The Casual Vacancy by J.K Rowling

I finally completed The Casual Vacancy. It reminded me a bit of The Pilot's Wife in the sense that I found the book long and uneventful but with a good strong ending that brought all of the events together. It was one of those books that make you think once you have finished it. The ending was good but that doesn't mean that I liked the book as a whole. Reading is an experience to me, and if I don't enjoy every moment of the book and have a "I cant put it down" moments at least once, no matter how much it makes you reflect after its done, a good ending does not make up for my lack of interest while I was reading it.

This book just did not grab my attention from the beginning. I found that there were way to many characters all introduced at once. It took me almost the entire novel to figure out who was who and how they all seemed to be related. Most of the characters were unlikeable. The only characters that I liked were Krystal and Andrew. Both were kids who had hard childhoods but dealt with their troubles the best they could. All of the adults in the town were rude and gossiped about each other. They never had anything nice to say about their fellow neighbours and it made reading very negative. I want to read a book that makes me feel happy, excited, intrigued, scared even, but a book that makes me annoyed isn't something I want to waste my free time reading.

No matter how well written the book was I would not recommend it to anyone. I prefer to read a badly written book with a good story. (That comment was directed at those who did not enjoy The Night Circus and Fifty Shades of Grey)

Shopaholic books 3 and 4 by Sophie Kinsella

This is my first post of the new year. I got busy around Christmas and didn't mention that I finished Shopaholic and Ties the Knot and Shopaholic and Sister. I think I made it clear in my last post that I didn't love the first two books. The characters annoyed me a little yet the story had me interested, and despite my annoyance with some of her choices I still felt bad for her in lots of instances and want to see where her life leads her.

One of the things that bugged me the most about Becky was her constant lying. She continued this trend in Shopaholic Ties the Knot, and it got her in a lot of trouble. That is one of the things I do like about these books, the fact that she does get herself in some difficult situations. As much as I dislike her attitude, I feel for her as well, and understand that she was only trying to do the right thing and keep everyone happy. She grows as a person as the series continues and she learns her lesson afterwards (for the most part). She does truly try to be a better person and that makes her someone that grows on you. I continue to hope that her life will turn out perfect and she will change for the better.

I have to say Sophie Kinsella is a great writer who keeps me glued to the pages.  I picked up Shopaholic and Sister almost instantly after I finished the previous book. In this book I liked Becky a lot better. She was a little naive to think that as her sister would be just like her, but she was also determined to get along with her and tried everything to forge a relationship. And she did learn and fixed her mistakes like she always does. She made good friends and saw life from the opposite point of view. Her sister was hard on her, but I think that was what she needed considering everyone else in her life seems to coddle her.

She seemed to be trying a lot harder to fix her money problems and although she was a little misguided in her methods she did succeed.

Shopaholic takes Manhattan

I'm taking a little break with the Outlander series right now and reading another popular series that I missed out on when they were new releases.

I was never really interested in reading the Shopaholic series when I saw it is stores, but out of curiosity I did see them movie when it came out. I did enjoy the movie for the most part so when I was offered the entire series from a friend I figured, why not?

I skipped ahead to the second book Shopaholic Takes Manhattan. I knew the plot line of Confessions of a Shopaholic already from the movie, so didn't want to read the book.

I'm really torn trying to decide if I liked the book or not. On the good side the book was well written. I was attached to the story and was interested to find out how Becky got out of her mess. The fact that I've already started the next book proves that the story is addicting and and interesting.

I often felt bad for Becky during the book, she was constantly getting herself into trouble and the people around her treat her bad. Especially at the neighbours wedding. I think in that case I would have handled that situation the same way she did. I also felt bad for her because in a lot of ways she is seriously trying to be better when it comes to her "problem". She just does a very bad job at it and is very weak willed. She always talking herself out of doing the right thing, and justifying her addition.

The one thing that really annoys me while reading is how much Becky lies. She lies about everything! It's not just to cover up her shopping addiction either. Sometimes she does do it cause she is trying not to hurt peoples feelings, but really sometimes there IS a nice way to say no. I just really hate it, all I can think when I'm reading is "if you just told the truth in the beginning you wouldn't be in this situation."

Anyways, I don't think I'd ever be friends with Becky if she was real, but I think I will finish the series, even if I spend the whole time complaining about her.

