The Reader / Bernhard Schlink / 218 p.

I didn't see the movie, but I guessed the "deep dark secret" that drives many of the otherwise mysterious actions of one of the major characters a few dozen pages into the book.  No, I won't share it here.  You will have to read the book or force yourself to stare at Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes for hours on screen...tough, I know...to find out.  Maybe author Bernhard Schlink intended the reader to guess long before the narrator does; in a way it is beside the point as he drags his narrator (the reader of the book's title) as well as the book's readers, into an emotional contemplation on relationships, individual choices, history and collective judgment and guilt.  Put that way, the book sounds terribly depressing, but believe me; it is not.  The beauty is in the details.  I read it in two sittings, and now I hope to find a copy in the original German.

Legacy / Cayla Kluver / 496 p.

This historical fantasy fiction filled with romance and political intrigue sounded like something that would be right up my alley.  My overall thoughts were that this was a worthwhile read but it definitely could use a little polishing. The Kingdom of Hytanica has been at peace for many years.  The King is preparing to step down--just as soon as his oldest daughter finds a suitable husband to take his place. This is proving a bit of a struggle for Alera, for her father has basically chosen the next King despite Alera's disappointment with the match.  Then Narian comes into the story--an intriguing captive from Hytanica's bitter enemy...who turns out to be so much more.

The character development in Legacy was the best part for me.  Alera really struggles with the decisions that she makes and she develops throughout the story from someone who blindly accepts her destiny to someone who questions authority and, in the end, makes difficult decisions. Narian was a very intriguing character and I thought that Cayla did a fabulous job slowing uncovering bits and pieces of him to the reader while still leaving you guessing about the "real" Narian.

The only complaint that I really had about this book was that the pacing was a tad slow for me.  I felt like occasionally the story got bogged down in excessive details regarding the setting of each scene and the sharing of background information that didn't seem to have a purpose in the story.  I felt that the story could have moved along a bit quicker without getting bogged down in such details as each thing that they ate and what they wore and the items in each room.

Overall, I did enjoy the story that Cayla Kluver has started here and I won't hesitate to pick up the second book when it comes out. I must commend her on writing such an imaginative story at such a young age (as this story was first penned when the author was, I believe, 14/15).  There is a lot of promise in the story and I can only hope that books two and three move along a bit more quickly than this one.

Love Story / Jennifer Echols / 256 p.

Erin Blackwell moves to NYC to pursue her dreams of becoming a romance novelist, leaving behind he rlife on a horse farm and everything that went along with it. Including her grandmother's money. Erin's refusal to study business and take over the horse farm caused her grandmother to disinherit her and give her inheritance to the (good-looking) stable hand, Hunter.  Now, in NYC, Erin is working hard to get through her first year of college and putting herself out there in her creative writing class--even writing a fictionalized version of her own fantasy involving a horse farm and a certain stable boy. Then, her "stable boy" shows up unannounced in her creative writing class and wiggles his way into her life.



Erin was a character I felt like I could relate to. She made poor decisions, as many college freshmen do, and she showed over and over again that she had a lot of growing up to.  Yes, she was a tad whiny at times, but I don't know, somehow that worked with the person she is/was supposed to be (for me at least). Hunter was fabulous.  His undying love for Erin in the face of her stupidity is downright sweet.  He had a very stabilizing effect on the story overall as the very grounded character.

The ending felt a little "off" for me, but overall, for someone who is not generally a contemporary reader/fan, this book was a good read.  It was definitely a breath of fresh air to see COLLEGE students as the main characters in YA fiction.

Clarity / Kim Harrington / 242 p

Clarity "Clare" Fern sees things no one else can see. All she has to do is touch a certain object, and the visions come to her. When a teenage girl is found murdered, Clare's ex-boyfriend wants her to help solve the case. Then Clare's brother becomes the prime suspect, and Clare can no longer look away. Teaming up with Gabriel, the smoldering son of the new detective, Clare must venture into the depths of fear, revenge, and lust in order to track the killer. But will her sight fail her just when she needs it most? (from Goodreads)


I liked this book from start to finish.  I mean, really, how can you not like a supernatural murder mystery?! (Maybe that's just me...)  Chapter One pulls you in immediately and you honestly can't put this one down until you've gotten to the end.

