Category Archives: Books

Fun With Numbers

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I read a lot last year.  An astounding 115 books!  I didn’t think I could read 100 books in a year, let alone 115, but I managed to get it done.

Here’s a breakdown of the ratings:

  • 11 books got 1 star
  • 20 books got a rating of 2 stars
  • there were 31 books that got 3 stars
  • 32 books got a 4 star rating
  • 20 books got 5 stars
  • the average rating over the last year was 3.33 stars

Here’s a few more random stats:

  • 72 books were from the library, 5 books were e-books and the rest (38) were my own books
  • 74 books were either children’s or young adult books
  • I have 4 books that were started in 2011 and will be finished in 2012
  • the highest monthly average was in November, with an average of 4.25
  • the lowest monthly average was in October, with an average of 2.63

And a monthly breakdown:

  • 1 book was read in January
  • 7 books were read in February
  • 9 books were read in March, June and July
  • 11 books for April
  • 13 books were read in both May and December
  • 15 books were read in August
  • An astounding 16 books were read in September
  • 8 books for October
  • And 4 books for November

Now that I’ve bored everyone with some stats, I should probably move on to actually reading that stack of books.

Angelfire

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Book: Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton

Pages: 453, Hardcover, Published by HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen Teens

Angelfire is about Ellie, a 17-year-old girl who discovers that she is the Preliator.  It is her duty to hunt and kill the reapers that are out to prey on human souls. 

I love the whole idea of someone being reincarnated over and over for thousands of years to protect all humankind from Fallen Angels. It’s a classic good vs. evil story, with Ellie turning out to be Gabriel, but in human-form. 

The characters fell flat for me, though, and were pretty cliché and stereotypical.  I found Will to be the most interesting, and I wanted to know more about him and his past.  Ellie, on the other hand, was superficial and, at times, really irritating. 

It was an enjoyable book, and one that was a pretty fast read.  It was fun, and the fight scenes made it a lot more interesting.  The forbidden romance was pretty obvious from the moment that Will and Ellie met, and I have the distinct feeling that we’ll be seeing more of this series.  I LOVED the mythology of the book, and was glad that it actually made sense. 

As far as Ellie getting her “powers,” it was pretty standard- she gets introduced to them on her 17th birthday.  What wasn’t standard, though, was the fact that she grows into her powers.  It was pretty gradual, and even at the end of the book, she didn’t have a full grasp on her powers. 

I also want to know what’s going on with her dad.  You learn that he was a pretty good dad, and then one day…he randomly turned into a jerk, and Ellie and her mom don’t know why.  I was left with the feeling that this could be really important, but I suppose we’ll have to wait until the next book to find out what’s going on there. 

It gets a 3 out of 5.  It was enjoyable, but there wasn’t a lot that stood out to me.

The Dovekeepers

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Book: The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman

Pages: 504, Hardcover

The Dovekeepers is about 4 women in Masada in 70 C.E. (common era, a generic form of A.D.).  Yael is the daughter of an assassin, and she and her father blame her for her mother’s death.  Revka was the wife of a baker, and she and her 2 grandson’s saw her daughter’s brutal murder by Roman soldiers.  Aziza is the daughter of a warrior and is raised as a boy.  She is both a fearless rider and an expert marksman.  And Shirah is steeped in knowledge of ancient magic and medicine, and has amazing insight and power. 

The Dovekeepers is inspired by 900 Jews who held out for months against the Roman army on a mountain in the Judean desert and Hoffman clearly did her research, because the details are so well-done and they bring the story to life.  All four women have their own stories, and it was great to see this story from a woman’s perspective. 

The novel is divided into 5 sections- one for each woman, plus one that’s an epilogue.  It’s also spans 7 years- the lives of the 4 women span three years, while the epilogue takes place 4 years after that, describing what had happened and how 2 women and 5 children were the only survivors out of a group that had committed mass suicide rather than submit to Rome. 

I loved seeing where the women came from and how they got to be who they were, as well as the connections between them and some of the others at the fortress.  And in the context of an actual event, it was rich with details and history.  Men are not portrayed in a wholly positive light, but characters are not what they seem to be.  The Dovekeepers is full of shades of grey and that things are not always easy. 

I loved the writing and Hoffman has a way of making you feel things so deeply.  I don’t know much about the time period, but after reading this book, I definitely want to know more, so I may have to look for some more books to read…It gets a 4 out of 5 for good writing and an interesting story.

Wanted

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Book: Wanted by Sara Shepard

Pages: 111, Hardcover

Wanted is book #8 in the Pretty Little Liars series.  And if I thought that book # 7 was action-packed, there a lot to think about in Wanted. 

Since the girls think that Ali’s real killer is on trial, they all start feeling relaxed.  That doesn’t last long, because Ali has an identical twin named Courtney.  She’s spent her life in institutions because of “health issues” and her existence is kept a secret by her family.  However, once being released from the hospital, she tries to resume her sister’s life, and has tentative relationships with her sister’s old friends. 

