Chataine's Guardian by Robin Hardy

Summary:
Karel, Surchataine of the land of Lystra, fears for the safety of his only heir, the ten-year-old Chataine Deidre. So he decides to appoint to her a guardian, whose sworn duty will be to never let the Chataine out of his sight and to protect her life with his own until the day she marries. The one he selects to perform this perilous and wearisome task is a captain of the guard named Roman, a quiet, honest soldier who calls himself a Christian. Roman's stoic resistance to her charms and formidable temper arouses the curiosity of the beautiful young Chataine, and ND she becomes increasingly puzzled and intrigued by his mysterious faith. As the years pass, Deidre grows toward womanhood with her loyal guardian ever at her side - and gradually becomes aware of new feelings stirring to life in her heart... for Roman. Lystran law states that the Chataine may choose her own husband but Deirdre knows she must marry a Chatain of a power province in order to ensure Lystra's survival through the dangerous years ahead. Yet when the time comes to make her choice, she realizes her heart has already made it for her.


This sounds like the typical inspirational romance you'd pick up at any Christian book store. Fact of the matter is, it is so much more intriguing and adventurous than that. This dives into romance, death, faith, mystery, struggle, belief and so much more. This is my second time reading it and it won't be the last I'm sure.

Dust Lands - Blood Red Road by Moira Young

Summary:
To escape she will have to fight. To survive she will have to lead. Saba's world is shattered when her twin brother, Lugh, is captured by four cloaked horsemen. Determined to rescue him, Saba sets off into the lawless, wasted landscape left behind by the Wreckers. It's a brutal world where Saba discovers some surprising things about herself: She's a fierce fighter, a cunning opponent, and above all, an unbeatable survivor. Teamed up with a handsome daredevil named Jack and a gang of girl warriors called the Free Hawks, Saba is off to save her brother - and maybe her whole world.


Blood Red Road is crazy. It starts out slow with what seems like a backwoods, redneck feel. Even the accents in the book make you feel like you're in the deep south fifty years ago. But that's where that feeling ends. This book is a dystopian fantasy that throws you for a loop just when you think you've got it figured out. There are eerie monsters, mad kings and alot of banter back and forth between some really interesting characters. I like Moira Young's writing style and how smooth it is. The only thing that made me stumble was her lack of quotation marks around the dialogue. Everything reads as factual sentences so sometimes you have to be careful how you look at it or you'll miss something important. All in all a good book, I look forward to finding the next one.

5 out of 10

The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa

Summary:
My name is Meghan Chase. I thought it was over. That my time with the fey, the impossible choices I had to make, the sacrifices of those I loved, was behind me. But a storm is approaching, an army of Iron fey that will drag me back, kicking and screaming. Drag me away from the banished prince who's sworn to stand by my side. Drag me into the core of conflict so powerful, I'm not sure anyone can survive it. This time, there will be no turning back.


This is the third book in the Iron Fey series. I can't complain. So far each book has lived up to the reputation of the book before it. This time, Meghan returns to Faery but not to face the Summer or Winter courts. Instead, she returns to face the Iron fey once again. But it's not how you think. The Iron king is dead, right? Still, this book throws a twist in the story that will challenge Meghan and her willingness to sacrifice those she loves for the good of all. I can't wait to get the next book!I

The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa

Summary:
Half summer faery princess, half human, Meghan has never fit in anywhere. Deserted by the Winter prince she thought loved her, she is prisoner to the Winter faery queen. As war looms between Summer and Winter, Meghan knows that the real danger comes from the Iron fey - iron bound faeries that only she and her absent prince have seen. But no one believes her.
Worse, Meghan's own fey powers have been cut off. She's stuck in Faery with only her wits for help. Trusting anyone would be foolish. Trusting a seeming traitor could be deadly. But even as she grows a backbone of iron, Meghan can't help but hear the whispers of longing in her all-too-human heart.


This book is just as good as the first. I finished it in less than two days. Amazing character development and plot twists. If anything could happen in this imaginative novel it does. There are no limits to the crazy, the beautiful and the dangerous side of Faery land. There are the same main characters as well as some new allies and enemies. I am not disappointed in this second book.

7 out of 10.
Now excuse me as I dive into the next one.

Merry Christmas!

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

Synopsis:
Meghan Chase has a secret destiny - one Snr could never have imagined... something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school... or at home.
When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster  best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.
But she never could have guessed the truth - that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now, Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face... and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.


