I've been sacked by the flu!

I hope to be better by the first of February!

Keep Well everyone, this one was a doozy!

Grapemo, Jane Eyre Read and long February for a short month.

I love to write.  I have such a great idea for a romantic young adult story that I've been doing research on Ballet, dancers, ballet clothes, shoes and etc.  Obviously, this will take place in the world of ballet and dancing and how can it not be romantic, right?  I mean, c'mon, ballet is romantic!  I have my male main character name.  But I'm stuck on my female lead's name.  I want something simple, but that's not over done.  I liked Anna, but lately Anna is in a lot of books.  I like Catherine, but then I think too many people will compare to Flowers in the Attic's Cathy.  So I'm stuck.    So this brings me to Grapemo.  This is a yearly thing that Jeannine Garsee does every February.  I think for the past 4 years I've said I do it and I've crashed and burned horribly.  Sometimes my writing mojo works and other times, I get so frustrated with myself.  But I've been doing some homework and I want to write a really good chapter.  Yes, one really good chapter for Grapemo.  It doesn't have to be a whole book in 28 days, just stick to your goals and you survive Grapemo.  I can do this.  I know I can.  I'm totally stoked for my idea and I want it to be brilliant.  I've linked Grapemo above.  Join if you want!

I'm not getting any younger and my goal is to write a damn book.  Ever since I was 5 reading Little House on the Prairie, my goal was to be a writer.  I've been living in the writing world for about 5 years know and I've seen the ups and down of writers getting rejected time and time again.  And writers getting representation and then getting a publishing house to buy their work.  I know the words are in me and I just have to dig deep down inside to bring them up.  I always seem to get my great ideas right before I fall asleep.  I swear I can write a full chapter right before I fall asleep.  And of course those words are brilliant and by the time I wake up in the morning, they are just a faded memory.  It's so flipping frustrating!

Now February is also my Jane Eyre Readathon.  I'm so excited to read this too.  So I'll be reading and writing at weird hours.  I will post a check in on Jane Eyre on Monday's.  Remember to read this at your own pace.  There is no time limit.  If you are a first-time reader of this story, you are really in for a treat.  You know how some people will ask what book would you like to read again for the first time?  Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice would totally be mine.  Since February 1 starts on a Tuesday, our first check-in will be on February 7.  I've set up my google calendar to remind me.  So February will be a busy month and I hope I can manage it all!  Laura takes deep breaths!

Holy Moly, MacKayla Lane!

This is not a review per se, just a bunch of ramblings about my love of everything Fever series.  I had never read a Karen Marie Moning book, but knew that she wrote the Highlander series.  My mother, I believe, adores that series.  She likes the time-traveling books, I'm okay with them, but I prefer urban fantasy in the now.  I believe I first heard of the Fever series by my friend Kenda.  When we were huge into our Black Dagger Brotherhood phase.  So I went to the library and lo and behold, they had the first book there!

Darkfever was book one.  My love of all things Ireland really cemented that I would love this book.  I'd been to the bars and Trinity.  I fell in love with Dublin Castle.  So I could picture the City Centre perfectly well.  I knew the city so I could fall in love with city along with MacKayla Lane.  However, she's there because she needs to find out who killed her beloved sister.  What she finds out when she arrives in Dublin is more amazing and utterly believable.  The Irish are so into their lore and being so rich in history, Moning's story just hit the right note for me.

I adored the characters and boy are there a cast of them.  Jericho Barrons, the inimitable owner of Barrons Books and Baubles.  How can you not love the name.  Oh, his middle initial? Z.  Love! His stuffiness and total respect of MacKayla (she is Ms. Lane to him) is endearing.  Although the heat between Mac and Barrons is palpable.  He walks into a room and you know that Mac wants to rip her clothes off and fling herself at him.

But she has V'Lane for that.  He is Death-by-Sex fae and he turns it on whenever he wants to.  Mac will strip in the middle of the street for V'Lane.  She will do things in front of people that most people won't do behind closed doors!

