The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Title: The Road

Author: Cormac McCarthy

Publisher: Vintage 2007

Genre: Dystopia

Pages: 241

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Fall into Reading; Dystopian; Monthly Key Word -- December; Book to Movie; Bingo -- 4 from everyone but me; NPR SciFan (perpetual); Fantasy Project (perpetual)

How I Got It: Library loan

A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food—and each other.

Another meh book.  I can appreciate the stark simplicity of the writing, but I just wasn't a fan of the rest of the book.  Nothing grabbed me and kept me really interested in reading.  I'm fairly certain that I finished because it's only 241 pages.  Don't really see what all the hype was about.  I guess it just wasn't my kind of book.

Movie:

The movie added a ton of action beats that just don't exist in the book.  It also expanded the role of the wife.  I understand why they did it for a wide spread release movie.  The book just doesn't have enough to appeal to mass audiences.  Overall, I like the movie better than the book, but It still just wasn't something that really held my attention.

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Title: Me Before You

Author: Jojo Moyes

Publisher: Viking 2012

Genre: Fiction

Pages: 400

Rating:  5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Books -- W49; Bingo -- Free Space; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: Library loan (book club selection)

They had nothing in common until love gave them everything to lose . . .

Louisa Clark is an ordinary girl living an exceedingly ordinary life—steady boyfriend, close family—who has barely been farther afield than their tiny village. She takes a badly needed job working for ex–Master of the Universe Will Traynor, who is wheelchair bound after an accident. Will has always lived a huge life—big deals, extreme sports, worldwide travel—and now he’s pretty sure he cannot live the way he is.

Will is acerbic, moody, bossy—but Lou refuses to treat him with kid gloves, and soon his happiness means more to her than she expected. When she learns that Will has shocking plans of his own, she sets out to show him that life is still worth living.

Our book club selection for December.  After the last one (Middlesex), we needed something more readable and likable.  This one was the perfect choice.  It took me awhile to finish (baby time), but that doesn't me I didn't enjoy it.  I looked forward to the few minutes each night I could pick up the story of Lou and Will.  Amazingly complicated characters (in a good way).  A great storyline.  Lovely ending.  I was concerned that the ending would be too predictable and sappy.  Thankfully the author gave the story a real ending, something I could completely get behind.  I really enjoyed this one.  I will have to put the author on my TBR list.

Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh

Title: Hyperbole and a Half

Author: Allie Brosh

Publisher: Touchstone 2013

Genre: Graphic novel; Memoir

Pages: 384

Rating:  5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Graphic Novel; Mount TBR; Bingo -- 5 from 2013; 52 Books -- W48; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: I own it!

FROM THE AUTHOR: This is a book I wrote. Because I wrote it, I had to figure out what to put on the back cover to explain what it is. I tried to write a long, third-person summary that would imply how great the book is and also sound vaguely authoritative—like maybe someone who isn’t me wrote it—but I soon discovered that I’m not sneaky enough to pull it off convincingly. So I decided to just make a list of things that are in the book:

Pictures Words Stories about things that happened to me Stories about things that happened to other people because of me Eight billion dollars* Stories about dogs The secret to eternal happiness*

*These are lies. Perhaps I have underestimated my sneakiness!

I have followed Brosh's blog for awhile now and always find myself moved by her posts.  Her raw honesty cuts right to my soul.  (Okay, that sentence sounded a bit crazy, but it's completely true).  I may not have her specific problems, but I think everyone can relate to believing themselves to be crazy and fucked up every once in a while.  It's nice to have that reaffirmation.  And it's wonderful to follow Brosh's stories in and out of the crazy in her life.  While reading, I laughed quietly to myself and loudly to everyone.  I teared up on my occasions.  I also found myself shaking my head in agreement to some of her more introspective stories.  This may look like a fun little collection of stories with illustrations, but it's so much more.  Brosh stands stripped bare before the reader allowing them to see all her flaws and all her beauty.  This is a must read!

