Book · Club

Shiver
Maggie Stiefvater
Fiction; fantasy; chick lit
390 pages


For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf--her wolf--is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human ...until the cold makes him shift back again.
Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

I think this book is going to be the start to a great series. I was afraid that it would be Twilight-esque with the tale of romance, but surprisingly, it wasn't anything like that series. I found it quite interesting that in this series, Sam is comparing being a werewolf to being like a disease. I am about to start Linger and cannot wait to see where the story picks up!

***Next read: I am about to start Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

I was recommended this book here, so I decided to post a review. I apologize if my format isn't correct. 
 
Title: Devil You Know
Author: Mike Carey
Genre: Paranormal Mystery
Length: "346 page" on Nook (457KB)
(seemed about 1.5p before turn)
Rating:
1: Firewood; 2: Regret; 3: Flawed; 4: Okay; 5: Neutral/Fair; 6: Potential, 7: Enjoyable, 8: Excellent, 9: Favorite, 10: Perfect
"Felix Castor use to cast out demons for a living. But in a time when the supernatural realm is in upheaval, his skills are in renewed demand. The one final, well-paying assignment he accepts, however, is rapidly turning into a "who can kill Castor first" competition, with demons, were-beings, and ghosts all keen to claim the big prize." 

Writing:
1st Person (Felix Castor), Past Tense.

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Title: The Guns of August

Author: Barabara W. Tuchman

Review: The Guns of August is a non-fictional portrayal of the first month of WWI. It starts with Kings Edward VII's death and ends right before the Marne. It is a fascinating book that makes one hate/fear for humanity. It focuses on the politics of the war and paints a rather disturbing picture as to what actually led to the war. It is rather depressing because the leaders of the European countries were bloody crazy. They was a great disconnect between how they thought the world and the war should work and what actually happened and Tuchman captures that disconnect beautiful. She withholds judgment and is generally unbias although there a few moments when even she admits a certain plan or view was insane and I can't really blame her. She also sings Belguim praises and they certainly deserve it. Poor King Albert. The only flaw (and it's not really a flaw, but more of a personal taste thing) is that she does not write battles as strongly as she writes political maneuvering. Still this does not take away from the book at all. Her style is crisp and clear and definitely British which makes it an easy read. It is not the boring textbook one would remember from school. Overall an excellent, insightful look at the beginning of WWI.

Hello,
I'm in a search for some (preferably YA) books about wizards or witches (or anyone who does some magic and spells and potions) living in England in Victorian Era.
"Gemma Doyle trilogy" is one of my favorite series by far, and I also already read the "Bewitching Season" by Marissa Doyle and "Soulless", but I'd like a book without any vampires or werewolves, if its possible.

Spam is annoying, yes? It's gone now.

If you would like to be a mod to delete spam when it pops up and you read your friends page daily, please comment and I'll give you the powah.

To keep this kind of on topic, I would like to recommend an author for some great summertime (or any time) reading: Christopher Moore. http://www.chrismoore.com/

His books are funny (I laugh out loud several times on every book), interesting, entertaining, a very fast read, and are available in (very easy to read by the pool) trade paperback size books. His books all very lightly relate to each other (off hand mentions) and while best read in order, they are not sequential and can be read in any order. I can tell you I started right in the middle (with "Lamb") and then went back to the beginning ("Practical Deamonkeeping") without any problem.

        I read this book about two years ago and couldn't put it down.  In my opinion, it's the most elegant, detailed collection of short stories.  Miranda July captured what I thought to be the alternative way of living.  Her characters are so different than everyday people, ranging from a woman who gives swimming lessons in her kitchen to a father who uses his daughter's hand to show her how to pleasure a woman the right way.  Each story deals with the cores of us, places that we usually don't want others to see, and exposes what's there in a poetic and brief manner.  I've reread this book about four times and each time I do, I find something different about it that I like.  Miranda July is a talented artist and I would recommend this book to anyone who feels alone, like they never fit in, or simply feels the needs to get on the floor and teach others how to swim.   

I love books.  Just finished Murder in Ford Theater by Margaret Truman.  It's the best book of hers that I've read so far.  My favorite authors right now are Robert B. Parker, Arthur Upfield, Eric Wright, Lmma Lathan and Lawrence Sanders.  My low battery popup just popped up so will get back later.  -Diva

So this is a welcome post/review. Hi, everyone. I like to read (obviously otherwise I wouldn't be posting here) just about anything. In the fiction genre I mostly read the classics, science fiction, and a little bit of fantasy. I've also dabbled in poetry a little bit. I prefer full length novels but I'm not anti-short story. I also read a lot of non-fiction, mostly military history although I've picked up a science book a few times. That's about it really.

