demons, fairies, centaurs, satyrs......a huge variety of mythical creatures and lots of adventure.  I even shed more than one tear by the end........making this a pretty good book.

Rating 4  I read these to the kiddos.  It seems to take us a long time.  The kids really like them but I don't like them as much.  They are a fun family read and my kids like to read them on their own. My baby even likes to have these read to him.  Great gift books or books for kids that can read on their own.

Rating PG The family is in peril most of the time in this book.  The dark plague could be considered scary.  One member of the group that runs the preserve dies.  That is where I cried.........so did my four year old. 

This Lullaby

This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen

Remy is a bit caustic about love.  Her father wrote her a lullaby that turned him into a one hit wonder.  The lullaby was the only thing he ever gave her.  Her mother is a romance novelist on her fifth marriage. 
Remy just graduated from high school and this story is about the summer 'between' before she heads off to Stanford.  She has always been the mother in the relationship with her mother.  She has always taken care of everything.  Remy has always protected herself from love by having a formula by which she picks up a guy and dumps him within a short amount of time.  This summer she is ready to have another fling and then head off empty handed to college.  Then she meets Dexter.  He is a musician that eats in her car, doesn't tie his shoes, make his bed or even have food in the fridge.  Dexter is quirky and a much freer spirit than Remy.

I picked this book up determined to hate it.  I thought it was going to be like all of the other teen lit that I have seen lately.  Way over sexualized and without a point.  Well the book was meh.  I did not like the constant drinking and smoking.  The underage drinking did lead Remy into trouble which was only touched on.  Remy was able to acknowledge that she was heading down a bad path because of the way she acted.  She was also able to realize that she was wrong about many of the things that she thought.  She was willing to change when she learned something about herself. 

Rating 3  Not bad.  I did like that the character was able to she her errors and change.  I also liked that despite what I thought........there wasn't sex.
Rating PG 13 to R  Potty potty potty mouth.  Underage drinking, smoking and sex. (The sex is not explicit.  It is indicated that the character has had many sexual relationships during high school.)

Fax From Sarajevo

Fax From Sarajevo by Joe Kubert

This is a graphic novel based on faxes received by the author from a family trapped in Sarajevo.  During the 1990's Serbs moved into this area and many others and began killing families, women and children for money.  The Serbs were determined to claim the land and leave nothing standing.

I wasn't sure I was going to like a graphic novel.  I like to rip right through the book without giving my eyes a work out.  I will admit though that the graphics really brought this book home.  Also at the end of the book were pictures taken of the family and of the city during the time it was occupied.

I enjoyed getting a bit more in depth about the war.  I also read the book Zlata's Diary which was written by a young girl during the war.  Because she was young she wasn't able to give the same detail.

Rating 4.5 Great book.  I really enjoyed reading something out of the ordinary.
Rating R War, rape, torture, terror.

The Lost Symbol

I was entertained.........so shoot me.  I didn't go into this book thinking that I was reading Chaucer, Shakespear, or even Hemmingway (whom I can't stand, yet other's love).  I knew I was reading this to zone out and have a good time.

The main point of the book was the symbolism in Washington D.C. and it's relation to Freemasonry.  Completely interesting and thought provoking.  I wasn't looking for a scriptural experience so I don't necessarily take what he is saying as truthful even if he did investigate his facts.  I did not enjoy his pot shots at religion through his character Robert Langdon.  If you want to include various religions and your character doesn't believe them then great, but snide little comments by the author, shrouded as character are crappy.

I felt like I moved through the book slowly even though I was enjoying it.  I especially liked the theories of Neonetics (mind over matter/faith/hope/belief studied scientifically).

Rating 4
Rating PG 13  Murder, dismemberment, mutilation, torture.

The Cloud Chamber

The Cloud Chamber by Joyce Maynard


Nate Chance lives on a failing farm in Montana.  It is 1966 and he is fourteen.  The day that brings his family to its knees started early in the morning as usual.  But by the time the school bus returns Nate and his little sister Junie, their lives have been torn at the seams.  The police are in the drive way along with an ambulance.  Nate's bloody father is being dragged from the fields.

Nate's dad tried to kill himself.  The police can't find the gun and soon come back to the Chance farm to accuse Nate's mother of shooting her husband.  Nate and Junie are ostricized at school.  They are not told anything about their father.  They are never taken to see him.  Nate's mother is falling apart.  The farm has to be auctioned off.

The only thing keeping Nate going is his little sister and a strange Bible Study girl at school.  The two teens are partnered up for the science fair.  Nate's dad always had big dreams and knew so many wonderful things.  Nate decides that he and Naomi will build a cloud chamber just like his dad had always wanted to.  The cloud chamber will show radiation from stars long ago exploded. 