Holy moly. This book took me 5 hours to read. It's a quick, easy read but had a captivating ploy twist and character development. From the synopsis it sounds like a really lame teenage drama but I was literally on the edge of my seat through the whole book. The fantasy is fantastic. And that's saying something because I'm not a huge fantasy fan. I'm usually left with a raised eyebrow of criticism because I can't believe what I'm reading. This book dares you to use your childhood imaginaton as winter and summer collide, dragons and trolls attempt to eat you for lunch and your favorite character is a cat. Seriously glad I had bought the first couple books in this series at the same time.

Note to readers: There is some swearing.

Great read. 7 out of 10. Go get it and enjoy.

The Autobiography of Henry VIII (with notes by his fool, Will Somers) by Margaret George

Henry VIII is known in history books as a cruel, bloodthirsty monster. This was an interesting take on someone who has always been portrayed in a bad light.
I've always had a keen interest in the kings and queens of old, especially about this king Henry VIII and his 6 wives and then later about his great niece, Mary, Queen of Scotland.
This book appears boring and I'll admit some parts here and there were really slow. But I sped pretty quickly through the 931 pages of history, betrayal, marriage, divorce, treason and madness. I won't go into too much detail in case any of you are brave enough to pick it up for yourself but here are some tidbits.

This book is written as a novel. The autobiography part of the title is due to it being written from the first person standpoint. This is basically Henry VIII's journal with inserts from his jester, Will Somers. So it's not all cut and dry facts.

It covers all 6 wives. Many know of Henry's first wife, Katherine of Aragon and his second Anne Boleyn... but not many know of the other four. Out of all 6... four died of natural causes. Only two were beheaded.

1. Katherine of Aragon - divorced
2. Anne Boleyn - beheaded
3. Jane Seymour - died right after childbirth
4. Anne of Cleves - divorced
5. Catherine Howard - beheaded
6. Kate Parr - Henry's widow

Little side note:
The relationship between Henry and Mary, Queen of Scotland was one of uncle and great niece. Henry's sister Margaret married the Scottish king and had James. James married Marie de Guise, a French princess and had two sons (both of whom died) and then had Mary, who became Queen as an infant. Henry had plans for Mary to marry his son Edward (by Jane) and to unite the two countries but it never happened.

It is worth the read because what I didn't know was that some of these wives were on good terms with the king their whole lives. He was friends with them even after their separation.

Anyway... what interested me the most was Henry's relationship with God. Henry was a messed up guy. He took down the pope and became the head of the church of England. But throughout the book when he wasn't under the influence of one of his wives or an advisor, Henry maintained his faith as well as he knew how. He shows the typical human natire of trying to follow God and failing miserably but always going back to God for forgiveness.

My opinion of Henry's VIII has been altered slightly. I do think he was cruel at times but also human and vulnerable to the whims of others.

This book was a good one to read. There was one or two explicit sex scenes that I skipped over so if you pick it up, be aware of that.

Over all - a biography type book - I'd give it a 5 out of 10.

On the Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis

Synopsis:

January 29, 2035. That’s the day the comet is scheduled to hit—the big one. Denise and her mother and sister, Iris, have been assigned to a temporary shelter outside their hometown of Amsterdam to wait out the blast, but Iris is nowhere to be found, and at the rate Denise’s drug-addicted mother is going, they’ll never reach the shelter in time. A last-minute meeting leads them to something better than a temporary shelter—a generation ship, scheduled to leave Earth behind to colonize new worlds after the comet hits. But everyone on the ship has been chosen because of their usefulness. Denise is autistic and fears that she’ll never be allowed to stay. Can she obtain a spot before the ship takes flight? What about her mother and sister? When the future of the human race is at stake, whose lives matter most?

This book was interesting. It's a little different than I've ever read before. While it's a post apocalyptic in the sense of "the end of the world" is coming via the comet, there are still ways to survive on earth. Basically, generation ships were created to take people away from earth after disaster hit. These ships would transport people to two new planets far away where they could reestablish a bigger population on a safer planet. Meanwhile, on earth, tragedy after tragedy happens. First the comet, then earthquakes, tidal waves and tsunamis.
The most interesting part of this whole book is the fact that the main character, Denise, is autistic. I personally don't have alot of experience with autism, but if her symptoms and struggles are realistic, it was a good insight as to what she dealt with on an everyday basis and how she coped in her own way to create a sense of "normalcy". 
On top of it all (as if doomsday wasn't enough to contend with) Denise's sister Iris is missing and Denise is left to deal with a mother whose drug addictions threaten to end all sense of safety.

