Dracula by Bram Stoker

A Signet Classics, Dracula seemed fitting for Halloween. I must admit, I was quite hesitant to start his novel since I am easily scared and my mind tends to wander and play tricks especially at night. Even now I am afraid to take my dog out once more before retiring for bed. Wow, can you see how I am writing like the people in the book. It is still fresh in my mind and a little scary. This novel starts off keeping your attention as Jonathan is held prisoner in Dracula's castle, but it quickly loses pace when we are transfered to England and introduced to all the other characters in the book. I found it very difficult to continue reading since I prefer quick reads and this definately takes time to read. It is more difficult as well because of the old, proper writing. It is told through diaries and wired posts of everyone involved in this story so you constantly change from one person to another, but it does well staying in a chronological order. There were times that I did not understand how a certain entry really added to the story, but it all fits together. By the time you finally get to the end you get hooked as Dracula escapes and is being hunted. It is not so much a terrifying story as everyone is very familiar with it, but how it is written messes with your mind and makes you start to second guess what is real and what can not possibly happen such as Dracula showing up when I take the dog out or standing by my bed when I wake up in the middle of the night. It is a classic book that all should read, but be ready to have to push through since you will find yourself wanting to drop the book and give up for something easier to read.

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

The Commander has a very strict government. If you kill someone no matter what you are tried for murder and executed. That's how Yelena found herself in a jail, killing a man in self defense since he was raping and torturing her. On the day of her execution, the Commander's food taster has died and since Yelena is next in line to be executed, the job is offered to her. She takes it without realizing that she has been given Butterfly Dust and in order to not die from it she must get the annecdote every morning. Yelena also has a price on her head and is constantly in danger of being killed since she murdered a General's son and he wants revenge. Escape is death no matter what. As Yelena strives to make it to the end of each day she finds out she also has magical powers which unfortunately is also an offense that leads to death so she must hide this information. She gets tangled up in a plot to overthrow the Commander and must decide if her loyalty is to Valek (her food taster mentor and second in command) or her desire to go the Setia, the land of the magicians, but there's that little problem of the Butterfly Dust.

I really enjoyed this book. It was fun and not too involved in magic or love like most books I've been reading lately. This book was referred to me by A Novel Addiction.

The Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

The Clockwork Angel is a prequel to The Mortal Instruments. It definately did not disappoint you and was nice that it's not completely the same story retold again. Yes, we have our talented, handsome troubled young man who has feelings for our young girl that finds herself mixed up with the world of the Shadowhunters, but can't completely release himself to her. The twist is that Tessa is a warlock of some sort, but no one knows exactly she is since she does not really fall completely in the Downworlder category of warlock. She is able to change forms into any human being she has a personal belonging from. She can read their thoughts and mimic their personality and persona. Her brother gets involved with a downworlder human club and Tessa is held captive and forced to learn these hidden talents she did not realize she had. She is of course freed by our troubled hero Will. Will attitude is much like Jace's in the Mortal Instruments, but we don't know yet what drives him to be who he is. Someone is trying to get Tessa for her talents since they 'created' her and there is an automative army that pursues her. I didn't realize this was going to be another series, but it will be fun to have more books to read since these are fun and entertaining. Only drawback is having to wait for the books to come out.

The Boy Who Dared by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

This historical fiction book is about Helmuth, a mormon german boy during World War II. It starts during the election of Hitler as chancelor and follows Helmuth as he is forced to join the Hitler youth. he struggles with his feelings on patriotism and his moral beliefs of right and wrong. As more and more of his rights are taken away, Helmuth finds himself secretly listening to the BBC and realizing how much his country is hiding information from them. He sees the transformation of his friends and church members that are 'interogated' by the SS. He starts writing pamphlets about what is really going on and what he hears on the BBC. With the help of two of his school mates, they distribute these pamphlets around the city in telephone booths and other public areas that they don't have to personally hand them to people. Later he recruits the help of a fellow collegue to get the pamphlets mass produced and even tries to get them translated and sent to France. Unfortunately they are all caught and tried for their crimes. Most get sentenced to jail time, however, Helmuth is tried as an adult for treason and sentenced to death.

