Where Angles Fall (The Great and Terrible #2)

Not as strong and intriguing as Book #1 but still powerful.


The characters have now moved from the pre-existance to their mortal lives.

Evil is lurking and calamity is brewing. The stage is being set for the final showdown.

Luke and Ammon are twin brothers, raised by LDS parents. Their father is the top war administrator for the President. Sam is their foster brother. Raised in an ugly and abusive environment and taken in by the Brightons. He becomes a skilled warrior for the U.S. Army.

Elizbeth is born in Persia. Her mother dies from her birth and she is raised by a single father, struggling in the poor country to eek out a living and love his daughter.

The insight into Satan is creepy and very realistic.



My favorite quote...

"But deomcracies, with all their beauties, are also the most fragile of governments known to man. They are delicate and weak and dependent on good. And when the people turn to darkness, their democracies are doomed, for government cannot exceed the moral worth of the people it rules. And while the economic and moral prosperity that follows freedom can provide fertile ground for the truth, history has proven that prosperity will inevitably sprout the weeds of selfishness, pride, and decay.

When the people become physically comfortable, the truth is ignored. And when they become wealthy, the truth is despised."
 
Rating 4  I LOVED the first one.  This one hardly compares but still good.
Rating  Rating PG 13 violence having to do with war.  Satan and his followers attempt to entice the living, kinda creepy.

Dead Until Dark

Sookie is a small town, southern, cocktail waitress.  She proclaims she is afflicted by a 'disability'...mind reading.  Sookie has been waiting for something to perk up her dull life.  That's when Bill the vampire shows up and Sookie's life goes from dead to deadly.

I adore Bill the vampire. I can get into the mystery. I am not yet totally offended by the graphic nature. The sex was a little explicit. I am totally down with Sookie's 'disability'. But Heaven help her personality. What the heck does Bill want with her? It's okay that she is a little 'old fashion', naive, and unsophisticated....maybe it's the way she speaks. Something about her rubs me the wrong way. I guess I will have to learn to live with it because I plan on continuing the series, at least to the next book.

Rating 3.5 Obviously Sookie drives me to drinking but I did like the rest of the book.
Rating R Graphic violence, graphic sex, murder.

Magic Study

Yelena has moved South, left her job as food taster, and her love, Valek.  She meets her familly and learns about her magical abilities. 

A definite drop in score for Magic Study. Even though I took issue with Poison Study for its simplistic writing style I still had a pretty serious book crush on it. I was leery of book #2 as I usually am.....and I was right.


I personally don't take change easily in my own life or when I come to know a character in a book. I was not excited that Yelena had to leave behind Ixia and travel South. The story ended up not being half bad. I just had to get used to it. But I did miss Valek with a heated passion.

Later things began getting sketchy. I appreciated that even though there was a rape in Poison, it was written with some dignity. But please......Snyder, don't make this a running theme. I don't want to hear about anymore brutality. STOP with the raping. Yelena went from a sharp awesome character to a nut job that forged ahead without thought. When Valek finally shows up later in the book.....after the magic and the characters have taken a nose dive...he is unrecognizeable. I don't know who he is any more. I am glad he loves Yelena...but he is a simpering sissy that says 'my love' all of the time. Once made my heart beat rather quickly....the successive times made vomit come up in my mouth a little bit.

I still think the writing style is very simple...like grade 5. Then Snyder throws in some sex and rape. Choose an audience!

After all of the complaints, I still liked the book and will continue the series to see if Valek ever mans up or Yelena gets control of her teen rebellion.
 
Rating 3 Not enough manly Valek and I don't like that Yelena doesn't think before acting.  The friendships are endearing, including the horse.
Rating PG 13 More rape and brutality, sex.

Poison Study

Up front I have to say that this isn't a clear 4 stars and I have a hard time pinpointing why. I loved the characters. I felt like the author had a great grip on who they were. Exploring the physical and psychological issues was accomplished very well. The fantasy was just enough but not so much that I lost interest (I can only delve so deep into fantasy lit.........shudder). The main character Yelena was extremely smart and strong. I loved her. The whole idea of the book was just smashing.

Here's the problem. Lots of times I felt like I would love to have my 10 year old daughter read this and then there would be a little swearing, eventually a rape (which was written not overly graphically). I believe the reason I kept thinking that it would be a great book for my girl was because it was written in such a rudimentary way. Maybe that sounds harsh. The writing was very simple but involved some adult themes. I questioned whether I was reading a book for 5th graders or young adults. It bothered me.

Still, I was charmed by the main idea (Yelena being saved from the gallows to become a food taster for the Commander and having to learn to identify poison.) This also included how not just the poison in the food but how we can be poisoned by lies, secrets, and abuse.

So there. I leave it at a 4 and hope that the writing for the next books becomes more intricate and developed.

 

Rating 4

Rating PG 13  language, rape, alluding to sex

Kiss Of Life (Generation Dead #2)

*Spoilers......and overall uninteresting if you haven't read Generation Dead*
After Adam is killed by Pete, a zombie hater, he returns to life.  Phoebe  feels love and guilt that Adam died saving her.  Since Adam is techincally still walking around, Pete was not convicted of murder.  Phoebe spends a lot of time with Adam since she was told that love brings the undead back faster.  Adam struggles with simple movement and speech.  The rights of the undead are being tried.  Groups are out to see the zombies returned to complete death or to do scientific research on them.

I could go on and on but the book really wasn't as good as the first one.  I was excited to pick this book up to see what happened with the zombie love triangle between Phoebe and Adam and Tommy.  I wish I had only checked it out from the library instead of purchasing it.  It took forever for the book to go anywhere.  Not until the very end is there very much action but it felt unfinished.  I hate second books that are merely a bridge to book three.

I will definitely read the next book in the series, "Passing Strange", because it has one of the better characters, Karen, a zombie sometimes passing as human.  By the end of the book we are unsure what has happened to her.  I have the feeling that there will be loose ends even as the series wraps up.  I also have suspicions about what will happen next and will be glad to have everything explained.

Rating 3 Meh.......
Rating PG 13 Death, zombies, murder, torture, language.

1001 Things You Didn't Know You Wanted To Know

I love facts.  I do.  I love finding out little tidbits of information.  This book was read during a party.  If you know me at all......you know this is pretty probable.  The book was laying about when picked up by another guest.  She started in on all of the fact telling.  It got to be a bad habit.  By the end of the party we had read the whole book.  It was like a sick compulsion to share every fact we read.  When you read this book make sure there is at least one other person with you.  You will be so compelled to tell someone what you just read that you will not be able to contain the urge.  If you are alone I swear to you......you will be speaking aloud to thin air.

There were some things that we already knew (ex.  A female gives only X chromosomes and it's up to the male to give an X or Y......determining the gender of the offspring.  Please......if you are in any way sexually active....please, please tell me you know this.)  There were some things that were too boring to mention.  But most of them were interesting and fun.

Rating 4  Fun book to read with other people.  Great introvert tool for conversing with the enemy (anyone else you don't know).
Rating PG 13 There is a section on sex, which my little party friend tried to skip........but I went right for it as soon as she let go of the book.

Life As We Knew It (Last Survivors #1)

If you have ever needed external motivation to beef up your food storage......here it is.  It heightened my naturally high anxiety level to 'frantic'.  I plan to begin stock piling wood, asprin, batteries, fuel, canned fruit and veggies, and canned chicken, like nobody's business.  And I am beginning to think that my vaulted ceiling was a mistake.  It won't hold in enough heat when the ash comes.  I'm getting ahead of myself.....

Teenager Miranda is your run of the mill girl.  She worries about blog stalking her Olympic crush. She's a little shallow. She wants less homework and worries about her changing friendships.  Then a once a life time meteor collision with the moon goes from block party atmosphere to apocalyptic.  The moon is pushed closer to the Earth causing it's gravitation to spur one natural disaster after another.  No longer is Miranda worried about which sport to play or the fact that she is growing apart from her childhood friends.  Survival is at the forefront.  Sacrifice, starvation, desolation, and death quickly take the place of free spirited American life.  Miranda captures it all in journal entries.

This is a superb work of post-apocalyptic fiction.  It is so believeable that you can't decide whether to keep reading or start hoarding.  It is very simply written and a tad slow at the beginning.  The simplicity makes it scarier on one hand.  The sense of desperation and grueling day to day survival is vivid.  And then sometimes I felt like the simplicity also took away.  I didn't get the sense of urgency that I think would exist during a crisis.  That took it down a point for me.  Also, I am now realizing......hello! Where was your weapon stock pile? How were they going to defend their wood, asprin, and canned chicken for Pete's sake. That part is so unrealistic I can't believe I forgot it was one of the point deductors. And I just have to put in my 2 cents....I realize the author can write any old thing she wants and if I were to author a book I could splatter my opinions everywhere....but I didn't like the Conservative slamming, from President bashing (which granted I would do if the President in the book I wrote were a so Liberal he was suffocating) to making Christians look like Kool-Aid sipping nut jobs. I think I may have been more forgiving if this book wasn't aimed at a younger audience. Just my opinion.



