Hush Hush

By: Becca Fitzpatrick
Genre: Teen Fiction
Stars: 2 out of 5
Nora Grey, a sophomore in high school, just had to switch biology partners and now she is stuck with Patch a tall, dark and handsome guy with a mysterious and dangerous edge. Once he becomes her partner, her world begins to turn upside-down. She starts seeing things – like plunging to her death from a roller coaster – and they seem so real. Then a person starts following her with the intention of killing! And somehow Patch is always around. What is he finding? And who is he really? Will Nora find out before it is too late?
So my friend at work loves teen fiction novels that are set up like Twilight. She gets so excited about them that I promised her I would read this one about fallen angels. From the start, it was sort of based off of Twilight with the dark and mysterious boy and the girl who just does not quite fit in. The story line was a little cheesy for me in this respect and sometimes a little slow. The story builds you up for all this information about Patch and Nora and then it is rushed at the end. I wish the story gave little hints of who Patch is or Nora figured it out sooner so then the suspenseful ending could have its full glory. Becca Fitzpatrick writes well but the story was just not there. But hey if you love teen fiction and Twilight as much as my friend then you will love this novel!

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

By: Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
Genre: Fiction
Stars: 5 out of 5
Taking place after World War II and the German Occupation, an author named Juliet receives a letter from a man Dawsey who says he has just bought a book that she used to own. They begin to correspond and he tells her about the literary society him and his friends developed during the German Occupation on the Guernsey Islands to avoid punishment for being out past curfew. Finding this story so clever, Juliet begins corresponding with all the members of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Hearing their stories about the German Occupation fascinates Juliet and she evens goes to visit Guernsey Islands with the intention of writing a novel about their struggles during the German Occupation.
I really enjoyed this novel. You should never judge a book by its title and I had done so when I first heard of the title of this book. However, thanks to my friend, she lent me her copy and said I would thoroughly enjoy this novel – and I was not disappointed. Written in all corresponding letters this is a fast read that keeps your attention. I loved the story line as well having it revolve around a woman writer who is trying to find her next subject to write about and then it falls right on her doorstep – literally! It is heartwarming and gives you a feel of how small islands that you never hear about like Guernsey (off the coast of England) were affected by the Germans. I would recommend this book to anyone. Just about everyone will love it.

Hush

By: Kate White
Genre: Fiction/Thriller
Stars: 3 out of 5
Lake Warren is a marketing consultant going through a nasty divorce with her husband Jack. After he files for full custody, Lake is pretty certain nothing could go worse for her. However, she is truly mistaken. Dr. Mark Keaton, a new doctor at the Park Avenue Fertility Clinic that she is working on decides to seduce her and bed her. When Lake wakes up she finds herself in Dr. Keaton’s apartment – with a dead Dr. Keaton. Now she is fighting for her kids because if word gets out she slept with Dr. Keaton and found him dead then Jack will definitely receive full custody of her kids. Lake is fighting to stay out of jail because if the detectives find out Lake was the woman Dr. Keaton had slept with the night he was murdered then all signs would lead to her. Finally, Lake is fighting for her own life when someone decides to stalk her. With all this stress pending around her, will Lake figure out the murder – and the dark secrets that the fertility clinic is hiding before it’s too late?
I will say I enjoyed this novel. I do not usually read thrillers or crime fiction and I must say Hush was pretty decent. However, the plot was a little cheesy at times and a few things were predictable. But I must admit there were a few things that sent me for a loop like who the real murderer was. But the story and writing was just okay. It didn’t bore me but it didn’t impress me. All in all it was a decent read so if you enjoy thrillers then this is a book that is worth picking up.

Arata: The Legend

By: Yuu Watase
Genre: Manga
Stars: 4 out of 5 stars

In a mythical world, humans and gods coexist and a matriarchal heir from the Hime Clan brings peace between them. Arata a fifteen year old boy is the next successor and unless he pretends to be a girl he must face death. But on the day of his inauguration, a murderous plot forces him to flee - right into modern day Japan. Meanwhile in modern-day Japan, a boy names Arata gets sucked into the mythical world replacing the first Arata and finds himself dealing with people after his life.
Manga is my gulity pleasure and I couldn't wait to pick this one up. The art is fantastic and the story line is okay so far. I am waiting for the next volume to really enjoy the plot but the art is well worth reading this volume.

Horns

By: Joe Hill
Genre: Horror
Stars: 2 out of 5
The devil comes to life in this novel about a man named Ig Perrish who is still struggling with the accusations of raping and murdering his ex-girlfriend Merrin Williams a year ago. After a night of drunkenness, Ig wakes up with more than just a hangover – there are horns growing out of his head! Not only does he have a new accessory on his head but he finds that the horns mesmerize people in such a way that they tell Ig their deepest and darkest desires and secrets. In addition to these confessions, Ig can also learn about secrets by just a brush of the hand. Trying to escape from these curses set upon him, Ig accidently finds out Merrin’s true murderer and discovers that his transformation into the devil will help him bring down the person responsible.
This is my first horror novel and I must say that I was very disappointed. To me horror should scare me to the point that I can’t read a book at night. However, this was exactly the opposite. Joe Hill just makes it bizarre and a little vulgar with his language. Although written quite well with his different perspectives of Merrin’s death, I did not particularly like this novel. I am told that this is not the best one the son of Stephen King has done and that his The Heart Shaped Box is much better but I have realized that maybe this genre is just not quite for me.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

