I READ THE FIRST ONE......

IT BLEW MY MIND.....

NOW I REALLY NEED TO GET MY HANDS ON THE NEXT ONE!

The trouble with getting sucked into a series...

1. Lack of funds to buy the next one

2. Local library only carries the first one

3. A slow interlibrary loan system

Here's a list of books that I have read lately that literally blew my mind and made an impression. Their sequels are on my wishing/waiting list.

1. Glass by Ellen Hopkins

2. The Dead of the Night by John Marsden

3. Rumors by Anna Godbersen

4. How I Found the Perfect Dress by Maryrose Wood

5. This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer(actually #3)

6. Cross My Heart and Hope To Spy by Ally Carter

7. Pretty Little Lair-Perfect by Sara Shepard

8. The Off Season by Catherine Murdock

Are you feeling my pain yet?
Do you have a sequel you have been sucked into recently?

GOSSIP OF THE STARLINGS

GOSSIP OF THE STARLINGS

By Nina De Gramont

2008

276 pages

From Back Cover:

When Catherine Morrow is admitted to Esther Percy School for Girls, it's on the condition that she reform her ways. But that's before the beautiful and charismatic Skye Butterfield chooses Catherine for her best friend. Skye is in love with the thrill of taking risks, breaking rules, and crossing boundaries, no matter the stakes. But the stakes keep getting higher in this chilling portrait of adolescent temptations.

My thoughts:

Nina De Gramont is an amazing writer. Gossip of the Starlings is pure poetry. This story is so beautifully written that I found myself rereading pages so I could take it all in.

Skye and Catherine are two wealthy teens attending a prep school in New England. Catherine longs to walk to straight and narrow but her friendship with Skye keeps pulling her into dangerous situations. Not that Catherine isn't a willing participate of drunken nights and cocaine binges-in fact Catherine is the one who introduces Skye to their drug of choice.

But while Catherine decides to put her time and energy into her horse and shows we see Skye spiral out of control. Skye's behavior becomes more destructive-drug abuse, stealing and an affair with a teacher push Catherine further away. Friendship and loyalty are tested again and again. Although the reader is given clues at the beginning as to how the story will end I still found myself shocked.

As I said before I loved the writing of this story, my only regret is that I didn't care more deeply for the characters. I was surprised by the ending but not really moved. Catherine and Skye are forgettable.

This is the second book that I have read by Nina De Gramont and will without a doubt pick up her next one.

I recommend this story for readers 14 and older. It contains language, drug use and sex.

GRATITUDE GIVEAWAY!

A GIANT thank you to all who are participating in the Gratitude Giveaway! Hosted by the amazing Kathy at I'm Reader, Not A Writer. Join the hop. There are more than 170 bloggers participating! Here are a few that I visited today and their super giveaways!

The Book Bug- Wings by Aprilynne Pike

Forever Young- Need by Carrie Jones

Kid Lit Frenzy- Fallout by Ellen Hopkins

Simply Stacie- $20 Gift Card from Amazon.com

Missy's Book Nook- Radiance, Evermore and Shadowland by Alyson Noel

All the Days Of- iDrakula by Bekka Black

What are you waiting for....go!!!

I WANT TO BE BESTIES WITH GEORGIA!

On the Bright Side, I'm Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God

(further Confessions of Georgia Nicolson)

2001

243 Pages

From Inside Cover:

5:35 p.m.

Oh yippee.

This is my gorgeous life:

1. I haven't been kissed for a month; my snogging skills will soon be gone.

2. I have a HUGE nose that means I have to live for ever in the Ugly Home.

3. My Red Herring plan has failed

4. I am the Bummer Twin's armchair.

My Thoughts:

I'm pretty sure I want to be British and Georgia's bestie after reading this fabbity fab sequel to Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging.

Fourteen year old Georgia's life is beyond tragic. First off, she has to deal with her very old and ludicrous parents who are bent ruining her life just because theirs is practically over. Then there's her little sister Libby who stores her pooey nappies in the bottom of her bed. Her best friend Jas is as smart as a potato. And don't forget her boyfriend Robbie aka The Sex God who makes her brain go jelloid whenever he's around.

Georgia's tragic tale is written in diary form and her hilarious observations are laugh out loud funny. A typical 14 year old teenage girl who believes the world revolves around her and everyone else is crazy. Georgia is self-obsessed, rude, selfish and VERY funny.

There is British slang galore but luckily the author has included a glossary in the back that helps us dense Americans wade through words like rucky, gob, and snogging.

