Cinder by Marissa Meyer

It's late, I'm tired, so bare with me. I'm already way behind on this thing though, and with four kids, if I don't do it when the chance arises then I don't do it all. So anyway, down to business.

This is the fourth book club installment, and we will actually get to meet and discuss this one. It's also the first book in The Lunar Chronicles series.

This is yet another take on the classic fairy tale, Cinderella. It's set in a very futuristic dystopian society in China. Cinder is a cyborg mechanic, abhorred for being a cyborg, but revered for her mad mechanic skills. The world is being ravaged by a fast killing virus, and New Beijing's emperor is one of the infected. As if that isn't enough to keep society on edge, there's also unsuccessful peace treaty talks with the cruel Lunar queen going on. In a world where hope is hard to find, they find an unlikely heroine who is their only hope.

I'm a sucker for fairy tales, and I absolutely adored this take. Meyer's story was so well written and thought out. I love her characters and how even though the book could have easily had no Cinderella association, managed to incorporate it, and do it well. If you like dystopian sci-fi and fairy tales, please do yourself a favor, and read this one.

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

This was the third book for the book club I'm participating in. We ended up never meeting to discuss it, due to all of our busy summer schedules. Which is disappointing, because this was a really good read!

This book is about a Louisianan gal by the name of Rory Deveaux, and her journey to a London boarding school. Upon her arrival in England,  a Jack the Ripper copycat killer start piling up the bodies. Of course, Rippermania spreads throughout England, both terrifying and exciting everyone. Rory ends up finding herself in the middle of it when she becomes a witness after talking to a mysterious man on school grounds the night of one of the copycat murders. He just so happens to be a man no one else has seen, and since there are no other leads, he ends up becoming the prime suspect of the crimes. As the story unfolds, Rory finds herself with a special ability and in deep doo-doo thanks to it!

I enjoyed this book a lot. I've only read one other book by Johnson, 13 Little Blue Envelopes, which was also a good book. I liked this one more, but that's just because it's a little more my niche. I highly suggest you give this a whirl, especially if you enjoy a good murder mystery like I do. 

The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood

This is a follow up to Atwood's AMAZING novel Oryx and Crake. I absolutely adore Atwood, all the novels of hers that I have read have made me one happy reader. This one too lived up to what I have come to expect from her.

 This novel is a dystopian story, where scientific and technological advances have created so much "good" that it began to be bad. Animal hybrids, chemically enhanced everything, police state, and just plain societal ruin. The main characters are Ren and Toby, both former members of a religious group called God's Gardner's. Adam One, the leader of God's Gardner's, has been preening and preparing his fellow Gardner's for an apocalyptic plague he refers to as "the waterless flood". It jumps between characters and timelines, from Toby to Ren, pre-flood to post-flood timelines, without any confusion. Ren and Toby both find themselves survivors of the waterless flood. Ren confined to a quarantine room in a high class sex club, and Toby hidden in a ritzy day spa. Neither are aware of each other, or if there are any other survivors besides themselves. Before long they find themselves leaving the safety of their pre-flood confines as a matter of survival and from there the story just gets better!

 If you haven't read Oryx and Crake, although it's unnecessary, it would be better if you did. While this isn't a sequel, it is a parallel story, and there is more enjoyment to be had from reading Oryx and Crake first. At least in my opinion. Both are fantastic books and you definitely won't be sorry for invvesting some time in this.

The Memory of Blood: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery (Peculiar Crimes Unit Mysteries) by Christopher Fowler

This book cover caught my eye at the library a few weeks ago, and I'm glad it did. I'm a big fan of murder mysteries and British literature/humor, and this book has all of that. Fowler is a great writer with witty dialogue, likeable characters, and amazing vocabulary. His sentences were a study in beauty that never failed to make me smile. Not everyone may be a such a "word nerd" like myself, but if you are, Fowler will make you happy.

