Wicked

I have been waiting to see this show for SO long...if anyone is interested and wants to go, please let me know!!!! I believe it runs from June 30th through July 25th at the Hobby Center!

No Air

Okay, so this is not a book but rather a song... the only thing I can think of right now because my AC is out. I have NO AIR! Tell me how am I gonna breathe with no air~ air? Yes, these are the lyrics going through my brain!

RE: ECLIPSE

I am super excited 1) to see everyone tonight and 2) to see the movie! The reviews I've read have indicated that it should be a good one! I'm hopeful. Brandee, thanks for making our reservations! Can't wait!

Until tonight!

The Dairy Queen

I cannot believe I forgot about this book! I read it before my recent Agatha Christie books. Lisa Hutchison recommended it to my students and to me, but I never got around to it. It was great because the main character, DJ Schwenk, is completely flawed and completely lovable at the same time! Her family owns a dairy farm and she is pulling the weight of upkeep and such while her dad recovers from surgery, her mom starts a new career, and her little brother plays baseball. It is full of twists and turns, but a GREAT read! :) There are sequels too and I plan to check them out this week!

Lament and Ballad

So after reading Shiver and Linger, I had to read Maggie Stiefvater's other novels, Lament and Ballad. By they way, I love that she uses 1 word for her titles. Check out her website: http://www.maggiestiefvater.com/. It has some cool stuff and Heather, Forever comes out NEXT July!

So back to the books...Lament is the first one and it introduces us to the world of faeries, not nice fairies, evil ones! Musically gifted characters Deidre and Luke face the challenges of the faerie world when Deidre finds out she has something all the faeries want. A great read! Ballad is the sequel to Lament and it is also excellent. It was darker than Lament. There was heartbreak, sorrow, an evil queen, homicidal faeries and much more. These are both excellent books in my opinion! It takes you out of the vampire/werewolf world and into a totally different world! Enjoy!

I finished another Agatha Christie book, A Caribbean Mystery. It was full of intrigue, murders (but not graphic), and jealous men and women. Infidelity, fake suicide, all kinds of topics are covered. It was a good read and I was surprised yet again at the end who the killer was! This book also sparked some strange conversation. I was at a Kwik Kar place getting my radiator worked on when the clerk asked me what I was reading. I told him and he knew it was a mystery. Then he proceeded to tell me that there are ghosts beneath his shop, where they drop the oil. He invited me to come back anytime at closing to hear/see/feel the ghosts. CREEPY!!! I let him know I was NOT interested because I believe God tells us not to mess with that stuff. He continued to tell me more stories about his workers seeing things and then his own experiences. Very strange!

What a great read! This was definitely an adult book! I have been reading so many young adult books lately, this was a little shocker at some of the steamy romantic scenes. Sookie Stackhouse is the main character. She is a waitress that often keeps to herself because she can read people's minds. She meets and falls in love with a vampire named Bill. He seems to truly love her, but something is very mysterious about him. I have a feeling there is much more to tell about his character as the series continues. It is a series on HBO, and I want to get it now so I can watch it. My neighbor said she tried to watch it once, but it was SCARY. This read was definitely more intense than Shiver or Intertwined. If you are looking for a good ADULT vampire read, this is the one!

I thought this quote said it all! What a love story! Who has read Shiver now? I would love to chat and see what everyone thought. I couldn't put the book down, but I know Monica is struggling to finish it. I am dying to see Laury so I can get Linger from her. Brandee, is Linger a good sequel? Laury said she liked Shiver better. I loved how it alternated between Sam and Grace's point of view. One part of the book that really bothered me was how in the world could Grace's parents really have no clue what was going on in their daughter's life! I don't want to spoil the book by giving examples, so I will wait and make sure everyone has finished it! :)

Okay, this is the book I had to go and spend my own money because I never finished reading it when I borrowed it from one of my students. HA! It started out slowly for me, but then it was so interesting I just had to finish it. I think it was a little slow at first because it was confusing with all of the characters. The main character, Aden, has four souls living inside of him. One can predict the future, one can time travel, one can raise the dead, and one can possess another body. Aden meets Mary Ann who somehow can stop the voices of the four souls. They meet a vampire and werewolf and end up in dangerous situations. The sequel, Unraveled, comes out in September, and I plan to read it! :) I found a video on You tube but can't figure out how to attach it. ??? Go to You tube and type official trailer for Intertwined. Surely you Twilight fans would love this one!

Cut is a very quick read about a young girl named Callie. It is a little depressing since it is about a teen who cuts herself and ends up in a treatment facility, but I wanted to read it because it is told from her point of view. I had a student caught doing this last year, so I was curious WHY someone would ever do this! Cutting is often about feeling you have something you can control. If you are interested in this subject, it is a good read.

This is not my first read of the summer, but my most recent. I have read quite a few and have really, really enjoyed the time to read for pleasure! I've been reading so much young adult literature that I made myself go to the 2nd floor at my library, the "grown up" books, and choose one to read. I stumbled upon Agatha Christie and loved this book! It makes me see how she is the #1 mystery seller of all time. The main character is Miss Marple, a nosy old lady who has a lot of time on her hands. In the end she helps solve the crime. There are other Miss Marple mysteries and I just checked out two new ones today!

Eclipse

http://www.eclipsethemovie.com/

Tickets? We've got them... lots of them... extras! So please come!

Eclipse?

Okay, so looking at the Alamo site today, it looks like they might be sold out of the midnight showing. I didn't really look into it, but do we want to try for a midnight showing? Let me know what you are thinking. :) Can't wait either way. Brandee, I know you have more fun adventurous movie excursions behind you than I do. Any fun ideas?

Looking forward to getting together. Any official first book suggestions? Maybe we could set a tentative time/date... or just coordinate a get together with Eclipse movie or not... Just ideas.

Miss you all!
~monica

Possible Read

I absolutely love books set in histroical time periods(especially if it is set in England...which explains why Pride and Prejudice is my favorite novel :) If you enjoy that as well and also want a little mystery and a strong female character who does as she pleases, check out Tasha Alexander's Lady Emily Series. There are currently four books (the fifth comes out in the fall) which starts with And Only to Decieve. I have found that the books get better as you travel through the series!

Happy reading!

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner

Officially, my first book, my first summer read, was The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner. Perfect summer read if you loved Eclipse (which was my favorite of the Twilight series). This is a summer quick read, no chapters even, almost like an aside or an extended excerpt of Eclipse. This book reminded me of why I love Stephenie Meyer. Her style is so fluid~ like she's streaming the thoughts of her characters as they happen and you just happen to be a bystander to the affairs. Mostly, I think she's so effective in this style because you can just tell that she LOVES her characters. The way she talks about their backstories as though she's just been holding on to these pasts, these stories, rather than creating them is so intimate. This quick read is a little different in the vampire lifestyle that is Bree's life, but Meyer concludes in an easy transition to the action of Eclipse and a brilliant publicity movement for the upcoming movie (June 30th).

Well, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner was a quick, enjoyable jumpstart summer read. Let me know what you thought. Oh, and I bought the book even though I think you could read it online. I'm a book buyer and wanted it as a part of my Twilight shrine. :) I wonder what ya'll did?

Keep reading!