Deadly Little Lessons: A Touch Novel by Laurie Faria Stolarz

This time, Camelia’s psychometry is channeling into her pottery giving her clues to a teenage girl that had gone missing in Rhode Island.  After her parents drop a huge bomb on her, Camelia enrolls herself at a college in Rhode Island’s summer pottery program where she can do what she loves, but also find more clues surrounding the missing teen's disappearance.  

Tangled by Carolyn Mackler

Jena and Skye have known each other for a long time, being forced to be friends because their moms went to college together. They both lived very different lives. Jena was from a small town in New York, was middle class, and wasn't the prettiest girl in school. Skye was the exact opposite. She was skinny, an actress, went to private school, and lived in an apartment overlooking central park. And then there was Dakota and Owen. They were brothers, both going through things just like Skye and Jena. Dakota was the popular athelete while Owen was small and had a blog. These four lives are thrown together, tangled if you will.

I've had this book on my list for a while now.  It was a nice story.  It was a love story type of happy ending, but there was so much more involved.  I liked hearing each characters story and background.  Definitely a good read.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Jacob had always had a special bond with his grandfather, Abe.  He idolized him despite the crazy stories he used to tell about the children he lived with in the orphanage growing up.  After Abe is murdered, Jake feels he must act on his grandfather's dying words and go to Wales, to the orphange his grandfather grew up in.  He felt the trip might bring him closure, but what he finds in Wales is never what he expected.  He learns about his grandfather's life, and his own and ends up creating a new life for himself, one he never could have imagined.

I saw this book in Barnes and Noble about a month ago and the cover really caught my eye.  It almost seemed haunting and dark.  I love stories like that.  I put it on my kindle and brought it with me on vacation.  I read it in one day.  The plot was nothing like I had imagined by the title, but I read it in one day.  I couldn't put it down.  The idea was so different and creative.  I also really liked the Q & A with the author at the end of my book (not sure if that's just on kindle editions or if it's in the print too).  It was interesting to hear how the author started it.  I enjoyed this book immensely because of the pictures that went along with it.  It was definitely unique, but gave you more of a picture in your head.  There is a sequel coming out January 13th so I look forward to reading that one.

The Immortal Circus: Act Two: Episodes 1-3 by A. R. Kahler

Vivienne is now one of the older members of the troupe but unfortunately has earned the title of "Mab's henchman" making her an outcast, but at least she has Kingston. Oberon wants her back in the summer court with the promise of telling her what she is. As her past starts to catch up with her, Viv desperately wants to know what she is because deep down she knows she’s dangerous and doesn’t want to hurt anyone else.

Act two seemed to take a little bit of a different turn than act one, explaining more of the fairie story to us.  It's still good, with just as many twists as the first one.  I can't wait to get the next episode!

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

Robert Langdon is brought to the capital under false pretenses. What was supposed to be a night of lectures turned into fighting for his life, trying to save a friend, and learning the ancient secrets of the Masons and our nation's founding fathers.

Like all Dan Brown's book, this didn't fail to disappoint.  It actually took me a little while to get into the book, mostly because I really wasn't familiar with the Masons or anything about them.  US History was never my strongest subject, but the story picked right up and I couldn't read it fast enough.  The Inferno is one of the next on my list.

The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

Pat has been in a neural facility for 4 years. In those four years many things have changed. He has no memory of those 4 years, but is released home to find out his wife, Nikki, has divorced him, his brother has gotten married, and his best friend had a daughter. Despite all this, he believes he will be reunited and get back together with his ex-wife. He finds a friend is Tiffany, the sister of a friend, who has depression. Tiffany is odd herself, but agrees to help Pat reunite with his wife if he dances with her in a competition.
This book wasn't at all what I expected, but it was actually really good. Pat clearly had some problems, but so did Tiffany. They were unlikely friends, but were able to help each other find closure. You felt yourself really sympathizing with Pat, with how much he believed in the good. I was glad the story had a happy ending. I am going to try and watch the movie this weekend. It just came in.  

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chobsky

Charlie was always different and he seemed even more of an outcast after Michael died. He had no friends at school. When he meets Sam and Patrick, they encourage him to "participate" in life. They show him what having friends is like. Charlie is able to make a new life for himself in high school and learn some of the reasons, he is the way he is.

I read this book in 8th or 9th grade and I remember liking it a lot and then more recently it's gotten all this hype because it was made into a movie so I decided to read it again. The book is written through letters that Charlie writes to an anonymous friend. The identity of the friend is irrelevant. It is a quick read and it's one of those stories that just sort of touches you. I'd definitely recommend it. I haven't seen the movie yet, but from talking to friends and family it seems like the movie stuck fairly close to the book, but that the portrayal of characters was different.  It was also very difficult to find original cover art for the book because they now made the movie book cover version.    

 

Sometimes Never by Cheryl McIntyre

Hope has a lot of issues, but she likes to keep them to herself. But all these issues make her not like commitment and relationships. Mason moves around a lot and has always been a manwhore. But when Mason moves to his new home in Ohio and meets Hope, she's not like any girl he's ever met before and instantly falls for her. He loves her for all that she is, but together they have to fight the odds.

This was an adorable love story.  Mason loved Hope despite all her flaws.  Mason was basically what every girl wants.  Prince charming in a nutshell.  Now if only we could all be so lucky as to find Masons.  It was a good story.  Aside from the love story, it had a lot of different positive messages.  It showed you that there are all different types of people and people handle things differently and most importantly you can always get help and change.

Enthrall Me by Anne Violet

This is the conclusion to Enchant Me.

