Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Okay.  I really like this book!  Shiver, by Maggie Stiefvater is unique and yet comfortable all at the same time!  It's very much girl meets boy who isn't quite human, yet the story behind it all takes it all in a new and unique direction.

Shiver is the story of Grace and Sam.  Grace is a fairly typical high school student who is drawn to a wolf that lives in her woods.  That wolf happens to be Sam, a human for part of the year and a wolf for the rest.  When Grace finds the human Sam injured on her porch, they quickly fall in love.  It's not overly corny or overly romantic, it is just right.  Time is against the couple as the time is coming for Sam to become a wolf again.  They struggle against nature to stay together.

This is the first in what is so far a trilogy.  I'm anxious to start reading Linger, the sequel.  While this is definitely a young adult book, I know a huge number of adults who enjoy books in this genre.  If you are one of those people, you won't be disappointed.  I thoroughly enjoyed the novel and highly recommend it. 

The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens

The Emerald Atlas, by John Stephens, is a bit of fantasy and adventure with a large dose of reality.  Kate, Michael, and Emma are siblings who were taken from their parents one Christmas Eve and begin a life of moving from orphanage to orphanage.  Kate, the eldest is the one with the memories of her parents and knows that they loved her very much.  She and her siblings continue the hope that somehow their parents will find them or come back for them. 

When they end up in Cambridge Falls at an orphanage where they are the only children, strange things begin to happen.  They find a book that takes them back in time and their adventure really gets going at that point. They find an evil witch, a kind wizard, an army of odd zombie like creatures, and some kind people who are willing to help them. 

I did enjoy the story.  The first one hundred pages or so were a bit slow going as the stage was set for the adventure.  There were moments where I doubted I would have much good to say about it, but that didn't last. Once the children went back in time, the story became fun and quite intriguing.  It was interesting to try to figure out the what and the why of things, how time travel worked, the history of the book, and the secret to why the children were taken from loving parents.  The character were wonderful.  King Hamish's tantrums made me laugh and the bravery of Gabriel nearly had me in tears.  I feel that Mr. Stephens wrote a rich, interesting book and I look forward to the future sequels.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

I'd been wanting to read The Help, by Kathryn Stockett for a while.  I was fortunate to have a co-worker loan me a copy and that gave me a good excuse to jump right on it!  I wasn't disappointed.  I was hooked from the beginning.

Abilene is the narrator of the first chapter and she sets the tone with absolute love for the child she is raising and frustration -maybe even disgust- for the little girl's mother.  Abilene is a black woman, a maid, living in Jackson Mississippi in the 1960's.  The Civil Rights movement is just beginning to take form but in Jackson people are stubborn and don't want change, let along integration.

Another narrator is Minny, a mother of four.  She is a maid with a fast tongue who gets herself in trouble with the ladies she works for.  When she gets a job working for the odd Celia Foote, she is secure in her paycheck but terrified that what she did to a former employer's daughter will come back to haunt her. 

The third narrator is Miss Skeeter, a white woman.  She was raised by a black maid and was extremely close to her.  When Miss Skeeter returns from college to find that Constantine has moved away without a goodbye, she starts to think of the stories of these women, who wait on her and her friends.  She is motivated to write their stories.  It's a risk for her and for the women who share their lives with her.

I was born in the 1970's, raised in California, and I'm white.  I can not relate in the slightest to what it must have felt like to be told to use a separate bathroom because of skin color.  Despite not living any part of this story, I was still moved by the book.  I was struck by the fear.  The women who told their stories to Miss Skeeter were terrified of getting caught.  They were afraid for themselves, and their families.  It was shocking and horrible.

The book is wonderful.  It opened my eyes.  I highly recommend it.

Quick Reviews!

I get distracted easily.  I get very excited about something - like this blog - and am pretty faithful for a while but then something shiny passes by and I'm distracted.  Sooooo, to make a really long story short, I missed a few reviews and I'm not terribly motivated to go back in time for a few reviews.  I've decided to write a few quickies so that I don't feel the guilt and can move on to bigger and better things.  And more recent reads that are more fresh in my memory!  My mind ain't what it used to be. 

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan is a fun, action packed children's novel.  I enjoyed it enough to buy the next few books in the series but not enough that I've already read them!  I wanted Percy Jackson to be more like Harry Potter but he isn't.  The books were very informational with regard to the Greek legends of Gods and Titans.  I found myself googling a few things just to get them straight in my head.  The premise is good and I do look forward to reading more.  Just not yet.

