Book Review: A Greyhound of a Girl

Book: A Greyhound of a Girl
Author: Roddy Doyle
Genre: Paranormal (Middle-Grade)
Rating: 3/5
Page Count: 208 (Hardcover)
Favorite Character: Tansey, I think. Hard to say, but I'm going to go with her!

Plot: (From Goodreads)

Mary O'Hara is a sharp and cheeky 12-year-old Dublin schoolgirl who is bravely facing the fact that her beloved Granny is dying. But Granny can't let go of life, and when a mysterious young woman turns up in Mary's street with a message for her Granny, Mary gets pulled into an unlikely adventure. The woman is the ghost of Granny's own mother, who has come to help her daughter say good-bye to her loved ones and guide her safely out of this world. She needs the help of Mary and her mother, Scarlett, who embark on a road trip to the past. Four generations of women travel on a midnight car journey. One of them is dead, one of them is dying, one of them is driving, and one of them is just starting out.

Review:

The reason that the rating isn't higher is because I did have some problems with it. Overall, however, it was a cute, short read about 4 women in a generation who, eventually, go on an adventure. It was interesting to read about the four generations, because, as with relatives, you could see the similarities in them. It also took place in Ireland, which is what drew me to it in the first place.

However, I didn't really like some of the dialogue and how sometimes the girl seemed much younger then she was. Mostly, though, it was the dialogue. Some of the dialogue just didn't sound realistic, it didn't flow right, and it said, a few times, "!!" instead of someone saying "exclamation point." (I got a galley, so this might be changed in the finished book, but I haven't gotten my hands on a copy yet to see). Of course it's a middle grade, but I'd never seen it written like that, it was really odd.

The four women are Tansey, short for Anastasia, Emer- reffered to mostly as Granny-, Scarlet, and Mary. Mary was the youngest, at 12. It's hard to keep straight, sometimes, but it was interesting all the same. However, sometimes it felt like they were all too alike, but some of the back and forth was cute.

Overall, to wrap it up, it was okay. Not great, but not bad. Some of the dialogue didn't flow right, the women seemed too alike at points, the girl seemed younger then she was, and, I didn't say this before, but some of the characters outside the four seemed very 1 dimensional. But it wasn't really about them, at all, so it was okay that they fell into the foreground. If you're just looking for a cute short book then maybe give this one a try, because the story was nice to read about.

WWW Wednesday(2)

WWW Wednesdays is hosted by MizB over at Should Be Reading. If you do a WWW Wednesday then please post your link in the comments and if you don't have a blog, you can just post the answers. And she asks that one answers these three questions:

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you'll read next?

Currently Reading:

Fool Moon by Jim Butcher
Book 2 in the Dresden Files and I'm about 1/2 way through it and it is just as good as the first!

The Magicians by Lev Grossman
This book is really... weird. I don't quite know what to make of it yet. I'm really not that far into it, so we'll see what the rest brings.

This book has been described as an adult Harry Potter, or what would really be happening in Hogwarts, as it were.  And while I really don't like that kind of tag line, I do enjoy books with magic. And I'm reading it for Sword and Laser, so I have to get a move on with it.

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers
Still reading this one, I was going to finish it yesterday, but I was too tired to stay awake any longer. I'm
65% through it so far and loving it. I love Ismae and how she wants to know if she can kill everyone, I've become of the same mind, why can't she just kill some of those people?







Recently Finished Reading:

American Gods by Neil Gaiman (5/5)
I really enjoyed this book and it was one of the few that I couldn't even think of reading anything else while I read this one. It was amazing and my full review can be found here.

The Colorado Kid by Stephen King (5/5)
This is the book that the SyFy show Haven is based on and I've been really wanting to read it but it took me forever to find a good copy of it. Anyway, though, I really loved it and this is the first book I finished during the Read-A-Thon.

Storm Front by Jim Butcher (5/5)
This is the first book in the Dresden Files series and I read it years ago, but couldn't remember anything that had happened. I loved it, this is one of those series that I can't wait to get through but also I don't want to finish them!

