Shade and Shift by Jeri Smith-Ready

Reading Level: Young Adult
(4 out of 5)

Aura has something special planned for her boyfriend's birthday's but before she can give it to him he dies. He's gone, well sort of. Lie everyone born after the Shift, Aura can see and talk to ghosts. This mysterious ability had always been annoying, and Aura had wanted nothing more than to figure out why the Shift happened so she could undo it. But not with Logan's violet-hued spirit still hanging around. Dead Logan is almost as real as alive Logan used to be. Almost.

It doesn't help that Aura's new friend Zachary is so understanding and so very alive. His support means more to Aura than she cares to admit. As Aura's relationships with the dead and the living grow ever complicated, so do her feelings for Logan and Zachary. Each holds a piece of Aura's heart and clues to the secret of the Shift.


Reading Level: Young Adult
(4 out of 5)

Trying to move on after a loved one dies is hard enough but how do you move on when the one that died hasn't moved on. At the end of Shade Logan tries to move on and ends up becoming a Shade. A shade is a spirit that turns dark. Shift starts up with Aura trying to bring Logan back into being a spirit. Which she succeeds. Aura has to face facts. Logan is dead. It's hard having a ghost boyfriend. She's torn between moving on with Zachary and still helping Logan to move on from this world.

This was a great sequel. You learn a lot more to do with the Shift and Aura's mom. I had boy whiplash for a little while though when Dylan got thrown into the mix. I could actually see Aura with him. I'm very fickle at times. Zach shouldn't have went to prom with someone else. But I'm glad she got back on track with Zach.

The third book Shine comes out next May. I can't wait!

One Fifth Avenue by Candace Bushnell

Reading Level: Adult

This is the first book I've ever read by acclaimed author Candace Bushnell. I
knew that she wrote "Sex and the City," and of course knew about the television
series and the movies, but never found them very interesting. This book, on the
other hand, is a revelation to me.

The premise of the book is that there is a magical building, One Fifth Avenue,
and how the lives of the tenants there are interwoven, even if they don't like each
other very much. In that way, it follows in the traditions of great American books
like Winesburg, Ohio, and Peyton Place. The residents of this actual historical
edifice in New York City, however, are fresh and fascinating. The building
contains matrons of NY society, as well as seductive social climbers, which
makes the read a scintillating mix of sex and social studies.

The main characters include Mrs. Louise Houghton, who I suppose is modeled
on Mrs. Brooke Astor, as she is an ancient lady with the best apartment (3
stories, including a ballroom) in the building. As such, her place is the envy of the
other tenants, which include her good friend Enid Merle (a gossip columnist), her
nephew Philip OaKland (a screenwriter), and his far-too-young-for-him
researcher/girlfriend Lola Fabrikant, who is pushing for a marriage proposal since
her parents have lost all their money trying to keep her in the lifestyle to which
she wants to become accustomed. Also a resident is famous actress Schiffer
Diamond, who is an old flame of Philips, and who is far more human (and age
appropriate for him) than his new squeeze. Mrs. Houghton's death sets off a
chain reaction that brings in new tenants, Paul and Annalisa Rice, who are
hedge-fund billionaires, just the type who think that their money (even though it's
new) can buy them anything they want. Because of his endless resources and
arrogance, Paul makes an enemy of the head of the condo association, Mindy
Gooch, whose husband James is also a writer, but one who hasn't produced
much in the past few years, which relegates them to living in what was once the
building's luggage storage rooms. Class struggles among the super rich? You betcha.

There are twists and turns, some expected, some bizarre, and characters who
are unforgettably well drawn. This is the kind of book you stay up later than your
bedtime reading, just so you can see what happens next to the people you love,
and the one's you hate. Whether or not you like New York, this book is a
rollicking good time, filled with pithy one-liners that you'll want to write down so
you can reuse them at your next social gathering. Worth every minute spent
reading it. .. Can't wait to read more by Bushnell.

Submitted by Gerti

Storm Front by Jim Butcher

Reading Level: Adult
(4 out of 5)

My husband has been badgering me to read this series for months now. He listened to all but the last one on audio CD and loved them. He said that James Marsters rocked as the narrator for the first eleven books. The twelfth book will be read by the guy who played Lex Luther's dad on Smallville. I only know this because my husband tells me.

