Tag Archives: reviews

Book Review: Bitter Blood

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Bitter Blood CoverBook: Bitter Blood by Rachel Caine

Published November 2012 by Penguin Group|Pages:416

Source: E-book|Purchased from the Nook Store

Series: Morganville Vampires #13

Genre: YA Paranormal- Vampires

Goodreads|Rachel Caine’s Website

Summary: For years, the human and vampire residents of Morganville, Texas, have managed to co-exist in peace. But now that the threat to the vampires has been defeated, the human residents are learning that the gravest danger they face is the enemy within…

Thanks to the eradication of the parasitic creatures known as the draug, the vampires of Morganville have been freed of their usual constraints. With the vampires indulging their every whim, the town’s human population is determined to hold on to their lives by taking up arms. But college student Claire Danvers isn’t about to take sides, considering she has ties to both the humans and the vampires. 

To make matters worse, a television show comes to Morganville looking for ghosts, just as vampire and human politics collide. Now, Claire and her friends have to figure out how to keep the peace without ending up on the nightly news… or worse.

I just love this series, and being caught up is a little strange to me.  I’m looking forward to Fall Of Night, but I’m actually really glad I was able to read the first 13 in a pretty quick succession.

So…here we go with the usual stuff I talk about anytime I review a Morganville Vampires book.  The characters are pretty consistent, and even when they do things I don’t expect them to, there is a good reason for why their acting wonky.  Like…Shane reacted to a certain…event…in a way that I would expect.  Did Michael do something I didn’t expect him to?  Of course, but there was a really good reason it.   

Things are also really well-paced, and Caine does a great job (as usual) with building on previous books.

Now that the usual is out of the way…Morganville is very different now.  ID cards for all citizens (but very different depending on whether you’re human or a vampire) and Oliver and Amelie hooking up and a new Captain Obvious…which was surprising in a very unsurprising way.  If that makes any sense…and it might not, because I really don’t want to give that away.

Things do go back to normal- at least, as normal as Morganville gets.  I did find the reaction to Eve and Michael’s marriage interesting, and I also liked that Michael refused to divorce Eve, even though he’ll likely face a very public punishment for going against Amelie’s wishes.  I’m really intrigued by this punishment, which is a surprise that isn’t surprising.

That seem to describe the book really well.  Surprises that aren’t surprising…and Caine does it well.  Like, really well.  I can honestly say that certain things didn’t surprise me, but Caine does in a way that does surprise you.  It’s just one of those things that is impressing me more with every one I read.

The multiple perspectives work great, especially with everything going on.  I really love reading the Myrnin chapters, which really cement my love of Myrnin.  There’s a part of me that wishes Miranda narrated a chapter or two, because her story has a lot of potential.

Final Thoughts:

Bitter Blood is another great addition to this series.  You’d think after 13 books (and counting!) this series would feel tired, but it isn’t.  I just love everything about this book, and I can’t wait to see how things play out for everyone!  Bitter Blood gets 5 stars.

Gilmore Girls 2×11: Secrets And Loans

Posted in Season Two, The Gilmore Girls Project by

Secrets And Loans originally aired January 22, 2002.  It was written by Linda Loiselle Guzik and was directed by Nicole Holofcener.

Secrets And Loans starts off with Lorelei waiting at Luke’s for Rory.  Rory comes in with her PSAT scores, and isn’t happy that she did better in math, because verbal is her thing.  Lorelei tells her that she did great, and that it’s only her PSAT’s, so it doesn’t matter as much.  They make plans to see Rocky Horror to celebrate.

It is very Rory to worry about doing better with the math section…and that’s all I’m going to say about that.  Also, this is one of those things that dates the show, because the scoring system for the SAT’s has changed since this episode originally aired.

We next see Lorelei on the porch, when her foot goes through the porch.  As it turns out, they have termites that have caused $15,000 in damage.  Lorelei is worried, because she doesn’t have that kind of money.

At Chilton, Paris, Madeleine and Louise are talking about their PSAT scores, and Paris is trying to get Rory to talk about her score.  This scene definitely highlights the competitiveness of Paris, and how she sees Rory as a threat academically.

