White Cat - Audio

Random House is offering White Cat for Free as an audio book this month, so even though I've already read it, I downloaded it anyway.  I remember liking it, but not loving it.  My memory must be off because this is book is smart and dark and complicated with lots of action and mystery--exactly the combination I like (and that Holly Black always serves up).

Cassel Sharpe lives in a world where the major crime families are organized around their outlawed magical abilities.  Cassel is a non-worker (someone who can't work a curse or magic) growing up in a world full of criminals and knows how to work a con.  Even though he can't remember killing Lilah--the daughter of a major crime boss and the girl Cassel loved--he remembers standing over her dead body and those memories still haunt him two years later.  But his memories aren't all adding up and the appearance of a white cat coupled with strange dreams lead Cassel on an investigation that will shatter everything he believes is true about his life and his world.

The world-building in this book is phenomenal.  Black not only has a solid magical premise, but she has built a world with a deep and rich history.  The characters are dark and complex.  They have histories and trust issues.  The extent to which Cassel's family uses and betrays him, breaks my heart.  But he still loves them.  Even a second time through, I enjoyed every plot twist and every competing character need.

EDIT: I thought I had mentioned this in my first review, but I never actually posted my first review of this book.  Sooo... something I'd like to add is that even though this book is dark, it is still an emblem for hope.  Cassel knows he's a terrible person, but he still lives his life in the hopes of being good.  He is betrayed in mind-blowing ways and he still forgives.  He is a light in a dark world and I love his story.

Jesse Eisenberg narrates and he does a wonderful job.  Sometimes, like Jim Dale with Harry Potter, the narrator gets it right and that's all there is to it.  This is one of those times.

I've had Red Glove on my TRB pile for a while now, but obviously I've picked that up and should have a review soon.  Black Heart will be the final installment, but I don't see it available for pre-order yet.

Anna and the French Kiss

I ordered Anna and the French Kiss MONTHS ago when everybody just wouldn't shut up about how great it was.  It sat on my counter for too long before I finally picked it up.  Then, I DEVOURED it.  (I think I avoided reading it, because I don't like real people who share my name.  It's a bad trait I share with Voldemort.  I can't help it!)

Anna's father sends her to Paris to spend her senior year of high school in boarding school.  Now instead of romance with long-time crush Toph, Anna gets awkward international phone calls.  Plus, her best friend is the one who gets to bond with her little brother.  Lucky for Anna, she falls in with a group of artistic kids and becomes best friend with the charming and good looking Etienne St. Clair.  The only problem is that Anna is falling in love with him and he's already in a serious relationship.

This book is compulsively readable.  I hate going to bed not being in the middle of a book.  So I started Anna and the French Kiss pretty late in the day.  I basically had to force myself to put it down so that I would get some sleep for work the next day.  One of the things I liked is that this book dealt with real issues.  It wasn't the fluff that I expected.  Anna and Etienne both struggled with their relationships with their families, they both had some pretty major shake ups, and they both supported each other as friends along the way.

I loved how even though they were attracted to each other from the very beginning, Anna and Etienne were friends first and slowly fell in love with each other.  They both had flaws.  They both had to get over them.  And they both needed the other (not to be complete, but for support).  With all the Bella-Edward fast forward romances I've been reading lately... Anna and Etienne's relationship was a wonderful relief.

Perkins handled so many things perfectly.  The way it feels to go home after being away--spot on.  You're excited because it's home, but you're nervous because you've changed and you wonder if you've been forgotten.  Then you get home and you're happy, but you realize your place in the world is different and home isn't the place you imagined it to be for the last few months of your life.  When I moved back to the States after a year in England, I had terrible culture shock and I have never read about it in a way that expressed what it feels like as well as in Anna and the French Kiss.

Also, with Etienne having a girlfriend for most of the story, Anna could have easily come off as a boyfriend stealing "other woman".  Instead she was likeable--loveable--and you rooted for their relationship all the more because of how tricky the situation was.

The book is fun and charming.  It's about a romance, an ordinary romance between ordinary people, if we get down to it.  But it feels extraordinary.  It feels epic.  I was laughing and crying and desperately cheering the characters on.  The companion novel, Lola and the Boy Next Door, is coming out soon (not soon enough!).  I pre-ordered it after reading Anna even though I have banned myself from buying any more books.

To the NInes

I meant to read this series in order, but I missed a between the numbers novella.  It's kind of annoying to have a series marked by numbers have books that have holidays instead, but at least they also have another love interest (not that Stephanie doesn't have enough).

