Stealing Heaven by Elizabeth Scott

Author: Elizabeth Scott

Reading level: Young Adult

Publisher: HarperTeen

Rated 8/10

My name is Danielle. I'm eighteen. I've been stealing things for as long as I can remember.

Dani has been trained as a thief by the best there is—her mother. They never stay in one place long enough for Dani to have real connections, real friends—a real life.

But in the town of Heaven, everything changes. Suddenly, Dani must question where her loyalties lie: with the life she's always known—or the one she's always wanted

MY REVIEW
I like this book but the things that happened were a little unbelievable at times. Dani's mom really peeved me, her character was so selfish. I did like the romance between Dani and Greg, that's what really kept me reading to the very end.

The only constant thing in Dani's life is stealing. Her mom finds a small vacation town, Heaven, and soon they are on another of their stealing missions. Silver is what they're after and Dani has to get inside the Donaldson house to get it. The only problem though is now Dani is friends with Allison Donaldson and starts to question stealing and hurting her. Another obstacle Dani faces is really liking Greg, a really cute, nice cop who seems to really like her. Now Dani questions her life and wants what she had never wanted before, a permanent home and friends.

      

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

Author: Elizabeth George Speare

Reading Level: Middle School

Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell Books

Rated 9.5/10

Kit Tyler knew, as she gazed for the first time at the cold, bleak shores of Connecticut Colony, that her new home would never be like the shimmering Caribbean islands she left behind. In the stern Puritan community of her relatives, she soon felt caged as well, and lonely. In the meadows, the only place where she could feel completely free, she meets another lone and mysterious figure, the old woman known as the Witch of Blackbird Pond. But when their friendship is discovered, Kit is faced with suspicion, fear, and anger as she herself is accused of witchcraft!

MY REVIEW
I really like this book, this isn't the first time I have read this book, I read it when I was in junior high about 10 years ago.  It's just as good as the first time too. A lot of what happened makes me angry at the past, I could never imagine living in a time like the Puritans. This is one of those books that makes me happy to be alive now and live the way I do. This is a fast and easy read, I read it in a few hours, I literally couldn't put it down from start to finish. I love books that throw some education in there when reading it, and this book does that. You learn how people thought and lived in the first years of America and  how people viewed the world around them. If you love a good book then I suggest this book, you will not be disappointed if you do.

Katherine Tyler aka Kit goes to America from Barbados to live with her Aunt after her grandfather dies. Life in Connecticut isn't like she thought it would be, she dislikes the life of a Putitan and is looked at as strange by her family and people of the town. Soon Kit starts visiting with Hannah, the Quaker woman who lives by Blackbird Pond and is called a witch by many of the townspeople. She is forbidden by her family but she can't seem to stay away from the old woman who is her new friend. Kit also starts to appreciate her new Family but misses Barbados and the life she lived there. Soon people are getting sick and are dying, they  blame Hannah and start calling her a witch and saying she cursed people. Kit helps Hannah escape and then they lay the blame on her.
                                                   

Spells by Aprilynne Pike

Author: Aprilynne Pike

Reading level: Young Adult

Publisher: HarperTeen

Rated 9/10

"I can't just storm in and proclaim my intentions. I can't 'steal' you away. I just have to wait and hope that, someday, you'll ask," Tamani said.

"And if I don't?" Laurelsaid, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Then I guess I'll be waiting forever."

Although Laurel has come to accept her true idenity as a faerie, she refuses to turn her back on her human life- and especially her boyfriend, David- to return to the faerie world.

But when she is summoned to Avalon, Laurel's feelings for the charismatic faeriesentry Tamani are undeniable. She is forced to make a choice- a choice that could break her heart.

MY REVIEW
This is the sequel to Wings, and it's just as good if not better than Wings. By the way I'm definitely team Tamani LOL. I love how she writes about Avalon, I feel like I'm seeing it myself. I've always loved fairies and stories about them and I love how Aprilynne Pike puts a different twist on hers. Fae lovers everywhere should check this and Wings out.