The story is sweet and unassuming.  It illustrates the hard times many families go through and how they are still able to pull through even though things may never be the same.

Rating 3.5  The book was a hair depressing but still an okay read for tweens on up.
Rating PG   Attemped suicide

Beastly

Beastly by Alex Flinn

I love fairytale retellings!  Beastly is a Beauty And The Beast from the viewpoint of the Beast.

Kyle is a rich fifteen year old attending a private school in NYC.  His father anchors the news and his mother left them when Kyle was little. 

Kyle is one of the biggest jerks I have ever read about.  He has an entitled outlook on life.  He cares only for appearance.  Kyle decides to play a prank on a new girl at school because he thinks she is ugly and probably not rich.  He asks her to homecoming.  Then he stands her up.  When he returns home after a night of partying and sex (at the age of fifteen) the girl/witch is waiting for him.  The witch tells Kyle that she is going to make his outside match his inside and before he knows it, he is a beast.  He is given two years to find a girl that will fall in love with him and kiss him despite his appearance.

This could have been a great book.  It is based on one of my favorite fairytales.  Instead it was teen smut.  I don't care if anyone thinks that it should be normal for a CHILD in ninth grade to have various sex partners, shack ups, their own limo, alchohol and all name brand clothing.  It isn't normal and shouldn't be portrayed that way.
The book would have been more credible had it contained characters that were at least in their twenties.  What does a child know about true love, having a woman in his bed, etc..........   Uh, nothing.
Each section of the book was prefaced with a chat room session.  It was lame.  I can see that it may have appealed to a very young teen, but it will really date the book in about no time.

And if we are lucky...............they just might make this trash heap into a movie.  I hope the screen writer does a better job than the author.

Rating 2  I will admit that even though this book should not be read by a young teen and therefore is really geared to NOBODY......I was still marginally entertained.
Rating R Teen sex.........young teen.

Crank

Crank by Ellen Hopkins

Hopkins writes the whole book in forms of poetry.  I had only heard that the book was a best seller, but nothing else.  When I first began to read I thought the poetry was only part of the opener.  It looked genius!  Then I turned the pages and found that every single one of them had more poetry...........I became skeptical and somewhat put out.  I thought the prose would impede my reading.  It took until about page 20 (which I made it to very quickly) to really get into the rythm.  Thereafter I was hooked.

Kristina goes to meet her estranged father over summer break from high school.  Up to this point she has been an A student.  Kristina has had no boyfriends or even been kissed.  By the time she returns to her mother and siblings three weeks later, Kristina is calling herself Bree, is hooked on meth, and well on her way to lots of sex on speed.

The intensity of the writing made me feel like I was an addict.  It was very powerful.  Kristina's spiral happened so fast that it was unbelievable.......well believable........but crazy.

Rating 4.5  Did I love it??? NO!!!! Was it an eye opener?? YES!!  I hope the Monster never touches my life.
Rating R Rape, sex, drug abuse, addiction, alcohol, teen pregnancy, abortion.

Blue Bloods

Blue Bloods by Melissa De La Cruz

New York's elite society is made up of more than just rich, entitled, old money.  The blue blood in this society is ancient and it is vampire.  Schuyler is fifteen and learning that the marks beginning to show on her skin, her ability to contol minds, her mother in a coma, and her new dog, all tie to one big secret.  She, along with most of the teens at Duchesne, an elite private school, are young vampires.
Not long after Schuyler makes this discovery, she is also hit with the realization that something out there is preying on her kind.  Her ancestry makes her one of the only people able to find the powerful being and put the killing to an end.

Great mix of history, lore, and heavenly beings.  I had a good time with this story.  I especially liked the twist they put on vampirism and the use of the Roanoke Island mystery.  HOWEVER, this is a book aimed at the youth and I was not at all happy with ninth graders acting like they were twenty somethings.

Rating 3
Rating R sex, drugs, alcohol, murders, sensuality

Eve A Novel Of The First Woman

Eve A Novel Of The First Woman by Elissa Elliott

Elliot takes poetic license as she delves into the mysterious lives of Adam and Eve.  The story is told by Eve and her daughters; Naava, Aya, and Dara.  Eve tells about the Garden, her relationship with Adam and her children and the undoing of Cain.  Naava is a self centered beauty.  Aya is the caregiver.  Dara is young, sweet, easily swayed and somewhat overlooked.

Elliot had some great nuggets of wisdom interspersed with eh.  I didn't really like any of the characters except maybe Aya.  By the end I finally came to appreciate the Eve that the author set out in the book.  At the end, Elliot did make note of the obvious reasons she had to use such depths of literary license.  Also she explained where her ideas came from.  I appreciated that.

Rating 2.5  The book didn't do it for me.  I think it had great potential and I am really rating it poorly because Eve didn't fit the mold I had for her, which really isn't the author's fault.