Here's my review.

I just finished LeMay: the Life and Wars of General Curtis LeMay by Warren Kozak. It is a nonfiction biography on the Air Force General Curtis LeMay. During WWII, he fought over Europe and was created the defense formation the Air Forces this day. He also firebombed Japan and it was his unit that dropped both atomic bombs. After WWII, he was in charge of SAC (Strategic Air Command) and made it the lethal killing machine it was. SAC was in charge of the nuclear weapons and they were basiclaly the guys who were in charge of M.A.D. He eventually became Chief in Staff of the Air Force and was let go during the Lyndon Johnson administration. He had an unsuccessful political career by running with George Wallace-an extreme racist who tried to run for president against Humphrey and Nixon.

The biography is very good. It doesn't try to hide the fact that LeMay was a bloodthirsty you know what nor does it down play the importance of his actions. The book argues that without LeMay WWII and the Cold War would have gone very differently. It doesn't go to the extreme as if to say bombing people is good, but it does argue that there are times when it is needed. It is written in a very LeMay style and doesn't apologize for him which I appreciate. I've read too many books that either condemn him for being a caveman in a bomber or try to apologize and make excuses for him. The only flaw I have with the book is that it goes out of its way to really stress LeMay's human side. Normally this would be a good thing, but I think the book tries a little to hard to make LeMay human so the readers don't try and lynch the author. Other than that it is an excellent biography on a complicated man.

Okay I'm here on a mission. I am Looking for "Military Romance" Novels/Books. Mostly fiction. Lately I have been obsessing over military men, so I thought It would be cool to read romances about military men/woman.

So I am kinda also stumped with this book I read about a year ago, and I realllly want to read it again. It is about

"this lady who has a military husband, Her husband goes out on duty and they both write love letters back and fourth until she finds out that he dies. Her lover that dies has a best friend who finds these love letters that are left behind, and reads them. He becomes fascinated with this lady and wants to meet her. They meet and have there ups and downs. and so on."

WHAT IS THIS BOOK CALLED!?!??! HELP? It is one of the best romance novels I have read! I'd recommend it to those who help me find the title. : )

Thanks!
Jenny♥

Hey,

I've been looking around for a good series to get into. Probably fantasy/sci-fi. I'm looking for something with dynamic, conflicted, interesting characters. Preferably a series, but not too intense. I'm not into Epic tales so much...

Also, I was thinking, considering the name of this community, has there ever been like a book of the month to read, discuss and such?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/studentlife/bookclub/reviews/angel_cassidy.shtml

I wanted to share this with you'll since a long time

I believe this is my first post here. I cannot recall if I made a introductory post. There isn't much to say; I like to read and that's why I'm here. Moving along.

I read several books in the realm of gender study (specifically about intersex) and decided to do a collective review of them.
The books I read are: Intersex (for lack of a better word) By Thea Hillman, Fixing Sex by Katrina Karkazis, Between XX and XY by Gerald N. Callahan and, though not the exact same subject, Gender Outlaw by Kate Bornstein. If I recall right I found Bornsteins book here.

 

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Pirate Latitudes, Michael Crichton
Rating: 4/5



Pirate Latitudes was like Pirates of the Caribbean without the Disney elements.

As a novel about pirates, it was great. Everything you could ask for was included: there were sword fights, ambushes, a kraken, treasure and cannons. It was an easy read and fast paced with one adventure after the other.

However, as a novel about pirates by Michael Crichton it could have been much better. His books generally have multi leveled plots with lots of twists and turns. Here, the plot was more or less a straight line from point A to point B without many subplots.

There could have been so much more development for the supporting characters such as Lazue, the Jew and Lady Sarah Almont. I also would have liked to have a few more scenes of the going ons at Port Royal after Hunter and his crew set sail.

Apparently, this novel was found on Crichton’s computer after he died. I can’t help but think that he wasn’t actually finished writing it yet; that this book was only a part of what he intended the finished product to be.

That said, it was an enjoyable read, especially if you like pirates. Just don’t go into it expecting the historical epicness of Timeline.

