Annette's Book Spot

Monday, March 18, 2013

Book Review: Six Years, by Harlan Coben @HarlanCoben

I just finished Six Years and I can hardly catch my breath. I love the twisted mysteries that Harlan Coben writes, and Six Years is no exception.

In the prologue, Jake is attending the wedding of the love of his life, Natalie, to someone else. Natalie's last words to Jake are to make him promise to not bother her and her new husband, Todd.

Six Years later, Jake sees an obituary for Todd and can't keep himself from attending the funeral. As he hides in the back, he realizes that Natalie isn't there. Todd's wife is someone different, and Todd has two children that are teenagers, making it impossible for them to be Natalie's children. He also finds out that Todd was murdered.

Thus begins Jake's quest to find Natalie. Everywhere he turns, things don't make sense. People that should know her claim to not remember her. Things turn violent when some thugs kidnap Jake, and he realizes that they are looking for Natalie too, and they think Jake knows where she is!

As usual, you can't take anything for granted when your meet people and evaluate the situations Jake gets into. I can't recall ever reading a book and thinking "What the heck?!?" so MANY times. Talk about twists. This is what I love about Coben. Everything is unexpected--nothing is as it seems. I can't believe anyone reading this saying, "Well, I knew how it was going to turn out way before the end." If you are that person, either you are Harlan Coben, or you should be writing books. And I kind of feel sorry for you because the surprises are so much fun!

Six Years, as is common in all of Coben's books, hooks you from about page ten and after that you will give up eating, sleeping, and maybe have to call in sick to work. I've often recommended his books to reluctant readers -- if you can get them to not worry about the length -- once they get started, they will be sucked in until the end.

I highly recommend Six Years to mystery, adventure, thriller fans of all ages. Not to be missed. And, if you've never read a Coben mystery, now's the time!

Published by Dutton, Marcy 19, 2013
eARC obtained from NetGalley
368 pages (qualifies for my Books You Can Read in a Day Challenge!)

Rating: 5/5

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Stacking the Shelves: More eBooks!

I got a few books this week that I'm really looking forward to.

For Review:

Gorgeous, by Paul Rudnick from NetGalley

Isn't that cover Gorgeous!!

Rotten, by Michael Northrop from NetGalley

Original Skin,by David Mark from Edelweiss

So, what did you acquire this week? Leave me your link, and make sure you go check out all the blogs participating at Team Tynga's Reviews! Have a great weekend and please come back soon.

Friday, March 15, 2013

Feature & Follow Friday: Outdoor Reading Spots

We've made it to Friday, once again! Here's Parajunkee & Alison's question:

Q: Activity! Hopefully warm weather for most of us is here soon…so tell us about your favorite outdoor reading spot. Or take a picture.

We love to go camping. This is our camper at one of our favorite spots. I'd like to be sitting in that chair reading RIGHT NOW! Can't wait!

How about you? Are you looking forward to some outdoor reading? Where? Leave me your link and make sure you visit Parajunkee & Alison to visit some other links too. Thanks for stopping by!

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Book Review: The Future of Us, by Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler

The Future of Us is a cute story that, even though somewhat impossible, sucks you into its premise.

It's 1993 and Emma and Josh are teens who are next door neighbors. When Emma gets a new computer, Josh gives her his free AOL CD-ROM to install on her computer. Instead of AOL, Emma gets Facebook, from about 2009. So, they can see their futures, at least part of it. And, as things happen in the present, their futures on Facebook change.

So, Emma gets into the mode where she's trying to do things in the present to make her future life seem happier. Jay is doing things to make his future life (married to the hottest girl in school) become a reality.

I enjoyed the premise of The Future of Us. I enjoyed the references to the 1990s. You know, it doesn't seem that long ago to me. I was raising two small children at the time, so I guess it has been longer than I think! And, I think many teens will still enjoy this even though they weren't born in 1993. I think they can get at least some of the cultural references. The differences in technology are stunning, when you think how far we've come!

The ending was logical, if somewhat predictable, and I enjoyed it. The Future of Us reads extremely quickly. It's about 350 pages, but I read it in a couple of hours. There's a lot of white space and half pages. The Future of Us is a great book for a reluctant reader.