We next find the Gilmore Girls at home, where Lorelei can’t sleep because she “hears” the termites.  They end up at Sookie’s house, where Jackson is hiding in the closet for 2 reasons.  One, he wears picture pajamas, and two, Sookie didn’t want to turn them away.  Lorelei talks about how her involvement in the community won’t get her a loan at the bank she talked to.

Rory goes to see Lane, who has been AWOL, and Mrs. Kim chases Rory out of the house because Rory is a carrier for termites.  Rory goes home and is telling Lorelei about how Mrs. Kim sprayed her with a water hose because she didn’t want termites to get into her house and eat the antiques.  Lorelei has been turned down by a bunch of banks when Rory suggests talking to Emily.  Lorelei refuses to consider it, and tells Rory not to tell Emily.

At dinner, the termites come up, because Lorelei has a headache, and Rory explains to Emily what is going on, even though Lorelei is giving her a look and tells her not to say anything.  Rory and Lorelei are telling 2 very different stories.  Lorelei isn’t happy with Rory, who had no right to bring it up because Lorelei told her not to.  It really isn’t an option for Lorelei.

Rory telling Emily about the termites even after Lorelei specifically told her not to was really irritating.  You’d think she’d know by now that it’s not an option for Lorelei.  And to do it with no regard for what Lorelei wants just because she thinks they should ask Emily…it’s just irritating.  

We see Dean and Rory talk, and we also Lorelei on the phone with the bank, before Emily calls and tells Lorelei that she set up a meeting at her bank for Lorelei.

Rory sees Lane in a cheerleading uniform, and starts…well…judging Lane for being a cheerleader.  Lane says that Rory isn’t around as much because of school and Dean, and Lane just wanted to try it.  She also doesn’t have to justify it to Rory.

What is going on with Rory in this episode?  She’s also judgy because Lane wanted to try something different…because Lane is now part of the group that they used to make fun of.  I never thought of it before, but this is really an interesting moment in the Lane/Rory friendship.  I mean, Rory’s at Chilton and Lane isn’t, and this moment really shows how different their lives seem because their lives really seem to be going in different directions.

Luke takes a look at the foundation, and offers to loan Lorelei the money, but Lorelei turns it down.  We see Lorelei go to the bank for the meeting, only to get turned down for the loan.  The only way to get is to have someone co-sign the loan, which Emily knew would happen.  Lorelei (begrudgingly) asks Emily to co-sign the loan, and is doubting Emily’s motives for doing it- which is that she just wanted to do something nice for Lorelei.

I do like that Lorelei is trying to take care of it on her own, but also seems to realize that Emily co-signing the loan is the only way to get her back to normal.

We see Rory at the pep rally, and actually see Lane cheering.  Rory apologizes to Lorelei, who tells Rory that she has the right to fix any problems without interference from Richard and Emily, and that Rory needs to respect that.  Mostly because Lorelei has a track record for keeping Rory alive, and because Rory has yet to see Lorelei mess things up.

Lane and Rory make up after the pep rally, and Lane assures Rory that she’s still the same.

At Friday night dinner, things are really quiet.  Lorelei apologizes to Emily, because she’s not used to people- meaning Emily- to do nice things with no strings attached.  Emily accepts Lorelei’s apology before telling her that her DAR meetings will be held at the inn from now on.

Favorite Lines/Scenes:

Nothing from this episode jumped out at me

Pop Culture:

Rocky Horror Picture Show, Coyote Ugly

Final Thoughts:

This is another episode that is meh for me.  Rory is acting kind of bratty in this episode, first with telling Emily about the termites and then with Lane about the cheerleading.  It’s like Rory has no sense of boundaries.  I totally get Lorelei doesn’t want to go to Emily for help again and why it’s not an option for her, but I’d like to think that it would be a last resort for her if nothing else worked out.  This episode gets 2.5 mugs of coffee.

Book Review: A Corner Of White

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A Corner Of White CoverBook: A Corner Of White by Jaclyn Moriarty

Expected Publication is April 1, 2013 by Arthur Levine Books|Pages: 384

*I received A Corner Of White as an e-book through netgalley.com*

Series: The Colors Of Madeleine #1

Genre: YA Fantasy/Contemporary

Goodreads|Jaclyn Moriarty’s Website

Summary: The first in a rousing, funny, genre-busting trilogy from bestseller Jaclyn Moriarty!

