frankie Posted February 22, 2011 Posted February 22, 2011 ^ Oooh, I like the sound of that, will add it to my wishlist. Thanks for the review! Quote
lopeanha Posted February 22, 2011 Posted February 22, 2011 Great review nursenblack, the rest of the series is just as good The series is really good! I loved all three books Quote
nursenblack Posted February 23, 2011 Author Posted February 23, 2011 The series is really good! I loved all three books I need to get my hands on the other books. I got Generation Dead from the library, but they don't have the other two. I kinda hate to buy them when I don't own the first. Maybe I can find some used for cheap. Quote
nursenblack Posted February 26, 2011 Author Posted February 26, 2011 (edited) #11 Delirium by Lauren Oliver Delirium is the new YA novel by Lauren Oliver, author of Before I Fall. Set in the future (sixty-four years after love is declared a disease by the US president) in Portaland, Maine, love has been almost eradicated. The 'cure' for deliria nervosa is a procedure that is designed to make a person unable to love and therfore easier to control. The procedure can only be performed after the age of eighteen. Seventeen year-old Lena thinks the cure is a good thing and eagerly awaits her procedure and evalutaion, which will determine her fate and her future mate. But all that changes when she meets Alex. From there on, her beliefs about the world are gradually turned upside down. I'm in love with Delirium as I was Oliver's debut novel Before I Fall. Delirium is intriguing and emotional. I can't wait to find out what happens next. (5/5) Edited February 26, 2011 by nursenblack Quote
nursenblack Posted March 13, 2011 Author Posted March 13, 2011 I can't believe that I've been reading Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens for two weeks on my kindle and I'm only 54% into it!! I do enjoy the story, but Dickens goes on and on and on. I really want to finish soon because I'm expecting, through the mail, The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde and Little Children by Tom Perrotta via Goodreads swaps. Quote
nursenblack Posted March 18, 2011 Author Posted March 18, 2011 #12 Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens (via Kindle) synopsis from amazon.com One of Charles Dickens’ most personally resonant novels, Little Dorrit speaks across the centuries to the modern reader. Its depiction of shady financiers and banking collapses seems uncannily topical, as does Dickens’ compassionate admiration for Amy Dorrit, the “child of the Marshalsea,” as she struggles to hold her family together in the face of neglect, irresponsibility, and ruin. Intricate in its plotting, the novel also satirizes the cumbersome machinery of government. For Dickens, Little Dorrit marked a return to some of the most harrowing scenes of his childhood, with its graphic depiction of the trauma of the debtors’ prison and its portrait of a world ignored by society. The novel not only explores the literal prison, but also the figurative jails that characters build for themselves. I love the story of Little Dorrit. Not one of Dickens most well known novels, but it should be. It took me quite a while to get through this novel (my first doorstep size book of the year) and often found it difficult to keep the characters straight. The dull parts are detailed and long, but the intresting and romanctic parts are wonderful. Little Dorrit is my second Dickens, Great Expectations was my first, and I think it is far superior. Dickens fans need to read Little Dorrit. (4/5) Quote
nursenblack Posted March 26, 2011 Author Posted March 26, 2011 (edited) #13 The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde Synopsis from barnesandnoble.com In Jasper Fforde's Great Britain, circa 1985, time travel is routine, cloning is a reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously. England is a virtual police state where an aunt can get lost (literally) in a Wordsworth poem and forging Byronic verse is a punishable offense. All this is business as usual for Thursday Next, renowned Special Operative in literary detection. But when someone begins kidnapping characters from works of literature and plucks Jane Eyre from the pages of Brontë's novel, Thursday is faced with the challenge of her career. Fforde's ingenious fantasy-enhanced by a Web site that re-creates the world of the novel—unites intrigue with English literature in a delightfully witty mix. The Eyre Affair is a fun novel that is clever and original. I love the fact that the fictional characters we love live and breath in an alternate reality that Fforde creates. At times it was easy to get confused and to kept characters straight. But, despite my confusion, I found it to be a great read. I really need to find out what happens next to Thursday Next. (4/5) Edited March 26, 2011 by nursenblack Quote