Voyager by Diana Gabaldon

I finished Voyager on Friday, and I of course liked it. I understand why some people were not as impressed with it as the previous books. It was a good story that flowed well, and I didn't get bored of the story at any point. The difference I think was that there was nothing pulling you towards the end of the story. In the last book there were questions that drove the reader to continue on, this time Claire and Jamie are together and there is really no fear of them getting split up. 

The search for someone who gets taken, is what drives the story forward. Jamie and Claire travel across the ocean after a ship, and this seems to be where the majority of the story took place. Personally I got a little tired of them being on a boat so much. And as much as I like Jamie he really has to stop chasing after Claire every time she leaves his eye sight. You think he would know by now that she can take care of herself pretty well. The return of an old character is the most interesting thing that happens in the book. It opens some new questions about their family that I hope are addressed in the next book. If it wasn't for this one piece of information I may not be as inclined to continue with the series. I could see the story easily ending at the end of this book.

If I gave Dragonfly in Amber a 5 star rating then this book would get a slightly less rating of 4 stars. A good story but not nearly as exciting as the previous two.

Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon

I finished Dragonfly in Amber on Tuesday. I was sad it was over and debated for a while if I should read another book before I moved on to the third in the series. I briefly looked online to see if there was anything else I was interested in. Then I remembered that I had the third book; it was on my bookshelf at home. Five minutes later I was curled on the couch already immersed in the first chapter.

After reading that I assume you have guessed that I loved the book. Dragonfly in Amber switched between Jamie and Clair during the time leading up to the battle at Culloden, and Clair in present time Scotland with her daughter. The magority of the book takes place in 1744 -45 as Claire tells her daughter about her time in the past.  In the first chapter you are introduced to older Claire (around her late 40's I assume) and her daughter. Seeing them there you know two things right away. 1. Claire went back to her present day and 2. Brianna has bright red hair so must be Jamie's daughter. When I first read this I was full of questions. Why did Clair go back in the stones? What happened to Jamie? Why doesn't Brianna know who her father is?  My biggest concern was what happened to Jamie, cause I was sure that Claire would not leave him in the past. And it is that question that propels the reader through the book. There were a few boring moments while Jamie and Claire travelled Europe and were living in Paris trying to stop history from repeating.. or happening at all, depending on how you look at it. I am not very good at history, so was confused often with all the names of kings and other historical figures and which country they represented, and who their allegiances were with. (Sadly it took me a while to figure out the Bonny Prince and Charles Stuart were references to the same person) The benefit of this was that I learned a little about a history I previously knew anything about at all. At least now if anyone mentions Jacobites I will have enough knowledge not to sound completely stupid.

What I like most about this series so far is that every little moment, no matter how small, impacts what happens later in the book. The story is very in depth and thought out, you never know what little bit information could be significant chapters later. Alot of difficult desions must be made when you are living in the past with knowledge of the future. I think that is one of the things that make these books such page turners; there are constants twists and revalations, things you were not expecting, that keep you on the edge of your seat.

Odd Apocalypse by Dean Koontz

I finished Odd Apocalypse the other day. I was glad to see that it kept my favourite thing about the Odd series, which is Odd's sense of humour. I find his sarcastic jokes and his casual approach to the weird events around him hilarious.

I wasn't to sure about this book at first. I was disappointed that the women ghost didn't show up more. She kinda of appeared at the beginning asked for Odd's help then disappeared except for a few moments.

Another thing about this series is that the stories are getting really crazy. I've read lots of Dean Koontz books and I like his science fiction, with scary monsters, and futuristic machines and events, its why I keep reading him. But I always found the Odd series different. Besides the fact that he can see ghosts, the enemies that he faced were always real people and plausible events. In this book and the last one, Odd Interlude, the enemies that Odd faces have been more supernatural. There's nothing wrong with this, it just feels like the rules were changed on me.

Besides that one complaint of mine, I liked the book. It wasn't as much a page turner as his other Odd books, but it still had my attention. I like the Annamarie character, she was introduced in Odd Hours, and she has traveled with him sense. She is so mysterious and is always speaking in riddles, I think if I was Odd I would be annoyed by now and start insisting she answer directly or don't bother. I'm hoping we find out more about her soon. She seems to know everything and made a comment this time about being pregnant for a long time. It makes me wonder if she is an guardian angel, the way everyone listens to her whether they want to or not.