In To the Nines, Stephanie teams up with Ranger to track down a skip on a brand new kind of bond.  If they fail, Vinnie's reputation will be ruined and Stephanie will be out of a job.  But the body count is rising and Stephanie's become the prey of a crazy stalker who has killed before and is looking forward to doing it again.

I really hate to say it, but I didn't enjoy this book as much as the previous eight.  I'm pretty sure it was this book and not that I'm getting bored with the series, because what I didn't enjoy was the thing that made me fall in love with the series--the sexy love triangle!  Normally, it is fun to watch Stephanie struggle as she juggles her feelings for two men.  It usually feels like another problem that she doesn't want.  In this book, it felt like she was actively encouraging both Ranger's and Morelli's feelings and rivalry.  Mostly this was in the beginning of the book, where I really felt that she was just stirring up drama and acting like the kind of Jersey girl that gives Jersey its bad reputation (I was born a Jersey girl).  By the end of the book there was so much going on (as always) that she didn't have time to play the men off each other.

Also the side characters in this one aren't my favorite ones from the series, which I realize is a minor complaint.  Valerie and her baby-daddy, Kloun, are both so completely hopeless and helpless that neither one seems real, just annoying.  But I do love Lula and we get to know Connie some more (she's great!) and as always Grandma Mazur is always ready to make trouble.

The action and the story is there, complete with lots of twists and turns and a psycho to round it all out.  While I don't remember Stephanie blowing any cars up in this book, she did manage to seriously injure several of Ranger's top guys when he put them on her protection detail (his overprotective streak is sexy).  I'm looking forward to reading the next several books, because even when they don't deliver all that I expect, they are still super fun.  That and Ranger and Morelli are two of the most crush-worthy literary heroes.  I'll read every number book Evanovich writes, just to swoon over them.

Book Blogger Hop: 7/22-7/25

What’s the ONE GENRE that you wish you could get into, but just can’t?

I like pretty much everything.  But I can't get into straight mysteries.  Combined with comedy, yes.  Combined with heavy action, yes.  Combined with romance, yes.  Preferably all three (Stephanie Plum).  But by themselves... they just bore me.

Another type of book I always say I like are the books that break your heart at the very beginning and then spend the rest of the book putting it back together for you.  But sometimes books are just so sad and the characters are healing so slowly, that I have a hard time handling it.  Again, I don't like when a book has only one major element.  I need something--a mystery, an adventure, anything!--to distract me, much like it distracts the broken main character.

are these my basoomas i see before me?

Are these my basoomas i see before me? is the last book in this series (sob).  In some ways, it is my favorite and in others, it is my least favorite.  As can not be avoided... the next paragraph will have spoilers!


This paragraph has spoilers.  In the final book Georgia has the boyfriend she's worked so hard (over many books) to get, but she is starting realize that the boy she kept pushing away (Dave the Laugh) is the one who makes her smile while the one she has (Massimo the Luuurve God) is really quite serious, hard to communicate with, and much more in touch with his feelings then she is.  End spoilers.


Like I said, in some ways this book is my favorite.  It's the last book in the series so it seems like everything is final.  The end leaves me floating because I've been rooting for this love interest since book two or three and it just makes me so happy.  Like the books that come before it, it's hilarious and I am in love with all of these characters.  It is resolved for all of them in a way that I am really happy with.

Except when I really think about the resolution to Georgia's story.  Yes, it turns out the way I want it, but Georgia never actually makes a decision.  Even though I believe that she would have made the choices that give us the current ending of the series, she never actually says the words.  She lets the boys around her judge her silence and goes with what they assume she wants and is too afraid to say.  And I really just wanted her to say it, because otherwise it feels like she's settling, going for the boy who will have her, acting like a pokemon card getting traded between boyfriends.  She's strong and funny and that boy she ends up with isn't someone you settle for.  I think she knows that, I just wish she had been clearer about it.

Even so, I love love love this series.  I read this final installment in one day, staying up til 3am (even though I had already read the book).  I can't wait to read the series again.  They are bonkers and over-the-top, but feel so real to me.  Every time I finish this book, it makes me really sad that I won't get any more.  I'm really looking forward to reading Withering Tights (a new series about Georgia's cousin) and am really (really really really please please) hoping that Georgia and Dave the Laugh and Libby all make cameos.  Heck, I'd take an appearance from Uncle Eddie the baldy-o-gram.