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (5/5)
It took me a while to finish this one just because I love the first paragraph of this book so very much. I read The Sign of Four and A Study in Scarlet earlier in the year and have been wanting to read this one for a while, now when can I read the next one...?

(It seems I read books I knew I'd like since all of them I gave 5/5 stars, but I did really enjoy them all).





Want to Read Next:

The Selection by Kiera Cass
I've heard amazing things about this one, as well. And I read Kiera's self-published book when it first came out. (It's called The Siren, and it had me sobbing, and I loved it to pieces). Anyway, I'm really excited to read this one. Also, I'm going to see her on Saturday for a book signing and I'd like to have it read for then.

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa
I've been hearing amazng things about this one and I got it in the mail on Saturday and I've just been staring at it, wanting to read it. And, while I've only read one of Julie's other books, I really liked it. (Also, if you have the hardback, have you taken off the dust jacket? It's gorgeous, isn't it?)

Book Review: American Gods

Title: American Gods
Author: Neil Gaiman
Genre: SciFi, Fantasy
Rating: 5/5
Page Count: 592 (Mass Market Paperback)
Favorite Character: Um, gods is that hard. (Gods, get it?) But I think it would have to be one of the gods, I mean I liked Shadow, but he didn't have that zing, you know? I really enjoyed Easter, she might of been one of my favorites.

Plot: (From Goodreads)
After three years in prison, Shadow has done his time. But as the days, then the hours, then the minutes, then the seconds until his release tick away, he can feel a storm building. Two days before he gets out, his wife Laura dies in a mysterious car crash, in apparently adulterous circumstances. Dazed, Shadow travels home, only to encounter the bizarre Mr. Wednesday claiming to be a refugee from a distant war, a former god and the king of America. Together they embark on a very strange journey across the States, along the way solving the murders which have occurred every winter in one small American town. But they are being pursued by someone with whom Shadow must make his peace... Disturbing, gripping and profoundly strange, Neil Gaiman's epic new novel sees him on the road to finding the soul of America.

Review:
I read the 10th Anniversay Edition and it, apparently, had 12k more words in it then the normal edition, but I can't imagine what the other one doesn't have. While I was reading this book I couldn't even think of reading another book, which I don't think had ever happened to me before. Normally I read too many books at a time to count. I start one, put a bookmark in it, and sometimes forget about it for a while. (On Goodreads it says I'm currently-reading 12 books, which is on the lower side for me.)

Anyway, about the book. This book was something else. I don't even know if I could tell you exactly what I loved about it so much. I definitely loved the characters, the gods and the mortals. This book was weird and strange and just a bit odd, really odd in some places, but it was amazing. I loved it. The characters were lovable and, maybe not relatable, but you almost still could relate to them, anyway.

And, of course, the writing was just amazing. And some of the sentences had me giggling at the randomest times. Like, at the end, there's a sentence that goes like this:

"The house smelled musty and damp, and a little sweet, as if it were haunted by the ghosts of long-dead cookies."

I don't know why, but that sentence struck me as hilarious.

Moving on, though, besides the sometimes hilarious random sentences and the amazing characters and writing, there was the plot. The plot wasn't something that I was expecting, I mean, I knew this book was about gods, but I didn't quite know where it would go with that. And the plot, which I'm not going to tell you a thing about, was done really well, perfectly even.

I'm going to stop raving about this book and just tell you to go and read it. And I hope that you enjoyed it as much as I did, even though it's strange and odd and weird, it's also wonderful and brilliant. (Also, I kind of want to go visit these tourist traps that are mentioned just to see them. I should mention that this is not a Young Adult book by any standards, so be aware of that when you pick it up, but do pick it up).

