Naamah's Kiss By Jacqueline Carey

Once there were great magicians born to the Maghuin Dhonn, the folk of the Brown Bear, the oldest tribe in Alba. But generations ago, the greatest of them all broke a sacred oath sworn in the name of all his people. Now, only small gifts remain to them. Through her lineage, Moirin possesses such gifts-the ability to summon the twilight and conceal herself, and the skill to coax plants to grow.Moirin has a secret, too. From childhood onward, she senses the presence of unfamiliar gods in her life: the bright lady and the man with a seedling cupped in his palm. Raised in the wilderness by her reclusive mother, it isn't until she comes of age that Moirin learns how illustrious, if mixed, her heritage is. The great-granddaughter of Alais the Wise, child of the Maghuin Donn, and a cousin of the Cruarch of Alba, Moirin learns her father was a D'Angeline priest dedicated to serving Naamah, goddess of desire.After Moirin undergoes the rites of adulthood, she finds divine acceptance...on the condition that she fulfill an unknown destiny that lies somewhere beyond the ocean. Or perhaps oceans. Beyond Terre d'Ange where she finds her father, in the far reaches of distant Ch'in, Moirin's skills are a true gift when facing the vengeful plans of an ambitious mage, a noble warrior princess desperate to save her father's throne, and the spirit of a celestial dragon.

Deadlocked by Charlene Harris

I have been a huge fan of the Sookie Stackhouse series, even before they started with the show. As much as I love them, it has really pained me to see how far they have fallen these last two books. This one is much better than the last one, but not by much. Deadlocked starts with Claude and Dermot are still living in Sookie's house and the gate to Faiery is still closed to all those who are in the human world. Sookie is still with Eric but that is going no where now that he has been promised to the Queen of Oklahoma by his maker before his death. Sam is still dating Janna Lynn the crazy were enforcer who turns out to be much crazier than we all thought. Sookie goes to Eric's house because the King Felipe De Castro is in town and a were woman temps Eric to feed from her, then ends up dead on his front lawn. Too much of the book is spent on dealing with this incident, and sorta sent the book into this weird place. I really feel like there were too many plots that just didn't fit together.

Sookie also has a fairy treasure that was left to her by her grandmother that will grant any one wish that is given with love. Oh course Eric wants her to rid him of this engagement but in the end she uses it to save Sam which pisses off Eric and ultimately I assume will end the courtship. I normally loved Eric but I feel like it's time for that to end because it hasn't been going anywhere. Quinn comes back for a hot minute (via Phone) and let's her know that he is going to be a father, but his were-tiger girlfriend basically used him for a pure blood baby. She wants nothing to do with him now that she got it...poor Quinn all his baggage is now gone so maybe he and Sookie can finally get together...again. Turns out Sookie was right about Claude and he was plotting against her to get back home, her Great Grandfather saves them all and lets Dermot back into Faery. The Fairy part of the books is finally done, but I am truly hoping that Miss Harris takes her time with the last 2 novels of the series so that they can go back to being great, rather then just being done.

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Let me start off by saying that I was really excited to read this book, I had seen it on so many favorite list, that I was looking forward to a great read. Man, what a let down. The story is about a world that has been taken over by religion and woman are no longer valued for anything other than running the home and being child bearers in a time when the fertility rate is very low. The women are no longer allowed to read and they are separated by rank and dressed in certain colors so that everyone around them knows what they are...yes what not who. I found this book to be very confusing, and really rather boring. Offred (the Handmaid) is having flash backs of her old life while trying to cope with the new one. Once a month she had sex with the commander while his wife sits behind her and they pray for a baby...awkward!

I had a hard time finishing this book because it jumped around so much and the message was just so far out that I really didn't want to read anymore. I did in fact finish it with a huge sigh of relief that it was over. Not the greatest book I ever read, but certainly not the worst.

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

Margaret Lea is a biographer who works in her father's antique book shop gets a mysterious letter from a very famous author Vida Winter who is sick and wants to tell her story. Margaret is skeptical because what is best know of Vida Winter is that during interviews she always lies about her past and very little is known of her other than she is a fabulous writer. While she is deciding if she will infact travel to Ms. Winter's home in the country Margaret begins to read her father’s rare copy of Miss Winter’s Thirteen Tales of Change and Desperation. She is spellbound by the stories and confused when she realizes the book only contains twelve stories. Where is the thirteenth tale? Intrigued, Margaret agrees to meet Miss Winter and act as her biographer.


Once she is in the realm of Ms. Winter she begins not only to discover the truth of Vida but a very dark story that she never could have imagined. This book was so well written and had me guessing all the way to the end. 

Mocking Jay By Suzanne Collins

I actually finished this book a while back, but was so disappointed with the ending of the series that I have really held off writing this review. This book started right where Catching Fire left off, with Katnis being taken from the games and all drugged up in the recovery room. She has been badly hurt and all she can think of doing is get to Peeta and save him...even if it means taking his life herself. As you read on we come to find that the Capitol has Peeta and District 13 is where Katnis has been taken. She has learned that her home in District 12 has been leveled and all that she has ever known is gone. 

She becomes the reluctant stokes woman for the rebellion and finds out more than she ever knew about what has been happening all these years with the District that was supposed to be gone. All the while Peeta is on TV urging her to give up the fight, and stop all the madness. I won't go into too much detail, but lets just say I would rather not waste my time going into it. I was very very irritated how so much time was spent on things that just seemed to not be that important and at the very end just sorta threw it all together to tie it all up. Not very well done, I personally feel that it was a huge let down to what was once a great story. Huge let down.

Catching Fire

The 2nd book in the Hunger Games series, I started reading this one the day that I finished the first, just could help myself. This one starts 6 months or so after Katnis and Peeta have won the Hunger Games and are back home in District 12. Nothing is as it was before the games except the fact that the district is better fed and in better spirits now that they have 2 champions. Gale is more distant, now that he is working in the mines with only one day off and Peeta is as well after the games, while Katnis is still trying to sort it all out and deal with all the issues that she has from surviving the games. On top of that the Victory tour is drawing near and she receives a visit from the President of the Capitol telling her that he isn't happy with her for the stunt with the berries and that during the tour she had better convince him that she and Peeta are in fact very in love. So starts the drama...

The victory tour starts and the two discover that much is going on in the other districts that they never knew. The defiance that they showed in the games has fueled the fire of the districts and has started a rebellion that the capitol is trying very hard to cover up. While on tour Peeta and Katnis try and put aside the hurt feeling that came out of the charade and support one another because something that they never expected is about to throw their whole world upside down.

This year's Hunger Games is the Quarter Quell in which they have decided instead of choosing tributes the usual way they will be having past champions compete in the games which of course means that Katnis being the only female winner from District 12 will indeed be returning to the arena. Peeta volunteers to take Haymitch's place so that he can protect Katnis in the arena. For their 2nd Hunger Games Katnis and Peeta are much better prepared and they meet the other players who are equally ready for this. The trials that they face are much crazier then the first time around and the competitors all have their own agenda planned. Without ruining the end, this book kept me on the edge of my seat and I was so surprised at the end, I had to read the last chapter again. If you loved the first book, this one is great as well. Big thumbs up from me :)