Helmuth and the characters in this book are real people and this is based off a real story. It doesn't have any chapters, but goes back and forth between real time at the jail waiting for his execution date and reminising about the events that lead up to his death. It is a good book and meant for kids grades 6-9. The author does tie in quite a bit Helmuth's beliefs and the church to emphasize why Helmuth feels this pull for moral freedom and supporting his country. At the end of the book you are able to see pictures of the characters and get a breif overview of what happened to all of them after Helmuth died.

Maid to Match by Deeanne Gist

Once again, another Deeanne Gist book. Once I start reading an author's book I tend to try to read all the books they have out. This was one of the better ones that was a little entertaining and didn't really have anyone super annoying like some of her other books. Tillie is a young woman working as a maid for a rich couple. She has the opportunity to become one of the top helpers and is competing against another young woman. Mack is a mountain man (I say man instead of boy since all romantic novels have tall, muscular, broad men with dark eyes). His twin brother works along with Tillie and so is employed as a handyman and to serve alongside his handsome twin as a perfect match. Of course the two of them fall in love, but Tillie can not leave her dream of being top maid and the opportunity to travel the world and Mack must earn enough money to get his sister out of a horrible orphanage and get his three younger brothers back together.

Flash Burnout: A Novel by L.K. Madigan

I found this book through greenbeenteenqueen, a fellow book review blogger. Blake is a 15 year old high schooler with a jock older brother and a beautiful girlfriend, Shannon, that he is in love with. He has all the typical emotions, desires, and language of a hormonal teenager trying to figure out girls and make it through high school and family life. He is into photography and has his friend Marissa from photography class that he pairs with. Blake takes a photo of a lady passed out on the street which ends up being Marissa's meth using mother. We follow Blake as he struggles to be a good boyfriend while also helping a friend cope with her mother's meth recovery. Of course Shannon is jealous of the time Blake spends with Marissa even though it is completely innocent until one day that Marissa's mother runs away and they are afraid she is dead. In a moment of comforting Marissa, Blake and Marissa sleep together and weeks later Shannon finds out. We watch Blake struggle to figure out what to do and how to cope with everything especially when Marissa disappears.

This was a good book. If you are sensitive to language and some intimate content or even dead bodies you probably won't want to read this. Otherwise, I think this is a great book about teen relationships and what different kids go through as well as learning about the repercussions of using any drugs or even drinking.

Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks

Nicholas Sparks newest novel, Safe Haven was not as good as I imagined considering Sparks is a more popular writer, but it was still a very good book. Katie ends up starting a new life in a small town to escape her abusive husband. While there, she finds out who she really is and finds true love with widower Alex and his two children. This is a good way to see firsthand how abusive relationships affect everyone, not just the woman getting beat up, but the husband and others that become part of their life. Katie's husband is a cop so it is near impossible for Katie to escape from Kevin. Even filing a complaint is dismissed because it's Kevin, the best detective in the area and they have a great life. Katie is made to be the 'perfect' wife, perfect hair, perfect body, cooks candlelit expensive restaurant style meals and pleasures her husband in any way that he wants. If she is hit it is because she was selfish and only thinking of herself such as having food stains in the fridge or getting her hair done and buying groceries on his day off even though he does not allow her to have a drivers license and must be accompanied by him wherever she goes. It's a sad tale of all women who get stuck in similar situations that cannot escape, but someone Katie does and is then hunted down by Kevin endangering Alex and his children. If you are like me and haven't read any of Nicholas Sparks books, then grab one and expand your reading.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

It has been a while since I have read a more serious book so I was a little relunctant to start this novel thinking it would be boring compared to all the other books I have been reading. This book was referred to me through BzzAgent, an online word-of-mouth website. I did enjoy this book and was able to understand the life of two women living in Afghanistan leading up to 9/11. It was a tragic story about Mariam's life. She was born a harami, an illigitimate child, living in pretty much isolation on a hill with her mentally disturbed mother. Her father visits every week giving Mariam hope of a loving father. When she is 15 she goes to visit her father who refuses to let her in his home. That night her mother hangs herself and Mariam finds herself being married off to a much older man in a faraway city. She is unable to have children and is hated by her husband and beaten regularly.