Read-A-Thon: The End (4 - 8am)

Books read(finished and unfinished):
The Colorado Kid by Stephen King
Storm From by Jim Butcher
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Heartless by Gail Carriger
Fool Moon by Jim Butcher (I really wanted to finish this one, but I was just too tired. And My throat hurt)

Pages read since last update: 94

Hours spent reading since last update: 45 minutes

Overall pages read: 1,020

Overall hours spent reading: 10 hours, 25 minutes

Overall hours spent awake/awake reading: 21 (-about 2 hours for a nap in the middle)

Comments:
This was a lot of fun and I think I'll be participating in a lot more Read-A-Thons in the future! If you want to see my Goodreads page and be proud of be for catching up on my reading goal and reading 3 books, or be my friend, go here.

(If I can't sleep, which sometimes happens when I've been awake this long, then this may be updated with some more information).

Read-A-Thon 12:00 - 4:00AM

Book(s) read since last check-in:

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Finished)

Comments on books:

Loved, loved, loved The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. It was just, I mean, I have nothing articulate to say it's way too late.

Blogs I've been visiting:

Not really any this time around.

Here are stats of books read, pages read, hours spent reading, and such:

Hours spent reading since last update: 2 hours, 20 minutes

Pages read since last update: 96

Cups of Tea Consumed: 0

Complete number of books completed: 3

Complete number of pages read: 926

Complete number of hours spent reading: 9 hours, 40 minutes

Comments:

Sherlock Holmes is hard as hell to read at 2 in the morning. My god, I didn't think it would be, but it is. Because I can't speed read through it, you just can't with these stories because there are so many details. (I even cracked a couple before everything was revealed. It made me more proud then I probably should of been, but that's okay). I don't know if I'll last through the next one, I'll try. If I do, I'll probably get even less reading done. It seems I read slower the more tired I am. 

Read-A-Thon: 8PM - 12AM

Book(s) read since last check-in:

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (In Progress)

Comments on books:
I'm loving this book, it's not a fast read, though. But I hope to finish it during the next chunk of time, if I can stay away. (I'm loving it, though, just as I fully expected).

Blogs I've been visiting:

Not really any this time around.

Here are stats of books read, pages read, hours spent reading, and such:

Hours spent reading since last update: 1 hour, 50 minutes

Pages read since last update: 98

Cups of Tea Consumed(Since last update): 1

Complete number of books completed: 2

Complete number of pages read: 830

Complete number of hours spent reading: 7 hours, 20 minutes

Comments:
My eyes have started drooping. I've got some caffeine, but right now I'm just hoping to pull through to the end of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and then maybe I'll take a nap and read some more after that. 

Read-A-Thon 4:00 - 8:00pm

Book(s) read since last check-in:

Fool Moon by Jim Butcher (In Progress)

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (In Progress)

Comments on books:

Fool Moon has werewolf's in it, I'm a sucker for werewolf's, and there are so much different mythology in this book, love it. And I've read the Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four, I started The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes a while ago, but it's good to get back into it.

Blogs I've been visiting:

Not really any this time around.

Here are stats of books read, pages read, hours spent reading, and such:

Hours spent reading since last update: 1 hour, 10 minutes

Pages read since last update: 59

Cups of Tea Consumed: 0

Complete number of books completed: 2

Complete number of pages read: 732

Complete number of hours spent reading: 6 hours, 30 minutes

Comments:

I took a two hour nap in the middle of this round, I was starting to get a migraine was getting really tired. And as you can see, it shows in how much I read. That's fine, though, I'm thinking of it as a reward for finishing 2 books already, I've got all night to read more! Hopefully I don't crash too early, though I don't doubt that I'll crash.

Read-A-Thon: 12:00 - 4:00PM

Book(s) read since last check-in:

Storm Front by Jim Butcher (Finished)

Fool Moon by Jim Butcher

Comments on books:

Storm Front was really good, I gave it 5/5, I'm a sucker for magic and the Dresden files are just done so very well. And I've ust barely started Fool Moon, book two in the Dresden Files, about 45 pages in, really good so far, though.

Blogs I've been visiting:

Not really been looking at any new blogs, mostly the same, and even less so then last time.