Rating R murder, incest, sex,

The Glass Castle

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

Normally I try to steer clear of memoirs.  In other instances the people tend to be overly self centered and twisted.  I assume that is part of the reason they would have a story to tell.  But I kept having this book come up repeatedly in conversations, so I decided it was time to pick up and give it a try.
Jeannette Walls began her life as the second child of an alcoholic father and a mother so free spirited she basically gave birth and let the children fend for themselves.
The family was on the move, or doing the 'skedaddle' for years before setttling in the poor mining town of Welch, West Virginia.  The children seemed to be in mortal danger from the moment of their existance.  Much of the time they were not supplied with food or clothing.  Their shelter was beyond questionable.  Yet the children survived and pulled themselves from the dregs that surrounded them and became from what I can tell, bright, capable, and even successful people.
At times Rex (their father) had great depths of widsom and charisma and then he would do something so astoundingly wretched to his family I wanted to reach through the pages and smack him.  Rose Mary (mother) did less than zero to protect her children from the ravageous that alcoholism brought upon the family.  As a mother this was harder for me to stomach than the baseless acts of the father.
All in all Jeanette somehow found something within herself that in most of us would have suffocated and died.  She and her siblings did well in school, took care of each other and their parents, and eventually made their way to New York City. 
The clarity and hope that veined throughout the book made it palatable when it shouldn't have been.

Rating 4.5  Only because I don't think I could read it again.
Rating R Alcoholism, child abuse, sexual content, language (The father had a colorful mouth......which I have to say I appreciated most of the time.).

The Help

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Stockett's first book is written about the changing of race tides during the 1960's, in the hot bed of Jackson Mississippi. The focus is on three strong women. Normally I would not enjoy a book based on women because they tend to destroy others to get their strength. I did however love this book. These women put aside their own safety to bring about change in a nonviolent manner. I loved each character as I learned about their lives, their struggle, their anger, their pain, their love and their relationships with the white women they worked for.

Aibileen is a black maid that has been raising white children for her whole career. What pains her is that she loves them and they grow up to be like their mothers, not liking her for the color of her skin.

Skeeter is a young white woman with the deep desire to become a writer. She has gone to college and returned to Jackson. She is living with her parents and trying to fit into Jackson society. She begins to really see the way that the 'help' are treated when her one time dear friend wants to pass an initiative to make sure the 'help' have their own bathrooms outside of the houses they serve in. Skeeter realizes she may have a story to tell.

Minny is another black maid. Minny has a mouth. She has been fired from many jobs and her last one for a 'Terrible, Awful' thing. She was blessed enough to land a job working for Miss Celia. Miss Celia landed one of Jackson's elite men even though she is what the society girls consider tacky and white trash.

Skeeter first convinces Aibileen to help her with her secret book project. Aibileen then convinces Minny and finally many more black maids to tell their stories.....the bad and the good. The book takes off like never expected. The time is just after the murder of Medgar Evers and just near the march on Washington. Bit by bit the times are changing but the women realize they may have endangered their own lives and the lives of their families.

This was a great book to emotionally connect with a time that I am glad I never had to be a part of.

Rating 4
Rating PG 13 Race violence, murder, domestic violence, critical issues, graphic miscarriage, alcoholism.

Crashed

Crashed (Skinned trilogy #2) by Robin Wasserman

In the follow up to Skinned, Lia Kahn has left the home of her former family and is living in a compound/mansion with other mechs. Rights of the mechs' are in question as the Brotherhood become more vocal about how dangerous this new breed of people may be. When Lia's former friend Auden begins speaking out for the Brotherhood against the mechs, Lia is devastated.

Even though she has had no contact with her family in months, when things get tough, they pull through for her.

While living in the compound and trying to figure out or forget what she has become, Lia finally lets someone get close to her. She gets to know Riley.

Although I love the 'idea' of these books, I felt like this one was pretty flat. It took about three hundred pages to feel like I had finally reached the heart of the book. Before that there was too much emotional turmoil........you know the kind.........where you just keep rehashing something you can't seem to get over.

I was glad to see Lia finally have a friend. She felt much more angry in this book and I wasn't going for it.

I did however like learning more about the society after the big wars, and how the caste system had placed people in cities, corp-towns or rich suburbs.

Rating 2.5 I did like the book. It just took a lot of time to cover little ground.

Rating R For language, sex, some homosexuality, drug use (even though it was more like a download, you still understood that it was drug use).

Night World Vol. 1

Night World Vol. 1 by L.J. Smith

This book contains three books; Secret Vampire, Daughters of Darkness, and Spellbinder.

