Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (74/81)

Warning : Do not read this if you haven't read The Hunger Games as it contains spoilers ..

After winning the brutal Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen returns to her district, hoping for a peaceful future. But Katniss starts to hear rumours of a deadly rebellion against the Capitol. A rebellion that she and Peeta have helped to create. As Katniss and Peeta are forced to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. Unless Katniss and Peeta can convince the world that they are still lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying. This is the terrifying sequel to The Hunger Games .

Will unless you have been living on the moon for the past year you are bound to have heard of this series .... And eagerly waiting on the next installment ........... And I have to say that the second book is just as great as the first :) ............ The only downside is that we have to wait until next year to find out what happens next ........ All I can say is 'Please Suzanne don't let it be too long!' ............

With Katniss and Peeta winning The Hunger Games you just knew that them being happy was not going to last .... And that the Capitol will find some way of paying them back for their rebellion ...

The book is fast paced and I really didn't want it to end ......... And the way it did end ... Sucks ..... In a good way because it has kept you hanging for the next installment ....

I love the characters in the book and I have to say I am totally on Team 'Peete' ........

So if you haven't read the first book do yourself a favour and get a copy ........

I rate this book 5*****

Books in order of series:
The Hunger Games
Catching Fire

Blood Promise by Richelle Mead (73/81)

Bound by love,but sworn to kill ... The rest of the world had considered Dimitri dead. And to a certain extent, he was. But I hadn't been able to forget a conversation he and I had once had. We'd both agreed that we'd rather be dead, truly dead that walk the world as Strigoi. It was time to honour our words.

I have anxiously been waiting for this book to come out ..... As the last book in the series ended with a cliff-hanger ....... And I was not disappointed ....... It seems that the more the series goes on the better the books are .....

Warning this will contain spoilers if you have not read the previous books ... Rose's world has fallen apart with Dimitri changed to a Strigoi ..... Her mission now is to find him and kill him.... But when she is face to face with Dimitri will she be able to carry out the promise she made to him ...

You still have your favourite characters in Lissa and also the wickedly lovely Adrian and some new characters appearing as well ..... It is a really easy read and Richelle takes you through many twists and turns ....

If you love your Vampire books then this series is one you should read ..... The only problem now is that I have to wait until next year to see what happens .......

I rate this book 41/2 ****

Books to in series in order:
Vampire Academy
Frostbite
Shadow Kiss
Blood Promise
Spirit Bound ( coming out in 2010)

Anna Karenina

This weekend I read Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. It was an easy read and while it got very detailed I never skimmed or skipped sections because all of it told more about who the character was.

It is really two stories in one. The story of Anna and her affair and how she and that portion of society throw off the traditions and conventions in an attempt to be more free and unencumbered by concerns about what others think or how others feel. Anna walks out of her marriage and abandons her son, but never truly trusts the love and commitment of her lover. Perhaps if they had been able to be married, but wouldn’t that have been a convention? Her story ends with a very detailed and moving description of depression and how debilitating it is. And the depression, in part, seems to be due to that loss of convention that would reassure her of who she is and where she is and what she can count on. Aided definitely by the fact that outside of her lover she had no identity or reassurance of what her purpose was. In short, no relationship with a Savior.

The other story is that of Levin, a land owner who is fascinated by trying to make farming work, with tools, techniques, and the native Russian workers. He deals with resistance to change (we’ve always done it this way) and laziness (it’s easier to do it this way and then sneak in a break) and ridicule from upper society that doesn’t understand why he would want to work, but also tries to impose idealistic solutions for improving the lower class.

Tolstoy was a Christian and Levin is also searching for God, even when he thinks he’s comfortable with no belief in a higher power. Many of the other characters are also searching or confronted with their empty faith. It is interesting to see how prevalent church attendance was in Russia once.

Strange Angels by Lili St Crow (72/81)

Dad? Zombie.
Mum? Long gone.

Me? Well, that's the scary part.

Dru Anderson has been 'strange' for as long as she can remember, travelling from town to town with her father to hunt the things that go bump in the night. It's a weird life, but a good one – until it all explodes in a broken-down town when a hungry zombie busts through her kitchen door. Alone, terrified, and trapped, Dru's going to need every inch of her wit and training to stay alive. Chances of survival? Slim to none.

If she can't last until sun up, it's game over...

The first installment of a new series ........... And I loved it ........ This is Lili St. Crow's first stab at the Young Adult Market and it is great !!! ......... If you love your fantasy this book has it all ... Vampires, Were's and a host of other creatures .......... Throw a couple of hunky guys in the mix and you have your romance as well :) ........

The character of Dru is sassy and funny at the same time .... And even though she has been brought up knowning about the 'other world' around us ....... She is still unprepared for what is going to happen ....... Who can she trust? ..........

It is great that there are so many books out there at the moment with girl heriones .... And Dru is definately one of them ...... The next book 'Betrayals' comes out in November so not much of a wait thankfully ........

The only down side to the book is there is abit of swearing in it ....... Otherwise I would have rated it higher ........ So if you are looking to take a bite out of some fantasy ........ This book is for you !!!

I rate this book 4 ****

Here's the Book Trailer ... Enjoy :)

Dark Places, 23/81

Libby Day, the sole survivor of a murderous massacre that killed her family, has spent the rest of her life trying to avoid that night. Her brother is imprisoned for the crime. Libby has become a dysfunctional adult, and having exhausted her trust fund, finds herself in need of money. Her rather unorthodox solution is to investigate the night of the murders funded by the Kill Club, a group of crime junkies. In the process Libby is brought into contact with all the horrors of that fateful January night. In the process Libby finds herself reevaluating everything she thought she knew about the crime. She also digs deeper than she ever anticipated and finds herself coming too close to a murderer still on the loose. This was a gripping story. It kept me invested from start to finish. The mix of thriller and literary fiction was refreshing- I like a good thriller, but I also want good writing, and this book definitely has both. Flynn offers us plot development, fully rounded characters, and enough suspense to keep the reader on edge.