Rating 4
Rating PG 13  Crisis situations, death, destruction, scarey situations, talk of promiscuity.

A Loving Heart (Dicken's Inn #3)

*Spoilers*

The third installment of the Dicken's Inn saga picks up where the second left off.  Chas is pregnant with their second child.  Jackson has been baptized and they are looking forward to the time when they can be sealed in the temple.
We immediately find out that the baby Chas is carrying has a heart defect and may die at or before birth.  Jackson's former FBI associate calls to see if he will accept a woman in protective custody (hiding from the mob) at the Dicken's Inn. Jackson's sister comes to stay with the family to help.  Her son, a soldier in the war in the Middle East is injured and ends up moving in to the inn.  And Jackson's old FBI team member finally comes for a visit to help with the woman they are harboring........he may never end up leaving.

I think this may have been the best book in this series so far.  Jackson was all manly and cop like, which is a plus.  I do appreciate the way that Stansfield's characters approach situations and handle themselves very graciously and very gospel oriented, but I don't find it at all realistic.  This time Jackson seemed more human to me......especially when he whipped out his duty weapon.  Aside from the totally obnoxious fact that the characters are usually independently wealthy and function together as a couple.........ALL day, EVERY day (Which I consider to be the biggest work of fiction in these books)...the book was much more palatable.  It didn't have the emotional turmoil that many times harrows up these books.  I am ready for this series to be over.  I love Jackson and if he actually worked full time as an agent or a police officer he would probably be a much better character........but he runs an inn.....and is a little demasculinized by it.

Rating 3.5  More action.  Jackson actually uses a weapon....which he stopped wearing when he retired......and I find absurd.  The storyline containing the new baby was good and even though it was traumatic, it wasn't so mentally emotional that I felt like a dog going in cirlces after my tail.
Rating PG  Shooting!!!!

A Great And Terrible Beauty

A Great And Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

Gemma is left at a Victorian England boarding school after she witnesses the death of her mother in a vision.  She quickly realizes that she is an outsider in a place she used to long for.  Transplanted from India into a group of hostile mean girls, in a society she once ached for but now regrets how her desires came about.  Gemma is paired with Ann, another outcast.  Her quick wit, snarkiness and eventually her powers to see beyond,  cause the elite girls to see her as an asset.  The girls form a secret society using Gemma's supernatural powers.  They begin to realize the power they are capable of.....power to have anything they desire. 

Beautiful title, lovely book cover, likeable and entertaining story.  The drawback for me are the vision scenarios...I didn't get into them, or maybe I did. I didn't like the feeling of confusion, darkness, dreaminess.  It didn't make sense to me or wasn't concrete enough for me to grasp.  The lurking evil wasn't really explained well enough for it to feel as truly menacing as it should have been.  I think the book was capable of being much scarier which would have given it the substance needed to make it a great book.

Rating 3.5
Rating PG 13  Murder, supernatural.....scarey elements, sensuality.

The Wedding Dress

The Wedding Dress by Carrie Young

A compilation of short stories detailing life in the early 1900's on the plains of North Dakota.  The fictional stories feel real.  Some of them give the sense of ghost stories where you are just waiting for the creepy ending which never comes.  The stories are sweet, engaging, and poignant.  The characters are good, solid, moral people.  Endings were not always happy but the morality always shined through.

Rating a good solid 3  Easy to pick up and read bit by bit or as a whole.
Rating G 

Rumors A Luxe Novel

Is it wrong to swoon over a cover of a book so much that you don't care what takes place inside?  I would love to put on this blood red frosting and walk right into New York elite society 1899.

Spoilers if you haven't read The Luxe.

Elizabeth has gone to meet Will in a very underdescribed manner....out West.  Diana is hot for Henry.  Henry is hot for Di.  The fact that Henry was engaged to Diana's dead sister is keeping them apart.  Penelope is a hot mess as far as I am concerned.  Her kitty claws are out and ready to capture Henry.  Lina, the personal maid that Elizabeth fired is on the loose and vying for a place in a society she has envied her whole life.

I was completely caught up in The Luxe.  This book was a severe disappointment.  I quickly tire of the intrigue, gossip, backstabbing and jealousy.  I just want the people in love to get together.  The surprise ending was a nightmare.........a serious, serious nightmare which I don't understand.  And it will lead me to pick up the next book as soon as I can.

Rating  3  I HATED the end of this book.  It magnified how in need the rest of the book was. 
Rating PG mature themes but not entirely dirty

Spirit Bound (A Vampire Academy Novel #5)

If I haven't mentioned before.....I really hate the pictures on these books.  The people are not that hot and they are too old. 
Well, somehow I have submerged myself right into another love triangle.  I fall for it every time but I am getting REALLY tired of it.  Dimitri is still Strigoi and still alive after Rose failed to kill him.  She has returned to the Academy in time to graduate and become a guardian.  During this time she has promised Adrian to give a fair shot to a relationship with him.  The whole cast of gradutates go to court to await their new stations in life.
Rose has hatched a plan to use Lissa's spirit magic to somehow change Dimitri from Strigoi back to dhampir.  She needs information from the one person claiming to have already worked this magic.  This includes breaking an enemy out of a secure Moroi prison.
There are lots of side stories.  The book was entertaining as usual but by the time I reached the surprise ending and realized that this was NOT going to end the series I was.......perturbed to say the least.  I don't know how much more I can take of Rose not being settled in a relationship.  I want her to be with both Adrian and Dimitri......this seems to be a running theme in my life, er well, my literary life. 
The side stories were good.  The romance went up a notch.  The mysterious ending left me intruguied but praying that the next book will put an end to it all.  And finally, getting a little sick of the love triangle angle.

Rating 4  I will fully admit this is due to the emotion I felt over Dimitri, the gladness I felt over Rose and Adrian hooking up, and the intriguing ending.
Rating R  Very strong language for teen fiction including multiple uses of the F word, sexual situations, smoking, alcohol consumption by teens, contraception.

The Luxe

I have heard this series likened to Gossip Girl.  Since I have no idea what that is I can't say one way or  the other.  I suspect it wasn't always a flattering comaprison though.  Either way.......I have to admit up front that I liked this book.  Originally I was attracted to the cover like a child to a chocolate bar.  The dress is phenominal!  I still put off picking it up and reading it for a very long time......but like anything pink and glittery, I will eventually sucumb.
Elizabeth Holland is at the top of the richie rich game in New York elite society 1899.  She is in love with the stable boy.  She is engaged to Henry Schoonmaker; rich, handsome, playboy.  Liz's bestie, evil biddy wrapped in scarlet, Penelope Hayes.....wants her finely sharpened claws dug into Henry.  Liz's little sis Diana is in love with the Henry that no one else sees.  Not a one of them is going to get what they want. 
I can admit this is a fluff piece.  Yet I really connected with the heartfelt desire to have what you can't.  I am not kidding, I even shed a tear......well a few.  Yes, it was pool side and I do consider this light reading.  But I did feel strongly about the girls.....the saner two....having to watch while what they wanted more than anything slipped from their fingers. 

Rating 4.......I know, sort of fluffy for a 4 but I tell you, I'm in it for the desire.
Rating PG 13  Sneaking off to the stables and the green house, or one of the many kitchens in your mansion for a tryst gets you a PG 13.  It wasn't salacious really or even well described but I wouldn't want my 10 year old to read this even though she is literate enough.

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner

An Eclipse Novella

Meyer's Eclipse spin off novella was a sweet little bite to hold me over until the end of this month!  I am glad that I read this on line at Meyer's website http://www.breetanner.com/ .  It was a nice change from the Bella/Edward/Jacob intensity.
Bree was one of Victoria's newborn army, made to wipe out Bella.  The story doesn't involve much of Bree's background which she has forgotten after being made a vampire.  I was happy to see someone else's perspective but disappointed that I didn't really get the feeling of hunger and desperate desire that I thought would be driving Bree at her new stage.  I guess if she had been so overtaken with blood lust there wouldn't have been much of a story or any conversation.
Even though I knew she would end up dying by the end I still felt bad.  I had some connection with her and wished that she could have stayed with the Cullens.

Rating 3 Interesting but not the best.  I felt like it was a bit of a ploy for more royalties........so I am glad that I read it online.
Rating PG Some gore.......vampire feeding.

