New Year's Follow Friday

 Here's an Irish New Year's Blessing:


May the Best thing that happened to you in 2010 be the Worst thing that happens to you in 2011!

This week's Follow Friday question is:

What are your New Years book blogging resolutions?

1. Review more!  I read a lot of books, so far I've read about 224 books (although a few in this list are really novellas), but I didn't even review half of them.  I am fail with reviews.  Part of the reason is that I don't feel I review as often as I should is that I'm still not happy with my review style... but how do I get better if not through review writing?  So more writing, less worry over if the review is the best it could be.  My style will improve through the act of reviewing more... right?

2. Comment more!  I love seeing comments on my site, which are fairly low considering the amount of followers I have... but I digress.  I read so many posts in my Google Reader every day, but I need to make more of an effort to leave thoughtful comments.  I will comment at least 5 times a day, more if I skip a day due to work.  I will not be afraid just to tell someone that I love their post or review.  I don't always have to leave a huge, long comment, but I do need to let a blogger know when I've enjoyed a post they've probably worked hard to produce. 

3. Trick out my blog!  I love my blog design, but I need to learn how to dress it up.  I want to add pages to my blog, so I can keep track of my reviews, my challenges, any giveaways I host, and memes.  There are several bloggers whom I follow that often give out advice and I've already learned so much this last year, so I just need to not be afraid to ask my questions.

4. Twitter more!  I have a twitter account just for this blog.  I use it mainly to tweet during readathons and other events, so when I do occasionally get on  just for casual use I don't feel as part of the book blogging community as I would like to. 

5. Meet authors!  I need to go to book signings, even if they're authors I haven't yet heard of.  I really want to go to more book events as well- like BEA and the Baltimore Book Expo, since that's the closest big event to me.  Or I can visit my friend Bittner in OK, and run down to some of the Texas events. 

6. Complete challenges!  I signed up for a lot of challenges, which I'm doing for many different reasons.  Some of my challenges are ones that fit with my reading habits, others are there to encourage me to not get into reading ruts, and others to force me to put time and effort into my blog. 

7. Be more active in the blogging community! There are so many wonderful bloggers and sites out there, and I'm not even sure if they know how much I look forward to their posts.  So, commenting, tweeting and challenges are all part of this resolution, but I'm also starting to join ARC and book tours... which reminds me, I have to run to the post office and mail off Bright Young Things!

So, book lovers, have a Happy New Years!  Be safe, drink to the health of our favorite authors, and remember that the cure for a hangover is a good book! :)

Bright Young Things Review

 From Goodreads:

The year is 1929. New York is ruled by the Bright Young Things: flappers and socialites seeking thrills and chasing dreams in the anything-goes era of the Roaring Twenties. Letty Larkspur and Cordelia Grey escaped their small Midwestern town for New York's glittering metropolis. All Letty wants is to see her name in lights, but she quickly discovers Manhattan is filled with pretty girls who will do anything to be a star… Cordelia is searching for the father she's never known, a man as infamous for his wild parties as he is for his shadowy schemes. Overnight, she enters a world more thrilling and glamorous than she ever could have imagined—and more dangerous. It's a life anyone would kill for . . . and someone will. The only person Cordelia can trust is Astrid Donal, a flapper who seems to have it all: money, looks, and the love of Cordelia's brother, Charlie. But Astrid's perfect veneer hides a score of family secrets. Across the vast lawns of Long Island, in the illicit speakeasies of Manhattan, and on the blindingly lit stages of Broadway, the three girls' fortunes will rise and fall—together and apart. From the New York Times bestselling author of The Luxe comes an epic new series set in the dizzying last summer of the Jazz Age

 The Roaring Twenties comes to life on the pages of Anna Godbersen's book, Bright Young Things.  I was excited to read this book simple because I realize that so few books are set in this era.  I've always loved the fashion of this era, and I even own a cloche hat.  My fears that the novel would be all glitter and flash and no soul were soon laid to rest.  The characters were fully realized and their struggles, victories and everything in between had me captivated the entire time. 

