The Book Thief

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Wow! What a amazing book. Really, I definitely recommend it. It is so heart breaking but so good. Definitely not a uplifting book but it is written so well and from a interesting perspective.

The book follows Leisel when at 9 years old she is taken to a foster family, the Hubermanns. Oh, and it is set in Germany in the 1930s. On the way to her new home she finds a book in the snow and takes it. That is the beginning of her becoming the book thief. The Hubermanns live in a poor area and are already struggling to make ends meet. As Hitler becomes more powerful, life becomes more and more hungry for Leisel, her family, and her friends. But all Leisel cared about was books, and whenever the opportunity came about, she would steal a book. Leisel loved words, and lived in words. In this book we get to see Leisel become strong, brave, have relationships, experience grief, death and survival. Oh, and the narrator .... is death. Good, right?

Happy Reading!



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One Day

One Day by David Nicholls

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Well, this book was pretty good. It was my choice for book club this month and I picked this since I had heard great things about it and knew there was a movie coming out. I wish I would have read it before I picked it though. It was a good book, but not a great one - in my opinion. I was in the mood for a great love story, that was a quick, fun read. This is a love story, but it isn't one where you are just so sucked in you can't put it down. Does that make sense? Anyways....



The book follows Dexter and Emma. Each chapter is the same day, just the next year. We meet them right after their graduation from college. Dexter is getting ready to travel the world, Emma is more realistic and is trying to find a job and get on with her life. From the start we know that Emma has real, deep feelings for Dexter. Dexter on the other hand, is immature and selfish. He is living in the moment, from girl to girl, adventure to adventure. Each year/chapter we find Emma and Dexter in different jobs, relationships, and different variations of their own relationship with each other. I really enjoyed Emma's character. She seemed very real to me. Dexter on the other hand annoyed me. Through the years he settles down and becomes more "normal" but until then I just did not care for him.



If you like love stories, definitely check this out, just don't expect it to be the best thing ever. I am going to watch the movie, and am really excited. I just will probably wait till out it is out in DVD.

Happy Reading!



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Supernaturally

Supernaturally by Kiersten White

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book is probably more like a 3.5 than a 3. I liked this book, just not as much as the first one in the series, Paranormalcy. Supernaturally just jumped right in to the story, which is good but I had a hard time remembering some things and wished there was a brief recap to get me up to speed. I have to say I am still excited to read the next one and hope it answers a lot of my questions. Unfortunately it doesn't come out till 2012.



We find Evie finally in the "normal" life she has always wanted. But is it really what she wanted? And is it really that normal? She still is madly in love with Lend, but that is all that is really going for her. Soon she is sucked back into working for IPCA and more and more weird things are happening to her. This book follows Evie on her journey to understand more about herself, where she came from, and why such weird events are happening to her. Definitely a good series to follow, so check them out!

Happy Reading!



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Slowing Down a Little

I am not really sure if anyone reads this blog. I mostly do it for myself to keep track of what I have read. It is kind of my own virtual library since I get most of my books from the county library. Anyways.... I haven't been reading as much as I would like lately. Since I will be having my baby sometime in the next 5 weeks I have been really tired. I will pick up a book while my little boy is napping and next thing I know I am fast asleep. So sorry if I don't post very much for a little while. I have a big list of books I want to read so hopefully I don't slow down too much. Here is a list of books I am getting ready and excited to read:

Supernatural (the sequel to Paranormalcy)
One Day
The Book Thief
Look Again
Bossypants
Night Road
and many, many more!

What are you reading?

A Discovery of Witches

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book was really good, just really long! It is 584 pages and jam packed with tons of stuff going on. I really loved the story, but I feel like the author could have made it a little less complicated and left some of the stuff out. What makes this book a little different from the other supernatural/vampire books is that the main characters are 30 something year olds. No teenagers! So that was a little refreshing. I don't think this is a young adult book, but it probably could be because there is no swearing and while there is talk of sex, there is very little descriptive sex scenes. Anyways, here is a little of what the book is about....

Diana is a historian whose family history is extensive and well known. She is part of the Bishop family who are a long line of powerful witches. Diana however has tried to forget and ignore the fact that she is witch. That is until while in the library doing work she comes across a bewitched manuscript. She sends the book back, trying to fight her urge to use magic to figure out this manuscript and that is when her life changes. Next thing she knows she is running into more witches, daemons, and vampires everywhere. She meets Matthew, a mysterious vampire. Together they try to understand and find the importance of this manuscript, they fall in love, fight off other creatures and try to bring Diana's witch out after being ignored and hidden deep inside her. There is a lot more going on too, but this gives you a taste.

A Discovery of Witches is the first in the All Souls Trilogy. The next book comes out summer of 2012.

Happy Reading!



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The White Devil

The White Devil by Justin Evans

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I would probably put this at a 3.5. I really enjoyed this book, and once I was in 80 pages I found it hard to put it down. This is a different type of book for me to read. I really enjoy murder mystery type books, but I tend to stay away from ghost stories. I freak myself out way too easily and am way too scared to watch scary movies so why would I read a scary story? This novel had a good balance between the ghost/scary story and a romance/murder mystery. This made it much more manageable for me.

The book follows Andrew, a senior in high school who has somewhat of a bad reputation. He has been kicked out of his previous schools in America so as a last stitch effort his dad sends him to a prestigious, all boy British boarding school. Not long after he arrives strange things begin to happen. Including Andrew finding his only friend dead. The freaky thing, he saw the murderer. BUT........ he is pretty sure the murderer was dead also. Andrew finds himself tangled up in the history of a fellow student, Lord Byron's, life that took place in the early 1800s.

I do have to say there is some language in this book, not too much though. There also is a sex scene or two, but I thought they weren't' too wordy or descriptive. The one thing that might make people uncomfortable is some of the references to homosexuality. This is a all boy school and supposedly in the 1800's (Lord Byron's days) it was not uncommon for some of the boys to experiment. Lord Byron just "experimented" a little more seriously than some of the others. So just a little heads up if you are planning to read. I would recommend this book if you are up to it!

Happy Reading!



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The Fates Will Find Their Way

The Fates Will Find Their Way: A Novel by Hannah Pittard

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


Okay, I did not care for this book. I thought it would be somewhat interesting, but that was not the case. I actually found myself skimming most of it just so I could get it over and done.

It is about a teenage girls disappearance and how her male classmates cannot get over it. The narrator is a one of these classmates and the whole book is about him and his friends and the fantasies they have come up with pertaining to her disappearance. They are still obsessed and talking about her when they are adults and have wives and children of their own. I guess I just did not get this book. I didn't really see the point and I found it to be really odd.

Happy Reading!



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