Another Two-Book Post

Yes, indeed, dear internetfriends. I have once again read two books in two days. Well, mostly all today. I spent yesterday trying to remember all the chapter titles in the Harry Potter series, because I am a nerd and I found a quiz. (That was why the June 5 post ended up covering for June 6 as well - I was doing quizzes and realized it was after midnight.) But anyway, enough about me being a Potter-nerd, you know about that. I should tell you about these books. Because they're great.

The first, which I started yesterday and finished(/mostly read) today was MISTWOOD by Leah Cypess. It took me longer than I liked to get into it, but that was probably because it was eleven o'clock at night and I was being a Potter-nerd. It was excellent. I absolutely recommend it. Read it.

MISTWOOD is about Isabel. Isabel is the Shifter - the legendary creature formed from mist who can shift into anything and is sworn to protect the royal family. She is anything but human. Loyalty is all she knows. Her life does not matter. Only the safety of the king is important to her.

But all of a sudden, Isabel has emotions. After ten years alone in the Mistwood, not having served the previous king for a reason that Isabel cannot remember, she is called back to her duties by Prince Rokan, and this time, things are different. And when a disputed succession challenges everything she thought she knew about herself and her loyalties, Isabel has to determine what it really means to be the Shifter.

MISTWOOD was very well-crafted, and Isabel's character is so easy to relate to even though she's not human. The perspective was very different from the norm - we get the world through the eyes of someone not human - and it just makes you want to read more. Also, there's a lot of talk about the various relationships between people and what it means to love, but it is in no way a sappy romance novel. Like, at all. This is a great book, you guys. And if you'd like, after (or before) you read it, you can check out the author's website.

The other book I read today, over the course of a couple hours, was SCANDAL, the eleventh (yes, eleventh) book in Kate Brian's fantastic Private series. The covers are a bit of a deterrent, at least to me, because they scream designer labels and snooty upper-class relationship drama. And to be honest, there is a fair bit of that. But there is so much more.

There are mysteries. There are murder mysteries. There are stalkers (real-actual stalkers, not just "ooh I like him, let's watch him!"). There is danger, and drama, and death, and even a secret literary society. Which is the only hint I can give you about the most recent book without ruining a lot from the first several.

Start with the first one, PRIVATE, and just keep going. You'll want to. These books may not be heavy intellectual reading (they're what my dad would call "trash novels," honestly, but he says that about a lot of things), but they are fun quick reads and personally I enjoy them. I think they are spectacular. Even if I don't know all the brand names. You should read them. They're quite good. And you can even check out the awesome website.

That's all for tonight, you guys. I should probably work on my Eliza-story revamp (no pun intended) before KD eats me for leaving her hanging (even though she already knows what happens...). Catch ya later,
Bex

Two Books in One Post

Before I get to the books, I want to do two things. First, I'd like to apologize for not posting for the last couple of days; I've been busy doing birthday-ish things. Which leads me to the second point: Thank you thank you thank you to all of my wonderful friends who made my 17th birthday amazing. <3 Love y'all.

Now. Over the last 3 days, I have been doing some reading. And I have two books to share with you. I'm going to try to be brief about both of them, because I don't want to bore you with a super long post about two awesome books.

The first is THE LIGHT. It was written by D. J. MacHale, who also wrote the wonderful sci-fi/fantasy/adventure Pendragon series. THE LIGHT was a really strange book that took me a little bit to get into, but in the end, I really enjoyed it and I'll definitely read the second one when it comes out.

The book is about Marshall ("Marsh") Seaver, a quiet boy with one real friend who lives alone with his father because his mom died. He's planning a wonderful summer vacation, but then two strange things happen: Marsh's best friend Cooper disappears, and the scary comic-book super-villain that Marsh has been doodling everywhere starts appearing in real life. When it starts becoming clear that the two occurrences are related, Marsh has to team up with Cooper's sister Sydney to find out what happened to his best friend and put a stop to Gravedigger (the super-villain)'s dangerous behaviors.


I can't count the number of times I said "This book is so weird" while I was reading it, but in the end, I did think it was a good book and it definitely kept me reading. THE LIGHT was full of mystery and creepiness and adventure, and Marsh is a pretty well-developed character. It plays with your mind and makes you want to find out what happens. There are definitely a few plot holes that need to be addressed and hopefully will be later in the series, but it's definitely worth reading. You can find out more about stuff at D. J. MacHale's website. You can check out the Pendragon series too - it's very very very very awesome.