The story follows Cordelia and Letty as they escape Ohio to the streets of New York, Letty with dreams of being a starlet, and Cordelia with even bigger dreams of finding her lost father.  The story also follows Astrid, wealthy and restless, who soon crosses paths with Cordelia.  The fashion and music of the era, from the speakeasies to fabulous parties thrown during Prohibition set the stage for drama and heartbreak.

Cordelia Grey, the character I least connected with at first, proved to be a strong willed, impulsive and self-confident young woman.  Although I didn't always agree with her actions, I was always impressed with her daring.  Letty and Astrid won my heart at first meeting, Charlie took many, many pages before he even made a dent into my affections.  But they are all there now.  Letty, with her innocence and talent, was the easiest for me to relate to... okay, maybe not the talent part, but while I might long to be as strong willed as a Cordelia, I'm more apt to be a little too trusting and caring, like Letty.  I have nothing in common with Astrid, the only one of the main characters born to wealth and privilege, but it was hard not to like her because even though she comes across as shallow at times, she has a sweet heart.  

When I read the book I didn't realize that there was going to be sequel, but it's only book 1 in a series.  I hope to find what became of John, the boy Cordelia leaves behind in Ohio, and of course I want to know more about Good Egg, the tossed out greyhound that Letty and Grady saved from a cruel owner.  And although I don't want to give away any spoilers, there is one character I can't wait to see brought to justice (or rather, just punishment) for his betrayal and crimes. 

Bright Young Things gets a Midnight Book Rating of 11:30pm, and I plan on checking out Godbersen's other novels as soon as possible.



** I received Bright Young Things through Just Another Book Blog.

Out With A Bang Readathon!

I'm on a book reading binge, and I'm not going to stop!  Here's what I plan to finish in the next 3 days:

Kate's currently-reading book montage

Kate's favorite books »

And here's some books I hope to get to (may change):

Kate's to-read book montage

Kate's favorite books »

Before Midnight Review

I love fairy tales.  I always have, and I can't imagine that will ever change.  I love fairy tales in movie, book, art and music form.  I'm just a fan.  I think it comes from my childhood crushes on Peter Pan and the handsome Prince from Sleeping Beauty.  Yes, I am aware that I had my earliest crushes on cartoon drawings, and no, I'm not aware of the long lasting damage that it may have had on my psyche, but I'm sure it has. 

In 2010 it came to my attention that many authors were as obsessed by fairy tales as I was.  I read Beastly by Alex Finn and quite enjoyed it, and it opened up the door to all sorts of re-imagined fairy tales.  For those of you new to my blog and thus unaware of my inability to stay off of the Library Police's Most Wanted List, I instead borrow my books Netflix style through BookSwim.  Like Netflix, your books ship not necessarily in the order you have listed, but in the order that they come available.  And I just add at will, and rarely pay attention to the order anyway.  I do get to guarantee a book per shipment, but the other two slots are a crap shoot, but somehow they almost always come in at the right time.  

So I was excited to see Before Midnight by Cameron Dokey in my book package.  And I devoured the book last night.  It's a lovely, well-written tale of Cinderella.  There were some twists in the end that I figured out beforehand, but it did not take away from my delight in the novel.  It's a short read, under 200 pages, but I think I would have finished it in one sitting even if it had been 400 pages.

From Goodreads:

Etienne de Brabant is brokenhearted. His wife has died in childbirth, leaving him alone with an infant daughter he cannot bear to name. But before he abandons her for king and court, he brings a second child to be raised alongside her, a boy whose identity he does not reveal.




Before Midnight gets a Midnight Book Rating of Midnight, it was magical and wonderful and if you love fairy tales than you must read this book!

Deadly Little Review

I recently read Deadly Little Lies, the sequel to Deadly Little Secret by Laurie Faria Stolarz, books 1 and 2 in the Touch series. 