And this brings us to book two.  Thankfully, both books were out when I started reading them.  It would suck that I would have to wait for book three.  The first three books were produced in Mass Market Paperback, so for a couple of dollars, I could run to the local store or supermarket to pick them up.   But I got the first two at the library.  I'm not sure about the third book, I might have that one here.  I'll have to check.

We still have no clue how or why Alina Lane died, but we know that Mac is important in finding a very old book called the sinsar dubh.  Barrons wants it, and he will go to the very extremes to get it and it seems as if Mac is the only person who can track it.  Whenever she comes into contact with it, she gets physically ill.  Kinda reminds me of the original Buffy where if a vampire was around she'd get all crampy in the mid region.  Vampires suck if they make you have period cramps!

By the time we get to book three, we know that Halloween is going to be the day when the Seelie and Unseelie will roam the earth and war will break out.  If the walls crash, people will die and the world will never be the same.  It must come to Mac and Barrons to see that the walls stay up.  But the sinsar dubh is playing with them.  It's trying to get a taste of Mac and won't stay in one place for them to grab it.  This is a book with a mind of it's own.  We learn more about the history between the Seelie and the Unseelie.

We also see more of a playful manner with Barrons.  He's enamored with Mac.  We already know that Mac would drop everything for Barrons.  But she would also betray him in a heartbeat, as would he.

This was a difficult book, Book four.  MacKayla is now pri-ya. A mortal who has been sexually enslaved by Unseelie Princes.  It takes Jericho Barrons to go to the depths of where she's is to bring her to forefront.  Can't really say how, but it's good.  The walls have crashed on Halloween and the world is destroyed.  MacKayla has met the Lord Master who Alina was in love with.  He is the one who set the wheels in motion for what happened to Mac, and she will do anything for revenge.

After book four.  We had a about an eighteen month wait for the last and final book in the Fever series.  Shadowfever was released on January 18, 2011.  I made sure I got my copy that day.  And if I could just say, the cover is absolutely brilliant.  It won't do it justice by posting it here, but if you go to a bookstore, you must look at it.  It's absolutely gorgeous.

Here is where Mac's story ends.  I finally finished it this morning/afternoon and as with all great books and series, I have this come-down period where I have to obsess over everything discuss it ad nauseum.  This is a huge book, and now I can see why it took forever to write it.  It was perfect, there were surprises that I totally wasn't expecting and I kept saying, yep, yep, yep, only for Moning to turn around and make me think something different!  This book may not be for everyone, but really enjoyed the whole lore that Moning created and she even intertwined her Highlander series with it in a seamless fashion.  I hate when a good series ends.  It's so depressing.

You can check out extras on Karen Marie Moning's Website.  If you haven't read the books, give them a chance, it's a great story and you'll find yourself rooting for Mac.

350 Followers

You know, I've been stuck on 350 followers for a while.  Now I could do a contest to get more people to come and play in my playground.  But I don't really have anything to offer.

Wait, I think I take that back.  I have an advance copy of Bree Despain's The Lost Saint.  So If I can hit 400 followers and you comment under this post.  You'll be entered to win the copy.  Just remember that you have to comment under this post.

I'll leave this contest open until Sunday, February 13, and pick a winner during that week.

Please note that this contest is US/CA only.

The Duff, Kody Keplinger

Reading Level:    Young Adult

Hardcover:          288 Pages

Publisher:            Little Brown/Poppy, September 7, 2010

Parasols:               2


From Goodreads:

Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn’t think she’s the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She’s also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her “the Duff,” she throws her Coke in his face.

But things aren’t so great at home right now, and Bianca is desperate for a distraction. She ends up kissing Wesley. Worse, she likes it. Eager for escape, Bianca throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with him.

Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out Wesley isn’t such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she’s falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone.

_______________________________________________________________________

I thought this story had a lot of potential.  It was edgy, raw and fresh but that was also the problem with this story.  Bianca's decisions were rash and not well thought out.  I understand that teens tend to just jump into situations without thinking of them first, but Bianca is described to us as stable and sturdy.  So when she starts having sex with Wesley because she's upset with her home life, I didn't find it all that believable.

