nursenblack

Thanks! I try to mix-it-up.

OMG! I couldn't wait to share this totally hot cover from my Entertainment Weekly magazine that I got in the mail today.

I recommend Divergent (1st of a trilogy) by Veronica Roth. Insurgent, the second book, will be out in the spring. Also, Delirium by Lauren Oliver. Oliver's second book of the trilogy, Pademonium, is due out soon. I'm really excited about them!

Finished Feb 12th # 6 Cinder by Marissa Meyer (via library loan) synopsis from amazon.com "Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . . Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future." Cinder, the first of the Lunar Chronicles, is a unique and futuristic take on the classic fairy tale, Cinderella. Sure there is romance and a wicked Queen, but don't expect to be lulled to sleep by this tale. I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that this is a standalone story that doesn't lean to heavily on its namesake. As for the characters, Cinder is relatable, Prince Kai is unpretentious, and Queen Levana is merciless, but they are so much more than that. What a great debut. (4/5)

These are the books I can't wait to get my hands on so far (u.s. release dates also): The Selection by Kiera Cass - April 24, 2012 Enchanted by Alethea Kontis- May 8, 2012 Pandemonium (#2 Delirium) by Lauren Oliver - February 28, 2012 Insurgent (#2 Divergent Trilogy) by Veronica Roth - May 1, 2012

Darn those dystopian YA novels! They make my TBR pile GROW. I just pre-ordered Pure by Julianna Baggott. I couldn't help it though because it sounded so so good.

Finished Feb. 4th #5 Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor (via library loan) synopsis from amazon.com "Karou is a seventeen-year-old art student with a most unusual family. From his desk in a dusty, otherworldly shop, her mysterious, monstrous father sends her on errands across the globe, collecting teeth for a shadowy purpose. On one such errand, Karou encounters an angel, and soon the mysteries of her life and her family are unraveled--with consequences both beautiful and dreadful. National Book Award finalist Laini Taylor has created a lushly imaginative, fully realized world in Daughter of Smoke and Bone. Taylor’s writing is as sumptuous as poetry, and the story overflows with dark and delightful magic, star-crossed love, and difficult choices with heartbreaking repercussions. Readers of all ages will be utterly enchanted". --Juliet Disparte Daughter of Smoke & Bone, the first of a series, is pure imagination packed with mystery, brutality and romance. This isn't your typical YA novel, but a novel of a forbidden romance and infinite war that adults will also love. Although, to me, it seemed a bit wordy at times, the writing is impressive and really allows the reader to see into the character's souls. I'm looking forward to see what comes next for Karou and Akiva. (4/5) Currently reading: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Finished January 26th #4 The Poison Diaries by Maryrose Wood (based on a concept by The Duchess of Northumberland) Jessamine Luxton, the sixteen year old daughter of an apothecary, lives isolated in an old monastary. Her father travels often for work, leaving Jessamine with only seeds to talk to and write about in her journal. She lovingly tends to her gardens, but not the garden that is chained and locked. That is where her father keeps the poisonous plants that can both cure and kill. When a strange, orphaned boy named Weed is brought to their home Jessamine finally has someone to talk to. Weed is unlike anyone. He has knowledge of plants that goes beyond what can be learned from books, and soon Jessamines father, Thomas, wants to know all that Weed knows. Despite Weed's eccentric ways, Jessamine can't help but fall in love with him. But love can be as dangerous as any poison... The Poison Diaries, the first of a series, is a unique and romantic tale set in the late 1700's in England. It is like reading an old, newly discovered, fairy tale that is lovely but also dark. I enjoyed this novel, but the last quarter of the novel was a bit bizarre. I am looking forward to getting the secondbook, Nightshade, though. (3/5) Now reading: Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor

Great review of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, Weave! This makes me excited to read my copy that I got for Christmas.

It's been years since I read Sense & Sensibility as well. I did really love it. I agree that Elinor is clearly the heroine and my favorite character in the novel, but I do adore Marianne.

# 3 The Ballad of Trencmouth Taggart by M. Glenn Taylor synopsis from amazon.com "Meet Trenchmouth Taggart, a man born and orphaned in 1903, a man nicknamed for his lifelong oral affliction. His boyhood is shaped by the Widow Dorsett, a strong mountain woman who teaches him to hunt and to survive the taunts of others. In the hills of southern West Virginia, a boy grows up fast. Trenchmouth sips moonshine, handles snakes, pleases women, and masters the rifle—a skill that lands him in the middle of the West Virginia coal wars. A teenaged union sniper, Trenchmouth is exiled to the back-woods of Appalachia's foothills, where he spends his years running from the past. But trouble will sniff a man down, and an outlaw will eventually run home. Here Trenchmouth Taggart's story, like the best ballads, etches its mark deep upon the memory." I didn't know what to expect from a novel called The Ballad of Trenchmouth Taggart, but what I discovered was a unique story epically told, just like the best tales in the foothills of Appalachia. The novel covers the life of Trenchmouth Taggart, a wopping 108 years, from his tramatic infancy to his mountainman adulthood in West Virginia. From snake handling to Pulitzer Prize winning, Trenchmouth does it all. Despite being an outlaw on the run for most of his life, the urge to return to his childhood home is hard to ignore. (4/5)