From Goodreads:
 Some secrets shouldn't be kept... Up until three months ago, everything in sixteen-year-old Camelia's life had been fairly ordinary: decent grades; an okay relationship with her parents; and a pretty cool part-time job at the art studio downtown. But when Ben, the mysterious new guy, starts junior year at her high school, Camelia's life becomes anything but ordinary.
Rumored to be somehow responsible for his ex-girlfriend's accidental death, Ben is immediately ostracized by everyone on campus. Except for Camelia. She's reluctant to believe the rumors, even when her friends try to convince her otherwise. She's inexplicably drawn to Ben...and to his touch. But soon, Camelia is receiving eerie phone calls and strange packages with threatening notes. Ben insists she is in danger, and that he can help--but can he be trusted? She knows he's hiding something... but he's not the only one with a secret.
From the best-selling author of Blue is for Nightmares comes a story of paranormal romance that's sure to be a thrilling and chilling teen favorite.

 From Goodreads:
Last fall, sixteen-year-old Camelia fell for Ben, the mysterious new boy at school who turned out to have a very mysterious gift--pyschometry, the ability to sense the future through touch. But just as Camelia and Ben's romance began to heat up, he abruptly left town. Brokenhearted, Camelia has spent the last few months studying everything she can about psychometry, and experiencing her own strange brushes with premonition. Camelia wonders if Ben's abilities have somehow rubbed off on her. Can the power of psychometry be transferred? Even once Ben returns to school, Camelia can't get close enough to share her secret with him. Despite the romantic tension between them, Ben remains aloof, avoiding contact. Then when an unexpected kiss leads to a frightening argument, Camelia makes the painful decision to let Ben go and move on. Adam, the hot new guy at work, seems good for her in ways Ben wasn't. Adam is easygoing, and seems to really care about her. But when Camelia and Adam start dating, a surprising love triangle results. A chilling sequence of events upturns secrets from Ben's past--and Adam's. Someone is lying, and it-s up to Camelia to figure out who-before it-s too late.

My Thoughts:

I read the first book in the Touch series several months ago, and while I enjoyed it I had a hard time remembering more than just the basic storyline.  When I picked up Deadly Little Lies it took me awhile to climb back into the world of Camelia and Ben, and I was distracted a bit by the similarities to many other YA series. First off, Camelia's two best friends could be the two best friends out of almost any and every YA book I've read recently- the silly, slightly air-headed and almost certainly boy crazy girl friend, and the awesome, witty, sometimes in the closet gay male friend.  Why YA heroines can't ever have lesbian friends or straight male friends not in love with them, I do not know.   And then there are the distracted parents, who care but are far too caught up in their own drama.


But there is enough differences to set the Touch novels apart.  First, Ben has a wonderful and unusual gift that does not require him to shape shift or sparkle in the sun. (His gift is very similar to that of Michael's in The Witching Hour by Anne Rice, which I adore and recommend to anyone, but please  feel free to skip the craptasic sequels) And while Camelia is attracted to Ben she is quite able to function without him.  And yes, her parents are too caught up in their drama to miss how often their daughter is stalked by some freak, but in the second novel their drama and Camelia's drama are beginning to connect (tell me you're not dying to find out more about the suicidal Aunt!).  I do however get tired of Ben and his hot and cold routine.  I just long to lock him and Camelia in a room and make them talk for hours and hours.    


It turns out I finished the second novel just in time, as the third one just came out: 

Deadly Little Games

Are these some pretty covers or what? 


I do plan to continue with the series, and I would recommend to any YA fan out there, especially if you like a little paranormal thrown into the mix.  


Deadly Little Secret and Deadly Little Lies gets a Midnight Book Rating of 10:30 pm.  Great, fast reads, although you may want to slap some of the characters time to time (I'm talking about you, Ben, and Camelia's parental units).

Book Title Sentence

I love this type of challenge!  It was sadly missing from Dewey's 24 hour readathon this year, but thanks to Holiday Break Reading Challenge I get to attempt to create a sentence using book titles.  So here's my entry:

The Good Fairies of New York Loop Garden Spells Into The Dark.