The other woman we follow is Laila, she is much younger than Mariam and lives in teh same neighborhood. She ends up sleeping with her love at age 14 before he leaves with his family to flee Afghanistan. Weeks later her family is killed and she finds herself in Mariams home as the second wife to cover her pregnancy. The rest of the novel follows the two of them as they struggle to survive and get along. I don't want to elaborate more on the story in fear of ruining it, but it leaves you sad, but happy at the same time.

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Wow, I have really grown to like this series. I finished books 1-5 and am trying patiently to wait for book six to be released on Dec 7, 2010, Last Sacrafice. So yes, I finished books 4 and 5 in 3 days. That's saying a lot since I have two young boys, one that I'm potty training and a dog that I'm also potty training. Let's just say the kids are a little grumpy today and needing attention so of course I'm writing this quick review while the books are fresh in my mind. Anyway. Our beloved Dimitri has finally been rescued by love of his life Rose who broke into a high security prison to release Victor and then lost him, but was able to get the information she and Lissa needed to be able to learn how to change Dimitri back from strigoi to a dhampir. Unfortunately, the reunion isn't what we hoped for. Dimitri feels extremely guilty for all he did and tells Rose his love for her has 'faded.' Ouch. Of course we know that has to be wrong. At the same time Rose is finally hooked up with Adrian whom I have grown to enjoy and feel sympathy for. It makes you even more frustrated with Dimitri and his whole pride, I don't deserve anything attitude. Well, of course we're left wondering what is going to happen with Rose since she has been framed for the murder of the queen. It doesn't seem like there is much chance for her to get out of this, but I'm sure she will. I do however feel that there is a good chance that Adrian will either die or go crazy from spirit use because there is no way both he and Dimitri can stay in Rose's life and I hate to see Adrian lose the one girl that he is infatuated with unless he can find another girl to take Rose's place. I guess we'll have to wait and see. If you like Twilight, don't campare this to it. I like this so much better than Twilight and admittedly, the more I read, the less likely I will ever find myself rereading the Twilight series since there are other books in the world outside of Twilight.

The Books of Bayern by Shannon Hale

So I finally got around to finishing The Books of Bayern. I have mixed feelings on whether I liked them or not. The first book, The Goose Girl I did a review on earlier. The next three books are Enna Burning, River Secrets, and Forest Born. I really did not like Enna Burning. Enna was Isi's friend in The Goose Girl. In this book she learns fire-speaking and struggles to learn how to harness this power without killing herself or others. I personally just don't like Enna and her personality. She's very selfish and a little too pushy and arrogant. In River Secrets you follow Razo, another boy from The Goose Girl. He and Enna travel to Tiran, the country that attacked Bayern, in order to try to make peace and start trading with them. Razo meets Dasha who can control water. I actually enjoyed reading this book since it had more suspense and danger to it. Someone is burning bodies and leaving them by the Bayern representatives trying to blame them for the burnings and start war again. It actually took me a while to figure out who the fire-burner was. Forest Born was a very slow moving story that follows Razo's sister Rin. She is struggling to find herself and handle her ability to tree-speak and people-speak. She, along with Isi, Enna, and Dasha set out to find a fire burner who is attacking settlements. It was definately a surprise to see who was behind everything throughout all the books. I must admit that you need to read all these books because if you space them out too much like I did you don't remember half the people that show up in the books. Anyway, you'll have to decide how much you like these. I'm not going to say this is a definant read that everyone would enjoy because it's not, but there are some like my in-laws that really enjoyed them and wanted me to read them.

