Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. It's gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie's estranged father--an elusive European warlock--only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it's her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.
By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tagalong ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire on campus. Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend is the number-one suspect.
As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her.
Kristi's take: This was a fun, fast, and furious read by Rachel Hawkins. It reminded me of when I have a rare night alone and have Fritos and Diet Coke for dinner. Fritos + Diet Coke + Hex Hall = pure enjoyment.
Before I FallWhat if you had only one day to live? What would you do? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life?
Samantha Kingston has it all—looks, popularity, the perfect boyfriend. Friday, February 12th should be just another day in her charmed life. Instead, it’s her last. The catch: Samantha still wakes up the next morning. In fact, she re-lives the last day of her life seven times, until she realizes that by making even the slightest changes, she may hold more power than she had ever imagined. (less)
Hardcover, 470 pages
Published March 2nd 2010 by HarperCollins
Kristi's Take: (No Spoilers)
I reluctantly picked this book up two days ago. Don't get me wrong--I'd heard great things about the book and Ms.Oliver's immense talent. But I knew it was about a girl dying, over and over and over again. One thing about me: I have to gear myself up for intense books and they tend to sit longer on my TBR pile than others. They also take me longer to read, as I have to ingest them in small doses. Not so with BEFORE I FALL. This book was flat-out amazing and I could not put it down (and it's not a short book). Those who know me know sleep is my all-time favorite thing and there's not much that I allow to interfere with those precious hours. I could not go to sleep last night until I found out what happened to Samantha Kingston.
The characters literally leap off the page in this beautiful, funny, real, and heart-breaking novel. I won't give away the ending except to say it's something you'll think about long after you stop reading. I highly recommend moving this book to the top of your TBR pile. You'll be glad you did.
I admit that if a book or movie is over-hyped, I tend to be disappointed by it. My expectations are set sky high and then the experience doesn't quite live up to it. I'm reading an ARC right now that has had so much buzz, it made me a little hesitant to pick it up. I'm halfway through it and all I can say is: holy flippin' cow. That's right--I'm recommending a book I haven't even finished yet. I haven't liked a book this much since The Hunger Games/Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. This book has met and exceeded all my expectations. In fact, I don't even want to write this blog post because I want to go find out what happens next (sshhh...don't tell me if you've already read this ARC). The book is Matched by Ally Condie. The awesome cover looks like this:
From the back of the book: In the Society, Officials decide. Who you love. Where you work. When you die. Cassia has always trusted their choices. It’s barely any price to pay for a long life, the perfect job, the ideal mate. So when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is the one . . . until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. Now Cassia is faced with impossible choices: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path no one else has ever dared follow—between perfection and passion.
If you read or write dystopian fiction, you'll LOVE this book! It comes out November of 2010, so pre-order it now, if you haven't already. You won't be disappointed. :)
Literary Awards--
Golden Kite Award for Fiction (2009), South Carolina Book Award Nominee for Young Adult Book Award (2010), TAYSHAS High School Reading List (2009)
Who is Jenna Fox?
Seventeen-year-old Jenna has been told that is her name. She has just awoken from a year-long coma, and she's still recovering from the terrible accident that caused it. Her parents show her home movies of her life, her memories, but she has no recollection. Is she really the same girl she sees on the screen?
Little by little, Jenna begins to remember. Along with the memories come questions—questions no one wants to answer for her. What really happened after the accident?
In this fascinating novel, acclaimed author Mary E. Pearson presents an unforgettable look at one human life and a glimpse into a possible future that may be closer than we think.
Why It's My Pick of the Week:
I couldn't put it down. Simple as that. I had to know what happened to Jenna and read this book straight through to the end. Also, I love dystopian fiction so this was right up my alley. Have you read it? What did you think? Until next time....Kristi
The winner of signed copies of Wicked Lovely, Ink Exchange AND Fragile Eternity by the wonderful Melissa Marr (as randomly picked by BuzzMyBlog) is...Elizabeth Cerna! Congrats, Elizabeth - please email your mailing address to me at drhelvig [at] yahoo.com and I'll send your books ASAP. Thanks to everyone who entered!
If you love faeries and exquisitely created alternate worlds, you'll love the Wicked Lovely series by Melissa Marr. A SIGNED copy of her newest book in the series, Radiant Shadows, is being given away on my other blog, Sisters in Scribe, and you can enter here, but you can win SIGNED copies of the first 3 books here: Wicked Lovely, Ink Exchange, and Fragile Eternity. One lucky winner will win all 3 books! Contest starts Monday 5/3 and ends Monday 5/17. Good luck!
