Immortal

Immortal by Gillian Shields

Wyldcliffe Abbey School for Young Ladies is elite, expensive, and unwelcoming. When Evie Johnson is torn from her home near the sea to become the newest scholarship student, strict teachers, snobbish students, and the oppressive atmosphere of Wyldcliffe leave her drowning in loneliness.

Evie's only lifeline is Sebastian, a mysterious and attractive young man she meets by chance. As Evie's feelings for Sebastian blaze with each secret meeting, she begins to fear that he is hiding something about his past. And she is haunted by glimpses of a strange, ghostly girl—a girl who is so eerily like Evie she could be a sister. Evie is slowly drawn into a tangled web of past and present that she cannot control. As the extraordinary, elemental forces of Wyldcliffe rise up like the mighty sea, Evie is faced with an astounding truth about Sebastian, and her own incredible fate. (source)

Soulless

Soulless by Gail Carriger

Soulless is a Victorian-era story of werewolves, vampires, ghosts, and a preternatural named Alexia Tarabotti. I love Alexia, she's stubborn and opinionated.

Here's the first part of the books description: "Alexia Tarabotti is laboring under a great many social tribulations. First, she has no soul. Second, she's a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead. Third, she was rudely attacked by a vampire, breaking all standards of social etiquette" (source).

4 out of 5 stars

The House of the Spirits

How long do read a book before you decide you don't want to keep reading. It doesn't happen to me too often, but when it does I try to give it about 100 pages before I give up. That's about how far I made it into The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende.

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

I think it's that I just didn't like the characters.

So, I moved on.

I CAN recommend another book by Isabel Allende, Zorro. Fabulous. Go read that one.

The Maze Runner

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

In two words: Loved It.

This is the first in a series and I can't wait for the next one. Like most firsts in series' this spent some time with setting up the situation, which can slow a story down. I liked Thomas, the main character. The supporting characters didn't develop much depth, but I think there's still time for all that to unfold. There are two more books after all.

Here's the description:

"When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade—a large, open expanse surrounded by stone walls.

Just like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night they’ve closed tight. And every 30 days a new boy has been delivered in the lift.

Thomas was expected. But the next day, a girl is sent up—the first girl to ever arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers.

Thomas might be more important than he could ever guess. If only he could unlock the dark secrets buried within his mind." (source)

Did you read it? Did you like it?

Happy reading.

The Book of Lost Things

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

I loved this book. I read it slowly, a chapter or two at a time. There was so much imagery, I would stop after short bursts of reading to process it.

David is the main character. He's about 12 years old and his mother dies. David's father meets a woman named Rose and soon they move from London to her home in the country. Before too long, a new baby has arrived and David feels angry and resentful to Rose and Georgia for taking his father away from him.  At their new home, David's room is filled with books and they begin to whisper to him. One day, David is outside and looks up at the house. There he sees a strange and crooked man walk past a window. He thinks it might be his imagination, but is equally certain that it's not.

One evening, David decides to wander down to a sunken garden on the property and enters a narrow space that looks like a crack. He's then pulled into a strange yet familiar world.

This is in the Fairy Tale category and draws on many familiar stories from the Brothers Grimm. I don't want to say too much because it's hard to tell about the story without giving it away. I will say that the characters are well written and all are interesting. I think it's categorized as young adult. I recommend this book with a word of warning. It can be pretty graphic.

Not related to story, the cover is gorgeous. I recognized the artist right away as Robert Ryan. I want to keep the book just for that reason.

Have you read The Book of Lost Things? What did you think of it?

Peeps

Peeps by Scott Westerfeld

First off, if you're freaked out by germs, rats, or sewers or if you have vivid dreams, read with caution. I am freaked out by rats. However, I don't have vivid dreams (that I remember) and this book gave me weird dreams.

It's no secret that I love vampire stories. I also love Scott Westerfeld's books. Here, vampirism is a virus. Vampires are parasite-positives, or Peeps, and one of the symptoms is cannibalism which is where the vampire legend comes from.

I love the different take on an old theme. I enjoyed the book and it's an easy read. The Last Days is the sequel. I look forward to it.