 This mystery evolves around a fishy murder involving the players of a new London theater troupe. The owner of the theater, Robert Kramer, a middle aged, self-centered rich man with many enemies, finds himself a victim of said murder. Committed during a cast party at his own home, his infant son is tossed out a high level window. The only culprit is none other then the infamous Mr. Punch, whom is a puppet. The Peculiar Crime Unit, headed by the obstinate and grizzled duo of Arthur Bryant and John May, is put on the job because of the odd nature of the crime. The murders continue to hit close to home for Kramer, and each one is accompanied by a clue pointing to the famous Punch and Judy puppet shows and the PCU. With no concrete leads and the British government breathing down their necks for a captured killer or the PCU doors will be closed permanently,  Bryant and May find themselves racing the clock and the killer before the final curtain!

This was a fun read that I thoroughly enjoyed. There are more Bryant and May books that I definitely want to get my hands on. If you like a good mystery, then try this one out!

Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs

This was the second book club choice, and it wasn't a bad one. I wasn't exactly looking forward to it, as it seems like all YA books have kind of fallen into the same pattern and it's just become... well yawn worthy. But this one was actually pretty good and broke out of the YA supernatural mold a little bit.

This book tells the story of three girls; Grace, Gretchen, and Greer. Triplet separated at birth to keep them safe until the time came for them to fulfill their prophecy. Each girl has her own very different life, but the increase in mythological monsters tromping around San Francisco has brought them together. Together they learn about their legacy as descendants of the Gorgons; Medusa, Sthenno, and Euryale and thus begins a pretty interesting beginning of this new YA series.

 I think the thing that I liked the most about this book, what set it apart, was there was no romance. Now, there were love interests for all of the girls, two had crushes and one had a boyfriend, but that was such a small detail of the story(at least in this first book) that you could say there was no romance at all. It was more believable as far as it being a tale of 16 year old girls. All in all it was a solid start. Interesting, easy to read, and well rounded likable characters. I look forward to more.

'Salem's Lot by Stephen King

This was a really good book. I am a huge fan of vampire literature... and yes, I know, it's overdone, and mostly trashy romance stuff now. (Even though I like some of those trashy vamp novels) But still, it's a solid genre if you find the right books. And this is the right kinda book.

This is the story of Ben Mears, a writer, who goes back to Jerusalem's Lot, Maine to face a fear that has plagued him since he was a kid. The Marsten House. A legend of sleepy 'Salem's Lot, believed to be haunted due to the original owners who met an untimely demise via murder-suicide and the questionable lifestyle they led. Shortly after Ben's arrival, he discovers he isn't the only new face in the Lot, and they too are interested in the Marsten House. Soon creepy things start happening, like the dead dog found on the cemetery's spiked fence and the increase in deaths and disappearances.

If you're looking for sexy vampires who sparkle or who are companionable, then forget this book. These vamps are blood thirsty fiends inspired by Bram Stoker's Dracula. While this is not the scariest book, especially not for King, it has lots of great creepy atmosphere and tense action. It's also not nearly as wordy and overly descriptive as King usually is, so if that turns you off from his books typically, don't let it with this one. I highly recommend this book.

Divergent by Veronica Roth

This book is phenomenal!! I loved it and can not wait for Insurgent, the second book in the series, to come out on May 1st. It's exciting, fast paced, and while the dystopian genre is being done and done again right now, this one is as good as Suzanne Collin's Hunger Games, yet nothing like it.  And if you've read The Hunger Games, then you know why I use that as the measuring stick for this genre.

Society has been divided into 5 factions; Candor, Abnegation, Erudite, Amity, and Dauntless. Once you turn 16 you're given a test, and from the results, are placed into one of the 5 factions. The main character, Beatrice, is up to take the test and her results are less then normal, placing her in a very dangerous, secret category. Upon going to her new faction, she discovers what bravery truly is and that the peace established by the factions is not as sound as they would have you believe.

