From Dead To Worse-Charlaine Harris

This is my last Sookie book till the new on comes out in May. What will I do for my obsession?

I love the world that Charlaine Harris creates when she writes these books. She uses characters that you love and can relate to and puts them in situations you could only dream of. If I could ever visit a fictional town and hang out with book characters it would be Bon Temps with this gang.

In this book Sookie has a lot going on. Amelia is still her roommate and Bob is still a cat. Amelia's father comes for a visit and gives Sookie news that Hadley had a baby. It must have been Sookie's month for long lost relatives because she also meets her Great Grandfather who just happens to be a fairy. So she really does have fairy in her blood, but also her grandfather was not actually her grandfather. Her lovely grandmother had an ongoing affair with a fairy and produced her 2 kids.

Sookie finally finds the missing Quinn when he shows up with the Nevada vampires that came to take over the territory. Many Vamps came up dead, but Eric and Bill decide to team up with them. Quinn was there under duress, but Sookie felt that he had to much baggage that she could not handle and they went their separate ways. Can't say I am sad about that, there was just something about him.

Sookie was also involved with the Supes. Alcide (who I liked at first, but is a butt now) is the new pack master after a fight killed the old one.

And in case you thought that Sookie killing Debbie Pelt was finished you were wrong. Tonya is back and going after Sookie through Crystal and Jason who are not in newly wed bliss anymore as Crystal was caught having sex with another man in Jason's home.

I liked that this book jumped around and made her go through a couple different mysteries. This book used all the characters while introducing some new ones. Charlaine Harris is the only writer I know who can have a million different characters who all fit into the story beautifully.

Now I am not so calmly awaiting May to read Dead and Gone as I read the first chapter on www.charlaineharris.com.

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays asks you to:Grab your current read.Let the book fall open to a random page.Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!Please avoid spoilers!

My Teaser:
"No two days were alike. Yeah, sure, we got in the cars and patrolled. That was the same. But every time we got out something different would happen."

From Dead to Worse-Charlaine Harris (Sookie Stackhouse #8)
Page 122 Lines 5-6

Rebecca- Daphne Du Maurier

Rebecca is a book that I normally wouldn't have picked up. I am grateful to the Nest Book Club for picking this book as our monthly read though because I ended up really liking it.

This book had a lot going on and took some time to get into, but the payoff made it worth it.

Rebecca is a story of a young women who marries a widowed man, his wife Rebecca dying only 11 months before in a boating accident, or did she. The book continues with the new Mrs. De Winters (we never learn her name) trying to fit in to her new wife role, but can't because the old wife was still around in spirit. The beautiful, wonderful, Loving Rebecca.

As it turns out Rebecca did not die in a boating accident and wasn't so wonderful. Her and Maxim were never happy and she slept around. One night there was a confrontation between her and Maxim where she leads him to believe that she is pregnant with another man's baby and she will raise it as a De Winters and that the son will be entitled to Manderley when Maxim died. Maxim in turn shot her and took her to her boat and made it sink.

Once her body and boat were found they ruled her death a suicide, but one of Rebecca's men did not believe that. They found out that Rebecca was not pregnant, but with cancer. Maxim feels that she wanted him to kill her so she would not live with the pain anymore.

This book is written so well that you don't see the twists and turns coming. This book really makes you think.

This Lullaby-Sarah Dessen

Ahh teen love, angst, friendship, and family; all the makings of a great book. This Lullaby is just that a GREAT book. After reading this I think Sarah Dessen is my new favorite author.

This book is about Remy. She is a recent High School graduate waiting for the summer to end so she can leave her life behind and go to college. Her famous romance-novel writing mother's 5 marriages have made Remy not believe in love. She gets a boyfriend and knows the schedule, she knows when it is time for the end talk.

She has 3 friends that she spends her time with. While helping her mother plan her 5th wedding she meets Dexter. She begins having feelings that she doesn't want to have and begins to live in denial, even when she buys plastic ware for his home (best part of the book is when Dexter finds it). She pushes him away and in the end realizes it is ok to love and to risk getting hurt.