I resisted the urge to use my Kindle books because I really wanted to take a picture. :) 

2010 Books

Here's my End of 2010 Survey from The Perpetual Page Turner. 

1. Best book of 2010?  I can't pick just one! In fact one that I really loved, Delirium by Lauren Oliver, won't even be officially published until 2011.  My top books read this year are Under the Dome and Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King, Fire by Kristan Cashore, Spooky Little Girl by Laurie Notaro, I Am Not A Serial Killer by Dan Wells, The Passage by Justin Cronin, Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Horns by Joe Hill, and One Day by David Nicholls.  Now if a gun was held to my head and I was forced to pick just one book... I'd go with Delirium.

2. Worst book of 2010? The worst book I read was Need by Carrie Jones.  I was underwhelmed by the main character, despite her interest in unusual phobias.  Normally I will read any series I start, but I have no wish to continue with this series. I also quit the House Of Night series by P.C. and Kristen Cast, I just got really bored with the series and yet another main character who seems irresistible to every male that comes into her orbit.  But keep in mind these are both YA novels and I'm 33.

3. Most Disappointing Book of 2010? I'm going with The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.  I was under the impression that this was a life changing book.  But it was just an okay parable filled with extreme obviousness. 

4. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2010? Peeps by Scott Westerfeld, just when I was beginning to think I was over vampires, Peeps brought a refreshing view to YA teen vamps!  Plus, it's nice to read YA from a male perspective. 

5. Book you recommended to people most in 2010? I gave Spooky Little Girl to several people as gifts, because it really made me laugh and I'm a huge, obsessive, but too lazy to stalk, fan of Laurie Notaro.  Speak was the book I recommended during Banned Book week, and I'm so glad I finally read it. 

6. Best series you discovered in 2010?  The Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich, it's just a funny series.  Series I continued to love in 2010 were the Hunger Games and Odd Thomas series.

7. Favorite new authors you discovered in 2010? Janet Evanovich, Lauren Oliver, Joe Hill and Lisa Gardner

8. Most hilarious read of 2010?  Again I'll have to go with Spooky Little Girl by Laurie Notaro.

9. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2010?  Mockingjay by Suzanne Colliins, I just had to know how it was going to end!

10. Book you most anticipated in 2010?  Mockingjay and Full Dark, No Stars.  Loved them both!

11. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2010? Oh, tough one.  One of my favorites off the top of my head was Fallen by Lauren Kate (although the story did not live up to the hype for me):

12. Most memorable character in 2010? Wow, I'm going to have to go with John Wayne Cleaver from I Am Not A Serial Killer by Dan Wells.  He definitely has a unique perspective.  I was also really into minor characters from books, sometimes much preferring them to the main characters (I'm thinking of Beautiful Creatures, the Stephanie Plum series, and Something Like Fate).

13. Most beautifully written book in 2010? I don't know that many others would say Stephen King writes beautifully, but I think he does.  So I'm going with Full Dark, No Stars.

14. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2010? Little Bee by Chris Cleave, it really made me think about how far I'd be willing to go to help someone else.

15. Book you can't believe you waited UNTIL 2010 to finally read? The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I wrote in my review of the book how it seemed to haunt me, it was always showing up where ever I went.  So glad I finally caved and read it.

The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May & June

(summary taken from Goodreads)

Three sisters, three extraordinary, life-changing powers!

I hugged my sisters and they fit against my sides like two jigsaw pieces that would never fit anywhere else. I couldn’t imagine ever letting them go again, like releasing them would be to surrender the best parts of myself.

Three sisters share a magical, unshakable bond in this witty high-concept novel from the critically acclaimed author of Audrey, Wait! Around the time of their parents’ divorce, sisters April, May, and June recover special powers from childhood—powers that come in handy navigating the hell that is high school. Powers that help them cope with the hardest year of their lives. But could they have a greater purpose?

April, the oldest and a bit of a worrier, can see the future. Middle-child May can literally disappear. And baby June reads minds—everyone’s but her own. When April gets a vision of disaster, the girls come together to save the day and reconcile their strained family. They realize that no matter what happens, powers or no powers, they’ll always have each other.