Dust by Joan Frances Turner

I participate with a website called BzzAgent that allows me to get free samples of products, coupons, and sneak peaks. One campaign I am currently in is the release of the new novel Dust. I only got the 25 pages, but it has been an interesting read that I will probably have to rent from the library to finish since I started it. I have never read any gruesome, zombie type books before so this was definately a change and I found myself grossed out but unable to stop reading. Unfortunately, with only having the first 25 pages I pretty much was just introduced to the characters and how they got to where they are as zombies. I didn't even get into the ploto the book, hence the reason I will have to rent it. Anyway, if you are interested below is the official review on it and a link to Joan Frances Turners website for more info.

After she was buried, Jessie awoke and tore through the earth to arise, reborn, as a zombie. Jessie’s gang is the Fly-by-Nights. She loves the ancient, skeletal Florian and his memories of time gone by. She’s in love with Joe, a maggot-infested corpse. They fight, hunt, dance together as one — something humans can never understand. There are dark places humans have learned to avoid, lest they run into the zombie gangs.

But now, Jessie and the Fly-by-Nights have seen new creatures in the woods —things not human and not zombie. A strange new illness has flamed up out of nowhere, causing the undeads to become more alive and the living to exist on the brink of death. As bits and pieces of the truth fall around Jessie, like the flesh off her bones, she’ll have to choose between looking away or staring down the madness — and hanging onto everything she has come to know as life.

Visit dustthenovel.com

Visit dustthenovel.com to learn more about the book and check out author Joan Frances Turner’s blog and other cool Dustcontent.

Room: A Novel by Emma Donoghue

So I have not actually read this book, but I saw a review for it in the paper and am incredibly intrigued by it. Room just came out on Sept 13, 2009 and unfortunately the library has denied my request for them to buy it at this time so it looks like I may actually have to buy this book before actually reading it. I hate buying books before reading them since I may not ever want to reread them, but seeing as how I want to read it and the library will not invest in a book that seems very good I will have to get around to making it to the store or ordering it online.

So pretty much this book is written from the point of view of a 5-year-old. Seems like it may not be well written or annoying with the simple vocabulary and thoughts of a young child, but the article in the paper said that this was not the case and you don't really notice that it is written by a very young child. This kid has grown up in a small room, never having seen anything else, with his mother. She tries to raise him best she can considering the circumstances. She gives him an education, teaches him manners and games, and even teaches him a game where they spend time yelling for help. At night she is taken away and the boy is left alone.

It gives caution that mothers will feel like horrible mothers when reading about all that this mother does and goes through. I'm mostly curious about the overall story line and how this 5-year-old sees the situation since he does not know anything else. It reminds me of other real life people who are kidnapped and end up having children with their captors. What is it like for them as children not knowing that what they are going through is not normal?

Deeanne Gist

I've been reading a few more romance novels by Deeanne Gist. The nice thing about these books is that Gist bases all her novels off of real historical events and experiences. I read A Bride in the Bargain, Deep in the Heart of Trouble and The Measure of a Lady. I definately liked A Bride in the Bargain better.

The young lady in The Measure of a Lady drove me crazy as she worked out he hypocritical issues and prejudice against those that do not follow lady-like, christain lifestyles. She gets stranded in San Francisco with her younger brother and sister during the gold rush and find themselves the only 'respectable' people around. Her sister ends up being a paid girl for a guy and her brother becomes a dealer. Rachel ends up havig to pretty much ignore her siblings acquantances and kick them out of her cafe since they do not follow what a good christain example should be doing. Kinda annoying.