This is a tale of missing persons. Madeleine and her mother have run away from their former life, under mysterious circumstances, and settled in a rainy corner of Cambridge (in our world).

Elliot, on the other hand, is in search of his father, who disappeared on the night his uncle was found dead. The talk in the town of Bonfire (in the Kingdom of Cello) is that Elliot’s dad may have killed his brother and run away with the Physics teacher. But Elliot refuses to believe it. And he is determined to find both his dad and the truth.

As Madeleine and Elliot move closer to unraveling their mysteries, they begin to exchange messages across worlds — through an accidental gap that hasn’t appeared in centuries. But even greater mysteries are unfolding on both sides of the gap: dangerous weather phenomena called “color storms;” a strange fascination with Isaac Newton; the myth of the “Butterfly Child,” whose appearance could end the droughts of Cello; and some unexpected kisses…

I wanted to like A Corner Of White, I really did.  It was an okay read for me.

I really liked the column that the Princess wrote.  It was hilarious and I started to look forward to it as the book went on.

There were things that didn’t make a lot of sense.  Like, the idea of Color Attacks was intriguing, but was never explained, and I had no clue why Colors were so important and what exactly the Color Attacks were.  I wanted to know more about the Colors and why they were so important.

I’m also not sure why Ada Lovelace, Lord Byron and Isaac Newton were so important.  I get Newton’s importance to the plot, but the many references to Byron and Lovelace made it seem like they’d be really important to what was going on, and so I was a little disappointed that they didn’t have a larger role.

Cello has a lot of potential as a setting, but for the most part, it didn’t work for me.  I know Cello was this magical world that parallels the real world, but it didn’t feel all that different from Cambridge.  It felt more like a neighboring town than a completely different world that has things like magic.  Cello does seem like a unique place, and it didn’t really have a chance to shine.

I couldn’t connect with any of the characters.  I felt like Madeleine was trying a little too hard to be quirky, and Elliot…I have no thoughts about him either way.  Overall, the characters just weren’t interesting, but I sort of wish that there was more of a connection between Belle reading auras and the Colors in Cello, because I think that could have been really interesting.

After seeing the summary, I was expecting something really funny; I was also expecting a lot more romance.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t as funny as I was expecting, and there was also no romance, other than a couple kisses.

A Corner Of White was hard to get through at times- I started to enjoy it a little about halfway through, but at that point, it was hard to care about what was going on.  It felt like a patchwork of things that didn’t quite fit together.  Sometimes the book was a little too descriptive, but other times it wasn’t.

As far as the ending goes, things started happening suddenly, so it felt a little rushed.

On a more positive note, I did like the letters that Elliot and Madeleine wrote to each other.  There was something about Madeleine talking about Isaac Newton and Elliot talking about Cello that was interesting to me.  I felt like their letters to each other were really authentic.

Final Thoughts:

I know it seems like I didn’t like A Corner Of White, but it really was okay.  There were things that were intriguing, but it’s just not my cup of tea, and I wish things were explained a little more.  A Corner Of White gets 2 stars.

Book Review: Epic Fail

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Epic Fail CoverBook: Epic Fail by Claire LaZebnik

Published August 2011 by HarperCollins Publishers|Pages: 304

Source: E-book|Nook Store

Series: None

Genre: YA Contemporary

Goodreads|Claire LaZebnik’s Website

Summary: Will Elise’s love life be an epic win or an epic fail?

At Coral Tree Prep in Los Angeles, who your parents are can make or break you. Case in point:

As the son of Hollywood royalty, Derek Edwards is pretty much prince of the school—not that he deigns to acknowledge many of his loyal subjects.

As the daughter of the new principal, Elise Benton isn’t exactly on everyone’s must-sit-next-to-at-lunch list.

When Elise’s beautiful sister catches the eye of the prince’s best friend, Elise gets to spend a lot of time with Derek, making her the envy of every girl on campus. Except she refuses to fall for any of his rare smiles and instead warms up to his enemy, the surprisingly charming social outcast Webster Grant. But in this hilarious tale of fitting in and flirting, not all snubs are undeserved, not all celebrity brats are bratty, and pride and prejudice can get in the way of true love for only so long.

