Sunday, February 28, 2010

Dream Catcher

Rating: 4/5

Review: A good ending to the Wake trilogy, but I was left with a slight feeling of unfinished business. It's a very fast read, though, as usual. This time we see more of Janie's alcoholic mother, and just how hard it is to deal with something like that. We also meet Janie's father, who turns out to be a dream catcher. He's dying, though, and Janie must help him cross over. Then there's the choice that Janie has to make. One way turns out to be just as bad, if not worse, then the other. So, what's worse? Staying with the guy she loves and going blind in her twenties, or isolating herself and being alone for the rest of her life? Of course, there's more to that, but I don't want to give everything away.

Book Description:
Things should be great for Janie—she has graduated from high school and is spending her summer with Cabel, the guy she’s totally in love with. But deep down she’s panicking about how she’s going to survive her future when getting sucked into other people’s dreams is really starting to take its toll.Things get even more complicated when she meets her father for the very first time—and he’s in a coma. As Janie uncovers his secret past, she begins to realize that the choice thought she had has more dire consequences than she ever imagined.

My Favorite Classic


Rating: 5/5
Review: Yes, this one is most defnitely my favorite. There couldn't possibly be another classic that I would love more. Jane is so compelling, such a beloved character. And oh the romance! From the moment Jane and Mr. Rochester meet, there is chemistry that cannot be denied. They barely touch during their courtship, but the passion they feel for one another practically sizzles on the page. The longing looks, the forbidden thoughts, and the declaration of love that moved me to tears...that's what a good romance is all about. Of course that's not all this book has. There's a mystery, and even a little suspense, too. Now, I need to go get myself a copy so that I can read it again and again.
Book Description:
Orphaned at an early age, Jane Eyre leads a lonely life until she finds work as a governess at Thornfield Hall, where she meets the mysterious Mr. Rochester and sees a ghostly woman who roams the halls by night. This is a story of passionate love, travail and final triumph. The relationship between the heroine and Mr. Rochester is only one episode, albeit the most important, in a detailed fictional autobiography in which the author transmuted her own experience into high art. In this work the plucky heroine is outwardly of plain appearance, but possesses an indomitable spirit, a sharp wit and great courage. She is forced to battle against the exigencies of a cruel guardian, a harsh employer and a rigid social order which circumscribes her life and position.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Such Things Happen

Rating: 4/5

Review: "It was bitter cold, the air electric with all that had not happened yet." Read that sentence, and tell me you're not intrigued. I certainly was. This book was intense, disturbing, erotic, tragic, and even a little romantic in some ways. Catherine Land has a plan, but she has no idea how much her life will change once she's married to Ralph Truitt. He has his own agenda in regards to his new wife, who has lied to him from the very beginning. Of course, he doesn't realize how much this woman will come to mean to him by the end. In the midst of all of that turmoil, there is a dark and depressing look at the tragic life in a cold Wisconsin countryside in the early 1900's. I couldn't turn away no matter how disturbing the words got, certain descriptions that made me cringe. They were hypnotic, engrossing, beautiful, ugly. I had goosebumps by the end, and not the fearful kind. More like the kind you'd get when something tremendous has touched you, and has made you feel so lucky to be where you are, instead of where you could've ended up.

Book Description:
He placed a notice in a Chicago paper, an advertisement for "a reliable wife." She responded, saying that she was "a simple, honest woman." She was, of course, anything but honest, and the only simple thing about her was her single-minded determination to marry this man and then kill him, slowly and carefully, leaving her a wealthy widow, able to take care of the one she truly loved.What Catherine Land did not realize was that the enigmatic and lonely Ralph Truitt had a plan of his own. And what neither anticipated was that they would fall so completely in love.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

The Werewolf Needs Grace

Rating: 5/5

Review: I could not put this book down! Such an intriguing story about a werewolf in need of saving. Daniel has returned to his hometown after a long absence, and after something bad happened between him and his best friend. Grace has loved Daniel since they were kids, and that love flares up again when he suddenly shows back up in school. He's changed, though, and there are so many secrets surrounding him. She can't help being drawn to him, even though her brother, Jude, makes her promise to stay away from him. Promises are made to be broken, however, and Grace's love won't just go away because commen sense tells it to. Such a wonderful, edge-of-your-seat story, and I hope there will be more to come.

Book Description:
Grace Divine, daughter of the local pastor, always knew something terrible happened the night Daniel Kalbi disappeared—the night she found her brother Jude collapsed on the porch, covered in his own blood—but she has no idea what a truly monstrous secret that night held.