A Bride in the Bargain is set right after the civil war when Asa Mercer came up with his scheme to bring war widows/orphans from the east to Washington under the pretense that they are being hired as cooks, nannies, and schoolteachers. Instead, they were purchased as brides by the men in Washington. Joe finds himself losing his land that was granted by the state because he no longers has a wife and so only qualifies for the bachelor portion of land and so desperate to keep his land he purchases a wife. Of course Anna thinks she is being hired as a cook. Of course they fall in love, but the book does have quite a few twists so that you arent' anticipating the entire story.

Deep in the Heart of Trouble has been my least favorite of Deeanne Gists books. You have a young man whose father dies and is disinherited and forced to leave pennyless. He gets hired as an oil worker for another wealthy oil company run by Essie Sprecklemeyer and her father. Essie is very feminist which drives me crazy. I don't mind people wanting female power, but they go to extremes and try to hard to force all their ideas/morals on others and take offense so easy. Yeah, I'm not too much for such opinionated people. I'm a little curious about another one of her books called Courting Trouble that I just read an excert from since it seems she has the same name again, Essie Sprecklemeyer for her character. She must really like this extreme name.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

The final book of The Hunger Games. I'm not sure how I feel about how this book turned out. Katniss is crazy as ever and dealing with some serious mental issues the entire time, but I guess all the tributes pretty much are dealing with trauma and it is nice to see that Suzanne Collins portrays them in a way that is pretty realistic for what they all have gone through. It still bugs me how selfish Katniss is most of the time. I guess not selfish, but self-centered may be the better word to use. Gale even summed it up when he and Peeta where talking. "she'll choose who she can't live without." Everything is centered around what she needs or wants and is rarely about the overall need of everyone. It takes her a long time to realize this about herself. How she gets away with everything she does is amazing and lucky on her part and unfortunately she doens't seem to really appreciate or understand this. Even at the end she has to be convinced to have kids by her husband. You'll have to read the book to see if she chooses Gale or Peeta. In the end it makes sense who she chooses and is a good choice for her. This series was a good series to read and probably one of the more educational series I have read in the sense that it makes you think about government and people. It's not just about reading for enjoyment, but also about thinking about how things are run and how people react and handle stressful situations. When I read these books I think of how these would be good books to discuss in a classroom.

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Holy cow!! I just looked online to see how many books were in this series thinking it was only three, yeah, we're talking about a good 6 books if not more and I've only read the first. Now I just have to mention that most books I've been reading are in a series and it's fun, but I am getting a little tired of series that last more than 3 books, especially if it's close to 7 or more like Artemis Fowl, Rangers Apprentice, Leven Thumps, etc... The only exception was Harry Potter since that was my first real series to read when I was in high school. Anyway. I've been trying to steer clear of Vampire books since it is almost embarrassing to read Vampire related books after the huge success and publicity of the Twilight series. I really liked that series until everyone got obsessed with it after I had read them already. Yeah, kinda ruined it along with the movies and my english major husband telling me that the writing is very plain and there are no details so of course I now notice whether a book is simple or complex. Sort of ruined the whole reading experience a bit for me, but I still like it.

I picked this book up since all my other books are on a long hold at the library and this one was ready to pick up. I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed reading this book and it had been a while since I've read a book I had a hard time putting down. If you noticed I'm posting this the same day as the Sorcerer's Apprentice. That's how quickly I read these two books. This isn't like Twilight in any way. You have the good Moroi who are one with the environment, vampire people who feed every day off of feeders who are humans that willingly let them drink their blood since they get a high when they get bit. Most feeders are people who were into other drugs and stuff and are recruited to be cared for in return for their blood. They get addicted to this high. Then you have Rose who is a guardian to the Moroi since the Moroi are hunted by the Stigoi (Moroi turned evil vampires). A little crazy, but it works. Rose and her Moroi friend Lissa attend the Academy where they learn to harness their unique gifts or powers for their role in life. Rose and Lissa share a unique bond that allows Rose to enter Lissa's mind and see and feel what she is feeling at the moment. Someone is threatening Lissa and Rose protects her and saves her during this book. I'm curious to see how they can get so many books from this first book, but hopefully the rest are good as well.