It's Monday! What are you reading?

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It's Monday! What are you reading is a weekly blog event hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. 

This week I am reading, The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson. I’m only a few pages in but the book looks promising :)

Last week, I managed to read two books (which is outstanding for me since I normally only do one book a week): I read Shiver from Maggie Stiefvater (click here for review) and The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker. Lucky for me both the books that I picked up were really great reads. The Little Giant of Aberdeen County made me cry so by my standards that makes it a perfect ten, LOL! Anyway, both books are highly recommended.  

Have a great week everybody!

Shiver

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Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Genre: Paranormal/ Romance/ Young Adult Fiction

I absolutely loved Shiver and read it within a day.

The book is told from a first person account, each chapter alternating from Sam or Grace’s point of view. Sam is a werewolf and once saved Grace from an attack from a pack of wolves that he is attached to. Since the incident both Grace and Sam have had a special relationship. Sam visits Grace in his wolf form every year from the edge of the forest and Grace waits for her yellow-eyed wolf to come and visit every winter. An unfortunate incident in the woods allowed Sam to approach Grace in his human form and thus their romance begins.

I have to say that there were some parts of the book which I didn’t like but I’m a sucker for YA Romance so this is a biased review and I’m willing to overlook the flaws. In the beginning I found Grace’s obsession with the yellow-eyed wolf to be a bit weird. Plus the first few chapters of the book felt a bit long winded but once Sam reveals his human-self to Grace, the romance begins and so does the drama and the action. 

This is a great book; filled with action, mystery and undying teenage romance. Basically, if you’re a Twilight fan, I suspect you’ll love this book too though Grace is the complete opposite of Bella- thank God!

I quite enjoyed reading Shiver and I can’t wait to read Linger, the second book for the series. Read it!  

Challenges: 100+ Reading Challenge, Young Adult Reading Challenge

Friday Finds: June 25, 2010

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What great books did you hear about/discover this past week? Share with us your FRIDAY FINDS! This is a weekly blog event hosted by Should Be Reading.

Here are my finds for this week: 

Numbers- Rachel Ward

Hex Hall- Rachel Hawkins

The Day I Shot Cupid- Jennifer Love Hewitt

The Behaviour of Moths-  Poppy Adams

Chasing Brooklyn- Lisa Schroeder

Howl’s Moving Castle- Diana Wynne Jones

Among the six books listed, I’m quite keen to read Howl’s Moving Castle. I've FINALLY managed to get my hands on a copy of the book from Kinokuniya this week... yippee! I've been wanting to read the book since I saw the movie version produced by Studio Ghibli. Hopefully, I'll be able to start reading it next week.

Have a good weekend everybody!

The Soloist

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Author: Steve Lopez

Genre: Biography

When Steve Lopez encounters a homeless man playing beautiful music on a battered violin, he finds the meeting impossible to forget. Any other person would probably not question how such a talented musician such as Nathaniel Ayers could end up as a homeless man on Skid Row, Los Angeles but Steve Lopez’s inquisitive nature leads him to find out more about Nathaniel’s true talent and his musical background. What began as a chance encounter turns into a unique relationship, one that has helped a homeless musician suffering from schizophrenia to explore and grow his talent and possibly lead him to a road of recovery.

This book tells of their friendship and their journey together and the challenges they face in battling schizophrenia.

Steve Lopez’s style of writing is something I am not accustomed to (because obviously I don’t read a lot of non-fiction) but I felt that it presented the frustrations faced by Steve Lopez with Nathaniel’s condition truthfully. Though I did not enjoy Lopez’s style of writing, I did find this book insightful and it provided a brief understanding of schizophrenia as a mental condition. I was also very much interested to find out how this condition had affected Nathaniel Ayers in his youth leading him to now lead a street life on Skid Row.

Well worth the read.

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

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Author: Junot Diaz

Genre: Literary Fiction

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is a not-so-brief recollection of Oscar’s life as well as his family’s, narrated by his friend, Yunior and his sister, Lola. In his youth, ‘Oscar was something of a Casanova’ but as he grew older, he became a social outcast; overweight, nerdy, obsessed with science fiction and fantasy and always on a mission looking for love.