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Title: The Count of Monte Cristo

Author: Alexandre Dumas

Genre: Classics

Pages: 1276

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Classics -- Adventure; Mount TBR; Blogger Recommendations; Book to Movie; Fall into Reading; Rory Gilmore (perpetual)

How I Got It: iPad

Thrown in prison for a crime he has not committed, Edmond Dantes is confined to the grim fortress of If. There he learns of a great hoard of treasure hidden on the Isle of Monte Cristo and becomes determined not only to escape but to unearth the treasure and use it to plot the destruction of the three men responsible for his incarceration. A huge popular success when it was first serialized in the 1840s, Dumas was inspired by a real-life case of wrongful imprisonment when writing his epic tale of suffering and retribution.

I had put off reading this classic for far too long.  When it showed up on the list for the Blogger Recommendations Challenge, I knew I had to add it to my 2013 TBR list.  After taking forever to finish it (I blame the baby and Dumas' lack of brevity), I found that overall I really enjoyed the book.

The Good

Dumas can create very interesting and intriguing characters.  I especially loved Dantes, but of course the audience is supposed to connect with him throughout the adventure. The other supporting characters play their parts well.   I also enjoyed the storyline even if I knew it before reading the book.  I couldn't wait to see what happened next.

The Bad

As this was published in serial form in the 1840s, the novel lacks any sense of editing.  Dumas rambles on and on, especially the dialogue sections.  Characters take 20 pages to say something that could have been conveyed in 2 pages.  There were times that I had to put the novel down because I was getting tired of the slow pace.  As such, it took me three weeks to finish it.  Also, I loved the passages with Dantes as the main point of view, but felt distracted by chapters from the other characters.  Those chapters just didn't seem as engaging.  The switching of narrators was tiresome.

While, I had some issues with the novel, this is a classic that everyone should experience at some time in their lives.

Movie:

We happened to own the 2002 version of the novel, so I watched that one.  While I enjoyed the film on its own, it definitely changes much of the novel.  Dantes is still imprisoned and enacts his revenge once he escapes.  But most of the other parts and even character relationships have been changed.  I found the weird renewed romance between Dantes and Mercedes to be the most troublesome aspect of the changes.  I just couldn't get behind it, even if they made Albert their son instead of Mercedes and Fernand's son.  On a much happier note, I loved the action scenes and the introduction of the Count by way of hot air balloon.  To any thinking they can watch this movie instead of reading the book, you will miss so much...  Go read the book first!

Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor by Stephanie Barron

Title: Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor (Jane Austen Mystery #1)

Author: Stephanie Barron

Publisher: Crimeline 1996

Genre: Mystery

Pages: 353

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Jane Austen; Mount TBR; Fall into Reading; 52 Books -- W47

How I Got It: iPad read

On a visit to the estate of her friend, the young and beautiful Isobel Payne, Countess of Scargrave, Jane bears witness to a tragedy. Isobel's husband—a gentleman of mature years—is felled by a mysterious and agonizing ailment. The Earl's death seems a cruel blow of fate for the newly married Isobel. Yet the bereaved widow soon finds that it's only the beginning of her misfortune...as she receives a sinister missive accusing her and the Earl's nephew of adultery—and murder. Desperately afraid that the letter will expose her to the worst sort of scandal, Isobel begs Jane for help. And Jane finds herself embroiled in a perilous investigation that will soon have her following a trail of clues that leads all the way to Newgate Prison and the House of Lords—a trail that may well place Jane's own person in the gravest jeopardy.

I picked this up in my exploration of Jane Austen adjacent books.  I thought it might be a fun mystery, but I was fairly disappointed.  Overall the book just didn't grab me at all.  It was a fairly dry mystery without any interesting characters or plot twists.  Everything was super predictable.  I didn't like the character of Jane Austen.  This series is just not for me.