Secret Vampire has a good premise; Poppy finds out that she is dying of pancreatic cancer and doesn't have long to live. She has a male best friend, James, that she has always had feelings for, feelings he has never returned. Now that she is dying she finds the reason he has been so aloof is because he is a vampire and member of the Night World. A world that she is never supposed to know about. James decides to turn Poppy into a vampire even though it is against the law of the Night World. He and Poppy are soul mates and they decide to chance the wrath of the Night World rather than be apart.

Daughters of Darkness
Three vampire sisters, Rowan, Kestrel, and Jade, run away from their vampire hometown. They move to a small town on the west coast where they can live without having their lives run by the elder vampires. This is where Jade and her brother Ash meet their soul mates. Unfortunately, their soul mates are human.

Spellbinder
Thea is a teenage witch. She has just moved to Las Vegas with her cousin/sister Blaise to live with their grandmother. Grandmother is an old Crone, one of the witch leaders. The two girls have moved from place to place because of Blaise's misuse of magic with human boys. Now Thea falls head over heels for a human boy. She thinks they are soulmates. Blaise wants to kill him in order to save Thea from being discovered and killed by the Night World for breaking the law.

The books were teen entertainment. The first book probably had the best idea behind it. After that it was kind of like watching daytime soaps.

Rating 2.5 I didn't hate it. I was far from loving it. Not intense enough.
Rating PG Killing, murder

The Silence of Snow

The Silence of Snow (Jayson Wolfe series #5) by Anita Stansfield

Jayson is just ready to release a new album. Times should be wonderful but he is about to learn the lesson of opposition. Tabloid rumors, rumors in his own ward, and illness bring him to another breaking point.

As always Stansfield has great core subjects. I was pleased that she chose to broach opposition. Jayson and his family come through clearly and without so much emotional turmoil that you can't understand what is happening anymore. This book also delved into dealing with chronic illness. Jayson began suffering debilitating migraines and a family member was diagnosed with Celiac Disease.

The Celiac Disease part was great. I was happy that she showed what a rigid, life/world changing disease this is and how little it is acknowledged by food companies.

The book was sweet, clean, fun and fast. She dropped most of her 'words' that I always look for. She picked up a few others....'glorious', and 'joyous'. Kind of funny.

I want to hear the music created by this character........I may also want to marry him. Mostly because he works from home.........

Rating 4
Rating PG The family talks to their teen about chastity. The ex-wife is abusing drugs.

Psych Major Syndrome

I won this sweet little puppy with the gorgeous cover, over at Bloggin' 'Bout Books. The cover alone seemed so fresh I couldn't wait to dig in. Plus for you Meg Cabot lovers, her recommendation is on the back of the book.

Leigh is in her first year at a bitty little liberal arts college in California. She comes from a nutty, psychic B&B in Arizona where her dad wears and eye patch and her mother takes aura pictures. Leigh is majoring in Psychology. As she wades her way through Psych 101 Leigh begins to self examine. She is pressing herself to keep the relationship going with Andrew, her high school boyfriend. He attends the same college. Leigh wants to prove that they can stay together despite everyone else assuming that they will break up.

She rooms with unconventional artsy Ami. Despite being polar opposites they become close friends immediately.

Leigh is also trying to prove herself in a highly focused educational arena. She signs up for a mentoring program in a local middle school and finds herself in over her head from day one.

Ami doesn't think that Andrew is the right guy for Leigh. Andrew's roommate Nathan seems to feel the same way. Whenever Leigh is around he acts mean and aloof.

As a former Psych major (this was after elementary ed, pre-med, nursing, and special ed........) I was laughing out loud at times. I loved that the author incorporated real psychology terms at the beginning of each chapter. Leigh was a sweet and innocent main character. I loved this most of the time........except when it was glaringly obvious that Andrew was a freaking idiot and she still couldn't give him a swift kick. The wrap up ending was predictable, which I don't really mind. I would have liked a little more......uh, romance......by then though.

Rating 4

Rating PG 13 During mentoring the teens talk about premarital sex, abortion, and contraceptives. The near sex scene never became intense or graphic.

Catching Fire

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

The spanking new book following the fabulous Hunger Games!

Katniss and Peeta have outwitted the Capitol and returned triumphant from the Hunger Games. But the Capitol didn't take their embarrassment lying down. They have now devised a way to get back at Katniss, especially since her bold move at the games created revolt in many of the districts. In an unprecedented move............Katniss and Peeta are put back into the Hunger Games.

Wow. The book took turns that were surprising. I really didn't see what Collins had coming in Catching Fire. It did seem to start out slow and didn't really get to the MAIN point for quite some time.

I am still rooting for Peeta and I can't wait for the next book. I hate reading a good series bit by bit.

Rating 4.5 Didn't hold the same shocking thrill for me that book 1 did.

Rating PG Not quite as gory as the previous book. There is killing but it wasn't as violent.