I dragged my feet not because I didn't think I would like Mr. Butcher's Dresden Files books but because I thought that I would. I didn't want to get sucked into another series. It's too late now. I have been sucked in. Even though I don't have to wait for book two to be published I have to wait for it to be returned to the library. I'm waiting eagerly. It gives my husband and I something to talk about.

I enjoyed the TV show but they are different. I think I like them equally. I like Bianca in the TV show better than I do in the book so far.

Anyway in Storm Front you meet Harry Dresden. He is a wizard. That is how he makes his living. He doesn't do parties but he will help you find your missing keys. He works with the police on occasion as a special consultant for the cases that are weird. You can't help but like Harry. He has a sense of humor. I like that in a man. Not ten pages into the story he gets called in to consult for a double homicide. Jennifer Stanton and Tommy Tomm's hearts exploded right out of their bodies. It takes a whole lot of dark magic to accomplish that. When Harry starts sticking his nose where it doesn't belong bad stuff starts happening to him. I think the the quote on the book explains it the best, "Magic and wizardry meet hard-boiled detective fiction...a whole lot of fun."-SF Site.

A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young

Reading Level: Young Adult
(4 out of 5)

From a young age Charlotte has felt a need to help people. Not just an ordinary I need to feed the children but an overpowering need that takes over her body and overcomes her until she helps someone, usually a stranger. As she gets older the need is growing. It used to only come once in a while now it is coming on once every few days. If she tries to fight it the pain she feels is unbearable. Her best friend thinks she is physic while her boyfriend thinks she is cheating on him. But Charlotte soon finds out she is an Angel. One of the Forgotten that is on earth to help people until her time is up and she returns to where she came from.

Charlotte as much as she likes helping people she doesn't want to be forgotten by the people who love her. She doesn't want to leave the people who love her. She has a choice. Either stay on the path of good or choose a darker path.

The second book to this series called A Want So Wicked will be out sometime next year. Just another book to add to my list of many that I'm looking forward to.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Reading Level: Adult
(4 out of 5)

Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.

Skeeter is home from college and ready to start a career as a writer but it's 1962 in Jackson Mississippi and her mother won't be happy until a ring is on her finger. The one person Skeeter would find solace in, her maid Constantine, is gone. No one will tell her where she went.

Aibileen is a maid for Skeeter's best friend Elizabeth and she is raising her seventeenth white child. Since the death of her own beloved son a bitter seed has grown inside her. She loves the little girl she is raising but she knows that both of their hearts might get broken.

Then there is Minny. Minny is one of the finest cooks in Mississippi but she has a sharp tongue and can't hold a job. She's been fired from as many jobs as babies Aibileen has raised . When she gets let go from yet another job she gets hired by a women so new to the town she doesn't know Minny well enough to know her reputation. Minny's new employer has secrets of her own.

When Skeeter decides to write a book about the Help she goes to Aibileen first. Aibileen agrees after refusing a few times but she wants her story to be heard and then later Minny agrees as well. Farther down the road several other maids come forward as well. At that time during that climate it was very brave of them to come forward and share their stories. Many of them were heartwarming and not unpleasant. Skeeter's friend Hilly was quite unpleasant. I didn't like her very much. People let her have too much power over them and should have stood up to her. Hilly and I would not have been friends.

This book made me laugh, tear up, and really made me think. It was a fantastic read. The only thing that would have made it better was if I would have gotten a little more closure with the characters. I'm looking forward to seeing the movie.

Wither by Lauren Destefano

Reading Level: Young Adult
(4 out of 5)

This is the first book in the Chemical Garden Trilogy. The second book called Fever will be out in February.

Imagine a world without cancer and other diseases. But then imagine a world where girls only live until the age of 20 and boys until the age of 25. In Wither the world is a different place then the one we live in now. Cancer has been cured but then it was discovered down the road when children started dying in their twenties that something went terrible wrong along the way.

Due to this young girls are being kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out. Rhine Ellery is sixteen and living with her twin brother when she is taken by the Gatherers and becomes one of three brides to Linden. Even though she has entered a world of wealth and privilege and her husband seems to love her she wants out. She wants to go back to be with her brother and she wants her freedom. To get her freedom she has to contend with her father-in-law who is an eccentric man bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant she is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limited time she has left.