Jane Austen Mystery (DNFed series)

• 1. Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor
• 2. Man of the Cloth
• 3. Wandering Eye
• 4. Genius of the Place
• 5. Stillroom Maid
• 6. Prisoner of Wool House
• 7. Ghosts of Netley
• 8. His Lordship's Legacy
• 9. Barque of Frailty
• 10. Madness of Lord Byron
• 11. Canterbury Tale

The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry

Title: The Lace Reader

Author: Brunonia Barry

Publisher: William Morrow 2009

Genre: Mystery; Paranormal

Pages: 416

Rating:  5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Witches and Witchcraft; Mount TBR; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: I own it

Every gift has a price . . . every piece of lace has a secret.

Towner Whitney, the self-confessed unreliable narrator, hails from a family of Salem women who can read the future in the patterns in lace, and who have guarded a history of secrets going back generations. Now the disappearance of two women is bringing Towner back home to Salem—and is bringing to light the shocking truth about the death of her twin sister.

This book has been sitting on my shelves for awhile now.  I finally brought it down to read and I am so glad I did.  To be completely honest, I was not sucked in right away.  The story is a slow build.  We only get bits and pieces of the past and why it matters.  And yet, I knew there would be some amazing if I just kept reading.  Towner is an interesting character.  I don't necessarily relate to her, but she intrigues me.  In fact, all of the women in the novel were intriguing.  I feel like the male characters weren't as fleshed out at the women, but it's a nice change of pace from male centric novels.  I loved the mystery of the story.  I love the way everything came together in the mind, even if it wasn't what I thought was going to happen.  I loved the atmosphere of Salem.  The town seemed almost like another character in the story.  Overall, this was such a joy to read.

The Watsons by Jane Austen

Title: The Watsons

Author: Jane Austen

Genre: Classics

Pages: 88

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Jane Austen; Mount TBR; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: iPad read

Mr. Watson is a widowed clergyman with two sons and four daughters. The youngest daughter, Emma, has been brought up by a wealthy aunt and is consequently better educated and more refined than her sisters. But when her aunt contracts a foolish second marriage, Emma is obliged to return to her father's house. There she is chagrined by the crude and reckless husband-hunting of two of her twenty-something sisters.

Another unfinished piece from Jane Austen.  I was more intrigued by this piece than Lady Susan or Love and Friendship, but it's still sorely lacking (and not because of it's unfinished state).  The piece just doesn't have the same wit and critique that her six finished works do.  I did grow to enjoy the interplay between Emma and Penelope.  Such fun characters!  If only they were a bit more developed.

Love and Friendship by Jane Austen

Title: Love and Friendship

Author: Jane Austen

Genre: Classics

Pages: 64

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Jane Austen; Mount TBR; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: iPad read

From Wikipedia:

Love and Freindship [sic] is a juvenile story by Jane Austen, dated 1790. From the age of eleven until she was eighteen, Jane Austen wrote her tales in three notebooks. The notebooks still exist – one in the Bodleian Library; the other two in the British Museum. They include among others Love and Freindship, written when Jane was fourteen, and The History of England, when she was fifteen.  Written in epistolary form, like her later unpublished novella, Lady Susan, Love and Freindship is thought to be one of the tales she wrote for the amusement of her family; it was dedicated to her cousin Eliza de Feuillide, "La Comtesse de Feuillide". The installments, written as letters from the heroine Laura, to Marianne, the daughter of her friend Isabel, may have come about as nightly readings by the young Jane in the Austen home. Love and Freindship (the misspelling is one of many in the story) is clearly a parody of romantic novels Austen read as a child. This is clear even from the subtitle, "Deceived in Freindship and Betrayed in Love", which completely undercuts the title.

An interesting bit of writing from my favorite author.  Right away you can tell that this was written very early on in her life.  There's a sense of immaturity about the characters and the plot.  But we do get a little of the wit and social criticism that are so prevalent in her later works.  I wouldn't say that I really enjoyed this volume, but I did appreciate discovering another piece of Austen's writing.