The next Odd Thomas novel, Deeply Odd, is coming out at the beginning of April.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I read The Great Gatsby in anticipation of the upcoming movie. I was not expecting too much. I find that classic books can be hit or miss, some of them I really like while others I find boring. This book was one that I liked. One of the great things about it was that it did not read as an older book. The content and storyline was still relevant and it could easily have taken place in the modern world.

The book is a romance novel and a man's unconditional love for a women and how it ruled his life and ultimately caused his downfall. I liked how the story was not told from the perspective of the lover or his attraction, but instead from the view point of his neighbour and friend. Because you hear the story from an outsider you are open to interpret the characters actions. Some people reading the story may feel different then others about the main characters and their actions. I personally felt sorry for Gatsby but also considered him a fool.

I am very excited to see the movie and how Leonardo DiCaprio will play the character. He seems to do well in movies that are period pieces from the early 20th century.

The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve

I finished The Pilot's Wife last night. I can't say I enjoyed the book but I can see why it was an Oprah book club pick.

This book isn't very long, but the beginning is very slow and dragged on for me. In the very beginning the knock comes to the door which informs Katheryn that her husband has died in a plane crash. From this point on to almost three quarters the way into the novel not much else happens. Speculations are made as to the cause of the crash, and we get to see the effects this has on both the wife and the daughter. I think I was bored of the book at this point because it focused a lot on the wife's thoughts and feelings. This is of course important to a good novel but sometimes the best part of a novel is imagining yourself in the situation, and how you would feel in the characters position. I never really felt any attachment to the wife's character and I did not agree with a lot of the things she was thinking.

The novel didn't get interesting until the wife actually decided to do something about what happened and find out the truth about the crash. At this point the book got really good. I wanted to know what really happened and I felt like I'd been waiting forever to find out. I wasn't disappointed either, I liked the husbands story I thought it was interesting and well thought out. It also posed a lot of difficult questions about love and marriage. I personally think that he still loved his wife, and I didn't feel that he was a bad person. He may have made several bad choices but I felt he was trying his best to lessen the hurt he could have caused, although in the end it didn't quite work the way he planned.

Another part of the book I liked was the flashbacks. When in the mind of a suspicious wife the stories seemed to have two sides. The reader like Katheryn is wondering if there was another meaning hiding behind some of the events. Is something that seems innocent and sweet one moment take a different meaning when seen from the critical eyes of Katheryn.  

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

This book was recommended to me and at first I wasn't sure if I would like it. I had heard of Diana Gabaldon before (The Scottish Prisoner) but did not know anything about this series. The thing that made me decide to try it out was the time traveling aspect. The little bit of fantasy added interest to what sounded like a boring historical book, and made it into something potentially exciting and mysterious.

When I first started it I wasn't impressed, I liked the main character but I found her husband and their life a bore. She was taking up an interest in plants and herbs and her husband was researching his family tree. Neither which I find very interesting. The minute she stepped into Scotland in 1743 the entire feel of the book changed and I loved it.

Forced into a dangerous time with a war between the British and the Scottish Clans Claire's new life is focused on survival. She has to try and gain the trust of the people while at the same time lying about who she really is and where she is from. There is suspense and mystery everywhere as she slowly begins to learn the complicated relationships between the members of Castle Leoch. Claire becomes friends with a young Scot warrior Jamie Fraser, who takes it upon himself to protect Claire from the danger that she often finds herself in the middle of. Jamie's passion for Claire becomes undeniable and she finds herself torn between him and the husband she left behind.

Even though this book was very long I didn't notice the length while I was reading it. Most of the time the story flowed nicely and was never short on adventure. I liked Claire's strength and no nonsense attitude. Her stubbornness got her in a lot of trouble but it also saved her. This book is classified as a romance, but it was a tame version of one that isn't full of sex and has a great storyline besides their relationship.

Great book, I will read the rest of them.

Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

I finished Shadow of Night last night on a train ride from visiting a friend. I was very excited when it was first released. I really liked the first book, although it is about witches, vampires and daemons it is meant for adults and does not read at all like a cheesy teen novel. Although I like those as well sometimes.

For a long book, I believe I finished it in good time. It was easy to read and it didn't drag on, yet I was still disappointed in it. There were very few twists and turns in the plot line. It followed exactly what was laid out at the end of the last book. Diana and Mathew went to Elizabethan Europe so Diana could learn magic and they could try to find Ashmole 782. Not much else happened, the two spent the majority of the book travelling to different parts in Europe, talking to historical figures, and trying not to affected the future too much. Their new marrige was tested and grew as they learned more about each other. 