It's a good book. It has some questionable morals in it, but a good read.

I'd give it 6 out of 10. 

Everland by Wendy Spinale

Synopsis:
London has been destroyed in a blitz of bombs and disease. The only ones who have survived are children, among them Gwen Darling and her siblings, Joanna and Mikey. They spend their nights scavenging and their days avoiding the ruthless Marauders -- the German army led by Captain Hanz Otto Oswald Kretschmer.
Unsure if the virus has spread past England's borders but desperate to leave, Captain Hook hunts for a cure, which he thinks can be found in one of the survivors. He and his Marauders stalk the streets snatching children for experimentation. None ever return. Until the day they grab Joanna. As Gwen sets out to save her, she meets a daredevil boy named Pete. Pete offers the assistance of his gang of Lost Boys and the fierce sharpshooter Bella, who have all been living in a city hidden underground. But in a place where help has a steep price and every promise is bound by blood, it will cost Gwen. And are she, Pete, the Lost Boys, and Bella enough to outsmart Captain Hook?

This book is a very interesting version of the classic Peter Pan story. It's twisted in a post apocalyptic way with steam punk themes practically pouring out of the pages. However, it was an easy read and a pretty good story overall.
The synopsis refers to the German invasion into England, which automatically makes one think of the Second World War, however, once you get into it, the time period is fuzzy and fogged over, which made me say it's "post apocalyptic". There's underground cities, crocodiles in the sewers, Captain Hook is actually an acronym for his real name Hanz Otto Oswald Kretschmer, who is in actuality the son of an evil, abusive and powerful queen (who does not come into the picture even once). There's betrayal, grief, relief, young love, jealousy, and surprises galore. A couple of twists I wouldn't have expected. I'm not a huge fan of this book, but it is okay. I'm more defensive of fairy tales as a whole, especially if the new versions go a little too far.

So - if you're looking for something to read, you can pick this one up. Just keep in mind it's not the classic fairy tale nor is it the happy go lucky Disney version. There's more to it. I'm just not a huge fan of the steam punk. Too far-fetched for me.

Into the Dim by Janet B. Taylor

I decided to take a break in the middle of War and Peace for reasons other than it's so long. Seriously, over 1300 pages and in a long, drawn out way of writing... I will congratulate myself when I finish. I'm over halfway, but a break was in order.

I picked up Into the Dim on a whim at the library. This seems to be the way I find the best books. The cover art catches my eye and there you have it. Also - if I can't even manage to read the entirety of the synopsis on the back of the book, on the shelf it goes. I read and reread this synopsis and couldn't wait to get my hands on it.




This book was one of my favorites that I have read so far. I plan to put it back on my list to reread, especially since it was only just published earlier this year and the sequel will not be published until 2017. Ugh. I seriously read this book in a matter of days, on the edge of my seat for a majority of it and almost threw it across the room when I got to the last page and read those horrible, treacherous words "To be continued...".

Here is the synopsis:
When fragile, sixteen-year-old Hope Walton loses her mom to an earthquake overseas, her secluded world crumbles. Agreeing to spend the summer in Scotland, Hope discovers that her mother was more than a brilliant academic, but also a member of a secret society of time travelers. And she's alive, though currently trapped in the twelfth century, during the age of Eleanor of Aquitaine. Hope has seventy-two hours to rescue her mother and get back to their own time. Passing through the Dim, Hope enters a brutal medieval world of political intrigue, danger, and violence. A place where any serious interference could alter the very course of history. And when she meets a boy whose face is impossibly familiar, she must decide between her mission and her heart—both of which could leave Hope trapped in the past forever.  
    

Um... yeah. I'm not a huge fan of time travel. Sci-fi bores me a majority of the time. But this book mixes sci-fi, time travel, intrigue, drama, romance, and mystery is a complete package. It's an absolute must read.

