9 posts tagged “book reviews”

Books discussed in this Video:
13 Reasons Why-Jay Asher
Time Traveler's Wife-Audrey Niffenegger
To Beguile a Beast-Elizabeth Hoyt
Shiver-Maggie Stiefvater
Lover Avenged-J.R. Ward
Smoke Jumper-Nicholas Evans

First, the cuteness of Amanda's new puppy. Everyone meet Scrappy.

Look at his little paws! What a sweetie. He's also a cuddlier. Plus he loves the right side of his nosed scratched. He'll lean into you until he falls over when you scratch just the right spot.

In other news, I've decided to go to school and get my Master's in Library Science degree this fall. While I'm getting that one I'm also going to get my Master's in School Library Science since I already have my Bachelor's in Elementary Education. School's no big deal for me, so it'll be a breeze (: I hope.

Now for a book review:

Synopsis: In this exciting collection, bestselling authors Meg Cabot (How to Be Popular), Kim Harrison (A Fistful of Charms), Michele Jaffe (Bad Kitty), Stephenie Meyer (Twilight), and Lauren Myracle (ttyl) take bad prom nights to a whole new level—a paranormally bad level. Wardrobe malfunctions and two left feet don't hold a candle to discovering your date is the Grim Reaper—and he isn't here to tell you how hot you look.

This one was a very quick & easy read. Each story is about 50 pages long. I didn't know if I'd enjoy reading short stories but they were definitely well written & left me wanting more.  A few ended with a "to be continued" ending. I normally don't like those but they were incredible cliffhangers. I wouldn't buy this book to keep but it's worth borrowing from a friend or getting from your library.

I'm now reading Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist.

Ciao!

Synopsis: Nearly 21 years ago, on the seventh day of the seventh month, three young boys swore a blood oath on top of the Pagan Stone in the woods near Hawkins Hollow and unwittingly unleashed an imprisoned demon that returns to wreak increasingly deadly havoc on the town every seven years. With the evil assault beginning once more, the time has come to end the carnage. Now, the three who started it all, linked by fate to a trio of exceptional women, are determined to defeat the demon once and for all. Each couple, sharing similar mental gifts, has had a part to play in the "Sign of Seven" trilogy (see also Blood Brothers; The Hollow), but in this final installment, it's up to gambler Gage Turner and free-spirited Cybil Kinski, who have the gift of precognition, to administer the death blow, even though it means someone else must die. Blood, fire, brutal violation, and possession are tempered by strength, self-sacrifice, and love in this chilling, passionate romance.

This is the third book in the Sign of Seven trilogy & it was good. The ending wasn't near as dramatic and I had assumed it would be but that's probably because there's some action going on throughout the book. I really wish she'd write one another seven years later just to see how the town is doing! Go forth and read it. Love it! Share it!

Ciao.

P.S. I hope everyone has a fun & safe New Year's Eve. Good bye 2008, Hello 2009!

Synopsis: Sam and Hadley West are both trying in their own ways to survive after the unthinkable loss of their only son in Alaska. For Sam, a sports journalist, acceptance means an arduous trek by dogsled across the bleak and beautiful arctic wilderness to find the place where Paul died. For Hadley, it means renting a benignly haunted, salt-soaked cottage off the Maine coast where she begins to paint again.

Now, at opposite ends of the country, waiting for their divorce to be finalized, they begin to exchange letters by post, missives filled with longing and truths they’ve never before voiced, as they recall their marriage—its magic moments and its challenges—and begin to rediscover the reasons they fell in love in the first place.

As Sam risks his life to reach the remote crash site, Hadley begins an equally hazardous inner journey to a rendezvous with the mad grief of a mother’s heart. At the place where all else is lost, they will meet again….

I wasn't sure I'd like this book. I've read one other book in a letter format & I just wasn't sure if enough of the plot would come through via the letters. I was wrong. Luanne Rice has been a favorite author of mine for a long time and she didn't fail to deliver this time either.

Sam & Hadley's journey from across the globe is not only inspiring but will bring you to tears. They've lost their son & in dealing with his death have lost themselves. Sam needs to visit the site of Paul's death & Hadley runs as far from it as she can get. Both of their journey's eventually bring them together in a way you never see coming. I loved the letter format of the book. It just seemed more personal. It almost seemed like you were taking a peek into someone's mail illegally. I loved this book!

Ciao!