100 Days in Deadland by Rachel Aukes

Title: 100 Days in Deadland (Deadland Saga #1)

Author: Rachel Aukes

Publisher: Surprisingly Adequate Publishing 2013

Genre: Zombies

Pages: 450

Rating:  4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Zombies; Mount TBR; 52 Books -- W46; Bingo -- 4 from 2013; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: Free Kindle Read

A journey through Dante's Inferno with a shambling twist.

The world ended on a Thursday. In one day, the world succumbed to a pestilence that decimated the living. In its place rose a new species: vicious, gruesome, wandering zombies with an insatiable hunger for the living. There is no government. No shelter. No hope. Still in her twenties, Cash has watched her friends die, only to walk again. An office worker with few survival skills, she joins up with Clutch, a grizzled Army veteran with PTSD. Together, they flee the city and struggle through the nine circles of hell, with nothing but Clutch's military experience and Cash's determination to live. As they fight to survive in the zombie inferno, they quickly discover that nowhere is safe from the undead...or the living.

I started this book mainly because I needed another break from The Count of Monte Cristo.  Plus, it was on my iPad which meant I could read during night feedings.  To my surprise, I really enjoyed the book.  It's a good fast paced zombie thriller with interesting characters.  I really loved Cash and Clutch and Jase.  The zombies were scary and the human villains even scarier.  I loved the progression of the plot and even how it ended.  There's a nontraditional ending, but it completely fits with the story and the situation.  I love that we don't get a cliche.  My only complaint is the "romance" between the two main characters.   I had hoped that the author wouldn't go there, but she did.  For the most part, it wasn't a huge turnoff.  Although the sex scene seemed very out of place with the rest of the novel.  I think that couldn't have been edited out and nothing would be lost.  Overall, I really enjoyed this free ebook.  I might even pick up (and even pay) for the next book releasing this coming year.

Deadland Saga (DNFed series)

• 1. 100 Days in Deadland
• 2. Deadland's Harvest (2014)
• 3. TBD

Saving Wishes by G.J. Walker-Smith

Title: Saving Wishes (The Wishes #1)

Author: G.J. Walker-Smith

Publisher: Amazon Digital 2013

Genre: New Adult

Pages: 370

Rating:  3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Eclectic -- New Adult; Mount TBR; Bingo -- 4 from 2013 releases; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: Free Kindle read

For Charli Blake, being seventeen is a tough gig. She's been branded a troublemaker, her reputation is in tatters and she's stuck in Pipers Cove, a speck of a town on the coast of Tasmania. Thankfully, it's temporary. Her lifelong dream of traveling the world is just months away from becoming reality. All she has to do is ride out the last few months of high school, which is easier said than done thanks to a trio of mean girls known as The Beautifuls. When Adam Décarie arrives in town, all the way from New York, life takes an unexpected turn. His arrival sets off a chain of events that alters her life forever, convincing her of one thing. Fate brought him to her. Saving Wishes is the story of a girl who doesn't quite fit the life she's living, and the boy who helps her realise why.

This isn't a bad book, but it isn't a good one either.  I am completely neutral when it came to this novel.  I liked the premise and storyline.  I liked the idea of having Charli find out what she wants from life.  I even liked the idea of Adam helping her do it.  But I didn't really liked how it was executed.  I felt like we spent way too much time reiterating how Charli always flees and her various defense mechanisms.  It become all too repetitive.  I kept waiting for the real story to get moving, but it just kept dragging and dragging.  I finished it, but probably only because I have been reading it during the middle of the night feedings and didn't want to switch books.  Overall, I'm just "meh" about this book.