#2: The Chocolate Snowman Murders by Joanna Carl:

I hit the snowman with twenty pounds of chocolate.

Synopsis: She totally did. Then she had to run screaming through the snow like Jason XI: Jason Freezes His Tail Off.

( Life in Warner's Pier isn't much like a box of chocolates at all. )

# 70: Edgar and Ellen's Nodyssey #2: Frost Bites by Charles Ogden:

"Stephanie! Don't do this! You don't want our blood on your hands!" Edgar pleaded.

Stephanie patted Edgar's shoulder. "Of course I don't," she said. "That's why I'm wearing gloves."

And with that, Gonzalo shoved the car, and it and the twins plunged into the mine.

Synopsis: Evil children wearing striped footie pajamas take a break from trying to take over the world in order to stop the most popular girl in the class from taking over the world. Also there's a yeti and a volcano and an ice hotel and a traveling circus and--

( Too much good stuff. )

# 69: Frezno by Tony Stamolis:

Fresno is full of rich and colorful history. Yet I hardly ever met anyone who lived there who wanted to be there. Everyone seemed to want to be somewhere else. New York or LA or San Francisco or some other city--anywhere but there. A weird neurosis. I'd never lived in a place where people so consistently felt like that and didn't just move.

Synopsis: A coffee table book of photos about one of the Central Valley's most infamous cities.

( I'm still never drinking Triple Sec again. Ever. )

# 67: We Got the Neutron Bomb: The Untold Story of L.A. Punk by Marc Spitz and Brendan Mullen:

A bit later on the Dils were at the Whisky. We're there watching the Zeros, and Rodney was sitting there with his clique of people, and he walked by us and he had his shag hairdo and it had some altitude on it with hair spray and of course back then you could smoke in nightclubs and I walked by with a little Bic lighter and set his hair on fire.

--Tony Kinman of the Dils

Synopsis: Pretty much what it says. A history of the punk scene in L.A. from the 1960s through 1981.

( Wherein I've become a huge fan of the oral biography as history book. )

As much as I hate to admit it, I'm in desperate need of some good age-appropriatee chick lit. I've been home sick recently, I have a 4-hour flight to California next week AND the cold weather is arriving. I need some good, but LIGHT reads for the following months. I've recently been reading books for school assignments and I've found myself needing something a bit easier (rather than Shakespeare, Homer and romantic-period lit. *shiver* ).

My dilemma is I'm bored with the "young adult" books I read a couple years ago, but I feel too young for romance novels targeted for women my mother's age. I'm in my late teens. I'm really just looking for a realistic, quirky, girl-meets-boy, they fall in love, here's-their-story, good lesson-learned, happy ending book. In the past years I've read almost all of Sarah Dessen's and Meg Cabot's books to give you a taste of what I'm looking for. But now those books seem so thin, considering they're targeted for ages "12 and up".

Also, books that take place in this CENTURY and do not involve sparkly vampires is appreciated as well. Thanks in advance!

Garth Stein's The Art of Racing in the Rain is one of the most poignant books I've read to date.  It is the philosophy of humanity and the value of life told from the prospective of the family dog.  You will never forget the voice of one of the most unique, believable, and amiable protagonists in literature.

# 66: The Drowning City by Amanda Downum (stillsostrange):

They crossed a wide canal into the dock district--Merrowgate, the map named it. The Phoenix lay in Saltlace, the tourist and market quarter. The night grew louder as they neared the docks, bare and sandaled feet slapping the stones, laughter and music echoing from taverns, bells tolling to guide ships in the dark. The cloying spice-sweetness of opium drifted out of an alley mouth.

As they passed a narrow walkway along the water Isyllt heard a soft cry, like a child's muffled sob. She paused, searching for the source. It sounded like it came from the water.

Xinai laid a hand on her arm as she leaned toward the black offal-reek of the canal. "Don't. It's a nakh."

"A what?"

"A water spirit. Like your sirens in the north. They mimic children to lure people close to the water, then pull them in."

Isyllt frowned down at the black water. "Then what?"

Xinai shrugged. "Eat you. Drown you. I don't know. I doubt you'd care once you were at the bottom of the bay."

