Annette's Book Spot

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Book Review: Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins

I finally completed the series! I was apprehensive about reading Mockingjay, since I had heard so many conflicting reports -- but I really enjoyed it.

Panem is at war. District 13 is trying to defeat the Capitol. Mockingjay is very different than The Hunger Games and Catching Fire. This time it truly is war, and Katniss has some big decisions to make. She is in one dangerous situation after another. But in between there are some relatively happy times too.

I really liked that Katniss and Gale, as well as many of the other previous characters, are damaged. They are not normal, they are scarred physically and emotionally, and as readers, we realize they will never be the same.

After betrayals, and deaths, and emotional torture, the ending gives us everything it can. There isn't a happily every after feeling, but a "things are better, and hopefully will stay that way" feeling. Collins' characters, as well as the tone of Mockingjay, are perfectly written.

So much has been said about this series, and Mockingjay, that I think I will leave it at that. I would highly, highly recommend this series to teens and adults as well. It's just so well done. It's riveting, entertaining, and easy to read. If you haven't finished it, don't wait!

Published by Scholastic, 2010
Copy obtained from the library
390 pages

Rating: 5/5

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Book Review: Yuletide Treasure by Andrea Kane

I got my Christmas romance fix with Yuletide Treasure.

This short novella takes place in Victorian England, so the historical setting is a bonus for me, although it didn't play much of a part in the story.

Eric has been holed up in his manor house for years, seeing no one and going nowhere. He's isolated himself since the death of his sister. He has a niece, Noelle, who is returned to him after short stays with many different people in the village -- and she's a terror. Eric decides he needs a governess, and then is convinced that he needs a wife. Even though his demands for privacy and seclusion are unbelievable, he finds Brigitte to accept his terms. It turns out Brigitte has always been in love with Eric, since she was a little girl.

OK, so you have to roll your eyes, but then get over it. It's unlikely, but Brigitte's handling of Noelle is priceless -- as well as her handling of Eric. It's definitely a "happily ever after" story, but that's what I was after.

I could have stayed with these characters a little longer. The novella is only 90 pages, so things must happen very quickly. Eric's transformation is, shall we say, astounding?

On the other hand, it's not a huge investment, gave me warm fuzzies, and ended with a Christmas celebration. So, if that's what you are looking for, you can't go wrong with Yuletide Treasure.

Published by Pocket Star, November 27,2012
eBook purchased (for 99 cents!)
90 pages

Rating: 4/5

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Book Review: Crown of Embers, by Rae Carson @raecarson

I loved The Crown of Embers as much as The Girl of Fire and Thorns!

Elisa is back, and she's the queen, but she's not perfect. She doesn't always know the right decision to make. She's young and has a lot to learn. And she really grows in a realistic way throughout The Crown of Embers. I really enjoyed following her development.

I enjoyed the side characters a lot more in The Crown of Embers. We get to know Mara and Ximena a lot better. And Hector, well, what can I say? The PERFECT guy. I'm not a "swooner," but I must admit I really fell for Hector.

Poor Elisa is in constant danger. Someone is trying to kill her, and there are so many choices for bad guys! It could be anybody, and all is not revealed until the very end.

The tension builds slowly. By the end I was kind of jumping out of my skin to finish. I thought there were a few parts towards the beginning that dragged a bit, but that's really my only (very picky) complaint. Everything I said above is what I loved. Elisa's maturing, the secondary characters, the (maybe) romance. Carson just does a great job with the plot, characters, and writing.

Once again -- a great ending. The ending of an episode. No huge cliff hanger, but much more story to come. This is a series as it should be written (I think I said that in my review of The Girl of Fire and Thorns too!) I'll still say I'm not a fantasy fan, but these books have enough adventure and plotting and characters that just draws me in, so that I can't put the book down. I love it when I feel this way about a book.

As you can probably tell, I think it's well worth your time to read BOTH of the books in the series. The Crown of Embers in no way disappoints, and if you enjoyed The Girl of Fire and Thorns stop putting off reading the second book!

I've already been passing around The Girl of Fire and Thorns to any teen that will listen to me, and The Crown of Embers will be right behind it. I know I won't have to push the second one, once they've read the first.

Published by Greenwillow, September 18, 2012
Copy obtained from Shannon, my Secret Santa!
410 pages

Rating: 4.5/5

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Stacking the Shelves -- An Exceptionally Exciting Week!

Hard to believe Saturday has rolled around again, and it's time for another Stacking the Shelves, hosted by Tynga's Reviews. I'm pretty excited about the few things I got this week.