This is a fantastic coming of age story, full of action, discovery, and a little romance too. It's all the more impressive when you find out that the author wrote this book her senior year of college and is only in her early 20's. If you are into dystopian/action literature, then do yourself a favor and read this.

Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks

This is my first entry from my book club reading list. It is not a book I would have chosen at all since I am not a fan of Nicholas Sparks. As a matter of fact, I am grossly opposed to anything by him. BUT I am not opposed to being a team player, nor am I opposed to trying books that I would normally shrug off without thought. So while I wasn't really looking forward to it, and I was definitely not blown away, it wasn't as bad as I was expecting either.

Safe Haven is a about a woman, Katie, who has a lot of baggage she'd rather keep hidden. She moves to a small North Carolina town hoping to stay off the radar until she can move on again. Little does she know, she will make attachments she had never intended and was certain she never wanted, with the likes of local widow Alex and his kids. Now she battles with the reality that getting comfortable may put her at greater risk then she ever wanted to be in again. Does she stay and start over despite her legitimate fears or does she cut her ties and skip town risking her heart as well as his?

This book was rather dull in my opinion. Sparks is a lack luster writer, his characters are two dimensional, and I particularly find his dialogue to be unengaging and forgettable. I did however feel for the main character. Her fear was very real to me, and I suppose Spark's does deserve credit for that. If you like books that are steeped in reality (including all the mundane things that entails), mixed with romance, drama, and sadness, then you will probably enjoy this book.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

This book is so amazing. Gut wrenchingly beautiful and tragic, it's rawness and poignancy will haunt you. The characters are believable and likable. Green's ability to write dialogue and tell a story is phenomenal, especially considering it is told in the voice of a dying teenage girl, which he is neither.

The main character of this book is Hazel. A teenage girl who has had terminal cancer since she was 13. Thanks to a miraculous (and fictional) cancer drug, her tumors have stopped growing thus extending her "life". Hazel had resigned herself to a life of cancer treatments and minimal "real world" interactions, when low and behold, a new guy, Augustus Waters, attends her cancer kid support group. Augustus not only brings a new body to the group, but also a new season to Hazel's life. Augustus helps Hazel experience a life she never thought she would get the chance to experience, and we get the pleasure of going on the ride with them.

I strongly suggest this book make an appearance in your life. While the sadness I experienced through this book was immense, I am glad to have experienced it. Because as it says in the book, "That's the thing about pain...it demands to be felt."

The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

I picked this little gem up from my local library and I loved it. It's beautiful, sad, hopeful, and interesting.

The Language of Flowers tells the story of main character, Victoria Jones. Victoria is a young women who is emancipating out the state of California's foster system. Having been in it since infancy, Victoria has become a cold distant person who refuses to allow attachment to anyone or thing. The only thing Victoria loves in this world are flowers and the old Victorian language flowers were once used for. Once emancipated, being homeless and unemployed, Victoria looks for work and finds it with a local florist who sees Victoria's natural talent with arrangement making. Soon Victoria is carving out her own niche with her unique arrangements based on the antiquated language of flowers. But Victoria finds herself facing ghosts from her past and fighting attachments she thought she never wanted.

This is a story of redemption and learning to forgive one's self. It is a story of new beginnings and relationships that heal old wounds. It's a revelation that sometimes the biggest skeleton in one's closet is the one you've refused to let out, the one only you care about.

Time for an update.

So I read a LOT of books in 2011. I'm not entirely sure of the actual total, but I do know it was over a 100 books. This year, however, is not going so well. With having 4 kiddos, finding time to get absorbed into a book is scarce. Especially when my 8 month old is really opposed to me having any personal time at all. She reminds me of a cat. Even as I type this, she stops playing in order to come crawl over and begin harassing me.

Anyway, I do intend to update this more frequently then last year, as I joined a book club where we meet monthly and I do plan to include you in on my first book club experience. Check back at least once a month to see what I've been reading. Hope we all find a few books to enjoy this year!