The Hunger Games — by Suzanne Collins

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.

Storm Born - by Richelle Mead

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.

The Time Traveler's Wife- by Audrey Niffennegger

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!

Entwined- by Heather Dixon

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.