This book was, for me, a difficult book to read. One, because there was a lot of Spanish used and I consistently had to go online to check what they meant. Two, because there was a lot of Dominican Republic history that I didn’t know about that I constantly need to find references of. Regardless, I also found this book quite an interesting read. What I liked was that this book brought about a lot of mixed reaction whilst I was reading it; sad, happy, funny, hate, love- all rolled into one.

The only thing I was really annoyed with in the book was the damn footnotes!

Anyway, this is a highly recommended read and an eye opener for those who are not privy to Dominican Republic’s culture and history. Oscar’s story is sad and the ending is... bitter sweet... but his journey is epic and his search for love, sincere. Definitely, a must read.

Challenges: 100+ Reading Challenge

It's Monday! What are you reading?

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It's Monday! What are you reading is a weekly blog event hosted by Sheila from One Persons Journey through a World of Books.

Last week I managed to read: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Woa. I haven't had a chance to review it yet but hopefully I'll come around to the task before the end of the week. In a nutshell, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Woa was quite an interesting read for me.  

Currently, I am reading: The Soloist by Steve Lopez. If I can finish reading this before the end of the week, I have set my mind to pick up either The Little Giant of Abderdeen County by Tiffany Baker or possibly Daughter of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts which has been in my TBR pile for the longest time. 

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I haven't taken part in a blog event for a long time, so am looking forward to see what everyone else is reading out there. Well, I guess that's all folks... off to visit some blogs now. Have a good week ahead!

Friday Finds: June 18, 2010

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What great books did you hear about/discover this past week? Share with us your FRIDAY FINDS! This is a weekly blog event hosted by Should Be Reading.

Here are my finds for this week: 

Unholy Ghost- Stacia Kane

The Dead Tossed Wave- Carrie Ryan

The Girl with Glass Feet- Ali Shaw

The Adoration of Jenna Fox- Mary E. Pearson
Wintercraft- Jenna Burtenshaw
The Iron Man: A Children's Story in Five Nights- Ted Hughes

I’ve read a couple of positive reviews about Unholy Ghost and I can’t wait to get myself a copy of the book. I especially love Book Chick City’s recent review on the title; please click here if you’d like to check it out.

I’ve also been wanting to read The Dead Tossed Wave by Carrie Ryan. I read the Forest of Hands and Teeth last year and absolutely love it, hopefully the second book is as good as the first.

Anyway, have a happy reading week ahead everybody!

Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge: Done!

Pat on my back. I’ve finished reading all the Sookie Stackhouse series for the Reading Challenge hosted by Beth Fish Reads! Yayyyy!!!!

Here are the links to my reviews:

Dead until Dark

Living Dead in Dallas

Club Dead

Dead to the World

Dead as a Doornail

Definitely Dead

All Together Dead

From Dead to Worse

Dead and Gone

Thanks Beth for hosting this challenge, the books were so fun to read!

Dead and Gone

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Author: Charlaine Harris

Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy

The vamps have announced their existence for years and now the weres and shifters have decided to do the same. The revelation seems to go well in Bon Temps in the beginning but turns ugly when a mutilated body of a were-panther is found in the parking lot of Merlott’s. But there are bigger problems to worry about other than the murder of the were-panther; a problem surrounding a powerful and much older existence that is not known to the human world and Sookie of course is right smack in the middle of it.

I have to say that Dead and Gone is by far the BEST Sookie Stackhouse novel that I have read yet, hands down. I read the whole book within less than 24 hours after I purchased it. I think the mystery, the suspense, the overall storyline was revealed at a good pace and I just could NOT put this book down at all.

Warning: *Spoilers ahead*

The war that waged between the fairies was the best part of the book. In my review of From Dead to Worse, I mentioned that the introduction of Niall; a powerful fairy prince who also happens to be Sookie’s great grandfather brought the book to another level altogether. In Dead and Gone, the war among the fairies made the book explosive. I absolutely loved it though I am sad that the Fairies have decided to cut themselves off from the human world in the end. Like every war, there will obviously be casualties and am sad that Claudine (one of my favorite characters in the book) had gone ‘to the Summerlands’.