Here are stats of books read, pages read, hours spent reading, and such:

Hours spent reading since last update: 2 hours, 10 minutes

Pages read since last update: 295

Cups of Tea Consumed: 0

Complete number of books completed: 2

Complete number of pages read: 673

Complete number of hours spent reading: 5 hours, 20 minutes


Comments:

I got a little more distracted with the inteterwebz this time around. Though, I still did get a lot of reading one. Whew! And it's only 4pm, I wonder how far I can get in this 24 hours...

Read-A-Thon: 8:00AM-12:00PM

Book(s) read since last check-in(Finished and Unfinished):

The Colorado Kid by Stephen King (Finished)

Heartless by Gail Carriger (Unfinished)

Storm Front by Jim Butcher (Unfinished

Comments on books:

I loved The Colorado Kid and Heartless is really good so far. Storm Front I read years ago and I remember really liking it, but I do not remember what really happens at all in the book. I'm about 29% through Storm Front, according to Goodreads and loving so far. I love Dresden's snakiness and sarcasm, I just love his personality. And Bob, Bob is awesome.

Blogs I've been visiting:

Little Book Owl

Ticket to Anywhere

Mermaid Vision Books

My Life is a FairyTale That Will Never End

Here are just some stats:

Total Number of Books Reads: 1.4

Hours spent reading: 3 hours

Total pages read: 376

Cups of Tea Consumed: 1

Comments:

It's harder then I thought it would be to just sit and read for an extended period of time and know I'll be here longer still.

Read-A-Thon: The Beginning

It's 8am. And this is set to autopost so hopefully I'm awake and curled up with a book and a cup of tea. I've got a big stack of books to pick from for my reading, so I won't run out by any stretch of the imagination, and I've got plenty of snacks and tea bags all ready to be used.

Once again, if you're participating and going to be posting updates, I hope you will leave your blog in the comments so I can check it out when I take breaks. It's going to be a relaxing day, I think, full of reading.

I think I'm going to start with either the first book in the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher or with The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. I've been trying to finish the later for a while now and I'm determine to do so. I've started it and am probably 15 pages in or so, but I really want to finish it, it's really good so far.

Other books I'll possibly be reading:
The Magicians by Lev Grossman
The Colorado Kid by Stephen King
The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan
Grave Mercy by Robin LeFevers
Heartless by Gail Carriger
The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook
And those are the ones that I've got bookmarks in!

I always just started doing something I'm going to hope to contiue. I've started taking notes with reading, writing down a favorite quote, sentence or paragraph or page, and just things like that. I use to put tabs in my books on things like that, but this is a little big of an easier way to do it and I'm not going broke on tabs, which is nice.

I'm probably post every couple hours, whenever I feel like there's something to tell you. (Probably every 4 hours, I think would be best. I'm going to try and read for the whole 24 hours but I'll probably end up falling asleep around 2, maybe I can pull through. Maybe).

Read-A-Thon

There is a 24-hour read-a-thon happening tomorrow. For the official page/blog check that out here and for some tips on how to survive this read-a-thon, if you're participating, check out this post.

Anyway, I'm probably going to be posting updates on my reading during the time. It starts 8am eastern standard and I think I'll be posting every 4-5 hours probably, I don't want to post too much as I'm sure you don't want to see a bunch of posts from me about what I've been reading and I'd rather spend the read-a-thon reading and not writing blog posts about reading.

If you're participating please leave a comment so that I can check out your blog to see your updates! It's my first read-a-thon and I'm sure it'll be a lot of fun. (Also, productive. Since I'm currently behind in my reading challenge for the year).

And since this is a short post and if you're not participating in the read-a-thon or hadn't heard about it and now want to participate. Here is a cute picture of a puppy:

This is Molly, she's a crazy miniture poodle. She's not mine, but she is freaking adorable. (And very hyperactive. A friend took this, I stole it from her twitter, and as you can tell it's hard to get her to stay still for a picture).