Laurel goes to study at the Acedemy for Fall Faeries in Avalon while on her summer break so she can learn how to protect herself and the ones she loves from trolls, also so she can cover the basics of being a Fall faerie. She learns that customs are a lot different there than in the human world she has known most of her life. In Avalon there's a social structure that puts her ahead of a lot of people, including Tamani, and that life is different in his world than in hers. When she returns to the human world she is always on her guard fearing an attack from trolls. Like in Wings she is torn between David(her human boyfriend) and Tamani(a fellow faerie). It has that love triangle that most of us love reading about. I look forward to the next book in this series, I can't wait!!!!



I hear that Mily Cyrus will be playing Laurel in the movie version of Wings, please don't let this be true. No offense Miley Cyrus isn't pretty enough to be Laurel and is a terrible choice, she's not really that good at acting. I could never imagine Laurel looking and talking like Miley Cyrus, her voice is just too annoying!!!!! There are plenty of other actresses who could fit the role or they should hire an unknown actress because Miley can never be Laurel in my eyes. It's not just me either, a lot of the fans of Wings think the same thing.

              

I just love this pic and take no credit for it. I got it from here

This is just too pretty, I take no credit for it. I got it from here

Beautiful Dead Book 1: Jonas by Eden Maguire

Author: Eden Maguire

Reading level: Young Adult

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Rated 7/10

Something strange is happening in Ellerton High. Jonas, Arizona, Summer, Phoenix. All dead within a year.

Jonas Jonson is the first to die, in a motorcycle accident. But there are many unanswered questions, and the three deaths that follow are equally mysterious.

Grief-stricken Darina can't escape her heartacheor visions of her dead boyfriend, Phoenix, and the others who died. And all the while, the sound of beating wings echoes inside her head...

Are the visions real? Or do the Beautiful Dead only exist in Darina's traumatized imagination?

MY REVIEW
I like this book but it took me awhile to get into it, also a lot of the emotions in the book didn't seem genuine to me and often forced. But what kept me going was the mystery to how Jonas died and how Darina was gonna go about solving it.

Darina's boyfriend Phoenix has just died and she thinks she sees him everywhere. One day she happens onto an old house and finds that Phoenix and others(Jonas, Arizona, and Summer) who she knew had died are not quite so gone. She can't help but think it's all in her mind but when she goes back she sees how truly wrong she is. They are the Beautiful Dead, souls trapped in limbo until they resovle something from their death. In order to keep her memory of the Beautiful Dead and be with Phoenix, because the Beautiful Dead can erase your memory, she has to promise not to ever tell and help those in limbo. First is Jonas who died in a motorcycle accident, Darina has to help him prove that it wasn't his fault so he can move on.             

                                                   

Godless by Pete Hautman

Author: Pete Hautman

Reading level: Young Adult

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Rate 9/10

Why mess around with Catholicism when you can have your own customized religion?"

Fed up with his parents' boring old religion, agnostic-going-on-atheist Jason Bock invents a new god — the town's water tower. He recruits an unlikely group of worshippers: his snail-farming best friend, Shin, cute-as-a-button (whatever that means) Magda Price, and the violent and unpredictable Henry Stagg. As their religion grows, it takes on a life of its own. While Jason struggles to keep the faith pure, Shin obsesses over writing their bible, and the explosive Henry schemes to make the new faith even more exciting — and dangerous.


When the Chutengodians hold their first ceremony high atop the dome of the water tower, things quickly go from merely dangerous to terrifying and deadly. Jason soon realizes that inventing a religion is a lot easier than controlling it, but control it he must, before his creation destroys both his friends and himself.

MY REVIEW
I really liked this book, I thought it had a lot of humor and great points were made. In religion, any of them out there, you should be able to question it and get answers. Because what's the point in believing in something if you don't know the answers to any of the questions about your faith? I'm also all for freedom of religion as long as it's peaceful and doesn't hurt people. I believe even if you don't happen to agree religiously with people you should still accept them. Another good point made in this book is that you can't really understand something until you believe in it. Jason(main character) got on my nerves at times but he made really good points all the same and he was funny in the process. Even if you don't agree with what this book brings to the table relgiously, I think you should still read it, because how are we to understand different people if we don't know anything about their differences? I'm definitely not an athiest or agnostic but I would never hate on someone who isn't and I would listen to their point of views too, even if I don't agree with them. It's also a fast read, I read it in a few hours.
                                                                                 

I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak

Author: Markus Zusak

Reading level: Young Adult

Publisher: Random House Children's

Rated 8/10

This teen gem about an unambitious teenager whose life is suddenly turned upside down by anonymous messages has it all mystery, humor, romance, friendship.