I posted on this thread couple of years ago and counted only 18 that I had read on the original 1001 list (maybe it's been changed by now),and wanted to see how I have fared. Read - bold TBR -underlined Wishlist- italics Never Let Me Go – Kazuo Ishiguro Everything is Illuminated – Jonathan Safran Foer Kafka on the Shore – Haruki Murakami Middlesex – Jeffrey Eugenides Atonement – Ian McEwan The Corrections – Jonathan Franzen House of Leaves – Mark Z. Danielewski The Hours – Michael Cunningham The God of Small Things – Arundhati Roy Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle – Haruki Murakami Felicia’s Journey – William Trevor The Virgin Suicides – Jeffrey Eugenides The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood The Color Purple – Alice Walker Interview With the Vampire – Anne Rice I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings – Maya Angelou The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – Ken Kesey A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger Cry, the Beloved Country – Alan Paton Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck Gone With the Wind – Margaret Mitchell The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald The Awakening – Kate Chopin Little Women – Louisa May Alcott Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoevsky Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll Great Expectations – Charles Dickens The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne Wuthering Heights – Emily Brontë Jane Eyre – Charlotte Brontë Persuasion – Jane Austen Emma – Jane Austen Mansfield Park – Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen Well, 26 is an improvement

#2 The Help by Kathyrn Stockett (via Kindle per library loan) Kathyrn Stockett's debut novel, The Help is about life in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960's during segregation, told by three unforgettable characters: Aibileen, whose love for the white children she cares for helps to mend the whole left behind by her own son's death; Minny, Aibileen's spirited best friend, who has trouble controlling what comes out of her mouth; and Skeeter, a rich, white woman just back from college, who's inquiry into her old maid's disappearance snowballs into an avalanche that affects the whole town. Each character narrarrates in a unique style of their own, but each one is believable and...real. When this novel first came out I had know idea what it was about and had no interest in it. Shamefully, I only decided to read it after I heard about the movie and a few of co-workers said how good it was. I'm so glad that I did read it. The Help has history, romance, suspense, drama, and a prim and proper villian. Readers will be disgusted, angry, joyful, and heartbroken. Add this to you wishlist folks because it is sure to be a classic. (5/5)

Has anyone read or heard anything about The Fault in Our Stars by John Green? It is a young adult novel about two teenagers who meet at a cancer support group. I believe it was just released here in the US this month and there is some buzz about it in Entertainment Weekly magazine already.

Finished Jan. 6th #1 Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead (via kindle per library loan) synopsis from amazon.com St Vladimir's Academy isn't just any boarding school - hidden away, it's a place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They've been on the run, but now they're being dragged back to St Vladimir's where the girls must survive a world of forbidden romances, a ruthless social scene and terrifying night time rituals. But most of all, staying alive. Vampire Academy, the first of a young adult series isn't your typical girl meets boy/vampire novel. The story itself is original and vampires aren't what we know them to be- Moroi are...alive. Rose, the protagonist who is a Dhampir, a half Moroi vampire and half human, is destined to guard her best friend. Plenty of action and a forbidden romance with an older guardian leave me wanting more. The writing itself leaves a bit to be desired, but the plot makes up for it. (3/5) Currently reading: The Help by Kathyrn Stockett (via Kindle)

Thanks Julie! Good luck to you as well. My brother really liked Trenchmouth, and so he bought me a copy for christmas. Oh, That reminds me that I left The Hour I First Believed by Lamb off my list. That will be a good doorstep sized book for this year.

Great, enormous TBR pile, Ben. I'm excited to see the Bronte sisters on your list!

