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I can say that I’m a pretty big fan of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. The movie was rubbish, but the books are good. Again this one had some of the same childish names and themes, but it was very entertaining. It has the fun and adventure of Harry Potter but without any of Rowling’s depth. Again Percy and his friends go on a quest to save the world. Again they are successful. Riordian starts each book with a problem and seems to resolve it each book. I look forward to reading the rest of these books.

With Pride season among us, I was feeling festive and decided to read a book with LGBTQ themes. I was very impressed with Alex Sanchez. He wrote a book that was geared at high school kids but it had enough depth for adult readers as well. I found myself really relating to the characters in this book, especially Kyle, in ways I never have in other books. This is a true coming-of-age classic that should be required reading in high school. It is clear that Sanchez writes to show the world that LGBTQ Americans are just like anyone else. They have the same problems, the same falling in love and heartbreak, the same blood and bones and skin.

I look forward to reading more of his work and I would really love to see him write some adult novels as well. Alex Sanchez is changing the world and making it a better place by writing his books. Here’s to hoping that in my lifetime we’ll have a world that has full equality under the law.

This book was just amazing! It was a breath of fresh air from a brand new author. This novel blended history, the modern world, suspense, romance and magic. It took about 40 pages to really take off, but once it took off I couldn’t put it down. I want a sequel and I plan to read the rest of Katherine Howe’s books.

I really like historical fiction, especially fiction concerning pre-Revolutionary America and especially concerning Puritans and witchcraft. This covers the story of the Salem Witch Trials, but from a different angle than ever before. The author gives a lot of background and covers the historial accuracy of her facts at the end of the book. But rather than just telling us about the Salem Witch Trials, Howe tells the reader the background and then flashes back to modern day where the main character of the book (who is a graduate student at Harvard in 1991) is trying to uncover the facts that the reader already knows. I especially loved the supernatural world of Salem, Massachusetts.

I’ve been neglecting updating this a little bit, but I’ve been super busy as well. I recently read Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lighting Thief by Rick Riordian. The trailer to the movie looked really good so I decided to read the books. The themes were great, but the dialogue and names were a little bit cheesy. Even in a kids book, I think Riordian could have come up with a better name than “Camp Half Blood”. Overall, despite being written for children, the book had a lot of mythology and Riordian did a great job of blending it with the moden world without losing its historial relevance.

I’m a huge Twilight fan, so I was a little bit skeptical when picking up this book, but decided “what the hell” since I am already a Stephenie Meyer fan. This book was good. In fact it was great. I think it was just as good as Twilight. Despite being a Sci Fi book, I think in many ways it was more realistic than Vampires in Meyer’s other books.

She had a lot of the same themes in The Host as the Twilight series. She has some fascination with a love triangle, she raises a lot of questions about nature (as in Twilight) and she makes some characters unrealistically strong and others unrealistically weak. I loved the character development and the love story though. The main character, Wanda/Melenie is very deep. It’s two characters in one yet also two distinct characters. You’d have to read the book to understand, I don’t want to spoil anything.

It was also refreshing to see a book with no profanity and no sexuality. The most Stephenie Meyer describes is making out, any sex is left up to the imagination. Not that I am afraid to read adult themes, quite the contrary, but it is refreshing nonetheless to have a GREAT story that is also completely clean.

I was walking to Barnes and Noble Cafe during my break at work to get a cookie when I spotted a poster for this book. Although I feel it is anti-masculine or something to admit that I am a Twilight fan, I am a huge one and I had to buy this book. To be honest, it seems like a lame attempt for Stephenie Meyer to make more money. It is interesting as a Twilight fan, but it is nowhere near as engaging as the full length Twilight novels were.

Having also finished Breaking Dawn today, I feel that Meyer left us with closure but it would still be possible for her to write another Twilight novel and I know that I would certainly be buying it if/when she does decide to write it.

Hopefully it will get more engaging as I continue. But so far I wish I would have re-read Eclipse instead.

This book was great! I am not usually big on suspense/thriller books but I really enjoyed this one. In Never Look Away, Linwood Barclay keeps the reader turning the pages. It is very suspenseful although slightly cliche.

For the most part I was surprised at what developed, but some of it was super predictable. Fortunately I’m not a proactive reader who tries to figure it out, I just read it for enjoyment.

Anyone who wants a quick engaging read should check this one out.

So I’ve decided that I’m going to start reviewing books that I read so that I can keep track of those that I like and don’t like.

Most recently I picked up A Dark Matter by Peter Straub. I read about 1/4 of it and just couldn’t get into it. So I gave up.

Now I am on to Never Look Away by Linwood Barclay. So far it’s a much better experience, his writing flows a lot better.