My Horizontal Life

My Horizontal Life by Chelsea Handler

I'm pretty sure that this is one of those things you shouldn't admit to liking.  I thought it was a book I could keep under wraps and no one would be the wiser.  Then my hubby found it.........and read it before I could. 

Chelsea Handler has no shame when it comes to laying out what she can recall of her wild sex life.  The antecdotes were funny and somewhat surprising what she wasn't willing to do. 
The read, like many loose girls was cheap and easy.  The language was foul.  The alcohol was flowing.  How she didn't spot the gay guy I attribute to Ecstacy blindness.  I feel like I should soon take an oath to get back on the wagon of cleaner entertainment......right after I read Chelsea, Chelsea, Bang! Bang!

Rating 2.5  I can't rate it higher than 'Vodka' which was a better book.  Still docking points for the blatant vulagrity and obvious alcohol and drug abuse......there can be too much of a good thing.
Rating R  Sex, language, drugs, alcohol.

Are You There, Vodka? It's Me Chelsea

Are You There, Vodka?  It's Me Chelsea

I shudder to admit that I read this.  But it was still funny.  Chelsea Handler of Chelsea Lately, a stand up comedian and unacknowledged alcoholic busts out short stories in this memoir.  As you may know, I am not a fan of many a memoir.  Ruined by 'Running With Scissors', I don't need to know the sick details of your putrid up bringing.  She keeps the family parts pretty upbeat though.  No molestation or reading your own fecal matter like tea leaves.
I am struggling between giving this book a 1 and an X rating for her obscene amounts of consumed alcohol, Ecstasy, and men.........and possibly a 3 and an R because I laughed pretty hard at parts.  She and her father together are a crack up.  Her dad reminds me of the dad on King of Queens. 
This book is light reading and pretty funny but beware.......so, so foul which is not a surprise if you have ever heard of Chelsea Handler.

Rating 2.5  I did laugh, but her explicit language and extreme substance abuse, whether real or beefed up....got a little tiring.  At some point it stops being funny.
Rating R   Lots of sex, lots of language, lots of drugs and drinking. 

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austin and Seth Grahame-Smith

I tried........I delayed, and yet my weak will collapsed.  I Bought Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.  I was wholly enchanted by the cover.  Giddy with anticipation of zombie mayhem combined with the goodness of Austen love.....I delved into the depths of England overtaken with Satan's army.  I don't care who you are, this is a good idea.  If you feel now that you should stop, and possibly have my ability to be literate held behind lock and key with Federal Marshals at ready........well you are living on a nut farm and I do not wish to visit your parched and dry life there.

Austen alone is well worth the read for most women.  But add puss, vomit, and brain craving zombies and you now have a book worth making room for in your purse.  Tote this with you and read whenever possible.  After headily trying to recall which bits of this novel were original.....I said, "To Hell with it."  This is the way it was surely intended to be.  Darcy is much more palatable when weilding weaponry.  His standoffish and uptight behavior seem nearly manly and desireable when accompanied with musketry. And lo and behold, Miss Elizabeth Bennett you are now my hero.  Able to slay the undead with out the blink of an eye.  To use all manner of sword, dagger, gun and physical prowess to take on the stumbling zombies of the English countryside.  And as Mr. Darcy is humble enough to profess his true feelings of love.......Elizabeth will hear none of his amore......she beats the holy tar out of him.  Heaven help us all, this is how Pride and Prejudice was meant to be.
Here, the proper use of pus and vomit..."As dinner continued in this manner, Elizabeth's eye was continually drawn to Charlotte, who hovered over her plate, using a spoon to shovel goose meat and gravy in the general direction of her mouth, with limited success.  As she did, one of the sores beneath her eye burst, sending a trickle of bloody pus down her cheek and into her mouith.  Apparently, she found the added flavor agreeable, for it only increased the frequency of her spoonfuls.  Elizabeth, however, could not help but vomit ever so slightly into her handkerchief."

Rating 4.5   Loved it!  The only detraction was the original writing which can get wordy when you just want some vomit, zombie whoopin', and Darcy to finally make his move.
Rating PG   Bloody zombie killing, zombies eating people, vomit, ninjas, and one point where Elizabeth returns the balls belonging to Darcy's weapon and there is sexual inuendo (which was funny:)  ).

Not My Daughter

Not My Daughter by Barbara Delinsky

Three bright, college bound teens make a pact to become pregnant and have babies.  News of the pact is quickly leaked by one of the friends.  The community's anger and disappointment is soon turned on one of the mothers......also the principal of the highschool.  The mother having been pregnant herself at seventeen but still making a successful life.

The story drew me in when I wondered, 'What the heck were they thinking?"  And then......pft, what they were thinking was never really explained.  The girls decided after a summer of babysitting that they, as mature 17 year old girls, could be better mothers than the ones they worked for.  Also it seemed so fun to have something of your own.  I would like to offer up that a kitten would have been a better choice.

The book had its points.  The mothers did question their culpability in the situation, wondering if they had parented wrong.  And as far as the book describes, they probably didn't, but it is a question asked by most parents.  It was just a foolish pact between the girls.  Once the gossip mill started there were some hard times.  It described fairly well what it can be like in a small town where your business is everyone elses.  The maturity of the girls seemed to be on target.  They were ridiculous fools.  And even though Delinsky showed this........I was still more than irked.  The girls were idiots.  They never had a good reason for doing something SO life changing.  Beyond the passing mention of adoption or abortion, the options were never really given any creedence.  The main teen Lily said more than once that she didn't want the father in the picture because she wanted the baby to be 'hers'.  It made me so violently angry that I wanted to poke her in the eye.  So self centered and immature I wanted the community to rip her to shreds.  By the end.....probably the worst part........the whole package is tied up in a snappy little bow.  The babies are all born healthy.  All of the parents accept the babies and their daughters.  The girls live at home and get taken care of by their parents.  I'm not saying that that situation isn't probably true to life at times......I just didn't like it.

Rating 2  Okay, I wanted somewhere in the book to have better options or to show the struggle.....or to at least show someone with enough maturity to say 'hey what's best for the poor baby?'. 
Rating PG 13 Teen pregnancy, subject of abortion, sex between an unmarried adult couple, teen sex

The Council of Dads

The Council of Dads by Bruce Feiler

New York Times Best Selling Author Bruce Feiler is known for his books on walking.  'Walking the Bible' even being turned into a PBS documentary.  His livelyhood having very much to do with walking.  Then an astonishing blow.  A cancerous tumor on his femur.  Not only could he lose his leg, his ability to walk, his livelyhood, Bruce could lose his life.  As the father of 3 year old twins he was heartbroken.

This book is Bruce's attempt at making a safety net if he should succumb to the cancer.  He gathered men representing stages of his life and characteristics that he wanted his girls to know about him if he could not be with them.  Fantastic idea.

I found myself interested more in the medical aspect of the book and his day to day life with his wife and children.  The Council of Dads was a great idea and the men had wonderful ideas about what they would do and say for the girls.  But somehow I found myself not wanting to have anything to do with the council.  Bruce seemed like a great father.  I resented the fact that he might die and leave his wife and daughters.  I didn't want him to die and I didn't like that he was making any kind of arrangements should events turn in that direction.  I'm not saying he shouldn't have because as a good father he was doing something awesome for his daughter's future.  I just didn't want him to die and I refused to be party to his planning for a dim future......so there.

At one point he and his wife go to visit the place where he will someday be buried.  I think this was the saddest part for me.  He writes........."Tears were streaming down our cheeks, salt trickling into our mouths.  The rain was matting our hair. My crutches tumbled to the ground. And in the darkened cathedral of  a Bonaventure thundershower, we clung to each other, pressed our foreheads together, and kissed on the land where we would one day rest forever. "

Rating 4  Great writing, good idea, smart articulate men.
Rating G  Clean but a grave situation. 

The Dead-Tossed Waves

The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan (sequel to The Forest of Hands and Teeth)

Years have passed since Mary left the Forest of Hands and Teeth.  She lives at the edge of the ocean, caring for the lighthouse and the beach.  Her own daughter, Gabry, is not as daring and adventurous as Mary.  Gabry wants nothing more than to be safe and stay in her small seaside town with her new love Catcher.

As many teens are prone to do, Gabry follows her friends outside of the barriers that keep the village safe from the Mudo.  When a Breaker attacks the group of friends, turning many into the undead, Gabry flees to the safety inside of the barriers.  Catcher is contaminated with a Mudo bite.  The ones not 'turned' are captured by the Recruiters and locked up to await punishment for endangering the whole community.

Mary decides it is time to go back to the Forest and reclaim the past she left behind.  Gabry, too afraid to follow her mother, stays behind.  Gabry wonders why she can't be brave like her mother and adventerous like her friends.  When she finds out Catcher is still alive and outside of the barriers, but contaminated with the virus that will turn him into an undead, Gabry tries to find the inner gumption to leave the community and brave the dangers outside of the barriers for the boy she always saw herself loving.

