No Goals Met

It's quite a bummer, but I didn't reach any of my reading challenges' goals. Oh well, better luck this year. Happy 2012!

Home of the Shadowhunters

My Rating: 5/5

Review: Such an intense and wonderful series!

Book Description: To save her mother's life, Clary must travel to the City of Glass, the ancestral home of the Shadowhunters -- never mind that enter-ing the city without permission is against the Law, and breaking the Law could mean death. To make things worse, she learns that Jace does not want her there, and Simon has been thrown in prison by the Shadowhunters, who are deeply suspicious of a vampire who can withstand sunlight.
As Clary uncovers more about her family's past, she finds an ally in mysterious Shadow-hunter Sebastian. With Valentine mustering the full force of his power to destroy all Shadow-hunters forever, their only chance to defeat him is to fight alongside their eternal enemies. But can Downworlders and Shadowhunters put aside their hatred to work together? While Jace realizes exactly how much he's willing to risk for Clary, can she harness her newfound powers to help save the Glass City -- whatever the cost?

Love Finds Mary Russell

My Rating: 5/5

Review: There's something so intelligent and fun about this book that makes me want more. I adore Mary Russell, and I adore her and Holmes together. In this sequel to The Beekeeper's Apprentice, Mary finds herself tangled up in a murder mystery involving a woman she can't help but respect. The murders, the near-death of her friend, and a run-in with a nasty knife can't be denied, however. Margery Childe is involved somehow, and Mary must figure it out before her own life is truly at stake. Naturally Holmes is there to help, but this case is all Mary's, and she is quite determined to solve it on her own. Holmes becomes more and more involved, though, and something changes between the two of them by the end of the book. Nearly losing someone you care about will do that to a relationship, though, right? Great mystery, with a dash of suspense.

Book Description: It is 1921 and Mary Russell, Sherlock Holmes's brilliant apprentice, now an Oxford graduate with a degree in theology, is on the verge of acquiring a sizable inheritance. Independent at last, with a passion for divinity and detective work, her most baffling mystery may now involve Holmes and the burgeoning of a deeper affection between herself and the retired detective. Russell's attentions turn to the New Temple of God and its leader, Margery Childe, a charismatic suffragette and a mystic, whose draw on the young theology scholar is irresistible. But when four bluestockings from the Temple turn up dead shortly after changing their wills, could sins of a capital nature be afoot? Holmes and Russell investigate, as their partnership takes a surprising turn.

Teen Mystery

My Rating: 4/5

Review: I was drawn in from the begining with this story of a teen girl with a mysterious mom. When said mom goes missing, Anne soon learns that there are deep dark secrets about her mother, as well as, herself. There was a good bit of mystery and suspense here, and a little teenaged drama to boot. I liked all of the characters and found them mostly believable. There may have been a time or two that I didn't think someone would act a certain way in real life, but overall, a good book.

Book Description: SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD ANNE ALWAYS thought her mother was kind of quirky. In fact, her mom’s taste in 70s-esque furniture and mysterious frequent business trips were just the tip of the quirky iceberg. When her
mom doesn’t come home on time from one of her long jaunts, Anne isn’t too surprised. But when a day late turns into a few days late, Anne knows something is very wrong.

Magic Under Striped Tents

My Rating: 4/5

Review: This is a book that should not be rushed through or expected to be devoured in one setting. It must be savored and taken in a little at a time. The magic and awe of the circus is so wonderfully imagined that I truly wish I could go there in person. I could almost smell the caramel and taste the chocolate mice on my tongue. There are so many wondrous characters, performances, magical rooms, and dreamy scenes to intoxicate the senses. The romance between Celia and Marco is beautiful in its simplicity. The imagination of this author astounds and inspires me, and I look forward to her future endeavors.

Book Description: The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per­formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.

The Maids of Southern Bells

My Rating: 5/5

Review: Wonderful, wonderful book! I'm so glad I finally read it!

Book Description: In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women - mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends - view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don't.

Will Zombies Take Over The World?

My Rating: 4/5

Review: Great suspense and intensity. I like that the characters in these books are realistic. They aren't macho butt kicking superheroes, but normal people struggling to survive in a zombie filled world. It did start to fizzle a little bit towards the end, but quickly picked back up again.

Book Description: There are many things that Annah would like to forget: the look on her sister's face before Annah left her behind in the Forest of Hands and Teeth, her first glimpse of the Horde as they swarmed the Dark City, the sear of the barbed wire that would scar her for life. But most of all, Annah would like to forget the morning Elias left her for the Recruiters.
Annah's world stopped that day, and she's been waiting for Elias to come home ever since. Somehow, without him, her life doesn't feel much different than the dead that roam the wasted city around her. Until she meets Catcher, and everything feels alive again.
But Catcher has his own secrets. Dark, terrifying truths that link him to a past Annah has longed to forget, and to a future too deadly to consider. And now it's up to Annah: can she continue to live in a world covered in the blood of the living? Or is death the only escape from the Return's destruction?