Review: The Quest Begins

Title: The Quest Begins ( The Seekers 1)
Author: Erin Hunter
Pages: 293
Publisher: May 27th 2008 by HarperCollins
Rating: 3/5
Goodreads Summary:

"Three bears . . . one destiny"
From the author of the nationally bestselling Warriors books comes a brand-new animal fantasy series. Three young bears from different species--black, polar, and grizzly--are separated from their families when they are just young cubs. They find themselves brought together on a perilous journey. Fate is about to change all these bears lives forever, setting their paws on a path toward a future they cannot yet imagine . . .

Review:
I believe that this is my first animal fantasy like book and I frankly did not know what to expect. I actually thought that I was going hate it and that it was going to depressing. Now I'm someone who tends to start bawling when an animal dies, but while reading this, it didn't happen. This book follows three bears, Kallik a polar bear, Lusa a black bear, and Toklo a grizzly bear. Kallik is searching for her brother, after they got separated after their mother died. Toklo dislikes his brother Tobi and is then abandoned by his mother after Tobi dies. Lusa lives in a zoo and meets Toklo's mother, who makes it her duty to find Toklo and let him know his mother didn't want to abandon him. So at the end of this first book Toklo and Lusa meet up, and I'm curious as to how Kallik is going to meet up with them, or if that even happens. This is defiantly for a younger audience. Or at least a younger "young adult" audience. It was a good book and I'm curious to see what happens in the next one.

Review: The Body Finder

Title: The Body Finder ( The Body Finder 1)
Author: Kimberly Derting
Pages: 327
Published: March 16th 2010 by HarperTeen
Rating: 3/5
Goodreads Summary:
Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the sixteen-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her best friend since childhood, she is more disturbed by her "power" to sense dead bodies—or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes that the dead leave behind in the world... and the imprints that attach to their killers.

Violet has never considered her strange talent to be a gift; it mostly just led her to find the dead birds her cat had tired of playing with. But now that a serial killer has begun terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he's claimed haunt her daily, she realizes she might be the only person who can stop him.

Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet on her quest to find the murderer—and Violet is unnerved to find herself hoping that Jay's intentions are much more than friendly. But even as she's falling intensely in love, Violet is getting closer and closer to discovering a killer... and becoming his prey herself.

Review:
I in all honesty can't even remember what compelled me to put this book on my to read list. I've never really been one to read murder mysteries unless they were a cozy mystery. The first half of the book was difficult for me as there were many moments where I just wanted to give up. I don't even know how to describe my reasoning for that. It just seemed kind of stupid I guess. After I manged to get past the halfway mark, it started to get better and then I got to the end of the book and now want to read the sequel. It wasn't a wow that is a seriously epic book, it was an decent book. I think that the idea of someone who can sense dead bodies is interesting, and it was bound to be done at some point. But there were just some points in the book where it's like why am i even reading this? So all in all, it just got a 3. Sorry.

2012 Books That I Didn't Finish

Feburary 2012 books that didn't get finished:
Follow Me Down by Marc Strange - Reason: I don't know to me the plot seems like it's done before and I just simply didn't like it. I only had about 100 pages left, but just getting to that point took a lot of pushing and I was just tired of the book so I gave up on it.

March 2012 books that didn't get finished: 
Song of the Dragon by Tracy Hickman - Reason: Ya it was just...way to fuckin complicated. I mean it took me two weeks to read 30 pages...that and I just wasn't enjoying it.
The Dark Vineyard by Martin Walker - Reason: Just didn't like it. I seem to be pretty picky this month.

April 2012 books that didn't get finished:
Daughter of Darkness by V.C Andrews - ya...just couldn't get passed the first chapter. now i see why no one would check it out from the library.

*Update* May 2012 books that didn't get finished:
Wolfbreed by S.A Swann - ya...i just don't even know man...

