A Quick Trip to the Bookstore...

I received a few gift certificates for my birthday for Borders so I headed over there yesterday on my lunch. I grabbed a few books that I've been hearing really good things about online:

1. Hush, Hush: Becca Fitzgerald



2. Bad Girls Don't Die: Katie Alender



3. Shiver: Maggie Stiefvater



4. Meridian: Amber Kizer

Sixteen-year-old Meridian has been surrounded by death ever since she can remember. As a child, insects, mice, and salamanders would burrow into her bedclothes and die. At her elementary school, she was blamed for a classmate’s tragic accident. And on her sixteenth birthday, a car crashes in front of her family home—and Meridian’s body explodes in pain.

Before she can fully recover, Meridian is told that she’s a danger to her family and hustled off to her great-aunt’s house in Revelation, Colorado. It’s there that she learns that she is a Fenestra—the half-angel, half-human link between the living and the dead. But Meridian and her sworn protector and love, Tens, face great danger from the Aternocti, a band of dark forces who capture vulnerable souls on the brink of death and cause chaos.

5. The Monstrumologist: Rick Yancy



6. The Tear Collector: Patrick Jones



I'm really excited about all of these reads and I can't wait to start plugging away at them!!

Review: Soulstice

Title: Soulstice - The Devouring Book 2
Author: Simon Holt
Pages: 266
Rating: 3.5/5

It's been six months since Reggie first discovered and fought against the Vours, malicious and demonic beings that inhabit human bodies on the eve of the Winter Solstice.

The Vours still haunt Reggie, but only in her dreams-until one night, when an unexpected visitor turns her nightmares into reality.

The battle against evil continues in Soulstice, the second book in the thrilling The Devouring series, which School Library Journal called, "Comparable to books by R. L. Stine and Stephen King....A must-have for horror fans." (Cover Blurb).

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS TO BOOK ONE - THE DEVOURING

Soulstice begins six months after Reggie's quiet hometown of Cutter's Edge was attacked by the evil, demonic Vours. Reggie, Aaron, and her brother Henry are slowly beginning to readjust to normal every day life and are letting the nightmares go. However, things are complicated by a tough detective sent to find Quinn Waters, the town golden boy, whom Reggie and Aaron drowned in the lake to save Henry the previous winter.

Tension continues to grow when Reggie freaks out during English class due to a horrific vision brought on by the Vours. It is at this point that Reggie realizes that they have still not escaped the evils of the Vours. Further complicating the situation, is Aaron's arrest by the tough city detective --- a Vour sent to crush the enemy.

I'm having a tough time judging this book. On one hand, the writing was really good and it did creep me out. I had to dig out my Ipod last night to fall asleep because the house was making creepy noises. However, I felt that the novel was lacking something. I had the same feeling after finishing The Devouring. Both books have tons and tons of potential, but its just like they're sitting right on the edge and not taking the leap. It's almost nerve wracking to read sometimes. Another thing that annoys me about these books is that they end in cliff hangers. Which is great if you have the next book right on hand to start, but book three doesn't come out until Fall of 2010. That's a year away!!

So all in all, Soulstice is great for the creep factor. It just left me wanting more...and not in a great way.

Review: Perfect Chemistry

Title: Perfect Chemistry
Author: Simone Elkeles
Pages: 357
Rating: 5/5

At Fairfield High School, on the outskirts of Chicago, everyone knows that south siders and north siders are't exactly compatible elements, So when head cheerleader Brittany Ellis and gang member Alex Fuentes are forced to be lab partners in chemistry class, the results are bound to be explosive. But neither teen is prepared for the most surprising chemical reaction of all - love. Can they break through the streotypes and misconceptions that threaten to keep them apart (Cover Blurb).

I don't even know what to say about this book except for the fact that I absolutely adored it. This was definitely the best read of 2009, and I'll be hard pressed to find another one that I like more before the year is up.

I originally bought this book because of the cover. There's just something about a guy with a nice tattoo on his arm that makes me go all week in the knees. It sat on the shelf for a month or so, until I picked it up early Monday morning before heading off to work. By one in the afternoon, I was in love with a gang banger. However, despite being in love with Alex Fuentes, I was still able to really enjoy the character of Brittany Ellis.

Brittany seems to have the perfect life to everyone on the outside. Money, great clothes, a BMW, and the most popular boy in school at her side. But on the inside, she's falling apart. Her home life is in shambles, things with the quarterback of the football team are not quite working out, and she's been paired with Alex in chemistry.

In Alex though, Brittany is able to truly find herself. She finds her voice. She learns life isn't a popularity contest. She falls in love with the bad boy from across the tracks, and everything changes. Alex also has changes to make, but his are much more tough. Elkeles description of his struggle with gang life and normal life is superb, and kept me reading from the first page.