Mischief Managed

I'm probably going to be torn to shreds for this, but I didn't love the last Harry Potter.  Again, I think this movie is only successful because it is Harry Potter.  Honestly, they threw a ton of money at it and stayed reasonably faithful to the books (for those of you who disagree, allow me to clarify by adding "considering they adapted a book of that length into a movie so comparatively short").  It made a ton of money (which is a good way to measure success in Hollywood).  It looks cool, it's fun, but still...

I wasn't on the edge of my seat.  I never once worried that the hero would lose (in a way that had nothing to do with having read the books and knowing the ending).  Yes, harry's journey was hard... but it didn't seem hard ENOUGH.  Voldemort felt kind of lame.  Which is something I never expected.  The whole thing moved too fast for me to feel like there was any character growth (except for Snape and the plot depended on his growth, so they couldn't exactly brush over it).  The balance the previous movies perfected between edge-of-your-seat-action, magical world-building, and laughter was completely gone.  And the epilogue was CREEPY!!

Still... it looked cool.  The fight scenes where Harry pulled Voldemort off the building worked well for transitioning a really simple scene from the book into a visual climax that could satisfy an audience.  The dragon was awesome (and broke my heart), the way Mrs. Weasley disposed of Bellatrix was AWESOME (although I would have loved that scene to have been a little longer/more intense).

Yes, I'm going to see it again.  Yes, I'm going to buy it.  Yes, I plan on watching it with my kids some day.

But I'm still left with the tiniest bit of disappointment.  I expected something EPIC!

And it was just legendary.

Stop in the name of pants!... book nine.  Only one more post after this to convince Bittner to read this series.  What?  I'm a book pusher.  This is going to be a short review because, like I said in my last post, this week is all about my butt in the chair (technically a balance ball), putting words on the screen.  Also, the next paragraph will have spoilers.


This paragraph has spoilers......... As is obvious by now, every book in this series deals Georgia's boyfriend troubles.  In Stop in the name of pants! she has finally landed the Luuurve God, aka the Italian Stallion, aka his real name's not that important (Massimo).  But as always happens to Georgia, once she lands the boy of her dreams, he needs to leave town (this time Italy to see his family) so she is left with awkward phone calls and postcards instead of awkward dates.  Also, she kisses Dave the Laugh.  Again.  Even though he has a really nice girlfriend who is sweet to Georgia.  Spoilers over.


This book has all the things I like about this series (besides all the boyfriend drama): Georgia's mates are crazy (they do a viking dance, complete with paddles and bison horns, at the club), the Titches (little tiny Georgia's so to speak) moon over Dave the Laugh and get into just as much trouble as Georgia, and Wet Lindsay (Head Girl and ex-girlfriend to both the Sex God and the Luurve God) always gets her just desserts.

I start reading these books and can't put them down.  I laugh out loud--which is bad when you're reading at 1am in a really crappy apartment with thin walls and you're probably definitely waking up the neighbors.  But they are fun, I smile the entire time I read except when I'm giggling in girlish delight.  Besides Harry Potter, this is the only series that I can think of that I read over and over again.

Self-discipline

I haven't written about writing very much.  I think that is for a couple reasons.

First, I started querying my novel and I don't think it's appropriate to talk about that process until all is said and done.  That manuscript is in the drawer.  It breaks my heart to put it there, but it is where it needs to be.  Maybe one day I can go back to it.

Second, I haven't had much to say.  I haven't read any books on craft yet this year (although that will hopefully change) and although I did work diligently the first few months, things have kind of slacked off.

And right now as I was sitting at my computer contemplating the pros and cons of writing, Tetris, reading, doing a puzzle, and cleaning my apartment (I was leaning towards Tetris)... I realized that I have lost all self-discipline.

I read books and blogs.  I stream BBC's Sherlock on Netflix (Amazing!).  I jot down ideas on post-its at work and text myself snippets of dialog at the check out.  I think about fixing scenes in my script.  I think about going back to my novel.  I think about the million new ideas floating around my head.  But I don't write.

It all started with putting that manuscript in the drawer.  I knew it needed to be done, but still I resisted.  I said I was over it, I was moving on, I was working on the next project.  But instead I was thinking of ways to fix the first project, desperately holding on to it.

I thought all I needed was time to get over it.  But today I realized that not only have I not been writing, but I have been epicly failing in other areas of my life.  I haven't vacuumed in weeks.  I leave packages sitting in the building's main office for days and days (even though I know it drives them nuts).  I haven't been sleeping.  I haven't been eating healthy.  And I certainly haven't been exercising.

I have completely lost control of my life.  To get it back, I know it's going to start with sitting down and putting words on paper.  Even if they suck.  Allowing myself to fail in trying isn't the same as failing because I've let my life go to ****.

