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Welcome to my new reading blog. Click here to go directly to my reading list.

An Update

I haven't been reading as much as I use to lately.

I'm in a funk, I guess.

I need to turn it around or I'll never make it to a 100 before this year ends.

I started a new series, it's called "The Last Vampire". I'll post a update when I'm done with the first one.

Review: Fade Out (Morgansville Vampires)

There is something to be said about an author's writing when you can jump right into a story without feeling lost. Even though it has been months since I read Carpe Corpus, within about 10-15 pages I was right back into the series. These are easy, fun reads with a unique story line. In this installment, the characters continue to show character growth and development. This story had tons of excitement and several new characters increased the drama, making me feel badly for poor Claire.

Without giving away any spoilers, I can tell you that there are big changes in several characters. They have been influenced by event in previous books. The story wraps up current problem, but leaves several dilemmas to be solved in future Morgansville books. I cannot wait for the Spring 2010 release of Kiss of Death.

The Uglies Trilogy - Some Spoilers Ahead!

If you like apocalyptic (Ahem - Hello! The Hunger Games!!) novels, you might as well order the trilogy and save time and money. "Uglies" is set several hundred years in the future where "Rusties" (the people of our time period) have left the civilized world in ruins, continues in "Pretties," and concludes with "Specials."

Tally is the main character and hero. However, her best friend, Shay, leaves her mark by being the catalyst that sets the story in motion. In this utopian world designed to distract the rebellious ones, Shay is the leader whose personality is such that others willingly follow. It is she who leads Tally first across the river to Pretty Town just to spy on this party for Pretties only. At sixteen years old, Uglies are given operations to make them perfect in looks and bubbly-making in behavior. One thing leads to another and they leave the city for what is call "The Smoke", a primitive settlement way beyond, in the frontier where rebellious Uglies go to avoid the Pretty operation. It is the perpetual theme of conformity against individualism, or in this case forced conformity against individuality that erupts happenstance.

In "Pretties" Tally and Shay are finally one with the group of Pretties, although how they arrive is not typical. Even though they are Pretties now, part of the "worm" that caused their dissension is still there. Shay becomes a dreaded Special because she covets ultimate powers and Tally tries to get back to the Smoke to cure her Pretty boyfriend. Twists and turns and more betrayals are part and parcel of the story.

"Specials" quickly became my favorite of the trilogy. Specials are given special powers. They are quicker, stronger, can propel themselves several feet, and have super-hyper abilities. Pretties fear them because they were created to spy and evoke fear in Pretties, but the reader now knows that Specials are just that and not bogeymen. Until Shay and Tally that is. Remember that "worm" of dissension? Now it is a "worm" of discord and, boy, can it do some damage!

I read these at Wattpad.com, if you have a iPhone or a Blackberry, you can get their app. It's ah-mazing!

I'm back!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I had elbow surgery ("cubital tunnel release surgery") two weeks ago. I have since avoided the laptop like the plague. But, don't worry - I'm still reading it up! I think I'm on book #72 or #75. I can't remember right now, it's after 1am after all. :-)

The series is called "The Uglies". I'm on book #3 and almost finished. There is a 4th one, but I haven't decided if I'm going to read it or not yet. The series was originally a trilogy, and the latest one is from a new characters point of view. I already started the review and I'll have that posted soon. Promise!

Double Review: The Hunger Games & Catching Fire

The Hunger Games Review (September 6th, 2009):

Warning: The following may contain small spoilers.

In the future North America has vanished and a new nation called Panem has risen. Twelve districts are ruled by the Capitol, a tyrant ruling council that uses a yearly competition to keep order among its despondent citizens. Every year one boy and one girl from each district are chosen to compete in the Hunger Games where they must fight to the death. The location is always different, and every year the nation watches with bated breath to see who will be the last one standing.

In District 12, Katniss Everdeen looks on in horror as her younger sister is chosen to compete in this year's games. Before she knows it she finds herself volunteering in her sister's place. Also chosen is the mysterious baker's son, Peeta, who Katniss has always known from a distance. As the competition nears Katniss and Peeta grow closer making the imminent battle for survival all the more complicated. This year Katniss and Peeta will capture the hearts of a hopeless nation as they turn the tables on The Hunger Games and the evil Capitol that controls them.

I am always on the lookout for that one story. You know what I mean. The one that gets in your head and won't go away. The kind of book you want to put in everyone's hands. A story that has the power to completely mesmerize and capture your imagination. The Hunger Games has done all of that for me and more.