The Wishes (DNFed series)

• #1 Saving Wishes
• #2 Second Hearts
• #2.5 Sand Jewels
• #3 Storm Shells
• #4 Secret North
• #4.5 Silver Dawn
• #5 Star Promise

The Billionaire Wins the Game by Melody Anne

Title: The Billionaire Wins the Game (Billionaire Bachelors #1)

Author: Melody Anne

Publisher: Gossamer 2011

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 205

Rating: 1/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Romance; Monthly Key Word -- November; Mount TBR; 52 Books -- W45; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: I own it

Joseph Anderson has decided it's time for his three successful sons to find brides. Joseph wants grandchildren to fill his mansion, and he wants them immediately. His eldest son, Lucas, is successful in all areas of his life, except love, and Joseph begins matchmaking. He finds Amy Harper and deems her the perfect daughter-in-law. He just needs to get her and Lucas to both realize they're made for each other.

Lucas Anderson is wealthy, sexy, and stubborn. He has no desire to have any woman enter his life, causing chaos, or using his family's name. Many women have tried, and he's been successful in finding out who they are beneath their false smiles.

Amy Harper was raised in tragic circumstances and doesn't like pampered, rich men who have been handed everything with a silver spoon. She spent years finishing her education and then received a job with the Anderson Corporation. She instantly doesn't like her incredibly sexy boss, who is arrogant and thinks every woman should fall at his feet.

I picked this up to take a fun romance break from the epic that is The Count of Monte Cristo.  Unfortunately, what I got was a poorly written tromp through every romance cliche and stereotype I know of.  We get the over-bearing, macho, pig-headed male lead who's very experienced in bed.  We get the cautious and yet willful and pig-headed female lead who's a virgin.  We get meddling parents.  We get instant attraction. We get lies and omissions. We get misunderstandings that could clear everything up in five seconds.  We get an accidental pregnancy.  We get a forced shotgun marriage that the female lead resists but submits quickly.  We get a 180 degree change in attitude without ever discussing anything.  And finally we get a happily-ever-after.  Ugh!  Too much crap shoved into one short book.  Plus, it is badly written with changes in scenes, narrators, and action with little or no warning.  I had to reread many paragraphs just to figure out what the hell was going on. I thought about DNFing the book many times and yet I finished it for some reason.  I blame the sleep deprivation.

Billionaire Bachelors (DNFed series)

• 1. The Billionaire Wins the Game
• 2. The Billionaire's Dance
• 3. The Billionaire Falls
• 4. The Billionaire's Marriage Proposal
• 5. Blackmailing the Billionaire
• 6. Runaway Heiress
• 7. The Billionaire's Final Stand

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

Title: Middlesex

Author: Jeffrey Eugenides

Publisher: Picador 2002

Genre: Literature

Pages: 544

Rating:  4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Historical Fiction; Mount TBR; Book Bingo - 4 from everyone but me; 52 Books - W44; Rory Gilmore; 1001 Books; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: iPad Read (Book Club Selection)

"I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day of January 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of l974. . . My birth certificate lists my name as Calliope Helen Stephanides. My most recent driver’s license...records my first name simply as Cal."

So begins the breathtaking story of Calliope Stephanides and three generations of the Greek-American Stephanides family who travel from a tiny village overlooking Mount Olympus in Asia Minor to Prohibition-era Detroit, witnessing its glory days as the Motor City, and the race riots of l967, before they move out to the tree-lined streets of suburban Grosse Pointe, Michigan. To understand why Calliope is not like other girls, she has to uncover a guilty family secret and the astonishing genetic history that turns Callie into Cal, one of the most audacious and wondrous narrators in contemporary fiction. Lyrical and thrilling, Middlesex is an exhilarating reinvention of the American epic.  Middlesex is the winner of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

This has been on my TBR list for years, but I've always been scared to dive in.  The subject matter is extremely serious.  How do we approach the subject of intersex?  Overall, I think Eugenides does a great job approaching the topic from a unique angle.  Cal is an intriguing character and narrator.  I found those the parts about Cal's life to be fascinating.  The first half of the book focusing on Desdemona and Lefty and Milton and Tessie dragged a bit.  The first half was difficult to connect to.  Because of my reluctance to dive completely into the book, I knocked off a star.