This book dealt with so many issues that I just loved it. Sarah Dessen wrote these teens as real teens. They drank, had sex, and lived their life. While not all teens do that it is a lot more common then most YA books would write about. I loved her relationship with her mother. She always felt that she had to help her when in reality she didn't. Remy could not be a "kid" because of that need to take care of her mom and loved when the role finally switched.

Remy and Dexter made me smile through the whole book. He was sweet and loved her, but wasn't going to take her crap either which is great. I wish he was real and could date my sister. I want them to be together forever and thought about them long after I finished the book.

I would recommend this book to everyone as it is not a typical teen book. Go out and get it now :)

The Secret Life of Bees-Sue Monk Kidd

This book was so good. It touched me in ways no other book ever has. This book was full of great developed characters. I related to Lily in more than one way. This book made me laugh out loud, cry, and think all at the same time.

Lily is 14. When she was young she remembers the day that her mother was "cleaning the closet" and was shot. She remembers that she was the one who shot at her. She was left with her abusive, non-loving father. She always felt that her mother loved her. One day when her father (to punish her so she thought) told her that her mother was leaving her and didn't want her Lily snapped. She broke her African American nanny out of the hostpital/jail and they took off.

They went to the Pink house, that they found through a picture that Lily found of her mothers, and met the beekeeping sisters: August, the oldest; June, and May. Their sister April had killed herself. May felt that she had to hold the weight of everyone elses problems on her shoulders and often went into crying fits until she went out to her wall and wrote out her problems, until one day it was just to much for her and she killed herself.

During her time there Lily met Zack. The one man who she can't be with, but who she builds a relationship with. Lily and the sisters develop a "family" even though she is the only white person there. Lily also finds out that her mother was there and stayed there and did in fact leave her and was in fact coming back to get her when she died. Lily felt betrayed.

This book has so many lessons in it. To me this book was about showing that you can find love anywhere, it doesn't have to be your actual family. When I was a child my mother left me and was not a part of my life, she still isn't. While my father was not abusive or anything like Lily's, in fact he was the best dad, I still know how Lily felt when she found out that this mom she idolized was not in fact that person.

Also being one half of a biracial couple I related to Lily on behalf of the race issue. I know that in this day in age is not frowned upon for a white girl and African American man to be together it is still hard sometimes. You really do still go through the same emotions.

I also really related to May in the aspect of burdening myself with other's problems. I am working on that more and more and seeing how hard it was on May it made me think just how much stress I go through that isn't my own.

This book will be with me forever I am sure. I want to see the movie, but I don't want it to ruin the book for me either.

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays asks you to:Grab your current read.Let the book fall open to a random page.Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!Please avoid spoilers!

My teaser:
"I heard myself talking on the telephone:"Why not come down to Manderlev next weekend?" People, always a throng of people."

Lines 7-8 Page 55 Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

All Together Dead (Sookie Stackhouse #7)

I will start by saying that I love the Sookie books. Sookie and her many men. This book is one of my favorites in the series. Sookie gets to go to a convention and work for the Queen. She gets to use her powers and get respected for them. The action in this book was great. I had no idea that she was going where she did.

I am so team Eric I never thought I would like another with Sookie, I was wrong. I am starting to like Quinn. Of course I feel that he is hiding something and that soon I will not, but for now I am glad she has him. I do want to know why Eric was coming to her house when he was put under the spell.

Now on to number 8

The wonderful Harry Potter

I am not sure why I never read these books before. I am glad that I have my friends over at The Nest Book Club board to give me the kick in the butt to read this book. I am beginning the series even if I am late. Better late than never right?

This book was well written. There was suspense, fantasy, friendships, and lessons. To me all those things need to be in a good book. I loved the characters and wanted to know more about them and what made them tick. That is the true test for me to decide if a book is good or just ok.

I could not figure out the ending which is huge for me. More often than not I am able to figure out who the culprit is. This book I was totally surprised by the turn of events.

All in all I give it a 4 out of 5 stars. Now I need to watch the movie.