Hot Six by Janet Evanovich is the sixth book in the Stephanie Plum series.  I enjoyed this one a lot.  The characters are so wonderful and it's like an old friend when I pick up a book.  I admit that the plots get a little jumbled in my memory but each is unique.  This is definitely a series I will continue to read and enjoy!

 

Going Overboard, by Christina Skye is a fun romance.  There isn't anything wonderful about it, it's pretty standard boy meets girl fare.  I read it fairly quickly and even though the timeline was a little wacky for me, it was still worth finishing.  The end read like bad fan-fiction (triplets?  Really?) and that soured it a bit.  Not bad, not good, just okay for a beach read.

She's So Dead to Us by Kieran Scott

She's So Dead to Us, by Kieran Scott, is a well -written teen drama.  There are mean girls, crushes, sports, pranks, and miscommunication.  The book centers around Ally Ryan, a high school junior who moves back to her hometown after being away for a year and a half.  When Ally left her town, she was one of the rich kids, a "Crestie" who lived in an exclusive area.  Thanks to some financial mistakes made by her father, she returns to town with only her mom and lives in a condo in the Norm side of town.  Going from Crestie to Norm is rough considering that her old friends are shunning her.

Jake lives in Ally's old house.  He is a Crestie who is immediately drawn to Ally.  He fights a battle between going after the girl he's got a huge crush on and his friends who won't understand.  While the mean-girl Cresties plan pranks to pull on Ally, he grows closer to her.

The novel switched between Ally's point of view and Jake's.  I enjoyed being able to get Jake's perspective on things as most of the young adult books that I read are told from a female view.   The writing is sharp and the dialogue is all very natural.  Both characters have issues to work out and neither are perfect.  This is also a relief as I'm tired of perfect teen characters.

The only problem that I had with this novel, and it's something that is really bothering me lately in Young Adult fiction, is that there wasn't a great ending.  There was a conflict, drama, and then the novel was over.  The resolution was missing.  I'm guessing there is a planned sequel and that is why it was left the way it was.  Maybe not, maybe the rest is up to our imagination.   I'm just seeing a trend and it can be irritating to a person like me who likes happy ever afters and long, detailed epilogues!

One other note. . . I am a child of the 80's and with main characters named Ally Ryan and Jake, you can bet my mind put those names together to be Jake Ryan.  *sigh*  The perfect teen movie hunk.

Fireworks Over Toccoa by Jeffrey Stepakoff

Fireworks over Toccoa, by Jeffrey Stepakoff, is a charming love story.  The story takes place at the end of World War II.  The soldiers are returning home and the world is full of possibility for the anxious families waiting at home.  Lily, a twenty-year old bride, is preparing her home for her husband's homecoming.  They'd been married only two weeks before he left and she has never really had the opportunity to be a wife.

Lily is torn between the expectations on her as the daughter of a state senator, a society wife, and her own hopes and dreams.  She is trapped into what everyone wants her to be.  When she meets a man, in town for the celebration fireworks, her life is changed.  He offers her adventure, romance, and an opportunity to escape her overbearing mother.  She struggles between what she knows she should do and what her heart wants.

I enjoyed this book, even if I wasn't completely satisfied by the end.  It reminds me of a Nicholas Sparks novel with rich characters and a setting that I could picture so easily in my mind.  Lily changes with each chapter.  My first thought was that she was a spoiled princess who always got her way.  In the end, she's a woman who fights for what she needs and wants in life.  It's worth a read.  I recommend it.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

I've had The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold, sitting on my shelf for a couple of years now. I knew I was going to enjoy the book but I just never got around to reading it. With the movie coming out this winter, I knew I wanted to get the book read first, and I'm very glad I did. I'm going to do my best not to spoil anything, but some of it can't be helped.

This is the second book I've read this year where the main character was dead. I don't think this will be a huge trend as the book has to be pretty well written for it to make sense. Fortunately, this book was. We are introduced to Susie Salmon as a living fourteen year old. Within a few pages, she is looking at earth from her Heaven and that's when we really get to know her and her family.