Rose of Fire by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Title: Rose of Fire (Cemetery of Forgotten Books #0.5)

Author: Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Publisher: HarperCollins 2012

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 20

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Paranormal -- Dragons; Mount TBR; 52 Books -- Week 43; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: I own it!

Set at the time of the Spanish Inquisition in the fifteenth century, "Rose of Fire" tells the story of the origins of the mysterious labyrinthine library, the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, which lies at the heart of Carlos Ruiz Zafon's novels The Shadow of the Wind, The Angel's Game, and now The Prisoner of Heaven.

This is a super short story and I wish it was longer.  But it includes the same beautiful language from Zafon.  Plus we get a bit of insight into how the Cemetery of Forgotten Books came to be. Zafon crafts a fantastical story to that's more outright fantasy than the books in the series, but I always suspected that the Cemetery had a fantastical origin.  Nice little free story to get me ready to read the latest book The Prisoner of Heaven.

Cemetery of Forgotten Books

• 0.5 The Rose of Fire
• 1. The Shadow of the Wind
• 2. The Angel's Game
• 3. The Prisoner of Heaven

The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Title: The Angel's Game (Cemetery of Forgotten Books #2)

Author: Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Publisher: Anchor 2010

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 544

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Sub-Genre -- Historical Mystery; Mount TBR; Dusty Bookshelf; Fall into Reading; 52 Books -- W42

How I Got It: I own it!

In this powerful, labyrinthian thriller, David Martín is a pulp fiction writer struggling to stay afloat. Holed up in a haunting abandoned mansion in the heart of Barcelona, he furiously taps out story after story, becoming increasingly desperate and frustrated. Thus, when he is approached by a mysterious publisher offering a book deal that seems almost too good to be real, David leaps at the chance. But as he begins the work, and after a visit to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, he realizes that there is a connection between his book and the shadows that surround his dilapidated home and that the publisher may be hiding a few troubling secrets of his own. Once again, Ruiz Zafón takes us into a dark, gothic Barcelona and creates a breathtaking tale of intrigue, romance, and tragedy

The next amazing book in Zafon's series focusing on his love of literature.  Just like the first book, this one starts out normal.  We assume that the story will progress and the main character will continue on his journey to write the great pieces of literature he has always wanted. And then things start to get weird.  I love the little bits of weird.  Zafon crafts an intriguing mystery that you don't even realize until you're halfway through the book.  It's a great mystery, full of deceitful characters and a city that seems like a character unto itself.  It took me forever to read this book due to have a baby in the middle of it, but I enjoyed every page of it.  I can't wait to pick up the third book in the series, but first I am going to read the prequel.

Cemetery of Forgotten Books

• 0.5 The Rose of Fire
• 1. The Shadow of the Wind
• 2. The Angel's Game
• 3. The Prisoner of Heaven

Lady Susan by Jane Austen

Title: Lady Susan

Author: Jane Austen

Genre: Classic 1805

Pages: 95

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Jane Austen; ebook; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: iPad read

The early epistolary novel LADY SUSAN depicts an unscrupulous coquette, toying with the affections of several men.

Right away, I could tell that this was a very early work for Austen.  It has glimmers of wit and critique of society, but doesn't live up to her six finished novels.  Instead of a main character we can follow through the trials and tribulations of society, we get Lady Susan.  She is thoroughly unlikable.  Therefore, I didn't care if things worked out for her at all.  Having a likable main character helps Austen navigate the rest of society.  This early novel just doesn't reach the bar.

Iron's Prophecy by Julie Kagawa

Title: Iron's Prophecy (Iron Fey #4.5)

Author: Julie Kagawa

Publisher: Harlequin Teen 2012

Genre: Paranormal - Fey

Pages: 66

Rating:  4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Paranormal - Fey; Mount TBR; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: iPad Read

Meghan Chase is finally getting used to being the Iron Queen, ruler of the Iron Fey. Her life may be strange, but with former Winter prince Ash by her side at last, she wouldn't have it any other way.