Keep writing Mr. Westerfeld.

happy reading!

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress (A Memoir of Going Home) by Rhoda Janzen

Rhoda Janzen has written her story about returning home after a couple life-altering experiences. "Home" is a Mennonite community in California.

This book actually made me laugh out loud more than once. My favorite part was a little section she referred to as "the top five Shame-Based Foods for Mennonite youth lunches." The capitalization is hers, not mine. She writes about her family in such a way that you get a real sense of all their idiosyncrasies and weirdnesses (no, that's not a word) but you can tell that she loves her family and they all accept each other the way they are. And, rather than being mean-spirited or condescending, it's endearing.

The book jumps around a bit from present-day to the past, but I didn't find it difficult to follow. As her story unfolds, you get a real sense of where she came from and what it means to her to have returned to this community after many years away.

I love memoirs. Especially those of "ordinary" people (as opposed to celebrity memoirs). I believe everyone's life has a story to be told and this is no exception. I hope to hear more from Rhoda Janzen.

Hush, Hush

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Hush, Hush is the first in a series. It's an easy read with a nice flow to the story. It was easy to pick up and read quite a bit in a short period. Aside from being totally readable, I found Nora, the main character, to be completely annoying. But, most 16-year-old girls are totally annoying.

Patch shows up in her science class mid-year and is assigned to be Nora's partner. He's mysterious, totally aloof, and uncooperative. He seems bent on making Nora uncomfortable and defensive, which she is. Yet, for some reason, she's drawn to him. He feels dangerous to her and she even believes he means her harm. So why WHY does she continually seem to be seeking him out, even if only mentally? She tries to pretend indifference, yet is obviously not. Patch seems to draw her into dangerous (!) situations and she knows it but, for some reason, follows along.

Of course, there is a little mystery that comes along with the story. There are some supernatural events that begin happening once Patch shows up. Nora has weird hallucinations like totaling her best friends car on a dark rainy night, or her bedroom being ransacked. She also begins to hear a voice inside her head. Not "voices" but a voice ...

Nora's best friend, Vee, is a dolt and I don't really understand why they're friends.

The story ends kind of abruptly and it's all wrapped up with a tidy ending. The follow-up, Crescendo, should prove to be interesting how the story moves along. Am I going to read it? I'm not sure yet. But if I do, you'll hear about it here.

Happy reading!

To Be Read

Just wanted to check in and share a little photo of the pile of books I have on hand to read. This doesn't even count what I have on my wish list or the few I have on my Kindle.

Happy reading!

Fall of Giants

Fall of Giants by Ken Follett

I had the goal of finishing this nearly 1000-page tome by the end of April. I did not. I spent nearly six weeks on it but the payoff was good.

The story begins before the start of World War I, continues through the war and finishes a few years after. The main characters are British, Welsh, German, American, and Russian. Some are real-life historical characters but the main characters are fictional. I found this in an Amazon.com review (3 stars): "... all of the significant characters are constantly meeting in the most unusual places and ways. I understand that the resolution of the First World War caused much change, but the characters simply interact in ways that are almost Forrest Gump-like in their ability to be where the evolving action is happening." Well said. Once (or even twice) could have been believable but this happened several times throughout the story. The more-likely scenario would have been characters being near the same place at the same time and never crossing paths.

I will admit that some of the war scenes got a little old, but I understand the need. The war lasted many years and the reader needed to get into the feeling of the long separations and loss people experienced. Sometimes it worked and other times the emotion wasn't there. All in all, the book could have easily been about 200 pages shorter. The characters were spread a little thin so we could've done with fewer. For example, the Russian brother who went to America and married a wealthy Russian girl. This part of the story felt totally unrelated to the rest of the characters and the larger story. He was an unlikeable character and I kept reading in hopes that his part in the larger scenario would evolve, but it fell flat.

This is book one in the Century Trilogy. Book two comes out in 2012. I read on Ken Follett's website that book two will cover the period of World War II and involve the children of the characters in book I.

Can you recommend any historical fiction covering the early 20th century?