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Showing posts from March, 2011

Ever After

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Title: Pale Demon by Kim Harrison Publisher: Harper Voyager 448 pages Genre: fantasy Synopsis: The ninth Rachel Morgan novel finds our tough and feisty witch on a mission to get her shunning rescinded, which requires traveling to the annual witch convention in San Francisco. But the coven doesn’t want her to make her appointment, so they’ve put her on the no fly list, which is why she has to accept Trent’s offer of a cross-country car trip. The rich elf has his own reasons for traveling cross-country, telling Rachel and Ivy that he is on a traditional elf quest. Review: Whenever you put Rachel, Jenks, Ivy and Trent together there is bound to be trouble and plenty of action, not to mention plenty of humor.  Driving across country with a cranky Elf on a mission, and a member of the coven who is hellbent on banishing Rachel to the Ever-After is not so easy.  Especially when trouble seems to follow you where ever you go. Full of action and new revelations Pale Demon delivers a

(30) The games people play

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Title: Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins Publisher: Scholastic Press 384 pages Genre : YA Synopsis: In a not-too-distant future, the United States of America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war, to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year, two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts, the televised games are broadcasted throughout Panem as the 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss's young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining district's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart, Peeta, the son of the town baker who seems to have all the fighting skills of a lump of bread dough, will be pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who

Spring Hop

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"If I gave you £50 (or $80) and sent you into a bookshop right now, what would be in your basket when you finally staggered to the till?" Wow interesting question...hmm... 1. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins 2. Mocking Jay by Suzanne Collins 3. River Marked by Patricia Briggs 4. The Informationist by Taylor Stevens 5. The Fall (book 2 of the Strain) by chuck Hogan and Guillermo Del Toro 6. Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult 7. One of Our Thursdays is Missing by Jasper Fforde Happy Hopping

(29) Haunting

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Title: The Raising by Laura Kasischke Publisher: Harper Collins 496 pages Genre: Fiction/supernatural I received this book as an advanced electronic copy from the publisher via netgalley.com  it is due to be released at the end of March. Synopsis: The accident was tragic, yes. Bloody and horrific and claiming the life of a beautiful young sorority girl. NICOLE was a straight A student from a small town. Sweet-tempered, all-American, a fomer Girl Scout, and a virgin. But it was an accident. And that was last year. It’s fall again, a new semester, a fresh start. CRAIG, who has not been charged with murder, is focusing on his classes, and also on avoiding Nicole’s sorority sisters, who seem to blame him for her death even though the police did not. PERRY, Craig’s roommate, is working through his own grief (he grew up with Nicole, after all, and had known her since kindergarten) by auditing Professor Polson’s sociology class: Death, Dying, and the Undead. MIRA has been so b

(28) A Circus Life for Me

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Title: Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen Publisher: Algonquin 331 pages Genre: Fiction Synopsis:  As a young man, Jacob Jankowski was tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. It was the early part of the great Depression, and for Jacob, now ninety, the circus world he remembers was both his salvation and a living hell. A veterinary student just shy of a degree, he was put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It was there that he met Marlena, the beautiful equestrian star married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. And he met Rosie, an untrainable elephant who was the great gray hope for this third-rate traveling show. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of love and trust, and, ultimately, it was their only hope for survival. Review: What I wonder is what took me so frackin long to pick this book up. Maybe it was the cover maybe it was the subject I don't know but

(27) Porridge Rings, Homicidal Cookies & Cucumber Nukes

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Title: The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde Publisher: Penguin Books 375 pages Genre: Fiction Synopsis: A return to the seedy underbelly of nursery crime, where characters are never as innocent as they seem. Detective Jack Spratt and Sergeant Mary Mary long to collar The Gingerbread man - psychopath, sadist, criminal genius, cookie - who's at large in Reading. Instead, their demoted to searching for missing journalist Henrietta "Goldy" Hatchett. The last witness to see her alive were the reclusive three bears, and Jack thinks something's odd about their story. How could that porridge be too hot, too cold and just right if it was poured at the same time? The question is was there a fourth bear? Review: I would love to be inside Jasper Fforde's head for just a little while.  What an amazing imagination he has.  I am continuously enthralled by his wit and attention to detail.  The sarcastic comments, the bizarre characters and amazing literary references that