So there are some changes coming.  I'm sure you'll hear about them soon.  But until then.  My butt is in the chair.  And the words are going on the page.  And I have a new self-imposed deadline whose ass I need to kick.

New signature

This is a test post to test my new signature... snazzy, eh?  And I want to see how it looks in Google Reader.  What do you guys think?  Too much?  Just right?

Although, I may do some blog redesign shortly and then I'll need a new signature again (I've also got another version with the kiss smaller...)

Trial By Fire

After reading the first few pages of Trial By Fire, I had a vivid flashback of reading the first novel Raised By Wolves.  I had forgotten how quickly I had gotten sucked in.  How I couldn't put the book down.  How it killed me at the end that I had to wait so long for the sequel.  Within pages of Trial By Fire, I knew I was in for the same experience.

THIS PARAGRAPH WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR RAISED BY WOLVES... if you haven't read that book, stop reading my review and go buy it, check it out from the library, or borrow it from a friend.  Seriously. Go....Raised by Wolves ends with Bryn becoming Alpha (the first human Alpha EVER) of a brand new Were Pack.  Trial By Fire picks up not long after that when a Were shows up at her door begging for help.  He's been tortured and abused, but he's one of Shay's wolves (the Alpha who is the biggest threat to Bryn), has a coven of powerful, were-hating Psychics on his tail (think skills and not crystal balls), and has the heart of one of Bryn's own wolves.  Bryn has to help him, but to do so might risk the safety of her entire pack.

I'm not sure where to start.  There is so much to say, so I'm going to hit the highlights.  First, this is a great example of how to write a second book in a series.  There is a self-contained story here that I think would carry the same emotional intensity even if I hadn't read the first book.  Second, there is definitely a major plot arc that is being advanced.  And it's done perfectly.  I'm left panting for the next installment, but not feeling cheated because Trial by Fire is its own book and not just a bridge to the series conclusion.

Second, the stakes are high.  And I'm not just talking life or death--although there are those stakes as well.  The kinds of decisions that Bryn has to make as Alpha means that if she makes the wrong choice she could lose the love and trust of those who she cares about, of those it is her job to protect.  I was riveted, not only by the plot twists (of which there were many), but by the emotional ramifications that came with each one.

Third, it was very easy to get sucked in to the story, to feel like you're part of the pack, to think as part of the pack.  This meant that there were quite a few twists I didn't see coming because I was thinking right along with the main character.  This so rarely happens.  So, so rarely.  I can not explain how amazing it was to not know more than the main character, to not know less, and to be right on the same page.  Of course, this meant that I got my heart broken at the end, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Part of me wants to comment on the whole romance angle of this book, but I'm not sure what to say.  I love the boy that Bryn is not with, but this book made me love the boy she is with, too.  The romance is not the center of the story--for which I am grateful--but just another piece in a perfectly cut puzzle that I can't wait to finish putting together.  Part of me hopes that this is a trilogy so that this is the last time I will have to wait for the next installment, but the other part hates the idea of reading about Bryn's world ever ending.

Uncommon Criminals

I love this series.  It's so fun and the second insallment, Uncommon Criminals, is no exception.  The Heist Society novels follow Kat, a girl born and raised a thief, who wants to create her own path in life.  The first novel left her with a worthy cause for her skills and now she spends her time stealing priceless artwork stolen by the Nazis and returning it to the rightful owners.  

In Uncommon Criminals, Visily Romani--a sacred pseudonym in the thief world--sends Kat to steal the cursed Cleopatra Emerald.  If it weren't the most guarded stone in the history of the world (and did I mention it's cursed?), there is the more personal matter that Kat's Uncle Eddie--the head of her family and the best thief Kat has ever known--has forbidden anyone from stealing the emerald after his own failed attempt many years before that caused a fallout with his twin brother.  But everything may not be as it appears--Kat is cocky, drunk off all of her successful heists, and really needs to learn that she is not in this life--both personal and professional--alone.

I really, really loved this book.  Yes, it moved fast.  Yes, I always felt one step behind and found myself constantly scrambling to understand what was happening.  Yes, I'm still not totally sure I understand exactly how they pulled it off.  But, that might be my fault for reading so fast.  I couldn't put this book down, except to giggle in glee between chapters and savor the deliciousness that was reading this book.

The twists were perfect.  There is nothing I like better than getting to a point in a book where I have no idea how the writer is going to bring their characters out of a situation that can't possibly get worse.  And then it does.  And then the solution is a stroke of genius that I never thought possible.  There are several of these moments in Carter's book and I loved every single one of them.