Graphic Novel Review: The Lightning Thief

Book: The Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel
Author: Rick Riordan
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure (middle-grade)
Rating: 4/5
Page Count: 128
Favorite Character: uh, well, Percy, obviously. And Grover, love Grover, and Annabeth.

Plot: (From Goodreads)
After learning that he is the son of a mortal woman and Poseidon, god of the sea, twelve-year-old Percy is sent to a summer camp for demigods like himself, and joins his new friends on a quest to prevent a war between the gods.

Review:
This was obviously a very popular book series, and the whole series is out and I've loved the whole thing. I was surprised when I saw this in the bookstore, I hadn't known about any graphic novel activity, but I had to pick it up, it looked too good not to.

And it was really good. I loved the images for some of the places, though, some stuff was cut out of it. It was extremely important, stuff, I guess but I still loved some of those scenes. I was just glad it was better then the movie. Some of the people looked off, like Clarisse looked a little too big like she was on steroids, an Annabeth's face looked off and her hair looked like a wig.

It was good overall, though. I'd recommend it if you've read the books. I loved this series and I love seeing anything else surrounding it. The Heroes of Olympus series has already become one of my favorites. (According to Goodreads The Sea of Monsters: The Graphic Novel comes out September 4th! I can't wait, these are so much fun).

In My Mailbox (3)

For the last two weeks or so I haven't done an IMM/Book Haul, so these are all the books from that. I'll list where I got them and if you want to click on the title it'll take you to their Goodreads page where you can see what they're about and such.

This is from about 3 weeks, I think, but I did go a little crazy at Barnes and Noble one day. (And I'm not adding the educational books that I got, but if you want me to add them, I can).

Barnes and Nobel:
The Kane Chronicales: Survival Guide by Rick Riordan
Red Glove by Holly Black
Black Heart by Holly Black
Forgiven by Jane Oliver
Arcadia Awakens by Kai Meyer
The Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wasserman
The Lightning Thief (Graphic Novel) by Rick Riordan
The List by Sioban Vivian
Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard
The Girl Who Circumnavigated FairyLand in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente
Goddess Interrupted by Aimee Carter

Amazon:
Kill Me Softly by Sarah Cross

The Book Depository:
Another Jekyll, Another Hyde by Daniel and Dina Nayeri
172 Hours on the Moon by Jonathan Harstad

I'm not going to get around to reading quite a few of these for a while, but that's alright. I've already finished The Lightning Thief (Graphic Novel) and my review will be up soon. I've been dying to read The Book of Blood and Shadow but I'm trying to finish some of my 'currently-reading' books first.

Link me to your IMM if you do one!

Book Review: Blameless

Book: Blameless (Parasol Protectate #3)
Author: Gail Carriger
Genre: Romance (Paranormal Romance, Alternate History, Steampunk)
Rating: 5/5
Page count: 374
Favorite character: If not the main choices of Alecia or Lord Maccon. Maybe the Templars. They are definitely the 'bad guys,' but they're just so interesting, especially because of the plot around them. Or Madame Lefoux

Plot: (From Goodreads)

Quitting her husband's house and moving back in with her horrible family, Lady Maccon becomes the scandal of the London season.

Queen Victoria dismisses her from the Shadow Council, and the only person who can explain anything, Lord Akeldama, unexpectedly leaves town. To top it all off, Alexia is attacked by homicidal mechanical ladybugs, indicating, as only ladybugs can, the fact that all of London's vampires are now very much interested in seeing Alexia quite thoroughly dead.

While Lord Maccon elects to get progressively more inebriated and Professor Lyall desperately tries to hold the Woolsey werewolf pack together, Alexia flees England for Italy in search of the mysterious Templars. Only they know enough about the preternatural to explain her increasingly inconvenient condition, but they may be worse than the vampires -- and they're armed with pesto.


Review:


There may very well be spoilers for the first two books in the review, so if you haven't read them what are you waiting for? I highly suggest you do.