nursenblack Posted March 28, 2011 Author Posted March 28, 2011 Thanks to some recent thrift store purchases and Goodreads bookswaps, I have added to my TBR pile. I've bought these used but very good condition books: No Country For Old Men by Cormac McCarthy The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen Little Children by Tom Perrotta Darkwood by M.E Breen Requested on Goodreads but still pending The Earth Hums In B Flat by Mari Strachan The Book Of Lost Things by John Connolly Uglies by Scott Westerfeld I hate it when my request is denied and it was something I really wanted. Quote
nursenblack Posted April 5, 2011 Author Posted April 5, 2011 #14 The Second Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares synopsis from barnesandnoble.com With a bit of last summer's sand in the pockets, the Traveling Pants and the Sisterhood that wears them embark on their 16th summer. Bridget: Impulsively sets off for Alabama, wanting to both confront her demons about her family and avoid them all at once. Lena: Spends a blissful week with Kostos, making the unexplainable silence that follows his visit even more painful. Carmen: Is concerned that her mother is making a fool of herself over a man. When she discovers that her mother borrowed the Pants to wear on a date, she's certain of it. Tibby: Not about to spend another summer working at Wallman's, she takes a film course only to find it's what happens off-camera that teaches her the most. This is the second summer of the pants and as engaging as the first novel. I love Lena, Carmen, Bridget, and Tibby because they are so different, but work beautifully together as friends. Each girl experiences romance and heartbreak in some form in this second novel, and it changes them in the end. I can't wait to see what is in store for these four friends. (4/5) Quote
nursenblack Posted April 14, 2011 Author Posted April 14, 2011 #15 Little Children by Tom Perrotta Synopsis from barnesandnoble.com "TOM PERROTTA's thirtyish parents of young children are a varied and surprising bunch. There's Todd, the handsome stay-at-home dad, dubbed "The Prom King" by the moms at the playground, and his wife, Kathy, a documentary filmmaker envious of the connection Todd has forged with their toddler son. And there's Sarah, a lapsed feminist surprised to find she's become a typical wife in a traditional marriage, and her husband, Richard, who is becoming more and more involved with an internet fantasy life than with his own wife and child." I found Little Children to be a highly entertaning read. The characters are so real that I can picture each one so clearly and was easily pulled in to the novel. I watched the film last year, so I already knew the story, but the endings are so different (I perfer the movie ending). The ending, in my opinion, fell a little flat, but I thought the setting (a playground) was perfect. Overall, I enjoyed the novel and do recommend it. (4/5) Now reading: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld Quote
nursenblack Posted April 19, 2011 Author Posted April 19, 2011 #16 Uglies by Scott Westerfeld (YA) From the Publisher Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license -- for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there. But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world -- and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever. Who wouldn't want to be perfectly pretty? Tally Youngblood can't wait until her sixteenth birthday- the day all uglies are made pretty. Her best friend, Peris, has already turned pretty, but he doesn't seem like the same friend who used to laugh at the vapid pretties. Soon she'll be able to join him in New Pretty Town and they'll be best friends again and life will be one big party. But things change when Tally meets Shay, a girl that prefers another way of life... I really enjoyed Uglies, the first of a futuristic young adult series by Scott Westerfeld. I'm so glad that I stumbled upon this novel and I can't wait to get the second novel, Pretties because Uglies ended on a cliff hanger. (4/5) Quote
Kylie Posted April 28, 2011 Posted April 28, 2011 Glad you're enjoying the Uglies series, Nursenblack. I think the quality of the books is consistent all the way through, so if you enjoyed the first one I'm sure you'll enjoy the rest of the series as well. Quote
