Beautiful Creatures

I actually really like this book.  One of my favorite classes in grad school was my Gothic Literature class, and this book is reminiscent of something I might have read for that class.  I love it's gothic imagery:  old Southern plantations, dark stormy nights, an old town shut-in, a mysterious orphaned girl that just moved to town.  It's a classic Gothic tale.

Ethan has been having some very strange dreams that seem almost too real.  The dreams are always about a girl he can't seem to recognize and the two of them are always in a dangerous situation where she is falling into a dark abyss.  He tries to reach for her, but she always slips from his grasp and disappears.  Talk about teenage angst!  Suddenly, a new girl comes to school and Ethan realizes that it's the girl in his dreams.  What?  How could this be?  He's never met that girl before!

Thus, begins the adventure of Ethan and Lena and their quest to find the reason behind his strange dreams.

I had to return it to the library today because it was on hold for someone else and I couldn't renew it!  Therefore, I am only half-way through this book and I'll be anxious to finish when I can check it out again.  I need to find out what happens to these two kids and their strange, mysterious families.  Full review will come later.

The Swan Thieves Failure

I always feel guilty for quitting a book, but why waste time on a book that I hate when there are so many other books on my list? 

I gave myself nine chapters (two whole discs worth) of The Swan Thieves before I would have rather swerved off the road and into oncoming traffic before forcing myself to listen to any more of this book.  I was really sad because this author wrote one of my favorite books of all time, The Historian.  I  also "read" that book by audio version and absolutely loved it!  The audio book company used a full cast to read the book and every character had their own voice and everything!  I was mesmerized throughout the entire reading.  The Swan Thieves audio book promised a full cast again, with Anne Heche supposedly reading a part.   I don't know, I never got that far.  The nine chapters I listened to were only read by one guy, and it was insanely boring.  Boring books do not make good audio books for people that listen while commuting.  I seriously wanted to fall asleep at the wheel that's how dull it was. 

The Swan Thieves is about a psychiatrist, Andrew Marlowe, and his patient who had tried to attack a famous painting in the National Gallery.  There's a lot of talk about French Impression and at certain times in the story a woman with a French accent reads some old letters from the 1890's. 

I know there's a lot of people that might like this book, and that's fine with me!  Perhaps I would receive a different experience if I actually read it with my eyes, but it was not so good a listening experience.  Also, as much as I hate to admit it, I might be conditioned to those crazy, silly vampire stories with lots of supernatural occurances and fighting with werewolves, and therefore found a book about real, normal human beings to be boring.  I really need to try some other books.  That's what I was doing with The Swan Thieves and it just didn't work out! 

It's kinda like when I was a kid and my parents had to limit my obsessive reading of The Babysitter Club books. That's all I was reading, and Mom and Dad were a little concerned, as they should have been. (Those books are ridiculous!)  The rule was that for every Baby Sitter Club book I read, I had to read four books of another child appropriate genre such as anything from the Christian Book Store, or any of those yellow Apple Classics books like Five Little Peppers and How They Grew.  Believe me, I read those four other books like crazy just so I could get my BSC fix.

Anyway, my point is that even though I've been reading too many vampire stories, The Swan Thieves was still a fail for me.  If anyone else has a different opinion, I'd be happy to hear.  Maybe if I'm convinced, I'll pick it back up and finish it someday. 

The End of an Era!

Well, I can officially say that I've read all four of the Twilight books, if that even means anything.  I guess I'm now just hip with it and can pat myself on the back for keeping up with pop culture.  Yes! 

Technically, I listened to all four books, but what's the difference, right?  I tried to actually read this fourth installment, but I missed too much the storytelling of Ilyana Kadushin - who had read the other three books - so I went back to listening. 

After the snooze fest of Eclipse, I was somewhat reluctant to get back into this series.  However, I knew I would eventually get to Breaking Dawn, and after a saw a preview for the movie, I thought I might as well read it now so that any future previews wouldn't give anything away. 

It was a pleasant relief from Eclipse; a lot more interesting and in some instances even riveting!  Although I still had the gag reflex every time Bella clamored on about how sweet Edwards breath was in her face, I didn't mind this book and I actually enjoyed it.  Obviously it's a Young Adult novel, but I appreciate the characterization and the emphasis on family values and morality.  Despite the fact that the author has created a world of supernatural creatures, she has also masterfully implied the importance of innocence, loyalty, and love throughout all four of these books.  I would not hesitate to allow my child (if I had one) to read these books.  As much as I constantly rolled my eyes at Bella's infatuation with Edward, I couldn't argue against his utmost love and respect for her.  He always treated her with gentle kindness and never allowed himself to give in to her subtle persuasions. 

The first part of Breaking Dawn was a sweet love story of Bella and Edwards marriage and honeymoon.  But I do have to admit, I'm a sucker for wedding stories, since my own wedding was less than a year ago.  I was still torn about the idea of Edward turning Bella into a vampire, and at one point I was relieved when Bella started having second thoughts and even suggesting they wait a couple more years in order for her to attend Dartmouth after all.  See?  It was all just working out perfectly!  Bella and Edward could truly live happily ever after as human and vampire...

Well, that was just the beginning.  I'll just say that the rest of the book became quite exciting with all sorts of vampire, human, and werewolf action.  The ending wasn't quite was I was expecting, but I am okay with that.  If nothing else, it was all wrapped up appropriately and efficiently.  Enough said.  I'm excited to see how they will create this book into a movie, and I am not ashamed to admit I will probably be sitting among teeny-bopper mania during opening weekend.

Club Dead (Sookie Stackhouse Novel #3)

I've already talked about the first two books I've read in this series and how the writing is kinda choppy, and the storyline is kinda corny... but yet I continue to read them.  If nothing else, the Sookie Stackhouse series has become a familiar, comfortable read for me.  I actually do like the characters, and I'm interested enough to want to keep finding out what happens next! 

The sexual tension between Sookie and apparently every man that comes in contact with her is hilarious and intriguing.  The situation is almost like a soap opera.  Is she going to stay true to her first boyfriend Bill, who is a vampire, or is she going to give in to the strong advances of Eric (also a vampire)?  Not to mention, Alcide, the dark and handsome Werewolf with whom she spent this entire third book!  So many men, so little time for our Southern Darling Sookie Stackhouse.  I have to say, I'm leaning more towards team Eric at this point.  He is not as moody and dramatic as Bill, and much more attractive in my eyes.  Alcide is just the new guy, so he has some catching up to do.  I know I'm way behind the times with this series, so if you've read all of them, no spoilers please!   

These are the kind of books that are just fun, easy reads.  The kind you can take to the beach or pool and not have to concentrate too hard on deciphering their meaning.  Besides all the love triangles, there is always some kind of murder mystery in which Sookie is involved.  Romance and murder always make for a thrilling combination!  It's also fun to see how they translate the books into the TV show, True blood.  Although, the show has definitely taken on a storyline of it's own.  For now, I say read these if you want a light and breezy summer series to get into.  You will get hooked!