I really loved this book and how we got to see Alecia struggling to figure everything out. I can't put my finger on why I loved this book so much since much of it is spent with Lady and Lord Maccon apart, who are so entertaining when together, but I did indeed love it. It may have something to do with them going to France and then Italy or maybe just Madame Lefoux, who I do enjoy a rather lot.

I also love the dialogue, the humor in this book is perfect and hilarious. And with the dialogue and the lovable characters, I guess it was more impossible for me to not like this book then to love it, which I did.  Also, I didn't know that werewolfs could get that drunk, but I guess that they normally, really, can't. It seems to take dedication and, uh, hard work. It wasn't entertaining, per say, but it also was. And infuriating. I kind of wanted to shake him, because he had to know one some level that Alecia was loyal to him.

I highly recommend this whole series, even though I have yet to finish books four and five, I am sure that they will be just as wonderful as these past three have been. Also, this is definitely not my normal genre of books that I read, but I really enjoyed it.

WWW Wednesday(1)

This is my first time taking part in this so please leave a comment telling me if you like this feature and if I should keep doing it. WWW Wednesdays is a meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading and involves answering these three questions:

What are you currently reading?
What have you recently finished reading?
What do you think you'll read next?


And here are my answers:

Currently reading:
I'm currently reading a lot of things, but I'll give you the ones I've read from recently or the ones that I want to talk about.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

I'm really enjoying this book so far, I'm just over a hundred pages into it and I'm completely hooked.

I've, sadly, only read one other Neil Gaiman book, but this one has drawn me right in. I can't stop thinking about it, randomly it'll pop into me head and I'll just look longingly at the book, wishing that I could be reading it right then.

Heartless by Gail Carriger

The fourth book in the Parasol Protectorate series. It's so good so far, I'm not really that far into it, but I adore this series.

Werewolfs, Vampires. If you haven't checked out the first one, I suggest you do. The first one is about a Spinster, Alexia, in an alternate Victorian England who doesn't have a soul. Obviously, shenanigans ensue and such. They're adult books, so keep that in mind, but they're really good.

The Colorado Kid by Stephen King

This is the book that the show Haven on SyFy is based on and I adore that show, and I really wanted to read this to see where it all started, took me ages to find an okay edition. I'm not too far into it- I'm sensing a theme, are you sensing a theme?- but so far I've been really enjoying it.

Grave Mercy by R.L LaFevers

Nun assassins. There, you're interested now, aren't you? I was. I'm not that far into it- surprise!- but I really liked what I have read. I love some assassin/spy action and this has this whole mythology thats in it, too.


(Can I just add that I love that cover. And I read on Twitter from on of the book bloggers I follow that she's holding a real crossbow, it looks so heavy! And bad-ass).



Recently finished:

The Lost Years (Merlin #1) by T.A. Barron

This is about the very early years on Merlin's life. When he was just a child and didn't really understand his powers. Merlin, of course, from the legends/myths of King Arthur. It was a cute, quirky book, I really enjoyed it.


My full review review of this one can be found here.





What I want to read next:

172 Hours on the Moon by

I got this in the mail yesterday and read the first 15 pages, before I told myself I had to finish at least one of the books that I'm currently reading before I start a new one.

(And that cover is creepy and amazing, I love it so very much).

The Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wasserman

It just sounds so good. People have been saying it's the DaVinci Code for teens and, having never read said book or watched the movie, I am still intrigued. I just like the idea of something in history that could lead people on this huge adventure, it sounds like such fun to read.

(I like this cover alright, it's very nice and everything, but have you seen the UK cover? It's gorgeous. Also, I'm not the biggest fan of huge faces on my covers, that might be why this one I'm just kind of "eh" on).

Book Review: The Lost Years

Book: The Lost Years (Merlin #1)
Author: T.A. Barron
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure (Middle-Grade)
Rating: 4/5
Page Count: 252 (Paperback)
Favorite Character: Emrys. (I like that name so very much, even if he doesn't feel like it's right).