Harkness clearly did a lot of historical research into this book. Perhaps one of the reasons I did not find the book as great as the first one, is that I don't know a lot about European history. Mathew turns out to have been friends with several important historical figures, including Walter Raleigh and playwright Christopher Marlowe, both who I know nothing about. So I am sure I  missed out on several inside jokes. Whenever a new character was introduced I always wondered if they were in fact a real person, and if Diana and Mathew involvement was a role reserved for an unknown person in today's history books.

Despite my disappointment I will still read the last instalment. The third book will be back in present day, with the fight with the congregation continuing. I expect the ending of this series to be as exciting as the beginning. With everything that has happened and everything we have learned about Mathews history and family, I think this slower second novel is is leading up to a big finale.

Odd Interlude 1 2 and 3

I was so excited that the new Odd Thomas book was coming out, that when I saw Dean Koontz had also written a novella to take place between the last book and Odd Apocalypse I quickly purchased it. I was a little disappointed by the price. At two dollars plus tax each by the time you have read all three installments you have almost paid the same price you would for a full sized paperback novel. Despite this is was a good length and did not feel too short.

The story was great, it felt like a full sized novel and not at all like a rushed novella to gain interest before the real story came out.

Odd and Annamarie arrive at a truck stop that features small cottages behind to rent in order to take a rest while you travel. Feeling that they were drawn there for a reason Odd decides to look around and discovers a great evil lurking unseen. The unknown creature wants to enter Odds mind and control him, and has been terrorizing the residence of Harmony Corner for years. With the help of a young girl and an unexpected ally Odd tries to free the family from the grasps of a creature that none of them have ever seen.

This short story had action and humour, my two favourite things about the Odd Thomas novels, as well as two new characters that I really liked and hope I will see again sometime. I finished the books quickly because I was intrigued to see what exactly was living in the top cottage, and how Odd was going to kill it. I have to say that the guy has some good luck, but at least he recognizes it himself.

If you love Odd, but aren't quite ready to spend twenty dollars on the hardcover, you should get this novella for a quick Odd fix. I should point out that this is an e-book only, sorry.

Mystery Time by Janet Hannah

I was excited when I received this book in the mail from the author. I had read the outline in an email and thought it sounded like very interesting. I thought it was a good change to have a mystery novel whose main character was not a police officer or an agent, but a scientist, someone not usually associated with mystery and adventure.

The book started off great, the murder happened right away and they mystery of who killed the American microbiologist started. Alex and Hildegard witnessed the man's last words and were faced with the problem that one of their fellow scientists might be involved. Hildegard's watch was stolen during the murder, and her hunt to retrieve it drives both her and Alex to hunt the killers themselves. With a promising beginning the book looses it drive about half way through, when it is pretty clear who the killers were and the only mystery is how it happened and why.

I was also excited with the promise of an old watch and its special relationship to time as it is described in the outline. But unfortunaly Hildegard is the only character who experiences this, and it is never explained why. The history of the watch is discussed a lot, and it was interesting to read about its past owners and how it was passed among them, but I was disappointed that more was not said about this special relationship to time.

Overall I really liked the characters. Alex is calm, smart, calculating, and can take care of himself. We learn a lot of his past, which made him even more interesting and mysterious. Hildegard is a beautiful, classy and confident women, but doesn't let that define her in the world of science. She lets her intelligence and her work do the talking. They work well together, and I am hoping to see more of them, next time in a bigger and more complicated mystery that keeps me engaged in the story.

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

I finished reading Mansfield Park yesterday. I really liked the storyline, and Fanny was the perfect heroine. She was quiet and sweet, and she never complained when her cousins and aunt treated her bad.  After finishing the book I took the time to watch the movie by BBC. I only had a few complaints about the movie. One was that it eliminated Fanny's brother from the story all together and instead had her writing letters to her sister Susan. I also thought it downplayed Edwards attachment to Mary, and made it look like he was pushed towards her and did not have any felling towards her at all. My interpretaion while reading the book was that Edward did in fact genuinely like Mary.

