Betrayed by PC and Kristin Cast

Book Two in the House of Night Series

    PC and Kristin are a mother-daughter writing team. PC (Mom) is also a teacher.  That alone is pretty cool.   The book picks up speedily where Marked left off.  Zoey continues to be a great character with a lot of compassion.  I found her love live a bit far-fetched, but then again I suppose part of that is because she is kind of a big deal in her world.
     This book had more surprises than the first.  I enjoy a book that surprises me, so this one I really enjoyed.  I will continue the series; as will you if you of read this one.  You will be unable to let the mystery rest, and the Casts didn't solve it all in book two.
      Well done ladies, well done.

Marked by PC and Kristin Cast

Book One in the House of Night Series

    Brace yourself, I read another vampire novel. It has been awhile, but evidently the genre is still going strong.  This one had a great cover, so I gave it a shot. Yes, I judged a book by its cover.   You should try it some time.
     Anyway, it was actually pretty good.  I really, really liked our heroine Zoey.  The voice of the story is great and the slight differences between Zoey and your typical vampire novel heroine were refreshing.  She is strong and independent, she is stubborn but caring, she's a lovable freak (even in the vampire world).  I found myself liking Zoey so much that I even enjoyed the rather cliche novel. In fact,  I immediately bought and read the second one.
      Three smiles, mostly for the great characters.

Girls in Pants; the Third Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares

    Let's pretend for a second that I actually believe the premise (from book one) that all four of these vastly different teenage girls fit into the same pair of jeans. Forget that jeans can be an incredibly unforgiving material. Forget that teenage girls come in all shapes and sizes (including these four, by the way). Even though I can pretend to go along with in and enjoy book one-which I did-I cannot even suspend my belief to this third book. These four girls are STILL fitting in the same pair of (unwashed...ew) jeans two summers later? If I had dragged out a pair of jeans from my Sophomore year of high school and attempted to put them on the summer before college they would have been about six inches too short. Ann Brashares would like us to believe NONE of these growing girls got taller or fatter in two years? Really?
     I tried to ignore this and enjoy sad Tibby, angry Carmen, lovesick Lena, and too-big-for-her-britches Bridget. For some reason in this book, every time they mentioned the pants I cringed. They won't fit her, and she will feel so fat. Sadly, that never happened. The constant waiting for that realism to pop up ruined the story for me though.  Too bad, it had potential.
    I can say that I still like the girls and I like how they have grown (obviously it must be only emotional growth). The girls themselves pushed this to two smiles. If you liked book 1 and 2 you might as well finish the series.

Cross my Heart by James Patterson

Every once in awhile I remind my friends and family that I am absolutely crazy.  For example, how did I celebrate the 21st book in my favorite series?  By rereading the entire series in order before allowing myself to read the newest, of course!

Let me tell non-Alex Cross readers a bit about the series before I launch into my diatribe about the newest book.

• There are 21 amazing titles in this series
• They do NOT need to be read in order
• The series follows Alex Cross, a detective from Washington DC who tackles insanely creepy homicide cases
• Roses are Red is still my ABSOLUTE favorite book....like, EVER
• You will lose sleep worrying about crazy bad guys like the Mastermind
• Alex Cross is someone you can learn about family from
• Nana Mama is someone you can learn parenting from
• Alex Cross' Trial takes a break from Alex and his family to give us an utterly amazing account of the mistreatment of people in the South after the Civil War

When I was younger and reading this series for the first time, I clearly remember honestly believing the series would end on Violets are Blue.  I remember telling anyone who would listen that this made logical sense for many reasons, including the fact that it was the first title James Patterson had split (Roses are Red preceded Violets are Blue).  All these years-and titles-later, I believe I was right about the theory but a little early.  

Enter Cross my Heart.  This book was the most intense in the series in a long time.  I say this as the person who literally just read them one right after another like someone who needed to read the words on the page to survive.  Cross my Heart took Alex somewhere we only worried he would have to go in the deepest recesses of our minds.  Alex becomes so real to the readers during this series that you feel the pain and desperation of the leading man when the book takes a terrible turn.  

It is my new opinion, sad as I am to imagine it, that Mr. Patterson will pen ONE more Alex Cross novel.  It would be fitting for this book to be titled Hope to Die, as rumors are hinting at.  It would be fitting for this novel to have a bittersweet ending.  As someone who is not ready to let Alex go-I'm certainly not ready to let it end the way Cross my Heart ended.  

So, until the next novel I not-so-patiently sit waiting for news and worrying about the Cross family.  

Witch and Wizard: The Kiss by James Patterson

I thought this series was finished and neatly wrapped up with the downfall of the evil dictator ruling this dystopian government.  In typical not-what-you-expect-from-him fashion, Mr. Patterson proved me wrong.  This book was an interesting way to go.  What happens after the overthrow of an evil ruler?  Will the new government be better than the last?  What if the people fall into their old patterns?

Whit and Wisty grow apart a bit in this novel, as siblings inevitably do.  Old characters make a comeback and some new ones add drama.  We explore the idea that a witch and wizard set to save the world may have been a different set of kids than we thought.

For writing the dystopian conclusion that needed to be written, for taking his series one step further than anyone else is taking similar books to, for surprising me with the new installment, for all those reasons and more this one is highly recommended.

Hold me Closer Necromancer by Lish McBride

Title aside (I could not stop humming "hold me closer tiny dancer" for about five minutes after mentioning the title to someone or reading it to myself) this was a GREAT book!

A teen sci-fi drama that literally defined the term necromancer-one who raises the dead-for most people this book was high action, interesting, and absolutely hilarious.  If you read only one book this year, I suggest this one.

I also should mention there is at least one sequel floating around out there.