The book is not about solving the mystery of her death, we know who did it from the start. The story is about Susie's family and how they cope with her death. Without a body, her parents must find closure without proof. The author did an amazing job of making each character real. We get to follow the lives of both of her parents, her sister, her brother, her boyfriend, and a girl who was not yet a friend but became one even after Susie's death.

The Lovely Bones is a wonderful book and with Peter Jackson directing the movie, I think it will be great as well. I recommend that you all read this before seeing the movie.

The Next Thing on My List by Jill Smolinski

The Next Thing on My List by Jill Smolinski is a very sweet book. I didn't know what to expect when I picked it but I'm so happy I did and now, almost a week after finishing the book, I'm still thinking about it.

The story is about June Parker. She has a relatively boring life. She works all day and watches TV all night. Her world is small in many ways, and gosh I can relate to that feeling. After offering a fellow "Weight Watcher" a ride home one night, June is in a car accident that killed her passenger. June lets guilt eat away at her until she decides to finish Marissa's list of "25 Things to do Before I'm 25". Even though June is in her thirties. The list has a few simple tasks such as going braless and a few tough ones, such as changing someone's life. By taking chances and putting herself into the world, June discovers who she really is and wants to be.

I enjoyed this book from the first page and it even kept me mostly occupied on my recent flights (see post from a few days ago. . . ). I find myself challenged to start my own list. 25 has come and is *ahem* long gone for me but I have a birthday coming up in six months. I might just have to write my own list. I'm not sure I can dare to go braless but I think I can come up with some challenges that just might change my life a little.

Whisper to the Blood by Dana Stabenow

Whisper to the Blood, by Dana Stabenow, is set to be released on February 17th. Thanks to Library Thing, I managed to score an early reviewer copy. I did have to put my other books aside to get this read but I'm glad I did. It was a very interesting book.

Dana Stabenow was unfamiliar to me. She is evidently a prolific Alaskan writer but as I don't usually read mystery or crime novels, her books never popped up on my radar. The main character of the book is Kate Shugak. Kate is an Aleut woman living in a national park in Alaska. She lives with her wonderful dog Mutt and her foster son, Johnny. Jim, the park's police force also lives with Kate unofficially.

The story is about the people of the small town and their battles with each other and a huge gold mining company that is planning to start a mine in a portion of the park. Kate deals with murder, theft, and being a parent.

I enjoyed the book once the story really started picking up but I have to say that for me it was a slow start. I think part of the problem is that this book is 16th in a series and I jumped in blindly. I felt that there was a huge amount of back story that I was missing. I'm sure it's a fine balance for a writer in this situation. Do you create a book that reviews all the finer points, thus boring your faithful reader or do you create a book that fills in gaps now and then while advancing the storyline? She went for option two which was probably a good thing.

Next time I feel the need to buy a book (it comes along every so often) I'm going to look and see what else of hers I can find. I'm sure that followers of the series, will enjoy this new installment and if you are new to Dana Stabenow's writing, give it a shot. There is a bit of humor among the serious subject matter. I laughed out loud in a few places. That's always a good thing!

The Cinderella Pact by Sarah Strohmeyer

The Cinderella Pact, by Sarah Strohmeyer is a cute book. From the cover, to the title, to the love story, it appeared to be basic chick lit. I don't say that in any derogatory way. I love chick lit. I read it, I write it, I enjoy it. It's take the place of the good old fashioned bodice rippers and I have to say that for the most part it's a huge step in the right direction.

As for The Cinderella Pact, something was different. The normal formula was followed with a twist. Nola, the main character, was overweight. So were her friends. After the three friends were discriminated on because of their weight, the ladies decided to form the Cinderella Pact, which was to lose weight.

Each lady approached it differently. The book hit on topics such as gastric bypass, counting points at Weight Watchers, personal trainers, and falling off the wagon. I hadn't read a book, a novel at least, like this one before. You don't see overweight main characters too often. Even by the end of the book, she wasn't skinny, but she was healthier and that's the point.

There were a few different sub-plots going around. The Cinderella Pact itself was only one part of the story. Nola found herself in a situation at work that was her own fault really. Her attempts to get herself out of it were cute. She also fell for a mystery man named "Chip" who turned out to be the last person she expected.

Anyone who's tried to lose weight will relate to a good part of this book. Because of that I found it hard to read at times. Sometimes the things Nola was going through hit a little close to home. I think that's one of the reasons it took me so long to finish. Ms. Strohmeyer gave me a few nudges to make some changes in my own life.