Books ..... and thier reviews

Well, as an avid reader I always find myself going through books at breakneck speed and then never thinking about them again. I just love getting as many stories as I can as fast as I can. I only recently started up my own book club, but admittedly the books chosen for that do not take up very much of my time so I am still reading about five books on top of my book club assignment. I am to the point that I actually put a sticky note on the title page saying "read"

after I am done with them.

So, what do I do to help make my reading more memorable? I make a list on this blog (a blog that no one actually reads) of the books that I have read this year. I start a new one every year. I didn't even think twice about deleting 2010's list.

In an effort to make things last a little longer in my head I have decided that on top of the list I will do a review for every book I read. It might not be long... or good for that matter, but if anyone takes a look they will have some ideas about some good books to read.

But I have a little catching up to do so this first one will be a mass one with all of the books on here except for "The fourth awakening" because that is my book club book for January and I would like to hold off on that review until we have our meeting so that I can put some of their points of view on as well.

SO.. for the month of January:
"FOOL MOON" By: Jim Butcher
This is actually the

second book in a long line of books in

Butcher's Dresden Files series. I really do like him and his style of writing a lot. The Dresden Files are about a wizard living in modern Chicago. He makes a living from being a professional wizard. Basically, it's a fun twist on the classic PI story. He doesn't get many takers though so he makes most of his money consulting for the Chicago PD in the weird crimes unit (that is not the official name but I am being too lazy to actually get up and look up the name in the book). He also has a plucky side kick whose name is Bob. he is a ghost who is trapped in a skull for doing something very bad. I don't remember exactly what it was, or even if he tells you... but it was bad. Fortunately though, he helps Harry with his spells and such. I also like him because he

seems to be a seasoned heckler. A past time that I have always found to be very entertaining. Harry also works closely with a police detective. I think her name is Kate something. She is awesome and bad ass. Mostly she believes in magic and everything it can do, but she is very annoyed with Harry for the majority of the book (and the first book) because she knows he holds back stuff about the supernatural world.

In this second book of the series harry is up against werewolves. Apparently there are different kinds, a fact which I find just handy and makes for a good story. There are lots of action scenes where Harry is barely making it out alive. Cool magic abounds, and he seems to pick up quite a few friends along the way. The mob is a central part of this book. Which I suppose is appropriate according to main stream pop culture surrounding crime in Chicago.

It's a fun read. Not really a thinking book, and I got through it pretty fast. It's most likely

categorized as an urban fantasy. The Syfy channel made a brief series based on the books.

Unfortunately, it didn't take and only lasted one season. The only reason I know about it is because I stumbled on it wandering around netflix one night.

I do recommend this book to any one out there though. I wish I could say "If you like such and such book or type of book then you will like this one" but since I like and read basically everything I can't really do that unless I know you personally.

"Wicked Lovely" By: Melissa Marr

This is definitely a book aimed at high school girls. Which is not surprising as I got it from the teen section at the book store.

Wicked Lovely is the first in a series of books about faeries in the modern world and all around us. Aislinn is the main character and she is a junior in high school. She can see the faeries, but most mortals are not supposed to be able to. Her grand mother can as well and apparently her dead mother was able to as well. She as to hide it though ans ignore them because they will try to kill her if they know that she can see them. faeries can't stand iron though so she is dating a guy named Seth who happens to live in a couple abandoned train cars. Convenient no? Trouble comes when the Summer King faerie decides that he needs Aislinn to marry him.

There is an internal power struggle going on between the Summer King and his mother the Winter Queen. It's all very Shakespeare really. Their deal has been going on for thousands of years and I am personally torn between calling it petty or cruel. Turns out that winter faeries are just mean.

I would give this book a 7 out of 10 rating. At the same time though I think that the chosen demographic would really enjoy it. What can I say? Sometimes I can find kids and teen

books that I really enjoy... ex: Harry Potter series and the Narnia Chronicles.

(And just in case anyone does read this and is interested... YES, I did read Twilite...NO, I did not really like Twilite, No, I will not review them on here.. ever, and No, I don't even watch the movies. I feel there should be a little more substance to a story line. I respect the first book and the originality of it, but the rest you could tell tha

t she had a contact to fulfill with her publisher.)

"Medusa" By: Clive Cussler

Let me tell you up front.. I LOVE CLIVE CUSSLER. He is definitely one of my favorite authors. One CAN NOT go wrong with ANY book by Clive Cussler. He has a few series' out. There are the Dirk Pitt adventures that got me hooked on his books in the first place, the Oregon files - which are just as awesome, and then there are the NUMA files which star Kurt Austin. Any and all of them are awesome and worth buying and reading over and over again. I own quite a few myself.

Medusa is a Kurt Austin adventure. It starts off with a possible global pandemic in China. The government is containing it, but they are trying to find a cure as soon as possible. Austin comes into the mix when Dr. Kane the scientist heading the group that is the closest to finding said cure comes with him on a historic dive recreating the historic expidition by WIlliam Beebe and someone named Barton (or maybe Barton just helped him design it). As far I can tell without doing any further research beyond reading this book the dive was done in a big bubble of a submersible called a bathysphere. They get attacked (although I won't tell you how, because it's awesome and I don't want to ruin it for you), and Austin has to save Dr. Kane and Kurt's best friend and plucky sidekick Joe from the depths.

I will not ruin it for you, but I will say there is plenty of adventure, and sarcasm, and impossible feats that could have only been pulled off in the imagination.

I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO ANYONE AN EVERYONE.. but that's just me :)


The last two books kind of go hand in hand so I think I will do a joint review of them.

"Masques" and "Wolfsbane" By: Patricia Briggs
This little duo starts off in Masques. Aralorn is a shape-shifting spy who finds a wolf who turns out to be a Mage and tends to follow her around. They have to basically save the world from the evil head Mage. Aralorn is a green mage and only half human. She can do magic, but only by pulling the natural energy and magic from the earth. Together the end up accumulating a slightly large group of people that are running from the ae'Magi (head mage) which includes a King who is immune to all magic.

I really like this first book and would recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy books. I pretty much never wanted to put it down.

The second book of the set is Wolfsbane. It is definitely not as good as the first book. We still have Aralorn and Wolf, but we meet Aralorn's family when she goes home for her father's funeral only to

find he is not really dead but under a spell. There is more about the shape-shifting and the relationship with her brothers which is fun. It was a cute book, and not bad, but I was not as addicted to it as I was to the first one.

I recommend these books for a fast, fun, easy read.



So those are the books in January.. Hope you love them!!!!