But when they travel to the Summer and Winter courts' gathering for Elysium, the oracle from Meghan's past returns with a dire prophecy: "What you carry will either unite the courts, or it will destroy them."

Now Meghan faces a devastating choice that may determine the future of all fey—and her and Ash's unborn child…

Picked this one up as a free Kindle book to continue the Iron Fey series.  I wasn't hugely fond of The Iron Knight, but felt like I wanted to continue Meghan Chase's story. This was a nice wrap-up to the cliffhanger after Ash won a human soul.  But it did leave me wanting more.  I may just have to read The Lost Prince now...

The Iron Fey

• #1 The Iron King
• #1.5 Winter’s Passage
• #2 The Iron Daughter
• #3 The Iron Queen
• #3.5 Summer’s Crossing
• #4 The Iron Knight
• #4.5 Iron’s Prophecy
• #5 The Lost Prince
• #6 The Iron Traitor
• #7 The Iron Warrior

The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman

Title: The World is Flat 3.0

Author: Thomas Friedman

Publisher: Picador 2007

Genre: Nonfiction -- Economics, Business

Pages: 660

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Nerdy Nonfiction -- Business; Mount TBR; Book Bingo -- 3 rereads; Nonfiction Adventure; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: I own it!

"One mark of a great book is that it makes you see things in a new way, and Mr. Friedman certainly succeeds in that goal," the Nobel laureate Joseph E. Stiglitz wrote inThe New York Times reviewing The World Is Flat in 2005. In this new edition, Thomas L. Friedman includes fresh stories and insights to help us understand the flattening of the world. Weaving new information into his overall thesis, and answering the questions he has been most frequently asked by parents across the country, this third edition also includes two new chapters--on how to be a political activist and social entrepreneur in a flat world; and on the more troubling question of how to manage our reputations and privacy in a world where we are all becoming publishers and public figures.

I read the original edition of this book way back when it was released.  That particular volume was given to a departing foreign exchange student.  When I went to replace the copy, I picked up the 3rd edition and it proceeded to sit on my shelves and in boxes for years.  I finally decided to read this edition.

Overall, I have to say that I've enjoyed both editions of this book that I've read.  I have to say that Friedman's basic premise is fairly simplistic.  Yet, I understand how people have misconstrued his concept of the flattening of the world.  He doesn't actually mean that the world is equalizing, but that opportunities are becoming more accessible to people across the world.  I find it very interesting to trace the progression of societies and globalization.  Interesting reads, but I warn you that it's fairly dense.  For the record, here's Friedman's list of 10 global flatteners:

• #1: Collapse of the Berlin Wall
• #2: Netscape
• #3: Workflow software
• #4: Uploading
• #5: Outsourcing
• #6: Offshoring
• #7: Supply-chaining
• #8: Insourcing
• #9: Informing (Google and other search engines are the prime example)
• #10: "The Steroids" (Wireless, Voice over Internet, and file sharing)

Her Ladyship's Companion by Evangeline Collins

Title: Her Ladyship's Companion

Author: Evangeline Collins

Publisher: Berkley 2009

Genre: Historical Romance

Pages: 330

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Romance; Mount TBR; 52 Books -- W41; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: I own it

Condemned to a loveless marriage, Lady Isabella Stirling indulges herself by taking a lover. But even though she knows Gideon Rosedale's passion was for sale, she's fallen in love with him.