( Something very different for fantasy. Very different, and very good. )

# 63: The Dream Spheres (Songs & Swords, Book V) by Elaine Cunningham:

They rode to the City of the Dead, the vast walled garden where slept many, many generations of Waterdeep's folk, from the poorest commoner to the most fabled heroes of distant times. High walls surrounded the City, and guards stood watch at the fanciful iron gates. This protection went two ways: it kept treasure hunters from despoiling the graves, and it kept the inhabitants contained. In Waterdeep, the dead did not always rest quietly.

Synopsis: There's a plot afoot in the majestic city of Waterdeep! And a bard! And a half-elf!

( I am totally not kidding. A plot. In Waterdeep! )

I recently lent my audio book of this to a friend, since she's studying Milton this term at university. I found it so much easier listening to it than reading it. Read it and some of the words won't make sense, but listen to it, and as long as it is read well, you not only understand it but you realise how wonderful the imagery is. I think this is entirely due to the fact that Milton was blind when he wrote it - he could only listen to it.

So if you're studying Paradise Lost and are really struggling with it, try getting hold of a decent audio CD and listening to it. (An approach that may work for any book). I first became interested in it because they did a series of excerpts on Book at Bedtime on radio 4 - and discovered that listening to Paradise Lost just before bed gave me some extremely vivid dreams. And then there's Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials  -  which this book is the inspiration for. If you enjoyed that trilogy then it's definitely worth trying to read this book.

# 62: Longhorns by Victor J. Banis:

The feud between farms and cattle ranchers had gone on just about as long as there was a Texas, and the antagonism and the resentments ran deep on both sides. For the cattleman, the very idea of the open range was sacred. On the other hand, the fences that were a sacrilege to the cowboy were an essential to the farmer, who could hardly grow crops if the cattle were free to tromp across them and feed on them at their pleasure.

The farmers strung their fences, though, and sometimes the cowboys came right along after them and took them down, and the disputes from time to time had flared up into actual battles. So far, no one had been killed, not in this part of Texas, anyway, but there had been shootings, and a couple of actual woundings, which only worsened the tensions between the two factions.

Synopsis: Buck is a 19-year-old half-Native American cowboy who joins up with a roundup and falls for the much older foreman, Les. It then takes Les another like, three years to tap Buck's ass. In the meantime, Texas happens.

( Bonus points for using the word tromp. )

I recently read "The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman. Now I may be a bit biased cause Neil is pretty much a demi-god in my eyes, but I really enjoyed this.

The story is about a boy named Nobody Owens (Bod) his family is killed and by extroidary fate he crawls out of the house before he is killed. He finds himself in a grave yard where the dead decide to adopt him and give him freedom of the graveyard. As he grows up he is taught to do things the dead can do and is looked after by his parents and his guardian, Silas, who lives neither in the living or the dead world. He meets all different kinds of people in creatures; an ancient indigo man, the menacing sleer, the ghouls and more. All the while trying to stay out of the grasp of the man Jack.

5/5

# 61: Lexicon Devil: The Fast Times and Short Life of Darby Crash and the Germs by Brendan Mullen and Don Bolles:

Amber: I met Charles Manson when I was 16 years old, and I brought him to Rodney's house. It was great--to this day, Rodney will tell you, 'Oh, Amber brough Charles Manson to my house.'

Nicole Panter: Everybody objected to Darby hanging out with Amber.

Hellin Keller: Once he started doing heroin he became even more vulnerable than he already was. It became easy as kiddie play for more vampires and vultures to swoop in and circle around him. That's always and easy way to get somebody ...it was like, 'Here, I'll get you dope ... just hang out with me and you'll get high.' But nobody seemed able to figure that one out.

Synopsis: Biography of doomed punk idol Darby Crash, as told by 120 of his closest friends and associates.

( Darkity dark dark dark. )

# 60: Down in the Zero by Andrew Vachss:

I opened the little box of wooden matches, the one with the name of the nightclub in Chicago I've never been to. I leave them places, throw trackers off the scent.

Synopsis: Burke makes a solo outing to Connecticut to get his head together after accidentally shooting a kid. While there, he finds nefarious adults.

( Insert witty comment here. )

# 56: Frankenstein: Dead and Alive by Dean Koontz:

From grandmother to neighborhood bully, to Antoine, to Evangeline, Bucky and Janet Guitreau went through the Arceneaux family like a school of angry piranha through anything that might piss off killer fish.

Synopsis: Victor Frankenstein, alive and well in modern-day New Orleans, is having a spot of trouble with his army of killer zombies. Also, his wife's adopted a half-human albino dwarf.