Like most Jane Austen novels the read was slow and took me a while to get through, but when the end comes I forget all the boring parts in the middle. All I can think about is the story itself. This is the fourth novel of hers I have read and I think this one has the best characters of them all. I think everyone dislikes Mrs. Norris, the aunt who is always putting Fanny down, but she makes a wonderfully villian in the story. I  aslo liked Henry Crawford's character as the man after everyones heart.

The Jane Austen Marrige Manual by Kim Izzo

I started reading this book after a friend recommended it. I have a goal of eventually reading all of Jane Austen's novels, and I thought a modern take on her stories could be interesting and funny. I was right :) I really enjoyed this book. It was about a women around the age of 40 who has spent her life in the background working in the shadows of other women who have fullfilled their dream of marrige and kids. When she looses everything, she is offered the opportunity to write an article for the modern girl, on how to land a rich husband. Upset and confused about where her life is going she takes the challange very seriously and sets out to find herself a rich husband. Kate tries to use all that she has learned for reading Austen, and apply it to today's world.

The book is full of women all at different points in their life. There is an older women right out of one of several relationships with rich men, who acts as an advisor to Kate, then there is the young beatuful women who uses her beauty and innocence to attach herself to a rich man, and a married women who has lost all her money, but still has love.

This book focuses alot on the relationship between love and money. Is it acceptable to give up on love in order for the comfort of money? Or is it possible to have both. Kate has to learn this lesson, and the best way to learn it is through experience. So we travel with her from California to Europe, while she risks her friendships, her job, and her savings to find the security that she is blindly searching for.

The Next Always by Nora Roberts

I was excited to start Nora Roberts Boonsboro trilogy. I read a past trilogy of hers called the Key Trilogy and I loved them. They had her regular romance theme but combined a supernatural spin. It made the books even better. So when I heard that this new trilogy also had a slight supernatural twist I was excited.

Unfortunately I was not very impressed with this book. It is about three brothers and their mother who bought an old historic building that had seen better days in the center of a small town. Together they are remolding it to be a romantic Inn. The beginning of the story focused a lot on the remodeling of the building into an Inn. The in depth descriptions of the Inn didst bother me, she did a very good job describing each room and how the decorating progressed. They sounded very romantic and I wouldn't mind staying in a Inn like that myself. The problem was that the story did not go back and forth between a romance and the Inn, for at least the first half of the book it was all she seemed to talk about. What type of tub was in the bathrooms, where the bed was going to go.

The romance between one of the brothers and one of the shop owners in the town did not get serious until very late in the story. Once it got going it was good, but considering I had to wait so long it wasn't an enjoyable read. I was excited about the ghost in the Inn too, but besides some occasional smells and doors opening by themselves, she didn't play much of a role in the book until the very end when everything picked up. I would have liked it if we learned a little bit about her and who she was. I am assuming that it will be discussed later on, but Roberts didn't give us any type of clue that may make the reader want to continue on with the trilogy to find out more.

For the moment I am not planning on reading the second book that just came out a few weeks back, The Last Boyfriend. Maybe later if I'm not interested anything else I might give it another chance.

Before I go to Sleep by S.J Watson

I just started this book on Monday and I am done already. I took the train to visit my parents so had lots of time to read uninterrupted.

I really liked this book! It started off a little slow. The main ccharacter Christine wakes up every morning with no memory of the past. Each day she has be told her past, and relive all the pain of what had happened to her. (similar like the movie Memento) The book starts in the present day when Christine gets a phone call from a doctor, who tells her that she has a diary hidden in the house that will explain everything to her. From that point on we read Christine's diary starting a few weeks in the past. The book had me hooked because each day Christine learns more and more about the past she has forgotten. As she starts to learn more and is able to retain it through the use of the diary, new questions keep arising. A mystery begins to unfold, and like Christine I was unsure who she could trust in her life. Lies are being told and truths are kept hidden from her, knowing she will forget it all the next morning. In the third part of the book you finish reading the diary and are back in the present day, with all the knowledge she had collected over the past few weeks. Its at this point she must use all the collected information and finally discover what is going on.

The last part of this book was great. Everything she learns all comes together in a surprising and exciting conclusion. Unfortunately the ending really disappointed me. When I finish a book I expect everything to be tied up nicely. The mystery was resolved but the fate of the characters was left open. It reminded me of the end of inception. Were they in a dream the whole time or not? This book would make a great movie. I checked IMDB and it looks like they are thinking of making one but nothing has been decided yet.