Sprout by Dale Peck

Sprout is a teen in small town Kansas. His mother is dead. His dad is an alcoholic. He dyes his hair green. He is gay.

Sprout's life begins really changing when one teacher sees his writing potential. She spends a summer coaching him to enter a writing contest. She learns a lot about Sprout. She also falls in love with his quirky alcoholic father. Sprout realizes through his writing that he wants to delve deeper into his sexuality. He has been having a relationship for four years with a boy known to everyone else as a heterosexual and as Sprout's enemy. Then a new boy (Ty) shows up at school. Sprout realizes he wants a boyfriend. He and Ty have a harrowing relationship based on many of their past personal issues.

This book was sweet, random, quirky, sarcastic and eye opening. Sprout broke my little heart in two. I completely fell for him and his struggles.

Rating 3.5 Smart, sweet book. Dopey use of things like BTW. I know.....fits the whole teen thing but still dorky.
Rating R sex, gay sex, swearing, child abuse, alcoholism, death

Slivers of Reality

Slivers of Reality

First of this book was wacked. I picked up the book when I saw our public library was having an author signing. I easily sped through the book because I was in bed with a fever. This may not have been the best time to read about a psychotic episode. I began to feel just as freaked out as the main character.

John has suffered a hailstorm of life altering events, all at once. His ill father becomes so sick that the family must decide whether or not to take him off of life support. John's first son Josh is found in the basement in the middle of a heroin reaction. John has had two bad marriages and most of his family relationships are on the rocks. He also has a lot of anger.
Once John and his live in girlfriend Kate decide that they will have to let John's father die, they begin to believe that they are receiving messages from his disembodied spirit. While this seems plausible, John delves even deeper and begins a sever but acute mental breakdown. John thinks that as his father breathes his last breath, he transfers his Power to John. With grandiose and paranoid thoughts John is unable to sleep for days. He finally ends up in UNNI under sedation.

At times I didn't think that John would ever recover. His girlfriend Kate did not have a breakdown but fed into his psychosis at the beginning by encouraging his thoughts and behavior. Wildly strange! I did however feel for the character despite the strangeness.

Super weird book that I don't recommend reading while you are sick. I am wildly curious how the author ever came up with this idea.......eep. John's father was LDS so this religion was brought up at times in the book. No biggie really except there were parts that didn't seem to really carry through. At one point John sort of says he is Joe Smith (I take this to mean Joseph). Also John was given a blessing by his father's bishop. The blessing was called an LDS blessing, which I have never heard spoken of that way before.

Rating 3 I felt for John. I was taken in by the whole story although it did take some time. At first I was put off by John seeming very angry. Which he has every right to be, it just took some getting used to.
Rating R Language, mental breakdown, drug use, scary.

The Lonesome Gods

The Lonesome Gods by Louis L'Amour

Well who'd a thunk I would be reading a Louis L'Amour book? This is another book on a list of books that I am determined to undertake.

I really liked finding out what the title meant. Young Johannes is traveling west with his dying father. They are headed across the desert to California where Johannes estranged grandfather lives. Hannes father hopes that once he dies and is out of the picture that the grandfather will be able to overcome his hatred for him and take Hannes in. Johannes and his father leave the wagon and other travelers as they are informed that Don Isidro (the Spanish grandfather) still seeks both of their lives. They live in an what they believe to be an abandoned Native American house in the desert. Johannes learns that the lonesome gods are the gods that have been long forgotten and are no longer worshipped by anyone.
Johanness grows up with the Indians and stays in the house in the desert after Don Isidro has his father murdered. Years later he is invited to live in California with Miss Nesslerode, another traveler from the wagon that he abandoned as a very young child.
Johannes is bright and moral. The tale weaves a good lesson about standards, education, and ingenuity. Also a great deal is spoken of about desert survival and Native American folk lore.

It surely wasn't the best read I have ever picked up yet it was a good red blooded, meat and potatoes kind of book. A great read for a young boy.

Rating 3
Rating PG murder

Common Sense

Common Sense by Thomas Paine

In 1776 Thomas Paine published his pamphlet 'Common Sense'. It was an informative and well written argument for Independence from Great Britain.

This was a short read. His opening paragraph was so true it was poetic. I am going to include some quotes.

"Some writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins. Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher."


"Time makes more converts than reason."

"The present state of America is truly alarming to every man who is capable of reflexion. Without law, without government, without any other mode of power then what is founded on, and granted by courtesy. Held together by an unexampled concurrence of sentiment, which, is nevertheless subject to change, and which every secret enemy is endeavoring to dissolve. Our present condition, is, Legislation without law; wisdom without a plan; constitution without a name; and what is strangely astonishing; perfect Independence contending for dependence."

"When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary."

He may accomplish by craft and subtlety, in the long run,, what he cannot do by force and violence in the short one."