Plot: (From Goodreads)
Barron's series is now repackaged in these stunning paperback editions. Book 1 was originally published as "The Lost Years of Merlin." T.A. Barron transforms the early years of the mythical wizard's life into a vivid, action-filled fantasy, replete with deep forests, ruined castles, and evil spells. . .--"Kirkus Reviews."
(All of the summaries I found were just not good. 'There are adventures and magic, read it.' Seems to be mainly what everything said, and I can't really argue with that).

Review:
I enjoyed this book, I love the legend/myth of King Arthur and his knights and Merlin, obviously. It's just so different to read about a young Merlin, a Merlin who isn't even Merlin yet, still Emrys. This isn't a perfect book, but it was good. I enjoyed it much more then I thought I would at first and I liked hearing about a younger Merlin.

The writing was good, I wasn't anything profound, but this is still a book that targets children 8-12 I think. Don't pick it up just because the writing isn't poetic and advanced, the way some things are described is amazing.

And the characterization of a young Merlin, Emrys, and people he would of met on his journey was something I enjoyed a lot. And it shows the flaws and the bravery that happened in those early years. So if you're curious on T.A. Barron's take on the early years of Merlin, then you should pick this up.

Book Review: Changeless

Book: Changeless (Parasol Protectorate #2)
Author: Gail Carriger
Genre: Romance (Paranormal Romance, Alternate History, Steampunk)
Rating: 5/5
Page count: 388
Favorite character: Besides Alexia and Lord Maccon, I adore Professor Lyall because, as Beta, he puts up with a lot of stuff and I love that he's almost always completely calm, at least, on the outside.

Plot: (From Goodreads)

Alexia Tarabotti, the Lady Woolsey, awakens in the wee hours of the mid-afternoon to find her husband, who should be decently asleep like any normal werewolf, yelling at the top of his lungs. Then he disappears - leaving her to deal with a regiment of supernatural soldiers encamped on her doorstep, a plethora of exorcised ghosts, and an angry Queen Victoria.

But Alexia is armed with her trusty parasol, the latest fashions, and an arsenal of biting civility. Even when her investigations take her to Scotland, the backwater of ugly waistcoats, she is prepared: upending werewolf pack dynamics as only the soulless can.

She might even find time to track down her wayward husband, if she feels like it.


Review:

Let me just say if you haven't read the first book in the Parasol Protectorate series you should go do that, now. Also, there will be spoilers for that book here so you might not want to look. On with the review, then, I love these characters. Gail Carriger writes some amazing characters, even the ones I didn't really want to like or found annoying, I still loved. The pack mentality is fun to read about, especially in this kind of society. And all of the characters are diverse and believable and interesting.

It was fun to read about Scotland and how all of that was handled. Miss Hisselpenny, Ivy, probably gets one of the best lines. While in Scotland, where men wear kilts, she says this: "Alexia," she hissed to her friend, "there are knees positively everywhere!  What do I do?" I was laughing so hard as I read that, poor thing, too many knees for her.

However, I suggest having the third book close on hand, because this one ends with you wants to throttle some characters. I did yell at my book when I finished it. I'm really glad, though, in a round-a-bout way that it ended like that. That there wasn't an instant fix or whatever, even if it was kind of painful to read. No spoilers, I promise, just go read it and enjoy.

I want to add that I'd really love a Parasol like Alexia's, it's sound so pretty and deadly. I love all of the clothes in these books, though, that might just be my obsession with the time, though.

Book Review: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

Book: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight
Author: Jennifer E. Smith
Genre: Contemporary
Rating: 5/5
Page Count: 236 (Hardcover)
Favorite Character: Oliver. (Why can't I ever sit next to an adorable, cute British boy on a plane? Oh well).

Plot: (Taken from Goodreads)
Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything?

Today should be one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan's life. She's stuck at JFK, late to her father's second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon to be step-mother that Hadley's never even met. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport's cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he's British, and he's in seat 18C. Hadley's in 18A.