Gillian Flynn, Dark Places, (Shaye Areheart, 2009) ISBN: 0307341569

Category: Scary/Spooky 1/9, 23/81

Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice (71/81)

In A Darkened Room A Young Man Sits Telling The Macabre And Eerie Story Of His Life - The Story Of A Vampire, Gifted With Eternal Life, Cursed With An Exquisite Craving For Human Blood. Anne Rice's Compulsively Readable Novel Is Arguably The Most Celebrated Work Of Vampire Fiction Since Bram Stoker's Dracula Was Published In 1897. As The Washington Post Said On Its First Publication, It Is A 'thrilling, Strikingly Original Work Of The Imagination ...sometimes Horrible, Sometimes Beautiful, Always Unforgettable'.

The first book in the Series The Vampire Chronicles ..... And really this is where all the Vampire books really stem from apart from Bram Stoker's Dracula. Hard to imagine that this was written in 1976 .. I would have been 4 years of age !!! ...... It is a brilliant book to read and one of those that is one the 1001 books you should read before you die ... And quite rightly so it was a real pleasure to read :) ........

The basically narrated by Louis who got turned by Lestat a vampire .... It will be interesting to read the other books as they are about Lestat to see if my feelings change over the course of the next two books ... We read of the struggle that Louis has that even though he is turned into a vampire he still feels human emotion which is unheard of by any other vampire ...

This book is a must read if you are a Vampire Lover just because if we didn't have this novel we wouldn't have such a wide range of Fantasy Authors today .........

I rate this book 4 1/2 ****

The rest of the series goes like this ... The Vampire Lestat (1985); The Queen of the Damned (1988)

As you know this book got made into a movie which I just loved .... And it was not to bad with sticking to the book ...... But as ever the book is better :) ..... But you have a brilliant cast in Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Christian Slater and Kirsten Dunst who plays the young girl brilliantly ...... Here's the trailer .... Enjoy

The Touch of Twilight by Vicki Pettersson (70/81)

Joanna Archer has reluctantly accepted the roles destiny assigned her: Avenger, Savior ... Destroyer.

On the surface she's a sexy, sophisticated socialite, at home among the beautiful people of the Las Vegas upper crust. But Joanna Archer inhabits another world: a place ordinary humans can't see and could never enter ... a dangerous dimension where an eternal battle rages between the agents of Light and Shadow. And Joanna is both.

She never asked for the mantle that's been thrust upon her, but she will not abandon it now that it's hers. Stalked by an enigmatic doppleganger from a preternatural realm, Joanna can feel the Light failing – which is propelling her toward a terrifying confrontation with the ultimate master of evil, the dark lord of Shadow: her father.

Vegas is all about winning big – or losing everything. To save her friends, her future, her worlds, Joanna Archer will now have to gamble it all by fully embracing the darkness inside her.

Well this is the third book in the series .... And it does have abit less language but still I would class it as an Adult book ....

The first two signs of the Zodiac have been fulfilled and now everyone is waiting with baited breath on the third sign ....... Will the Shadow side overshadow the light side of Olivia .... Will she turn her back on her troop to follow her fathers footsteps .......

I quite like the character of Olivia and also of Hunter but again there is alot of language and violence in this one as well ... But then again this series has been classed as 'Dark Urban' ...

I rate this book 2**

The Taste of Night by Vicki Pettersson (69/81)

Being mortal isn't easy. Being a superhero is even harder.

Even mortal, Joanna Archer was nobody's idea of a victim. But now, infused with the supernatural power to alter the battle between Shadow and Light forever, what she's become is a target. And when a toxic virus invades the valley, her allies are targets are well. To find the cure that will save them, Joanna must embrace her Shadow side ... even if it leads her into an all-out battle with the demons of her past.

The second book of the series Sign of the Zodiac and this one has more bad language than the first and more graphic sexual scenes .......

It follows Joanna who has finally found her place in the Zodiac ... But she is becoming a pawn for everyone around her getting pushed and pulled in different directions ...... She is finding it hard to let go of her old life and embrace her new life as the 'Archer' ..... Will she be able to set a side her personal feelings and function as part of the group or will she catch down her own agenda to the peril of those closest around her ...... Sounds great doesn't it !!! ........ Just a real shame that there is so much sexual references and bad language other wise it would be a great wee story line ....

This is definitely another Adult book even more so than the first of the series so be warned ...

I rate this book 2 **

The Scent of Shadows by Vicki Pettersson (68/81)

When she was 16, Joanna Archer was brutally assaulted and left to die in the Nevada desert. By rights, she should be dead. Now a photographer by day, she prowls a different Las Vegas after sunset - a grim, secret Sin City where Light battles Shadow - seeking answers to whom or what she really is . . . and revenge for the horrors she was forced to endure.But the nightmare is just beginning - for the demons are hunting Joanna, and the powerful shadows want her for their own . . .

Well everyone is raving about Vicki Pettersson and her latest book has been in the Top Bestsellers list for a while so I thought I would give her a whirl ...

I think after reading so many Young Adult books to go straight into this series was abit of a shock ... Be prepared for bad language and adult themes ......

The story line is interesting with Joanna being forced to leave behind her old life and get thrown into someone Else's life .... She has to try and figure out who she can trust and bring the 'Light' side of the Zodiac's together ....... And it is not everyday that you find out that you are a Superhero ..........

This is the first book of the series and at the moment there are 4 books released ........ This series is definitely one for the adult audience because of the content .....

I rate this book 2**