By: Jamie Ford
Genre: Fiction
Stars: 4 out of 5
A tale of forbidden friendship, this novel shows the Japanese relocation project during World War II from the eyes of a twelve year old Chinese boy. Forced into a white school he meets the only other Asian – a Japanese girl. Henry and Keiko form a friendship that Henry’s traditional Chinese father does not approve of in the slightest. Jamie Ford offers real events and locations in Seattle during the 1940s and the prejudice that the Japanese had to endure.
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel that Ford produced. With his accuracy within the Seattle community at the time and present day – since the book goes back and forth from present day to WWII – the novel is truly authentic and readable. This novel shows that despite what circumstances a person might endure a friendship can survive. I especially loved how Ford invoked a desire in me to actually go visit the Panama Hotel here in the International District of Seattle where an essential part of the novel takes place. And I was not disappointed with the tea room and the display of suitcases, books and toys not yet claimed by the Japanese families who left them in the hotel for safe keeping. If you want a Chinese-Japanese take on the classic story of Romeo and Juliet than you should pick this up.

The Glass Castle

By: Jeannette Walls
Genre: Biography
Stars: 4 out of 5
A memoir like this does not come around very often and when they do, strings pull at your heart and you think, this sort of thing happens every day to some families around the country and it is just awful. Jeannette Walls is the second oldest in a family of four with a father who can barely stay sober long enough to keep a steady job and support his family while their mother is a free-spirited woman who does not want the responsibility of taking care of her family. Jeannette and her sisters and brother learn to live on their own, finding food in the school garbage at lunch when they cannot bring their own lunch or afford hot lunch as well as doing as many little jobs as they can to make some sort of incomes for themselves. Even though it is heartbreaking to see these children struggling to survive while their father disappears for days at a time drunk at a bar and their mother is busy painting or expressing her creativity as much as she can and there is never enough money or income to support them all, there are some good memories. For Christmas one year they could not afford presents so their father took them out into the desert under the starry sky and asked them to pick a star and it was theirs. Then there are the bad memories where a reader thinks “Why do these parents even have children” when Jeannette and her brother find a two carat diamond ring thinking it would find their family for at least a few months and after showing their mother all they receive is a self-esteem booster for their mother who instead of pawning the ring decides to wear it. But in the end, Jeannette Walls and her siblings have made better lives for themselves and there is a satisfactory ending to their story.
I decided to read this book after two coworkers were talking about it and one expressed that she could not finish reading the book because it was just sickening the way the parents treated their children. So I was deeply interested to see what this family was put through and I was not disappointed with the disgust I felt from the situations the narrator and her siblings were put through. It also shows the poverty that occurs on a regular basis in the Appalachian Mountains that most individuals forget happens in our country. These coal miner families practically have nothing. All in all this memoir was an eye-opening and fascinating read.

The Hunger Games

By: Suzanne Collins
Genre: Teen Fiction
Stars: 5 out of 5
America is no longer the 50 states we have been divided into for the past hundred years. It is now called Panem, an America now in ruins with a Capitol ruling over twelve outlying districts. To remind the twelve districts of the Capitol’s power over them they hold an annual Hunger Games where one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen from each of the districts has to participate to the death in an arena set by the Capitol. The story follows Katniss Everdeen, a sixteen year old girl who has made a living off of surviving in her district. When it is time to choose a girl from district twelve to go to the annual event Katniss’ sister Prim is chosen, a twelve year old who is naïve in the ways of hunting and surviving. In a fury of emotion, Katniss volunteers to take her sister’s place thus becoming the girl representative from district twelve. Thrown into the arena with twenty-three other opponents, some strong having made it their duty to win and others who are weak using wit to their advantage, will Katniss be the last one standing?
From the moment I picked up the book and read the first two chapters, I could not for the life of me put it back down. I spent half of a day starting and finishing this book. It was recommended by a coworker (I work in a bookstore so coworkers recommend books to the rest of us coworkers all the time) and from her explanation it intrigued me and I was not disappointed. Suzanne Collins has written an edge-of-your-seat novel with twists and turns and suspense waiting at the end of every chapter that you say to yourself, “I’ll read just one more chapter to find out what happens” and yet you end up finishing the book. The first in a trilogy, this book is certainly a must read. I know I cannot wait to get the second one and the third comes out in August.

Book Recommendations

Hello readers! The other day I was thinking to myself how much I truly love to read and why I cannot find a job in which I read all day. Then it dawned on me that I should write a blog recommending the books that I have read. Although it isn’t a job at least I know that some of you will take something out of this blog – at least that is my hope. I will review new books and sometimes classics, fiction and non-fiction, teen books as well as manga. I do not stick to just one genre and so hopefully there will be a book for every type of reader out there. And feel free to recommend books that you have read and enjoyed to me as well. I am always looking for new books to read. Well time to start reviewing and writing. I have a few here ready for you to read.