KindleObsessedJust another random rambling!!

Job Postings Hint at Amazon’s Plans for the Kindle

After 2 relatively disappointing paranormal books in a row, I was starting to wonder if I had lost my knack for picking them…then…the tide finally turned.

I have wanted to read “Need” for a few months now, but much to my disappointment there was no Kindle release for it.  Now, I’m not sure what made the publishers change their minds…maybe they finally came to their senses and realized that ebooks had a prominent place in society now and that they were missing the boat, or maybe it was because they just couldn’t wait to hear my always captivating take on things, regardless of the reasons, the end result (of course) was that I finally got to read it…and I was more than pleased with what I found.

“Need” is the story of Zara, an everyday high school girl who feels “hollow” after the loss of her step-dad. Her mother, seeing the funk that she has uncharacteristically slipped into decides that she needs a change of scenery and ships her off to the very unpleasant arctic woods of Maine to live with her grandma.  After a bit of a rough start (being cut off while trying to get to school and finding it hard to maneuver on ice) she meets a group of kids that soon become her best friends in the world. Zara, thinking that everything will be OK if she can just stick in out and suck it up decides to make the best of her new situation, its just to bad the town isn’t quite as sleepy and slow as she had originally thought. 2 boys go missing while another 2 start to fight over her, and in the end the world in not exactly what she thought it was.  She quickly learns that some people are “literally” more than they seem and her love for animals is going to be tested in a whole new way.

“Carrie Jones” did exactly what every YA author should, she set up the scene, she explained the characters and just when you thought you finally got it all straight, she proves you wrong and everything changes.  Flip!  The awkward moments were masterfully executed and the “moment of truth” was spun out into a beautiful web of emotional acceptance and the inability to give up on your beliefs.

There were moments of anger management issues resulting in a trashed house, an injured puppy, a hyper boy in a wheelchair, a smart mouthed grandma, 2 very cold moments in a ditch thanks to some irresponsible driving, hundred of pointy teeth, gold dust, and 1 very VERY pissed off daddy who is tired of waiting.

Get it, Live it, Love it and pass it on….this one is a good one kiddos.

Happy reading my fellow Kindle-ites and remember: If it walks like and duck and talks like a duck…chances are his name is Daffy.

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(4/5)

The paranormal world is one of ups and downs…For example, you can read 6 or 7 fantastic books in a row and then BLAH you run into a swamp. You would think that over the years my love of reading and my somewhat educated mind would learn that anticipation is a horrendous habit, yet there I was 12:30am Monday morning, hopped up on caffeine and waiting not so patiently for the Kindle faeries to bring me a prize.

“Light Beneath Ferns” was supposed to be a smash, I didn’t just decide this for myself, it has been splashed across the literary world for a few months now making several (including mine) lists of what to read in 2010. So as I sat on the edge of my bed, freezing my ass off cause my husband steals the covers, I opened the well worn cover on my Kindle and began to read.

The first chapter was brilliant. Spouting warnings like…”If death and the dead make you afraid, you better just stop reading and go take a nap.” and I loved the heroin of the book, she was brooding, witty, sarcastic and an overall pain in the ass (kinda like me) but as for the remainder of the book? Yes, thanks….I think I’ll go take that nap you suggested.

The concept of this book was captivating…very quiet girl who would rather spend time with bones than live people moves to town and meets mysterious disappearing boy. Great right? Just reading that sentence alone could spin a million different scenarios into your head, unfortunately…the book spent more time focusing on the emotional instability of Elizah and her screwed up family than it actually did with the “supposedly” scary scenarios.

Elizah likes to be alone, to her, talking is unnecessary and “fitting in” is the last thing on her list. After her father gambles all of the family’s money away and then jumps trial, Elizah and her equally as quirky mother hoof it out of town only to turn around and take up residence in a old house that borders a cemetery. Elizah, wanting nothing more than a little peace and quiet wanders the property eventually running across a human jaw bone. With bones on her mind and a mother on her back Elizah set out to find the truth, but instead finds Nathaniel, a boy that speaks like a fortune cookie and dresses like a pauper.