The Fifty Shades Series by E.L James

I am going to combine my reviews for Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed into one post. I read the three books back to back, so where one ended and the next began is a blur to me.

My review of these two book are similar to what I said for the first. What was different in Darker, was that we learn more about Christians past, which helps a lot in understanding the way he acts. In Freed we get to see them build a life together, and how Ana deals with Christians moods and how Christian learns to take part in a real relationship.

I can say for sure that the third one was my favourite. It went beyond the romance genre and added some action to the story. I stayed up past my bedtime a few times because I couldn't put the book down until I knew everything was going to be okay. A lot of people who liked the first two books didn't like the third as much, but I thought it was good.

Instead of reviewing I would like to address some of the negative complaints the books have generated. I know not everyone is going to like it, and that is okay. I just don't like when people go all out and bash something. It has faults of course, I am not going to deny that. I agree that is was not the best written book I've read, but I choose my favourite books based on the story more then the writing style. I also agree that Ana can be very immature at times, but that is her character, if you changed that she wouldn't be the same person. Also her inner goddess could be really annoying.

In one guy's review I read, he was very disturbed about the contract in the first book. Now this I can see both sides. If any normal guy was to ask for this I would have been very creeped out as well. But considering the extreme things he wanted to do I think I was a good idea to address what was and was not acceptable. So in case any lines were crossed you can go back and prove what you agreed too. As he said it was for her protection as well. Also in the case of being sticking rich I would like to have some guarantee my business is not going to be leaked all over the papers when the girl gets dumped.

I was also very offended when this same person claimed the reason the books were so popular was because Christian is very good looking, and if he was ugly they books wouldn't be as well received.. I would like to remind him that this is a book, and in fact we can not actually see Christian at all, if it was a movie I might agree more. And for his information I picture all main characters in books as very good looking, this book was no exception. I do not read or enjoy books more based on how the physical appearance of the characters is described, that is just stupid.

The next time I hear a guy complain about this book I might be tempted to point out that the really reason he hates them is because he doesn't understand women, and what they want. Loving these books does not mean you secretly want to be spanked, beaten, and controlled. It means you want a man who loves you unconditionally, wants the best for you, puts your happiness first (in and out of bed ), will do anything to protect you, and will change for you. The control freak aspect is disappointing, but everyone has faults and she handles it well.

Please leave me comments and let me know if you love or hate this series.

Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L James

I finished the book last week and am already half way through the second, but only now am I finally writing my review of Fifty Shades of Grey.

No surprise, like lots of women I loved this book. If you have seen or heard talk of this book at all, it is labeled in the stores as for mature readers only. I have also heard it called housewife porn. I wanted to talk about this first to address anyone who is considering reading it but is put off by these labels. It is true that the characters Ana and Christian take advantage of every opportunity to get into bed together. They are extremely attracted to each other and almost very time they make eye contact they want to jump each other right there. I think they mange to get it on almost every chapter. But at the same time, I never found their encounters vulgar. The sex scenes are not dry, or repetitive. Nor are they the kind you just skip past to get on with the story. They explore each other and try new things  In lots of ways the sex is the story, because it is how they learn about each other and test their limits. It is how the make up and fight. 

Ana and Christian are on two very opposite sides of the spectrum. Ana is sweet, innocent and inexperienced, and Christian is intense, controlling, and troubled. They have to learn to meet somewhere in the middle, both stepping outside of what they find comfortable. Their attraction was sudden and strong, but as much sex as they have, and how fulfilling it is to them both, a relationship is more then just what happens in bed, or in their case a large number of places.

This book is about compromise and slowing learning all there is about someone. the good and the bad. When you agree to love someone you have to accept them for who they are. The relationship they have is like a roller coaster ride, one minute they are having crazy sex and the next there is crying and yelling.

I think the reason this book has attracted so much attention is because it has a lifestyle that is not to often displayed in mainstream books, something everyday people may not understand and be afraid of, and introduces it to someone just like the reader. Ana is us, but she is brave enough to try. We all have fantasies about the sexy, rich and dangerous man who will sweep us off our feet. Ana found him, but this takes our fantasy farther and shows us that for all the wonderful times you can have there are also bad ones, and problems that you have to deal with,

This is book was great, It was hot and sexy, and romantic too. Some people can't seem to get past the dark side of Christian, and call it abuse. They seem to forget that Ana is a consenting adult who was amply warned and choose to carry on. If you are easily offended maybe you shouldn't read this, but if you have an open mind and are willing to explore something outside of the norm, I think it is an eye opener that will make you think.

