Fade To Black by Alex Flinn

Reading Level: Young Adult

(4 out of 5)

Fade to Black is told alternately by three voices.

The facts: Alex Crusan is an HIV-positive student, and while he is sitting in his car he is attacked by an unknown assailant wielding a baseball bat. Alex is taken to the hospital with multiple injuries.

The suspect: Clinton Cole was seen by a witness riding his bike around the time and area of the attack. He has harassed Alex at school but he would never do something like that. Would he?

The witness: Daria Bickell never lies. She told the police she saw Clinton do it, so she must be telling the truth. But did she really see Clinton do it?

The victim: After the windshield shattered Alex ducked under the steering wheel. He knows what he saw and must decide what he wants to tell.

I liked this book. The three alternating voices was a nice change in pace and Daria's chapters were done in verse.

Love is Hell by Marr, Westerfeld, Larbalestier, Zevin, and Stolarz

Reading Level: Young Adult

(4 out of 5)

Sometimes I love to read short stories. I like that they are short and to the point. This book has a couple of authors I really like so I had to give it a try. Scott Westerfeld's story Stupid Perfect World was my favorite but they were all good. Gabrielle Zevin's story Fan Fictions was weird even for me and I'm not sure I liked it or not. I'm still rolling it around in my head. The other stories are Sleeping with the Spirit by Laurie Faria Stolarz, Thinner Than Water by Justine Larbalestier, and Love Struck by Melissa Marr.

From the back cover: "In these supernatural stories by five of today's hottest writers love may be twisted and turned around, but it's more potent than ever on its quest to conquer all.

From two students who let the power of attraction guide them to break the hard and fast rules of their world to the girl who falls hard for a good looking ghost with a score to settle, the clever, quirky characters in this exciting collection will break your heart, then leave you believing in love more than ever."

Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Krause

I was walking in the Young Adult section of the library yesterday and I saw this book hanging half off the shelf. I read this book about two years ago. I really liked it even though the ending was not what I was expecting. But sometimes that is a good thing. Then I watched the movie and the ending was the polar opposite of the ending in the book. I loved that. The movie ended the way I thought the book should have ended, so in the end I got the ending I had wanted.


Blood & Chocolate features Vivian Gandillon. She is a werewolf. She falls in love with a human named Aiden. Aiden claims to be fascinated with magic and wolves but will he accept Vivian for who she is? The library owns several copies of the book but unfortunately we don't own the movie. But I highly recommend reading the book first and then watching the movie.

Maverick by Lora Leigh

Reading Level: Adult

(4 out of 5)

Maverick is the second book in the Elite Ops series. The first book is called Wild Card. The Elite Ops team is made up of dead men, men who "died" and restarted their lives with new identities and a score to settle. Micah Sloane was formerly David Abijah. Micah is an Elite Ops agent and his assignment is to keep Risa Clay safe and catch the man who was paid to assassinate her. The same man that had killed his mother and ruined his life. Risa was betrayed eight years ago by her own father and has spent the time since trying to rebuild her life. Micah is posing as her lover but is it really just pretend? Ms. Leigh's books are filled with action, humor, and romance. I can't wait for the next book.

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

Reading Level: Young Adult
(4 out of 5)

City of Glass is the last book in the Mortal Instruments trilogy. I'm very sad that this series is over but on a good note Ms. Clare is writing a prequel so it may not have the same characters but the setting will be similar. This book finds Jace, Clary, Isabelle, Alex, and Simon in Idris the home of the shadow hunters. Clary is on a quest to find a spell to reawaken her mother from a coma and the rest are having to talk to the Clave for past actions in the first two books. Two new characters added are Sebastian and Aline. Sebastian isn't what he seems. This book does not disappoint it is filled with action, forbidden love, and revelations.

Lover Avenged by J.R. Ward

Reading Level: Adult
(4 out of 5)

I love, love, love books but let me tell you one thing I hate about them. I wait what seems like forever for a book to come out and then in a few days I have it read. Which I guess that's a personal problem I have and has nothing to do with the book. Sometimes we have to wait a year before a book is out and I wait with excited anticipation and I try really hard not to rush through the book but sometimes I just can't put it down. I remember when I was reading Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer I really wanted it to last a long time. I knew that the final chapter of the series was coming to a close and I wanted to savor it. But I would sit down to read and before I realized it 100 pages had already flown by and I was getting closer to the end. I guess that's what makes me love/hate a series. I can't wait until the next one but I know sooner or later it has to come to an end.

I didn't discover J.R. Wards fantastic Black Dagger Brotherhood series until about a year ago and what I loved was that five or six books had already been published. I didn't have to wait that long to read the next book and than the next. But of course I finished what was available and I had to wait 10 months for the next one to come out. I read this book in two days. I try so hard to slow down but when I get hooked on a story there is no putting on the brakes. And now I'm crying because who knows when the next in the series will be published. Tell me to stop feeling sorry for myself and move on to the next book. Okay I feel better.

The Black Dagger Brotherhood is a series about vampires. The king is Wrath and him and his brothers (not really related) try to keep their vampire race safe from the lessers. The brothers being Rhage, Thorment, Zsadist, Phury, Butch, and Vicious. The vampires come from the Virgin Scribe and the lessers come from her brother the Omega. The Omega is bad news. He takes men's souls and has them do his bidding, mainly killing the vampires. This book revolves around Rehvenge even though Ms. Ward has other little stories going on at the same time. Rehvenge is a drug lord and owns a notorious nightclub that caters to the rich and heavily armed. He is approached to kill Wrath because of his shadowy reputation. Rehvenge is part Symphath which means he could be exiled if anyone finds out. As the plot thickens within and out of the Brotherhood Rehvenge finds comfort in Ehlena, but will she except him if she were to find out about his secrets.

If you haven't read J.R. Ward and really like vampire romance books please check out her books. I love this series and can't wait to read the next one.

And the Winner Is!!!

Sorry I'm a day late in announcing the winner but yesterday was very busy around the library. Thank you to all that participated and I hope to have another give away really soon.

The winner is:

Dawn said...
A group of us just started a book club and started out with Jodi Picoult's Nineteen Minutes. That was a great book, but not my favorite. I've liked all her books so far but I think The Plain Truth is my favorite one of hers. I also loved The Quickie by James Patterson. Really anything by him. I also love Nicholas Sparks and just finished The Lucky One for our second bookclub book. So many to choose from!

Congratulations Dawn! You can choose a book from the ones I selected or get one from the book sale room.