I give it a 9 out of 10 stars and that's saying something. :)

Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

Rebel of the Sands wasn't on my original book list. In fact, I was walking through the library on my way out from picking up a couple of books on my list when the title stopped me in my tracks. Does that ever happen to you? You don't mean to look, in fact you purposefully avert your eyes from the bookshelves so you don't end up at the library or bookstore for hours at a time... You know... because your family needs to eat dinner and there's laundry to do or you're late for work. But this one caught me, snagged my eye and I suddenly found my feet taking me right to it.

This book is great. It has a sci-fi/fantasy feel, which I don't usually go for but I decided to go for it anyway. In it's place I've removed Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (which turned out to be something I dropped after the first five or six pages due to explicit material).

So... Rebel in the Sands... the front cover reads:

Mortals rule the desert nation of Miraji, but mythical beasts still roam the wild and remote areas, and rumor has it that somewhere djinn still perform their magic. For humans, it's an unforgiving place, especially if you're poor, orphaned or female.
Almani Al'Hiza is all three. She's a gifted gunslinger with perfect aim, but she can't shoot her way out of Dustwalk, the backcountry town where she's destined to wind up wed or dead.
Then she meets Jin, a rakish foreigner, in a shooting contest, and sees him as the perfect escape route. But though she's spent years dreaming of leaving Dustwalk, she never imagined she'd gallop away on a mythical horse - or that it would take a foreign fugitive to show her the heart of the desert she thought she knew.

Pretty intriguing right? Opens up on Almani, orphaned like it said and living with her aunt and uncle. Her uncle is a weirdo and has multiple wives and is considering marrying Almani. Ew. So, she either marries her uncle or finds someone else to marry. We'll come back to that.
She wants out of Dustwalk. Before her mother was killed, she would tell Almani about an aunt that lived in another town far from Dustwalk, in a "promised land" kind of story. So Almani dresses up as a boy, enters a shooting contest and meets Jin, the foreigner. They meet multiple times throughout the book, enemies one second and partners the next. But Jin isn't who you think he is. And neither is Almani, who always thought she was a "normal, boring" girl. Almani has a secret that she doesn't even know she has and to top it off, let's add warring countries, an evil sultan with a master plan to dominate the world, mythical beings that are only reigned in with iron as their tether and creatures of magical porportions. It's really great and intriguing.
I read this book all the way through in about two days. It's not a creepy or evil magic that one assumes would be the case, especially these days. But it's one that is on the underlying surface and peeks out once in awhile for the good of those around the characters themselves.

So, if you happen to pick up this book, take a moment and read it through. Because the author is in a hurry to get to the storyline, she doesn't stop and explain what exactly the "djinn" are or what other mythical creatures are or what they can do. So read it it slowly, but enjoy. It's a great one that I'll probably reread eventually.

Now - The next book on my list is War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. It's a huge book but it's a classic so you might not hear from me for awhile. Peace out, friends.

See Me by Nicholas Sparks

See Me by Nicholas Sparks was a really good read. It was intriguingly and definitely mysterious. I don't remember having read another Nicholas Sparks book with as much mystery in it as this one. 

Bad boy in trouble with the law versus lawyer. It was pretty interesting. The lead characters have alot of chemstry and charisma and you're cheering for them to get together and... Obviously they will or it wouldn't be a Nicholas Sparks book. But it goes back and forth. He has an anger management problem and can't afford to get in trouble with the law even once or it's to prison for ten plus years. And she is a young lawyer who has a stalker related to a case that didn't work out years ago because the victim in the incident was killed in a brutal and inhumane way.

So the two of them get to know each other, but she has a stalker so they're trying to figure it out. There's alot of ring around the rosie as they try to nail down the guy with the gun so to speak only to find out the stalker is the brother of the victim in said case above. And he is in cohorts with someone you wouldn't suspect. And they're not actually after her... They're after someone she loves and she doesn't know it until it's almost too late.

Go get this book. It's a must read Nicholas Sparks novel. And it gives you that fuzzy good feeling at the end. You know you like that. 

Again, disclaimer - there is sex before marriage suggested. But it's tactfully addressed without going into detail.

The Winner's Crime & The Winner's Kiss

The sequels to The Winner's Curse are really good. They were not originally on my booklist simply because I hate to commit to a whole trilogy before I've read the first book. However, based on my opinion of the first book, The Winner's Curse, I couldn't get these other two fast enough and ended up reqding both (over 800 pages) in three days.
Now let me be clear... Based on my knowledge of what I can handle and what I choose to read... It may be different than your own. While I would happily read this trilogy again, many wouldn't make it past the first book.
The first book is relatively clean. The second and third have some suggestive material as well as gruesome war and torture scenes.
All this to say - you've been warned and it's up to you. No judging here and I'd appreciate it if you'd return the favor.