( A satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. )

# 55: Batman: The Ultimate Evil by Andrew Vachss.

The midrise apartment complex stood proudly just inside the ribbon of light, two blocks over from the crosstown darkness. The two-block safety cushion was called Bordertown by the good citizens who walked through it on their way to work every day. But the cops who patrolled it at night called it by another name--the DMZ.

Synopsis: Batman becomes suddenly aware of and inspired by, the plight of abused children.

( Not quite a silver unicorn, but... )

# 54: Biggie and the Fricasseed Fat Man by Nancy Bell:

The day it rained feathers in Job's Crossing, J.R. and Rosebud were gathering pecans in the front yard.

Synopsis: In rural Texas, the tiny but imposing Biggie Weatherford does her best to raise up her grandson, J.R., while keeping a handle on everybody else's business. All the murdered bodies, though, make that a bit challenging.

( Texas is all kinds of dangerous, it turns out )

# 53: Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen:

The tree was situated toward the back of the lot. It wasn't very tall, but it grew long and sideways. Its limbs stretched out like a dancer's arms and the apples grew at the very ends, as if holding the fruit in its palms. It was a beautiful old tree, the gray bark wrinkled and molting in places. The only grass in the garden was around the tree, stretching about ten feet beyond the reach of its branches, giving the old tree its room.

Claire didn't know why, but every once in a while the tree would actually throw apples, as if bored. When she was young, her bedroom window looked out over the garden. She would sleep with her window open in the summers, and sometimes she would wake in the morning to find one or two apples on the floor.

Claire gave the tree a stern look. Occasionally that worked, making it behave.

Synopsis: Two sisters bring their secrets to the old ancestral home and cause all kinds of magical upheaval in a small North Carolina town.

( Not about food per se, but being fed )

Gender Outlaw-Kate Bornstein

Kate's book speaks to those who are both Trans and Cis gendered. It gives her unique outlook on gender and just what exactly it means. I enjoyed the eclectic style of the book, with interviews, first hand accounts, quotes, and an original play by Kate, "Hidden: A Gender". It is easy to see that some of Kate's views may be controversial and she does not hide the fact that people have sent her letters of disagreement. 8/10.

# 52: Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey:

L.A. is what happens when a bunch of Lovecraftian elder gods and porn starlets spend a weekend locked up in Chateau Marmont snorting lines of crank off Jim Morrison's bones. If the Viagra and illegal Traci Lords videos don't get you going, then the Japanese tentacle porn will.

New York has short con cannibals and sewer gators. Chicago is all snowbound yetis and the ghosts of a million angry steers with horns like jackhammers. Texas is criss-crossed with ghost railroads that kidnap demon-possessed Lolitas to play strip Russian roulette with six shells in the chamber.

L.A. is all assholes and angels, bloodsuckers and trust-fund satanists, black magic and movie moguls with more bodies buried under the house than John Wayne Gacy.

There are more surveillance cameras and razor wire here than around the pope. L.A. is one traffic jam away from going completely Hiroshima.

God, I love this town.

Synopsis: Just how big of an asshole do you have to be for your friends to pay demons to come drag you down to hell for 11 years?

( Not much of an asshole, really. Just sort of violent and arrogant and nineteen, turns out. )

Hello everyone.

I have a little bit of a request.

My long time boyfriend's mother is going through cancer and things are unfortuantely not looking well (she is dying). In addition, life in general has been pretty rough for him. I'm looking for a recommendation on a book that promotes positive living, but without any Christian references, and not "Chicken soup for the blah blah blah"-ish.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated...

I was wondering if anyone could recommend some things that they've read that are short, yet good.  When I say short, I don't necessarily mean less-than-one-hundred-pages.  Something that you've found to be very interesting and read through quickly.

I'm thinking of conducting a crazy experiment and wanted to compile a list of such books.

(Post will be cross-posted)

# 51: The Seven Dials Mystery by Agatha Christie:

"She's been up to something," he opined, as he took a last hasty drink of coffee. "Depend upon it, she's been up to something."

Synopsis: A jape appears to have gone horribly awry during a countryhouse weekend and a promising, if emptyheaded young man lies dead. But what does that have to do with the mysterious Seven Dials society, and how can Bundle Brent find a way to risk her life finding out?