Since I read the last book, I’ve also been pro-Eric and am so glad that Eric and Sookie are together now, even if Sookie is not sure whether she loves him for real or because she has taken much of his blood. I’m guessing that Quinn is out of the picture for now and Bill would probably be back as a strong contender for Sookie’s affections in the next book especially with Niall’s parting words to Sookie.

Anyway, this was one of the best reads I’ve had this year and I can’t wait to read the next book.

Ps- I’ve finished all the books for the Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge. Yippee!

Challenges: 100+ Reading Challenge, Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge

From Dead to Worse

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Author: Charlaine Harris

Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy

After the explosion at the Vampire Summit, Sookie is safe at home and recuperating from the ordeal. But Sookie still has a problem; she hasn’t heard from Quinn since the disastrous event and is again faced with another missing boyfriend (Sookie’s ex-boyfriend Bill once went missing because he was kidnapped in Club Dead).

On top of that an unknown relative introduces himself to Sookie providing an explanation of where she inherited her telepathic gift from and in the midst of it all Sookie is (as always) a part of the political struggles in the were and vampire community.

I actually love From Dead to Worse better than the last book; All Together Dead. I love, love, love Eric in this book. I also absolutely love the introduction of Niall, Sookie’s great grandfather who reveals that he is a fairy and that Sookie actually has fairy blood through her father’s lineage. It brings Sookie’s supernatural world to another level altogether, not just filled with vamps and weres but also other magical creatures.

This is without a doubt one of the best books in the series. Definitely a must read.

By the way, I’m pro- Eric now! Eric! Eric! Eric!

Challenges: 100+ Reading Challenge, Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge

All Together Dead

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Author: Charlaine Harris

Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy

All Together Dead is the seventh book from the Sookie Stackhouse series. In this series, Sookie has been asked to attend the vampire summit as part of Sophie-Anne Leclerq’s entourage where the Vampire Queen of Louisiana will be tried for the murder of her husband. Sookie’s task? To weed out any insincere thoughts from other humans who are part of the other vampire clan and ensure that the right strategic alliances are formed with the right people.

Tensions arise at the summit as the vampires struggle for political power and Sookie somehow always manages to be in the middle of it all.

All Together Dead is actually not one of the best books that I’ve read from the series. The book started a bit slow but the final chapters definitely ended with a blast. I am a bit tired reading about Sookie’s love life and all the men, dead or alive who throw themselves at her feet. I like Quinn but I’m growing fonder of Eric too after reading this book, so I’m hoping she decides to be with Eric in the next book.

I’d rate this book 3 over 5. Not one of the best but Sookie’s adventures is always a fun read.

Challenges: 100+ Reading Challenge, Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge

Vampire Diaries: The Return: The Nightfall... and the challenge I’ve given up on

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Author: L.J. Smith
Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy
Reading Level: Young Adult

The Return: The Nightfall picks up where the last book left off. Elena is now reborn as a supernatural being and is currently trying to regain and learn everything about the world that she had forgotten during the process of being reborn.

Confession: I bailed out on this book before I reached the 100^th page.

The process of Elena recovering and Stefan mollycoddling her was a bit too much for me to read and I couldn’t seem to find anything interesting to latch on or to encourage me to flip to the next page. I also started watching the TV Series the same time I started reading the book and I guess I got sidetracked with this...

*Drool*

In all honesty, this is one series where I feel that the TV adaptation is better than the book. Don’t get me wrong I loved the first few books and of course they made changes for the program like here, there and everywhere to fit the screens but the TV series is hawt!

... And because I’ve given up on reading LJ Smith, it also means that I’ve also given up on the L.J Smith Challenge hosted by My Friend Amy. Sad but true. :(

Click on title to read my review of The Awakening & The Struggle and The Fury & Dark Reunion.

Challenges: LJ Smith Reading Challenge