2-21-09 A Fistful of Charms by Kim Harrison - Fiction

5 - I think this is one of my favorites in this series because we really get to know Jenks, the pixy. He's made big by Rachel to survive the cold spring weather in Michigan. So all his pixy behaviours are more easily observed and create some very funny moments.

2-18-09 Broken Angel by Sigmund Brouwer - Fiction

3 - In the future, Appalachia secedes from the United States and becomes a theocracy. that portion of this story is good. Brouwer makes that world believable. The actual story though, eh. I figured out what the plot twist was very early on and spent most of the book waiting for the main character to catch on. A father has made plans for his daughter to escape to the outside so she can have surgery to remove her deformity and can live outside of the theocracy that would stone her for it. Blah, blah, blah, he's captured and she has to go on alone following the instructions he's left for her. She knows she's different and that she has to hide it but she doesn't know why. Blah, blah, blah, they're reunited and she escapes. The end. There, now you don't have to read it.

2-17-09 Every Which Way but Dead by Kim Harrison - Fiction

5 - Harrison keeps this series going strong. Each book lets you learn a little more about the characters and, believe me, there is still more to learn. And the reader meets new characters or has more revealed about someone you thought might be a side character but ends up being pulled into the mix. I think that's the strength of these books; you really want to know more about everyone.

2-15-09 The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart - Fiction

4 - A twist on the standard coming-of-age novel. Frankie Landau-Banks is a girl who's different. Not because she's ugly or comes from a bad background or is mentally challenged. She sees the men's world of exclusivity and brotherhood and wants in. Not by being a supportive girlfriend, but by taking charge. She's very intelligent, creative, and ambitious. She knows she won't just be accepted into the Old Boys club so she finds a way to insert herself. She discovers at 15 that, although looking good and going along is the path she's meant to take, she can't make herself submit and instead looks to find the off-road other option that will get her where she wants to be. An excellent read for young girls who are a little different and don't want to be known as just "the girlfriend."

2-14-09 Redemption by Lee Jackson - Fiction

5 - This is a scary book in the same sense that 1984, Brave New World, and Fahrenheit 451 are scary. Redemption is worse because it's set on the knife edge of today's world. The United States has cracked down on statewide terrorism hard and Homeland Security really runs the show. Ben Trinity, a man caught in this net, only wants to make it to the next day, not make waves. Through circumstance he ends up in the remote town of Redemption, Montana and the town is never quite the same. Jackson has written a terrifying and engrossing story about where we as a nation could be headed with just a single breath of wind to push us off that knife edge.

2-11-09 The Good, The Bad, and The Undead by Kim Harrison - Fiction

5 - Rachel Morgan just can't keep herself out of trouble. Which is why these books are so fun! She's working as a consultant for the FIB, the human police force, and is constantly faced with the fear of the misunderstood. But she, Ivy, and Jenks work to make a convert of Glenn, Edden's son, who is the new Inderland liaison at the FIB. They are tracking a witch killer this time and Rachel ends up right in the thick of things. As usual.

2-9-09 Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison - Fiction

5 - I love this series of books. Rachel Morgan is a witch with a wry and sarcastic sense of humor who has a price on her head. She lives in a church with a living vampire and a pixie family lives in the garden. She's trying to bring down one of the most prominent citizens of the city with a link to biodrugs. And this is just the first book!

2-6-09 The Fortune Cookie Chronicles by Jennifer 8. Lee - Non-Fiction

5 - I loved this. It starts out in 2005 when there were 110 second place winners in the Powerball lottery. The got their winning numbers from a fortune cookie. Lee begins her quest to visit all the Chinese restaurants that sold the winning cookies but ends up taking the reader on a journey that includes Chop Suey, soy sauce, and American Chinese food abroad. She's very informative and follows the stories and legends of how certain dishes and treats came to be with a fascinating thoroughness. This is an enjoyable read for any foodie.

2-1-09 Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause - Fiction

4 - This was another case of seen the movie but hadn't read the book. The movie kept the character names and the fact that there are werewolves, but that was it. The book deals more with wanting what you can't have but maybe it's not what you really want after all. The pack is in almost total disarray and Vivian is trying to find her place in her pack and in the human world. And then she wins the fight that makes her head bitch in the pack. But she doesn't want it, does she?

Sorry for the delay

I was a little distracted this weekend. I'll be updating with last week's reads tonight.

2-1-09 Black by Ted Dekker - Fiction

3 - The first in a trilogy, Black has an interesting premise, a man who lives in two worlds that are linked by events simultaneously, but it took a lot for me to finish it. I don't know if it was the writing or the pacing of the story, but it really didn't hold my interest. I just forced myself to finish it so I could move on to the next book in my ever expanding pile. I'm not sure if I'll continue this series or not.

1-27-09 The Neverending Story by Michael Ende - Fiction

5 - I've seen the movie numerous times but I had never read the book. I can say that the movie follows the book extremely well, except the movie is only the first third of the book. Bastian's story continues with his wishes recreating the world of Fantastica. He learns much about himself and his place in his world. The adventures he has in Fantastica are as incredible as Atreyu's and the world Ende created is absorbing. The book is as addictive to the reader as 'The Neverending Story' is to Bastian.