Wake (Dream Catcher, #1)
by Lisa McMann (Goodreads Author)
Wake (Dream Catcher, #1)
published March 4th 2008 by Simon Pulse
Hardcover, 210 pages
literary awards:
South Carolina Book Award Nominee for Young Adult (2009), ALA Teens' Top Ten (2009)
isbn
1416953574 (isbn13: 9781416953579)
Description:
Ever since she was eight years old, high school student Janie Hannagan has been uncontrollably drawn into other people's dreams, but it is not until she befriends an elderly nursing home patient and becomes involved with an enigmatic fellow-student that she discovers her true power.
Disclaimer: If you are looking for reviews that discuss the juxtaposition of imagery and mood, the symbolism behind the broken flower pot in the garden, and the existential interpretations of a character’s motivation then this site is NOT for you. We’re just a couple of gals who love reading and know what we like and what we don’t. Simple as that.
How We Pick Our Book Selections: Whatever we feel like reviewing. There won’t be a rhyme or reason to what we pick except that it will either be something we have read, heard about, or wanted to read. There are plenty of new book reviews out there, so we’ll probably focus more on older books. Do you have a suggestion of a book you think we should review? Let us know in the comments. Disagree with our review? Let us know in the comments – nicely, of course. (You don’t want to get Christy mad – she’s brutal.) Do you have a bottle of a good vintage Bordeaux you’d like to get off your hands? You can send that directly to Kristi.
At the end of each review will also be a Random Movie Recommendation for the month – just because. Some new releases and some oldies but goodies.
K: This month's pick was WAKE by Lisa McMann. We've been on a YA kick lately and this sounded like a fun read. I definitely rate it a Georgia Peach. (There are NO spoilers in the discussion below so read freely!)
C: Me too!
K: I was a little thrown at first by the third person present POV but I got used to it pretty quickly.
C: Yeah, it was different but I loved it.
K: I love all things paranormal anyway so the dreaming aspect was very cool. Plus, it only took an hour to read since I couldn't put it down!
C: (nods) And I loved the character of Cabel.
K: That's my son Caleb's nickname from us ever since a cake decorator misspelled his name as Cabel for his birthday! Okay, back on track...I loved how the mom was a complete alcoholic because I didn't see any other way for Janie to do what she did if her mother had been functional.
C: Yeah, that was convenient but there was no other way for her to be out of the house that much.
NOTE from Kristi: That's about all I'll give away as I don't want to give any spoilers but this is a super quick and super fun read. Also, Christy read the second one, FADE, and told me it's even better than the first so that's next on my list!
Anyone else read the whole series yet? What did you think?
Random Movie Recommendation by Kristi:
District 9
It's not often that a sci-fi movie is nominated for a best picture Oscar but this one did. My hubby and I both loved it and it's interesting food for thought. I'd love to hear your comments if you've seen it. Until next time...
As usual we're running a little slow so here I (Christy) am with a book recommendation to keep you going until our next post goes up, which should hopefully be next week after my sidekick, Kristi gets back from vacation (must be nice huh?)
Anyhoo........without further delay, I simply can not say enough about this Help like read that is absolutely WONDERFUL!!!!
Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman (NO SPOILERS so feel free to read ahead)
If you liked (or loved in our case) The Help by Kathyrn Stockett, you will simply adore this novel of deep Southern wonderfulness!!! It follows the story of a young girl, who moves to Savannah, Georgia after her mother is involved in a tragic accident and her father is mentally and physically unavailable. Cee Cee meets her Aunt Tootie and company and learns what it's like to be a southerner as well as why her mother had an undying love for the south.
This book will not only make you want to run out and buy every Paula Deen cookbook you can get your hands on, but it may even make you consider moving to Savannah. The women in this story are simply unbelievable and I think all of us would love the neighborly way they exist. I personally even asked my husband if he'd consider it (ok a little drastic being that I've never even been there - so who knows maybe someday I'll get down there and check it out because it almost sounds too good to be true!!) This is a wonderful Spring time read that will leave you begging for a sequel!!!