Epic Fail was really cute and it was a fun read!

Epic Fail is predictable in a lot of ways.  Elise is the new girl, surrounded by people who have a lot more money than she does.  She (SPOILER ALERT!) ends up with the guy in the end, but kind of likes this other guy first before realizing he’s an idiot.

But I still liked it.  There’s just something fun and cute about Elise realizing that people aren’t what they seem, and to look beyond first impressions.  I also liked the relationship Elise and Juliana had- it’s really nice to see siblings get along instead of hating each other or seeing each other as a rival…actually, they don’t seem to get along with their younger sister, but I’m an only child so that’s not a relationship I’m familiar with.

I’m not the biggest fan of Elise and Derek.  I really felt like they were together just to be together, and for me, they didn’t have any chemistry.  When they finally get together, I was like…”that’s it?”  I just found myself not caring about their relationship.  Plus, the ending was sort of…abrupt.

Elise’s parents were a bit much.  I liked what we saw of her dad, and it seems like they have a great relationship…it’s just too bad we don’t see a lot of it, because I like seeing great parent-child relationships in books.  As for Elise’s mom: she’s this strange combination of strict parent/principal who seems to dislike how snobby people are while sucking up to Derek and his parents.  I totally wish we saw why she was pushing Derek and Elise together, because her obsession with Elise and Derek dating for no apparent reason was just really weird.  In general, the characters were okay, and they did what they were supposed to.

Final Thoughts:

I’m not really sure what else to say about Epic Fail.  It’s cute and fluffy, which is perfectly fine, and I did like it…just not as much as I was expecting.  Epic Fail gets 3 stars.

Book Review: Beautiful Darkness

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Beautiful Darkness CoverBook: Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl|Narrated by Kevin Collins

Published October 2010 by Hachette Audio|Run Time: 15 hours, 56 minutes

Source: Audiobook|Audible.com

Series: Caster Chronicles #2

Genre: YA Paranormal

Goodreads|Kami Garcia’s Website|Margaret Stohl’s Website|Series Website

Summary: Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena’s family of powerful Supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen.

Sometimes life-ending.

Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan’s eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there’s no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town’s tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems.

I am really liking this series!  Beautiful Darkness picks up a few months after Beautiful Creatures, and we see the consequences of what happened on Lena’s birthday.

I have to say that Lena was so irritating in Beautiful Darkness!  After the events of her birthday, I totally get why she went off the deep end and had a lot of guilt, and I understood where she was coming from, especially by the end.  Hopefully, now that Lena has claimed herself, she’ll be a bit more bearable in the next one!

I really liked seeing the friendship Link and Ethan had.  While we saw their friendship in Beautiful Creatures, I really liked seeing more of their friendship in this one, because it was a side of their friendship we didn’t get to see in the first book.  I also liked Link’s story in this one, and Ridley was another really interesting character.  I can’t wait to see what’s in store for them, because there are so many different ways their story could go.

There were parts of it that were slow, and it took me longer to get into it.  I still enjoyed it and I loved all connections between Lena’s family and Ethan’s family, and how there’s a lot more to the caster world than I ever expected.  I think part of why it took me a bit longer to get into it is because nothing would happen for a while, and all of a sudden, quite a few things would happen at once.

I’m not sure what to think about Liv- there were times I liked her, but there were also times I didn’t like her.  I feel like we’re going to see more of her, so hopefully I’ll be able to make up my mind about her!

I also loved the sisters, who really need more appearances!  Lucille the cat was also a great character, and is Beautiful Darkness’ Boo Radley.

South Carolina really is a great setting for the series, and there’s this really cool feel to the books…especially the tunnels that seem to take the group to the most random places.  I kind of wish we got to see more of the tunnels, but I have the feeling that we’ll see more of them in the rest of the series.

I’m really curious about the 18th Moon that is mentioned at the end of the book.  I really do like the idea of the song and how it changes and how important it is!  It’s also interesting that things are so centered around Lena’s birthdays, and that each one adds something new and crazy.