( That quote's what I'd like for my epitaph. )

# 50: Dissolution by Richard Lee Byers:

"Obviously, you understand the fundamentals of illithid society," said Syrzan. "You probably also know that we prefer to dine on the brains of lesser sentients and that we share your own race's fondness for torture. Still, some of your folk will fare all right. I can't eat or flay everyone, can I?"

Synopsis: The drow city of Menzoberranzan, deep in the heart of a mountain and safe from the light above has come under threat from a new danger: the demon-goddess Lolth herself. She's abandoned her clergy (distracting them somewhat from their fulltime pursuit of trying to kill each other) and stolen their magic. Weakened by the loss, many of the drow turn on each other, leaving two heroes to try to figure out where all the male drows are running away to...

( Ah, the problems inherent in taking over the world.  )

# 49: Backfire by Janice Law:

I walked just beyond the truck, but there was no sound except the wind and the grass and my own footsteps. I was about to return when I heard a car. It sounded quite far away--on the main road, I was sure. But on closer acquaintance, there was something irregular about the engine, as if it was struggling up a rough track.

I ran back into the house. 'I hear a car,' I said, but Father Herman was already calling--

Synopsis: Bog-standard mid-90s mystery about a plucky DC PI seeking to clear the name of an innocent unravels a link to a Latin American drug cartel, run by a mass-murderer. From Arizona.

( Happened to me twice last week alone. )

# 48: At Bertram's Hotel by Agatha Christie:

His eye was caught by a movie theater sign: Walls of Jericho. It seemed an eminently suitable title. It would be interesting to see if Biblical accuracy had been preserved.

He bought himself a seat and stumbled into the darkness. He enjoyed the film, though it seemed to him to have no relationship to the Biblical story whatsoever. Even Joshua seemed to have been left out. The walls of Jericho seemed to be a symbolical way of referring to a certain lady's marriage vows. When they had tumbled down several times, the beautiful star met the dour and uncouth hero whom she had secretly loved all along and between them they proposed to build up the walls in a way that would stand the test of time better. It was not a film destined particularly to appeal to an elderly clergyman; but Canon Pennyfeather enjoyed it very much. It was not the type of film he often saw and he felt it was enlarging his knowledge of life.

Synopsis: Miss Marple begins to notice strange goings-on at Bertram's Hotel, the ultra-posh luxury throwback to a London long-past and very much missed. At the same time, a girl and her mother have the ultimate dysfunctional relationship, a string of robberies plagues the West Midlands and a member of the clergy accidentally sees a porno and goes missing.

( As they do. )

For a start.

# 47: Set-Up by Maxine O'Callaghan:

Streetlights were coming on as I left my van on the street and walked along the edge of the Garden View Apartments' parking lot. The building was a wood and stucco U, two floors, with a swimming pool in the middle, remniscient of a sixties motel. I didn't see anything resembling a garden unless you counted the occasional bird of paradise and two Mexican fan palms next to the pool.

Synopsis: Plucky L.A. investigator gets embroiled in a murder by lying to protect a woman she met only hours before. This is never explained. Nor are references to the mysterious and deceased-in-a-fire "Jack". Murder is solved, despite investigator's best efforts.

( I skimmed the big disarming-a-bomb climax, that's how bad. )

Book Title: Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Author: Rick Riordan
Genre: Fantasy, fiction, YA
Your rating of the book: A
Who would be interested in this book? : Harry Potter lovers, the Inheritance saga lovers, Twilight lovers, Inkheart lovers, Libba Bray lovers, etc. :P You get the point.
Warnings: PG 13 at most.

Short description/summary of the book: The Lightning Thief is a 2005 fantasy/adventure novel based around Greek mythology. It is the first book in the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series, and chronicles the adventures of twelve-year-old Percy Jackson, who discovers he is a demigod, the son of a mortal woman and the Greek god Poseidon. Percy and his friends go on a quest to prevent an apocalyptic war between the Greek gods Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. The story contains a multitude of encounters with characters from Greek mythology still alive in modern times.

The book is commonly classified as young-adult fiction, written in a playful style while also trying to be faithful to the original myths. The book is often praised for its feel of realism and how believable each character is.