I know that teens have sex.  I'm the mom of a teenager.  I just didn't like the way that Bianca sleeps with Wesley it seemed degrading.  I completely understand the whole friends with benefits idea, but 16/17 yo don't really understand the concept or how to separate the feelings.  Maybe I'm just cynical.

I liked Wesley and I liked Bianca, but I didn't like the decisions that they made together.  Wesley is described as a great listener, but they always seemed to be having sex, so I really didn't see much of the talking.

This book is definitely for the older teen.  

PS. I took the goodreads summary, because I suck at summarizing.

Anna and the French Kiss, Stephanie Perkins

Reading Level: Young Adult 


Hardcover: 365 Pages 


Publisher: Dutton, December 2, 2010 


Parasols: 2




Anna is sent off to Paris to experience life outside of Atlanta. She knows not one soul in Paris and hates that she's been sent off away from her best friend and her brother. I did not like this book. I found it too cliched and plodding to be remotely interesting. Anna was underdeveloped and her relationship with Etienne St. John seemed forced. I particularly did not like the reason why she was sent off to Paris, it seemed ridiculous. Every scenario seemed contrived. Anna falling for Etienne. Her neighbor who had a crush on Etienne (can't remember her name. Etienne finding out that his mom has cancer and his father refusing to allow him to leave school to visit her.


Nothing seemed plausible. Now I'm willing to suspend belief for some things, but not for an 18 yo who is controlled by his father. At 18 you are an adult, particularly in Paris. I could tick off every thing I disliked about this book, but I'd be here all night. I know that many people have included this on their best of 2010 list. 


Obviously, this book just didn't grab me as it did those readers. There have been other stories similar that have been done better.

Jane Eyre Read

You know I completely forgot about the movie coming out in March! I'm so excited to see Michael Fassbender as Rochester, but is he too pretty? We'll see... There are no rules to this. Read at your own pace, leisure, etc. Every Monday, I'll post what chapter I'm on and discuss what I liked about what I've read and see what other people are thinking. It'll be a check in sort of thing.

So far the takers are:

Marie, The Boston Bibliophile

Sara, A Writer who is witty:)

:) Who is really just happy and has no name

Helen

Lynne, Lynne's Book Notes

Mellirock

Suzanne

Read The Book

I am so excited for this read!

Personal Demons, Lisa Desrochers

Reading Level:    Young Adult

Hardcover:          365 Pages

Publisher:            Tor Teen, September 14, 2010

Parasols:               5


Mary Frances Cavanagh aka Frannie is a senior at Haden High aka Hades High.  Right from the start it should tell you something about how her year is going to be.  Coming from a strict Catholic family, and who has been expelled from a Catholic school, Frannie is biding her time at Haden High.

Enter Luc Cain aka Lucifer.  He's dark, gorgeous and he has a serious thing for Frannie, or does he have an ulterior motive and he needs to suck her soul to the bitter pits of hell?

Okay, my description of the book is quite lame, but as you can see, I loved this book.  Lisa's debut is a fun read, her characters are fun and there is just enough of sexual innuendos that it's not all that tame.  Luc is a seriously hot character and I know that I just made a very stupid metaphor as he's from hell, but how can you not love Luc.

Gabriel I had problems with.  He's not overly developed and you know that he's there to foil Luc's plan for Frannie's soul.  I felt no connection between Frannie and Gabe, so I couldn't see the possibility of his being a competition for Luc's affections.  Frannie is hot and bothered for Luc and that is how it should be!  I bought my copy and I'm so glad I did.  I'm very excited for the sequel, Original Sin.  Which makes me wonder what happens next!

I'm definitely Team Luc.  What is it about those bad boys that are just so damn sexy?!

Nevermore, Kelly Creagh

Reading Level:    Young Adult

Hardcover:          543 Pages

Publisher:            Antheneum, August 31, 2010

Parasols:               5




Isobel Lanley and Varens Nethers have been partnered in English class on a project featuring a dead American author.  Of course the project is due on Halloween, one of the busiest days on Isobel's calendar because she is a cheerleader and it's homecoming! Varen for all intents and purposes would never have willingly partnered with a cheerleader, and a typical gorgeous blonde one at that.  Isobel is worried that her standing will be lowered being seen with the silent, goth kid that creeps around the school.


