Between new responsibilities at work, a super-tough online class I was taking, and "life" in general (can you say "STRESS"?!) I hadn't been able to make it to the library, much less read any new books lately.
I had been supplementing my book-reading needs by re-reading the Twilight Saga (which of course is always a good read), and am currently on book #3. Thanks to a necessary trip to the library to get some QUIET time I was able to pick up the latest book in the Bloodlines series by Michelle Read (a spin-off of the Vampire Academy books) , The Golden Lily.
While I admit I haven't cracked the new book yet (I'm almost at the end of Twilight's Eclipse) The Golden Lily is next on my to-read list and waiting for me patiently, and I'll be sure to include my review of it. For my review on the previous Bloodlines novel, check out this link.
So apparently I'm among one of the only YA fans to not have read "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins before it appeared on the silverscreen. Once I kept hearing all the hype, I decided to put my name on the waiting list at my local library. Unfortunately, the list was several hundred people long. When a friend at work heard my dilemma, she graciously allowed me to borrow her copy. It wasn't a long loan though, since I tore through the book in just a few, short days. One of the things I love about "The Hunger Games" was that it detailed enough with the gruesomeness of being a tribute, but it didn't use pervasive foul language or get too graphic. This story has drama, love, mystery and oh-so-much-more. While I still haven't seen the movie, I can tell you I'm in love with the series, and can't wait to read more by this author. I rate this book a very high 4 stars.
In light of my YA fetish (if you can call it that) I was interested to see a recommendation pop up on my Hulu account recently. Not having cable myself, I hadn't heard of the MTV show "Teen Wolf" airing (although I seem to remember reading that the show was in the works several months ago). In my opinion "Teen Wolf" has everything a YA fan could want. Mystery, creatures, a love story, and a hilarious side-kick.
Fora clip of the show, check out the video below. There is a re-cast from the clip to the actual show though, Alissa (the girl's dad) but from what I can see from the clip it was definitely a good call; the "new" dad is much more age appropriate. The entire season is available on Hulu for free for just a few days, so check it out here.
I'm a Nicholas Sparks fan. Not only does he weave a brilliant love story, but he is able to do so without the pervasive language and graphic smut that his contemporaries so often do. With that in mind I was happy to hear about the newest book and movie (starring Zac Effron) by Sparks- The Lucky One.
The basic story line is about Logan Thibault (pronounced T-Bow) who discovers a picture of Beth in the Iraqi desert. With nothing but a few clues in the photograph, he starts on a cross-country trek of self-discovery, determined to help the woman in the photo who has become his lucky charm. As seems to be the M.O. of Sparks, each chapter of the book is written from one character's perspective, and is therefore titled the name of that character to differentiate the narrator.
What I liked about the book:
The characters are likeable but flawed.
I'll say it again, few curse words, and a love story that didn't go into the graphic details.
What I didn't like about the book:
We're introduced to Beth/Elizabethat her best friend's house, but after that the friend is never mentioned. And she never introduced her later boyfriend to the friend.
The ending of the book, where there is a major action scene, is a bit confusing.
I didn't feel like the end of the book had a good enough of a resolution. I know that life continues on for these characters after the last page, but I don't like wondering too much about what happens to them.
With that being said, I give the book 4 1/2 out of 5 stars. I liked the book a lot, I'll likely enjoy the movie too. For more information on the story, check out this trailer/interview with the actors and the writer himself. Based on the trailer the movie is a lot steamier than the book though, so I can't tell you for sure how "clean" it is.
In this book, Donna Underwood (dubbed the Iron Witch, due to her iron-tattooed forearms) must figure out how to free her mother from a spell and work with the Wood Queen. Although still facing a trial from her actions in the first book, she must find a way to get the other alchemists to trust her and determine what is really going on with the alchemical order of the Dragon.
While I generally like the book, I did find that the 'The Wood Queen' did not refer back to the happenings in the first book enough for my liking. I frequently found myself trying to remember what had happened before, and why that would have impacted the main character in a certain way. As with any good 'heroes journey' style book, Donna picked up a few friends along the way, strengthened relationships with some previous friends, and stumbled a little with other friends. While I was hoping that The Wood Queen would be a solid 5 stars, I grudgingly give it only 4 stars.