Spoilers to follow:
The Winner's Crime is the second installment. When we left the end of the first book, Arin's countrymen had taken hold of the Herran peninsula. He had let Kestrel escape knowing it could mean further war with the Valorian empire.
She had sailed across the sea and returned with a contract, a treaty of sorts, that stated the Herran country could be an "independent" country only answering to the Valorian emporer with Arin as governor in exchange for Kestrel's marriage to the emporer's son, Verex. She agreed to save Arin.
For the second book, their encounters and exchanges involve her being insufferably cold and distant, cruel
 She doesn't want him to know she does love him and her marriage to the cruel emporer's son is the only way to keep him free.
Arin is confused beyond a doubt. He doesn't know if she's lying or if he made up the whole charisma between them.
She becomes a spy for Arin's country, Herran, and works with Tensen, a friend and important minister of agriculture for Herran. But Arin has no idea. She keeps it a secret, especially when she learns that the emporer is actually starving the Heran people along with poisoning their water supply. So, she relays the information to Tensen, who keeps her identity a secret from Arin. Poor middle man situation. Long story short, Arin has come and gone a couple times from the emporer's palace in Valorica, having traveled to make a peace treaty and alliance with the eastern nation of Draca to fight against Valorica. He returns to the palace, intent on knowing the truth but doesn't see how Kestrel wants to tell him the truth and sends him signals all the while telling him cruel lies because her father is listening in on the conversation! Ugh! Frustrating! (In casw you forgot - Kestrel's father is General, the highest ranking military officer in Valorica and second to the emporer). Arin leaves, disgusted and hurt and Kestrel writes him a letter explaining everything from her true feelings to the truth about her role as a spy for his country. She gives the lettet to Tensen to give to Arin but the man doesn't. *facepalm* And ends up being killed by Kestrel's father. So she visits Tensen's rooms, finds him dead and finds her father and the emporer present and fully aware of her role as a spy for the enemy.
Her father disowns her and the emporer sends her to a labor camp up north with the rumor spreading that she and Prince Verex had married in secret, went to the Southern Isles, where she got sick suddenly and died. Convenient.

The Winner's Kiss is even more difficult to unravel in a simple paragraph, but the essence off it all is, Arin finds out about five chapters in that Kestrel wasn't as cruel as she sounded, that she was a spy for his country and that Tensen is dead. He takes off for the labor camp and breaks her out of it only to find out that while she'd been imprisoned, she'd been drugged everyday for the month she'd been there. Meaning her memory was as good as useless, she craved her drug to aleep. She didn't know what was real and wasn't. She didn't know who Arin was. Eventually he brings her home to Herran where she recovers slowly but her memory is a work in progress. Meanwhile, Herran and Valorica go to war. Kestrel ends up helping with the strategic aspect of war and some of the action too. There is alot of back and forth battles and Arin almost gets killed.
She ends up playing a gambling game of Bite and Sting with the emporer. If he wins, he gets whatever he wants. If she wins, the war is over and the Valorians sail home no questions asked. So she is playing a game with the emporer while Arin is in a fierce battle against the General and his forces.
Panic creeps in and she starts to lose... Indeed she does lose the game and you're about to think all hope is lost when the emporer keels over and dies necause four of the tiles in Bite and Sting have been painted with a glossy texture. Poison. You're led to believe thay those tiles are marked for Kestrel's benefit because they are good tiles to win. But they are poisoned, the emporer dies, and the war comes to an end.

The general is wounded, taken prisoner, but won't talk to Kestrel. She and Arin live happily ever after. Finally.

Obviously there's alot more than that but remember, each book is over 400 paes and that's about as quick as I can sum up. I would read them again in a second.

The Winner's Curse by Marie Rotkoski

I'm just going to say it. This is a great book. Four stars out of five for me. Wasy read. Fast paced. Mystery, political intrigue, military strategy, forbidden romance... It was amazing. I've already placed the second and third books of this trilogy on hold at my local library.