Rating 5 for content. Very inspiring and informative.
Rating G

The Bell Jar

The Bell Jar

Although the book falls under work of fiction, I believe it is supposed to be semi-autobiographical. Esther is a young woman with what seems to be a bright future. She is able to travel from her home around Boston to New York for an internship that she won. While there she rooms in a hotel with ten other girls. She becomes more anxious and depressed and finds herself without any real goals. As her time in New York ends and she returns to her home in Boston she finds that she has not won a scholarship for her next years of school and is at loose ends.
She spirals into a queer depression. Finally after some half hearted suicide attempts, she buries herself under the crawl space of her house and swallows a bottle of pills. Once found, she is taken to a mental hospital. We are given intermittent glimpses of her past and future throughout the book. By the end Esther has lived through the suicide of a close friend and seems to have turned a corner in her own depression. She enters a room to take her concluding interview, the one that determines if she will be released from the hospital. Although book leaves it at that, there is a point previous where she mentions her baby. This leads me to believe that she is eventually released.

This book was on a list of books that I was determined to read. Knowing that this book is haled by many made me consider the distinct possibility that I would not like it. I was mostly right. I found the imagery and writing lovely. And I am sure if you have ever been very depressed you will be able to identify with the strange thoughts and feelings of hopelessness. What I didn't like was the thought that many young people may identify because of the popularity of the book. I felt like Esther had many more choices than she let on. And girls presently have multitudes of choices if they are willing to put forth the effort. I assume that Esther/Plath had a serious illness which I do not want to downplay. I don't think that they necessarily suffered from something that they could just think themselves happy out of. The book was just royally depressing and Esther didn't take enough responsibility for her situation.

Rating 2.5 I feel like a bit of a fence sitter here. I loved the imagery conjured by the writing. Some of the words were so lovely. I don't like that this book and many other 'memoirs' are so popular. There are somethings I would rather not know.
Also sometimes I was confused......not enough information was given to clear the muddy water.
Rating PG 13 Sex, suicide, drug use, shock therapy.

The Time Taveler's Wife

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audry Niffenegger

Okay..........eep! This really isn't a book review per say. I just saw the movie based on the book. In general I do not condone book to movie. They are almost always ruined with poor casting or creative license. However, I loved this movie almost as much as I loved the book. The movie concentrated more on Clare and Henry and not as much on their surrounding family and friends (whom I didn't like anyway). Also the movie took out all of the parts of the book that made it rated R. Can you believe the movie was cleaner??? In the book Clare was a trash mouth, which just made me cringe. I still fell completely in love with Clare and Henry........and especially Henry. I cried my eyes out from beginning to end.....probably because I already knew the story. So, if you are ever going to see a book to movie......this is the one.

Book Rating 5 So emotional and unique. It is one of my top faves ever.
Book Rating R This is the part that makes me hesitate recommending it to anyone I know. Clare truly has the mouth of a convict, not a woman. I'm sure there are other parts also but it's been about a year since rereading it and I only remember Clare.

City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments Book Three)

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

In the conclusion of The Mortal Instruments series, Valentine is ready to take down the wards protecting the shadow hunter city of Alicante. Then he will allow it to be run over by demons in order to force the shadow hunter Clave to agree to his wishes. Valentine wants to create new shadow hunters and destroy the old ones. For this he needs the three mortal instruments.
Jace goes to Alicante with his family to the meeting of he Clave. The Clave has convened to determine how to fight Valentine.
Clary sneaks into the secret city with Luke. She is there to find the warlock that can help her wake her mother from the magically induced coma.
All Hell breaks loose literally and many are wounded and killed as Valentines demon army comes to destroy the city and its inhabitants.
Jace and Clary are able to uncover the secrets that will undo Valentine.

I am still loving this series. Also.....I am so proud of myself!! I actually figured out the twist before it was revealed. My distrust proved to be true. I am so happy. Even though the book ended in a way that I was truly pleased with, I felt like the character romance that I was rooting for had fizzled by the end. Lots of drama leading up to ..........eh okay. It left me wanting.

Rating 5 Yes I had a problem with the ending for Jace and Clary. However I do like that the rest of the events were wrapped up in a way that didn't go ON and ON and ON. Concise is nice. Still super funny and truly entertaining.
Rating PG 13 Death, destruction, demons, language, some heated romance.

Star Girl

Star Girl by Jerry Spinelli

An out of the ordinary read! Stargirl arrives at Mica High after being home schooled her whole life. She has changed her name several times when the old one 'wears out'. She dresses like a pioneer. Stargirl decorates her desk with a cloth and flower everyday. She hands out treats to her homeroom each holiday and she sings 'Happy Birthday' to the students during lunch, while strumming her ukulele. Despite not fitting the mold, Stargirl worms her way into the hearts of most of the student body of Mica High.