For Review:

Through the Ever Night, by Veronica Rossi, from Edelweiss

Requiem, by Lauren Oliver, from Edelweiss

I'm very excited about these for a couple of reasons. First of all, they are from series that I love, so I'm excited to get advance copies. But secondly, I got these from Edelweiss, where I haven't been very successful requesting books. And I didn't even have to request these! They were just "click to download" books. I hope this trend continues.....

Purchased:

Yuletide Treasure, by Andrea Kane, ebook

I'm in the mood for a Christmas story, and I saw a great review of this one. For 99 cents, I thought it would be perfect. It's next on my list.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you are looking forward to the holidays like I am, or at least looking forward to some days off. It has been a bit difficult to get in the mood. We have experienced tragedy both locally, and nationally and my heart is breaking. I'm hoping that somehow all these people in mourning are able to find some comfort in the fact that we are all praying for them.

Thanks for stopping by. Let me know what you are excited about this week!

Friday, December 14, 2012

Follow Friday - Tearjerkers

Happy Friday! Make sure you visit our blog hosts, Parajunkee and Alison, and check out some of the featured blogs.

Here's this week's question:

Q: What is the last book that made you cry? Tell us about the scene...

First of all, my ALL TIME worst ever tearjerker is The Notebook. Scene? Hah! As I recall, I started crying about about page 5, and didn't stop much throughout the entire book. I really don't read Sparks' books any more.

Most recently, it's The Fault in Our Stars. I would think this is going to be a popular answer. This one ripped me apart. It's the ending -- and I don't want to spoil anything so I'll leave it at that. Except to say -- if you haven't read this book, you MUST. I rarely say that everyone should read a book, because everyone has different tastes. But you simply MUST read this book. Got it?

Hope you have a great weekend, and enjoy your last week before the holidays! I'm looking forward to it. Thanks for visiting, and I hope you come back soon!

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Book Review: For Darkness Shows the Stars, by Diana Peterfreund

For Darkness Shows the Stars is a touching, but frustrating, romance set in a futuristic world. Having never read Persuasion, I cannot compare this re-telling, but it was a good story in it's own right.

My favorite part of For Darkness Shows the Stars is the world that Peterfreund has created. It's the future, and society became so technologically advanced that some humans became "reduced." They do not have the ability to speak. After several years, reduced humans began having normal babies, and these babies are called "posts" (for post-reduction.) Both of these types of humans live, basically, in slavery. The humans who rule are Luddites. They do not believe in any technological progress. Nothing can change or be improved -- not farming, medicine, or any conveniences can be improved upon.

Elliot, our main character, lives on an estate farm and basically runs it. Even though her older sister is supposed to, Elliot is the only one who really knows how to run the farm. She tries to take care of their posts, but her father is constantly coming up with plans to spend the money that is supposed to help them survive the winter. Since her childhood, she has had a secret friendship with Kai, a post.

At the beginning of For Darkness Shows the Stars, Kai has been gone from the farm for four years. We slowly figure out what happened and why he left as the current story progresses. And, in the present, Kai returns to the farm a much different person.

The world is changing. Posts are changing. Some Luddites are breaking the rules. And the romance -- well, that was secondary to me. I just didn't feel much romantic tension. The estrangement was based on mis-communication, which really annoys me in a romance. I like the characters, but as far as the romance was concerned, I knew how it was going to end. Not all the details, but I knew the romance part would end the way it did.

I think I'll stop there. The story line of For Darkness Shows the Stars is complex, and there are many characters. I really enjoy that complexity -- when I sit down to write a summary, and think, "Wow! There's a lot here!" But, it also took me a while to get all the characters straight. After about 80 pages, I had to sit down and make a list of the characters and their relationships to keep it straight.

I've seen many, many reviews stating this is a favorite book of the year. I didn't get that, although I did enjoy the story. For Darkness Shows the Stars has also made me interested in reading Persuasion. I would recommend this to "dystopian romance" fans. The dystopian part is fairly light -- not really any heart-pounding suspense -- but it is still a very interesting world.

Published by Balzer + Bray, June 12, 2012
Copy obtained from the library
407 pages

Rating: 4/5

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Audio Book Review: Dead Until Dark, by Charlaine Harris

I can now understand all the hype surrounding Dead Until Dark, and the other books in the Sookie Stackhouse series.

