Linger

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater
Scholastic Press, 2010
360 pages
YA; Paranormal Romance
2nd in trilogy
4/5 stars

See my review of first book Shiver here.

Source: Won

Spoilers from first book

Summary: Now Sam is a human and should be staying that way and everything should be great for Grace and Sam.  Instead there are new threats, from the newly turned wolves, from an angry hunter, from Grace's parents, from Grace's body itself.

Thoughts: I saw mixed reviews of this: either people loved it or they didn't see the need of a sequel and thought the four narrators muddied it were the prevailing thoughts.  I was excited about the sequel as I really enjoyed the first book and thought it was beautifully written.

I enjoyed the shifting perspectives and I liked that we didn't spend too long with any of them; I feel like that helps me read faster.  What I didn't like about the four narrators was lack of Grace.  I didn't track how long her sections were but it felt like there was a lot more Sam and Cole than Grace, who is my favorite character.  I do like Sam, who is wonderfully earnest and such a good guy, in comparison to a lot of other YA males.  But I felt like Grace should have been more of a focus and she wasn't.  I enjoyed meeting Cole, a musician and scientific genius who wants to forget himself entirely and be just a wolf.  He was such a jerk but if he can help, I want that.  Isabel also returns and has some chapters to herself.  She's in a very difficult position as she is struggling with parental problems of her own plus has her dad wanting to kill all of the wolves.

Beck is still a wolf as in the first book but his presence is heavily featured in the boys' chapters and as I loved him in the first book, I appreciated that.  I also liked Grace's friend Rachel who was just a funny character throughout.

I didn't like Grace's parents who have a lot to answer for in my book.  They spent years basically acting like Grace didn't exist or didn't need them for anything but all of a sudden, they interfere?!  And they get mad at Sam when it seems like he's in it for the long haul, and not just for sex.  Most parents I know at least try to get to know the person their child is dating.  I'm not sure what it is about him that they don't like.  And instead of trying to slow their relationship down, maybe by insisting that he spends more time with the parents so he can demonstrate his honorable intentions or by requesting that they spend more time in a group, they outright ban him.  Furthermore, it doesn't sound like Grace's grades have suffered or that she was acting disrespectfully toward her parents while dating Sam.  When they start ordering her around, that's when the disrespect starts and quite frankly they haven't earned her respect.  Because while one should respect one's parents, it's earned, not just taken or demanded.  They suck as parents.

Plotwise, the main thread is Cole adjusting to life as a shifter and then Grace's ill health which seems to be due to her earlier bite from a wolf.  That last one ends on a cliffhanger that has me frantic for Forever.

Overall: Interesting new characters and further development of characters from first book result in a good book.

Cover: Love the green and how it connects to the blue; personally I would love purple for the next book.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
Translated Reg Keeland
Alfred A. Knopf, 2010
Originally published 2007
563 pages
Thriller; Mystery
Third book in Millennium Trilogy
4.5/5 stars

See my reviews of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played With Fire

Source: Bought

Summary: Lisbeth Salander is finally found and will be going on trial shortly.  Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist and her loyal friend, is out to clear her name and uncover a scandal that will rock Sweden's government.  These are the two main threads of Larsson's massive tome, the conclusion to the Millennium trilogy.

Thoughts: I was super excited to get this because I thought I would have to wait until it was in paperback.  But my mom started reading the books, she bought the third one.  My sister read it first (very slowly because she wanted to spite me!) and then I got it.  Like the previous books, it had a slowish start but picked up toward the end.  This time the end is centered around Lisbeth's trial, where she is being examined over multiple counts. I won't go too much in detail because I want you to read it for yourself.

There is also a good short summary of what the books are about: women who are abused and the men who enable that.  I was frequently brought up short by the awful things done by men toward women, specifically because the abusers were men and the victims were women and how the system which should have protected them looked the other way or actively worked to cover it up.

I actually thought this book had a lot less of the content I found distasteful in the first two books: the drinking, swearing, and sexual content all stood out much less.