This was an interesting read. I don't think I would like knowing I when I was going to die. I know one day I'm going to die but not when. Rhine knows that in four years she will die no matter what. I wouldn't want to have a child that I wouldn't get to raise. The children in this book don't have a childhood. How can they when their lifespan is so short. I'm curious as to see what else is in store for Rhine. This book makes you think.

"The Boleyn Inheritance" by Philippa Gregory

This is the third book I've read from the awesomely talented writer Philippa
Gregory, and it is one of her best, as well as one of the best I have read all year
from anyone writing in the historical fiction genre. Since the Tudor period is of
particular interest to me, I have read her book "The Other Boleyn Girl," about
Mary Boleyn, Henry VIII's mistress before he married, and later beheaded her
more ambitious sister Anne. I have also spent much of the summer reading
through several Karen Harper books, which also cover life in England during the
reign of the Tudors.

That said, this book is brilliant because it deals with the lives of three women who
all have a piece of "The Boleyn Inheritance". The three women in question are
Jane Boleyn, Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard, two of whom end up dead
by the end of the book.

First there is Jane Boleyn, the wife of Anne Boleyn's beloved brother George,
who is killed along with Henry's 2^nd wife after they are accused of adultery, incest
and treason. Jane really inherits George's title, which was Lord Rochford, so she
remains Lady Rochford throughout the book. She also gets to keep the Boleyn
family lands and house because she testified against him and his sister, the
Queen, in their trial. Throughout the book, Jane is tortured by her testimony
against her sister-in-law and husband. Still, she is led in her current course of
action at the King's court by the Duke of Norfolk, Anne Boleyn's powerful uncle,
the man who helped make her queen, and also was a judge at her trial in order to
save his own skin.

Then there is the Queen to follow Anne Boleyn to the throne - Anne of Cleves,
"the Flanders mare" who was forced into marriage with Henry VIII by her duty to
country (which wants to make a political connection with England), as well as her
desire to escape an unendurable situation at home, where her brother takes his
many frustrations out on her. Unlike the first Queen Anne who married the king
while he was still in his prime, this Anne fs in the unenviable position of marrying
the overweight and ailing old king. Anne of Cleves Boleyn inheritance is that
Anne Boleyn, through her desire to be Queen instead of Henry's first wife, has
taught the king that he is the most powerful man in the kingdom, and his whim is
law. As a result, he marries Anne of Cleves, but then protests that their marriage
is illegal, and declares her to be his sister, an action which convinces this Anne
that Henry VIII is not only all-powerful, but also a complete madman.

Lucky for her, one of her maids-in-waiting is the nubile Katherine Howard, the third person who receives an inheritance from Anne Boleyn whom Gregory shows us through these biographical vignettes. Even while Anne of Cleves sits beside Henry on the throne of England, the old king makes his plans to divorce Anne and marry Katherine, who makes him feel young again. Anne constantly fears for her life, but it is Katherine who falls into Henry's deadly trap, and Gregory portrays her as the greedy and stupid little teenager she may well have been. A mere puppet to the ambitions of her Uncle, the Duke of Norfolk, and her cousin, Jane Boleyn, Katherine agrees to marry the king for gowns and jewels. Her family members want her to be queen so they can come back to the power position they occupied when grasping Anne Boleyn was Queen. Katherine's "Boleyn Inheritance" is not only the throne, which she occupies for a very short time, but also the scaffold, where like her cousin Anne Boleyn, she dies at Henry's whim. In this novelization of historical fact, it was fascinating to hear the story behind several Tudor queens who rise and fall in the glittering but dangerous court of Henry VIII. His son Edward, and daughters Mary and Elizabeth play only a small part in the story, but all are portrayed sympathetically, more as chess pieces than people in the elaborate game their father Henry VIII plays.

In summary, this is a book that should be read by everyone interested in Tudor history, especially that of Henry's 4th and 5^th wives, Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard, about whom less is know than his other wives. At over 700 pages (large print edition), it should have seemed long, but it didn't. Gregory's portrayal of the 3 women is so rich with psychological depth, and her writing so brilliant, as she changes the voice with each narrator, that it was a pleasure to read almost every word. A truly magnificent work by a truly brilliant writer.

Submitted by Gerti