My honest-to-goodness favorite thing about this book was that I did not solve the mystery before the main character.  I'm sure that many readers will figure it out, but I'll readily admit that I was so into the story that I didn't see it coming! I was *completely* convinced the murdered was someone else and had a "NO WAY!" moment when it was revealed.  That's always a good feeling when you're reading a book--like you're learning right alongside the main character.

Now, Clarity, or Clare as she prefers, didn't necessarily pull me in as a character right away.  I'm not sure why but I didn't connect with her at the beginning.  As the story progressed, I did feel like I warmed up to her quite a bit.  I also really thought that the minor characters in this one were well done.  I felt like I knew each of them fairly well...with a lot of room for growth in #2!!   Also, on the character side of things, I actually liked the love triangle in this one because it wasn't the FOCUS.  It was there, it was minor, and it was a cute romance.

Graveminder / Melissa Marr / 324 p.

Claysville made a deal...and the next generation must deal with its consequences...

Rebekkah Barrow never forgot the tender attention her grandmother, Maylene, bestowed upon the dead of Claysville, the town where Bek spent her adolescence. There wasn't a funeral that Maylene didn't attend, and at each Rebekkah watched as Maylene performed the same unusual ritual: three sips from a small silver flask followed by the words "Sleep well, and stay where I put you." Now Maylene is dead and Bek must go back to the place--and the man--she left a decade ago. But what she soon discovers is that Maylene was murdered and that there was good reason for her odd traditions. It turns out that in placid Claysville, the worlds of the living and the dead are dangerously connected. Beneath the town lies a shadowy, lawless land ruled by the enigmatic Charles, aka Mr. D--a place from which the dead will return if their graves are not properly minded. Only the Graveminder, a Barrow woman, and the current Undertaker, Byron, can set things to right once the dead begin to walk...

I think that Charlaine Harris hit the nail on the head when she said "No one builds worlds like Melissa Marr." (Quote on the front cover, in case you're curious) Marr really sucked me into this small town world with all its quirkiness and creepiness. If you liked the Wicked Lovely series for Marr's writing style and world building, then this book won't disappear. However, don't go looking for any fey here--this world if of a completely different nature. The magic is dark, hidden, and dangerous.

The story is told from the alternating POVs of multiple townspeople, both living and dead. Each one gives you just enough information to keep the story moving and clue you in just a little more. It also added an extra layer to the intrigue and depth to the characters. The protag, Rebekkah (or Bek), is a strong young woman who, while she wasn't born in Claysville, has always felt and resisted the pull of the town--until her grandmother dies and she is forced to return. Her evolution as a characters is the most profound as she goes from resisting to acceptance. She's never been one to tie herself down, whether to a place or a person, and it's very interesting to watch her emotional evolution as she begins to accept her place in Claysville and Byron's place in her life.

Evergreen - Belva Plain 593 p.

Evergreen is one of those novels that span several decades as seen through the eyes of generations of a family.  Such books always contain themes of continuity and change, personality and situation, and how every person's combination of inner self and social world sets her on a trajectory that overlaps and intersects with the trajectories of others, and produces a vast alone-ness in each individual life.

The other major theme in this book is: what is love, and what is its relationship to personality experience, to loss, to truth, to religion, to money and to family?   The central impact that causes the ripples forming that theme in Evergreen is the two very different loves of Anna, the main character.  Paul is the man with whom she feels an instant bond, and Joseph is the man who adores her.  Both men remain in different ways in her life, and so she is doomed never to be whole.  But in this early-to-mid-20th-century world of Jewish immigrants fighting to make their own place in New York, of wars and the Holocaust in Europe, turmoil and tragedy everywhere, is anyone really whole?  Anna's are not the only hard choices that must be made.