Review: The cat who played post office

Title: The Cat Who Played Post Office (The Cat Who 6)
Author: Lilian Jackson Braun
Pages: 262
Published: December 1st 1987 by Jove
Rating: 4/5
Goodreads Summary:
Inheriting unexpected millions has left reporter Jim Qwilleran looking like the cat who swallowed the canary. While his two Siamese cats, Koko and Yum Yum, adjust to being fat cats in an enormous mansion, Qwilleran samples the lifestyles of the rich and famous by hiring a staff of eccentric servants. A missing housemaid and a shocking murder show Qwilleran the unsavory side of the upper crust. But soon it's Koko's purr-fect propensity for clues amid the caviar and champagne that gives Qwilleran pause to evaluate the most unlikely suspects...before his taste for the good life turns into his last meal.

Review:
Qwill, Koko and Yum Yum have to moved to Pickaxe from Down Below. The mystery of what happened to a maid has caught Qwilleran and Koko's eyes. One person that Qwill has questioned, and one that he was going to have been found dead, and Qwill himself has nearly been killed. Like the previous Cat Who books I have read this one was epic. I could read it with the tv on in the background and not loose my concentration. It was an easy read and great for reading after a long night at work. Unlike most of the Cat Who books I guessed partly right as to who did it, which shocked me. If you like cozy mysteries or are a major cat lover, then I totally think you should give the Cat Who a shot. Don't forget though, to start with the first one!

Review: Island of the Blue Dolphins

Title: Island of the Blue Dolphins
Author: Scott O'Dell
Pages: 184
Published: December 26th 2006 by Yearling (first published in 1960)
Rating: 3/5
Goodreads Summary:
In the Pacific, there is an island that looks like a big fish sunning itself in the sea. Around it blue dolphins swim, otters play, and sea birds abound. Karana is the Indian girl who lived alone for years on the Island of the Blue Dolphins. Hers is not only an unusual adventure of survival, but also a tale of natural beauty and personal discovery.

Review:
I honestly can't remember if I read this in school, but one day my friend and I were talking about classics and this was mentioned. So I decided to read this. After reading it though it seems somewhat familiar. It is an epic story of survival, and something that I think everyone should read in school. The writing is simple and can most likely be read by most of the younger audiences. I find it funny though how when the people die, no emotion from me what so ever. When the wolf dies it was like instant waterfall falling down my face. But ya I totally think that you should read this book if you haven't yet.

Review: Kisses from Hell

Title: Kisses from Hell
Authors: Kristin Cast, Alyson Noel, Kelly Armstrong, Richelle Mead, Francesca Block
Pages: 262
Published: August 24th 2010 by HarperTeen
Rating: 1/5
Goodreads Summary:
Truly, Madly, Undeadly

This irresistible collection features stories of love amid vampires by five of today's hottest authors—Kristin Cast (Tempted), Richelle Mead (Vampire Academy), Alyson Noël (Evermore), Kelley Armstrong (The Summoning), and Francesca Lia Block (Pretty Dead).

From a fugitive vampire forced to trust a boy who might work for the group bent on destroying her to the legendary romance of two immortals whose love compels them to risk everything, this heart-pounding collection brings new meaning to the words "love you forever." Whether you're into romances that are dark and moody or light and fun, these stories will quench that insatiable thirst for enchanting tales of the beautiful undead.

Review:
Ya....I have no idea where to start. It just...was bad. Normally I will find at least one of the short stories that I like but this one had none at all. Ya...just horrible man.

Review: Romeo, Juliet and Vampires

Title: Romeo and Juliet and Vampires
Author: William Shakespear and Claudia Gabel
Pages: 231
Published: August 31st 2010 by HarperCollins
Rating: 2/5
Goodreads Summary:
When Juliet, a vampire-to-be, and Romeo, a vampire hunter, fall desperately in love, they don't realize how deadly, or "undeadly," their love will turn out to be.

Review:
Well I have never actually read the original Romeo and Juliet, but I basically have a pretty good idea of what happens. This book is um...well....different? I guess would be the word. Certainly not like I expected, which isn't a good thing for the record. The ending was horrible. I literally just finished it a couple of minutes ago and reading it was like "Da wa?" It was interesting that of course you have to put the big guy Vlad Dracula (I'm sorry Prince Vladimir) in there. Really? I don't think that was very necessary. And what is with the dramatic location change?  Transylvania? Come on how cliche! I think if there wasn't a lot of major screw ups and stayed a little bit more closer to the actual Romeo and Juliet then it could have been better. I do like that it was short though and didn't require me to use an insane amount of concentration on it. I like it when I can watch hockey and read a book at the same time folks, so that's why I didn't just give this a big fat 1 star.
I mean I know there are people who are into these mash up kind of books, so maybe you may like it. I may give another mash up a shot but hopefully the next one isn't a messed up as this one was.