Overall: A good conclusion to the Millennium trilogy.

Cover: I do like the silver a lot but the hornets freak me out.

The Fairy's Mistake

Friday is for Fairytales, hosted by Irena at This Miss Loves to Read

I'm beginning my journey through GCL's fairy tale retellings.  This is the first one and I'll review the other five over the next five weeks.  This is not my favorite but it introduces the world of Biddle where they all take place.

Basically there are two sisters, Rosella and Myrtle.  The former is sweet and the latter is mean.  When Rosella goes to fetch water, she offers some to a fairy and is rewarded with jewels falling from her mouth whenever she speaks. A prince sees the jewels and decides he will marry Rosella. Myrtle goes to do the same thing but when she rejects the fairy, she is punished with bugs coming out of her mouth.

However it turns out that Rosella is unhappy in the palace with that greedy prince who wants her to produce jewels so he can build a new palace.  Myrtle is happy as she threatens people with the fearsome bugs unless they do what she writes on her slate.  The fairy is devastated but she comes up with a plan to right matters.

I think I've been baffled by the mechanics of what comes out of their mouths.  It sounds awful either way.  Can you imagine?

One Day

One Day by David Nicholls
Vintage Contemporaries, 2009
435 pages
Contemporary; Romantic
4/5 stars

Source: Bought

Summary: Tracing the relationship of Emma and Dexter over a period of twenty years, checking in on them on July 15 of every year.  Following their various relationships, falling-outs, making-ups, and everything in-between.  A huge hit in England, where it came out last year before crossing the pond to us this year.

Thoughts: I had basically only heard raves of this book; then I saw some negative feedback but by then I had already gotten the book so I decided that I would take it with me on a trip where I had ample reading time.  I ended up finishing it while I was waiting at the airport to go home which meant I had nothing to read on the plane :-(

I was conflicted about this as it has some of the things I don't like in books: casual sexual relationships, smoking (seriously Europe why do you smoke so much? OK that's really only based on this book and Larsson's books but still), and a lot of drinking.  I also went through periods where I really didn't like the characters.  First I didn't like Dex who's a womanizing alcoholic for much of the book.  I understood how Emma could like him because he had this charm and I totally get it but I don't like it.  In many ways, they're absolutely awful people, which is understandable as we're just getting snapshots of their life and people have bad days.

I liked the "hook"-it worked pretty well and while sometimes there were huge changes in between years, it was not difficult to follow those changes.  Nicholls is a very good writer and created a pretty believable story for these two characters.

I hated the end.  Don't want to spoil it but if you know what I generally like in books, you will understand when you read it for yourself.  Also note that it is being turned in to a film starring Anne Hathaway (love her! although why not an English actress-I love Emily Blunt personally) and Jim Sturgess.  My advice is to read the book first so you can tell everyone about it once the film arrives.

Overall: An intriguing love story with a lot of things I don't like in books.

Cover: I really love that it's kind of like that optical illusion so I think it's quite cool; my friend liked that the title is raised.

The Hunger Games Book Club

Awhile ago, I signed up to be part of a Hunger Games book club for the month of September at The Book Junkie's Bookshelf.  Every week the participants will address a question posted and it will be a great way for us all to go back to the beginning after rushing through Mockingjay!

I've already read and reviewed The Hunger Games pretty recently but I wanted to reread it before trying to share its awesomeness with some of my friends.  The question for today is:

For those of us who have read The Hunger Games before what is it about the book that you decided to pick it back up and discuss it as part of a group? Those of us who haven't read The Hunger Games yet what are your pre-conceived notions about the book, what are your hopes for the book? Has anyone read other books by Ms. Collins outside of The Hunger Games trilogy? What are your thoughts on her other works? 

Last part first, I've never read any other books by Ms. Collins although I'm intrigued by the fact that she wrote for television; I think some parts of HG would work exceptionally well visually, even moreso than in text.