I'll try not to give many details because this is seriously a must read. The writing is ver well done, the characters are interesting but there's not so many that it's hard to keep up with. I read this book in less than 24 hours. My husband forced me to put it down at 11:30 last night otherwise I would've read it all the way though. Still, the first thing I did at 7am was grab the book. I read it while cooking, while getting dressed, doing laundry, I even tried it while painting and let me just say there wasn't alot of painting getting done.

I don't think I'll say any more. Go get this book.

A Country Road, A Tree by Jo Baker

This book was supposed to be third on my list but the second one hasn't come in yet and I was anxious to keep going.

Overall, I would give this book a 2.5 put of 5 stars. It wasn't the worst book ever but it wasn't the best either.

The summary is pretty vague. Basically, Samuel (whose name isn't mentioned once in the entire 285 pages) is a writer. He's from Ireland and the book opens in his home country at his mother's home. He has a past experience of going to France for inspiration only to have been attacked (?) and stabbed, nursed back to health by a woman named Suzanne. His whole past before this point is mentioned but there are no details about why he got attacked or by whom or how long he'd been in France when this happened. Anyway- he recovered barely, went home to Ireland but his mother's judgemental attitude and constant criticism for his life choices make him yearn to get back to France. Ireland holds no inspiration for him. He dreams of Paris and Suzanne.
His cousins, Sheila and Mollie, (and Sheila's two daughters) are visiting. They turn on the radio to hear that a war has officially broken out. The start of World War II if you hadn't noticed the summary above.
Sheila, then Mollie leaves. Sheila goes home to see her husband before he ships out. Mollie returns to work. He takes himself to France.
In Paris, things start to get worse. This is where the book takes confusing turns. The author is very wordy. She doesn't specify who she's talking about when she writes "he" so always assume it's Samuel and you'll get through it much easier than I did. There's alot of vague references to the Jews being rounded up and taken to concentration camps.
A couple of points that were interesting to me, were that the Allied Forces used radio broadcast to relay secret messages during the war. So even though the Germans could've been listening, they used such abstract messages intended only to make sense to the person it's meant for, that the Germans couldn't figure it out.
It didn't occur to me either that people other than the Jews were persecuted, tortured and executed. Half of the book finds Samuel and Suzanne on the run because he has taken part in relaying messages to the Allied Forces. So he's committed treason and there are alot of instances where they are running constantly in a country where a vast majority of people are trying to escape German tyranny. You find Samuel hidden under the floorboards of a safe house during the day and only allowed a free moment at night. You find he and Suzannne trekking across the French countryside multiple times on their way to safer destinations because the trains would be stopped and searched or simply so packed with evacuees that it was impossible to obtain seats. They were hungry because of the rations put on the country, starving, sickly and barely putting one foot in front of the other in order to live another day.
Their safe houses are with friends but even those friends start to "disappear", taken by the Gestapo for questioning... Never to return. So as they move from place to place,  their time with friends will start out pleasant and then shrink to a bubble on the verge of popping. The book spans the length of the war.
There are some things to look out for... A companion of Samuel's in a time that he and Suzanne are separated for safety's sake, is almost captured by the Gestapo and instead of allowing himself to be captured, tortured and executed, throws himself out a window. There's also a very brief paragraph where Samuel encounters and engages a prostitute. The language bounces around. You can have three chapters void of swearing and then be blasted in the forth.

So overall... It is not something I would read again. I struggled to get into it because it was so wordy and long and really vague. But I learned some things about France in WWII and about the people who lived there, which I appreciated.

It Wasn't Always Like This by Joy Preble

It Wasn't Always Like This by Joy Preble was the first book on my list. I picked it up from the library two days ago and have already buzzed through it. It's 245 pages long and considered "Epic and addictive." by #1 New York Times bestselling co-author of Beautiful Creatures, Kami Garcia.

And indeed it is in fact epic and addictive. It starts out slow and jumps around alot from one time period to the other because, well, let's admit it... The Fountain of Youth is involved here.

The summary is this:
In 1916, Emma O'Neill is frozen in time. After sampling an experimental polio vaccine brewed on a remote island off St. Augustine, Florida, she and her family stio aging- as do the Ryans, her family's business partners. In a way this suits Emma fine because she is in love with Charlie Ryan. Being seventeen forever with him is a dream. But soon a group of religious fanatics, the Church of Light, takes note. Drinking the elixir has made the O'Neills and Ryans impervious to aging but not to murder - Emma and Charlie are the only ones who escape with their lives.
On the run, Emma is tragically separated from Charlie. For the next hundred years, she plays a cat-and-mouse game with the founding members of the Church of Light and their descendents. Over the years, a series of murders- whose victims all bear more than a passing resemblence to her- indicate that her enemies are closing in. Yet as the danger grows, so does Emma's hope for finding the boy she's certain is still out there...