Meet Ed Kennedy underage cab driver, pathetic card player, and useless at romance. He lives in a shack and he's hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence, until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery. That's when the first Ace arrives That's when Ed becomes the messenger.


Chosen to care, he makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary), until only one question remains. Who's behind Ed's mission?


Michael L. Printz Honor Winner

MY REVIEW
I liked this book but at times I did find it a bit dull. This is a story of a man that finds out that he can be more that what he thought before. Ed is a 19 year old cabdriver living in Australia and one day he happens to be in the bank when it is being robbed. He stops the robber with his own gun without realizing afterwards he'd start a journey he'd never forget. One day he gets a card in the mail with some adresses on it and soon learns he has to help the people at those adresses whether good or bad. After each one is complete he recieves another card with more clues to helping more people. Ed is angry because he doesn't know who is sending them but he does them anyways. He learns the biggest lesson of his life in the process and who he really is. My favorite two helped would have to be Milla and Marv, both of those brought tears to my eyes. I would suggest this book to anyone looking for an easy good read. I've noticed people read one or two reviews and base the book on those whether good or bad, I say don't do that. Only your own opinion should matter to you about a book whether good or bad. And you shouldn't not read a book because I or someone else has a bad opinion about it. I have seen bad reviews on books on these kinds of blogs and people commenting now they know not to read it, everyone is different, even in the way they view certain books.
                                                                                                               

The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani

Author: Anita Amirrezvani

Reading level: Adult

Publisher: Little, Brown & Company

Rated 8.5/10

At the age of fourteen, a young woman in 17th-century Persia believes she will be married within the year. But when her beloved father dies, collapsing in the field where he works with the other men from their village, there is no hope for a dowry. Alone and penniless, she and her grieving mother are forced to sell the brilliant turquoise rug the young woman has woven,meant, of course, for her married life, to pay for their journey to Isfahan. There they will work as servants for her uncle Gostaham, a rich rug designer in the court of the Shah, and be lorded over by Gostaham's wife. Despite her lowly station, the young woman blossoms as a brilliant weaver of carpets, a rarity in a craft dominated by men. But while her artistic gift flourishes, her prospects for a happy marriage grow dim. Forced into a secret marriage with a man who will never take her as his first wife, the young woman is faced with a daunting decision: forsake her own dignity, or risk everything she has in an effort to maintain it. Amirrezvani infuses her story with lush detail, brilliantly bringing to life the sights sounds and life of 17th-century Isfahan: The dazzling architecture; the exotic Persian foods; the breathtakingly beautiful rugs. A sweeping love story, a powerful coming-of-age story, and a luminous portrait of a city, this is a universal tale of one woman's struggle to live a life of her choosing.

MY REVIEW
I like this book but was aggravated a lot at the main character's situation, and I know that it happens in real life to many women, then and now. This is another book that makes me happy to live in the time and culture I do, I know I have so many choices and more freedom than other women now and throughout history. Even though she did shameful things she did them for an honroable reason, and I guess the same could be said about many women. We look at those women and look down on them but they do what has to be done and I resepect women who are like that. While reading this you learn about rug making and appreciate the time and effort that must have been put into making them. You'll also learn a little bit about 17th century Iran and it's culture and customs.