At the beginning of the book I felt a little like I wasn't reading a sequel.  The unconsecrated are now called Mudo, meaning 'mute'.  The fast Mudo are called Breakers.  You turn Breaker if there are not enough Mudo around when you are infected.  I didn't feel like these were covered very well.  I felt like I walked into the middle of a conversation.  Then the more I thought about it, I realized that this was many years after the first book and it took place in a society that knew more about the zombies. 

I would have like to delve into the reason for the zombies and how the rest of the new civilization worked.  I do however LOVE this author's writing style and the way she puts the words together.  She uses very descriptive words in a way that I would not think to put them together, but then somehow you understand exactly what she was trying to evoke.

I am pretty sure that I marked a lot of quotes but now that I am looking at my markers I see that my kidlets have pulled most of them out:(

"His words cut into me, his desires and dreams mingling with my own, throwning at me everything I've lost.  Everything that will never be mine."

Gabry's life strays completely from the narrow path she saw for herself in the future and she miraculously steps onto it with bravery that I don't know if I could muster.

Rating 4  Great, great writing style.  I was still interested in the Mudo virus and the society that was built up after the Return, which I didn't get many answers to.
Rating PG  No language or sexuality really.  Just some sensual kissing and peril.

Courting Miss Lancaster

Courting Miss Lancaster by Sarah M. Eden

'Courting Miss Lancaster' is the sequel to 'Seeking Persephone'.  I was given this book and read it without knowing there was a volume preceding it.  I did not find that I needed the previous volume to understand this one.

Harry Windover has fallen for Athena Lancaster.  Poor Harry can never be thought of as an eligible match for her though because he is nearly penniless.  To make Harry's suffering even worse, Harry's best friend is Athena's guardian, and he asks Harry's assistance in finding Athena a suitable gentleman.  Harry decides to show Athena what she doesn't want in a suitor.  Gentlemen with alarming characteristics are introduced and quickly turned away.  With every debacle, Athena needs Harry's comfort more.  What she doesn't understand is that love isn't always like a lightening bolt, sometimes it grows quietly.

Clean, sweet romance!  Even though there must be some...misunderstanding.....to wrench your heart and make you cringe in agony, it's not so bad that you start to hate the story.  Fun, super fast read.  I think I am convinced to find its predecessor and read it too.

Rating 3.5  Sweet, cute, fun, cuddly if necessary......just like you think it would be.
Rating G Pretty darn clean.

Recovering Charles

Recovering Charles by Jason F. Wright

Wright is the author of 'Christmas Jars' and 'Wednesday Letters'.   In 'Recovering Charles' Wright's main character, Luke Millward is a lost soul.  He is a successful photographer that has little personal connection to anyone except his friend Jordan.  Jordan and Luke met in college and have remained close, though Luke cannot bring himself to make Jordan his wife.
Hurricane Katrina hits the lower South.  Luke discovers that his estranged, alcoholic father was lost in the fray.  Luke has never come to terms with his father's desperate dive into alcholism.  As a teen, Luke's mother died of a drug overdose.  His father has never been able to reconcile himself and turned quickly to the soft sholder of alcohol.  Charles (Charlie, Luke's father.) stopped contacting Luke at his request.  He became a nomad, traveling for cards, liquor and his deep love of music.  Charlie found his life again, in New Orleans playing jazz and getting clean.
Luke takes his time making the trek from New York to the hard hit South.  He finds way more than he thought he would.  Initially he agrees to go as a photographer.  Through the eye of his lense he sees a nation ravaged by nature but saved by the amazing heart of humanity.
The story as a whole was meaty enough to enjoy.  I was crushed by the aftermath of Katrina.  The characters were very loveable.......except for Luke.  I could never understand exactly when his heart turned from disgust with his father to love and regret.  Luke was a mystery and not very well written as a main character.  The end was rushed and left me to wonder what happened:(

Rating 3.5  There were salvageable parts; Katrina, the characters, Charlie's struggle through alcoholism and twelve step recovery.
Rating PG  Lots of death and destruction.

Dramarama

Dramarama by E. Lockhart

Two teens from small town Ohio dream of making it big on stage.  Demi is gay and black and determined to leave small town forever.....leave behind what small town expects him to be and what his parents grit their teeth and bear.  Sadye (Sarah) can't wait to leave behind being a nobody, that nobody understands.  So the two bestfriends audition for summer drama camp. 

Once they make it to Wildewood Academy; one of them sees their dreams quickly coming to fruition while the other realizes that though their love for the arts makes their heart beat, they might not have what it takes to be the big star. 

There's lots of love, laughter, singing, dancing, and a strain on true friendship.  If you have not had much experience with musicals or theater, you may struggle with the references to the multitude of productions spoken about.  At the end the author leaves a list of movies and a playlist that the characters like.

Rating 3  Loved the musical and theater parts.  Sweet book about owning who you are and making it work.  Worth a quick read.

Rating PG 13  Underage drinking, homosexuality, sexual references.

Impossible

Impossible by Nancy Werlin

The song 'Scarborough Fair' takes the starring role as a curse.  Lucy is a regular girl living with her foster parents.  Her life takes a dramatic change;  her crazy birthmother shows up just as Lucy is heading off to her first prom, a strange and enchanting man shows up for dinner at her parent's house, her long time neighbor/best friend Zach, moves into her house, and her prom date becomes posessed and rapes her.
Lucy realizes that the song 'Scarborough Fair' isn't just a song her looney mother sang because she was nuts.  It is a curse, a riddle, and a warning.  Lucy has to find a way to accomplish all of the tasks in the riddle, in order to break the curse put on all of the women in her family by an Elfin Knight.  She only has a short amount of time to break the curse before she becomes crazy......as all of the women before her have.

Lucy was easily likeable.  She is quiet and determined and makes the strange plot easy to believe.  Lucy and Zach quickly fall in love despite their ages.  Zach, along with Lucy's very supportive parents, help her unwind the riddle that will soon take her mind.  I didn't really end up liking Soledad (Lucy's foster mother) very much.  I think somehow I took her to be a liberal, granola......and she never sat well with me most of the time.

Rating 4  Loved Lucy and Zach together.  I loved the magical quality and unique way that the song was turned into a curse.  The characters where a great group that I became attached to.

Rating PG 13   Rape, teen pregnancy, information about abortion, evil magic used to cause a mental disorder and to coerce someone into being a sex slave.

Exploring the Connection Between Mormons and Masons

Exploring the Connection Between Mormons and Masons by Matthew B. Brown

Brown tidily lays out why LDS temples and temple ordinance work is not founded or copied from Freemasonry.  The book, as non-fiction is informative, especially the footnotes, but not a wild and intense read.  Much of the information you probably already knew if you are LDS.  Also, because Brown did not want to leak or slander the sacred LDS ordinances or Freemason rituals, there was actually little he could say......which is probably why you picked the book up in the first place (to get all of the nitty gritty!). 
Brown does a good job of laying out the facts in a timeline fashion so that they are easy to understand.  And he proves his point well.....if you already agreed with the point he was making. However, if you are not LDS, you probably don't really care about what he has to say.  He assumes that the reader will count revelation, visions, and other spiritual activity as a plausable way of gleening information.  While I do.......not everyone does.  So, you could be left saying.........'Well, the whole shebang could have just been lied about or made up."

Rating 3 It didn't rot.  I was interested.  I understand why this wasn't some 'Enquirer' expose...BUT it did leave you wondering why you really read it.  The footnotes were probably some of the best parts.
Rating G

Shadowland

Shadowland (Immortals #3) by Alyson Noel

*Spoiler in here, if you can really spoil this book.
Ever and Damen are unable to solidify their eternal bond because Ever added her blood to the elixer that saved Damen.  Now, if their bodily fluids mix, their immortal souls willl perish and be sent to Shadowland.  Ever wants more than anything to rectify the situation.  Damen at first decides that this is all because of bad karma that he caused by being so self centered for 600 years. 
Ever tries to persuade the elusive Roman to give her the information she needs.  Roman in turn tells her she will have to pay the price (which Ever imagines is probably sex, but turns out to be saving her friend Haven from death by having to decide if Haven becomes immortal or dies). Damen decides to dress like he shops at Wal-mart and ride the bus in order to turn his karma around.  Pointlessness.....upon pointlessness.
Ever gets a job at a psychic shop.  The owner, Jude, turns out to be a major player in their immortal game.  It seems that we now find Jude has followed Ever throughout her lives and that he may have also been her boyfriend/lover.  Damen thinks that because he has persued Ever throughout time, that he has actually negated her agency to choose and now leaves her to spend time with Jude and decide once and for all whom she wants to be with.  In the mean time, he cares for two twin witches that left Summerland in the last book, and have now lost their magik.
The whole book was like an after-thought/segue (and not a smooth one) to book #4.

