What I'm reading right now

So, I'm not usually one to jump on the bandwagon of books which are massively hyped up - I avoided the Davinci Code like the plague and wouldn't even consider picking up the Twilight books until I finally caved and read the back of the book in Waterstones so it's safe to say I haven't bought into the hype surrounding The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo - sure I've read the reviews in the paper and magazines but it just didn't seem like my kind of book.  Then I saw the trailer for the movie and it looks incredible.  I'm a firm believer in reading the book before seeing a movie version because books are usually that much better so when someone offered to lend me the book I said thank you. 

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo isn't my usual kind of read, I'm not really attracted to thrillers especially ones with multiple narratives but I'm going to give this one a go.  Has anyone read it?  I'd be really interested in your comments/thoughts/critisims of it....

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at http://breakingthespine.blogspot.com/, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's can't wait for it book is:

Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick:
Published: October 19th 2010 by Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

Summary on Goodreads:

The sequel to the New York Times Best selling phenomenon, Hush, Hush!



Nora should have know her life was far from perfect. Despite starting a relationship with her guardian angel, Patch (who, title aside, can be described anything but angelic), and surviving an attempt on her life, things are not looking up. Patch is starting to pull away and Nora can't figure out if it's for her best interest or if his interest has shifted to her arch-enemy Marcie Millar. Not to mention that Nora is haunted by images of her father and she becomes obsessed with finding out what really happened to him that night he left for Portland and never came home.



The farther Nora delves into the mystery of her father's death, the more she comes to question if her Nephilim blood line has something to do with it as well as why she seems to be in danger more than the average girl. Since Patch isn't answering her questions and seems to be standing in her way, she has to start finding the answers on her own. Relying too heavily on the fact that she has a guardian angel puts Nora at risk again and again. But can she really count on Patch or is he hiding secrets darker than she can even imagine?

The mediator: Shadowland

Shadowland by Meg Cabot


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Suze is just your average sixteen year old girl. Except she has the ability to see and interact with ghosts. When she moves across the country to live with your mother and her new stepfather she thinks it will be the end of her entanglement with the afterlife...but the house turns out to be from the eighteenth century as does the hot guy ghost invading her room...oh and her school is also older than the hills and the only reason there's space for her in school is because some girl offed herself and is now pissed off and haunting the place.



Ah...the mediator series. I read and loved these as a teenager. I had such an incredible crush on Jesse. And who wouldn't? He's a hero who is always there to help Suze out when she needs but can also step back and let her kick butt. He's also a consummate gentleman.



Meg Cabot wrote this with such intricate detail that even the most cynical reader could picture the events described in their minds eyes.



Suze is sassy and vulnerable at the same time and is portrayed as a teenage girl not as being wise beyond her years. There is seriousness mixed in with humour.
Once again as I was as a teenager, I am hooked on this series and swooning for Jesse.



View all my reviews >>

Movie vs Book: Eclipse *Contains spoilers*

Today I hauled my butt to the cinema and sat amongst swooning teenage girls to watch Eclipse the third in the Twilight Saga.  I enjoyed the book and enjoyed the movie, for me it was the best movie in the saga so far. 

Personally, while I enjoy the story I don't like the Bella characterisation and how dependent she is on the men in her life and can't quite function without a man and the attached melodrama.   But then again when I was a teenager it was all about Buffy and Charmed - women who could have their men but also saved the day and kicked arse. I also didn't really think Kristen Stewart was right for the role of Bella, in this movie I found some of her acting a little contrived and not quite natural but much better than the first two and there's no denying her chemistry with Robert Pattinson.  Ah, Robert Pattinson - while he doesn't really do it for me, he really is the best possible Edward and in this film he really came into his stride.  I loved the interaction between Edward and Jacob the tension and the mutual understanding of their feelings for Bella and their tentative truce was perfectly played though I wished the triangle between the three would have been more deeply explored in the movie. 

The fight scenes between wolf and vampire were just perfect - the effects were incredible and it played out almost exactly as it had in my head when I read the book - wolves flying through the air, vampires leaping and biting their prey.  I particularily liked the exploration of Rosalie and Jasper's pasts - Rosalie's was a heartwrenching tale of misplaced affection and then revenge and Nikki Reed pulled of the stotic yet vulnerable Rosalie without a hitch and I just love how Rosalie wants what Bella so obviously takes for granted.  Jasper's past story is intriguing, he was trained for violence but could feel everything his victims felt.  The only disappointing part of Jasper's story in the movie was that the didn't show the flashback scene of Alice waiting for him in the cafe, for me that was the cutest part and it just rounded out Jasper's story completely. 

In conclusion the movie didn't quite meet up to my expectations and I prefer the book but it was still enjoyable.

Thoughts?  Comments? 

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted here, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

Forget You by Jennifer Echols
published: 20 July 2010
 
Goodreads summary:
 
Why can't you choose what you forget.......and what you remember?

There’s a lot Zoey would like to forget. Like how her father has knocked up his twenty-four- year old girlfriend. Like Zoey’s fear that the whole town will find out about her mom’s nervous breakdown. Like darkly handsome bad boy Doug taunting her at school. Feeling like her life is about to become a complete mess, Zoey fights back the only way she knows how, using her famous attention to detail to make sure she’s the perfect daughter, the perfect student, and the perfect girlfriend to ultra-popular football player Brandon. But then Zoey is in a car crash, and the next day there’s one thing she can’t remember at all—the entire night before. Did she go parking with Brandon, like she planned? And if so, why does it seem like Brandon is avoiding her? And why is Doug—of all people— suddenly acting as if something significant happened between the two of them? Zoey dimly remembers Doug pulling her from the wreck, but he keeps referring to what happened that night as if it was more, and it terrifies Zoey to admit how much is a blank to her. Controlled, meticulous Zoey is quickly losing her grip on the all-important details of her life—a life that seems strangely empty of Brandon, and strangely full of Doug.

Review: I Heart New York

I Heart New York by Lindsey Kelk


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Angela Clark has it all: freelance writing career, loving parents, close female best friend and highschool sweetheart/fiance. That is until she catches said fiance in the arms of another woman at best friend's wedding. And it's not a one time thing. After an impressive throwdown/tantrum she packs a bag and gets on the earliest flight to New York. Not knowing where to go or what to do she checks into the first hotel she sees where the desk clerk takes pity on her and befriends her.



Things are all shiny and new from there, she gets to see the city which never sleep with her new best friend, meets not one but two gorgeous guys - one a wall street banker, the other a slightly damaged rock singer and she lands a very sex and the city style gig writing a blog for an online New York magazine.



While this book lacks realism in terms of how often does this type of thing actually happens, it's a great piece of literary escapism. The writing is fluid and makes you forget just how unrealistic the plot is, it's heartwrench, heartwarming and has it's moments of humour added in for good measure and two hot male leads. It's a great book for what it is - guilty pleasure chick-lit.



View all my reviews >>

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

13 to Life by Shannon Delany
published:  June 22nd 2010 by St. Martin's Griffin (first published 2010)

From Goodreads:

Something strange is stalking the small town of Junction…



When junior Jess Gillmansen gets called out of class by Guidance, she can only presume it’s for one of two reasons. Either they’ve finally figured out who wrote the scathing anti-jock editorial in the school newspaper or they’re hosting yet another intervention for her about her mom. Although far from expecting it, she’s relieved to discover Guidance just wants her to show a new student around—but he comes with issues of his own including a police escort.
The newest member of Junction High, Pietr Rusakova has secrets to hide--secrets that will bring big trouble to the small town of Junction—secrets including dramatic changes he’s undergoing that will surely end his life early.