Collins hooks us from line one with the engaging first person narrative of Katniss Everdeen. Through her eyes we learn about this world in the distant future and the turmoil within. This is the kind of character that most novelists only dream of creating. Every turn of the page reveals just a little more about what drives her unquenchable spirit. Katniss may be low on the social ladder, but her compassion and fight for justice lend a majestic quality to this lowly peasant.

If Katniss herself doesn't hook you, no doubt the relentless pacing will. Once the Games begin it is almost impossible to put this story down. Suzanne Collins perfectly balances action, suspense, and violence throughout the second half of this story. As I was reading I felt like I, too, was watching these Games unfold along with the citizens of Panem and several times I wanted to stand and cheer for Katniss and Peeta and their heroic actions. In the end we are given the perfect amount of closure with a promise of more to come.

The Hunger Games might just be the best novel I've read this year and I am simply blown away by the storytelling prowess of Suzanne Collins. The sequel, Catching Fire, is out now and if early reviews are any indication, round two is even better. I can't wait to disappear once more into this fascinating world that has captured my imagination in a way I never anticipated.

Book two of the Hunger Games; Catching Fire Review (September 8th, 2009):

This book, like it's predecessor, is chock full of twists and turns, and I would be very remiss in giving away any of the secrets. Second, I am going to try and avoid assuming that you have read the first book, Hunger Games, but if you have not yet, then you might want to avoid reading my review first. I highly recommend the first offering in the Hunger Games trilogy, though, and I highly encourage you to pick that one up immediately!

Catching Fire is an amazing follow-up to Suzanne Collins' breakthrough work, Hunger Games. We are greeted with the same familiar characters who survived the first games and go on about their lives in Panem in the times that follow. Katniss still does not realize the impact she has made, until a rather high-ranking visitor comes by to inform her of the consequences her actions have left. If you felt that we needed to hear more about the other districts and their interplay with the Capitol, then fear not; this book takes over where the last one left off, and then takes flight further into this world Collins has created.

The classic struggle of good versus evil is omnipresent, though perhaps it is better stated as the battle between the haves and the have-nots, or the rich pampered elite and the slaves who provide for them. What I like most about this dystopia is the vision of a possible future and the hyperbole (if only slight) of present class struggles throughout the globe today. Moreover, this is also a coming-of-age series for one young girl who is discovering herself and her deeper emotions in the backdrop of near-slavery conditions and the oppressive opulence of the Capitol. Still, there are friends to be found, and loyalties to question, including the steadfast inner nature of Katniss herself, which she must come to terms with.

The symbolism is vivid and rich, the intrigue is tremendous, and the plot is most engrossing. If you enjoyed the first book, then you should already have ordered this sequel. If you are new to the Hunger Games, start with book one (by the same title) and buy this one at the same time. Believe me, you will be glad you don't have to wait many months between books, though the wait is already gnawing at me for the third installment!

Review: Blue Moon (Immortals Series)

Blue Moon is the "Empire Strikes Back" in Alyson Noel's "Immortals" series. It's the moral center around which the other two books must pivot. And like the midway point in the original "Star Wars" trilogy, don't expect "Blue Moon" to be about happily ever after. As Luke, Leia and Han did, the characters in this book will face heartbreaking truths and find themselves in mortal peril again and again. (That's saying a lot for an immortal to be in mortal peril.)

After learning she had become immortal in "Evermore," main character Ever begins flexing her newly acquired muscles and talents while being taught by the love of her many lives, Damen, in "Blue Moon," which releases in July. The soulmates are finally together forever after 400 hundred tortured years of losing each other, but their happiness doesn't last long. Because the new boy at the high school is clearly casting some sort of spell over all the other students, including Damen, whose powers quickly weaken. As his abilities fade, so does his memory and his interest in Ever. Heartbroken but determined to get to the root of the problem, Ever travels to Summerland to learn how to restore Damen. But when she discovers how to turn back time, she's torn between saving her family and saving her love.

Ever deals and she deals in ways the reader doesn't expect. Once you think you know what Ever will do next, she's headfirst down a new path you never imagined. When Ever travels back in time, you'll desperately wonder how the heck Ever will get out of her predicament. Then Ever winds up creating heaps more trouble for herself and Damen - trouble neither she, Damen nor any reader will ever have expected. And that's all I will say.

The mark of a daring writer is to defy expectations and Alyson Noel does that to the power of ten in "Blue Moon." I guarantee you will have no idea what's coming in the second book of the series while Alyson Noel surprises you with a big, fat twist and leaves you wanting more, more, more.