I LOVE Georgia and can't wait to read her next adventure-Knocked Out by my Nunga-Nungas.

I would recommend this book for ages 14 and up.

SHADOWED SUMMER

SHADOWED SUMMER

by Saundra Mitchell

2009

180 pages

From Inside Cover:

Summer in Ondine, Louisiana, is always predictable: hot and boring.

Not this one.

This summer, Iris is fourteen. This summer she doesn't have to make up spooky stories for excitement. Because a real one falls right into her lap.

Years ago, before she was born, a teenager named Elijah disappeared. All that remains of him are whispers. Until this summer. A ghost begins to haunt Iris, and she's convinced it's the ghost of Elijah.

What really happened to him?

And why, of all people, has he chosen Iris?

My thoughts:

When I finish a book that really gets me-you know the kind-it won't leave your mind. I usually Google the author and try to find out more about them. I discovered a couple of things about Saundra Mitchell that made me laugh out loud such as-she has been a phone psychic! And a fabulous quote where she states "If Romeo and Juliet were 30, they wouldn't be tragic-they'd be pathetic." It made me snort-laugh.

Just a couple of things I had to share.

On with the review....

Shadowed Summer is a quick little page turner that is filled with mystery and suspense.

I picked this book up over the Halloween weekend hoping it would give me chills and thrills-OH....IT DID!

Saundra Mitchell does a beautiful job of capturing the southern comfort of Louisiana with language and descriptions that made me feel the hot, sticky air of a summer down south.

A ghost hunt that involves a Ouija board, old newspapers and the long forgotten death of a teenage boy named Elijah who is hell bent on delivering a message to Iris. This is not the long, boring summer she thought it would be! Shadowed Summer is a perfectly spooky tale filled with twists and turns. A story that won't leave your thoughts after the last page.

I recommend this book for readers 12 and up.

THE DEAD & THE GONE

THE DEAD & THE GONE

By Susan Beth Pfeffer

2008

308 Pages

From Inside Cover:

When life as Alex Morales had known it changed forever, he was working behind the counter at Joey's Pizza. He was worried about getting elected as senior class president and making the grades to land him in a good college. He would have never expected that an asteroid would hit the moon, knocking it closer in orbit to the earth and catastrophically altering the earth's climate.He never expected to be fighting just to stay alive.

My Thoughts:

A couple of months ago I read and reviewed the first book of this trilogy by Susan Beth Pfeffer called Life As We Knew It. It was a great book. I was a little worried to start the second installment-sophomore slump and all that. But I'm happy to say that The Dead & The Gone was not a disappointment. Whew!

While Life As We Knew It revolves around Miranda and takes place in a small town-Miranda has her family.

The Dead & The Gone takes the same event and centers it's story around Alex, a seventeen year old Puerto Rican who lives in the heart of New York city.

Alex's parents disappear in the aftermath of tidal waves-his mother never makes it home from her job at a hospital while his father was out of the country when disaster strikes. He now becomes the soul provider and caretaker of his two younger sisters.

The entire situation seem hopeless as we watch Alex and his sisters try to survive as the city around them falls apart. Food shortages, disease and mass chaos surround them.

I can't wait to read the next book in this amazing trilogy-This World We Live In.

Although I'm pretty sure I might need a massage and a stiff drink before I pick it up.

A MATCH MADE IN HIGH SCHOOL

A MATCH MADE IN HIGH SCHOOL

BY KRISTIN WALKER
2009

278 pages

FROM BACK COVER:

When a mandatory course forces Fiona to "try the knot": with super-jock Todd Harding, she's convinced life couldn't get any worse. Until her crush is paired with her arch enemy(otherwise known as Todd's obscenely hot, slightly sadistic girlfriend). But that's nothing compared to her best friend's fate-a year with the very goofy, very BIG Johnny Mercer.

A series of hilarious pranks leaves Fiona wondering: Is there something her "best friend" hasn't told her? Could there be more to Johnny Mercer than an awesome music collection? And most intriguing, could Todd Harding have a heart beneath his pretty-boy exterior?

MY THOUGHTS:

A Match Made in High School was a fun, fast read. The plot was different and fresh-Fiona's school has decided to have the students take a mandatory marriage class before graduation. Their participation determines whether or not they will graduate from high school. A little far fetched but made for a great story. The main character Fiona was extremely witty and seemed a little beyond her years but her humor made the book laugh out loud at times. I loved the cover of the book which show various faces of kids-I assumed were the characters-I honestly chose the book by it's cover.
I would recommend this book for reader 13 and up. There is some language.