This is simply a modern Romeo and Juliet story, but with so much more. I did a bit of research tonight when I got home and found out that a sequel is coming out called Rules of Attraction in May of 2010 and I'm already looking to pre order it. I'm also going to check out her other novel Leaving Paradise. If it is half as good as Perfect Chemistry I'm in for a heck of a ride!

Review: The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane

Title: The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane

Author: Katherine Howe

Pages: 371

Rating: 4.5/5

Connie Goodwin should be spending her summer doing research for her Ph.D. dissertation in American History. But when her mother asks her to handle the sale of Connie's grandmother's abandoned home near Salem, she's compelled to help. It's not long before the time she's set aside for research is instead spent sorting through her grandmother's ancient possessions, discovering a woman she barely knew.

One day, while exploring the dusty bookshelves in the study, Connie discovers a key hidden within an old bible. And within the key is a brittle slip of paper with two words written on it: Deliverance Dane. Along with a handsome steeplejack named Sam, Connie begins to dig into the town's records, looking for references to Deliverance Dane. But even as the pieces begin to fall into place, Connie is haunted by visions of the witch trials so long ago, and she begins to fear that she is more tied to Salem's dark past than she could have ever imagined.

Written by an author completing a Ph.D. in New England Studies, and whose ancestors were accused witches in Salem, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane travels seamlessly between the trials in the 1690s and a modern woman's story of mystery and discovery (Powell's Books).

Have you ever read a book filled with so much mystery and intrigue that you can't stand to put it down for even a second? That's how this book was for me. I actually grabbed this book on a whim. It was on one of the "hottest books of the summer" shelves at Borders one day when I went to relax at lunch. I was getting sick of reading the same old same old and was looking for a change and thought this might do the trick. I was definitely right in this pick.

I absolutely loved the main character Connie. Watching her discover so many new things about herself was so uplifting and I absolutely love the path that the author set in motion after Connie discovers the old key hidden within an old family Bible. However, despite this, my absolute favorite parts of the novel where the sections where the author takes us back to Salem in the 1600s. This made the book so real, and hit home with me due to the fact that I'm a huge history buff.

I really hope that Katherine Howe continues to write and I will definitely book on the look out for when she does.

Review: Firefly Lane

Title: Firefly Lane
Author:Kristin Hannah
Pages: 528
Rating: 4/5

In the turbulent summer of 1974, Kate Mularkey has accepted her place at the bottom of the eighth-grade social food chain. Then, to her amazement, the "coolest girl in the world" moves in across the street and wants to be her friend. Tully Hart seems to have it all — beauty, brains, ambition. On the surface they are as opposite as two people can be: Kate, doomed to be forever uncool, with a loving family who mortifies her at every turn. Tully, steeped in glamour and mystery, but with a secret that is destroying her. They make a pact to be best friends forever; by summer's end they've become TullyandKate. Inseparable.

So begins Kristin Hannah's magnificent new novel. Spanning more than three decades and playing out across the ever-changing face of the Pacific Northwest, Firefly Lane is the poignant, powerful story of two women and the friendship that becomes the bulkhead of their lives (Powell's Books).

It's been a few months since I finished this book, so I'm not sure how much detail I remember but I do remember this much. This is an absolutely fabulous read. Even at over 500 pages, I flew through this book in only a few days, barely putting it down to even cook dinner.

The story of Kate and Tully starts when they are just young girls, and takes us through their entire lives together. We get to witness all of the ups and downs, all of the trials and tribulations that take place during their friendship and their lives.

I've heard a lot of people have found this book to be contrived, and a new Beaches for the 2000s, but I found it to be refreshing. This was the first Kristin Hannah book that I have ever read; however, I know that it will not be my last. I've already picked up several of her older novels and added them to the massive TBR stack.

So grab your tissues, grab the book, and dial your best friend because you'll definitely want to share this book with her.

I'm still alive...

Hello...I'm going to try this again. I know its been a long time since I've been around and I need to fill everyone in on what's been happening in my life. Soon after my last post, Michael and I found out we were pregnant...in early July I miscarried the baby and our lives got extremely hectic. Since the miscarriage, we've been to see a reproductive specialist who diagnosised me with polycystic ovarian syndrome. I'm still ovulating every month, but extremely late in the cycle, making it very difficult to even become pregnant. After a few months of testing, we started our first round of Clomid this month to help us produce healthy, happy eggs.

At the same time that all of this was happening, I also received a promotion at work. While I love it, it means a lot more time in front of the computer and a lot more meetings. I'm exhausted once I get home.

I've pretty much been coming home, picking up around the house, and going to bed. Not much reading time. However, I think I'm finally starting to get back on track and I've been reading again on my lunch hour and actually managed to finish a book already this week. Hopefully, I'll begin to be able to start posting at least once, if not twice a week. I know I'm obviously not going to make my reading goal of 100 books this year, but I am hoping to make at least fifty!