The memories her family has tried to bury resurface when Daniel returns, three years later, and enrolls in Grace and Jude's high school. Despite promising Jude she'll stay away, Grace cannot deny her attraction to Daniel's shocking artistic abilities, his way of getting her to look at the world from new angles, and the strange, hungry glint in his eyes.

The closer Grace gets to Daniel, the more she jeopardizes her life, as her actions stir resentment in Jude and drive him to embrace the ancient evil Daniel unleashed that horrific night. Grace must discover the truth behind the boy's dark secret...and the cure that can save the ones she loves. But she may have to lay down the ultimate sacrifice to do it—her soul.

Friday, February 12, 2010

Madness Indeed!

Rating: 3.5/5

Review: There were seven of Poe's stories featured in this book, and I genuinely liked three of them. The others simply did not hold my interest at all. The ones that I did like, were, The Raven (one of my absolute favorites), The Tell-Tale Heart (wonderfully spooky), and Ligeia (I've never read a woman's beauty described in such a wondrous way). All of the tales had madness in common, of course. I also noticed that Opium seemed to be Poe's drug of choice. Revenge was featured more than once, as well. I wonder if the stories I couldn't get into would have been better read allowed. I will have to try out an audio version of Poe's stories. I have a feeling that it would be quite enjoyable, and of course, spooky.

Book Description: For over one hundred years, Edgar Allen Poe has awed and thrilled his readers with horrific stories of tragedy, death, and fear. This collection of some of his most famous tales will excite and remind us that, although the author lived many years ago, his grasp of human emotion is as poignant as ever.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Protective Gargoyle

Rating: 3.5/5

Review: I expected to like this one a lot more than I did. The main character, Margrit, was very unlikeable. Her recklessness and the huge chip she seemed to carry around on her shoulder did not appeal to me at all. She was brave, but that bravery border lined on stupidity on more than one occasion. My favorite part of the whole book, was the scene where she first goes to the book shop. I wished very much that I could go to that place in real life. There was such a wonderful feeling of magic and mystery there. Unfortunately, it was a tiny section and was only visited briefly again later in the story. There were some interesting characters through out the book, though, that kept it from being completely disappointing. Alban, the lonely Gargoyle who has tried to protect reckless women for centuries, is an intriguing love interest for one. Chelsea, the owner the of the book shop, is another. She was very mysterious, and knew far too much to not be a part of that "other" world some how. There were others, however, like Margrit's roommates, that were just plain annoying. There is a good mystery to solve, though, and there were some great moments that make me think that the series has the potential to get better with each book. I am just interested enough to find out. I think Margrit may just grow on me, as well. She does have a sense of humor, and her strength can a little inspiring. So, not a great book, but good enough to check out it's sequel anyway.

Book Description:
WHAT SECRETS LIE SHROUDED IN DARKNESS?
Okay, so jogging through Central Park after midnight wasn't a bright idea. But Margrit Knight never thought she'd encounter a dark new world filled with magical beings—not to mention a dying woman and a mysterious stranger with blood on his hands. Her logical, lawyer instincts told her it couldn't all be real— but she could hardly deny what she'd seen?and touched.
The mystery man, Alban, was a gargoyle. One of the fabled Old Races who had hidden their existence for centuries. Now he was a murder suspect, and he needed Margrit's help to take the heat off him and find the real killer. And as the dead pile up, it's a race against the sunrise to clear Alban's name and keep them both alive.?

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Past. Future. Family.

Rating: 4/5





Review: It's a hefty book (552 p.), but the long journey is worth it. The author has a beautiful way with description, and the mystery is so completely enthralling that the reader just has to find out the truth. There are many twists and turns, as well as, trips into the past. There is tragedy, intrigue, love, family bonds, new experiences, interesting people, and a garden that induces a sense of magic. There are strange and creepy things too, much like a fairytale.



Book Description:
A foundling, an old book of dark fairy tales, a secret garden, an aristocratic family, a love denied, a mystery The Forgotten Garden is a captivating, atmospheric and compulsively readable story of the past, secrets, family and memory from the international best-selling author Kate Morton. Cassandra is lost, alone and grieving. Her much loved grandmother, Nell, has just died and Cassandra, her life already shaken by a tragic accident ten years ago, feels like she has lost everything dear to her. But an unexpected and mysterious bequest from Nell turns Cassandra's life upside down and ends up challenging everything she thought she knew about herself and her family. Inheriting a book of dark and intriguing fairytales written by Eliza Makepeace - the Victorian authoress who disappeared mysteriously in the early twentieth century - Cassandra takes her courage in both hands to follow in the footsteps of Nell on a quest to find out the truth about their history, their family and their past; little knowing that in the process, she will also discover a new life for herself.