The second book I read over the last couple of days was MAGIC UNDER GLASS by Jaclyn Dolamore. It was such a good book. Beautifully written, like Jane Austen infused with sorcery, and it's so poetic and magical and it's a wonderful love story and it's so great.

Nimira is a dancing girl in a poor city, seeking her fortunes after her father's fall from grace. She gets the opportunity to go live with and work for a sorcerer, Mr. Hollin Parry, and sing with his automaton. But the automaton is more alive than anyone realizes, and Nimira may be the only one who can save him. MAGIC UNDER GLASS is a beautiful love story about a girl torn between "a man she does not love and a man she cannot have" (from the jacket cover) and it was so good and so sweet and oh my goodness everyone should read it because it was fantastic.

You can find out more about the author and the book at Jaclyn Dolamore's website. There is a sequel in the works, MAGIC UNDER STONE, but there isn't a release date available yet. Definitely read this book, you guys, it was awesome.

Must go. Lots of love,
Bex

P.S. This is the June 5 post. I started back at like 10 but then SP distracted me with Harry Potter trivia, so it didn't get posted until after midnight. It's the June 5th post anyway.

June Release Dates

Because I'm a total bookworm (which you must have noticed by now, if you've read this blog at all) and I think books are a bit more interesting to talk about than the intense room-cleaning I've done today, I have composed a list of June book releases. IT IS NOT COMPREHENSIVE. There may very well be lots of other books coming out in June. I've only uncovered a few interesting ones so far - there are lots of May releases and July releases, but not so many in June. Here are the ones I know, though (the ones that aren't in a series are just ones I read about online and thought looked interesting):

June 5: THE SHORT SECOND LIFE OF BREE TANNER, Stephenie Meyer - Twilight novella
June 8: SWEET DECEIT, Kate Brian - Privilege series #4
June 8: DECEPTION, Lee Nichols
June 8: STRANDED, J.T. Dutton
June 8: WANTED, Sara Shepard - Pretty Little Liars series #8
June 22: DARK FLAME, Alyson Noel - Immortals series #4
June 22: SIGNAL FROM AFAR, Stella Lennon - Amanda Project series #2
June 29: ONLY THE GOOD SPY YOUNG, Ally Carter - Gallagher Girls series #4
June 29: KEYS TO THE REPOSITORY, Melissa de la Cruz - Blue Bloods short story collection

Love,
Bex

Another Book!

Today I read WAKE by Lisa McMann. I love summer. I have the time to read a book a day (provided I'm willing to slack off on thesis a little. Oops.) and it's fantastic.

WAKE is the first book in a trilogy, and it's been out for a couple of years. I've been meaning to read it for a while, and today I finally got around to it. It's about Janie Hannagan - a seventeen-year-old girl who gets sucked into people's dreams. Whenever someone has a dream around her, she is pulled into it as well, and there is nothing she can do to stop it. Unfortunately, people fall asleep in class all the time, so she's had more than enough of falling dreams, naked-in-public dreams, and sex dreams. But when someone in one of the scariest dreams she's ever been sucked into sees her there and recognizes in the real world that she was in his dream...that's when things start to change. There may be more to this strange power than Janie realizes.

The narrative style for WAKE was really different from what I'm used to, but it worked really well. It's told in little sections, based on what time it is at any given point in the story, and it's in present tense. In places I felt like that made the story a little distant and I wanted it to get more involved and complex, but I think that's more a personal preference thing than anything else. I did enjoy the novel, and I definitely recommend it. It's a pretty quick read - a couple of hours if you read fast - and it's good. You'll want to read it for the characters' sake, and to find out what's up with this whole dream thing.

The second and third books in the trilogy, FADE and GONE respectively, are already out, so you won't have to wait on anything. I'll definitely be looking for the second book next time I'm at the library. And you can find out more about the series and the author, Lisa McMann, at the website. Enjoy!

Love,
Bex

Beautiful Creatures

Today, like yesterday, I spent most of the day engrossed in a book. The book I was reading today was absolutely FANTASTIC. Like, I'd put the book down, walk by a mirror, and be like "...wait a second. That's me. Oh, right, this is the real world. Becky, not Lena and Ethan." It's that well-written. You can completely forget about the real world and just get lost in the characters and their story.