Twists of fate and quirks of timing play out in this thoughtful novel about family connections, second chances and first loves. Set over a 24-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver's story will make you believe that true love finds you when you're least expecting it.

Review:

I wasn't sure if I was going to like this book, but I've come to realize I love the banter that is happening in this book. I love the story of it happening over 24 hours. I'm not going to spoil anything, as this is just a review, but I did love both of the main characters in this book. They were quirky and funny and complimented each other really well.

And the story, overall, wasn't just about their romance, though that was a big part, obviously. There was other subplots that were important and you cared about them, too. I really loved this book, so I guess I'll have to read some more contemporary. Anyway, though, I'd definitely recommend this. It's pretty short and really cute and adorable. And the banter, guys, just the banter alone is worth it. If you've read it, tell me what you thought about it and if you haven't read it yet then are you going to?

March Wrap-Up

These are all the books that I read in March, what they're about, and a very short little idea of what I thought of them.

I read quite a few books this month, so let's just go right into it.

Eureka: Dormant Gene (5/5)
This is a graphic novel and it's based on the SyFy show Eureka. It's about, obviously, some problems with people's genes. It was much better then I thought it was going to be and there was a little thing about this book that was a spoof of Twilight and it had me giggling as I read about the effect on the genius population. Normal kids just put on eye liner, genius' can change your gene code.

Clarity by Kim Harrington (5/5)
This is a story about a girl who is a psychic and is kind of dropped in the middle of this mysterious murder. Now, I really enjoyed this book, even though murder mysterious aren't normally what I read. It was just too interesting to not enjoy. There's more to say, but really I just really liked it. I hope to put a full review of this one soon.

Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey (3/5)
Now, I wasn't going to read this book because of the name, because that is just not a good name. It's much too romance-y for me and I don't like romance books. This book wasn't that bad, though, it was entertaining, but at points I feel like some spots didn't need to last so long and others maybe a little longer.

Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood. (5/5)
Loved it. I loved everything about it. My full review can be found here, but if you like witches and/or alternate history stories then I suggest you check this on out. It's by a debut author and this is really quite a debut.

A Greyhound of a Girl by Roddy Doyle (3/5)
I got this as a galley and the full review will be up closer to the release. I enjoyed it, it was cute, it's not going to change the world, but I don't think that was the point of it. I'd suggest checking this one out if you think the full synopsis sounds interesting.

Oppression by Jessica Therrien (5/5)
If you want to see my full review you can go here, but over all I really enjoyed this book. I liked it's mythology and history and I adored the characters.

Duma Key by Stephen King (5/5)
This book, just, this book. I adore this book. I first read it two years ago and I'd forgotten just how lovable and relatable these characters are. I've never gone through what they have, but they're human and their emotions are just so pure, it's impossible not to feel for them. Everyone should read this book, just everyone. So much story in these pages. Hopefully I'll be putting a full review up of this one soon.

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin (5/5)
I started a post to review this book and I don't even know where to start. It was amazing, if you still have doubts about reading this book, just read it. It's not perfect, but on the other hand it kind of is. I think when you'd wish something different had happened so that some characters could be happier then you've become invested in them. And there are a lot of amazing, in depth, characters in this book. They're not all lovable, but they are all amazing. You should definitely read this book!

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (5/5)
This book was so much better then what I was expecting. I was blown away by this book just because I didn't expect what it was. Because it's not just a silly love story, it's so much more then that. And Austen's writing is just, well, it's perfect. I'd recommend checking this one out if you haven't already.

Beastly by Alex Flinn (4/5)
I wasn't sure when I first started this book because I hated Kyle, but he got better and then I really started to like him. This is just what you've heard a modernized version of the tale of Beauty and the Beast and it's amazing and just a little bit more then that. It has a depth that I wasn't expecting. It's a short, cute book, with amazing characters.

Whew! That was quite a few books and a good percentage of them were 5/5, so we're calling this a really good reading month. I read 10 books overall and I hope yours was just as good. I hope your day/night/week/month is awesome.