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Sunday, August 19, 2012

Sass & Serendipity by Jennifer Ziegler



"It isn't what we say or think that defines us, but what we do."~ Jane Austen, Sense & Sensibility

In this modern day retelling of Jane Austen's Sense & Sensibility, we meet Gaby and Daphne Rivera, two sister who are polar opposites of each other. Still reeling from their parents divorce, the girls and their mother find themselves homeless after a crisis hits them hard.  

Loosely based on the Austen original, this book is a quick and fun read!  What I like best about this book (besides being an Austen re-telling) is that it is set in TEXAS!  I love books that are set close to home, it makes them all the more real for me.

I love Jennifer Ziegler!  She is a wonderful writer, she has penned two other novels: How Not to Be Popular and Alpha Dog, both are also available in our library.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare


"Though no official cause of death has been released by the coroner's office, the deli owner who found the body, Michael Garza says, her throat was cut open.  Police have not yet located a weapon..."

The reason I picked the above quote is because "Michael Garza" is my son!  I won an auction a few years ago and his name was mentioned in the book!  YAY!!!  :)


With The Mortal Wars now over, Downworlders and Shadowhunters are at peace at last. So who is murdering Shadowhunters in Valentine’s name?  

Cassie Clare knows her craft!  Her books lure me into a world I wish I could lived in!  I am always left wanting more!  I could never get enough of Jace, Simon, Alec and Magnus and Clary and Isabelle are strong female characters who have their own brains and stand up for themselves.   The world she created in the Mortal Instruments is addicting!  It is torture to wait year after year for the next installment!!  There was a two year break between City of Glass (2009) to City of Angels (2011) and we mega-fans felt it.  Luckily, City of Angels was worth the wait.  It did not disappoint and was full of twists and turns, some shocking, some pleasant only the way Ms. Clare can spin it.  

This story, picks up right after City of Glass ends and the reader is given a summary of what has happened. We are given the story through the eyes of Jace, Clary and Simon!  I love that Simon finally has his day! I love Jace, of course, but Simon is my favorite character and I am happy he is finally given the attention I feel he has always deserved! 

This book could be read as a standalone novel but it is my recommendation to read the first three that way you will be up to date and know exactly what has transpired in this world thus far.

City of Bones
City of Ashes
City of Glass 
All excellent, excellent reads!!

A movie is in the works now!  Casting is complete and filming starts August 2012!!!

Northanger Alibi (The Jane Austen Diaries #2) by Jenni James


"So you read Twilight?"  I asked him. "And who had to bribe you to do it?"
  

Jenni James wrote a book about me!!!  In Northanger Alibi, the second installment of The Jane Austen Diaries, we meet Claire Hart: a quirky, funny, crazy Twilight obsessed fan girl! Her knowledge of all things vampire related is second to none!!!  She is thrilled when she is invited to visit dreary Seattle, WA with family friends for the summer, a city she swears vampires and werewolves have to lurk!  Alas! She meets Tony and when he seems to know what she is thinking, she is certain she found herself her very own Edward Cullen!!  

In this modern retelling of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey, Claire takes her own epic journey on her first summer away from home.  In the original Northanger Abbey, Catherine (the main character) is obsessed with The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe, in Northanger Alibi, Claire is obsessed with Twilight.  It’s perfect!

The characters are a quiet true to the originals Catherine like Claire is very silly and naïve, yet true to Miss Austen’s female leads, she is strong willed and confident. 

This book is hilarious! I love all things Jane Austen and I love all things Twilight and this book meshed my two loves brilliantly! 





Saturday, August 4, 2012

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green



 “But it is the nature of stars to cross, and never was Shakespeare more wrong than when he has Cassius note, ‘The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars / But in ourselves.” 

There are very few books that will stick with you for a long time.  Very few books that will make you laugh, make you giddy, make you cry, make you ask questions, make you mad and make your heart hurt, really hurt.  Few books will take you on an emotional roller coaster that will leave you breathless in the bitter end because the characters become so real, so fast that you love them and feel what they feel.  The Fault in Our Stars did that to me.  It is one of the best books I have ever read….EVER!!!

 John Green does it again!  In his latest Young Adult novel we follow Hazel Grace a 16 year old cancer patient who has been fighting since she was 13.  She doesn’t have many friends and keeps to herself. One day at her support group she meets Augustus Waters and they start to hang out.  Hazel still wants to keep her distance because she’s afraid of the pain she will cause him when she finally succumbs to the disease.  Augustus Waters has different plans.

There is a reason John Green is the voice of a generation, he is amazing, his work is amazing and The Fault in Our Stars is his best yet!








Wrecked by Anna Davies


“Well, that’s where our miscommunication lies. Because it wasn’t all right that you saved her. I wanted her soul. I wanted all their souls. But I’m letting you off easy,” ~ Sephie (The Sea Witch)

In a nut shell, this is a modern retelling of Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Mermaid in reverse!

I, of course loved it!

Miranda and her little brother move to Whym Island after the tragic death of their parents.  They move in with their grandmother who because of her status in society the two kids have no problems fitting in.  That is until tragedy strikes this small town again, but this time at the hands of Miranda.

Miranda and her friends are sailing when a fire destroys her boat and takes the lives of several of her friends. Miranda is saved from the water by a mysterious boy.  Sound familiar?  Yes, it gets better!   

Her guilt consumes her and she is ostracized from her friends at school, she takes to the sea for solitude.  Here she meets the mysterious Christian.   

Tragic and compelling, Wrecked brings a contemporary, paranormal twist to a classic enchanting tale.

Lies Beneath By Anne Greenwood Brown



"I hadn't killed anyone all winter, and I have to say I felt pretty good about that." ~ Calder White

Calder White is not your typical merman and his sisters are not your typical mermaids.  Forget everything you think you know about merfolk and dive into this twisted tale of betrayal, lies and truth.

Calder is all kinds of creepy and scary but manages to be vulnerable and cocky at the same time. I love his character!

His sisters...well they are something else!

The story is told from Calder's POV (point of view) which is fun because we get to read a story from a male perspective. We see his inner conflict with his own nature to decide between what he knows he has to do and what he knows is the right thing to do... It may be the key to his undoing.

The underwater world described in this book was absolutely beautiful.  I really wanted to be a mermaid after this!  I couldn't put this book down! I was "hooked" from the first line in the story! Haunting, breathtaking, and utterly romantic, this tale of mermaid lore is in a class of its own.  I couldn't have been more pleased with this book. I would recommend this one as a must read.

Coming Spring 2013 The story of Calder and Lily continues in Deep Betrayal where it will be Lily's turn to narrate!   I CANT WAIT!!!  :)