But things get interesting when her extremely over-protective douche of a boyfriend takes an instant disliking to her homework partner.  Brad is the picture-perfect boyfriend in theory, he's handsome, he's on the football team and Isobel's parents adore him.  


Varen suggests to or pretty much tells Isobel that they will be working on Edgar Allan Poe.  As she tries to find ways to work on the project with Varens, her boyfriend and her parents suspect that she is being brainwashed by the pierced, wierd, goth looking kid. Isobel doesn't see that, she sees a gentle soul whose weirdness adds to his personality.  She finds herself looking for ways to be with him.


I loved this book and boy is this a book.  It's huge, but I manage to finish it in two days because I did nothing else while reading this.  I wanted to see Varen and Isobel together and I wanted to see what the draw to Edgar Allan Poe was to Varen.  Why he had to pick that dead author.  What secrets was he hiding and what was he getting Isobel involved with.  Soon Isobel's dreams are showing her things that she should never see and she needs to know when she's awake and when she's sleeping.


A great gothic read for the 21 century!

Mistwood, Leah Cypess

Reading Level:    Young Adult

Hardcover:          304 Pages

Publisher:            Greenwillow/HarperCollins, April 27, 2010

Parasols:               4




Prince Rokan is to be crowned king Samorna and will need the help of the shifter to protect his throne and his kingdom.  Political unrest surrounds Samorna, so off to the Mistwood does he go to capture the shifter and bring her back to the castle.  Isabel is brought to the castle in human form with a protective bracelet on her to protect the King and to keep Isabel in the dark as to the reason why she needs to protect the prince.


Honestly this story is going to be hard to review because there are so many great twists and turns and the writing is lovely, although, my only problem with the story was the way the story was broken up.  The first third is all Prince Rokan.  We see him through Isabel's eyes, and she's starting to have feelings for him.  This is something that should never happen to the shifter.  They do not care about people, they only care about doing the job they are sought out to do.  When Isabel learns that Prince Rokan's father staged a coup and toppled the previous King who the shifter was protecting, killing the former King's children in the process, she still knows that she must protect Rokan.  However, during the coronation, the threat makes itself shown and we learn that the son of the former king did not die.  He was rescued and sent away to plan for his own coup to regain the throne.


Once Rokan is overthrown with the help of Isabel, that's when it got a little choppy.  Rokan's story is somewhat over, and now we are watching Isabel with Kaer.  The right heir to the throne.  Throw in some magic that surprises just about everyone and now Kaer is worried that Rokan will try to regain the throne and kill Kaer.  Especially now that they are holding Rokan's sister, Clarisse, who may or may not be privy to everything that is going on.  Again, the jump was a bit confusing.  Yet there is another twist! Which I will not reveal here, because, c'mon guys, I don't spoil! 


Leah wrote a superb high fantasy story with strong world building that will remind people of Graceling or any of Diana Wynne Jones' books.

Jane, April Lindner

Reading Level:    Young Adult

Hardcover:          384 Pages

Publisher:            Poppy/Little Brown for Young Readers, October 11, 2010

Parasols:               5



Jane Moore's college life comes crashing around her after her parents are killed in a car accident, the stocks they left her are worthless and her brother and sister are unwilling to help out.  So off to Discriminating Nannies, Inc to look for a job that will allow her to save up to go back to college.  Not necessarily the tony Sarah Lawrence.

During the questioning, Jane is found to be the perfect nanny for a celebrity who has retired to Connecticut, but is looking for a comeback, hence the need for a nanny for the five year old child.  As is wont in Jane (and it's predecessor, Jane Eyre), you know that she's going to love the position, she's going to fall for the precocious child and eventually will fall for her employer, Nico Rathburn.

Nico Rathburn is a very nice twin to Bronte's Mr. Rochester.  Perhaps not as tortured as Rochester was, but his tortured soul is still there and Jane seems to be his prozac.  He relaxes around her and can be attentive to little Maddie who in this story is his daughter.  Of course he still tries to make Jane jealous by forming an alliance with a hot photographer who is capturing his big comeback.