Though it was published in 1978, this novel did not feel the slightest bit dated to me, but warm-blooded and real.

The Laughter of Dead Kings/ Elizabeth Peters/ 336 p.

Vicky Bliss, art historian and museum curator turned amateur detective, is back in the 6^th and final adventure of this series. When her romantic interest, reformed art-thief and supposedly-respectable dealer John Tregarth is accused of stealing Tutankhamen's mummy, the crew gets pulled into finding the real perpetrators. But has John really reformed?  Or will he leave Vicky in the lurch once again?

 I like all of Elizabeth Peters' books (and love the Amelia Peabody books, which start with Crocodile on the Sandbank) and while not my favorite, I've enjoyed Vicky's adventures, which I've read out of order and over a course of several years. Which is to say, this is not a series that has to be read in order, but this is not the volume to start with.  It's not as funny or clever as some of the others, and the mystery leaves a lot to be desired.  What Peters is good at is creating funny and slightly snarky heroes who make gentle fun of the mystery/adventure/romance melodrama that they are in, while still totally clinging to those genres.  At its best, this makes Peters' books fun and lighthearted reads, but when they fall flat it just gets tiresome. A decent book, nothing special.  But this is an author whose other works are well worth investigating.     

The Sherwood Ring/ Elizabeth Marie Pope / 256 p.

                  Peggy Grahame is orphaned at seventeen, and heads with ambivalence and perhaps a little apprehension to the family New England mansion to live with her withdrawn Uncle Enos, who is obsessed with keeping Rest-and-be-thankful as close to its condition during the Revolutionary War as possible. But before she even arrives at the house, she gets lost in the woods and is given directions by a girl in a red cloak on horseback, who disappears before she can thank her. Peggy quickly discovers that the girl is the ghost of Barbara Grahame, the daughter of the house during the war. As Peggy becomes friends with Pat, a visiting scholar from England who is researching the history of guerrilla warfare in the area during the revolution, she is visited by more ghosts and begins to discover that their story holds the secret to the current mysteries of the house. And all the mysteries seem to center around the figure of Peaceable Drummond Sherwood, a mysterious and brilliant English officer who led a band of renegades on raids that plague the Continental army. 

                   This story is a humorous and touching love story, with just the right amount of star-crossed escapades and a dash of mystery. Peggy’s story takes a back seat to the story of the ghosts, as they take turns telling their story.  These ghosts are not grim at all, but as enjoyably kind, clever, and sardonic as the best character in a regency romance who ever quirked an eyebrow. The reader is carried away by the exasperation of Barbara’s brother Dick, as he tried to capture Peaceable, and deal with the troublesome Eleanor Shipley who has captured his heart but taunts him mercilessly, and Eleanor, who has been trying for years to get him to notice her.  But the story we care about most is the unfolding sparring and love between Barbara and Peaceable himself. . .

It’s a short, quick book (with illustrations!) that make it seem like an elementary-level title, but the story and age of the characters make it fit better in a young adult collection (though there is no mature content). I first read it in my mid-teens and adored it, and this re-reading was still very satisfying, as it has one of my favorite romantic scenes of all time. I wouldn’t call it a mystery, the way it is billed, but rather as a cozy romance with a little light adventure on the side.         

Angel Burn / L.A. Weatherly / 464 p.

Willow has a special talent--she can sense peoples' feelings, know their regrets, and tell them their future.  Growing up she thought everyone had her ability--until she started using it and realized she was special.  Enter Alex.  When Alex arrives in Pawtucket, NY, his mission is simple: kill the angel.  However, what he finds is nothing he has encountered before and he has to make a choice: to kill or not to kill.  When Alex follows Willow to the meeting of the Church of Angels, he is puzzled by her even more and in a rather unlikely turn of events, the assassin becomes the rescuer when the mob of churchgoers turn against Willow.  The unlikely duo race across the country, away from the their common enemy and into an unknown future.  Along the way, they discover the true meaning of trust and what it is to really love someone, despite the odds against you.