nursenblack Posted May 5, 2011 Author Posted May 5, 2011 Finished yesterday #17 Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde synopsis from barnesandnoble.com Thursday Next, literary detective and newlywed is back to embark on an adventure that begins, quite literally on her own doorstep. It seems that Landen, her husband of four weeks, actually drowned in an accident when he was two years old. Someone, somewhere, sometime, is responsible. Having barely caught her breath after The Eyre Affair, Thursday must battle corrupt politicians, try to save the world from extinction, and help the Neanderthals to species self-determination. Mastadon migrations, journeys into Just William, a chance meeting with the Flopsy Bunnies, and violent life-and-death struggles in the summer sales are all part of a greater plan. But whose? and why? After reading The Eyre Affair I couldn't wait to find out what happened next to Thursday Next. I was a disappointed in this one, especially the ending. Going into 'The Raven' is supposed to be terribly dangerous, but Next just pops in and out and saves Jack Schitt in the time it takes to snap your fingers. Felt deflated to me. Lost in a Good Book was every bit as creative and confusing as the first novel, but less happens, which might be a good thing. I loved the Cheshire Cat and Miss Havisham the most. Dispite being less than thrilled, I will continue to read the rest of the series. (3.5/5) Quote
nursenblack Posted May 8, 2011 Author Posted May 8, 2011 #18 Jane by April Linder If you love Jane Eyre then your have to read Jane, the debut young adult novel by author April Linder. Jane Moore, penniless and estranged from her siblings, has to drop out of Sarah Lawrence a few months after her parents die in a car accident. She joins a nanny agency and accepts a position as nanny to rockstar, Nico Rathburn's daughter. Jane remembers the stories she's read in the tabloids about the wild womanizer, and wonders what living with him will be like. Soon, she discovers that the man in the magazines is nothing like the man she comes to love... Linder modernizes the classic, but stays so true to the story. I could hardly put this one down. Great debut! I'm looking forward to see what's next from this author. (5/5) Quote
chesilbeach Posted May 8, 2011 Posted May 8, 2011 #18 Jane by April Linder If you love Jane Eyre then your have to read Jane, the debut young adult novel by author April Linder. Jane Moore, penniless and estranged from her siblings, has to drop out of Sarah Lawrence a few months after her parents die in a car accident. She joins a nanny agency and accepts a position as nanny to rockstar, Nico Rathburn's daughter. Jane remembers the stories she's read in the tabloids about the wild womanizer, and wonders what living with him will be like. Soon, she discovers that the man in the magazines is nothing like the man she comes to love... Linder modernizes the classic, but stays so true to the story. I could hardly put this one down. Great debut! I'm looking forward to see what's next from this author. (5/5) That's sounds really interesting, nursenblack. I'm adding it to my wishlist now. Quote
nursenblack Posted May 9, 2011 Author Posted May 9, 2011 That's sounds really interesting, nursenblack. I'm adding it to my wishlist now. I'm so glad. I can't wait for more people to read this. Quote
frankie Posted May 9, 2011 Posted May 9, 2011 Jane sounds intriguing, I'm going to have to keep my eyes open for this one Quote
nursenblack Posted May 12, 2011 Author Posted May 12, 2011 #19 Towelhead by Alicia Erin synopsis from amazon.com Thirteen-year-old Jasira wants what every girl wants: love and acceptance and the undivided attention of whoever she's with. And if she can¹t get that from her parents, then why not from her mother's boyfriend, or her father's muscle-bound neighbor, Mr. Vuoso? Alicia Erian¹s incandescent debut novel, Towelhead, will ring true for readers who remember the rarely poetic transition from childhood to young adulthood. Jasira is a creature of contradiction: both innocent (reading romantic intentions into the grossest displays of lust) and oddly clear-sighted, especially when it comes to the imbalance of power, and the things we do for love. When her mother exiles her to Houston to live with Jasira's strict, quick-to-anger Lebanese father, she quickly learns what aspects of herself to suppress in front of him. In private, however, she conducts her sexual awakening with all the false confidence that pop culture and her neighbor's Playboy magazines have provided. Jasira tells her story with candor and glimmers of dark, unexpected humor--as when she describes her mother's boyfriend Barry's assistance in her personal grooming: "A week later, Barry broke down and told her the truth. That he had shaved me himself. That he had been