Pick My List!

Every year I set a goal of how many books I'm going to read in the year. This year my goal is 200 and I'm at 176 so far so I'm pretty sure I'll make the goal. I also planned out what books I would read, series I wanted to finish or start, a few of the millions of books I have sitting on my bookshelves or books authors I love have coming out during the year.

Next year I think I'm going to do themed months. If I choose different genres every month it'll help me step out of my reading comfort zone and maybe get me going on some new authors. I also thought it would be fun to get suggestions from my friends & fellow book readers.

So what's your favorite book? What book do you think would change my life??

War is Bad

I waited on pins and needles for the conclusion to Suzanne Collin's ridiculously popular teen read series The Hunger Games. The day finally came, I bought the book then realized that this was THE LAST ONE. Once I read it the trilogy would be over and Katniss & Peeta would move on without me.

I tore through the book and turned the last page with mixed feelings.

For those of you who are insane enough to not have picked up these amazing books let me explain. The Hunger Games takes place in a post-apocalyptic world in the country of Panem, where North America once stood. Panem consists of The Capitol and 12 surrounding Districts. A number of years ago the Districts stood together to revolt against the wealthy Capitol but lost. In the end District 13 is decimated and The Capitol is victorious. As punishment for their disobedience the Capitol creates The Hunger Games, a vicious televised reality show in which one boy and one girl from each district must kill to be the last contestant standing.

16 year-old Katniss Everdeen's nightmare comes to be on the day of the lottery when her younger sister Prim is chosen to represent District 12. Katniss immediately volunteers to take Prim's place and so begins a terrifying tale of murder, love and revenge.

Out of the three The Hunger Games was definitely my favorite and I loved the trilogy as a whole, but at the end I was left feeling conflicted. There was so much violence and not just a 'you know someone has died' type of violence, but a bloody 'let me describe it in detail to you' sort of violence. Was that necessary? I doubt it, but there it was.

Suzanne Collins writes Katniss to be an almost indifferent character. She takes her responsibilities more seriously than any other 16 year-old and seems to have no patience for anyone other than her best friend and hunting partner Gale. She views her mother as weak and useless, her sister as innocent and frail. But as the story progresses she becomes both softer and tougher. She begins to form more attachments to unlikely characters and at the same time begins hardening towards the Capitol and all it stands for.

In The Hunger Games I found myself riveted. Though the concept was already done (The Running Man, Death Race 2000, The Lottery) the characters were new and the writing was horrifically graphic. I was reeling, wondering how this story could possibly end in any way that would be satisfying for me.

Catching Fire was almost an unnecessary evil. I couldn't believe that after everything Katniss had been through that it would start all over again. I wanted a happily ever after that didn't exist. But with Catching Fire came a whole new set of characters that were colorful and lively and vicious. And Catching Fire definitely left you on the edge of the cliff. I hate that!

And then finally there was Mockingjay. Much more emotional than the first two. The book is graphic. I can't say that enough, but by this time you have come to know all the characters so well that when one is lost it is like a real life death. Katniss has finally come into herself and she proves to everyone that she is a force to be reckoned with.

I can't say more without giving much away. I want readers to pick it up and be as enthralled as I was the first time I read the books. So, do it now! Go out and buy these books!!

The Longest Post Ever

Ok, so I'll admit it. I judge books by their covers. I browse the library and bookstores and if a cover catches my eye I'll pick it up. I'm generally really good with my randomness, but I suppose there are times when I'll pass up a book because the cover isn't very interesting. Charlaine Harris's books fell into that sinkhole.

I started watching True Blood and I think I'm the only person who doesn't like Sookie or Bill the Vampire. I think the show's kind of corny & the first season was really just supernatural themed porn, but it's decent TV to watch when there's not much else on. A friend in one of my book groups couldn't believe I hadn't read the Southern Vampire series. She said it was right up my alley with, you know, the vampires and all. So I picked up the first SV book Dead Until Dark and was horribly, horribly bored. The first season of True Blood did NOT stray far from the book so reading the book was like a replay of what I'd already seen thanks to HBO.