Review: Death Du Jour

Title: Death Du Jour (Temperance Brennan 2)
Author: Kathy Reichs
Pages: 379
Published: May 18th 1999 by Scribner Book Company
Rating: 3/5
Goodreads Summary:
Readers of Kathy Reichs's cool and clever first forensic thriller Déjà Dead will recognize the ironic voice of Tempe (short for Temperance) Brennan, the North Carolina-born scientist who winds up working at the Laboratoire de Médicine Légale in Montreal. Here she bristles at the conservative attitudes of some of her Canadian colleagues.

Despite the cold weather, Tempe's workload quickly becomes heavy: the bones of a long-dead nun now up for sainthood have been moved and tampered with; a deadly house fire turns out to be arson; and a university teaching assistant disappears after joining a cult. Tempe must figure out where (and why) all the bodies are buried in the hard Canadian ground. Her investigations take her home to North Carolina, and to a strange colony living on an offshore island.

Review:
Like the first book, this book took alot of concentrating with all of the details, thus taking me longer to read than most. It's not too gory, and that is saying something cause I'm not fond of most kind of gore. Some parts were a little to similar to the first book, which kind of annoyed me. There were also some things just seem like it would never ever happen and was a bit out there. But it was alright. If you are someone who likes the TV show Bones, I recommend this. Now it is nothing like the show but it is still pretty good.

Reading in May

Currently Reading:
Death Du Jour by Kathy Reichs

To Read:
Two for the Dough by Janet Evanovich
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
Wolfbreed by Andrew. S. Swann
The Cat Who Played Post Office by Lilian Jackson Braun

2012 Reading Challenge

So as of today I have read 26 books out of 50. I'm getting there!.....slowly.

Review: Blood Law

Title: Blood Law (Alexandra Sabian 1)
Author: Jeannie Holms
Pages: 400
Published: July 6th 2010 by Dell
Rating: 2 1/2 out of 5
Goodreads Summary: To stop a vampire killer, she’ll have to slay her own demons first.

A provocative and savvy vampire, Alexandra Sabian moves to the sleepy hamlet of Jefferson, Mississippi—population 6,000, half vampires—to escape the demons lurking in her past. As an enforcer for the Federal Bureau of Preternatural Investigations (FBPI), Alex must maintain the uneasy peace between her kind and humans, including Jefferson’s bigoted sheriff, who’d be happy to see all vampires banished from town. Then really dead vamps start turning up—beheaded, crucified, and defanged, the same gruesome manner in which Alex’s father was murdered decades ago. For Alex, the professional has become way too personal.

Things get even more complicated when the FBPI sends in some unnervingly sexy backup: Alex’s onetime mentor, lover, and fiancé, Varik Baudelaire. Still stinging from the betrayal that ended their short-lived engagement, Alex is determined not to give in to the temptation that soon threatens to short-circuit her investigation. But as the vamp body count grows and the public panic level rises, Varik may be Alex’s only hope to stop a relentless killer who’s got his own score to settle and his own bloody past to put right.

Review: 
I think that the idea of having a vampire federal investigation unit is quiet cool, but I could only rate this book 2 and half because I honestly am not really into cop books. This took some serious skimming. Alex somewhat annoyed me. In the beginning of the book she seemed like a strong person and as the book went on, she seemed to behave more and more like a snotty little teen. I get that your brother is missing but come on, there is no need to become a class A bitch. In many parts the writing was sluggish (hence the skimming) and somewhat repetitive when describing something. The vampires themselves to me just seemed like a human with an occasional blood lust, which disappointed me. I am all or creativity and coming up with new things for such an awesome mythical creature, but come on! I have no idea if I'm going to read the sequel, it will be put on my to read list and we will see where that goes.