shaving me for weeks. That he couldn't seem to stop shaving me." The freshness of her narrative voice sets Towelhead apart from the sentimental or purely harsh treatment of similar subject matter elsewhere, and makes the novel a promising follow-up to Erian¹s well-regarded short story collection, The Brutal Language of Love. --Regina Marler I found Towelhead, the coming-of-age story about thirteen year old Jasira, to be entertaining and upsetting. This debut novel explores adolesence honestly and spares no detail from Jasira's first period to her many sexual ecounters. Quick read that is hard to put down despite being disturbing at times. Though it is described as coming-of-age, I wouldn't recommend it to young readers due to very graphic sexual content, including rape. Great novel overall. (4/5) Quote
nursenblack Posted May 13, 2011 Author Posted May 13, 2011 I've bought some great books lately (new and used). Here's the new additions to my TBR pile: Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier The Girl With Glass Feet by Ali Shaw A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb No Country For Old Men by Cormac McCarthy Anita and Me by Meera Syal Darkwood by M.E.Breen 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 Quote
nursenblack Posted May 16, 2011 Author Posted May 16, 2011 # 20 Pretties by Scott Westerfeld synopsis from barnesandnoble.com 'Gorgeous. Popular. Perfect. Perfectly wrong. Tally has finally become pretty. Now her looks are beyond perfect, her clothes are awesome, her boyfriend is totally hot, and she's completely popular. It's everything she's ever wanted. But beneath all the fun -- the nonstop parties, the high-tech luxury, the total freedom -- is a nagging sense that something's wrong. Something important. Then a message from Tally's ugly past arrives. Reading it, Tally remembers what's wrong with pretty life, and the fun stops cold. Now she has to choose between fighting to forget what she knows and fighting for her life -- because the authorities don't intend to let anyone with this information survive.' Pretties wasn't as enjoyable as the first book in the series, Uglies. I thought it was okay throughout and I really did love the last few chapters. Quick read. A bit harder to follow at times than Uglies, but some interesting surprises. (3.5/5) Quote
page turner Posted May 18, 2011 Posted May 18, 2011 There are so many books I've added to my must read pile now after reading all your reviews! I'll be keeping and eager eye out for what the rest of the year holds thank you! Quote
nursenblack Posted May 18, 2011 Author Posted May 18, 2011 There are so many books I've added to my must read pile now after reading all your reviews! I'll be keeping and eager eye out for what the rest of the year holds thank you! Yah! I'm so glad. Can't wait to see what you think of them. Quote
nursenblack Posted May 24, 2011 Author Posted May 24, 2011 #21 A Certain Slant Of Light by Laura Whitcomb synopsis from barnesandnoble.com "In the class of the high school English teacher she has been haunting, Helen feels them: for the first time in 130 years, human eyes are looking at her. They belong to a boy, a boy who has not seemed remarkable until now. And Helen—terrified, but intrigued—is drawn to him. The fact that he is in a body and she is not presents this unlikely couple with their first challenge. But as the lovers struggle to find a way to be together, they begin to discover the secrets of their former lives and of the young people they come to possess." Ever so often, a modern novel comes along that takes my breath away, and that is what A Certain Slant Of Light did. Even in the first few chapters I knew I had began something unique and wonderful. The story is supernatural, yet real and heartbreaking. I wasn't sure what to expect with this one, but it far exceeded my expectations. Absolutely beautiful! (5/5) Quote
bobblybear Posted May 28, 2011 Posted May 28, 2011 Sounds interesting (though the cover is a bit creepy), and have added it to my wish list. Quote
nursenblack Posted June 1, 2011 Author Posted June 1, 2011 Just got back from vacation and I couldn't pass up great book deals. Heres what I bought: Specials by Scott Westerfeld (#3 in Uglies series)(YA) Persuasion by Jane Austen The Color Purple by Alice Walker Left Behind by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins Once Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris (YA) Jessica's Guide To Dating On The Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey (love the author's last name)(YA) Would have gotten more if Hubby hadn't rushed me at every store. Quote
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