City of Lost souls - Cassandra Clare

 

A great read. Book 5 of the Mortal Instrument Series will not disappoint. In The City of Lost Souls Jace is 'bound' to Sebastian. Kill one and the other dies. Sebastian asks and Jace obeys. Jace is Jace and yet Clary knows he's not the same Jace she loves. How can she break the tie that binds them together without killing her beloved Jace?
Love, Blood, Betrayal and Revenge as the next chapter in this series begins.
Look out for Book 6..will this be the conclusion?

Dark Eyes - William Richter

 

Fast paced action. A thriller that young adults will love. A story about adopted Wallis Stoneman who tries to find her birth mother. Little does she know that her path will cross with her real father who has jsut escaped from prison and will do anything to kill her mother.

Article 5 - Kisten Simmons

From the blurb: 'Seventeen year old Ember Miller cant remember the days before her new government, before the Moral Militia replaced the police, before the Moral Statutes and the constant , state of fear. In the three years since the war ended she has learned how to survive on food stamps and charity bin clothes, and to keep a low profile. That is, until her single mother is arrested for breaching Article 5 of the Moral Statutes. Now Ember must find her mother - and compliance to the authorities is the last thing on her mind'.

Fans of Hunger Games will love this book! I loved this book. A great story full of romance, despair and perhaps even triumph. Like Hunger Games it ends with the reader wanting more. I cant wait for Book 2 as we follow Ember and Chase's journey into the Resistance.

So Much Pretty - Cara Hoffman

A very Interesting Book!

From the Blurb: 'When nineteen year old waitress Wendy White disappears the small town of Haeden, New York, is shaken to its core. Nothing like this has ever happened in Haeden and, assuming that Wendy most likely ran away, the police make little headway with the case. But, six months later, Wendy's tortured body is found in the nearby woods. And she has only been dead a matter of days. Local reported Stacey Flynn knows that Wendy's case could be her big break. But with little help from the local police, she's forced to investigate alone and no one in the town is willing to talk about what happened.'

The review on the front of this book is spot on it reads 'A skilful, psychologically acute tale of how viloence effects a small town' Emphasis needs to be placed on the 'psychological'. It's a hard book to explain. A waitress goes missing and we weave between the past and present via each character. I like it but it's very 'different'.  At one stage, after the first few chapters, I thought about not reading it and I did skip pages. You could call this a speed read until I got to the second half of the book.

The ending wasnt satisfying. It was quite shocking in a way and left many unanswered questions but in another way it suited the way the book was written. Do I recommend it? Yes I do, but be ready for an interesting journey of 'love and loss' and 'vengeance and justice', or should I say 'injustice'.

Rate 3/5

Private Peaceful - Michael Morpurgo

Warning: Tissues needed whilst reading this book!

Oh my gosh what a tear jerker. This is an amazing novel. A well written, thought provoking, emotional novel. Told by Private Tommo Peaceful 24 hours before his brother's execution for 'cowardness'. Tommo recounts moments of their lives leading up to the the amazing ending. We look at their lives, how they grew up and came to be where they are. Family life, death, and happy memories. You really get the sense of family and what their lives were like. A brother's love, Big Joe, Molly and Mother and how important they are to each other. The senslessness of war and the 'ugliness' of war are portrayed. It's unjust and unfair and the ending is heart breaking.

A Fabulous, fabulous Book!

Blood Magic - Tessa Gratton

An easy story to read. A story about Magic. A good magic that turns evil. A story about family secrets, magic and living forever. What happens when greed and love become all consuming passions?

Happy New Year !! and a post on 3 books - The Tiger Saga by Colleen Houck

The Tiger Saga

Tiger's Curse, Tiger's Quest and Tiger's Voyage.

What a Saga! Loved these books, a great series full of fatasy and the history of India. A love story between a girl and a white tiger that weaves its way across India, involving 2 brothers, a curse and a quest. It's engrossing although the love traingle got a little annoying and i couldnt help but compare it with the Twilight series 'love traingle'. With that comparison also came my annoyance with the main character and her 'Bella like' tendacies! The third book ended with me thinking ok where's the 4th, as it doesnt end here. Annoyance or not, of course I will have to read the 4th book so i can see if good triumphs over evil and also to see 'who gets the girl'.

 

Shatter me - Tahereh Mafi

From the Blurb: "Strange things happen when people touch me. Strange things. Bad things. Dead things".

Great read! With Similarities to The Hunger games it kept me on my toes with Juliet fighting against The Reestablishment trying to force her to use her 'gift' for evil. Add a touch of romance as boy/girl fight against the badies and you cant go wrong. Well i enjoyed it :) 

Readers of the Hunger Games will love it. I highly recommend!

The dovekeepers - Alice Hoffman

 

From the back cover: 'In 70AD, nine hundred Jews held out for months against armies of Romans on a mountain outside the Judean desert, Masada. Two women and five children survived. Based on this tragic event, The Dovekeepers is a spellbinding tale of four extraordinary bold and resourceful women, whose lives intersect in the desperate days of the siege'.

I didnt love this book. It was ok and I persisted until the end. I think i got a bit bogged down in the whole history and war between the Jews and Romans.. i just didnt power through it like I do with some novels.

