Poison Study

So my mom tells me that it is a sign of maturity that I can stop reading a book that I don't enjoy. Man, I must be really mature. lol I keep starting books and then not finishing them. Nothing seems to be holding my interest. I've been looking for something really gripping...you know something that I really don't want to put down. The Twilight series and Harry Potter series were definitely like that for me. So are the Pendergast books and the Alex Delaware books. I decided to look at some threads on Amazon.com to see what people were reading to fill the Twilight void and picked up a few of the books at the library.

The book I started with was Poison Study by Maria Snyder, and I must say I was very impressed. I really enjoyed this book. Poison Study is a fantasy book, but really only has a little big of magic in it. The main character Yelena is in prison for murder and is offered the chance to become the Commander's food tasters instead of being executed. I really liked the character of Yelena as well as that of Valek, who teaches her about poisons. This was definitely a book that I had a hard time putting down. I have already reserved the next two books in the series at the library, so I will keep you posted.

Reading now: Sunshine
Coming soon: Outlander, Post-mortem, Magic Study

My Sister's Keeper

I should probably wait to talk about My Sister's Keeper since without giving too much away, I absolutely despised the ending to this book. Jodi Picoult seems to have a great talent in writing the most depressing books. Okay, let's see if I can separate out my immediate feelings from just finishing this book. I do like Picoult's style of switching points of view from one character to another. I find it to be a very effective way of getting the full story. Obviously just from the subject matter you know that this book will be somewhat depressing. The book deals with a family who has a daughter who has a form of leukemia and decides to have another child who will be a good donor for her. The younger daughter hires a lawyer to sue for the right to make her own medical decisions, basically to be able to make the choice herself whether or not to donate to her sister. Obviously the subject matter itself is not even remotely cheerful. I did like seeing the complexity of the situation from everyone's point of view. I also liked the added distraction of the side story of the lawyer involved. I'm pretty sure if I were still a child that my parents would not have let me read this book (just like I wasn't allowed to watch Irreconcilable Differences ) because they would be worried that I would get some bad ideas...have I ever told you that I once organized a strike against my parents picketing for children's rights? Well, that's a story for another day... In any case, if you find that your life is just a little too cheery and you can't find the cloud to fit your silver lining, this book is for you!

What's next? Firefly Lane and The Gun Seller

The Year of Re-reading

So you all know that I have been reading the Twilight series over and over (and over). Well, I decided to re-read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince since the movie is coming out this summer. I am typically not one to re-read books even if I enjoy them. When I first started the book again I wasn't fully into it. However, once I got a little ways into it I really was just as engrossed as the first time I read it. I'm sure it helps that it has been several years since I first read this since I all but forgot what happened in the book. I know that a lot of people dismiss the Harry Potter books because they aren't into fantasy and the likes, but really the Harry Potter books are truly entertaining. The characters are very likable (or despicable as the case maybe be) and the plot is very engaging. As soon as I finished, I was ready to pick up the 7Th Harry Potter book right away (although that will have to wait until after I finish some of my library reserve books).

Confessions

So I read Confessions of a Shopaholic and I must admit I was not impressed. I went in expecting a light, fun, fluffy read. And while it was quite fluffy, I really did not enjoy it. Perhaps if I were more into shopping and fashion it would appeal to me more. But really I think what ruined it for me was the fact that the main character was not at all likable. Sure we all have problems that we need to overcome, but this woman constantly lies and schemes. Blah. I know that many people enjoy this series, but I for one am stopping after the first book.