Rarely does a person ever say that the movie adaptation is better than the original book. And while I haven't actually seen the movie yet, the trailers for the latest Daniel Radcliffe flick "The Woman In Black" (an original book circa 1983 "The Woman in Black" by Susan Hill) looks SOOOOOOOO creepy good.
I first saw the trailer while on the Goodreads website
immediately requested a copy from the library, which of course took
months to get to me. Compared to other books currently on the market,
the 164 pages was less-than-intimidating, and I looked forward to a
quick, creepy read with a good plot. Instead, the book was a huge
disappointment.
For example, the main character Mr.
Kipps (played by Daniel Radcliffe in the movie) hears an unusual sound
coming from a room, which the author describes as "bump bump, pause,
bump bump, pause, bump bump..." (p. 116). I'm not sure if it was from
the trailer (which I had seen months previously) or just my supreme
intellect, but I immediately knew the sound was a rocking chair.
Now don't those trailers look great??!
In my opinion, the author took too much time setting up the story line in the beginning of the book, which is actually more of a flashback to something that occurred 20 or so years previously to the beginning of the book. In the introduction the main character is so deeply disturbed by what has happened, and has not ever told anyone about it, that he decides to write out what happened in an attempt to rid himself of the alleged daily remembrance of what happened. Throughout the book the writer brings the reader back into the "present" by referring to how the main character is recounting the events and that it wasn't actually occurring at this point in time — pointless in my opinion. The author also uses odd word choices too, writing things such as that the character "decided" to do something, and then telling us that he did it. On first reading the passages I thought the character was completing the action twice.For these reasons, I sadly rate this book 1 star out of 5.
After viewing the trailers again for this post, I still want to see the movie. Especially since so much has been changed about the story (for example, in the book Mr. Kipps is single, but engaged) and apparently in the movie he is married with a child that I can't help but think that idea would have made a greater impact on the book itself. I also get the impression that in the movie we see more of "The Woman In Black" and her effects on the town and house inhabitants. This time it looks like "Hollywood" got it right, if not better, than the original!
The other day at work I was looking for a good book to read and someone recommended that I read anything by Nicholas Sparks. I admit that while I haven't read anything by Sparks, I was of course familiar with the movies based on the books.
One of the interesting things about Sparks' book "The Last Song" was that the screenplay was written well before the book was finished. From the author's notes at the end of the book, he indicated that the Miley Cyrus camp (Cyrus starred in the movie) contact Sparks about a new project. Likely the differences between the book and the movie are because Sparks had more time to flush out storyline for the book.
While the book was good, it certainly wasn't great. I wish that I would have seen more of a relationship between Ronnie (the daughter) and her dad. And I certainly wish that the writer would have allowed Steve to hear the completed song he'd started composing. For this reason, I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars.
Although the book was a bit slow at first — it really picked up after a few chapters. I was initially drawn to the book due to my interest in Greek mythology as an elementary and high school student, but I must admit that I did have some difficulty remembering which god which which and remember the significance of each god and goddess. While the book did include some background info, I would have maybe liked to see a chart of the relationship for the gods in the front or back of the book. This would have made reading easier.
Riordan creates great characters, writes with a unique voice, and weaves a great tale. For this reason I rate the book 5 stars. For more information on the movie— which is quite family-friendly— click on the video link below.
Thanks to the MoneySavingMom blog for the tip on this free Kindle ebook. "101 Offline Activities You Can Do with Your Child" by Steve & Ruth Bennet likely won't be available for long at the FREE rate. So go ahead and check it out. Even if you can't read the book right now, save it for a rainy or snowy day when you're cooped up with the kids. You're sure to enjoy the quality time and learn something in the process.
As a big fan of Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy series, I wanted to try out another book by the author. I stumbled upon the first book in a series starring Eugenie Markham, Storm Born. While the Vampire Academy books were geared towards young adults, the Storm Born was definitely geared towards more mature audiences.
The story centers around Eugenie Markham, a shaman whose normal day centers on banishing elementals to the Underworld. When she becomes interested in a special case, involved visiting the Otherworld, she learns more about the Shining Ones than she bargained for, and learns a lot about herself too.