The characters were fun, but they were deep.  They had flaws and histories that we are just staring to unravel.  Watching them struggle on an interpersonal level was just as much fun as watching them plan an impossible heist.  Seeing the similarities between Kat's life and struggles and the mistakes made by her uncles was one of my favorite parts.  Kat--already an old soul--grew up a lot in this book.  She learned a lot about how to live as a person and not just a thief.

I'm really looking forward to rereading both Uncommon Criminals and Heist Society and can't wait to see what else is in store for Kat and her crew.

Book Blogger Hop 7/1-7/4

“What keeps you reading beyond the first few pages of a book, and what makes you want to stop reading a book and put it back on the shelf?“

This is a a great question and a hard one to actually answer... so I think I'll use examples.

Books where I was immediately sucked in:
Paper Towns - The opening is about the main character finding a dead guy in the park (among other things... the opening is about quite a lot more, too), but his focus (as it is the whole book) is on the girl who is with him.  If we're being honest, we should care about the dead guy, but most of us are selfish and care about the people we know instead of the people we don't (whether alive or dead).  It's not the sort of thing you admit, but this character does which makes him both interesting and easy to relate to.  Plus, I wanted to know why this girl mattered and who she really was.  (Also... it's John Green and his voice is captivating.  All of the books I have read by him have sucked me in from the beginning.)

Revolution - The emotional intensity of this book is amazing.  I cried within the first few pages, because the main character was alive and her pain so real that I could feel it myself.

Heist Society/Gallagher Girls - They're different series, but I was sucked in to both for the same reason.  The main characters are girls that are easy to relate to.  They are smart and cautious and have secrets... but they are in these fantastic worlds.  One is a thief, one is a spy, but still, from the very first pages I know that if they had been born to a different family, they could have been just like me, or if I was born into different circumstances, I could be just like them.

Books where I was immediately turned off:
The Lost Symbol - The whole thing sounded pretentious from the first word and I couldn't relate to Robert Langdon as a human being the way I could in both Angels & Demons and The DaVinci Code.

Halo - It was immediately clear that the character seemed naive and pure... the few faults she had seemed more like virtues.  I just couldn't relate to her, because she is an impossible human being... unable to exist outside of the pages of her book.

I guess that actually gave me the insight I needed... I'm hooked into a book when I immediately feel emotionally connected to the character enough to care that something is about to happen in their life (or else why would I be reading a book about them?), when they seem so real that it comes as a surprise that I'm reading fiction.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is one of my favorite in this series (I always say that for all of them).  In it, Harry has been entered into a dangerous magical competition that takes his mind off all of the signs pointing towards and his fear that Voldemort is getting stronger.

One of the reasons I love this book is because, even though it is fantasy, it is so easy to relate to.  This time around, I was struck by the fact that Harry and everyone around him worked so hard to do the right thing, to prevent Voldemort's return... but it turned out that all the right choices they were making were the ones that ultimately brought Voldemort back.

I suppose you could think that this isn't a healthy message for a kid's book.  But life IS sometimes like that.  Sometimes you get straight A's and go to college and graduate in the toughest economy we've seen in a while.  Sometimes you tell a story to someone in confidence to help them get through a similar difficult time and they turn your story into gossip.  Life is tough, even if we are making the right choices day in and day out. But as is said TWICE in the final pages of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire... What's coming will come and we'll meet it when it does.

Yes, it works in the story.  But it works in life, too.  This book is terrifying (Harry is in danger of dying almost the entire book) and depressing (the whole backstory on Neville always makes me cry).  Harry survives, but Cedric dies and Voldemort rises.  Even so, JK Rowling leaves us with hope.  We have the confidence that Harry will defeat Voldemort in future books and it is a confidence that can translate to real life.  I never thought much about why I always read this book when I am depressed, but it is because this book ends with the message that many things are outside of our own control, but that we are strong enough to overcome anything.  Sometimes, you need a short little 600-page book to remind you.  At least, I do.

This book counts toward the following Challenges: 100+, Read Me Baby One More Time, and my final book for the Hogwarts Reading Challenge.  I had a blast at the Hogwarts reading challenge.  I came close to completing the tri-wizard tournament, but didn't quite make the points...But since Fleur failed the second task, I'm in good company.  And she's hot and got Bill Weasley, so c'est la vie.

Also... I was going to include a picture of Fleur and Bill, but
1. Bill is way hotter in the books and
2. MAKE SURE YOUR SAFE SEARCH IS ON WHEN SEARCHING FOR "FLEUR AND BILL".  Oh, Lordy.