After the first chapter the plot becomes a tangled mess of witty but sloppy writing. All the questions are… in the end answered, (some very abstractly) but with the book being so short (it took me only a few hours to read it) there was hardly time for proper character developement leaving me with a somewhat distant or lost feeling. “Spollen’s” YA moments were lacking the push/pull that is necessary to keep an audience enthralled and the so called “scary” was almost completely non-existent. What was supposed to be a bright shining mark in this years literary catalog was nothing more than a mild jog through the woods with an overbearing guidance counselor and paragraphs of sloppy descriptives.

My suggestion? Save your money…if you require substance in your reads than this book is just to short to make any sort of lasting impression.

Happy reading my fellow Outcast and remember: if you find a random human bone in the ground just leave it there… picking it up and turning it into your pet is just plain weird.

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(2/5)

With so many new and enthralling young reader novels springing up I feel that sometimes we forget about the classics…so in today’s additional of “It’s a Tween Thing” I thought I would bring you one of MY favorites…an oldie but goodie. I loved this book as a child and hope that your slightly smaller humans will be as fascinated by the journey as I was.

Happy Reading my fellow Kindle-ites and remember: When THIS world’s got you down…pick up a new one.

A Wrinkle In Time

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Product Description (From Amazon)

It was a dark and stormy night; Meg Murry, her small brother Charles Wallace, and her mother had come down to the kitchen for a midnight snack when they were upset by the arrival of a most disturbing stranger.

“Wild nights are my glory,” the unearthly stranger told them. “I just got caught in a downdraft and blown off course. Let me sit down for a moment, and then I’ll be on my way. Speaking of ways, by the way, there is such a thing as a tesseract.”

A tesseract (in case the reader doesn’t know) is a wrinkle in time. To tell more would rob the reader of the enjoyment of Miss L’Engle’s unusual book. A Wrinkle in Time, winner of the Newbery Medal in 1963, is the story of the adventures in space and time of Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin O’Keefe (athlete, student, and one of the most popular boys in high school). They are in search of Meg’s father, a scientist who disappeared while engaged in secret work for the government on the tesseract problem.

Synopsis (From B&N)

Father is missing! His top secret job as a physicist for the government has taken him away–but where?–and how? Meg and her younger brother, Charles Wallace, set out with their friend Calvin on an exciting adventure through time and space to search for him. With the help of the mysterious Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which, the youngsters learn to expect the unexpected as they move in the fifth dimension known as the “tesseract”.

With this award-winning story, Madeline L’Engle has captivated millions of readers throughout the world. Her universal themes of courage, perseverance, and love are interwoven with imagination and suspense. A Wrinkle in Time, published in 1962, won the distinguished Newbery Medal for children’s literature in 1963.

For those of you who have been keeping track, you know its been a while since I’ve read a novel like this, (The last being a Temperance Brennan Novel) after reading the genre for 4 straight months, book after book, my mind/sanity thought it was necessary to take a break from serial killers and their maniacal crime scenes, so I did… , and in turn wrapped myself in the more mellow reads of the paranormal. (Ok…not all of them were tame…but trust me when I say they are a damn site less descriptive)

It’s hard to pinpoint, in my cynical mind, exactly what I expected to find when first deciding to read “The 7th Victim”, an ok novel with an interesting plot maybe? or maybe a decent copy cat of the greats I have already read? Who knows…but what I didn’t expect to find actually shocked me more than I could have anticipated.

#1 I didn’t expect to find a fantastic new author.
#2 I didn’t expect to find that I missed the chase so much.

Now, while most of y’all are cringing at the fact that I just confessed to missing the company of fictional serial killers, let me assure you that it’s nothing more than my love for the game of “Clue”

I love a good mystery, the who-did-it-where-did-it-happen-who’s-going-to-be-next kind, and while most books will have snippets of the unknown, psychological thrillers ARE the unknown.

“Karen Vail” works for the FBI. As a profiler she surrounds herself with the seedy underground of ax murders and psychopaths on a daily basis.

After months of seemingly dormant action her world suddenly turns into a whirlpool of chaos, when a previously un-captured crazy known to the media as “Dead Eyes” returns to the scene with several more grizzly murders.

While trying in vain to capture a killer who decides to personally taunt her through break-ins and creepy self-destructive emails, Vail’s personal life takes a hit as well. Her ex…an abusive waste of space… throws her under the bus and charges her with assault.

Struggling to keep herself, her son, and her career alive she spends every waking minute building her own walls of protection while trying to break down everyone else’s.