And I wanted to have the group experience of reading HG because I picked it up after feeling like I was the last book blogger to read it (I know I'm not but of the ones I follow, it sure felt like it!)  Now I can experience almost like the first time and bounce ideas and thoughts of off other people whose first time it actually is.  Plus I only had the chance to read it once so I wanted to give it a slow close read instead of the speeding through I did before.  Now that I know what happens next, I should be able to go slower.

Bleak House Ch. 8-13

Welcome to Part II. This week we read Chapter 8 to 13.  See The Zen Leaf for other links.

Link to last week's thoughts.

Overall: we continue to meet a lot of new characters.  Esther is much less annoying to me and she receives a marriage proposal!  Mr Tulkinghorn continues to be rather creepy.  I am still confused about how everything might tie together but I see some possibilities.  I'm enjoying Dickens a lot more this time but I still find my eyes glazing over at some of the descriptive passages.

Chapter 8: Mrs Pardiggle and her sons made me laugh; she is somewhat like Mrs Jellyby.  This chapter also shows Dickens' reform-mindedness as he criticizes the quality of living, indicating support for water and santitation reform.

Chapter 9: Mr Boythorn-very vibrant although possibly has some anger issues.  I thought the marriage proposal from Mr Guppy was very nice.  If Esther were Charlotte Lucas, she would have said yes because he has solid prospects and being Mrs Guppy would totally be better than being Mrs Collins (do you agree?)

Chapter 10: WOW-ends on a cliffhanger because that was the end of serial 3.  It would definitely get me to pick it up.  We meet Mr and Mrs Snagsby who were humorous and more of Mr Tulkinghorn who goes to meet someone in his room and it seems as if that person is dead but we don't know!

Chapter 11: Now we do know that the man is dead of an opium overdose (accidental or intentional cannot be determined).  Later there is an inquest with the very annoying Mrs Piper who it seems likes to make up words.  I can find that funny in TV or movies where I can hear the pronunciation but I find it annoying in books.

Chapter 12: We return to the Dedlocks where it seems as if there is some mysterious communication occurring between Lady Dedlock and Mr Tulkinghorn revolving around the dead man.

Chapter 13: Returns to Esther who is annoying over Ada again.  But Ada and Richard have confessed their love to each other and it seems like everyone is in favor of it.  Mr Guppy also returns to gaze forlornly at Esther; I know it makes her uncomfortable but I actually really like Mr Guppy so I like seeing him return.  I hope he doesn't decide to do something desperate to win her.

August Stats

Sum Up
This was a remarkably productive month as I read through my romance books very quickly and then completed seven books for the readathon.  I'm still a bit behind on those reviews but I will get to them.  In all I have reviews prepared through the middle of September and I keep reading and writing more!  I'm super happy and I've got really cool books in the queue.

Books Read This Month: 28 *does a happy dance* Best month yet this year!

Favorite Book: The only book I gave a five this month was Half the Sky by Nicholas D Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn but I think my favorite is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson.

Least Favorite Book: I had quite a few I didn't like but I will choose Ten Things I Love about You by Julia Quinn because I had the highest expectations and I usually love Quinn's works but I had several problems with it.

Longest Book: In most months, The Book Thief at 550 pages would easily win but this is also the month I read the Millennium Trilogy with The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson being the longst at 630 pages.

Shortest Book: Technically it's not a full book but Winter's Passage by Julie Kagawa was a mere 59 pages

Most Read Genre: YA with 11, and thanks to my Romance Week, I had a total of 7 romance reads. 

Total Pages Read This Year: 59,414

Total Books Read: 183 (!)

Challenges Update: I read The Book Thief which is on my FITG list which I had totally forgotten.  I am also working on Bleak House which goes with the FITG.  I still have one book for Pratchett and two for South Asian authors to read.  I will be choosing books for those soon because I want to complete my challenges this year (giving that I've already completed two and only have these two left, that shouldn't be difficult).

September Plans: I've written out a schedule: I have those readathon YA books that are really good so that's upcoming; I'm exploring some different memes to help me fill my month; I'm starting classes again including an American Lit course so I will hopefully be reviewing some of that.