But I thought I'd give it another chance. Since I was only halfway through the second season of True Blood I thought maybe the second book wouldn't be bad. It wasn't, but I still wasn't in love with the series. I kept reading and somewhere discovered that I LOVED the series. I love the direction Charlaine Harris has taken the books so far and I've only gotten through 7 of the books. I can't wait to see where Sookie goes next.

I still don't like Bill the Vampire (I'm Team Eric all the way), but Sookie in the book has grown on me.

So I thought I'd try out Charlaine Harris's others series. I started with Lily Bard in Shakespeare's Trollop and set aside Sookie until I finished all 5 in the series. Lily Bard is one of my favorite characters. Surviving a vicious kidnapping and rape Lily moves to Shakespeare, Arkansas to live a quiet life alone. She stumbles across the body of her landlord and finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation. I loved how I could literally watch Lily change throughout the series. I'm sad that she ended the series, but I felt like it ended on a good note.

Next up was Harper Connelly in Grave Sight. More good stuff. After being struck by lightning Harper has the ability to see the dead in their last few moments of life. She and her stepbrother travel around helping people find the bodies of loved ones missing and how they came to their end.

I just started the Aurora Teagarden series last week, reading Real Murders and ran to the library as soon as I could to pick up the next book. Aurora is a librarian who spends her free time studying up about famous murders throughout history. The group she belongs to who shares her interests finds themselves the victims and suspects of a series of real murders (hence the title).

I found that Harper, Lily and Sookie are all very similar but different enough to keep it interesting. My goal next month is to finish the last of the Sookie books, but I will be sad when I've come to the end. I heard she's writing one or two more in that series and then she'll move on.

That'll suck.

Seriously people. Team Eric.

Divine Justice

***DON'T READ THIS REVIEW IF YOU HAVEN'T READ PREVIOUS CAMEL CLUB BOOKS***
Divine Justice
Written by: David Baldacci
Mass Market Paperback: 523
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Genre: Fiction/General

Publisher's Description: Known by his alias, "Oliver Stone," John Carr is the most wanted man in America. With two pulls of the trigger, the men who destroyed Stone's life and kept him in the shadows were finally silenced.
But his freedom comes at a steep price: The assassinations he carried out prompt the highest levels of the U.S. government to unleash a massive manhunt. Yet behind the scenes, master spy Macklin Hayes is playing a very personal game of cat and mouse. He, more than anyone else, wants John Carr dead. With their friend and unofficial leader in hiding, the members of the Camel Club risk everything to save him. Now as the hunters close in, Stone's flight from the demons of his past will take him from the power corridors of Washington, D.C. to the coal-mining town of Divine, Virginia - and into a world every bit as bloody and lethal as the one he left behind.

I love Oliver Stone. Not the director, of course, but the 60-something year-old former Triple 6 member and leader of the Camel Club. I love the characters that David Baldacci has created in this series, the backgrounds and the humor and humanity each possess. I was devastated when Milton was murdered in Stone Cold and delighted when Annabelle joined the Club.

Baldacci has slowly been building up to Divine Justice. Each book is amazing on its own, but when you reach the end of Divine Justice you'll realize that every book before this one was just setting the stage for the events in Divine Justice.

The book takes place immediately after the murders of Gray and Simpson. Oliver goes back on the run, but his plans are railroaded ironically on a train. He finds himself in the tiny town of Divine, Virgina where everything is anything but Divine. Meanwhile, Annabelle, Russell & Caleb concoct a plan to find Oliver before super CIA hunter Joe Knox catches up with him first. The book is a non stop action adventure for sure and NEVER once did I think it was unrealistic that a 60 year old man could do the things Stone does. I'm sold on Oliver.

I regret that this could be the last Camel Club story. I hope for a happy ending for Oliver and Company, but who knows?

Happy Birthday Emma!

Today my baby girl turned 4 years-old. So hard to believe that much time has gone by & she's not such a baby anymore!