Angel Burn was a refreshing addition to my reading shelf.  I am often a tad apprehensive about reading these types of books because at this point I've read so many and some are definitely disappointing.  This one, however, delivered!  The storyline started out a bit slow and I wasn't at all sure I was going to enjoy the book.  The prologue and first chapter left me wanting a little something more.  However, as soon as Willow and Alex team up, the story turns into a non-stop adventure that I couldn't put down.  I found myself turning page after page just to see what would happen next. Willow and Alex were unique characters with strong personalities.  Willow especially was a breath of fresh air in a genre where so many female leads are written as weak or flaky.  Willow was strong and independent (no Bella syndrome here--this girl can fix cars and everything!).  The romantic interest between the two develops throughout the story, which I really appreciated.  It wasn't an instant happening that came out of nowhere and I really appreciated that.

The one thing that bothered me with this one was the use of first-person narrative from Willow's perspective but third person for anyone else.  The switching back and forth caught me off-guard a couple of times but did not deter from my overall enjoyment of this book.


(Disclaimer: I received this book from Candlewick Press via NetGalley for my honest review.  It will be released in the US on 24 May 2011.)

Wondrous Strange / Lesley Livingston / 327 p.

Kelley is your average seventeen year old. Well, with the exception that she graduated high school early, dropped out of her theater program, and moved to NYC to try to make it as an actress...at the age of seventeen.  Oh, did I mention that she's not quite human? No? Well, I suppose I should have.

In Wondrous Strange, Kelley has just been promoted from backstage-lackey/understudy to the lead role of Queen Titania when the lead breaks her ankle.  In a moment, Kelley's world changes...little does she know it's about to get stranger.  Practicing her lines in Central Park one evening, she is approached by a handsome stranger, who gives her a beautiful flower and then vanishes before she can even say thank you. Meet Sonny Flannery, a changeling who is part of the Unseelie Court's Janus Guard, a group of thirteen slated to protect the mortal realm from faeries attempting to escape into their world.  Sonny knows that something is different about Kelley...something he can't quite figure out.  When Kelley attempts to rescue a drowning horse in Central Park and then is stunned to find it in her bathtub at home...well...I bet you can imagine that things only get crazier from there.

I really enjoyed Livingston's writing.  She introduced a compelling story and beautifully wove in elements of Shakespeare's Midsummer Nights Dream.  It was really beautiful.  This was such a compelling book--the kind the pulls you in and then knocks you out of your reverie only when you've finished.  Reading the last page was like being pulled out of another world.  Kelley is a strong female lead.  I enjoyed her a bit more than many of the other slightly clueless females who have dominated YA fantasy lately.  While she may have accepted the truth of her heritage a bit more easily than one would expect, I felt like she was willing to take the reigns of her own destiny and work with it.  The romantic story between Kelley and Sonny is beautiful, but I can't wait to read the other books in the story to watch it develop (hoefully!)

Tender Rebel / Johanna Lindsey / 372 p.

A pretty cute romance, about a Scottish heiress who flees to London to escape marrying her despicable cousin, and falls under the spell of a confirmed rake. I liked how Lindsey keeps you guessing at what obstacles will keep these two apart; for example, you might think that when the heroine mistakes the hero's nephew for his son, this would cause a rift for a large portion of the plot, but instead the misunderstanding gets cleared up almost right away.

Roslynn has a lot of spunk, though for such a strong-willed woman I had to roll my eyes at how quickly she abandoned herself to the hero's embraces, but she still earned bonus points in my mind for jumping out the window when she is kidnapped.