Between - Jessica Warman

 

 From the back cover: 'Elizabeth Valchar - pretty, popular and perfect - wakes up the moring after her eighteenth birthday party on her family's yacht, where she'd been celebrating with her five closest friends. A persistent thumping noise has roused her. When she goes to investigate, what she discovers will change everything she thought she knew about her past, her future and what lies un between'.

A Great book! The blurb above doesnt even begin to unravel the complexities of this novel. Elizabeth goes on a journey into the past and the future to try and understand why she has died. And what she finds will suprise you as she comes to terms with the person she was and why she acted the way she did. It's a journey of self discovery until she finally finds peace at the end of the novel.



Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Laini Taylor

'Errand requiring immediate attention. Come. The note was on vellum pierced by the talons of the almost-crow that delivered it. Karou read the message. 'He never says please' she sighed but she gathered up her things. When Brimstone called she always came. In general Karou has managed to keep her two lives in balance. On the one hand she's a seventeen-year-old art student in Prague; on the other errand-girl to a monstrous creature who is the closest thing she has to family. Raised half in our world half in 'Elsewhere' she has never understood Brimstone's dark work - buying teeth from hunters and murderers - nor how she came into his keeping. She is a secret even to herself plagued by the sensation that she isn't whole . Now the doors to Elsewhere are closing and Karou must choose between the safety of her human life and the dangers of a war-ravaged world that may hold the answers she has always sought.'


This book is fantastic, I loved it! Strictly for those who like to read Sci Fi/Fantasy as it dips into both. It's a mix of Avatar and magic. A great story which sets the scene for a riveting Book 2, cant wait!

The Deadly Touch of the Tigress - Ian Hamilton

'Ava Lee is a petite young Chinese-Canadian forensic accountant who works for an elderly Hong Kong-based 'Uncle'. In tracking millions of dollars across continents the stakes are often high, sometimes violent and always shady, but Ava Lee's razor-sharp intelligence and unorthodox rules of engagement allow her to succeed where traditional methods have failed.This is a novel full of suspense, with an equally fascinating heroine.'

Well this book was good BUT on the front cover I read 'For anyone missing Lisbeth Sandler, meet the brillant Ava Lee - A heroine for our times'.... so perhaps my expectations were a little too high.

It was a good read but i didnt love it. Ava is a gutsy character and in some ways very similar to Lisbeth. It's a fast paced read with plenty of action. I would read another book as Im sure this character will return.

The power of six - Pitticus Lore

Fast pace as we go on the journey with John smith, No 6 and Sam to find the remaining members of the Loric. No. 7 is in an orphanage in Spain trying to hide from the Mogardorians who find her. Two seperate stories are told as No. 4 and No. 7 fight to stay alive.
A great read and those who enjoyed 'I am Number Four' wont be disappointed!

The Hunter - Tom Wood

A Fantastic read! Loved this book, up there with the best thrillers ive read. This book had me from page one. Fast paced action as I became engrossed in the life of an Assasin  who becomes 'the target'. Can't wait for Book 2!

Songs of the earth - Elspeth Cooper

This Book is fabulous. If you enjoy fantasy than you will enjoy this read. A book about magic, good versus evil, with romance. A tear jerker that had me in tears at the end. I look forward to Book 2 and following Gair into his hourney of 'revenge'.

Bloodlines - Richelle Mead

From the cover:
Sydney's blood is special. That's because she's an alchemist - one of the group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the world of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets - and human lives. But the last encounter Sydney had with vampires got her in deep trouble with the other alchemists. And now with her allegiances in question, her future is on the line.

Being a fan of Vampire Academy i didnt know what to expect..i was hoping for Big things...and was i disappointed..?..
No i wasnt. It was good although it took a while for me to get into, the 2nd half of the book is def better than the first..but it has left me wanting to read book 2. It will be interesting to see how Sydney and Adrians relationship develops, if it develops. And how could i not want to read book 2 when Dimitri enters book 1 on the last page.
A good read.
All Vampire Academy fans will enjoy it I'm sure!
:)

The Maid - Kimberly Cutter

From the front cover

"The girl who led an army, the peasant who crowned a king, the maid who became a legend"

Based on the epic tale of Joan of Arc. A fabulous read. 

Mercy by Jussi Adler-Olsen

This book is full of suspense. A great read!
From the blurb;

'At first the prisoner scratches at the walls until her fingers bleed. But there is no escaping the room. With no way of mesuring time, her days, weeks, months go unrecorded. She vows not to go mad. She will not give her captors the satisfaction she will die first.'

The question is 'Why is this happening?' Gripping, it had me reading to the end to find the answer!

The Game Changer : Dr. Joyce Valenza

Wow! I was lucky enough to hear Joyce speak last Friday at the Melbourne SLAV conference. She really is an amazing, dynamic Teacher/Librarian

Click on the link above for Joyce's wiki notes from the PD

The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins

This book is one I couldn't put down. I loved this story. It's so easy to read.

Twenty four are forced to enter. Only the winners survive! In the ruins of a place known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capital surrounded by 12 outlying districts. Each year, the districts are forced by the Capital to send one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 to participate in the Hunger Games, a brutal and terrifying fight to the death - telvised for all of Panem to see.

This book is truly gripping as we enter the Hunger Games with Katniss Everdeen, will she survive??

This is a must read and soon to be movie