Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception by Maggie Stiefvater

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Nicely written and hard to put down.

A gifted harpist, Deirdre Monaghan has never been able to conquer her stage fright. So it's not unusual when, before performing at an important competition, Deirdre's nerves overwhelm her. What is strange is the appearance of Luke Dillon, a gorgeous flutist who helps clams her down and then performs a duet with her that wins the competition's grand prize.

Though Deirdre is instantly attracted to Luke, she knows there's something unworldly about him. Surely it's not coincidence that, since his arrival in her life, she's developed telekinetic powers and four-leaf clovers are popping up?

As Deirdre soon discovers, Luke has mysterious ties to the faerie world and other faerie beings appear. Soon she is the center of a faerie conflagration.





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Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


One of those books you wish would go on and on....

A fast paced adventure.
This futuristic novel is set on what was once the Gulf Coast. Nailer and his friends from the light crew are ship scavengers looking for valuable metals and other resources.

Loyalty is everything. To join the crew you must take a blood oath to be there for one another. If you break your oath, then you're out; and being on your own in this community, at this time, is something you want to avoid at all costs.

Nailer's best friend is Pima. These two are together when they make an extraordinary find. They find a newly wrecked clipper ship--a private ship. Nailer thinks his fortune is made, but then he discovers a survivor trapped in the wreckage—the privileged and wealthy daughter of the shipping-company owner.
What's to be done now? Help the girl or not? Who to trust or not to trust? Can someone that rich understand the desperation of poverty? Or has she another form of desperation to conquer?




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I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This won't get prizes for great literature but it is an engrossing, fast paced story. Can't wait for the next one.



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Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal by Conor Grennan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Adventure story, suspense story, love story, and throw in some travel, humor and photos too, all in one great book.
Little Princes is the true story of how an average twenty-something-year-old guy became caught up in saving the lost children of Nepal.
Conor Grennan took a break from his job to go on a year-long, globe-trotting adventure. But first to legitimize this self-indulgent trip, he decided to spend the first three months volunteering in Godawari, Nepal. Feeling inadequate at first, he was not sure he had the ability to survive in this war torn remote land. Grennan got to know the energetic and resilient children he worked with at the Little Princes Children’s Home, and realized that many of the children weren’t orphans at all, but rather the victims of unscrupulous con men.
Child traffickers tricked rural villagers into thinking they were paying to have their children taken to safety. But instead the children found themselves abandoned to live — or die — on the streets while the traffickers pocketed the money.
Grennan knew he had to find a way to reunite these children with their parents. And so he started his adventure.
A truly moving account of how one person can make a difference even in the face of seemingly impossible odds.




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Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Andi Alpers' little brother is dead, and it’s her fault. Her father left home, her mother's gone crazy and Andi's just trying to fight the urge to commit suicide.
When Andi’s father drags her to Paris where he's doing business, she doesn't care. When he tells her she'd better get busy researching Malherbeau's life, she doesn’t care. She doesn't even care about the music she once loved.
What's will make Andi care? Finding the journal of Alexandrine Paradis that's hidden in the secret panel of a guitar case made during the French Revolution. Andi engrosses herself reading about Alex's life. Alex wanted to be an actress but lands the job as playmate for the young son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. But there is a revolution brewing and heads will roll.
What do Alex and Andi have in common? What makes Andi care so much about someone who lived 200 years before her? Will Andi find answers to her life just as she finds answers to lives lived 200 years ago?




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The Trouble With Half a Moon by Danette Vigilante

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


A quick read but with deep emotion.

Dellie lives in the projects with her mom and dad. Last summer her little brother was killed in an accident. Dellie blames herself. Her mother is overcome with grief and has become hyper vigilant about Dellie.
New tenants move in on the ground floor and the once peaceful building starts to have problems. A gunshot goes off in one of the halls. A small boy wanders the halls knocking on doors asking for bread. Dellie secretly becomes close to the boy, taking him under her wing, feeding him and finding out that he is neglected and abused by his mother.
Dellie sees the boy as her salvation – if she can save him maybe she will be forgiven.
Is Dellie’s emotional agony realistic; is she responsible for her brother’s death?
And the little boy, what goes on behind the closed door of his apartment?
Can Dellie and the little boy survive?




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The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible As Literally As Possible by A.J. Jacobs

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is a really fascinating book and fun to read. HONEST

A.J. Jacobs attempts to live by the Bible’s laws as literally as possible for one year.

Jacobs does not ram religion down your throat. He shows us some of the zany and not-so-crazy rules from the Bible. On many occasions he also gives us some historical perspective to the origins of these laws - which I found very interesting.

Some of the famous laws visited include the Ten Commandments; not stealing including: neighbors wireless networks or straws that his two year old wanted to play with at Starbucks; be fruitful and multiply, no lying (this proved a hard one as sometimes it is easier to tell a white lie to a 2 year-old and avoid a tantrum. But he also obeys dozens of less publicized instructions, including growing a beard, avoiding clothes of mixed fibers and, yes, stoning adulterers.

Interpreting the Bible leads Jacobs to visit some remarkable Biblical communities, from a Kentucky-based creationist museum to the Pennsylvania Amish, from Christian charity workers to Hasidic Jews.

You all should really read this.





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