Courtney later reveals that she is the real Alison, and has the proof to back it up.  Her twin, Courtney, pretended to be Alison on the night of the murder, and while the girls were skeptical, they begin to trust her.  The girls, however, are surprised to learn that she is both A and the killer. 

It turns out that the Ali that the girls had befriended years earlier was actually Courtney, who managed to trick everyone into believing she was Alison.  The real Alison was sent to the Preserve and was angry at the girls for unknowingly ruining her life.  That’s why she tried to kill them in the woods, why she killed Jenna (who found out years earlier) and is now trying to kill them by setting the Di Laurentis’ Poconos house on fire and trapping them inside. 

They learn Alison killed Ian and kidnapped Spencer’s sister Melissa, but the Liars and Melissa manage to get in time.  Alison, trapped inside the house, is assumed to be dead, but her body is never found.  It’s hinted that she’s still alive, and moved somewhere else, living under an assumed name. 

So, it’s definitely a little convoluted, but still a good read.  Everything seems to be resolved, and it’s supposed to be the last book in the series.  But since there are at least 3 more, it seems like Shepard is going to get as much out of the series as she possibly can.  Don’t get me wrong, the books are good, and I enjoy them, but at some point, I’d just like to see the series be resolved and come to a real conclusion. 

It still gets a 4 out of 5, though.

Darkness Under The Water

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Book: Darkness Under The Water by Beth Kanell

Pages: 320, Hardcover

This book was not good.  It’s about an Abenaki-French-Canadian girl who lives in Vermont in the 1920’s.  Molly realizes that her family, and others like them, are being target by the government to get rid of certain segments of the population. 

As far as a novel about a state-run eugenics program that targets the Abernaki tribe, it utterly failed.  Not only did the author not really talk about either, it’s hard to see this being aimed at young adults.  There was one scene in particular, where Molly’s mom goes into early labor, and it was more detailed than it really needed to be.  There’s also the fact that Molly and her grandma believe that Molly’s mom was sterlized so that she can’t have any more children.  It’s also implied that the nurses who are in town for the eugenics project smothered the baby. 

Another thing that bothered me was the fact that Molly’s dead older sister Gratia talked to her somewhat frequently.  It got annoyed, and it served no purpose whatsoever.  Plus, it was really boring, and the characters didn’t stand out.  I couldn’t relate to them, or to what was happening. 

It gets a 1 out of 5.

Heartless

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Book: Heartless by Sara Shepard

Pages: 274, Hardcover

Oh.  My.  God.  By the end of the book, I was speechless, and utterly confused.  Just when you think the girls are going to jail, charges against them are dropped.  They go home to find that Jenna Cavanaugh was killed…just like Ali was years earlier. 

After the fire, no one believes them when they all insist that they saw Ali.  Emily gets sent to Lancaster, where she discovers that Officer Wilden was a part of the Amish community, and that a girl named Leah disappeared around the time of Ali’s death.  She thinks he killed her and that he can’t be trusted. 

Aria goes to a seance, but learns nothing.  She sees another medium, who says that Ali killed Ali.  Hanna gets sent to a clinic by her father because he doesn’t want her eating disorder to appear after everything that’s happened.  She meets Iris, who Hanna comes to think is involved with Ali’s murder.

Spencer, on the other hand, finds out that her dad had an affair with Ali’s mom, and tries to comes to terms with the idea that Jason and Ali might have been her half-siblings.  Her mom finds out about it for the first time, and thinks her mother might have killed Ali because of it. 

They get sent to jail, like I mentioned earlier, and then they get released, because Billy Ford, someone who was working on a gazebo at Ali’s old house, is now a suspect.

So there’s a lot going on, and I was kept interested the whole time.  I didn’t want to put it down, and when I was finished, I was in disbelief.  I didn’t see any of this coming, and if there’s anything Shepard is good at, it’s keeping reader’s guessing. 

I think this is my favorite of the 7, because there’s so much going on and I was kept guessing the whole time.  It gets a 5 out of 5!

Store-Bought Baby

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Book: Store-Bought Baby by Sandra Belton

Pages: 256, Hardcover

This book was not good.  It’s about a girl and her family and how they deal with the suicide of her brother.

First off, is it just me or are there a lot of YA books out there about someone committing suicide and how the main character deals with it? 

Moving on, there didn’t seem to be a lot of plot, other than the female main character (FMC) randomly decided to look for her Luce’s birth parents.  Her older brother was adopted, and she was not.  I get she wants to see his parents, and maybe connect with a part of him, but really?  She wants to go looking for her brother’s birth parents?  Seriously? 

Not only that, but while her name was mentioned, but for the life of me, I could not tell you what it is.  The book overall was very dull and lifeless, with no emotion.  The characters weren’t developed at all, and I couldn’t tell you what they were interested in.  

It just was not good.  At all.  If you want a book that’s about people dealing with someone who committed suicide, this is not the book to read.  I’d give it a 1 out of 5.