“Alan Jacobson’s” writing was masterful, artfully inserting twists and turns that not even and avid thriller reader, like myself, could see coming. The plot flowed freely and his attention to detail was undeniable, and he is now, without question, a new found force to be reckoned with in my world of “who did it?”

There were fake badges, egotistical has-been agents, missing limbs, peep holes, moments of self realization, and several OMG! moments ending in one hell of an underground chase.

If you are like me, don’t mind gruesome descriptives in your quest to peg the killer, this one is worth every cent, but if you like the softer side of things and prefer a safer less bloody world, steer clear cause this one is covered in it.

Happy reading my fellow Agents, and remember: Even the biggest of us still need barf bags sometimes.

(4/5)

Here’s an inspirational one for your bitty bots… happy reading and remember: reading is contagious…pass it on!

Shaoey and Dot

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Product Description

Shaoey & Dot: Bug Meets Bundle is an endearing tale told from the point of view of one little ladybug, Dot, who happens upon a mysterious bundle one sunny day. Dot stays with the little bundle as she is carried to the place where babies come to be found and promises to stay with the little one throughout her journeys toward getting a family. Written by Christian music artist Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife Mary Beth, this heartwarming tale is inspired by the true story of their adoption of three little girls from China and is a story of hope and faith for all families who have been blessed by a lost little bundle of love.

So…the story goes: Girl goes to a new place, meets mysterious boy, meets not so mysterious boy, of course decides she really likes the one everyone disapproves of, thinks there is something “fishy” going on with him, freaks out, runs away, goes back to boy…the end.

Yes-ok-I-know…there has got to more to it than that. Well, sorry there really isn’t that much more but I’ll try to be a little more positive or at least descriptive.

I decided to read “Sea Change” not because it called to me, or because I heard wonderful things about it. I decided to read “Sea Change” because I was overwhelmed by the massive list of literature that was flashing on the screen in front of me, so I clicked on the first thing I saw. Guess that’s what I get for not taking my time.

The book wasn’t bad…per say…It was just a little disappointing. “Aimee Friedman” taunted her audience with the possibility of a fantastic book and then in the end just…dropped the ball, or pen…however you would like to see it.

The writing was actually decent, if you don’t take into account how fast she had the plot moving along (girls love a good tease with their story) but in a book that has no for seeable follow-up, I think it’s necessary to tie up loose ends. In that regard, this book was all over the place.

“Friedman” simply had too many plot lines going at once and only chose to resolve a few of them, and naturally not the one that was the most important. (It was implied.. but lets face it…implied just doesn’t sooth the mind.)

Miranda is a science geek, bred of 2 very intelligent parents it was bound to happen, but she never thought her scholarly mind would take a backseat to boys and mythical legends. After the sudden death of her estranged grandmother “Isadora” Miranda and her mother are shipped off to a Southern version of the Hamptons to deal with the logistics of selling the family mansion, but after riding over on a ferry, complete with a creepy captain and his even creepier stories of sea monsters, Miranda isn’t so sure of herself anymore…or her surroundings. Her mother suddenly morphs from prestigious New York City plastic surgeon to Southern Matriarch of the Eastern Seaboard, triggering Miranda to do what any other girl would do….she runs… in total panic and finds herself in the arms of a cute but very secretive local beach boy. After struggles with mom and a very tearful chat with hottie number 2 she decides that life is complicated…and she should just suck it up and deal with it. (No… I’m not kidding… that was the outcome.)

There were pretty teenage socialites, a narcissistic boy who loved his own reflection, a mysterious trunk in the back of a closet, very enlightening love letters, and 1 moment of underwater clarity/confusion.

Overall the book was ok. It was a quick read (1 day max) so if you do decided to read it it wont take to much effort or time. I’m not going to say with certainty that you will not like it, because I’m a little on the fence… I think the end just irked me more than I’m willing to admit. Here is my advice…when you have read everything else that you “just can’t wait” to read…then chomp into this one.

Happy reading my fellow Fishermen and remember: If you feel an overwhelming need to swim in the surf at night… be sure to wear your floaties.

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(3/5)

Hello my fellow Kindle-ites! Hope everyone is having a fantastic week.  Tomorrow I will post the review for “The Lovely Bones” but to quench your literary appetites until then… here is this weeks addition to “It’s A Tween Thing.”  Happy reading and remember: When THIS worlds got you down…pick up a new one!

