ReadingGrrls Paper Safari

Title: Mercy by Rebecca Lim Publisher: Hyperion 280 pages Genre: YA Supernatural Received as an advanced electronic copy from netgalley .  This book is set to be published May 17, 2011. Synopsis: Mercy in an exile from heaven with shattered memories of who she used to be. She's doomed to "wake" repeatedly on earth in a new body, each time assuming a new life. During the day she survives in the human world on instinct and at night her dreams are haunted by her lost love, who pleads with her to find him. But this time is different. When Mercy wakes up she meets Ryan, an eighteen-year-old reeling from the loss of his twin sister, Lauren, who was kidnapped two years ago. Only Mercy and Ryan believe his sister is still alive. For the first time since she can remember, Mercy has a purpose: she can help. So she doesn't understand why the man in her dreams cautions her not to interfere. But as Ryan and Mercy come closer to solving the mystery of Lauren's disapp

Title: River Marked by Patricia Briggs Publisher: Ace Books (Penguin) 336 pages Genre: Fantasy Synopsis: Car mechanic Mercy Thompson has always known there was something different about her, and not just the way she can make a VW engine sit up and beg. Mercy is a shapeshifter, a talent she inherited from her long-gone father. She's never known any others of her kind. Until now. An evil is stirring in the depths of the Columbia River-one that her father's people may know something about. And to have any hope of surviving, Mercy and her mate, the Alpha werewolf Adam, will need their help... Review:  Book 6 in the Mercy Thompson Series. Mercy and Adam are on their honeymoon but that doesn't prevent craziness from following them.  Being married to the Alpha male of a wolf pack has its advantages and disadvantages.  The events in this book really put Mercy and Adam's relationship to the test along with their instincts. While camping on Native land Mercy and Ad

Title: Annabel by Kathleen Winter Publisher: Black Cat (Grove Press) 461 pages Genre: Fiction, Gender Studies Synopsis: Wayne, born into the harsh, rural landscape of Labrador, Canada, in 1968, is a hermaphrodite. It is his father who ultimately decides to raise him as a male and names him. Only Wayne’s parents and their friend Thomasina Baikie, also present at his birth, are aware of his gender duality. The two women silently battle against Wayne’s father’s gender assignment, and as Wayne grows older, he must contend with the two genders struggling for dominance within him. His father, Treadway, a trapper who spends most of his time outdoors, works hard to steer Wayne away from his feminine side. His mother, Jacinta, becomes increasingly estranged from her husband as she mourns the loss of her female child. Following the tragic death of her husband and daughter, Thomasina travels the world and sends enticing postcards to Wayne of the world beyond his own. Review: This is th

Title: Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr Publisher: Harper Teen 328 Pages Genre: Young Adult Synopsis: Rule #3: Don't stare at invisible faeries. Aislinn has always seen faeries. Powerful and dangerous, they walk hidden in mortal world. Aislinn fears their cruelty—especially if they learn of her Sight—and wishes she were as blind to their presence as other teens. Rule #2: Don't speak to invisible faeries. Now faeries are stalking her. One of them, Keenan, who is equal parts terrifying and alluring, is trying to talk to her, asking questions Aislinn is afraid to answer. Rule #1: Don't ever attract their attention. But it's too late. Keenan is the Summer King who has sought his queen for nine centuries. Without her, summer itself will perish. He is determined that Aislinn will become the Summer Queen at any cost—regardless of her plans or desires. Suddenly none of the rules that have kept Aislinn safe are working anymore, and everything is on the line: her f

Title: Right Behind You by Gail Giles Publisher: Little Brown 292 Pages Genre: YA Synopsis: Kip McFarland is living with a painful secret: when he was nine, he set Bobby Clarke on fire. And Bobby died. After four long years in a juvenile ward, Kip is rehabilitated. He's got a new, "perfect" life. But no one knows he's got a past. No one knows about the nightmares and the guilt that torture him. They don't even know his real name. What do you do when your past catches up with you again and again? When the journey to salvation always leads to a dead end? When the person you're most afraid of, the person you'd move anywhere to escape...is yourself? Review: What a great book.  I was really impressed by how Gail Giles tackled this tough subject.  What Kip did was horrible and at first I wasn't sure whether to hate him or to feel compassion for him.  Giles takes you through therapy with Kip trying to discover why he did what he did and how he

Title: Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult Publisher: Atria Books 466 pages Genre: Fiction Synopsis:  When music therapist Zoe Baxter’s latest pregnancy ends in a stillbirth, her husband Max decides he can’t handle any more heartbreak and leaves her. As she picks up the pieces of her life, Zoe is surprised to find herself falling for a school counselor who happens to be a woman. While Zoe is finding happiness with Vanessa, Max falls off the wagon and is helped by a pastor from his brother’s evangelical church. Vanessa and Zoe wed in Massachusetts, and Vanessa offers to carry one of the fertilized embryos Zoe and Max stored. Excited by the prospect of being a mother, Zoe goes to Max to get him to release the embryos to her and is shocked when he instead sues her for custody of them, backed by his church. Review: I was unsure about this book when I picked it.  Being a lesbian mom I was a little worried about this one.  Jodi did me proud though.  Her portrayal of LGBT relationships a

Title: T he Informationist by Taylor Stevens Publisher: Crown Publisher 307 pages Genre: Thriller Synopsis: Vanessa "Michael" Munroe deals in information - expensive information- for corporations, heads of state, private clients, and anyone else who can pay for her unique band of expertise. Born to missionary parents in lawless central Africa, Munroe took up with an infamous gun runner and his mercenary crew when she was just fourteen. As his protegee she earned the respect of the jungles most dangerous men, cultivating her own reputation over the years until something sent her running. During almost a decade building a new life and lucrative career from her home base in Dallas, she's never looked back. Until now. A Texas oil billionaire has hired her to find his daughter, who vanished in Africa four years earlier. Its not her usual line of work, but Munroe can't resist the challenge. Pulled deep into the mystery of the missing girl, Munroe finds herself ba