Kevin Collins narrated Beautiful Darkness, and he did a great job with the narration.

Final Thoughts:

I really liked Beautiful Darkness…not as much as I loved Beautiful Creatures, but it was still a fun book to listen to.  I can’t wait to listen to the next book!  Beautiful Darkness gets 4 stars.

Book Review: Black Dawn

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Black Dawn CoverBook: Black Dawn by Rachel Caine

Published May 2012 by Penguin Group|Pages: 400

Source: E-book|Nook Store

Series: Morganville Vampires #12

Genre: YA Paranormal- Vampires

Goodreads|Rachel Caine’s Website

Summary: With its eclectic mix of vampire and human citizens, Morganville, Texas, has always been a risky place to call home. But with the invasion of the vampire’s deadliest enemy, Morganville isn’t just in danger–it’s dying…

Ever since the draug–mysterious creatures that prey on vampires–took over Morganville, the lives of student Claire Danvers and her friends have been thrown into turmoil. Most of the town’s residents have evacuated, but Claire, Shane, Eve and Michael have chosen to stay and fight.Using the city’s water system to spread, the draug have rapidly multiplied. Things in Morganville look grim, especially since vampire Amelie–the town founder–has been infected by the master draug’s bite.

Now, if Claire and her friends don’t figure out how to cure Amelie and defeat the draug, it looks like Morganville will become little more than a ghost town…

It’s been a while since I’ve read a Morganville Vampire book, and I had forgotten how addicting this series is, because this was a hard book to put down!

We see Morganville go to war against the draug, and unsurprisingly, Morganville wins.  There was a point where the draug had Shane, and you’re reading it and it’s like, is this really happening?  This can’t be real…and of course, it’s not, but it was not my favorite part of the book…mostly because it didn’t fit in with how things usually go in the series.

And the whole thing with Amelie and Naomi and Oliver…goodness.  That’s all I want to say about that, because who know how things are going to turn out.

I also liked Miranda’s storyline, and how it kind of brought you back to the first book- in a VERY interesting way.

What’s amazing to me is that 12 books in is that I’m still completely riveted by what’s going on.  There’s also something completely weird going on, and Caine really is doing a great job with keeping things interesting, and with keeping the characters interesting.  Which isn’t really surprising, because I think I bring this up in almost every single review for this series.

I have to say that this is the book where I wasn’t really surprised by the defeat of Magnus and the survival of Amelie.  You really have to wonder if and how this will change things in Morganville.

I loved seeing how Myrnin does have a certain affection for Claire.  Seriously, I love how ridiculous Myrnin- he is seriously off his rocker, and he has this whole mad scientist thing going on.  But he really is this interesting character, and one of my favorites.

I have to say, I’m a little sorry to see Richard Morrell go.  He really is one of the good guys, but it’s also no surprise that he’s also a character who’s easily expendable.

Overall, it’ll be interesting to see how Morganville rebuilds after the events of this book and Last Breath, the one that precedes this one.

I really am at a loss with this one, because I don’t want to give away anything huge, and because I don’t want to sound like a broken record.

Final Thoughts:

Black Dawn is a great addition to the series!  I love how things are constantly changing in Morganville and how I never know what to expect.  Caine is so consistent with her characters and her worlds.  Black Dawn gets 5 stars.

Gilmore Girls 2×10: The Bracebridge Dinner

Posted in Season Two, The Gilmore Girls Project by

The Bracebridge Dinner originally aired December 11, 2001.  It was written by Daniel Palladino and was directed by Chris Long.

We open with a snow-man making contest.  Is that the right way to say it?  Snow-man making?  Or is building the right word?

I live in San Diego, it’s not like I need to know these things.

Moving on…Lorelei and Rory are building a snowman.  And they’re talking about what they’re going to do while Rory’s on vacation.

At the inn, Roon is cleaning, and is afraid to clean the artwork, because he thinks an alarm is going to go off.  He and Michel clearly don’t get along.  We also see Sookie and Jackson in the kitchen talking about mushrooms, which Sookie needs because they are hosting the Bracebridge Dinner.  The group doing this bought out the inn in order to have this event, which includes music and a recreation of a 19th century meal.  Jackson ends up as the squire of Bracebridge, because he’s the only one who can fit into the costume.