The only thing I had trouble with is the relationship between our two main characters. I just couldn't keep up with their changing feelings and behaviors. I know the have a past and have recently been estranged. Then, they get together because of this Facebook thing. But, they keep getting ticked off at each other and not speaking, then making up, then being mad again. I couldn't keep up with the emotional changes that were causing these behaviors. I don't know if that makes sense, but they acted like petulant children, overreacting to what seemed like nothing to me. The Future of Us is so short that maybe some more time spent with these two, working out their emotions would have helped me connect.

But, The Future of Us isn't really supposed to be a deep book, and therefore the lack of connection isn't really that important. It's a cute story that allowed me to reminisce, and I enjoyed it.

Published by Razorbill, 2011
Copy obtained from the library
356 pages (qualifies for my Books You Can Read in a Day Challenge!)

Rating: 3.5/5

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Book Review: The Blood Gospel, by James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell

I found The Blood Gospel to be riveting -- I actually stayed up past my bedtime to finish, which is very rare for me. Although very entertaining, I consider The Blood Gospel to be a bit over the top.

Erin is an archaeologist working on a dig in Israel. Jordan is a sergeant in the military who is an expert in forensics. Father Korza, well, he's a vampire.

Now he's a "good" vampire, called a Sanguinist, who serves God and the church and never drinks human blood. His goal is to defeat the Strigoi -- the bad vampires who want to rule the world.

These three characters end up together because of an earthquake in Masada, Israel, where an ancient underground tomb is supposed to contain a treasure that the Sanguinists and the Strigoi have been searching for. This item will give those who posses it complete power over the universe. It is a book -- a gospel -- written by Jesus in his own blood.

The quest for this book sends them all over Europe, most of the time barely escaping with their lives. The quest gets more and more intricate -- the back story that is slowly revealed is complex and complicated. There are many characters, but I didn't find it hard to keep track. The Blood Gospel is well organized and easy to follow. It's a complex story that required more concentration than my usual YA fare, but it was also immersive. I had a hard time putting it down and found myself thinking about the book when I was away from it.

My only complaint, which is a minor one, is that as the story goes on, as our beloved characters overcome obstacle after obstacle and are pulled from the jaws of death over and over, it just got a little difficult to buy. They were very lucky at times. (Or I guess, God was watching over them.) The "alternate Christianity" part of the plot got farther and farther from the traditional Bible stories, especially at the end of The Blood Gospel, and became a bit much for me. Not that I was offended or anything, just that some things that were "re-told" were a bit far-fetched. I do admire the authors' creativity though.

The Blood Gospel is the first book in a series called The Order of the Sanguines. There's a character in this book called Tommy, who inexplicably survives the initial earthquake in Masada. We get a glimpse into what is happening to him once in a while, but his character is purposefully vague. He is part of the big setup for the continuation of the series. So, while The Blood Gospel has a climactic ending, there are still plenty of questions and much more to discover about this world.

I would highly recommend The Blood Gospel to the right reader. It grabs you and takes you on a very entertaining ride. It's almost 500 pages long, but it didn't seem like it. There are a select few teens that I could recommend The Blood Gospel to, but it has wide appeal for adults who enjoy a good adventure story with a lot of biblical history and some vampires thrown in too!

Published by William Morrow, January 8, 2013
Copy obtained from the library
479 pages

Rating: 4/5

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Book Review: Deep Betrayal, by Anne Greenwood Brown

Deep Betrayal is an entertaining sequel to Lies Beneath.

Lily hasn't seen Calder for over a month. She does't know where he is, and she doesn't like being land-locked. She wants to return to her home on Lake Superior and join her mom and dad.

When her parents show up for her graduation, and Calder does too, Lily insists on telling her father that he's a merman, just like Calder. She wants to help her father, but Calder doesn't think it a good idea.

Lily does return with her parents to the lake, and her father becomes what he was meant to be. But also, dead bodies start turning up on the lake. Lily and Calder are trying to catch the mermaids that are doing the killing.

I found Deep Betrayal to be very interesting. I really wanted to continue with Lily and Calder's story, and I wasn't disappointed. The writing is easy, the story moves quickly, and the mermaid lore is clever. The romance is OK, but I wouldn't say it sizzles. I'm just not blown away by these characters. I think I'm a little confused about parts of the mermaid lore. For example, Lily's life was in danger when she left the lake, and now that she's returned, all that danger just seemed to fizzle out. I never wanted to stop reading -- Deep Betrayal held my interest, but on the other hand, I wasn't ever "wowed."