So check out Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt and I dare you to disagree with me!! :)
Disclaimer: If you are looking for reviews that discuss the juxtaposition of imagery and mood, the symbolism behind the broken flower pot in the garden, and the existential interpretations of a character’s motivation then this site is NOT for you. We’re just a couple of gals who love reading and know what we like and what we don’t. Simple as that.
How We Pick Our Book Selections: Whatever we feel like reviewing. There won’t be a rhyme or reason to what we pick except that it will either be something we have read, heard about, or wanted to read. There are plenty of new book reviews out there, so we’ll probably focus more on older books. Do you have a suggestion of a book you think we should review? Let us know in the comments. Disagree with our review? Let us know in the comments – nicely, of course. (You don’t want to get Christy mad – she’s brutal.) Do you have a bottle of a good vintage Bordeaux you’d like to get off your hands? You can send that directly to Kristi.
At the end of each review will also be a Random Movie Recommendation for the month – just because. Some new releases and some oldies but goodies.
So without further ado, this month’s pick is…..
The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak(Possible Spoilers follow – read at your own risk)
Both C and K gave the book Georgia Peach and Kristi even moved it in her top 5 favorite books of all time – woo hoo!!!
C:I really did like the book, in fact I would almost say I loved it, but found it just so sad that I couldn’t say I absolutely loved it.But I really enjoyed the writing, the style, and the story.Yet, it was the sadness piece that keeps me from giving it the full 5 stars.
K:I thought it was sad too, but I also thought it was so beautiful.I actually thought it was a love story -- amidst the whole backdrop of the war.I think the author has the most amazing way with words. Some of his sentences stay with you long after reading.
C:I think one of my favorite parts was the Governor’s wife leaving the books for Liesel.It was such a sweet part of the story and I felt it really lent to the whole title of the book.That part was written beautifully, and I really liked the whole story within the story of that.I also really enjoyed how Liesel would read to the others in the basement of the safe house.That wasanother touching piece I enjoyed, but maybe it’s because I like reading books about books.
C:Why do you think this is billed as a young adult read?Is it because it is in Liesel’s perspective and she’s younger?
K: Well, yeah, the story is told from the perspective of a young adult. It’s fascinating to see war through the eyes of a young person. What impacts them is the fact that the people they love are dying around them – they don’t care so much about the ‘politics’ involved. We get so caught up in the politics side of things as we get older and often lose sight of what’s really important. This book would have been quite different if told through the eyes of an adult – it would lose a lot of its innocence.
C:This is really my first YA book and I have to say that it’s nothing that I’d expected.I really enjoyed it.
K:I admit, I was NOT wanting to read another war story but heard such great things about this book. I cried several times reading it -- like the part where the beautiful book within the book was written for Liesel.
K:It sounds like we both really enjoyed the characters: Rudy, Max, the father (Hans), the Governor’s wife. Even the mother, in her own strange way was endearing.Oh, and I loved that Death was the narrator.I found that such a unique way to narrate a book.
C:I agree.Death isn’t exactly a popular way to write a book.It was different and enjoyable all at the same time.
K:I read somewhere that the author originally wrote the book as Death reveling in his job, but then re-wrote it without Death narrating.(DISCLAIMER: I could be wrong about this. Once every hundred years, I am wrong.) The author later went back to Death as narrator, but changed it to where he was more ‘doing his job’ yet was impacted by the sadness around him. I loved that aspect -- everyone meets the narrator (Death) at some point so they are all connected to each other in some way, no matter which ‘side’ of the war they think they’re on. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE this book? Really, I can’t say enough about it. It stays with you long after you finish it!
C & K: If you haven’t yet read this book, do yourself a favor and GET TO IT! Until next time…
Hey there Fruiters and Happy New Year. So here is the beginning of our new year which will hopefully be filled with books and movies of your liking. It's Christy here and my first Random Movie Recommendation is Precious: based on the novel Push by Sapphire First, I know this is not the most uplifting subject, but the acting in this movie is simply not to be missed. It's not quite the tearjerker you'd expect (not that I didn't shed any tears, just not nearly as many as I'd expected) but this movie just may be the most powerful that I've seen. Mo'Nique is simply unbelievable and the newcomer, Gabourey 'Gabby' Sidibe is a shoe in for the Oscar. The movie follows an illiterate young woman growing up in Harlem. She is pregnant with her second child (fathered by her own father) and living with the mother who won't be winning any mother of the year awards. So like I said, it's not an easy film, but absolutely amazing.