Entwined

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Book: Entwined by Heather Dixon

Pages: 480, Hardcover

Entwined is about Azalea and her 11 sisters.  Everynight, they go through a magical portal and dance the night away.  They come across the Keeper, and Azalea, the oldest sister, becomes entangled in the Keeper’s web, realizing too late what she has gotten herself into.

I liked it, and it was an interesting take on the 12 Dancing Princesses.  But while it was a very enjoyable read, there was something missing.  There was mention of magic, but not a lot of magic, and it pretty much focused on Azalea.  I know all 12 sisters couldn’t be focused on, and it would be focused on Azalea, as the oldest princess.  I honestly couldn’t keep up with all 12 princesses.  Both the beginning and the ending were pretty interesting, but the middle was boring, and it was the same thing every chapter.  The princesses hate their father, they don’t want to be in mourning and so they go through the portal to dance every night, and very little happens.  They did whine (a lot) about how they couldn’t dance, and they all seemed to be rather self-absorbed.

Most of the sisters seemed to blend together, but I found the Keeper to be interesting for most of the book.  Until he got all cartoon-ish.  Come to think of it, I’m not quite sure why I like the book, but the whole idea of the Entwine dance was interesting.  There wasn’t a lot of description about the palace or what the girls wore, which was somewhat nice.  But I think it would have added something to the book as well, just to have an idea of what the author thought the palace looked like.  It wasn’t a particularly interesting re-telling of the 12 Dancing Princesses.  There were a couple romances thrown in, and it felt like they were there…just to be there.

Overall, it gets a 3 out of 5.  It was enjoyable, and I did like it, but there was just something missing.  It’s apparently supposed to be a fantasy, but the whole fantasy element didn’t seem to be there.  It was a good effort, and I did like the idea, plus the cover is really pretty.  But not something I’d read again anytime soon.

The Night Circus

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Book: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Pages: 387, Hardcover

The Night Circus is a very magical book.  It’s a fun book.  There is something very enchanting about The Night Circus.

When I had requested it from the library, I was on a very long waiting list.  200 out of just over 200 people.  But imagine my surprise and delight when happened to see a copy of it at the library.  I totally decided that a week was more than enough time to read it, and that was certainly preferable to waiting for a while to get it.

It’s definitely a slow-paced novel, but I got sucked in.  With a magic competition, romance waiting to happen, and being able to visit the circus, I often felt like I was at the circus and I didn’t want to leave.  I didn’t want anything to happen to the circus and was so relieved that everything worked out okay.

There is something very special about this book, and I definitely think it needs at least another reading to really get everything that’s going on.  There are time jumps and different perspectives, and it’s hard to connect the dots.  By the time you figure everything out, the book is over and you’re left wondering what just happened!

There is something very beautiful about The Night Circus, and all the hype surrounding it is very much deserved.  After finishing it, I am completely in awe, and was speechless afterwards.  I want to read it again so much that I’m seriously considering requesting it.  I’ll wait it out, it’s that good!  It’s so imaginative, and so hard to believe that it originally started out as a NaNo novel!

There is something very dream-like about it, and I want it to be real.

It gets a 4 out of 5.  There really isn’t a whole lot of plot going on, but there’s something so special about it.

Mockingjay

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Book: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Pages: 390 (Hardcover)

Mockingjay is the final book in the Hunger Games trilogy.  I wasn’t sure what to expect, since a few reviews I saw for The Hunger Games and Catching Fire said that Mockingjay was a big letdown.

I didn’t find that at all.  It is a lot different than the other 2 books, especially since Katniss and several other characters from the 1st two books are now living in District 13.  Katniss is very different than she was in the first 2 books.  She definitely seemed to be more reflective, and things seemed to weigh more heavily on her, at least a little, and mostly towards the end.  It’s much more emotional, because we see the things that have been set in motion come to fruition.

I knew there wasn’t going to be a traditional happy ending.  How could there be, when the trilogy has been about the government knowing how fragile they really are, and sending kids to fight each other to the death to keep the entire country in line?  There is definitely a lot to think about, not just with this book, but with the entire series.  I think Mockingjay, more than either of the previous books, has a lot of questions to be answered.  Where do you draw the line in war?  It’s can be an awfully thin line between justice and vengeance.  Do you give back what you received?  Do you show mercy to people who you know wouldn’t return the favor?  Do you kill innocent people on the other side because those leaders killed innocent people on your side?

It is a heavy book, but I thought it was a fitting end to the trilogy.  The death of certain characters, like Prim and Finnick, were sad.  Katniss didn’t dwell on those 2 particular deaths, but maybe she shouldn’t at the time.  Death is hard, especially when you feel like it was your fault that they died.  There was a little happiness at the very end, but then again, this series isn’t meant to be a happy one.

In the end, I’m glad Peeta and Katniss ended up together.  I’m certainly glad there were only hints of romance in the series, and in the end, I think it was always supposed to be Katniss and Peeta.  Who else could understand what the other went through since the start of The Hunger Games?

All in all, it gets a 5 out of 5.  The Hunger Games is a great trilogy, and Mockingjay was a great ending to a great series.