This is the story of a girl, who by the end of the novel is a woman, who endures many hardships. Her father dies and she goes with her mother to the city of Isfahan to live with her father's half brother and his wife. They are treated more like servants than family but her uncle shows interest in her and her talent for rug making. Soon she makes a new friend, Naheed, and they become very close. She marries a wealthy man, Fereydoon in a three month marriage contract which he can renew or discard anytime after those months are over. She has to keep fearing not having money and a place for her and her mother to live. I don't really want to give too much away but I think this book is really worth the time to read it. It's not the best book I have ever read but I did enjoy reading it. I'm a little mad that Fereydoon never got what I thought he deserved, I despise his character. Haha and times I'm not gonna lie I felt like I was reading pornagraphy when it came to the love scenes but I'm a grown woman and know all about that kind of stuff so it didn't bother me like some of the people I have read reviews from on this book. This book should really be for people mature enough to read about sex and not those sickened by it. What else did they think was gonna happen in a marriage between a man and woman?
                                                                                    

A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly

Author: Jennifer Donnelly

Reading level: Young Adult

Publisher: Graphia

Rated 9/10

Sixteen-year-old Mattie Gokey has big dreams but little hope of seeing them come true. Desperate for money, she takes a job at the Glenmore, where hotel guest Grace Brown asks her to burn a bundle of secret letters. But when Grace's drowned body is fished from the lake, Mattie discovers the letters reveal the grim truth behind a murder.

MY REVIEW
I really liked this book, this book is more than just about the murder of Grace Brown(true murder that actually happened), it's about Mattie and her need to be free and write. I feel bad for what women had to go through during 1906, I'm happy I live in a time where women are free to do what men do and be who they want to be. This books shows us what it was also like for African American people during this time and how they really weren't free just because they weren't slaves anymore. I love books and their characters but just like this books says our lives aren't really like the lives of our favorite book characters and words do have the power to change people and our lives.

Mattie is the oldest daughter and is helping to take care of her family after her mother dies and her older brother runs away. She dreams of writing and attending college and the day she can be free of the burdens life has given her. Soon she is sweet on her neighbor, Royal but feels he really doesn't love her and hates when he brings her down for loving books and words. She wants to work and gets the chance when her father needs help so she gets a job at Glenmore, the local hotel. One day she gets a strange request from Grace Brown, a guest at the hotel to burn some letters. Mattie finds this strange but doesn't question it until Grace's body is found the next day. Mattie reads the letters and finds out the secret Grace Brown had been keeping and that her death wasn't an accident like others seem to think.
                                                                                   

The Kite Runner: Book vs Movie

The book is awesome, it's one of those books that will stay with you long after reading it. The movie is good but it can never compare to the book, and i really think that can be said about any movie really that is based on a book. Maybe if I had never read the book I would have thought this movie a lot better. The movie is a good movie, it sticks to the book as much as it can but movies do usually have so much they can use and the rest has to be left out. Plus with movies you never see what is going through the main characters mind. The movie is worth watching and I'm glad I did but to be honest it doesn't compare to the greatness of the book in my eyes.

Here is a video I found on youtube that is just awesome. It really does show the story line of the book pretty well.

                                                                            

The Only Alien on the Planet by Kristen D. Randle

Author: Kristen D. Randle

Reading level: Young Adult

Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky

Rated 9/10

It was difficult for Ginny at first, but her senior year is finally starting to feel kind of normal. That is, until she sees him- the beautiful mystery boy in her English class. He has never spoken a word to anyone. He moves through each day at school without making eye contact. His name is Smitty Tibbs, but everyone calls him The Alien...     

MY REVIEW
I really like this book, it shows what friendship and love can do, and yes friendship and love can conquer anything if it's genuine. It shows what abuse can do to someone and others around that person. I liked how Ginny wasn't perfect, wasn't sure and was scared, we are all like that sometimes when faced with hard choices in life. When characters show real emotions whether good or bad then it makes the character more real to me. Most people get mad when the main character shows real human emotions and are selfish but I know in real life we are all like that at times so it doesn't bother me. Yes Ginny showed those emotions to us but she also showed us that she can have remorse and feel love, that she wasn't one dimensional.