Your own thoughts: Amazing! I've been trying to find a good fantasy novel for over a year, and here it is! I've only read the first three books out of the five so far, but all in two days: I'm that crazy over it. The characters are very, very well written, and the idea of Greek mythology intertwined with present day is a completely new idea to my knowledge. The language is pretty simple but still engaging, and come on, who doesn't want to read books with centaurs, sytars, demigods, Zeus, etc., in them? And its very difficult to predict whats going to happen, but not in that annoying way in which you start feeling frustrated.You have suspicions about whats going to happen at the end of the book and WHAM, you're thrown a curve. Highly recommend it!

And if none of this convinces you, a movie is being made: the Lightning Thief. It had Uma Thurman (Kill Bill), Pierce Brosnan (James Bond, Mamma Mia!), Rosario Dawson (Rent, Seven Pounds, Eagle Eye), Sean Bean (Flightplan, the Island, National Treasure, the Lord of the Rings), Kevin McKidd (Grey's Anatomy :D , Rome, Journeyman, Made of Honor), Steve Coogan, Ercia Cerra, Catherine Keener, Melina Kanakaredes, and more! A lot of famous names though...

( Trailer )

x-posted.

# 46: Getting Mine by Jean Femling:

Riviera Gardens' unused main swimming pool softly exhaled chlorine as before, but purple pansies had been freshly inserted beside the path. A light breeze jostled the pines. Instead of knocking at LaDonna's door I tried the knob, with some vague notion of catching Evan off guard. It was unlocked. I opened it slowly.

Synopsis: Plucky Latina insurance investigator senses something fishy and investigates. As you do. And then winds up tits-deep in crazy people.

( As you do. )

# 45: The Hollow by Agatha Christie:

David said in a gruff voice that he never read the News of the World.

"I always do," said Lady Angkatell. "We pretend we get it for the servants, but Gudgeon is very understanding and never takes it out until after tea. It is a most interesting paper, all about women who put their heads in gas ovens--an incredible number of them!"

"What will they do in the houses of the future which are all electric?" asked Edward Angkatell with a faint smile.

Synopsis: At a weekend country-house party, someone kills the vain and very intelligent Dr. Christow. But who? And why won't the family talk? Who will get engaged and who will put their head in the oven? Only Hercule Poirot knows for sure.

( Sometimes the old ways are the best. )

A Year and a Day-Sara M. Harvey

Sara is actually a friend of mine and pretty well known around scifi cons and the like. AY&AD is about the Angel of Vengeance and the Angel of Joy spending a year and a day in NYC in human form. Joy is there to complete an assignment and Vengeance is there as her chaperone. Sara's writing style sucks you in. I found myself getting emotional at parts as if it were happening in real life. I also found myself having emotion (good and bad) for characters as if they were real people.

Trans Liberation-Leslie Feinberg

A collection of speeches and stories in the LGBTQ movement. Not as good as her other stuff, but good nonetheless. Kind of dragged in some parts.

# 44: Murder of Angels by Caitlin R. Kiernan (greygirlbeast):

The psychologist's office had one big window and a view of the bay, a stingy glimpse of Alcatraz if Niki stood on the couch. Nothing like a real doctor's office, velvet wallpaper the bottomless color of evergreen forests, hemlock green walls and Edwardian antiques, old books and the cherry-sweet smell of his pipe that always reminded Niki of her parents' tobacco shop in New Orleans. There was a small brocade pillow on the sofa, woven anemones and silver-leafed geraniums, and she hugged the pillow while she talked.

"Spyder hung herself," Niki said, finally. "While I was asleep, she hung herself."

Synopsis: Schizophrenic might be on the verge of collapse, or she might be saving the world. YMMV. Also, time is an illusion. White birds doubly so.

( I don't know whether to fear this book or fellate it. )

i'm not sure if posting this is allowed, but if you guys haven't checked out swaptree, you should!  i'm not sure how similar it is to paperback swap since i've never used that service, but here you can swap out books, dvds, and video games with something of the same sort or something totally different (i.e. a dvd for a book, a book for a book, etc.)  i LOVE it and have already gotten so many great books from it! 

Okay so another month has gone by. I can't believe we're already half way through the year. Time flies. I just want this year to be over with. I could go on with all the bad things this year has brought already. Ugh.

Anyways, here's the books I read for June.

26. Lover Avenged by J.R. Ward (Must Have)
27. Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris (Must Have)
28. Royal Blood by Ellen Schreiber (Must Have)
29. Bloodline by Maggie Shayne (Must Have)
30. Carpe Corpus by Rachel Caine (Must Have)

All very good books. All part of a series...all newest releases of those series too.

Current read: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Amy