The Road-Cormac McCarthy

Where should I start with this one. The Road was sad, depressing, confusing and yet I could not put it down. The book is about a father and a son who are walking down a road together to the coast. They are unsure of what is there, but they don't want to be eaten by other people who have survived the end of the World.

I feel like there were so many lessons in this book. I remember in school always being told to look for the lesson in books. The one I picked up on the most was how being good is what saved them. They kept saying that they were the good guys and they were. The ate food that they could find or they didn't eat. They never once ate another. The son always wanted to help others out and in the end he was helped.

The relationship between the father and the son made me miss my own father so much. He would do anything to make it so that I had what I needed to be successful. This father wanted nothing more than to keep his child safe and would do anything. The love between these two was warm to my heart. I had tears in my eyes at the end when the boy must go on without him and wanted to keep him wrapped up so others wouldn't eat him.

While the book is a little repetitive and isn't written the best grammar wise it is a book that will stay with me.

Monthly Library Trip

I can't wait to dive in. I will have a hard time deciding what to read first.

Got:
The Secret Life of Bees-Sue Monk Kidd
All Together Dead-Charlaine Harris
Dead to Worse-Charlaine Harris
Kiss the girls-James Patterson
Harry Potter 1
A Fear Street Book to take me back to High School.

Also put request in:
Rebecca
Friday Night Lights
Gathering Blue-Lois Lowry

Mini Splurge

Yes it was only 1 book, but I have been doing so good with going to the library. Oh well it was $5.97 at Walmart. The real splurge is when I go and spend my $40.00 Gift Card on all books.

Where should I start with this book. I watched the movie first which is not always good. I really liked the movie. The book is good, but I felt since it was so repetitive that it made a better movie.

I really liked that the book did make the characters have more depth then the movie did. I loved Lily and felt for her and her drinking. I really wanted Andy to get through to her.

I really hated how everyone didn't understand what Andy's job was about. I know that until you are in the job you can't understand, but they should know that she really didn't have a choice. At one point when Alex is breaking up with her he tells her "you always have a choice". I think now in this economy more so than then you really don't if you want to still have a job. They knew that she was working for a reason and just didn't understand. I really hated this and wished that if anyone her parents (as mine would) would have supported her with no question.

In the end I was mad that Alex chose not to go back to her and I was beyond thrilled that Andy found her success and that she didn't work for the "Devil in Prada" for no reason.

Angels By Marian Keyes

This is my first book of 2009. I have only read one other Marian Keyes Book that I liked and was glad that this book was my random pick. I give it a 3.5 stars out of 5.

Angels by Marian Keyes was about Maggie. She is one of the 5 Walsh sisters. The good sister and daughter that does no wrong. Maggie thought that she had a great life. She was married and had a career. Then one day it is gone. She finds out that her husband was having an affair and she loses her job. All she had left was to move in with her parents and 2 sisters. She goes crazy doing this and decides to go to LA for a month to take some downtime with her screenwriter friend. Of course she finds out that her friend is going broke and that she hasn't been able to sell her screenplay. She also meets new friends or frenemies. She learns about herself in ways she never imagined and of course the old boyfriend and family make their appearance.

Marian Keyes books are Chick Lit with Soul. Her books are about serious issues that women go through. She has a series that are about the Walsh sisters. They are from a crazy family and they try so hard.

I really really identify with Maggie. She is the sister that does no wrong in her parent's eyes. She is the one that is always following rules and being safe. Anytime that she ever did something wrong she got caught. So when she decided to leave her husband she was scared to tell her family. She began to doubt herself and how she failed as a wife. The whole book people told her that they felt that she played it safe by marrying Garv. She began to feel like that herself after seeing her ex, the one that she dumped Garv for in High school (Shay).

When Maggie went to LA she decided to let her hair down. She cut it short because Garv never wanted her to. She then slept with Troy, the man that everyone warned her about. She also decided to experiment with her friend Lara. She decided that she wasn't a Lesbian. Seeing Maggie go through all this made me sad. I wanted her to find herself.

