The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

Shades of London: Book 1

Rory's parents move to England for work and she opts to go to a boarding school in London. After moving there, it seems that someone is reenacting the Jack the Ripper murders and Rory is the only one who can see the murderer.

The concept of Jack the Ripper has eluded people for years. Personally I find it quite interesting. I had taken a trip to London a few years ago and gone on a Jack the Ripper tour. I was familiar with the locations talked about in the book, but for those unfamiliar, the author provided a nice map at the beginning of the book. The concept of shades was very cool and even cooler when it was incorporated with a concept like the Ripper. I definitely cannot wait for more of these books to come out (and while I am not positive there will be another I'm being presumptuous being that this was called Book 1). London is a very haunted city so I'm hoping more books will take place there.

Sweetly by Jackson Pierce

Ansel and Gretchen have had a less than easy life. After the disappearance of Gretchen's twin sister, they had to watch their parents slowly die. They had to live with the guilt of losing their sister, and of knowing about the witch who took her. They finally get away only to end up in a small dead end town. They find residence with Sofia Kelly, the town's chocolatier. But as nice as Sofia is, they know she is harboring a lot of secrets. Secrets that will help them discover what really happened to their sister all those years ago.

I love twists on fairy tales and this was great. Hansel and Gretel has so many interpretations, but this was one I had never heard before. An easy, quick read, but very good.

Red Riding Hood by Sarah Blakely-Cartwright

Valerie lives in a town plagued by the Wolf. They sacrifice an animal each month and it leaves there town be, but when the Blood Moon comes back the peace ends. Valerie's sister is killed by the Wolf. Father Solomon, a werewolf hunter, comes to town and points out that the Wolf is someone who lives in town and sets everyone on edge. Valerie doesn't know who the Wolf is, but knows it all started when Peter came back to town. Despite her love for Peter, could he be the Wolf?

This book is based on the movie adaptation of Red Riding Hood that recently came out with Amanda Seyfried. While I enjoyed that movie, reading it was a lot of fun, too. I love reading adaptations of stories I heard as a child. This was a quick read. I read it today. Definitely a fun book.

Stolen by Lucy Christopher

16 year old, Gemma, is kidnapped by Ty, a 21 year old Australian she has never seen before. He drugs her and brings her to his remote home in the Australian desert, but he has no intentions of hurting her. After watching her for 6 years, he only wants her company and hopes she can grow to like him.

The plot sounds creepy, but it was nothing like that. This novel was absolutely beautiful. The story is told as a letter Gemma is writing Ty, after everything. About how she felt and what he put her through. This book won a Printz Honor Award. I cried at the end, I loved it so much! It also never had a dull moment. I read this book today in about 10 hours, I couldn't put it down. Everyone should definitely read this!

1984 by George Orwell

The story takes place in London in 1984. London and the rest of the country have become a negative utopia under the rule of Big Brother. Winston Smith is a member of the Party, but hates Big Brother and everything he stands for. He thinks he is alone in his thoughts until he meets Julia, who also hates the Party and who he falls in love with. Together they decide to try and defy the Party and Big Brother, but they will ultimately pay the price.

A very interesting book. I read it in high school, but decided to reread it. Considering the book was written in the 50's, it would have been very interesting if the world had turned out like this. Yes, the book was a little slow to get into and didn't really pick up until a third of the way through the book, but it's a classic and well worth the read.

So each year, I like to look back and see how many books I read. Unfortunately, I decreased the number of books I read this year. I won't lie, school was all consuming this semester, and I def. didn't read as much this summer as usual. In 2010, I read 24 books. In 2011, I read 15. Big sad face. Anyways, I will work to increase that for 2012. :)

I am still reading! Don't worry. My current book has taken much longer to finish than I intended. With the holidays, I didn't get that much reading done, but I am working on it. It also didn't help that my book is fairly long. Keep a lookout for it on here though! :)