Alexis and Christian take a trip to their homeland of Ireland to spend some time with their cove and to work on honing their skills. Christian doesn't feel as accepted their as Alexis does because his powers aren't as controlled. Soon, one of the teenage girls in the Cove goes missing and they believe an evil Cove is behind it. The teenagers must find their friend before it's too late, but Alexis becomes imprisoned by the evil Cove thanks to her ex-boyfriend Nicholas. Christian will do whatever it takes to save Alexis and finds an unlikely ally in Nicholas.


This book had more action than the last.  I actually didn't really ever see where the story was going so that was a nice change; lots of suprises.  It was a quick read and had be interested.

Immortal Circus by A. R. Kahler

I apologize this took me so long to finish.  This serial was five episodes.  I don't know if all the serials are five episodes or if they vary as this is the first one I've read.

Vivienne joins the circus and signs a contract that entails what she can and can't do there.  She also made them wipe her memory and made her boss, Mab, promise to not tell her why she wanted to join the circus or any aspects of her past.  Vivienne soon finds out that this is no normal circus.  Mab is actually Queen Mab of the Winter Court and all of the troupe are fey.  Vivienne seems to be the outcast.  She sells food and seems to be the only mortal so why would they want her?  But the more time she spends with the circus, the more she starts to see she may not be as normal as she thought.  Unexplained deaths and occurences start to happen around the circus that are clearly not supposed to happen.  They're all supposed to be immortal so how are they dying and is she next?

This was incredible!  It was $1.99 for my kindle and I had low expectations for it.  It was part of this new Kindle serial thing and I had never heard of the author before.  I couldn't put it down.  I mean obviously I did because I had school, but the story was not what I had expected by the title or the cover art.  It was so good.  I'm definitely adding A. R. Kahler to my list of authors books to read. 

Enchant Me by Anne Violet

Alexis comes from a long line of Irish that practice Druidism.  She starts having visions around the same time she meets her new boyfriend, Christian.  She doesn't know what all the visions mean, but is worried for Christian.  She's convinced her ex-boyfriend, Nicolas, who used to stalk her is back in town, but this time she's fairly certain it's not her he's after; it's Christian.

Another book recommended to me on my Amazon account.  It was a good book.  The idea of having visions was the same as most books, but bringing Druidism into it was a nice change.  I'm not super familiar with the faith, I've only studied some because I went to Stonehenge a few years ago, but the book gave you the basic idea.  The main character and her boyfriend have the perfect romance, it was adorable, although their relationship makes them seem older than a junior and senior in high school.  Otherwise, I can't complain.  It was a quick read and kept me interested.

Unfortunately, my blogger hasn't been letting me upload pictures so I haven't been able to put any cover photos.  I'm not sure if it's because I'm on my older desktop computer or if it's a blogger glitch.  Regardless, once I'm back at school in a few days on my laptop I'll try and edit the posts and put pictures.

Kindle Serials

So I just recently discovered these Kindle Serials.  My roommate told me about them and then one of the books I had on my wishlist was one so I got it.  I'm torn between whether I like it or not.  The idea is that the book is broken up into episodes.  When you buy the book from Amazon, all the current episodes are put on your kindle and as new ones come out, they are downloaded to your kindle at no extra charge and you're notified via email that you have a new episode waiting for you.

Why I like it: It's like a nice suprise when a new episode gets put on.  They leave the episodes on cliff hangers and you're just waiting.  You can't just go buy the next one, you have to wait.  But when it does come it's so exciting.  It's also nice for someone like myself who doesn't have a ton of time to read during the semester.  The episodes aren't very long and by the time I finish one, the next one will probably be out.  Also many of the kindle serials I've seen are priced very reasonably.

Why I don't like it: When I finish the episode and there's no more out, I have to move on to a different book, but I'm left waiting, wondering what's going to happen...and there's nothing I can do about it.  I'm impatient I guess.  And then when the new one comes out, I stop what I was reading to read the new episode.  I'm sort of a completionist in that I want to read one book at a time and finish it and move on to the next.  I know it's ridiculous. 

The good news is the kindle serial I'm working on now is called the Immortal Circus by A. R. Kahler.  It is phenomenal.  I'm so addicted and unfortunately the episode thing is KILLING me.  I'm hanging on the author's every word because I just don't know where it's going! 

First Bite: The Wicked Queen's Tale (The Dark Woods Trilogy) by Laura Briggs

The Queen has gone by many names over many years, but her magic mirror tells her that the king's daughter will be her undoing.  The Queen needs to be rid of her, but can't do so without the villagers suspecting anything.  Meanwhile Fortulla, the gardner, and the huntsman know the Queen's secret and know they need to destroy her.  They have to find out how to destroy her and protect the town.

I hated this book when I first started reading it.  Laura Briggs definitely captured the time period with her dialogue and wording and it wasn't what I expected, but don't stop reading it!  It got better and I got more into it.  This book overall was not what I thought, but a pleasant suprise.  While it may seem the story would be a snow white tale and be about the princess, it actually was more the Queen's tale and the witches she was associated with.  I'll be reading the other two books in the series at some point.

Ember (Playing with fire series) by Lauren Barnholdt

Emily goes on vacation with her family to Cape Cod and meets Lucas, the boy whose family owns the house her family is renting.  Lucas brings her to a party with a bunch of locals, including his ex girlfriend.  After he involved Emily in his PI work and she witnesses him punch someone, all she wants to do is go home and text her boyfriend.  Until she witnesses the man Lucas is following get into her father's car...

I told myself I was going to stop reading Lauren Barnholdt books for a while just because they're so short.  I finish them in an hour or so.  This book was included at the end of my book when I bought the witches of santa anna 1-7.  So I figured I might as well read it.  This was even more suspenseful than the witches of santa anna.  I literally need to download the next book like now and read it.  So good.

And the number of books I read in 2012 is...

26!  That's 11 more than I did the year before.  So it's progress.  And as of now the countdown begins for 2013.