As the story goes on we find out that the reason why Maggie and Garv do not have kids was because she miscarried twice. We find out that she did get an abortion when she got pregnant with Shay. She still thought about that child 14 years later and she blamed herself for her miscarriages. She thought that Garv did to since he knew. Of course Shay had taken off on Maggie and she never got closure. When she sees him in LA she finds out he is married with 3 kids, but that he would allow her to be his mistress for when he was in LA doing business. This stopped the thinking of her life with him and what it could have been. She realized that she really did Love Garv and wanted him back. Lucky for her he was in LA trying to win her back. He told her that the reason why he went astray was because he was grieving and they just never talked anymore. Plus he always felt that she wanted to be somewhere else, with Shay!

I didn't really like how in the end Maggie blamed herself in a way for the reason that Garv went astray (although it didn't get sexual till Maggie left). She felt that she was just as much to blame as him because she felt that she was having her own emotional affair with the What If man. I know that there are times when people do wonder what if, but that would not make it ok for your spouse to cheat. I know that Marian Keyes had to make some way to bring them back together, but I didn't really feel it.

In the end Maggie was 8 months pregnant with Garv's baby and Shay lost his big Movie Company Job. All was well in Ireland (where they moved back to) and in LA. All in all I really really liked this book

My Winter Challenge List

Here are my Winter Challenge Tasks. As I finish a Book I will list it here in Colors.

5-Point Tasks
1. Read A Book with a color in the title (red, blue, black Ect.).
2. Read A Book with a number in the title (1, 2, 3, etc.).
3. Read A Book with the book Love in the title.
4. Read a Book with a type of Candy in the title (chocolate, bon bons, etc.)
5. Read a Book with an animal in the title (dog, horse, cat, etc,) The Secret Life of Bees- Sue Monk Kidd
6. Read the Book that has been on your TBR pile the longest?
7. Take 10 titles off you TBR Pile (minus the one above if you do it) and put the titles of each on a piece of paper. Then put in hat scramble them up and pick one out. Read that book. Angels by Marian Keyes
8. Read a Mystery Book.
9. Read a Book with a winter word in the title (snow, ice, sleet, cold, etc.)
10. Read a Book where an African-American is the main character. (February is African American history month)

10 Point Tasks
1. Read a Non-fiction book.
2. Read a Book with January, February, or March in the title.
3. Read a Book whose title contains a body part (heart, toe, finger, etc.)
4. Read a Book by an author you have never read before.
5. Read a Romance Novel
6. Read a Historical Fiction Book.
7. Read a book with the name of a city, country, continent in the title.
8. Read a Book about music
9. Read a book about a celebrity
10. Read a Young adult book.

15 Point Tasks
1. Read a book with an occupation in the title.
2. Read a book that you have already seen the movie for. The Devil Wears Prada- Lauren Weisberger
3. Read a banned book. Harry Potter- J.K. Rowling
4. Read a Book written by an African-American Author
5. Read a Fiction or Non-fiction book about a politician or politics
6. Read a book in a series and the one that follows it. All together Dead
7. Read a book from the 1001 books list.
8. Read a book from a bestsellers list. The Road- Cormac McCarthy
9. Read a Fiction or Non-fiction book about Football, Basketball, or Hockey.
10. Read a book you read in High School. The Thirst-R.L. Stine

25 Point Tasks
1. Read a book and then watch the movie
2. Read a Book than cook a meal inspired by it.
3. Read a book over 700 pages

7/34
70/375

My 2009 Challenges

I have many challenges this year thanks to my friends at The Nest Book Club Board. I really want to expand my reading. One is a seasonal points challenge that will help me do that. The other is the 100 in 2009. I read 77 last year so I hope that I can make it to 100 or at least as close as possible.

Welcome!

Welcome to my book blog. This will be used for me to not only keep track of my reading, but to review and reflect about those books.

I use www.goodreads.com a lot. I track the books I read and those that I want to read. I am also always on The Nest Book Club board and have learned of many books that I would normally not read.

If you were to see me I always have a book. I have a book that sits in my car that is just for days that I am in the car and I forgot a book (which is not often).

I hope that you enjoy my reviews and that they help you.