Ginny is new to town and on her first day of school she notices a boy(Smitty), she soon learns though that he's different. Nobody at her new school has heard him talk and he keeps all emotion from his face, bottling it up inside. Ginny and her new best friend Caulder are soon trying to get him to open up and discover why he is the way he is. They soon discover the truth after Ginny kisses Smitty, and Ginny doesn't think she can handle it. Smitty has endured abuse from his older brother that has made his life a living hell. Together Ginny and Caulder help Smitty to overcome everything and deal with life.

                                                                              

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Author: Khaled Hosseini

Reading Level: Adult

Publisher: Penguin Group

Rated 10/10

In his debut novel, The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini accomplishes what very few contemporary novelists are able to do. He manages to provide an educational and eye-opening account of a country's political turmoil--in this case, Afghanistan--while also developing characters whose heartbreaking struggles and emotional triumphs resonate with readers long after the last page has been turned over. And he does this on his first try.

Some of the plot's turns and twists may be somewhat implausible, but Hosseini has created characters that seem so real that one almost forgets that The Kite Runner is a novel and not a memoir. At a time when Afghanistan has been thrust into the forefront of America's collective consciousness ("people sipping lattes at Starbucks were talking about the battle for Kunduz"), Hosseini offers an honest, sometimes tragic, sometimes funny, but always heartfelt view of a fascinating land. Perhaps the only true flaw in this extraordinary novel is that it ends all too soon. --Gisele Toueg --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

MY REVIEW
This book is brilliant, one of the best books I have read in awhile. I'm one of those criers who cry when I see or read anything sad, this book had me in tears. When it came to the part of what happened to Hassan that changed everything between the boys, I had to put the book down for an hour because I couldn't stop crying and thinking about it. I wasn't prepared for that because I went into this book reading very few reviews or anything about it. This book is full of history and the culture of the people in Afghanistan, I'm not gonna lie, before this book I never knew what a Hazara or a Pashtun was. I didn't know people in Afghanistan had people and differences like that, I was ignorant to everything, not something I'm very proud of either.

This book tells the story of two young boys, one Pashtun(Amir), and one Hazara(Hassan) in Afghanistan before any of the wars broke out during the 70s. Amir is a boy who lives in wealth and Hassan is the son of Amir's father's servant. Hassan would do anything in his power for Amir and one day after a kite fighting competition while kite running to get a kite for Amir he comes across the neighborhood bullies and something terrible happens that Amir happens to see but does nothing to stop. Amir carries the guilt with him even when he moves to America. Now 25 years later Amir's father's old friend asks him to come to Afghanistan. While there he is told about his family's dark secret and his connection to Hassan he knew nothing about and he finds a way for redemption by helping Hassan's son when he could never help Hassan. I'm warning people this is no fairy tale with a Disney ending. This is a story about friendship,culture,death,politics, religion, war, family, love, honor,and redemption, a story that will stay with you long after you're done reading it.

                                                                                        

The Giver by Lois Lowry

Author: Lois Lowry

Reading level: Young Adult

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Rated 9/10

In the story of a seemingly utopian city in a futuristic world, Jonas is singled out to receive special training from The Giver--who alone holds memories of pain and pleasure in life.

MY REVIEW
I like this book but hate the ending. I know there are more books to go with this one but the ending to me could have been so much better than what it is. Jonas lives in a world of order, a world that seems perfect, a world of rules and regualtions that are kept or one is released. Jonas is chosen to be the next Reciever, one who hold all the memories of the world. He becomes close to the Giver(the Reviever before him) and learns what love, pain, and happiness truly is. He learns how to see colors and learns what death is. Then Jonas becomes angry that the world he lives in is ignorant to all the things he now knows, so he and the Giver come up with a plan.


                                                                            

Blood and Chocolate: Book vs Movie

You want my honest opinion, if you love the book then don't waste your time watching the movie because you're in for a major disappointment. The movie is terrible, it doesn't really stick much to the plot and they didn't make the wolves anything like what you read in the book. I love the book and hate the movie, but in all fairness watch it if you want but don't say I didn't warn you.