Although I was prepared for the occasional light curse word, the language in this series was much more mature, with frequent swearing, and the multiple sex scenes and even rape attempts. Despite the language, I initially wanted to say I liked the story line, but it was so laden with sexual tendencies and innuendo that it was difficult to look for a storyline that didn't center on sex. What Mead did do well was create characters the reader would want to read more of. Mead also uses such vivid and descriptive language that the reader can easily visualize what she is describing.
While I want to rate this book higher than a 1 star, I just can't due to the prevalence of sex and foul language. If these things don't bother you, you may really like the book and series.
Some of you may already be aware that there are some free ebooks on Amazon.com but for the rest of you out there with e-readers who didn't know this, you should definitely check out Amazon the free books are on the right side of the page. While most of the books are classics, you'll likely find some mystery, romance, puzzle and recipe books too. So check it out, load the books to your e-readers (or in my case the Kindle for Mac) and get to reading all for FREE!
Like many people, I saw the movie "The Time Traveler's Wife" starring Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana and LOVED IT! While the movie came out in 2009, I finally got around to reading the book "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger this year when I saw it on a special library display. While of course watching the movie gave me an idea what the storyline was, the book (of course) gave more background information on the characters and showed their motivations.
For those unfamiliar with the story, it starts out with Henry a time traveler meeting his future wife, whom his future self has met as she grew up. The logic itself is a bit difficult to understand, so I suggest that the reader just "go with it" and try to not over-think the process, and like Henry — take the time traveling as it comes and goes.
Reading the book was a joy, but it did require me to flip back in the book often to review the date to see whose perspective the section was written from. (Since most chapters are written from both Clare and Henry's perspective, the reader must remember who the "I" is during conversations, part of my frustration is inherent in the book and concept of time travel and the way the book is written.
I rate the book a reluctant 5 stars only because the book wasn't easy to read, but it was FUN and indeed a great read!
If you are looking for a book filled with mystetry, intrigue and a spunky main character, you've GOT to read the book 'Texas Gothic' by ROsemary Cement-Moore. Known for her great prose and strong lead characters, this book takes readers to small-town Texas Ranch, with sisters Amy and Phin and a boat-load of other college-age kids. When Amy and Phin agree to take care of their Aunt's farm while she's away on a vacation they expected to water plants and feed the ghoats. What they didn't expect, was to dig up bones and meet some ghosts!
Once again, Rosemary brings characters to life with great narration, witty word-choice and vivid details. While I haven't reviewed Clement-Moore's other books on this blog (although I've read everything she's written so far) I whole-heartedly recommend the books and am excited to award my first 5 stars on this blog.
I particularly liked Clement-Moore's description of Amy's body language when she first meets Ben, and the way Amy names people she just meets, such as "Dumb" and "Dumber" "Boots" and "Truck".
Keep them coming, Rosemary! Readers need more clean (yet spooky and fun) books to read!
For more information on the author, visit her website www.readrosemary.com
Obviously, I LOVE reading, or this blog wouldn't be as dear to my heart as it already is. With that being said, I often feel like I don't have the time to read as much as I'd like to. This year I'm setting a reading goal of 26 books. While this may not seem like a lot of books, only 1 book every 2 weeks, I think it will still prove to be a little difficult, given that I'm still in school, working and have three children.
I'm not sure how this book got into my library queue, but I was interested in the book merely for the cover- it looks so magical! Entwined by Heather Dixon is a coming of age story of sorts about 12 princesses who live in an enchanted castle. Azalea, the main character and oldest princess, must help her sisters through the grieving process once their mother passes away.
I rate this book 2 1/2 stars out of 5 mainly due to a slow storyline and parts of the story just didn't make sense. For example, I often wondered if I had skipped a page in the book because I seemed to be missing some of the story. While I understand the author's reasoning behind adding some particular quirk to a character — in this case Azalea curling her toes in her boots — she seemed to do the motion too often (in both good and bad situations) and the author could have slightly altered the phrasing a bit so that the motion wasn't so redundant. Another part of the story that I just didn't understand was that the royal family seemed to live well beneath their means — Why is is that the Prime Minister lived better than the king himself? For those reasons I rated the book a 2 1/2 stars out of 5. I'm willing to read more by Heather Dixon, and hope to see further stories about Azalea and her sisters as they explore the use of magic in their castle.