Leo is your run of the mill eleventh grader. He does what all of the other students at Mica do. The only things out of the ordinary about Leo is that he collects porcupine ties and he started a high school talk show with his friend Kevin, called, 'The Hot Seat'.

Stargirl loves Leo. He is fascinated by her. She shows him what it is like to be different and to just let go of everyone's expectations and do what you enjoy. She loves thinking of others and devises ways to cheer up random people anonymously.

Stargirl's popularity takes a nose dive when the high school basketball team loses a game after their first winning streak in years. The student body turns against her. She was asked to be a cheerleader after her antics make school sports cool again. But once she cheers for the other teams and helps an injured opponent, the students admiration turns sour. Stargirl is shunned. Her shunning spreads to Leo once they become a couple.

Stargirl reverts to her old name, Susan, and tries to conform. She hopes that the other kids will look at her again instead of pretending she doesn't exist. Leo and Kevin put her on 'The Hot Seat'. Things turn bad as the students asking the questions on the show, let their disdain for Stargirl be known.

Once Susan finds she can't return to her former popularity she reverts to Stargirl and all of her wild ways.

The question of whether you can be different from the whole and still accepted, was answered in a startling way. I hate to say that I was uncomfortable with Stargirl.......but I was. I think I was embarrassed for her because she wasn't embarrassed for herself. Even when Leo became close to her and we were able to learn more about her point of view, she still didn't seem real. Actually she seemed like she wasn't living in reality. By the end she broke my heart and I was finally cheering for her silently and wondering why they could like her once and not again. She did have

some good ideas about serving others. Leo made me want to strangle him, probably because he didn't dare to go against the grain.........and I wouldn't have either at that age.

Rating 3.5 I wasn't as enchanted as I wanted to be. It was still a great book that I would recommend to anyone above the age of 9.

Rating G

City Of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments Book Two)

City of Ashes Mortal Instruments Book Two by Cassandra Clare

Clary's mother is still in a magical coma. Luke her Shadowhunter/werewolf father by association is looking after her. Her bio dad, the evil Valentine is on the loose and looking to make a demonic army. Simon, her best friend is still crushing on her and is now in mortal peril by association. Jace and Clary have a twisted and fascinating connection that I can't get over.

I wasn't sure Book Two was going to live up to Book One. Many times book two (movie two) is a vehicle to get to book three, but in this case I think this book held its own. The relationships between Clary and Jace, and Clary and Simon are killing me. There are twists that I didn't see coming. And I still feel like the author has lots of surprises to come. I am wildly suspicious about one turn of events and spend much of my reading time looking for clues to prove my suspicions correct. As soon as I finished this book I picked up the next one. I don't think I want them to be over.

The biting humor is fantastic!

Rating 5 I may have liked this book even more than book one.

Rating PG 13 Demonic violence, sexuality, homosexuality, inference of incestuous relationships. This all sounds pretty severe when I put it down like that........but I don't think it's that terrible. On the other hand I have a high tolerance and tend to downplay things that other people (people with higher standards) get upset over.

The October Country

The October Country by Ray Bradbury

OCTOBER COUNTRY ...that country where it is always turning late in the year. That country where the hills are fog and the rivers are mist; where noons go quickly, dusks and twilights linger, and midnights stay. That country composed in the main of cellars, sub-cellars, coal bins, closets, attics, and pantries faced away from the sun. That country whose people are autumn people, thinking only autumn thoughts. Whose people passing at night on the empty walks sound like rain...

Oooh it just sounds so......October! I love October and this book just gave me a jump start on autumn. Bradbury's style of horror is so subtle that you don't get the full blow until the story wraps up.

This is a book of short stories. My favorites were.......The Jar, The Lake, The Scythe, and The Man Upstairs. Some of the other stories were just weird and Bradbury's style did take some getting used to. Probably because I have immersed myself in shallow teen reads lately.

Rating 3.5 Some great stories mixed with some less great. I have a hard time ending one story and entering right into another one. Maybe I should be putting the book down between stories.

Rating PG I don't think the stories were that horrifying.

Kingdom Come The Final Victory

Kingdom come The Final Victory by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins

This is the final book in the 'Left Behind' series. Christ has returned to earth to reign and Satan is bound for a thousand years. Naturals (the people that lived through the return of Christ and those born after His coming) and glorified beings (the ones martyred or raptured) exist together. Apparently their only reason for existence is to worship. The naturals that were born after Christ's appearance have 100 years to become believers or they die on their hundredth birthday. There are many who do not worship Christ as their Savior. They begin an uprising to build the greatest army the world has ever seen in order to stand as the army of Satan when he is again loosed on the earth.