Jane Moore is a bit more sedated than the original Jane Eyre.  Although her life was difficult with a spoiled sister and horrible brother, her father seemed to love her.  He was her Bessie.  She manages to internalize everything so comes across as standoffish.  As much as Nico needs to slow down, Jane needs to open up.

When I first started reading this the similarity to Jane Eyre made me wonder if I was just reading a fan fiction or a complete copy cat of Jane Eyre, just updated.  Where is the fine line between this and plagiarism.  I wonder if the author had these same thoughts.  However, I loved this book.  I loved the contemporary feel to it.  And Nico's F-bombs didn't bother me one bit, it was totally in character.  Oh, and the dog? CoPilot... too funny!  There is sex in this book and I always thought that Jane and Rochester were intimate especially when they are planning to get married.  Bronte's sensibility are not like Austen's.

Rathburn is described, but I had a hard time picturing what he looked like.  I got the feel that he was more like Russell Brand than anyone else.  I just had that skinny, beautiful look to him, but was hard around the edges.  Jane is considered plain, but we know that her beauty shines as she starts believing in herself and her love for Nico.

There is the crazy ex-wife.  St. John Rivers is now River St. John and he's a seminary student who helps Jane after she leaves Thornfield Park.  Everything is there.  Lindner misses nothing.  Well except St. John and Jane are somehow related to each other.

If you're a Jane Eyre prudist, you may not like the changes.  I really enjoyed this and glad that I took it out from the library.

February 1, 2011, Let's read Jane Eyre together!

I just finished April Lindner's Jane and I absolutely adored it.  I was a bit meh at the beginning because the similarity to the original was a bit jarring and wondered how anyone could get away with that.  The one think I liked about this book is that it didn't read like fan fiction.  I know a lot about ff as I used to write some during my Austen/Firthaholicism.  You can, if you dare, read it at Austen.com and I was just plain Laura because I was an original dwiggie.  Long story.

Anyway, I've been meaning to reread Jane Eyre for a while and my friend Laura has never read it so I asked her if she'd like to read it together.  Well then I chatted with Shana Silver and asked if she'd like to read it and she's in so I was wondering if anyone else would want to read this book.  We could have daily check ins or I could post a chapter review or just create a post to talk about what we've read, what we like, don't like etc.   I'd like to get some new people to Bronte, so if you've never read Jane Eyre, you're really in for treat.  If you've only read Lindner's Jane, give the original a shot.

So just leave a comment if you're in.  I'll create a list of people who are in and we can decide how many chapters to read per week, etc.  I'm really excited for this.  I hope you'll come along and enjoy the book.



*here is the link for my ff which was a spin off of When Harry Met Sally/Pride & Prejudice.  
I called it When Fitzy met Lizzy. definitely read at your own risk, this was written in 1998! (much Mary Sue going on!) There is a running joke in the story, that you should pick up on right away.  (It's not good, I originally wrote this for a certain Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine editor who was in London at the time...

What I want in a Good YA Book.

I've been reading a lot lately and some books I have absolutely loved and some I wonder why I read it.  I know what I want in a book and let's see if I organize my thoughts to make this a post that makes sense.  I like a strong main character, but I don't think that is necessary the most important part of the story.  I want the words to flow and not come across as choppy or forced.  I don't need metaphors galore or similes that just annoy me.

I want a story that grabs me and pulls me in and doesn't force itself on me to like it.  When plot points are glaringly obvious, it's just not for me.  Gratuitous sex does nothing to enhance a story, it's just gratuitous.  Same in a movie.  If the sex is thrown in because it can be, then I don't want or need it.

I definitely don't like to be talked down to.  Today's teenagers are snappy, smart and don't speak like Leave it To Beaver, Partridge Family or Brady Bunch. Today's teens are more like Gilmore Girls, 90210, Vampire Diaries. They have snappy dialogue and know what they like. Older teens even more so.  And to go back to the sex issue.  Teens have sex.  Teens of opposite sex do not sleep in beds and not experiment.  They have absolutely no willpower when it comes to that. Especially when they like each other.  I'm not a therapist, just an observant mother of  a former teen and her friends (some of who are still teens, but entering their twenties).