This story is a mixture of light suspense, mystery, romance and fantasy. It's really interesting and though, like I said, it's difficult to read at times because you're bouncing back and forth through a couple different time zones, if you keep track of the time periods then it gets easier. Overall, a really good book.
There is some language here and there throughout as well as sex before marriage, so just a heads up. But there are no sex scenes so compared to what I've read before, it's clean. Whew.

I really liked the mystery and learning how Emma has figured out how to live under the radar. And while she may be the main character of the story, about halfway through there are a couple chapters dedicated to Charlie and a couple other characters that allow you a glimpse of what they have been doing this whole time. The book spans about a hundred years from the time Emma and Charlie and their families drink a tea that's supposed to protect them from small pox and realize that it actually gave them immortality.

There's one character I wasn't really sure I agreed with how the author presented him. He was dismissed very quickly in the end and it felt rushed. But overall, it was really well written.

It's a really good book and I am definitely planning to reread.

Book List

"It Wasn't Always Like This" by Joy Preble

"Left in the Wind: The Roanoke Journal of Emme Merrimoth" by Ed Gray

"A Country Road, A Tree" by Jo Baker

"Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn

"The Winner's Curse" by Marie Rutkoski

"See Me" by Nicholas Sparks

"War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy

"Eragon" by Christopher Paolini

"The Siren" by Kiera Cass

"The Erye Affair" by Jasper Fforde

Disclaimer: I've only ever read a couple of these. The others are new to me and thus, I'm unaware of any inappropriate content or sensitive subject manner. As with all books, read at your own risk.

I plan to start reading beginning with the first book on this list as soon as it comes in at the library. There's no deadline or anything so I'll update when I'm finished. Happy reading!

About the "Author"

I'm Brittany. I am a freelance artist, homeschool art teacher, dog lover, and wife. Among these things is the ever present characteristic of avid reader. I don't remember the first book I picked up but I do remember the first time I read an "adult" book, meaning chapters, romance, "serious" topics, etc. Lori Wick was the first author to grab my attention and if you haven't read "A Place Called Home" I seriously suggest you grab it and go.

Anyway - the first time I opened up "A Place Called Home" and read the first chapter I was hooked. Hooked so bad, in fact, that I proceeded to read it and the remaining three books of the serious in two weeks. Now we're not talking books with 500+ pages, but we are talking chapter books, at least 200 pages each. Let it be known I love books.

As I grew up, my genres wavered a little. I picked up fantasy, mystery, westerns, romance, inspirational fiction, biographies... anything with words and pages that I could run my eyes over and hands through and I was set. Libraries are like reunions... I run my fingers over the binds of the books on the shelves as if saying hello to my favorite long lost friends. Unless you've smelled the inside of a book more than once and thought it was one of the best things you've ever inhaled... then you haven't read enough books.

My job as a homeschool art teacher only runs during the school year, so I have all of June, July and August at my finger tips and I decided one day that I wanted to read and write. So here we are. A blog about books, and you can thank me for the hilarious title "Babbling Books" because I know you love it.

I've thought about this for weeks and I think I'm finally going to do it. My goal is to read as many books as I can during the summer. Old books, new books, present day and period drama... many books I pick will be just published, as in hard to get ahold of, but I'll do my best and while I hope not to drop too many spoilers, you can't say you haven't been warned. I'm excited, but sometimes my excitement overflows to rambling... er... babbling. Again, you've been warned.
I don't have a book list yet, but I intend to plan it and research it and write it all down this week and hopefully by this weekend, I'll post it.

I hope you're on board with me and maybe, if you're able or willing, read along and post your own thoughts on this blog. It could be fun - if you're up for the challenge. But... one thing... you have to be willing to stretch. I'll stretch my imagination, horizons, whatever... and choose books of different genres. My only rule for myself (and you, if you wanna tag along) is I refuse to read books like 50 Shades of Grey. Sorry, but no. And that's all I'll say about that.

So, if you dare and love to read as much as I do, I invite you to join me.