Last night Ray and I were talking about the day she was born. Call me a bad parent, but I don't remember what day of the week it was, I don't remember the exact time and I barely remember the first time I saw her! So sad! We had been in the hospital for close to a week. She did NOT want to come out. Since she wasn't in any distress they figured she'd just come out when she was ready, but even with pitocin she STILL wasn't making her way out. I was pretty miserable, had an infection and was pretty blurry for most of the week....or so it seemed. By the time they realized she was stuck and not coming out I was so ready to go!

I remember that the woman who had a c-section before me named her daughter Emma and the doctor who delivered Emma had a daughter named Emma. I remember she was teeny tiny and no one told me there would be all kinds of gunk on her eye lids, but after that, since it seemed my anesthesia was wearing off and I could feel everything going on, the anesthesiologist (my favorite person in that room after Ray and Emma left) just decided to knock me out.

I remember how beautiful she was when I really got to get a good look at her. How she was so long she barely fit in the hospital bassinette. How I couldn't wait to take her home and start our lives as a family. How scared I was to take her home!

I couldn't be more proud and lucky to have her in my life. She makes me laugh everyday, even if it is the same knock knock joke told over and over again.

Happy Birthday my little sweet pea! I love you more than I could ever say!

Reading Experiment

Last year I started reading books 6 at a time. I would divide each book by 6 and section out the pages, then read 1/6 of the first book and make my way through the stack. I felt like I was reading faster, but I wasn't sure. It would generally take me about 5 days to finish the six books.

Looking for ways to make reading more interesting I decided I would try something different for the month of March. I read only one book at a time. NO GOOD! I read 12 books in March as opposed to 20 books in February! Don't ask me why, it just happened!

So I'm going back to my multiple book reading, but I've decided that for the month of April I will only read books off my Nook. Which means a lot of Charlaine Harris, Laurell K. Hamilton and I'll probably finally read 'The Help'. This month I'll still check out eBooks from the library, but for May I'm going to try to read only books that I already have, but haven't read. I've got about 90+ books sitting on my bookshelf that are part of various series that I've yet to pick up! I get too distracted by what's currently out and available at the library. We'll see how my willpower holds up in May since I'll still be taking Emma to the library to pick up her books!

Zombie Love (Part Two)

***DON'T READ THIS REVIEW IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH***
The Dead-Tossed Waves
Written by: Carrie Ryan
Hardcover: 404
Publisher: Delacourte Press
Genre: Young Adult/Romance & Love

The publisher's description: Gabry lives a quiet life. As safe a life as is possible in a town trapped between a forest and the ocean, in a world teeming with the dead, who constantly hunger for those still living. She's content on her side of the Barrier, happy to let her friends dream of the Dark City up the coast while she watches from the top of her lighthouse. But there are threats the Barrier cannot hold back. Threats like the secrets Gabry's mother thought she left behind when she escaped from the Sisterhood and the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Like the cult of religious zealots who worship the dead. Like the stranger from the forest who seems to know Gabry. And suddenly, everything is changing. One reckless moment, and half of Gabry's generation is dead, the other half imprisoned. Now Gabry only knows one thing: she must face the forest of her mother's past in order to save herself and the one she loves.

The Dead-Tossed Waves takes place at least 10 years after the events of The Forest of Hands and Teeth in the ocean town that Mary finds herself washed up on all those years ago. Gabry is the opposite type of girl that Mary was. Gabry is a rule follower seemingly happy to live her life the way the Protectorate (the loose governmental agency ruling from the Dark City) deem life should be lived. In love with a boy she's known her whole life, the desire for him is what drives her to go along with him and their friends over the barrier into an old abandoned amusement park that lays just beyond their village. It is there that Gabry cements her love for Catcher and makes a decision that changes everyone's lives....and not in a good way.

Gabry is weak where Mary was strong, but I found Gabry to be a much more redeemable character. She grew in strength and courage as the story goes on, facing her fears in her quest to find herself & save the people she loves. This is the second book in what is supposed to be a trilogy (the third and final book is slated to come out in the Spring of 2011) and my husband compared it to the Matrix trilogy in way of endings. Where TFOH&T leaves you with an ending you could walk away from, The Dead-Tossed Waves leaves you knowing there has to be more. Gabry's story is definitely not finished and I can't wait to see if she and her allies can (yes, it sounds corny) save the world.