Rating 3   I can connect with the whole I wish we weren't damned to hell if we touch each other......meh, okay, that's horrible.  But the rest of the story was blah.  Ever's friendships are dull and shallow.  Ever and Damen can't do anything but wish they were together.  The whole Jude ordeal may have been interesting if we were ever given anymore information than 'he followed her through every life'. 
Rating PG........honestly I can't remember....they can't do more than kiss with a magic forcefield between them so it couldn't have gotten too bad.

The Sugar Queen

   The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen

Josey Cirrini exists in a small town that holds it memories and judgements like iron fetters.  Everyone remembers what a beast of a child she was.  Everyone knows now that she lives with her harsh elderly mother and does nothing but care for her.  Everyone knows she is plump and alone.  Josey knows she loves sweets and Adam the mailman, and no one else can know.  In a totally bizarre and magical twist, Josey opens her closet one day to find Della Lee......a local waitress.  Della Lee refuses to leave the confines of the closet, saying only that she won't be there for long before she moves on.  In her rough and caring way, Della Lee helps Josey open up to life.  Soon she isn't going to her closet for sweets but to see Della Lee.  Josey finds friendship and possibly LOVE?

This book didn't seem that interesting when I heard about it.  It came with good recommendations and I did like the author's other book 'Garden Spells'.  What do you know?  I loved it.  I read it lickedy split.  The book was magical and a little mysterious.  Josey was able to make a friend after years of being alone.  Many times I don't like books that lend to a 'sisterly' theme because they tend to cut everyone else out of the picture.  This book wasn't like that.  The girls met and became a great support to each other right away.  There were also some really great quotes in this book.  Allen has a beautiful way with words.

----------

"It feels like he's taken your heart, doesn't it?....Like he's reached in and pulled it out from you. And I bet he smiles like he doesn't know, like he doesn't know he's holding your heart in his hand and you're dying from him."


"You'd be surprised how easy some things can be, things you never thought you'd do, when you take self-restpect out of the equation."


"Sometimes you weren't supposed to share pain. Sometimes it was best just to deal with it alone."



"She'd always known he didn't love her. But it was easier to bear when he didn't know she loved him. That way they were even. Now he knew he had all the power."


Rating PG  domestic abuse, an affair, murder, ghosts
Rating 4.5  Only because I probably won't read it again soon, but I loved the magical qualities and Allen's descriptiveness.

Blood Promise (Vampire Academy #4)

Blood Promise (Vampire Academy #4) by Richelle Mead

Spoilers.........
Book #3 ends with Dimitri becoming Strigoi and Rose running off from the Academy to end his life.

Rose has taken off to Siberia in hopes of tracking Dimitri back to his hometown.  She promised to kill him if he ever became one of the undead.  She meets up with Sydney, an alchemist.  This is a new twist in the VA books.  An alchemist is a human that is like your basic 'men in black'.  They clean up after Strigoi have been killed.  Syndey is able to lead Rose to Dimitri's family.
Rose quickly learns that Dimitri's mother and sisters have no idea of his death.  She is obligated to come clean with the terrible events that she hasn't yet come to grips with.  The family comes to love Rose and treat her like Dimitri's widow.  They do not know that Rose has come to kill him.
Eventually Dimitri finds that Rose has come to hunt him down.  He takes her to an estate in Siberia.  She is held captive.  Dimitri tries to convince her that he is the same but better as a Stigoi and that Rose she allow him to turn (he calls it awaken) her so that they can be together.  During her captivity, Dimitri drinks from Rose and she becomes addicted to the vampire endorphins. 
During her travels, Rose meets another bonded pair, like Lissa and herself.  The woman is a spirit user and is able to help Rose learn more about Spirit and healing.  As she is away from the academy, Lissa finds another friend in Avery, the new headmaster's daughter.  The deeper their friendship grows, the stranger and more dangerous Lissa begins to act. 
It all comes to a head, when Rose must decide to become Strigoi or die.  She searches for some clue that Dimitri is still himself and still in love with her.  When she realizes that this isn't true, she knows she must kill him and return to Lissa before Avery kills Lissa.

The more I read about Rose, the more I like her.  She reminds me a little of myself.  I'm not totally into the whole bondmate thing though.  I still don't find myself really feeling for Lissa.  I was more interested in the to kill or not to kill your soulmate issue.  I guess I'm not really like Rose........she was able to descern if there was any real Dimitri left in the Strigoi Dimitri.  I would have taken one look, seen the man I loved and probably did whatever he wanted.  This book did contain more Rose/Dimitri and less Lissa, so even though there was no happy ending, it was a likeable book.

Rating 4   Love me some Dimitri.
Rating PG 13  Sensualality, swearing, danger, fighting, drug use (vampire endorphin), crack whores (blood whores but the same general idea)

A Far, Far Better Place

A Far, Far Better Place by Anita Stansfield

Well you already know my opinion about having a police type in the book.  Anita couldn't have chosen a better character.  She did not however take my advice and make him normal.....meaning, living on the wages the state feels inclined to drizzle his way.  Ah, but he is so manly no matter his independent wealth.

Former Agent Jackson Leeds and his wife Chas run a little B&B.  Jackson and Chas are hap, hap, happy with their little inn and their little baby Charles.  Ah, but Stansfield can't let a good thing carry on for long.  Jackson's semi estranged mother dies.  Jackson promises her as she lay dying, to forgive his abusive father (who is also dead).  The anger and hurt that Jackson has always felt for his father bubbles to the surface as his mind and heart refuse to forgive the evil doings.  His intense feelings merge with the PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) that he suffers from due to being kidnapped and tortured as an FBI agent.  Jackson must find away to forgive his father so that his humble life with Chas can continue.

Sometimes I feel like Stansfield uses the same situations with new faces.  I would have to admit that this book is a type of many of her other books.  I did enjoy that she carefully illustrated being a strong, tolerant, loving and supportive spouse.  Chas never even seemed like she wanted to bust a cap in Jackson even though I am sure he was hard to deal with.  She also does a good job of weaving in gospel principles in a way that you can see how they would work in a regular person's life (regular except for the fact that Jackson is always at home to help with the baby and dishes......er getting way from myself).  Besides PTSD, which I found interesting, Stansfield's story centered on forgiveness.  How we all like to hold those grudges close to our hearts and cling on to them by digging in our fingernails!  She was able to show more than one side of the damage, and by doing so, how forgiveness is really for the forgiver.  Letting go of that rubble we pack around can be for us, not just the one we forgive.

Rating 3.5
Rating PG.....the kissing in the night, I am sure lead to sex between a married couple...but that was only insinuated.

The Graveyard Book

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Macabre......ugh, I love that word.  It says so many things.  It smells sweet like dead leaves.  To say I was stoked to read this book.....so beautiful with a headstone on the cover, is an understatement.  Sadly, so sadly I ended up reading it in snippets.  That is a horrible, horrible way to read anything except a text book.  I like to devour my books.  I digress.......I read it in snippets while I struggled everyday not to hate the school system and the State social workers while I sat behind my desk furtively feeding a child that came to school hungry.  Sorry, I am flashing back and possibly sideways.  I did not saturate myself in the book in a way that the book was due.  So my take on it may not be very honest.

It turned out to be exceedingly witty and crafty.  Bod's (short for Nobody) family was murdered when he was yet an infant.  He was lucky enough to toddle from the house and into the nearest graveyard.  This is where the little tyke ended up living out his childhood, protected and raised by ghosts.  Could there be a better story?  There were times I felt the chill of the graveyard.  I was comforted by the ghostly relationships.  There were thought provoking moments.  I could clap!

Yet, I am not going to give this book a 5.  If I per chance had read this in a better state of mind....or in one sitting, I may have felt more immersed and connected.  This is possibly not Gaiman's fault....but this is the place where my opinion counts....so....

Rating 4
Rating PG  I didn't find it terrifying.  There was murder.  I don't recall any sexual aspects (it has been at least a month since I read this book) and there were some scary-ish happenings since it was about ghosts and partially living beings.

Uglies

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

In the future world that Tally lives in, everyone becomes pretty.  At age sixteen all of the Uglies (genetically normal without help of cosmetic surgery) get their chance under the knife and ta da......Pretty.  Science has determined what is attractive to the eye.  Once you are gorgeous, you move to the Pretty side of town, where you basically party till you drop.
Tally's sixteenth birthday is upon her.  Just as Tally is about to receive the surgery she has been dying for, when she meets Shay.  Shay is another Ugly that teaches Tally there is another way than Pretty.  Tally runs away from the only society that she ever knew existed.  She enters a world where people are genuine.  Tally learns that turning Pretty might be more than skin deep.......it could also alter who you are.