If you enjoyed Lies Beneath, you will certainly enjoy Deep Betrayal, and although Deep Betrayal could be read without the first book, I think you will greatly benefit from having the back story of the characters. So I highly recommend your read Lies Beneath first.

Deep Betrayal is another in a recent collection of mermaid books, that fans of these creatures will want to experience.

Published by Delacorte BFYR, March 12, 2013
eARC obtained from NetGalley
352 pages

Rating: 3/5

Monday, March 11, 2013

Monday Memories: The Lottery

Welcome to my meme, Monday Memories, where I feature favorite books we've loved from the past. You can link to an old review, or write something new about a beloved book from your past. Really, what's important is not the book, but why it is memorable to you. So, have fun reminiscing, and leave a comment below, so we can all enjoy your memories.

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson is a short story that I had to read in high school. I think it might be the first dystopian story I ever read, and it's pretty horrifying. If you haven't read The Lottery, it's worth the short time it takes to read it. The Lottery was first published in 1948! I think it's very unique for that time and holds up surprisingly well. With all the Hunger Games phenomenon, it wouldn't hurt to point some kids to this riveting story about conformity and the "mob mentality."

Share one of your cherished book memories!

You can do a Monday Memories post on your blog. Copy my button and link back here, so others can see all the other posts. Leave a comment below with the link to your post.

Or, just leave one of your Monday Memories right here in the comments.

Be sure to visit some other blogs that have posted their links. Thanks!

Sunday, March 10, 2013

The Other Side of Life - A Grocery (or Book?) Bag

I'm using these posts to occasionally describe other things I enjoy (besides books.) I used to post these projects on my other blog, but I posted so seldom that I decided to include them here. Feel free to skip this one, if you are strictly in it for the books.

I try to always bring my own grocery bags to the store. I've heard that this can be a problem because when you re-use bags, they can get all sorts of bacteria on them. So, I've started only using the laminated kind that can be washed out, or cloth ones that I make and can throw in the washing machine.

Here's my first attempt:

This was made with the New Leaf Folding Totes pattern. The pattern includes a pocket and Velcro tabs, so you can fold the bag up. It's a really nice feature, but I eliminated it for this bag. It also includes a tote sash pattern, so you can hold together your folded up bags. It's a great concept -- because my bags are always floating all over my car or house. There's a nice wallet pouch pattern too that would be great for coupons.

I think it turned out cute, but it's really small. I'm the kind of person that buys groceries for the week. So I need lots of bags that can hold a lot. If you were the type of person who just stops at the store to buy what's needed for the evening meal, this might work out for you. For me, I think it's a lovely new book bag!

I'm going to look for another pattern for a bigger tote bag. I'll let you know when I've made another bag.

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Stacking the Shelves - Book Club Book

I only received one book this week.

From the Library:

The Future of Us, by Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler

My book club chose this one for our book this month. I've already finished it, and my review will post this coming week.

A slow week for me, but I'm betting some of you got some awesome books. Can't wait to see them. I hope you all visit Team Tynga's Reviews to see all the participating blogs. Thanks for stopping by, and as always, Happy Reading!

Friday, March 8, 2013

Feature & Follow Friday: Outside the Popular Opinion

Welcome to the weekend again. Parajunkee and Alison have another question for you:

Q: What is a book you didn't like that all your friends raved about or what book did you love that wasn't popular?

I think this happens quite a bit, and it doesn't bother me when it does. Every book is not for every reader. For me, the first example that comes to mind is The Raven Boys. I just couldn't finish it. I've read enough reviews to find out there's some big twist in the middle that might help, but I just couldn't get to that point. I thought Blue was an interesting character, and the book wasn't about her at all! Anyway, I know a lot of people loved this, and I really liked Stiefvater's Wolves of Mercy Falls series, but I just had to give up on The Raven Boys.

So, how about you? Come on, I know there is at least ONE book that you THINK you should love because everyone else does. I'm dying to know what it is! Thanks for stopping by. Hope you come back soon.