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Amazon.com Review

Amazon Best Books of the Month, January 2010 They don’t call it middle school for nothing. Reggie McKnight (aka “Pukey”) is trying hard to stay under the radar after a really embarrassing start to the school year. But, he’s somehow been drawn into the middle of a big school election, a volunteer project at the local homeless shelter, and the role of “Big Buddy” for a kid in the neighborhood. How will he ever find time to finish his comic book, Night Man? Reggie might see himself as a wimpy kid, but he’s anything but as steps up to new challenges and confronts big questions about doing the right thing in a tough world. Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich’s debut novel is a smart and satisfying read for teens and ‘tweens. –Lauren Nemroff

Product Description

Ever since a deeply unfortunate incident earlier this year, Reggie’s been known as “Pukey” McKnight at his high-intensity Brooklyn middle school. He wants to turn his image around, but he has other things on his mind as well: his father, who’s out of a job; his best friends, Ruthie and Joe C.; his former best friend Donovan, who’s now become a jerk; and of course, the beautiful Mialonie. The elections for school president are coming up, but with his notorious nickname and “nothing” social status, Reggie wouldn’t stand a chance, if he even had the courage to run.

Then Reggie gets involved with a local homeless shelter, the Olive Branch. Haunted by two of the clients there–George, a once-proud man now living on the streets, and Charlie, a six-year-old kid who becomes his official “Little Buddy”–he begins to think about making a difference, both in the world and at school. Pukey for President? It can happen . . . if he starts believing.

For those of you who like to plan ahead (like me) here are a few “potential” goodies to look out for in 2010. The majority of these can be pre-ordered through your Amazon account, but don’t you worry your pretty little heads, I will read and review each and everyone of these when they come out… just in case are skeptical of my taste

2010 Preview

* The Line *

Release 3.4.10

Product Description

An invisible, uncrossable physical barrier encloses the Unified States. The Line is the part of the border that lopped off part of the country, dooming the inhabitants to an unknown fate when the enemy used a banned weapon. It’s said that bizarre creatures and super humans live on the other side, in Away. Nobody except tough old Ms. Moore would ever live next to the Line.

Nobody but Rachel and her mother, who went to live there after Rachel’s dad died in the last war. It’s a safe, quiet life. Until Rachel finds a mysterious recorded message that can only have come from Away. The voice is asking for help.

Who sent the message? Why is her mother so protective? And to what lengths is Rachel willing to go in order to do what she thinks is right?

* The Dead-Tossed Waves *

(The Forest of Hands and Teeth Book 2)

Release 3.9.10

Product Description

Gabry lives a quiet life. As safe a life as is possible in a town trapped between a forest and the ocean, in a world teeming with the dead, who constantly hunger for those still living. She’s content on her side of the Barrier, happy to let her friends dream of the Dark City up the coast while she watches from the top of her lighthouse. But there are threats the Barrier cannot hold back. Threats like the secrets Gabry’s mother thought she left behind when she escaped from the Sisterhood and the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Like the cult of religious zealots who worship the dead. Like the stranger from the forest who seems to know Gabry. And suddenly, everything is changing. One reckless moment, and half of Gabry’s generation is dead, the other half imprisoned. Now Gabry only knows one thing: she must face the forest of her mother’s past in order to save herself and the one she loves.

* The Body Finder *

Release 3.16.10

Product Description

Violet Ambrose is starting her junior year in high school and faces problems shared by many teens. She is madly in love with Jay Heaton, her best friend since first grade, but does not know if he feels the same. She is trying to do well at school, but classes do not always hold her interest. Unlike others, however, Violet has the ability—or perhaps the curse—of sensing violent deaths around her. Every demise leaves a hint screaming to be discovered: sometimes a sheen of colors, other times a chorus of bells or even a specific smell. When Violet was eight, she discovered a girl’s body in the woods behind her house. This same killer is now striking her community again, kidnapping and murdering teenage girls. He even seems to be getting closer to Violet with every kill. She must deal with her emotions for Jay at the same time as she tries to stop this vicious murderer before it is too late for both. Derting’s first novel provides the reader with both Violet’s and the killer’s perspectives. Violet’s fear is palpable and rises as her attempt to find the murderer leads her close to death and as she confronts her feelings for Jay. The explicit and unsettlingly candid tone of the killer reminds one of Robert Cormier’s Tenderness (Delacorte, 1997), while several twists and turns keep the pages flipping. Older readers will quickly find themselves pulled into Derting’s neighborhood. Reviewer: Etiene Vallee