Because there’s one thing stronger than magic: sisterhood.

My thoughts:  I liked this book, it was a fast, easy read.  But it didn't blow me away.  I felt the build up promised a lot bigger finish then what was actually delivered.  That said, it's a realistic view into the lives of three sisters- at least to me, but I have no sisters and all my brothers are much older than me.  I enjoyed that the sisters could love and dislike each other all at the same time.  I liked the supernatural aspect of their lives (although I do think May got gypped on her power, it was a bit lame). 

I was excited to win this book in a giveaway a few months ago, but just recently got to it.  I meant to give the book to my 19yr old niece for Christmas, but I started reading it and ended up giving her a couple of other books instead.  I will pass this on to her though because I think she'd like it.

The book is told from the viewpoint of all three sisters- starting with eldest April, then middle May, and finally June.  I enjoy reading books where the same event is looked at from different viewpoints and this book does not diasappoint.  And while there is some romance going on for the sisters, their relationship with each other is the focus of the book.  I disliked the ending because I felt there was a lot left unexplained- like what the heck was up with Avery?  I felt like she was a huge mystery, and I would have liked to see more of her.  And I'm not sure I quite get why the family had to move after May had her wild rebellion night, or why the heck June wanted to be friends with Mariah, well, other than her perfect hair. Overall it was a good, not great, not fantastic-mind-blowing-oh-my-God-you-have-to-read-this-now, read. 

The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May & June by Robin Benway gets a Midnight Book Rating of 10pm, although for my younger subscribers it might be more like a 11pm.  I am interested in reading more of Benway's books and felt that she captures the teen voice fairly accurately. 

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!  Hope Santa brings you lots and lots of books (and Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Hastings, Borders, etc, Gift Cards!). 

I treated myself to a customized blog address, so now you can find me at just http://www.midnightbookgirl.com/!  And I can't wait to share all the books I got for Christmas.  I just want to wish everyone a blessed day!

Two More Challenges for 2011

That's right, I am signing up for even more challenges! 

First up is Midnyte Reader's Dusty Volumes Challenge:

• Include a list of the Dusty Volumes you hope to read in 2011.  They should have a publishing date before 1960.  You can add, subtract or change the list at anytime.
   
   
  Here's a partial list of books I hope to read to get me started:
  The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
  Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier
  Nine Stories by JD Salinger
   
  So far all the challenges I've signed up for are ones that more or less go along with my reading patterns.  However, I really want to push myself to be a better blogger in 2011... and that means reviews!  So, I'm scared, but I'm also signing up for Read'n'Review's 2011 Read'n'Review Challenge:
   
  
  The goal is to:
  
  
  * review each book you read between January 1st and December 31st of the current year.
  * PLEASE keep your reviews clean & respectful ~ these books we read are the hard work of an author, and we don’t need to be mean. Even if you didn’t like the book, please try to find something you can say that would be encouraging to the author.
  * reviews can be as short, or long, as you wish
  * you MAY overlap with other challenges
  * eBooks and Audiobooks ARE allowed
  * if there will be spoilers in your review, please note this in the subject line of your post so that those who don’t want to read them can skip that review. Thank you.
  
  *gulp*  I can do this, right?  2011 is a new year, and if I really want to get the most out of my reading, than reviewing is going to be the area that I need to focus on.  As a nurse assistant, I work with a lot of elderly people with cognitive impairment, and it's important to me to leave behind my thoughts and ideas and words because someday they may be all I have to remind me of the person I was.
  