At Friday night dinner, Lorelei asks Richard about their travel plans, because they usually go out of town this time of year.  This year, however, they’re not going anywhere, and Rory talks about how it’s nice to stay home sometimes.  Richard goes to make some calls, and we learn that Richard is still having some trouble at work.

At the inn, Sookie is talking to the extra people they’ve hired about what they’re expected to do.  Lorelei comes in and tells Sookie that the dinner is canceled, because the group is in Chicago. and they got snowed in…with no way to get to the inn.  Later on at Luke’s, they decide to invite all of their friends over, since there’s all of the food.  And since the inn will be empty, they can all spend the night at the inn.

Jess gets into a fight, and Dean breaks up it.  We also see Lorelei and Rory at home, looking at Christmas cards, including one of a really ugly baby, and one Christopher sent.  They talk about how there’s an empty room, which Rory wanted to save for Richard and Emily, and how it can’t hurt to invite them.

We finally get to the Bracebridge Dinner, and Babette and Mory are the first to arrive, much to the dismay of Mory.  Paris stops by to drop off some stuff for the paper…so they seem to be getting along at the moment.  Well, as good as Paris and Rory can get along, at any rate.

Lorelei stops by the kitchen to check up on things, and sees Roon ACTUALLY CHANGING IN THE KITCHEN.  One, how did no one notice this until Lorelei walked in?  Two, why would anyone change clothes in the kitchen?  Especially when you’re in A FREAKING INN.  There has to be somewhere else he could go.

We see Sookie trying to figure out what the dish needs, because she knows what ingredient is needed…and it turns out that she’s forgotten the word for salt.  Actually, I may have answered my own question…of course Sookie wouldn’t notice someone changing clothes in the kitchen until Lorelei points it out.

Lorelei talks to everyone once they’ve arrived and put their things in their room, and tells them that there are horse-drawn carriages for everyone.  Dean goes with her younger sister, we see Luke and Lorelei talking, and we see Richard and Emily enjoying themselves.  We also see Jess and Rory talking, and Jess wants to know what Rory and Dean talk about.  Jess thinks that Dean doesn’t really seem like Rory’s kind of guy, based on what Jess has seen of Dean in class.

I’m not even going to comment on what Jess said, other than to agree with him.

Back at the inn, dinner is served, and we see Mrs. Kim asking Lane about why no one said grace.  Lane tells her that they said it quietly, and she asks Babette if they said grace.  Babette laughs…but then says grace.  Lorelei gets Kirk to break character.

And then we get to the big event of the episode.  Richard is telling a story about a trip he took to Prague with Emily, and Taylor says that Richard is pretty interesting for an insurance man.  We learn that Richard is retired, much to the surprise, of, well, everyone.

It’s now bedtime, and Lorelei finally tells Rory that Chris had called and invited Rory to stay with him.  Lorelei apparently didn’t take it well, because she has dibs on this time of year, and she had plans, and she doesn’t want Rory to spend time with her stepmother…even though Chris and Sherry are only dating.

Emily comes in, because she can’t share a room with Richard, but ends up going for a walk because she can’t sleep.  She runs into Richard in the lobby, and he apologizes to her for retiring and not telling her.  He tells her what happened, and he starts to tell her about their financial situation before she tells him they should go to bed.

The next morning, everyone goes home, and Lorelei and Rory take a ride on the horse-drawn carriage, seeing that someone has destroyed this really nice snowman.

Favorite Lines/Scenes:

The 2 times we saw Mrs. Kim

Jess: I’ll wait for the clog dancing.

Pop Culture:

Mr Potato Head, Anne Heche talking to aliens, The Shining, Monopoly, Dr Doolittle, Bjork, Hotel California, Days Of Our Lives

Final Thoughts:

I liked this episode, which was a surprise because I haven’t liked an episode since the 2nd one.  I am curious about Emily and Richard’s financial situation, because it seems a little inconsistent.  Like, they can afford Rory’s tuition and a maid and a cook, and they seem to be well-off…but Richard starts going into detail about how he quit, so he had to forgo some stock options and some of his pension.  Then again, well-off when Richard is working is different than living off a pension and whatnot.