The concept was an interesting idea it just sort of fell flat for me. At times I skimmed when I was tired or disturbed by their interpretation of scripture. Basically everyone lived for a thousand years and then Satan was loosed. There was no battle. The earth was renewed. The end.

Rating 2.5 Meh.....it was okay. I'm glad I finished the series. The first book, 'Left Behind' was a book that I disagree with doctrinally but I did find entertaining enough. I give it a 4 for entertainment. I read all of the ones after that because I wanted to read the series, but I didn't enjoy them as much.

Rating G

The Dogs Of Babel

The Dogs Of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst

Linguistics professor Paul Iverson returns home one day to find his wife Lexy has died by falling from their apple tree. Their dog Lorelei was the only witness to the tragic accident.

Paul decides he must know what happened to Lexy. He takes leave from his teaching position and tries to teach Lorelei to speak, in hopes that she can then tell him what happened.

The story rotates through chapters of coming to know Lexy through Paul's memories and Paul's desperate attempts at dog linguistics. The idea is fresh and interesting. The story wrenched my heart. Lexy was quirky and off balanced. Paul, normally black and white, deviates in order to do what he can for the love that has overtaken his life and then disappeared.

Rating 4 Sweet and sad

Rating PG13 language and nongraphic sex

City of Bones The Mortal Instruments Book One

The City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Fifteen year old Clary takes her best friend Simon to an all ages club in New York City. That is the night she finds out she can see demons, downworlders, and demon slayers.
It's no coincidence that Clary is able to see the slaying of a demon that night. She can also see a group of teenage demon slayers. Within days Clary finds out that these people have more to do with her life than any of the ordinary things she was part of before. Clary's mother Jocelyn is attacked and kidnapped in their brownstone home. Jace, one of the demon slayers finds Clary just as she is being attacked by and killing a Ravener.
Jace and Clary form an immediate and intense bond. Simon and Jace both have feelings for Clary. These feelings and the fact that Clary's mother may have been a shadowhunter before Clary's birth, have Clary's life doing a 180 that ends in a twisted sick manner.
The City of Bones is dark and super funny. One thing that is always missing from Twilight (the funny!!!). The teens are sharp and witty. The love and danger intense. I am excited to pick up City of Ashes (the next book in The Mortal Instruments series.)
Rating 5
Rating PG to PG13 some language and sexual tension, homosexuality

Skinned

Skinned by Robin Wasserman

Lia Kahn lives in the not so distant future. After the wars and natural disasters, only the poor live in cities. Only the poor have babies that are not genetic masterpieces.
Lia's father has high credit. She does not live in a city. She is rich and popular. Whatever Lia does or likes is the next hot thing.
Lia takes her sister's place in the family car with the destination coordinates already places in the GPS. Cars are rarely 'driven' by a live driver. In an out of the ordinary, bizarre fluke, Lia is in a car wreck. Her body badly burned and limbs ultimately lost, her family chooses to turn her into a 'mech'. Her brain is scanned and put into a mechanical body, made to look and feel as close to human as possible. Lia has to learn to speak and move all over again. Once she has control of her new body, Lia is taken home.
Even though Lia feels like Lia most of society sees her as a non-living machine. Lia tries to find her place in a world she didn't choose to become a part of. Befriended by Auden, a boy that she would never have been friends with before the accident, Lia tries to find out if she still belongs with the humans or if only the mechs understand her now.
The friendship between human boy and mech leads to disaster and Lia is faced with the fact that she is indestructible and this could prove dangerous to any humans she is around.

A fun futuristic book with a great look at the expanding bounds of technology. There were times when the relationships didn't seem deeply investigated enough. I also felt like the book ended in a sigh instead of a bang.

Rating 4
Rating R Excessive use of profanity. Sexual content but not sexually graphic. Teen sex. Lesbianism.

The Templars

The Templars The Secret History Revealed by Barbara Frale

In recent years the mystique surrounding the templars has become popular thanks to author Dan Brown. The Templars is not another fictitious book. Frale is well educated in templar, papacy and crusade history. She works in the Vatican archives. Frale was able to use old and forgotten documents to put together this insightful book.

She explains how and why the templars were formed, to whom they answered, how long they supposedly lasted, their secret rituals, and how they finally came to an end.

The book read like a text book. The information was good and considering this was non fiction it did get dry. I had a hard time following the people and the time. She jumped around on the timeline because her layout was more topic based. Also at times I felt like a needed a diagram to figure out where the people belonged. I am not entirely familiar with far reaching Catholic history so I spent some time confused over what seemed like quick change of papacy and other leaders.

By the time I reached around pg. 150 I was able to keep it all straight but I think that is because the book stayed to mostly one time period and there were fewer historical players.

Rating 3 for the information but I would have to rate it lower for the confusion.

Rating PG Rituals include homosexuality and hazing.