  Ick, that's a bit depressing, but you get the point.  Also, how awesome for future generations of my family to stumble across my blog, see that I read lots of horror, thrillers and YA and nod to themselves, as if to say, "Yup, that explains soooooo much about crazy great-aunt Kate". :)
  
  
  

Go, Mutants! A Review

From Booklist

Doyle's love of teen movies was giddily evident in I Love You, Beth Cooper (2007). But it seems there's another genre he loves even more: the sci-fi shockers of the 1950s and '60s. This frenetic satire combines flying saucers, hideous mutants, and all other manner of drive-in fare with the high-school ennui of something like Rebel without a Cause. It has been 20 years since the aliens landed in 1951, and 17-year-old J!m (don't bother trying to pronounce it) is, aside from his blue skin and brain-enlarged cranium, your quintessential teen loner. With his pal Johnny, an atomic ape, and their tagalong buddy Jelly, a pile of gelatinous goo, they outsmart human bullies and try to make out with chicks. (Though the chicks are understandably unnerved by interspecies sex-ed films—if you thought getting pregnant was bad, try getting eggs laid in your brain.) Every sentence careens with energy, wisecracks, and winks at everything from triffids to Altair IV. Shades of the Red scare and allegories about puberty abound, too, but thankfully, gooey atomic mayhem wins the day. --Daniel Kraus

  My Thoughts:

I loved, loved, loved and adored Larry Doyle's I Love You, Beth Cooper.  It made me laugh and cringe, and it was all my favorite parts of 80's movies rolled into novel form.  So I was excited to see Go, Mutants!, and was quick to download it onto my Kindle.  Unlike Beth Cooper though, Go, Mutants! is not as page turn worthy at Doyle's first book.

Part of the fault lies in me, Go, Mutants! is a much better read if you read it from cover to cover and don't cheat on it with other books or put it away for several months.  There's a lot of sci-fi terms made up by Doyle, which really bogs down the flow of the story for me.  At the heart of Mutants is simple teenage love story we can all relate to.  J!m is an awkward teen going through the grossness of puberty, in love with his friend Marie, but afraid to tell her how he feels.  And just like Ron screwed things up with Hermione at the Yule Ball, J!m misses his opportunity to ask Marie to the school dance despite the fact that she gave him hints big enough to be seen from space.

Once I got into the book the writing and sci-fi-iness of it all got easier to read, and by the end I was quite invested in the characters.  I loved Johnny- how cool would it be to have a blue ape boy as you best friend, capable of not only going all King Kong on your enemy's hiney, but also able to belt out great music?  Like in I Love You, Beth Cooper, which paid homage to every John Hughes movie ever made, Go, Mutants!  is a walk down the 1950's memory lane, although history is a bit altered by aliens influence.  Instead of Elvis Presley, there's the Presley Brothers, Kennedy is still alive, and all the cool advances the Jetson's cartoon promised us as kids is realized.

Go, Mutants! gets a Midnight Book Rating of 11pm, but I think it may rise to a midnight read if I ever re-read it. 

2010-Out With A Bang!

I've been working so much the past few months that I haven't been able to participate in many readathons (except Dewey's 24 Readathon which I purposely take personal time off to participate in) so I'm thrilled to be able to participate in this one!  I will have to work some during the readathon, but I'll be able to get plenty of reading in too. 

Anyone else entering?  It's a good way to rack up the books read number before bidding a fond adieu to 2010.   However, unlike the Dewey Readathon's I will only read books I already own, I will not purchase any just to read during the event.  I will not.  As of right... now.  Thank goodness for Amazon one click payment.  *phew*

Something Like Fate Review

From Booklist

Lani and Erin are older teens who share an interest in fortune-telling. Erin is less serious than Lani, who backed out of the popular crowd because she is more interested in things like environmental action than parties. Although the two girls have a deep bond that began in childhood, Lani’s true best friend is Blake, who fears his father will discover that he is gay. Erin is delighted when she starts dating Jason—one of many crushes she has shared with Lani—but when the three start hanging out together, Lani realizes that she and Jason are meant for each other. Colasanti provides credible and engaging character development for each cast member and interactions that spark just the right amount of tension to make this a romantic page-turner. A bit of steam is lost in the final pages, but a number of issues receive insightful inspection along the way: the meaning of friendship, whether fate plays a role in whom we love, intolerant parents, and coming to respect others needs and feelings. Grades 8-10. --Francisca Goldsmith 

My Thoughts:


I was originally excited to read this book. But like so many other books I read about on blogs, it lingered on my Amazon wish list.  I love this cover, it brought to mind Emily Griffin's Something Borrowed, only for the YA crowd.  The other day I was at Barnes and Noble doing a little Christmas shopping and I had some time to kill.  So I grabbed this book to flip through and a peppermint hot chocolate, and got to reading.  I didn't mean to read it all in one sitting, but I did. 