Loved the idea of this book.  It did take me forever and a day to read because I've been tied up.  I can't decide if it was the speed with which I read it or that it was actually just meh.  It was a little lack luster for me.  It could have been seriously meaty, but somehow I felt nothing for the characters.  The traveling parts were boring.  This book is a trilogy and if I get around to it I might read the next two.  I wanted it to be awesome and it just wasn't. 

Rating 3
Rating PG  Very clean book considering the target audience is creamed with sex lately.  I think there may have been a few kisses and a knock on the head.

Me Talk Pretty One Day

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

     The second book I've picked up by humorist David Sedaris, was funny and easy, but this time I didn't weep with hysterical ecstasy.  I had a good time reading it like I would have a good time eating a cheeseburger.  It was good........but not the best thing ever.
     The funniest parts for me where when Sedaris is half heartedly learning French.  His translations made me laugh outloud.  Even giving this book a three.......I still wish that I were Sedaris funny enough to write wee vignettes about random parts of my dull life.

Rating 3
Rating PG 13 language, sexual content, homosexuality

Blue is for Nightmares

Blue is for Nightmares by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Stacey has been having nightmares of something horrible happening to her roomate, Drea.  Even worse for Stacey is that the nightmares are accompanied by bed wetting.  Stacey uses the spells handed down to her by her grandmother to help make the nightmares clearer.  At the same time, Stacey is falling for Drea's old boyfriend. 
The teens aattend a boarding school.  There is very little adult interaction with the kids.  The story was fun and fast to read, but lacked any depth.  By the end, it really fell flat for me.  I didn't think the reason for Drea being threatened, and for the nightmares, held a lot of water.  There were no adults or authority figures to help or guide, which seemed a little off.  Also I felt like some of the language was strong for the target audience.

Rating 3 Fun fluff
Rating PG 13 Language and sexual situatuions

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris

Hello.........I just laughed so hard I wept.  I'm not kidding.  When I first heard of this book.....and it came highly recommended.....it sounded less than 'meh'.  I was uninspired by the title.  But I figured my girl knew her stuff and so I read it anyway (even my librarian looked at me like my time would be better spent elsewhere).

There were some giggles as Sedaris described his family relationships and silly vignettes of childhood happenings.  Then I get to the chapter 'Six to Eight Black Men'.  My husband heard my hysterics from the other room.  He asked me to read aloud what I thought was 'so funny'.  I couldn't do it.  I couldn't hold it together.  I laughed until tears leaked down my face.  Now I will grant you that I was under abnormal stress and the hour was late....but I stand by my opinion......David Sedaris is a riot.  I am beyond slightly disappointed that he is gay because that leaves very little room for me to marry him, live in a foreign country, and laugh the rest of my life away.

Rating 4.5
Rating   um I laughed so hard I don't remember anything else that happened.....I think there may have been swearing, oh yeah.......there was a masterbation scene and homosexual content......so erm...maybe R.

This Perfect Day

This Perfect Day by Ira Levin

     "Christ, Marx, Wood, and Wei
       Led us to this perfect day."

In the spirit of George Orwell's 1984, 'This Perfect Day' gives us a glimpse of life in the future.  There are human outposts on other planets.  The cities of Earth are filled with parks, scanners, government appointed jobs and families, and bracelet wearing, drug numbed Members.

Everything is run by Uni....the unified government made up of a gigantic computer compound.  Uni dictates your schooling, job, living arrangements, names (they've whittled it down to 4 for each sex) attached to numbers (namebers), the sex life of the Members, and freedom of movement throughout the continents.  Big Brother is present in this instance........because the members are drugged monthly, or more often, with drugs that make them 'healthy'.  The drugs cause the Members to rat each other out, be satisfied with once a week sex (which they call f ing), never question Uni, and lead productive lives void of feeling, and then kills them at the age of 62.

Chip begins to 'question' Uni when his grandfather draws attention to the fact that Uni 'appears' to be one thing, but in reality is something much more cold and sinister.  It takes Chip years to even get near breaking away, or having an 'awakening' because every Member is plugged full of drugs that won't let them question the authority of Uni.  And even if they did, all of the other Members would turn them in for being 'sick'.

After many years and life altering set backs, Chip feels that he has successfully escaped the life Uni had planned for him. In a creepy turn of events, he finds that all he has worked for, may in fact be just what Uni wanted him to do.

Fantastic read!  This is one of my favorite genres.  I enjoyed Levin's take on future government control.  By the end it was feeling fragmented, which may have come from Chips break with being sedated....but it didn't seem to flow as well.
Rating 4.5
Rating R Sex, crude language.

Books Read

• 8. The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan (5) 1/30/10
• 7. Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy #3) by Richelle Mead (4) 1/27/10
• 6. Frostbite (Vampire Academy #2) by Richelle Mead (4) 1/26/10
• 5. The Maze Runner (#1) by James Dashner (4.5) 1/22/10
• 4. Vampire Academy (#1) by Richelle Mead (3.5) 1/18/10
• 3. The Queen's Fool by Philippa Gregory (4) (reread) 1/13/10
• 2. Angel Falling Softly by Eugene Woodbury (3) 1/12/10
• 1. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger (4) 1/7/10
•  
•  
• 123.  The Prologue: The Brothers The Great and Terrible Vol. 1 by Chris Stewart (5) 12/29/09
• 122.  The Miracle of Forgiveness by Spencer W. Kimball (5) 12/20/09
• 121.  Christmas Jars by Jason F. Wright (3) 12/12/09
• 120.  Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman (4) 12/11/09
• 119.  First Love Second Chances by Anita Stansfield (5) 12/2/09
• 118.  First Love And Forever by Anita Stansfield (5) 12/1/09
• 117.  The Best of Times by Anita Stansfield (3) 11/29/09
• 116.  The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (5) 11/28/09
• 115.  Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater (4) 11/24/09
• 114.  Unhallowed Ground by Heather Graham (4) 11/23/09
• 113.  Under The Banner Of Heaven (4/2) by Jon Krakauer 11/21/09
• 112.  The Giver by Lois Lowry (5) reread x3 11/15/09
• 111.  Mao's Last Dancer by Li Cunxin (3.5) 11/15/09
• 110.  The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry (2.5) 11/9/09
• 109.  Let The Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist (4) 11/7/09
• 108.  Fablehaven #3 Grip of the Shadow Plague by Brandon Mull (4) 11/4/09
• 107.  This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen (3) 11/1/09
• 106.  Fax From Sarajevo by Joe Kubert (4.5) 10/28/09
• 105.  The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown (4) 10/28/09
• 104.  The Cloud Chamber by Joyce Maynard (3.5) 10/21/09
• 103.Beastly by Alex Flinn (2) 10/21/09
• 102.Crank by Ellen Hopkins (4.5) 10/18/09
• 101. Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz (3) 10/16/09
• 100. Eve:A Novel Of The First Woman by Elissa Elliot (2.5) 10/14/09
• 99. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (4.5) 10/8/0
• 98. The Help by Katheryn Sockett (4) 10/4/09

97. Crashed (Skinned trilogy part 2) by Robin Wasserman (2.5) 9/27/09

96. Night World No. 1 by L.J. Smith (2.5) 9/23/09
95. The Silence of Snow (Jayson Wolfe #5) by Anita Stansfield (4) 9/20/09
94. Psych Major Syndrome by Alicia Thompson (4) 9/16/09
93. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (4.5) 9/15/09
92. Sprout by Dale Peck (3.5) 9/13/09
91. Slivers of Reality byCathlene Smith (3) 9/13/09
90. The Lonesome Gods by Louis L'Amour (3) 9/11/09