So that is what I want in a good YA book!  These are my thoughts not to incite any harshness, just what I like in a books.

Reviews a-plenty

Now if I could only write them!  I don't think I've ever had such a hard time organizing my thoughts to write a review!  I've read some good books and some books that I really didn't care for.  Some books are hot right now and some were hot a few months back.  I do not discriminate! I've also picked up a ton of books from the library to read that I wasn't able to get review copies of.  Which is okay with me.  I'm excited to read them now.

So here is a list of books that I read:

The Duff
Anna and the French Kiss
Nevermore
Plague
Personal Demons
Darkest Mercy

And these all need reviews.  It's a new year and I should feel invigorated to write them!  I'm not in a reading slump, I'm in a reviewing slump! How does this happen?

I'm currently reading and loving Mistwood by Leah Cypess.  I got to meet Leah at BEA and she is MA resident, so hopefully I'll get to see more of her, but she does have two little ones, and I know what that is like.  Difficult to have adult time! :)

Anyway, hopefully this weekend will be productive in the review department.  Crosses fingers!

House of Night Contest

To celebrate today's new book trailer and the release of 'AWAKENED', P.C and Kristin Cast's latest novel in the House of Night series, St. Martin's Press is offering a fantastic once in a lifetime chance for a fan and their guest to fly to Tulsa to tour the sites from the books and have lunch with the authors!

We are offering the new book trailer for 'AWAKENED'  to post on your blog, along with a link for your readers to enter the House of Night contest.

The lucky winner will receive a 3-day, 2-night trip to Tulsa, Oklahoma for two people which includes airfare, hotel accommodations, a tour of Tulsa and lunch on Saturday, April 30th, 2011 at the Chalkboard Restaurant with the authors. In order to enter the promo, they must answer three questions about the series. 

More about the contest: http://bit.ly/fO0Jnp

Contest rules: http://houseofnightseries.com/pages/tourtulsaofficialrules.html

Also, St. Martin's is also holding a contest via the House of Night Facebook fan page. Fans can enter for a chance to win 1 of 30 complete sets of House of Night books.  

http://on.fb.me/i9W8cZ

URL:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G756YfjzQ3U

The New York Times-bestselling mother-daughter writing team of P.C. and Kristin Cast again prove why they have become a major force in teen fiction. With over 3 million copies of their books in print, a well-publicized film option, an updated interactive website and a daily-growing fan base, the Cast duo will command your attention with every page turn.  

Books that aggravated me

This list is small.  Extremely small.  I have some issues with books that I just couldn't get past.  Obviously bad writing takes the number one spot, but that isn't everything that can be wrong with a book.  A book can have brilliant writing, but the characters can be horrible i.e. Wuthering Heights and Jude the Obscure.  I can see the literary value of them, but I just can't get past the characters.  Charles Dickens also created some incredibly horrible characters.

Ascendant, Diana Peterfreund

I absolutely loved Rampant.  But this one fell extremely flat for me.  For one I couldn't even finish it.  Maybe I was missing Giovanni, but I find myself getting tired of the boy that you fall for in one book totally disappears in the second book.  I just found myself getting really annoyed with Astrid and the decisions she was making.  I'm going to go back to it eventually to finally finish it.

Anna and the French Kiss, Stephanie Perkins.

This book is showing up on everyone's top 2010 list and I wonder if I read something different.  First of all I found the plot plodding and a bit too convenient and predictable.  AND I HATE WHEN AUTHORS REVERT TO ALL CAPS TO SHOW THAT WE ARE ANGRY OR YELLING! I mean, really, italics will work just as well as does the exclamation point!  I know everyone loved Etienne St. Clair, but he just didn't do it for me.  He seemed very angry and his so-called witty Briticisms just seemed forced and not witty.  More annoying.  Even Anna bothered me.  The way she treated her friend just seemed a bit harsh.  The story seemed very mishmashed to me.  Situations thrown together because ooh, it would make a good story, but it just seemed again to convenient and predictable.

Like I said, the list is small.  I will be reviewing Anna soon and obviously it will be less than stellar.