I found Dead Until Dark to be unique among vampire books that I've read. Sookie, the main character, isn't a vampire, but she can read minds. The world Harris has created is interesting. Everyone knows there are vampires, and while they are discriminated against, they are tolerated in society. They must sleep in the dark during the daylight, they are very strong, and interestingly, their blood heals humans.

I enjoyed Sookie as a character. She's down to earth. She considers her special ability to be a handicap. She comes from a small town, works in a bar, and associates with simple southern folks. She's never had a boyfriend -- it's not really an easy thing when you can tell what they are thinking about you!

When she becomes attracted to Bill, the vampire, her life gets more interesting and more complicated. I loved the conversations between the two. The romance was extremely well done.

The murder mystery kept me guessing until the end, but I really didn't find myself caring much about it. Some of the actions, on both Sookie and Bill's parts, were stupid and caused more unnecessary trouble. But, it still made a good story.

The thing is, I just don't think I want to read any more of the series. While I thoroughly enjoyed Dead Until Dark, I just feel like I've had enough, and I can't really say why. I can see older teens enjoying Dead Until Dark. There are some sex scenes, but not overly explicit.

The narrator of the audio, Johanna Parker, was very good. She has an authentic southern drawl, and used appropriate, but not annoying, voices for the characters. I would recommend the audio.

Published by Ace Books, 2001
Audio bookobtained from the library
292 pages

Rating: 3/5

Monday, December 10, 2012

Book Review: Ten, by Gretchen McNeil @GretchenMcNeil

I really enjoy a book that makes me feel genuine suspense, and Ten is one of those books.

From page one, there's a feeling of doom. It is storming - ferociously. The teen's parents don't know where they are. And, where they are is on a remote island, with very little population, and no way off except by ferry -- and the ferry doesn't come back for three days. What could possibly go wrong?

Meg is the main character, and Ten is told from her perspective. This is a violent book. McNeil doesn't hold back. There are gruesome murders. The pace never stops -- one after the other, teens are being murdered. I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish Ten.

The atmosphere is vividly described -- I think my palms were sweating before I finished. The teen characters are typical. Some popular, some "wanna be's," athletes, artists, and each character distinct. There's the typical hook-ups, relationships, and romance that throwing 10 teens together would instigate.

The way the motive comes together is very creative and unusual, and I didn't figure it out before it was revealed. Plenty of red herrings, and I fell for them.

I loved this book for what it is. I can't think of many YA books with this macabre premise, and I can't wait to push Ten to my teens (actually, I already have, even before I read it.) One of our English classes reads And Then There Were None, and some of those students have enjoyed reading this for comparison. I, however, have never read the Christie -- but it's on my list now.

Published by Balzer + Bray, September 18, 2012
Copy obtained from the library
294 pages

Rating: 5/5

Sunday, December 9, 2012

The Other Side of Life - Christmas Projects

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've been making some projects for Christmas that I wanted to share with you. First, I made a simple table runner for my dining room. These are really easy to make, I made a smaller one for my coffee table too. I'm happy with the way it looks!

My daughter got married, so I made a stocking for my son-in-law. Years ago, I made these denim stockings for my family, with the detailed appliques. Well, Michael didn't get the applique -- but he did get a stocking! I only have four pegs on my stocking holder, so his will have to hang behind Emily's anyway. I still think it's cute, even without the details.

I've been making a few little gifts too, but I'll have to share those with you after Christmas.

Hope you are enjoying your Christmas preparations. How's the shopping going? Let me know what you are up to! Thanks again, for visiting.

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Stacking the Shelves -- Library Books!

I've been more relaxed about reviewing new releases, and have been enjoying reading books that I've had around for a while, as well as some of those I've been eyeing on my library shelves. I'm feeling really good about reading -- and enjoying some freedom to read what I want! Here's this week's acquisitions:

For Review:

The Sin-Eater's Confession, by Ilsa J. Bick from Netgalley

From the Library:

Ten, by Gretchen McNeil

For Darkness Shows the Stars, by Diana Peterfreund

Purchased:

Carnival of Souls, by Melissa Marr, ebook for $1.99!

Gifted!

My Secret Santa came through, and I received two books that I've been wishing for:

Flesh & Bone, by Jonathan Maberry

The Crown of Embers, by Rae Carson

Thanks to my Secret Santa, Laura, the Book Snob! She really came through for me, as these books were on the TOP of my list!

Thanks for stopping by! I want to thank Tynga's Reviews for hosting again, and I encourage you to go visit some other participating blogs. Leave me a link so I can see what you got.