89. Common Sense by Thomas Paine (5) 9/10/09
88. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (2.5) 9/5/09
87. City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments Book Three) by Cassandra Clare (5) 9/1/09
86. Star Girl by Jerry Spinelli (3.5) 9/3/09
85. City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments Book 2) by Cassandra Clare (5) 8/30/09
84. The October Country (short stories) by Ray Bradbury (3.5) 8/28/09
83. Kingdom Come The Final Victory by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins (2.5) 8/28/09
82. The Dogs Of Bable by Carolyn Parkhurst (reread) (4) 8/24/09
81. City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments Book One) by Cassandra Clare (5) 8/22/09
80. Skinned by Robin Wasserman (4) 8/19/09
79. The Templars by Barbara Frale (3) 8/19/09
78. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee (5) 8/15/09
77. The Pact by Jodi Picoult (reread) (4.5) 8/8/09
76. Wings by Aprilynne Pike (5) 8/7/09
75. The Holy Secret by James Ferrell (4) 8/3/09
74. Eve and the Choice Made in Eden by Beverly Campbell (5) reread x2 7/27/09
73. Kissed by an Angel (trilogy) by Elizabeth Chandler (4) 7/26/09
72. Blue Moon (the immortals book 2) by Alyson Noel (3) 7/24/09
71. Standing For Something by Gordon B. Hinckley (reread) (5) 7/20/09
70. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon (5) reread 7/15/09
69. I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith (4) 7/13/09
68. Love's Enduring Promise by Janette Oke(3) 7/8/09
67. Genertaion Dead by Daniel Waters (4.5) 7/5/09
66. The Angel by Carla Neggers (3.5) 7/2/09
65. Evermore The Immortal Series by Alyson Noel (5) 6/29/09
64. The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester (4) 6/28/09
63. The Shack by William P. Young (2) 6/26/09
62. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collings (5) 6/21/09
61. Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner (4.5) 6/15/09
60. The Hourglass Door by Liza Mangum (4.5) 6/12/09
59. Maybe Baby by Tenaya Darlington (4) 6/9/09
58. Spies, Lies and a Pair of Ties by Sheralyn Pratt (4) 6/8/09
57. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden (4) 6/6/09
56. Shelter From The Storm #4 Jayson Wolfe series by Anita Stansfield (4) 5/28/09
55. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer reread x 3 (5) 5/27/09
54. The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo (4.5) 5/25/09
53. As Long As I Have You Vol. 5 of Children of the Promise by Dean Hughes (5) 5/25/09
52. Autumn Letters by Michael Frederick (3) 5/21/09
51. To A Child Love Is Spelled Time by Mac Anderson & Lance Wubbles (5) 5/19/09
50. Zlata's Diary by Zlata Filipovic (4.5) 5/18/09
49. My Immortal Highlander by Hannah Howell $ Lynsay Sands (3) 5/15/09
48. Ready or Not by Meg Cabot (3.5) 5/10/09
47. When We Meet Again Children of the Promise #4 by Dean Hughes (5) 5/9/09
46. Soldier Boys by Dean Hughes (3.5) 5/6/09
45. Love Comes Softly #1 by Janette Oke (3.5) 5/3/09
44. The Introvert Advantage How to Thrive in an Extrovert World by Marti Olson Laney Psy.D. (5) 4/30/09
43. Far From Home Children of the Promise Vol. 3 by Dean Hughes (5) 4/29/09
42. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo (5) (read twice) 4/22/09
41. In Praise of Stay-at-Home Moms by Dr. Laura Schlessinger (4) 4/22/09
40. Shadow of the Giant #4 Shadow series by Orson Scott Card (4.5) 4/22/09
39. Since You Went Away by Dean Hughes Children of the Promise Vol. 2 (5) 4/10/09
38. So B. It by Sarah Weeks (4) 4/11/09
37. All American Girl by Meg Cabot (3.75) 4/7/09
36. Rumors of War Children of the Promise Vol. 1 by Dean Hughes (4.5) 4/2/09
35. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (4.5) 3/25/09
34. Shadow Puppets by Orson Scott Card (3.5) 3/24/09
33. Zion's Trail The Last Days Vol. 2 by Kenneth Tarr (4) 3/19/09
32. Fairest by Gail Carson Levine (3.5) 3/17/09
31. The Gathering Storm by Kenneth Tarr (4) 3/13/09
30. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (5) 3/10/09
29. World Without End by Ken Follet (4) 3/6/09
28. Shadow of the Hegemon (Vol 2 of Shadow Series) by Orson Scott Card (4.5) 3/2/09
27. The Holy Man by Susan Trott (3.5) 2/26/09
26. The Brethren Annie's People Vol. 3 by Beverly Lewis (3) 2/24/09
25. So Much of Life Ahead Hearts of the Children Vol. 5 by Dean Hughes (4) 2/23/09
24. Take Me Home Hearts of the Children Vol 4 by Dean Hughes (4.5) 2/22/09
23. The Heart of the Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman (3.5) 2/21/09
22. A Good Woman by Danielle Steel (4) 2/19/09
21. Hunter's Heart by Julia Green (3) 2/18/09
Speak Softly. She Can Hear by Pam Lewis (0 stars) 2/16/09
20. How Many Roads Hearts of the Children Vol. 3 by Dean Hughes (4.5) 2/16/09
19. The Englisher (Annie's People part 2) by Beverly Lewis (3) 2/14/09
18. Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card (4.5) 2/12/09
17. A Star in Winter by Anita Stansfield (reread x 3) (4) 2/9/09
16. Winds of Hope by Anita Stansfield (5) 2/8/09
15. Cannery Row by John Steibeck (3) 2/5/09
14. River Secrets (3rd Book of Bayern) by Shannon Hale (4) 2/2/09
13. Hearts of the Children Vol. 2 Troubled Waters by Dean Hughes (4.25) 1/31/09
12. Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier (2) 1/28/09
11. The Preacher's Daughter by Beverly Lewis (3) 1/28/09
10. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer reread x4 (5) 1/26/09
9. Hearts of the Children Vol. 1 The Writing on the Wall by Dean Hughes (4) 1/24/09
8. Saints by Orson Scott Card (5) 1/20/09
7. Homebody by Orson Scott Card (3.5) 1/15/09
6. Rules by Cynthia Lord (4.5) 1/13/09
5. Austenland by Shannon Hale (4) 1/12/09
4. Amazing Grace by Danielle Steel (3) 1/9/09
3, Sarah by Orson Scott Card (4) 1/7/09
2. Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult (4.75) 1/4/09
1. Golden Grove by Francine Prose (3.5) 1/1/09
The Prince of the Pond by Donna Jo Napoli (3.5)
Life Expectancy by Dean Koontz (5)
Possession by A. S. Byatt (1.5)
A Distant Thunder by Anita Stansfield (4)
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory (4.5)
The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck (4)
Enchantment by Orson Scott Card (5)
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch (4)
Breathe a Ghost Story by Cliff McNish (4)
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (4)
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck (5)
Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult (4.75)
Bunnicula by James and Deborah Howe (5)
The Tree of Knowledge by Henry James (2.5)
The Pupil by Henry James (3)
Animal Farm by George Orwell (4.5)
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows (4)
The Turn Of The Screw by Henry James (3.5)
Breaking Dawn............reread
The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd (3.5)
Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen (4)
Blind Side by Clair M. Poulson (4)
Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause (2)
One Tuesday Morning by Karen Kingsbury (4)
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King (2)
The Little Prince by St. Exupery (1)
The Thieves of Heaven by Richard Doetsch (4)
Children of the Mind (Ender's Saga) by Orson Scott Card (3.5)
Life At These Speeds by Jeremy Jackson (4)
Fablehaven Rise Of The Evening Star by Brandon Mull (4)
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (3.5)
Private Peaceful by Michael Maorpurgo (4)
The Sound of Rain by Anita Stansfield (4)
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (4.5)
One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd by Jim Fergus (4)
The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey (5)
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart (4)
Fablehaven by Brandon Mull (4)
Lost Boys by Orson Scott Card (5)
Midnight Sun (Partial) by Stephenie Meyer (5)
Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (5)
Zion's Trail The Last Days Vol. 2 by Kenneth Tarr (4) 3/19/09
Rumors of War Children of the Promise Vol. 1 by Dean Hughes (4.5) 4/2/09

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (4.5) 3/26/09

Shadow Puppets by Orson Scott Card (3.5) 3/24/09

The Last Days (Zion's Trail Vol. 2) by Kenneth Tarr (4) 3/20/09

Fairest by Gail Carson Levine (3.5) 3/19/09

The Gathering Storm by Kenneth Tarr (4) 3/15/09

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (5) 3/11/09

World Without End by Ken Follett (4) 3/8/09

Shadow of the Hegemon by Orson Scott Card (4.5) 3/3/09

The Holy Man by Susan Trott (3.5) 2/27/09

The Brethren (Annie's People #3) by Beverly Lewis (3) 2/25/09

So Much Of Life Ahead (Hearts of The Children #5) by Dean Hughes (4) 2/25/09

Take Me Home (Hearts of the Children #4) by Dean Hughes (4.5) 2/25/09

The Heart of the Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman (3.5) 2/22/09