Synopsis:

Journalist Hope Jensen is devastated when her adoptive mother dies from ovarian cancer shortly after Christmas. Adding to her woes, her apartment is broken into and all of her emergency cash stolen. Hope then discovers that someone has left her a gift-a glass mason jar labeled "Christmas Jar," filled with money. Using her investigative skills, she learns that in recent years, several people have reported receiving these mysterious jars in times of need. Hope's search leads her to the Maxwell family and their generous Christmas tradition-and to some truths about her birth mother. In the tradition of Catherine Ryan Hyde's Pay It Forward, Wright's holiday novel could inspire others to Christmas generosity.

This book is only about 125 pages long & amazing. It will inspire you to create your own Christmas Jar. The story is a quick read & in the end you will cry. I never saw the end coming. I figured out part of it but the second part was a huge surprise.

Hope feels guilt for lying to the Maxwell's and you empathize with her because she's found a second family that she doesn't want to hurt. Jason Wright also wrote Wednesday Letters which I enjoyed. If you get a chance check him out his books are phenomenal.

Synopsis:

Texas Ranger Stephanie “Steve” Reynolds is on the hunt for a serial killer who is stalking innocent women in the Lone Star State. The beautiful Ranger comes to suspect the unbelievable – that the killer is a vampire.

Steve knows all about vampiros, since she has a demon lover of her own. For the past several years, Ethan Templeton has been helping her on cases when he wasn’t sharing her bed. But Steve, craving mortal motherhood, refused to get serious about the handsome vampire. Especially after she saw him kill a man she’d just arrested…

Ethan loves Steve, but he thinks nothing can come of their passion. Even if he could convince her to share his immortal life, his vampire patron, Don Rafael Perez, would execute him for transforming her.

But when the killer menaces Steve, Ethan realizes he has no choice except to risk everything. Will Steve agree to join a man she’s called murderer—or will she refuse her one chance at eternal life, lust, and love?

This is the third book in the Texas Vampire trilogy & it was ok. I liked the first book better than the last. It slowed down in places and the plot wasn't as active as the first one. Overall it was on okay read but I wouldn't read it again.

Ciao!!

Synopsis:

Twenty- four are forced to enter. Only the winner survives.

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Each year, the districts are forced by the Capitol to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the Hunger Games, a brutal and terrifying fight to the death – televised for all of Panem to see.

Survival is second nature for sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who struggles to feed her mother and younger sister by secretly hunting and gathering beyond the fences of District 12. When Katniss steps in to take the place of her sister in the Hunger Games, she knows it may be her death sentence. If she is to survive, she must weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

I could NOT put this book down. It was well wrote, the plot was amazing and I absolutely loved Katniss's character. She steps up to the plate for her family not only when her father dies but also when her 12 year old sister is nominated for the games. This is one of those books that you won't want to quit reading until you reach the end then you want more. I was a little irritated that at the end it says "End of book one" ugh  I hate to be continued books. I'll anxiously be awaiting the release of the next one that's for sure.

Ciao!

Synopsis:

When U.S. Marine Logan Thibault finds a photograph of a smiling young woman half-buried in the dirt during his third tour of duty in Iraq, his first instinct is to toss it aside. Instead, he brings it back to the base for someone to claim, but when no one does, he finds himself always carrying the photo in his pocket. Soon Thibault experiences a sudden streak of luck—winning poker games and even surviving deadly combat that kills two of his closest buddies. Only his best friend, Victor, seems to have an explanation for his good fortune: the photograph—his lucky charm.

Back home in Colorado, Thibault can’t seem to get the photo—and the woman in it—out of his mind. Believing that she somehow holds the key to his destiny, he sets out on a journey across the country to find her, never expecting the strong but vulnerable woman he encounters in Hampton, North Carolina—Elizabeth, a divorced mother with a young son—to be the girl he’s been waiting his whole life to meet.

Caught off guard by the attraction he feels, Thibault keeps the story of the photo, and his luck, a secret. As he and Elizabeth embark upon a passionate and all-consuming love affair, the secret he is keeping will soon threaten to tear them apart—destroying not only their love, but also their lives.

Nicholas Sparks hasn't failed me yet. His stories have a way of pulling you in and not letting go until the last page of the book. This is the first book of his that I've read that had a "bad" character. Deputy Keith Clayton is the anti-hero and throughout most of the book you'll despise him. The two main characters Logan & Beth have a lot of chemistry from the word go. They both have their flaws but you'll enjoy them throughout the book. The ending wasn't a tear jerker like I've come to expect from his books however it was a great ending to a wonderful book. It's a fast read because once you start you cannot stop!

Ciao!!