The Strain by Chuck Hogan and Guillermo del Toro

Finished The Strain last night. It's a vampire-virus action-fest. It's gonna make a great movie, if they can get the effects done right. I really got the movie vibe from this book. It's by Chuck Hogan and Guillermo del Toro (who created Pan's Labyrinth, which was visually amazing). Basically a bada@@ vampire from Europe is smuggled aboard an aircraft and kills everyone except a few people who he infected. (Which maybe I missed something but don't remember how the vamp was supposed to have killed everyone at once). The four survivors get away from authorities (it takes a while for the people to get sick), and the corpses re-animate themselves and all start spreading the vampire virus. (actually more of a parasite/virus combo). The vamps don't bite they strike with their new slithery wormy tongues. It follows a few main characters as they fight the vampire plague. It's gory, it's grissly, it's a man's book (my husband will love it if I can get him to start on it). But this mom liked it too:) Looking forward to reading the rest. It does leave you with a few questions but I'm sure they'll be addressed in the next book.

Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky

Another book I received from Netgalley was Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky. It's a dystopian novel about a girl in a future where people are so immersed in the internet and other forms of technology that human contact is virtually (get it? haha) eliminated. Maddie's father is one of the people that is in the forefront of this technological world. As a result of some school killings, he founded a virtual school so that students need not go out of their homes. Maddie meets Justin, who shows her that feeling, touching, living is more than just names and conversations on a screen. Justin is also in a group of people who oppose the way things are. As Maddie and Justin get to know each other she's suddenly thrust in his world and has to decide which path she's going to follow. I feel pretty confident that it's part of a larger series. I enjoyed it though and will like to read the next book whenever it is released. At times can be a little preachy on the overuse of technology (which made me 'lol' in an ironic sort of way as I read Awaken on my Kindle;) ) but it's still a good book. The action and adventure may appeal to teen boys, there's some romance that will appeal to girls, and overall will appeal to fans of Young Adult books.

Lost Voices by Sarah Porter

Have you heard of NetGalley? Basically you sign up and submit to receive galleys of books that are not published yet so that you can review them. It's really a neat service. I think it's geared mainly to book reviewers and bloggers. I've gotten a few books for my kindle. The first one that I am going to review is Lost Voices by Sarah Porter. It's about a 14 year old girl, Luce, who after the death of her father, is raised by her abusive uncle in Alaska. Things culminate with him to her own seeming demise, yet when she falls over a cliff that's not what happens. She is transformed into a mermaid, and rescued by tribe of other girls...girls like her who had a painful death at the hands of man. Remember the Greek myth of the Sirens? That is what these girls do...sing men to their deaths. But Luce still has the memory of the father that loved her. She struggles with her existence, her talent with the deadly song, and with the tribe that has found her. This is the first book in a trilogy. The thick of the book is good but the ending is very abrupt and many readers won't like that. But overall it will appeal to many readers who love fantasy books, and teen girls as well.

Caribou Island by David Vann

I actually won a copy of this book off of a website (goodreads.com). Caribou Island is a book about a man, who is having some sort of midlife crisis. He lives in Alaska with his wife and has 2 grown children, a daughter and a son. The wife is having issues of her own. He buys some land on a nearby island and decides to build a cabin...by hand. The book goes from person to person and you learn a lot about the characters. You don't really like any of them though. It's character building yet you find yourself racing through the (very good) narrative to see what's going to happen. I don't want to give it away. The dialog is in the style that has no quotations...so it's a little tough to get into at first. I don't really enjoy that, but the book's good enough that you should be able to get past it. It's not a warm and cozy novel, but it is a pretty good book.

2011

Can't believe we're 12 days into the new year. It's been really hectic of late. I've read only one book so far this year, although I have a couple books to review from last month. The first book of the year is Justin Cronin's The Passage. It was a monster of a book (good thing I like my books monster sized;) ) that a lot of people loved and a lot of people hated. I fall in the middle. I love the genre (post-apocalyptic fiction) and have read the other two books it's mainly compared to (Stephen King's The Stand, and Swan Song by Robert McCammon) and while it falls a little short of these, it's a good book. And The Stand is one of my favorite books, I wouldn't call this an imitation though. The Passage is the fist of a trilogy, so if you don't want to wait, I'd hold off reading them until the last is out. It may be a wait though...the closest thing I could find to a release date for book two was a mention of two years in a forum (so, summer 2012). There are a lot of things that make you stop and say wait a minute...but you have to just relax and read it for what it is. I'm guilty of doing the same when I watch movies, (As if that could happen!!!~ Whatever, that's so fake) but try not to be so critical when I read. I do read for enjoyment after all. I would recommend this to all of the genre's fans, even if it's not on their top ten list it's worth the read...you can always get it free from the library:)

I'm all fired up and ready to read. Well...I've been reading all along but have fallen down on the posting about it bit. My husband got me a kindle for our 10th year wedding anniversary so I am going to renew myself this time and keep up with all my reading notes. I'm really loving the kindle. I've gotten so many free books...it's awesome! So not only will I review the best selling books I get from the library, but will be telling you all about some good but not 'huge' authors and indie authors as well. So! Look for many posts to come.

Ok, wow. I haven't updated in over two months. Eeek. I know I'll forget to list some of the books I've read. I haven't been reading as much, with cubby starting preschool and I'm trying to get the house organized. I've been doing a little nonfiction reading as well...mainly parenting, motivational type stuff but I don't blog about that. Ok lets see... I read Sucks to Be Me: The All-True Confessions of Mina Hamilton, Teen Vampire (maybe) and Still Sucks to Be Me: More All-True Confessions of Mina Hamilton Smith, Teen Vampire These were cute books, light easy readying of the obviously teen vamp genre. I actually won an autographed copy of the 2nd novel. That was pretty cool! And I also read the last (currently) Vampire Academy books, Spirit Bound. There's another coming out this winter, which really is the last...at least the last centered on Rose. (good cause I'm a little bit tired of this story line. A bit drawn out). I've read there is going to be a spin off of the series. OK I know I've read a few more books than that I just have to think about what they are. It's still too early for me to think right now LOL. As I said on facebook the other day: It's not that I am not a 'morning person'...I'm not an 'awake person'.
Ciao!