A Good Woman by Danielle Steel (4) 2/19/09

Hunter's Heart by Julie Green (3) 2/29/09

Speak Softly She Can Hear by Pam Lewis (trash...unfinished) 2/17/09

How Many Roads? (Hearts of the Children 3) by Dean Hughes (4.5) 2/17/09

The Enlisher (Annie's People) by Beverly Lewis (3) 2/15/09

Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card (4.5) 2/12/09

Winds of Hope (Jayson Wolfe series) by Anita Stansfield (5) 2/10/09

A Star in Winter by Anita Stansfield (4) 2/10/09

Cannery Row by John Steinbeck (3) 2/8/09

River Secrets (Books of Bayern) by Shannon Hale (4) 2/2/09

Troubled Waters (Hearts of the Children #2) by Dean Hughes (4.25) 2/1/09

Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier (2) 1/28/09

The Preacher's Daughter (Annie's People #1) by Beverly Lewis (3) 1/28/09

The Writing On The Wall (Heart's of the Children #1) by Dean Hughes (4) 1/24/09

Saints by Orson Scott Card (5) 1/21/09

Homebody by Orson Scott Card (3.5) 1/16/09

Rules by Cynthia Lord (4.5) 1/14/09

Austenland by Shannon Hale (4) 1/14/09

Amazing Grace by Danielle Steel (3) 1/10/09

Sarah by Orson Scott Card (4) 1/8/09

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult (4.75) 1/6/09

Golden Grove by Francine Prose (3.5) 1/1/09

The Prince of the Pond by Donna Jo Napoli (3.5) 12/31/08

Life Expectancy by Dean Koontz (5) 12/30/08

Possession by A.S. Byatt (not finished) 12/28/08

A Distant Thunder (Jayson Wolfe series) by Anita Stansfield (4) 12/25/08

The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory (4.5) 12/23/09

The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck (4) 12/19/08

Enchantment by Orson Scott Card (5) 12/18/08

Breathe a Ghost Story by Cliff McNish (4) 12/14/08

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch (4) 12/12/08

Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (4) 12/11/08

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck (5) 12/6/08

Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult (4.75) 12/4/09

Bunnicula by James and Deborah Howe (5) 12/4/09

The Pupil by Henry James (3) 11/24/08

Animal Farm by George Orwell (4.5) 11/22/08

The Guernsey Literary and Potatoe Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barows (4) 11/19/08

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James (3.5) 11/18/08

The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd (3.5) 11/8/08

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen (4) 11/8/08

Blind Side by Clare M. Poulson (4) 10/31/09

Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause (2) 10/27/09

One Tuesday Morning by Karen Kingsbury (4) 10/22/08

The Thieves of Heaven by Richard Doetsch (4) 10/12/08

Life At These Speeds by Jeremy Jackson (4) 10/8/08

Fablehaven Rise of the Evening Star by Brandon Mull (4) 10/8/08

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (3.5) 10/1/08

Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo (4) 9/25/08

The Sound of Rain (Jayson Wolfe series #1) by Anita Stansfield (4) 9/24/08

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (4.5) 9/22/08

One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd by Jim Fergus (4) 9/19/08

Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey (5) 9/7/08

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart (4) 9/5/08

Fablehaven by Brandon Mull (4 ) 9/3/08

Lost Boys by Orson Scott Cardy ( 5) 9/2/08

The Forest of Hands and Teeth

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Mary lives in the Forest of Hands and Teeth.  She lives in a village within the confine of fences that keep her and her village safe from the Unconsecrated.  The Unconsecrated have overtaken everything since the Return.  Mary wonders if there is anything outside of the forest, if there is anyone left.
Mary's mother has tempted her with stories of the ocean and now she cannot rest.  Nothing can satisfy her desire to see what is beyond the forest.......to make it to the salty ocean.  Even the love of one boy, the exquisitely haunting desire for another, the mysterious threats of the Sisterhood, or the danger of becoming Unconsecrated herself, nothing is enough to stop her need to go beyond.

I finished this book very quickly, but I am still haunted by the acute pain left by Travis (Mary's love).  Travis is betrothed to Cass, Mary's bestfriend.  He is also the brother of Harry, Mary's betrothed.  Although the book is about zombies that have come about by a virus at some point in the future, it still has the feeling of being in the past.  Between the fear for their lives and the desire for something Mary can't have, the book was gripping, and tore at my heart.

Book quotes that I LOVE.....
Mary says....."Tonight my body pulses with awareness as I kneel by his bed, our fingers intertwined.  We've been sharing each other's breath for what seems like weeks now even though it's only been a few moments.  It's as if there is infinity between our lips and we will never actually touch.  Like math, where dividing by half can last for eternity."

"Suddenly he doesn't feel like my friend but like something more and I have to force myself to remember that he is not mine to desire."    (ugh.......so painful!)

"In the last few days I had already begun to imagine what Travis's and my children would look like, how their tiny hands would curl around my finger.  I had already dreamed an entire life between Travis and me.  And now that was the only life that we would ever lead together-the one in my dreams."

"It is not about surviving.  It should be about love.  When you know love.. that's what makes this life worth it.  When you live with it every day.  Wake up with it, hold on to it during the thunder and after a nightmare.  When love is your refuge from the death that surrounds us all and when it fills you so tight that you can't express it."

Rating 5  This was a good book.  It may not be super fantastic but it still left me feeling it after more than one day so.......I have to give it credit.
Rating PG  It's totally clean despite the desire thick enough to cut with a knife.  The zombies (Unconsecrated) are trying to kill everyone, so the threat is a little scary.

Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy #3)

Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy #3) by Richelle Mead

Book three gets even darker for Rose.  She realizes that she might be taking some of the dark feelings that are conjured in Lissa when she uses magic.  It is nearing graduation and Rose is sent out to do her field test.  Instead of guarding Lissa, she ends up being Christian's guard (Lissa's social misfit boyfriend).  Rose's anger begins to get the best of her.  To make matters worse she starts seeing ghosts.  Having made her first Strigoi kills have only made her closer to the world of the dead.
When a huge group of Strigoi attack the Academy, Rose is faced with losing what she has waited so long for (or at least it felt like it) ....Dimitri.
I loved this book just as much as book two.  Rose has more depth and the psychological toll that it takes to put someone else's needs before your own.....always....is delved into.  Her friendships with other characters and her mother, play a larger role this time around.  And of course the romantic tension keeps building. Very bitter sweet.
Rating 4  Still not top notch lit. but I really did go for the wanting what you can't have aspect.
Rating R teen sex, alcoholism, violence, tense and scary.

Frostbite (Vampire Academy #2)

Frostbite (Vampire Academy #2) by Richelle Mead

Rose and Dimitri come upon a Strigoi attack, the likes of which are never seen.  The attack sets off book two in this series.  Guardian are being brought in to reinforce the Academy over winter break.  Rose's estranged mother Janine (a famous guardian) appears on campus in time to set Rose off, just as the whole vampire culture is being shaken.  The Moroi are faced with deciding if they want to uphold tradition and let the guardians keep them safe, or should they learn to use their magic and help defend themselves?
Rose has little tolerance for what appears to be Janine's haughty ways and lack of maternal instinct.  Rose also has to face the fact that she can't have Dimitri and she should start looking for love elsewhere.  She begins seeing Mason, a close friend.  Mason and a group of other friends decide not to wait for the Strigoi to come to them.....they run away from the posh resort in Idaho, where Moroi families have gathered for safety.  Rose, of course, feels she must rescue them.
Rose seemed to come into her own in this book.  I admit liking this book better than the first one.  Rose's love life picked up, she became palatable, and the other characters rounded out better.  It turned out to be very entertaining and I immediately picked up book #3.
Rating 4  Not serious high quality literature, but still fun.
Rating R Swearing, violence, alcoholism, sexual aspects.

The Maze Runner

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Thomas wakes up in what seems to be a dark elevator.  All he knows is that his name is Thomas.  Every other important memory has been wiped.  When 'the Box' finally opens Thomas is pulled out by a group of boys.  They live in the Glade and are surrounded by the Maze.  They hope someday to be able to escape if they can find their way through the Maze.  The group is completely cut off from the rest of society with no recollection of their lives before the Glade.  Each night the walls in the Maze move and doors close between the Maze and the Glade, protecting the boys from grotesque and hideous beasts.
Thomas is confused and getting hardly any information from the Gladers when the Box arrives again........this time containing a girl.  The girl seems to be in a coma but they do learn from her that she will be the last Glader and that she is there to trigger the Ending.
The bright group of boys begin to realize that the Maze may be unsolvable.
This book seemed a bit like Hunger Games/Lord of the Flies......(the author states that he came up with the idea from two of his favorite books Enders Game and Lord of the Flies) but much more civilized.  The book was creative and the main character developed enough despite not knowing anything about himself, that it was a fun and fast read.  The Maze Runner is the first book in a trilogy.   By the end, I couldn't even guess where the next book will go.  So exciting!

Rating 4.5  Loved it.
Rating PG  The beasts are gross and do leave carnage upon their attack.  The boys have some of their own words which I guess could be considered swear words....but they aren't.