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?

Shadowhunters versus Demon Horde

My Rating: 5/5

Review: This sequel to City of Bones was like an exhilarating ride at and amusement park. Jace and Clary are so heartbreaking and intense. The action was endless. I couldn't even make myself put the book down during the last few chapters. There are a few big changes that will rock you. By the end of the book I was left with many questions. Are Clary and Jace really brother and sister? What did the Inquisitor whisper in Jace's ear? What happened to Valentine? How will Clary wake her mother up? How does Clary's mom really feel about Luke? What will the Clave want to do with Clary now? I am absolutely chomping at the bit to read the next book!

Book Description: As readers of series starter City of Bones already know, teenager Clary Fray is a Shadowhunter, a demon slayer who has the gift of spotting Downworlder werewolves, vampires, and faeries. She is also an adolescent in an abnormally dysfunctional family: Her mom is in a magically induced coma and her father is probably insane and undoubtedly evil. All of which places Clary in situations that would challenge even the most talented average American girl.

Out of the Ocean Comes Death

My Rating: 4/5

Review: Very good book. Even better than the first one. The intensity was so much stronger, and the story moved along faster.

Book Description: Gabry lives a quiet life. As safe a life as is possible in a town trapped between a forest and the ocean, in a world teeming with the dead, who constantly hunger for those still living. She’s content on her side of the Barrier, happy to let her friends dream of the Dark City up the coast while she watches from the top of her lighthouse. But there are threats the Barrier cannot hold back. Threats like the secrets Gabry’s mother thought she left behind when she escaped from the Sisterhood and the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Like the cult of religious zealots who worship the dead. Like the stranger from the forest who seems to know Gabry. And suddenly, everything is changing. One reckless moment, and half of Gabry’s generation is dead, the other half imprisoned. Now Gabry only knows one thing: she must face the forest of her mother’s past in order to save herself and the one she loves.

Holmes and His Lovely Apprentice

My Rating: 4/5

Review: I absolutely detest long chapters and thick paragraphs. Despite that, however, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved the repartee between Holmes and Mary. I liked getting the background story of how they met, and how Holmes became her mentor. The mysteries they solved together and how that solved them was quite good fun. I will definitely be reading more Laurie R. King books, long chapters and thick paragraphs or not.

Book Description: Long retired, Sherlock Holmes quietly pursues his study of honeybee behavior on the Sussex Downs. He never imagines he would encounter anyone whose intellect matched his own, much less an audacious teenage girl with a penchant for detection. Miss Mary Russell becomes Holmes' pupil and quickly hones her talent for deduction, disguises and danger. But when an elusive villain enters the picture, their partnership is put to a real test.