This book reminds me of the classic romances of Georgette Heyer, only with less historical accuracy and more sex.(Seriously, could she not do a little research on prices back then? If Mr. Darcy is considered extremely wealthy with £10,000 a year,then I doubt Roslynn could buy several thousand pounds of furniture and consider it pocket change, much less give her husband an "allowance" of £2,000 a month.) I admit to skipping the graphic sex scenes, of which there are maybe a handful, with a fair amount of innuendo in between. But for all its silliness, I liked the close-knit family of the Mallorys, and enjoyed chuckling over the pointless drama the heroine and hero caused for themselves.

Haven / Kristi Cook / 401p

When Violet McKenna's step-mom decides to take a  job in NYC, it's up to Violet to either stay with her aging grandmother in Atlanta or move to New York...and pick a boarding school there.  When Violet sees the brochure for Winterhaven, she's inexplicably drawn to the school and chooses it instantly.  At Winterhaven, the reader is introduced to a cast of characters with special gifts, including Aidan--the ultra-hot boy that everyone loves but no one can seem to "get."  Well, apparently, he was just waiting for the right girl--Violet.  The novel follow's Violet, Aidan, and her friends through a seemingly ordinary high school boarding school existence..until it suddenly becomes not quite so normal.

Cook is a new YA author for 2011 and I'd say that she's debuted on quite a good note. This story really had it all--a solid plot, a cast of likable characters, a swoon-worthy love-interest, and a little life-death action on the side. While I'll be the first to admit that Cook's story wasn't overly original, I thought she did a good job making it her own and adding enough twists to make it interesting.  It was definitely a well-written storyline that pulled me in.  It was a read that I simply couldn't put down once I started. (Ask my husband. I think he was a tad annoyed.)  A lot of comparisons have been made to other recent YA novels (ones that I myself drew as I started the book) but it really does stand on its own.

Birthmarked / Caragh O'Brien / 361 p.

Read this. Now.  (Unless, of course, you don't enjoy dystopian novels or you have a grudge against YA lit.)  I think I say that about many books these days, but I've been reading a lot of good ones!

In the post-apocalyptic world created by O'Briend, the Enclave holds the power.  It's a very Hunger Games-type of world, if that reference means anything to you.  Outside the walls of the Enclave, the people struggle to survive, giving up the first three babies each month to the Enclave.  This is a novel that you will start and not put down until you have read the last page.  The main character, Gaia, is a sympathetic character from the beginning.  The scar on her face sets her apart, even in the world outside of the Enclave.  She's a strong-willed character with quite the determination when it comes to her family.  When her parents are arrested by the Enclave, Gaia, scorning the advice of those around her, insists upon find a way into the Enclave to rescue her parents.  Her determination, quick-thinking, and (ultimately) love drive her to impossible lengths to save those she loves.  The cast of characters that she meets along the way will surprise the reader.  I don't want to spoil any plot points here, so I'll suffice it to say that O'Brien's debut novel is well-written, suspenseful, and moving.  The world and characters that she has created will leave your mind reeling.  Don't despair: the second book in a three book deal is slated to appear later this fall.

The Sky is Everywhere / Jandy Nelson / 272 p.

I picked this book up (or rather put it on hold) after I saw it on an NPR book list by Gayle Foreman titled "Oh, To Be Young: The Year's Best Teen Reads." It is an interesting view into death and the grieving process of those "left behind."  When Lennie's older sister, Bailey, dies unexpectedly, Lennie is tossed into a world unknown--where she is noticed, no longer in the shadow of her vibrant sister.  Lennie always considered herself the "companion pony" to Bailey's racehorse, so her grief is explosive, as you might imagine.  Nelson presents in a stunningly well-written narrative the emotional process that Lennie experiences--denial, guilt, passion, sorrow--all packaged in a coming-of-age type of story that will touch readers.

This story is truly in a league of its own.  In my opinion, it's a must read.  The language is beautiful.  The main character is incredibly compelling and nuanced (even if other characters seem to fall flat--this one makes up for it).  The storyline is realistic.  It's beautiful. Read it.