 The book made me fell jealous of her rich and handsome boyfriend, but at the same time sad for all the insecurities that the lifestyle brings to her. Christian has problems and it makes life hard, but she has some as well.  Is great sex enough when there is so much baggage that comes with it?

I don't have a point system, but if I did it would have five hearts, and maybe a whipping sound effect.

The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen

I bought this book because I read other blogs raving about it, then I saw it on the best books of 2011 list. Now that I finished it I understand why everyone loved it so much. It was a great book. I finished it on the way to and the way back from my parents house for Easter.

When I first started it I was under the impression that it was a mystery novel. A mystery does exist in the story, it is what brings the two main characters together. Paxton and Willa's grandmothers were best friends as children, even as their lives took different paths they continued to be there for each other no matter what. When Paxton restores Willa's old family house which had been in ruins since her grandmothers teen years, a skeleton is uncovered buried under a peach tree. Paxton and Willa's curiosity about what happened many years ago brings them together.

This book is about friendship, and what it means to be a real friend. It also is about being true to yourself and following the path that you want to take, despite what other may want from you. I liked the two relationships that the characters had, they were both very different but had the same underlining problems. The two unlikely friends made a perfect pair.

The most endearing part of the book which made it stand out from other romance novels I've read lately was the touch of magic that was delicacy weaved into the storyline. The way that it was Incorporated was so subtle that most of the time the characters didn't even realize that it existed. It was like a slight whisper from the past. The grandmothers believed in it, and they told their granddaughters of the magic surrounding the traveling salesman, but it was always dismissed as folklore and superstition. The author included it by slight smells in the air and unexplained sounds, in a way that the characters didn't seem to see the significance but the reader did.

I encourage you to pick up this book. Like me you will probably find yourself reading it every chance you get.

77 Shadow Street by Dean Kootnz

I just finished my latest read 77 Shadow Street. It took me longer then usual to finish this book for two reasons. 1. My e-reader decided it did not want to cooperate and refused to download the book. The only way I had left to read it was on my cell phone. The tiny screen didn't make reading enjoyable so  I only read on the subway when I had nothing else to do anyways.
2. Anyone who knows me knows my favourite author is Dean Koontz, so I was very disappointed when I didn't love this book. I wasn't excited by it, and didn't jump to read it every chance I got.

When I first read the synopsis I was excited to start reading, but was quickly disappointed. The first reason was the number of characters in it. The book takes place in a mansion converted to apartments so there were lots of people to get to know all. The fact that you keep jumping around between them didn't make it any easier.

The characters that stood out to me the most were to two single mothers, one with a boy and one with a girl. They each had very unique stories and memorable kids. n my experience the story was told around them and the other characters had just supporting roles.If the book centred only around them I think it would have been better.

There were several single men in the story, and I got them confused often in the beginning of the story. Only once characters started to die off, did recognizing the different characters become easier. There was a group of characters (Padmini, Tom, and Baily) who didn't play any important role in the book at all. I think it would have been better if they were never in it.

The other reason I didn't enjoy the book was, as a Dean Koontz book set in a haunted house, I expected it to be scarier. I've read books of his before where I was so creeped out I had to turn on the lights. This time, although the creatures were creepy and very weird, I wasn't scared, I was more disturbed by what he had imagined.

The last thing was his reasoning behind the existence of the house.  I understood the "science" behind what happened, but he didn't go enough into how it happened, or even why. I think the reason he gave had lots of holes and left many unanswered questions; I really hate unanswered questions.

So this isn't a completely negative review I will add what I did like about the book, and that was the atmosphere. Dean did give great descriptions of the run down post-apocalyptic house; I could picture it perfectly. He also gave good descriptions of his creatures. I thought they were creepy and disturbing, but that was because he described them so well. I assume creepy was what he was hoping for anyways, and it worked. Even though I didn't like the book I think it would translate well into a movie. Being in and seeing the house would make it a lot scarier. And being able to see the characters would make it easier to tell them apart quickly. What it lacked was fear and the screen could create that.

Overall I am sad to give this book a negative review. There are so many good Dean Koontz books out there. Please read one of those instead of this one.