This was a fun episode to watch, and not nearly as dramatic as the last few have been.  It’s not, like, amaze-balls or anything, but it’s not god-awful or annoying.  This one gets 3 mugs of coffee.

Book Review: Love, Aubrey

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Love Aubrey CoverBook: Love, Aubrey by Suzanne LaFleur

Published June 2009 by Random House Children’s Books|Pages: 224

Source: E-book|Nook Store

Series: None

Genre: Middle Grade Contemporary

Goodreads|Suzanne LaFleur’s Website

Summary: “I had everything I needed to run a household: a house, food, and a new family. From now on it would just be me and Sammy–the two of us, and no one else.”

A tragic accident has turned eleven-year-old Aubrey’s world upside down. Starting a new life all alone, Aubrey has everything she thinks she needs: SpaghettiOs and Sammy, her new pet fish. She cannot talk about what happened to her. Writing letters is the only thing that feels right to Aubrey, even if no one ever reads them.

With the aid of her loving grandmother and new friends, Aubrey learns that she is not alone, and gradually, she finds the words to express feelings that once seemed impossible to describe. The healing powers of friendship, love, and memory help Aubrey take her first steps toward the future.

Readers will care for Aubrey from page one and will watch her grow until the very end, when she has to make one of the biggest decisions of her life.

I don’t normally read middle grade, but I’ve had this one on my Nook for a while, and was so glad I took the time to read it.  I really need to read more middle grade, because this was such a sweet story!

Aubrey is, like, such a sweet kid, and I loved seeing her relationship with her grandmother and how she opened up about what happened.  There’s something really special about grandparent-grandchild relationships, and Love, Aubrey totally made me think of my grandparents.

I loved that her grandma was there for her after Aubrey’s mom wasn’t able to take care of her, and how her grandma let Aubrey decide where she wanted to live when her mom was finally ready to take care of Aubrey.  I totally loved that Aubrey decided to stay with her grandma until the end of the school year because she liked it there and because she has friends.

I can’t completely relate to having her mom abandoning her, but I can definitely relate to losing people who are important to you but also having people who really love you.  I didn’t particularly care for Aubrey’s mom and how she shut down after the accident.  Is it understandable?  Sure.  But…I don’t know, she had her own journey, but I just wasn’t interested in her part of the story.

I also loved the letters Aubrey wrote to Tilly, her sister’s imaginary friend.  They were all times really well, and the letters she wrote to her parents and sister were also a nice touch.

Final Thoughts:

I really enjoyed Love, Aubrey.  I felt like Aubrey’s voice and how she dealt with things were really real, and I liked seeing her journey.  Also, I loved the cover and how much it related to the book!  I didn’t love it, but I still thought it was a great read, so Love, Aubrey gets 4 stars.

Book Review: Contagious

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Contagious CoverBook Review: Contagious by Emily Goodwin

Published Januar 2012|Self-Published|Pages: 424

Source: E-book from the Nook

Series: The Contagium Trilogy #1

Genre: New Adult-ish: Post-Apocalyptic/Zombies

Goodreads|Emily Goodwin’s Website

Summary: “I wasn’t afraid of death. If I died, it would be over. My worst fear wasn’t of dying, it was of living. Living, while everyone around me had their flesh savagely torn from their bodies to be shoved into the festering and ever-hungry mouths of zombies. It terrified me, right down to my very core, to be alive while the rest of the world was dead.”

In the midst of the Second Great Depression, twenty-five year old Orissa Penwell doesn’t think things can get any worse. She couldn’t be more wrong. A virus breaks out across the country, leaving the infected crazed, aggressive and very hungry.

Orissa will do anything-no matter if it’s right or wrong- to save the ones she loves. But when she discovers that most of the world is infected or dead, she must decided if those lives are worth saving at all.

I liked Contagious.  I really like the idea of different kinds of zombies as the virus progresses, and I’m super-intrigued with the idea that a virus can turn people into zombies.

So while I initially REALLY LIKED Contagious, now…my feelings are a little more mixed.