BEAUTIFUL CREATURES, written by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, tells the story of Ethan Wate and Lena Duchannes. The people of Gatlin, South Carolina are pretty much stereotypical Southerners. Their families have lived in Gatlin for years and years and years, and they still have Confederate flags and talk about the War of Northern Aggression or the War for Southern Independence, and nothing ever changes. Ethan Wate is the only one who seems to want to leave. So when Lena Duchannes moves to town and things start happening, Ethan can't help but be drawn to her.

A strange song called "Sixteen Moons" keeps popping up on Ethan's iPod. The weather goes crazy around Lena. And strangest of all, they have the same dreams - about each other. As their friendship grows and changes, they discover a mystery, a curse, and things that Ethan never could have dreamed he'd encounter in Gatlin. Danger, mystery, romance, magic, and a sense of something bigger coming... this novel has it all.

I know I rant and rave a lot about great books, but when I say a book is good, I mean it. And when I say a book is great, I mean it. And when I say a book is Seriously Fantastic and you Must Go Read It Right Now, I most definitely mean it. BEAUTIFUL CREATURES falls into that last category. The conflict, the mystery, and the danger are all wonderfully developed, and the story moves quickly (so don't let the length of the book scare you off). But the action does not at all take away from the characters. Ethan and Lena are two very complex, very real characters who really can make you forget about yourself for a few hours. I completely adored this book. Not an exaggeration. Read it, you guys, it is made of awesome. BEAUTIFUL CREATURES is a beautiful book.

The sequel, BEAUTIFUL DARKNESS, is slated for release on October 12, at which time I will most definitely need to acquire a copy. You can find out more about the authors and the book at their website.

I love finding super-mega-awesome books like this one.

Love,
Bex

Radiant Shadows

So we're gonna call this the Saturday, May 29 post, because I didn't realize it was this late.

Today, I did something that was very enjoyable. I woke up, ate breakfast, and then curled up in my room with the windows open and a lovely breeze, and I read a book. This book was Melissa Marr's Radiant Shadows, the fourth volume in the Wicked Lovely series.

It was fantastic. And awesome. And all sorts of other lovely adjectives. I loved it.

The Wicked Lovely series is about faeries. There's the Summer Court, the Winter Court, the High Court, and the Dark Court. There's a great cast of characters, and so far none of the books have had the same main protagonist (Aislinn was key in both Wicked Lovely and Fragile Eternity, but FE was really more about Seth...but if you haven't read them, then you don't know what I'm talking about, and if you have, then this is an unnecessary explanation, so. Moving on).

Anyway, the fourth book, Radiant Shadows, is about Ani and Devlin. Ani's a halfling. Her mother was mortal, and her father is Gabriel, the leader of the Wild Hunt. Ani is different because she survives on both touch, like the Hounds of the Hunt, and emotion, like the Dark Court. And she can feed from both faeries and mortals, which is pretty much unheard of. She's different. And she's not supposed to be alive.

Enter Devlin. Devlin was supposed to kill Ani when she was an infant, but at the request of Rae, a dreamwalker, he didn't, thereby betraying the two faeries who created him. He watches Ani, and struggles to fend off emotions that as High Court, he shouldn't feel.

Ani and Devlin's lives become intertwined, and...well...all sorts of interesting things happen. Don't want to tell you too much more because then you'll think you don't need to read the book (and you know how I detest spoilers). Radiant Shadows can pretty much stand on its own, I think, but I say this having read the other three books - and you won't want to read just this one because they're all so good!

It's a faerie story with courts and rules and a Faerie realm, and no mention of Titania or Oberon, which is a pleasant change. And the characters are just spectacular. And there is so much more to all of it than battle scenes and dark romance. There is plot. There is intrigue. There is humor. There are characters who are absolutely unforgettable. And there is a whole fictional world that you will just want to get lost in. It's a spectacular series, you guys. I'm not just saying that.

The first book is called Wicked Lovely and you should all go read it now. Find out more about the series and the author at Melissa Marr's website and her blog. The fifth and final book, Darkest Mercy, is slated for release sometime next year. I hope I can wait that long.

Love,
Bex

Mini-Blog: Dodgeball

My father has just insisted that we watch the pilot episode of the old TV show Freaks and Geeks. It portrays the geeky kids as hating dodgeball.

Kid on TV: Dodgeball is a really stupid game.

Me: Yes. I agree.

Little Brother #2: You're a geek!

I don't see how that's a problem.

Love,
Bex