Nursenblack's Reading List 2012 Goal for 2012: 45 books Rating Scale 1-5 1)awful. only fit for a birdcage liner. 2)so so. will not recommend to anyone. 3)Just ok. I liked it, but nothing special 4)enjoyable read. will recommend to others 5)excellent. loved it! Currently reading: Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead TBR Pile (On my physical bookshelf & Kindle) Hourglass by Myra McEntire Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs The Neverending Story by Michael Ende The Poison Diaries by Maryrose Wood (based on the concept by The Duchess of Northumberland) Jane Austen Ruined My LIfe by Beth Pattillo Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart by Beth Pattillo The Ballad of TrenchMouth Taggart by M. Glenn Taylor Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare Anna Dressed In Blood by Kendare Blake Crazy Beautiful by Lauren Baratz-Logsted Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier The Help by Kathryn Stockett The Girl with Glass Feet by Ali Shaw Anita and Me by M. Syal Jasmyn by Alex Bell Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb Kafka By the Shore by Haruki Murakami Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro Stardust by Neil Gaiman The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen Persuasion by Jane Austen The Color Purple by Alice Walker Left Behind by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins The Vampire Diaries: The Struggle by L.J Smith The Silver Kiss by Annette Curtis Klause Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See Nevermore by Kelly Creagh The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Finished Dec. 29th #47 Intensity by Dean Koontz (via kindle per libarary loan) synopsis from amazon.com "Past midnight, Chyna Shepard, twenty-six, gazes out a moonlit window, unable to sleep on her first night in the Napa Valley home of her best friend’s family. Instinct proves reliable. A murderous sociopath, Edgler Foreman Vess, has entered the house, intent on killing everyone inside. A self-proclaimed “homicidal adventurer,” Vess lives only to satisfy all appetites as they arise, to immerse himself in sensation, to live without fear, remorse or limits, to live with intensity. Chyna is trapped in his deadly orbit. Chyna is a survivor, toughened by a lifelong struggle for safety and self-respect. Now she will be tested as never before. At first her sole aim is to get out alive—until, by chance, she learns the identity of Vess’s next intended victim, a faraway innocent only she can save. Driven by a newly discovered thirst for meaning beyond mere self-preservation, Chyna musters every inner resource she has to save an endangered girl…as moment by moment, the terrifying threat of Edgler Foreman Vess intensifies." I abandoned Intensity over a decade ago for some reason or another, but I'm so glad to have revisited it. The story lives up to its title and is hard to put down. I love that Koontz shows the reader the killer's POV as well as the heroine's. It becomes that much more terrifying. I watched the miniseries years ago- quite different from the book- but loved it too. Edgler Vess is definitely one of the scariest characters that I have ever read/watched. (4/5)

I began the day with Abandon On my way to work I saw A Certain Slant of Light and walked by Darkwood to avoid Anna Dressed in Blood but I made sure to stop at Wuthering Heights In the office, my boss said, My Blood Approves and sent me to research The Vampire Diaries At lunch with Jane Eyre I noticed Uglies under Room then went back to my desk, Forever Later, on the journey home, I bought A Pocket Full of Rye because I have Thirteen Reasons Why then settling down for the evening, I picked up Little Children and studied Before I Go to Sleep before saying goodnight to The Girl in the Lighthouse

I thought I'd list the great books I recieved for Chirstmas. My hubby got me all but one of them. Hourglass by Myra McEntire Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs The Neverending Story by Michael Ende The Poison Diaries by Maryrose Wood (based on the concept by The Duchess of Northumberland) Jane Austen Ruined My LIfe by Beth Pattillo The Ballad of TrenchMouth Taggart by M. Glenn Taylor

Woohoo for the Kindle! I'm sure you'll love it. They have library loan capability now, so that's more free books to read.

Finished Dec. 26th #46 Divergent by Veronica Roth synopsis from amazon.com "One choice can transform you. Pass initiation. Do not fail! Thrilling urban dystopian fiction debut from exciting young author. In sixteen-year-old Beatrice Prior's world, society is divided into five factions -- Abnegation (the selfless), Candor (the honest), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent) -- each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue, in the attempt to form a "perfect society." At the age of sixteen, teens must choose the faction to which they will devote their lives. On her Choosing Day, Beatrice renames herself Tris, rejects her family's group, and chooses another faction. After surviving a brutal initiation, Tris finds romance with a super-hot boy, but also discovers unrest and growing conflict in their seemingly "perfect society." To survive and save those they love, they must use their strengths to uncover the truths about their identities, their families, and the order of their society itself." I was really intrigued by this debut YA novel about a dystopian society that divides it's members into five groups based on their virtures. There is something in it for every dystopian lover, and is definitely a unisex read with plenty of action and a pinch of romance. I can't wait to see what happens next in this trilogy. (4/5)

#45 A Christmas Conspiracy by Mary Chase Comstock (via Kindle per library) synopsis from amazon.com Those Montmorency twins, so very like their mother, devised a plot to get their parents back together. Though Lady Frances was well aware that the abject, loving letter she received was not from Sir Giles, she longed to be with her family at Christmas time—and so accepted the baronet’s (unwitting) invitation. At the Hall there is love in the air—and kissing boughs everywhere. Regency Romance novella by Mary Chase Comstock; originally published by Zebra in A Christmas Wish A Christmas Conspiracy is a cozy novella perfect for a cold winter's evening. Considered a romance, but the story is appropriate for older children and young adults as well. If your in the mood for a short, warm cozy with minimal drama but plenty charm, then A Christmas Conspiracy is the ticket. (3.5/5)

I hope you do too. I just expected so much more from a Pulitzer winner. Some chapters were wonderful, but it was so depressing that it didn't suit my tastes.