I thought Orissa was selfish and really unlikable.  She didn’t always think about her actions, and sometimes went running off to save everyone, especially if it meant taking down some zombies.  Granted, it is the zombie apocalypse…but don’t act like an idiot.  Honestly?  Orissa really felt like this amazing, perfect super-girl that everyone loves.  She’s definitely sort-of Mary-Sue-ish.

There were some inconsistencies throughout the book too.  The one that immediately comes to mind is how the character has her appendix taken out and is out for a month at the very beginning of the novel, but gets a severe concussion and gets stabbed, plus a couple MAJOR cuts (one in her hand, one in her head) in a matter of days and keeps going.  The water is (allegedly) contaminated, so they can’t drink it, and yet they use that same water to take their showers and to CLEAN OPEN WOUNDS.  Plus, the zombies are zombies because a virus, and yet they’re not wearing personal protective gear like gloves or goggles.  I know gloves and goggles aren’t cool when you’re fighting zombies…but when it’s caused by a virus we know nothing about, it just seems like a bad idea.

Speaking of the virus, we don’t know anything about it.  The group that Orissa joins up with is trying to find a vaccine; there are also some theories about the virus that don’t go anywhere in this book.  I kind of wanted to know more about the virus.

The other characters didn’t really stand out, and it felt like they were just there.

Final Thoughts:

I did like Contagious, even if my feelings toward it aren’t as strong as they were right after finishing it.  Orissa was easily the most irritating character, and there were things that went nowhere or didn’t make sense, but the idea of a virus that turns people into zombies and the idea that as the virus progresses, your zombie-ness changes.  I’m intrigued but I don’t know if I’m intrigued enough to continue the series.  Contagious gets 3 stars.

Book Review: Soulless

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PrintBook: Soulless by Gail Carriger|Narrated by Emily Gray

Published June 2010|Published by Recorded Books|10 hours, 52 minutes

Source: Audiobook via Audible.com

Series: The Parasol Protectorate #1

Genre: Adult Fiction: Steampunk/Paranormal

Goodreads|Gail Carriger’s Website

Summary: Victorian romance mixes seamlessly with elegant prose and biting wit – and werewolves – in Gail Carriger’s delightful debut novel. Soulless introduces Alexia Tarabotti, a parasol-wielding Londoner getting dangerously close to spinster status. But there are more important things than finding a husband. For Alexia was born without a soul, giving her the ability to render any vampire or werewolf completely powerless.

After reading Etiquette & Espionage, I thought I would give Soulless a try!  While I liked Soulless, I didn’t enjoy it as much as Etiquette & Espionage.

There were times when I couldn’t help but giggle, because Alexia was hysterical at times.  She was especially hysterical when you got her anywhere near Lord Maccon or her friend Ivy.  There’s definitely an interesting assortment of characters.  Normally, I’m all whatever about werewolves, liking them when paired with vampires but not a huge fan when they’re on their own.  Like, unable to get through ANYTHING involving a werewolf on his own.  Okay, maybe Soulless has a vampire here and there, but as Lord Maccon is a pretty important character who just HAPPENS to be a werewolf, werewolves tend to be pretty important.

…and this is the only time where I actually LIKED werewolves on their own.  I’m not even kidding when I say that Lord Maccon made werewolves sexy!

I thoroughly enjoyed his relationship with Alexia and the banter between them.  I am so glad they finally got married, and I really can’t wait to see what sort of trouble they manage to get themselves into.

There were points where my attention wandered, because I was mildly bored, but overall, it was a fun listen.  Gray did a great job narrating, and I especially liked all the voices she did.  I felt like her voice for Alexia was spot-on.

I loved the combination of steampunk and paranormal, and goes together so well! There’s something about the two genres that work so well together, and Carriger does a great job with blending paranormal and steampunk.  She gives equal time to both, and it doesn’t feel like she spent more time focusing on one and not enough time on the other.

I really can’t think of anything else to say about Soulless!  I really like Victorian London as a setting, and all of the manners and focus on society was fun to listen to.  It really added a nice touch, and I can’t imagine the book without it.

Final Thoughts:

I liked Soulless.  While it was a fun read, it didn’t grab me the way Etiquette & Espionage did.  Still, I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the series.  Soulless gets 3 stars.