I liked it enough, but I never really connected with Lani.  My favorite characters were best friend Blake and boy at the middle of love triangle, Jason.  Lani actually annoyed me a bit.  It's the same problem I had with the main character in Need by Carrie Jones, we're meant to know how caring Lani is because she's such a champion for the environment, doesn't want to hang out with the popular kids and teaches Jason to care about recycling, which is fine, I recycle, I care about the world and was a theater/reading team nerd.  It's just that subject is brought up so many times that it begins to feel preachy and not just a part of who Lani is. And then when Erin finally discovers Lani and Jason's relationship (which is not a seedy as the cover led me to believe :), Lani made decisions that made me lose respect for her.  Blake, who's story was the most intriguing to me, started to actually get interesting when his story was suddenly got resolved.  The ending definitely left something to be desired.  If you're a fan of YA romance then you'll probably enjoy this book, but I was just okay with it.  It did not win a coveted spot on my overstuffed bookshelves.


Something Like Fate gets a Midnight Book Rating of 9:30pm.  Keep in mind that I'm 33, so those of you who are younger or a sucker for YA romance might enjoy this book a lot more than I did. And it's a quick read about a subject that doesn't normally get covered.

Review: Dragon Tattoo

I did it!  I finished The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo!  It took awhile, not because it wasn't a good book, it was, but because I'd already seen the movie so I didn't feel an urgency to finish the book.

I was resistant to the book at first.  Two summers ago the book was EVERYWHERE (and kind of still is), so I picked it up off the shelf since it looked cool and because it reminded me of the song Red Dragon Tattoo, which I like.  However the first little bit, two old guys talking about an unsolved case, didn't really capture my attention.  I rolled my eyes, assumed it was in the league of some rather tedious Oprah Book Club selections, and moved on.

But the book stalked me.  Every book store, every grocery store, had the book prominently displayed, it's cool cover and catchy title taunting me.  But I wasn't about to get reeled in, fooled with promises of  'best book of the year' or 'most intriguing heroine'.  After all, those first few pages hadn't given the least hint of a intriguing heroine.  And although I have nothing against a book full of octogenarians reminiscing about past crimes, I just didn't think the book was for me.  Stieg Larsson wore me down though.  Soon Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest was out, another cool cover and title.  And slowly I began to cave.

Then I got my Kindle last January.  TGwtDT was at a really good price, so I downloaded it.  I also downloaded a whole bunch of other books, so it lingered on my tbr list.  My friends, Ame and Bittner read it for their book club, which served coffee in honor of all the coffee drinking done in the book.   So I picked it up, read a little bit, but got distracted by other bright and shiny books.

I ended up watching the movie with my husband because we caught a trailer in which the character of Lisbeth Salander looked so kick ass.

And we quite enjoyed the movie.  So I picked the book up again... and then put it down again.  Here's a problem with reading the book on a Kindle, it's hard to remember who's who in the Vanger clan.  If you get a chance to read it in paperback then you should do so.  I read on and off for months, but finally decided a few days ago that I wanted to finish it before the new year.  I was about 30% done with it, and it's not a short book.

However once I got about halfway through I found I couldn't put it down.  I had a good idea of what was going to happen, but that didn't stop me from getting sucked in.  In two days I had the book finished.  And even though I've seen the second movie too, I immediately downloaded the second book.  The movies are good, but I have to say you get a lot more out of the books (of course I'm only able to refer to the first book since that's all I've read thus far).  Yeah, there's a lot of references I didn't get because I'm American (and I try really hard not to be a dumb, self-absorbed kind of American, but I don't do well in Jeopardy in the categories of Geography and World Events.  I do kick ass in Greek Myths and Beatles trivia, in case you want to give me credit for that), there's lots of names I have no clue how to pronounce, and I don't really have a clue who Kalle Blomkvist it except that I now know that the author that wrote Pippi Longstocking wrote about Kalle too.  There's also some financial intrigue that I'm too daft to understand, but the characters are interesting, the plot complex and intricate and did I mention how cool the title is?