* Sleepless *

Release 7.13.10

Product Description

Eron DeMarchelle isn’t supposed to feel this connection. He is a Sandman, a supernatural being whose purpose is to seduce his human charges to sleep. Though he can communicate with his charges in their dreams, he isn’t encouraged to do so. After all, becoming too involved in one human’s life could prevent him from helping others get their needed rest.

But he can’t deny that he feels something for Julia, a lonely girl with fiery red hair and sad dreams. Just weeks ago, her boyfriend died in a car accident, and Eron can tell that she feels more alone than ever. Eron was human once too, many years ago, and he remembers how it felt to lose the one he loved. In the past, Eron has broken rules to protect Julia, but now, when she seems to need him more than ever, he can’t reach her. Eron’s time as a Sandman is coming to a close, and his replacement doesn’t seem to care about his charges. Worse, Julia is facing dangers she doesn’t recognize, and Eron, as he transitions back to being human, may be the only one who can save her. . . .

Even once they’ve become human again, Sandmen are forbidden to communicate with their charges. But Eron knows he won’t be able to forget Julia. Will he risk everything for a chance to be with the girl he loves?

Cyn Balog’s follow-up to Fairy Tale has more wit, more supernatural delights, and more star-crossed romance! Teen girls will love this story of a Sandman who falls in love with his human charge.

* Light Beneath Ferns *

Release 1.31.10

Product Description

I have this strange sense that my silence is preparing me for something I can’t name . . .

Elizah Rayne is nothing like other fourteen-year-old girls. More interested in bird bones than people, she wraps herself in silence. Trying to escape the shadow of her gambler father, Elizah and her mother move into an old house that borders a cemetery. All her mother wants is for them to have “normal” lives. But that becomes impossible for Elizah when she finds a human jawbone by the river and meets Nathaniel, a strangely hypnotic boy who draws Elizah into his dreamlike and mysterious world.

Only by forgetting everything she knows can Elizah understand the truth about Nathaniel—and discover an unimaginable secret.

* Folly *

Release 5.11.10

Product Description

Three fates intertwine in this moving and passionate love story set in Victorian London.

Mary Finn: country girl, maid to a lord in London

Caden Tucker: liar, scoundrel, and heart’s delight

James Nelligan: age six, tossed into a herd of boys

When Mary Finn falls into the arms of handsome Caden Tucker, their frolic changes the course of her life. What possesses her? She’s been a girl of common sense until now. Mary’s tale alternates with that of young James Nelligan, a new boy in an enormous foundling home.

In Folly, Marthe Jocelyn’s breathtaking command of language, detail, and character brings Victorian London to life on every page, while the deep emotions that illuminate this fascinating novel about life-changing moments are as current as today’s news.

* Linger *

(Shiver Book 2)

Release 7.20.10

Product Description

* Glimmerglass *

Release 5.25.10

Product Description

Dana Hathaway doesn’t know it yet, but she’s in big trouble. When her mother, an alcoholic, shows up at her voice recital drunk, Dana decides she’s had it with playing the role of her mother’s keeper, so she packs her bags and travels to see her mysterious father in Avalon: the only place on Earth where the regular, everyday world and the magical world of Faerie intersect. Dana is a Faeriewalker, a rare individual who can travel between both worlds. She has always known that her father is a big-deal Fae, but what she doesn’t realize is that she could be the key to his rise in power. When she arrives in Avalon, Dana finds herself a pawn in the game of magical politics. Avalon is a place where both magic and technology work, and humans and Fae coexist in something resembling peace. How can she change the winds of fate, find a boyfriend, and make new friends when she’s not sure who, if anyone, can be trusted?

* The Evil Within *

Release 6.10.10

Product Description

POSSESSIONS: A haunted, super-exclusive boarding school high in the mountains of Northern California…faces in mirrors, statues that move…and Lindsay, who’s had a nervous breakdown, fighting for her sanity, her life…and her soul.