All through the 300 pages of this novel, I kept waiting for something more.  It wasn't bad, but it just deliver me any more than a stereotypical bodice-ripper style romance.  The characters started out interesting, but over the course of the plot, I just didn't like them any more.  Isabella's desperation for Gideon started to grate on my nerves.  She started out so strong and ended up the damsel in distress.  I just grew tired of her.  Making Lord Stirling and Lady Isabella's brothers such caricature villains made the novel even more predictable.  The sex scenes were generously sprinkled every few pages and overall were decent.  But the ending...  I think the ending was why I really knocked this one down to 3 stars.  The ending and resolution was completely deus ex machina and I just couldn't take it all.  Coincidences and perfect timing are the only ways to reconcile the ending.  To me it just felt faked and forced.  I couldn't get completely behind it.

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

Title: Anansi Boys

Author: Neil Gaiman

Publisher: William Morrow 2005

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 416

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Neil Gaiman; Mount TBR; Blogger Recommendations; Fall into Reading; Bingo -- 4 from everyone but me; Fantasy Project

How I Got It: iPad read

When Fat Charlie's dad named something, it stuck. Like calling Fat Charlie "Fat Charlie." Even now, twenty years later, Charlie Nancy can't shake that name, one of the many embarrassing "gifts" his father bestowed -- before he dropped dead on a karaoke stage and ruined Fat Charlie's life.

Mr. Nancy left Fat Charlie things. Things like the tall, good-looking stranger who appears on Charlie's doorstep, who appears to be the brother he never knew. A brother as different from Charlie as night is from day, a brother who's going to show Charlie how to lighten up and have a little fun ... just like Dear Old Dad. And all of a sudden, life starts getting very interesting for Fat Charlie.

Because, you see, Charlie's dad wasn't just any dad. He was Anansi, a trickster god, the spider-god. Anansi is the spirit of rebellion, able to overturn the social order, create wealth out of thin air, and baffle the devil. Some said he could cheat even Death himself.

Overall, I really liked this novel, but it wasn't quite on par with Neverwhere or The Ocean at the End of the Lane.  I think it had to do with the fact that I could never truly get behind Fat Charlie.  Sure, he's gotten a bit of the short end of the stick in terms of his childhood and family, but the fact that he continues to be a sad sack throughout the novel bugged me a bit.  While I don't like Spider's actions, I could completely understand why he did certain things.  He was predictable, he was interesting, he was almost charming.  I found myself wanting to read more about Spider's journey than Charlie's.  For that reason, I took this one down a star.  Don't get me wrong, it's still a great Gaiman story.  It has the interesting little fantastical twists.  It has wonderfully constructed sentences.  The narrator (even not being first person) connects to the reader.  I really enjoyed this one, just not quite as much as some of Gaiman's other works.

Total Eclipse by Rachel Caine

Title: Total Eclipse (Weather Wardens #9)

Author: Rachel Caine

Publisher: Roc 2010

Genre: Paranormal

Pages: 305

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Seriously Series; Mount TBR; Fall into Reading;

How I Got It: I own it

Weather Warden Joanne Baldwin, her husband, the djinn David, and the Earth herself have been poisoned by a substance that destroys the magic that keeps the world alive. The poison is destabilizing the entire balance of power, bestowing magic upon those who have never had it, and removing it form those who need it. It's just a matter of time before the delicate balance of nature explodes into chaos-and doom.

Holy crap!  What a way to end the series!  I sped through this volume on the edge of my seat.  I couldn't wait to see how Joanne got herself of the end-of-the-world situation she got herself into.  The volume did not disappoint.  Like most of of the books in the series, this one hits the ground running.  The action starts right away and never stops.  I loved that!  We get a whirlwind of activity and yet we still connect to the characters.  I loved seeing some of the side characters reappear, but glad that Caine focused on our main group.  I was even satisfied with the ending and epilogue.  Usually I hate epilogues, but this one was nice.  Overall, I really liked this series.  The middle books meander a bit from the main story arc, but everything gets back on track for a couple of explosive books at the end.

Weather Warden:

1. Ill Wind
2. Heat Stroke
3. Chill Factor
4. Windfall
5. Fire Storm
6. Thin Air
7. Gale Force
8. Cape Storm
9. Total Eclipse