Of course, recent events have somewhat altered my vision of Mikael Blomkvist's arch rival, Hans-Erik Wennerström.  I couldn't help but picture him as Wiki-Leak founder Julian Assange.  Yes, I know, Assange is Austrailian and not Swedish, but that's the face I put with Wennerström.   Maybe it's a sign that I really need to travel and actually meet Swedish people, which I'm more than willing to do.  Especially since Sweden is the birth place of that perfection known as Alexander Skarsgard.  Feel free to sigh and/or swoon:

 

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo gets a Midnight Book Rating of  11:30pm, it was almost a midnight read, but it started out a bit slow and felt a bit name brandish at times (total shout outs to Mac computers... which I can't afford whether it be in dollars or kroners).

Cozies, Chocolate and Christmas!

Okay, I'm hyper and feeling the holiday spirit!  Plus, I keep signing up for more challenges.  I've been working a lot of long hours lately, although fortunately reading books is practically part of my job.  So far this year I've read 110 books, but I didn't do so good at reviewing many of them.  I hope to change that in the new year.  Signing up for challenges is just a way for me to get my review mojo flowing.  And I'm actually getting requests from publishers to review books!  I don't know what amazing book goddess is smiling on me, but thank you amazing book goddess!

So here's a challenge I'm really looking forward to:

I like mysteries and thrillers, horror and drama, but I've never read a "cozy" mystery.  I want to.  I'm 33, I like coffee, I should be reading some cute cozies!  So, feel free to recommend some really good ones... please!

Here's how the challenge works:

1. Choose the level you wish to participate:

Level 1 - Snoop - Read 1-6 books
Level 2 - Investigator - Reading 7-12 books
Level 3 - Super Sleuth - Read 13 or more books

2. The challenge runs from January 1, 2011 and ends December 31, 2011.

3. You don't have to choose your books in advance. If you do, you can change your list at any time during the year. Books can overlap with other challenges.

4. Books can be in any format - paper, audio, ebooks...it all counts!

5. You don't have to post a review, but I'm sure others would love to know about the books you are reading and may even want to add it to their reading lists.

6. Take the button above, put it on your blog and post about the challenge. Then add your name to Mr. Linky below...Please use the link of challenge post, not the link to your home page.

Have fun!

NOTE: If you don't have a blog and want to participate, that's fine. You don't have to have a blog, just post in the comments section as you finish books.

I'm going to commit to Snoop, although secretly I'm aiming at Investigator as I have a feeling if I start a good series I won't be able to stop.

Other challenges I've recently signed up for:

I really don't think this will be a problem considering the amount of challenges I'm participating in!

Not only do I love HP, but it goes nicely with my Re-Reading Challenge!

I love audio books, and I have a bunch I need to listen to, so this will be fun to finally make myself make time for them.


And a BIG THANKS to my Broke and Bookish Secret Santa, Sarah Says!  Here's my awesome package she sent me:

First, she sent me The Forest of Hands and Teeth!  I don't know how I haven't bought this for myself, but somehow it's never happened.  I cannot wait to read this!  She also got me two very gorgeous book mark charms that were in a very cute plaid bag.  And chocolate!  Sarah also sent me an adorable Christmas card... which I neglected to think of when I sent my package to my secret santa recipient... 

But thank you, Sarah, it was a wonderfully thoughtful gift and I love it! Hope you got what you wanted for Christmas too.  :)

That's it for this post, sorry for the length.  We're expecting snow tomorrow, and possibly quite a lot of it.  Perfect book reading weather!  Keep warm, bloggers, and for those of you in warmer climates, feel free to invite me for a stay. ;)