The Pact: A Love Story by Jodi Picoult

Author: Jodi Picoult

Reading level: Adult

Publisher: Avon Books

Rated 10/10

From Jodi Picoult, one of the most powerful writers in contemporary fiction, comes a riveting, timely, heartbreaking, and terrifying novel of families in anguish -- and friendships ripped apart by inconceivable violence. Until the phone calls came at 3:00 A.M. on a November morning, the Golds and their neighbors, the Hartes, had been inseparable. It was no surprise to anyone when their teenage children, Chris and Emily, began showing signs that their relationship was moving beyond that of lifelong friends. But now seventeen-year-old Emily has been shot to death by her beloved and devoted Chris as part of an apparent suicide pact -- leaving two devastated families stranded in the dark and dense predawn, desperate for answers about an unthinkable act and the children they never really knew.

MY REVIEW
This book is amazing, it was one huge emotional roller coaster for me. There were times I felt like crying. I know how both mothers could act the way they did. If my daughter was dead I know I would want to lay the blame on someone else, if my daughter was being blamed for murder I know I would do everything in my power to defend her and would never believe she could do such a thing. To know what happened to Emily makes me really sad, there was one person who caused the pain she felt who was never punished and nobody knew about it. To feel a love like Emily's and Chris is something I could only wish for myself. I recommend this book to anyone looking for a really good book. This book will definitely leave you thinking about it long after you are done.

                                                                     

The Coven by Cate Tiernan

Author: Cate Tiernan

 Reading level: Young Adult

Publisher: Puffin

Rated 9/10

Cal, now Morgan's boyfriend, helps her accept the truth: Wicca is in Morgan's blood. As Morgan learns more about Wicca, she realizes that she needs to find out more about her parentage. The answers are there, but she doesn't know how to find them.

MY REVIEW
This is the second book in the Sweep series. I absolutely adore this whole series and I will never quit saying that, it's just amazing. If you liked the first book then you are really gonna like this one. We are introduced to Hunter at the end of this book, I'm not gonna give anything away with him and the rest of the series for those who haven't read it but Hunter is definitely my favorite fiction guy. I always see how everyone obsesses over characters like Edward and Jacob from Twilight but they can never compare to Hunter from this series. We don't get to know much about Hunter in this book but I'm just saying, my dream man would look and act just like him LOL.
The story starts out with the day after Samhain when Morgan discovers she must be a blood witch. After a confrontation with her parents she discovers she is adopted and her parents lied to her for her entire life(but with good cause). Morgan tries to find out about her birth mother(Maeve Riordan) and who she is and her heritage, she realizes she has strong powers, and she thinks Cal might be her soul mate. Meanwhile Bree and Raven have quit Cirrus and have joined a new coven, Bree and Morgan are on opposite sides and aren't on friendly terms. Morgan also realizes her dreams about life before Wicca has changed and now she wants to spend her whole life being a witch.

Book of Shadows by Cate Tiernan

Author: Cate Tiernan

Reading level: Young Adult

Publisher: Puffin

Rated 9/10

Morgan and her best friend, Bree, are introduced to Wicca when a gorgeous senior names Cal invites then to join his new coven. Morgan falls for Cal immediately and discovers that she has strong, inexplicable powers.

MY REVIEW
This is the first book in the Sweep series. It's just as good as the other times I have read it, I've probably read this book about 5 or 6 times LOL(I've lost count). I first read it when I was 16(I'm almost 23 now) and it's still as good as the first time I read it. That's how you know you have a good book is when you can read it over and over and it never gets old, the whole series is like that for me. Morgan is a junior in high school and has never felt comfortable in crowds or with anyone really but her bestfriends Bree and Robbie. Then on the first day of school she and everyone else meets Cal, the most gorgeous guy Morgan has ever seen. Cal seems to fit in with  and gets along with everyone. Morgan soon learns there's something different about Cal, he's a witch and he's into Wicca. Cal introduces Morgan and her friends and other kids to Wicca, kids who had never hung out together have formed a group because of Cal, where they have circles. Morgan starts to develop a crush on Cal but feels he's too out of her league, Bree also has her eyes set on him, it even starts to cause trouble in their friendship with each other. Morgan's parents don't seem to like her reading into Wicca and forbids her to have anything to do with it but Morgan realizes she has a knack for it and she wants to be a witch more than anything else.