The Shadowy Horses

Book #62 Read in 2012
The Shadowy Horses by Susanna Kearsley

Verity heads to Scotland to take part in an archaeologist dig.  She gets a little more than she bargained for when she meets Robbie, a young boy with psychic abilities, and realizes that his visions are driving the digging locations.  But, the boy seems to be spot on with help from The Sentinel, a ghostly figure overseeing the dig.  Verity, in spite of herself, begins to believe in ghosts.  Along with the ghost story, there is romance brewing between Verity and David, another archaeologist.  

I really liked the writing style in this book.  Kearsley paints a vivid picture of the setting.  She has created wonderful characters who are complex and realistic.  The ghost story is done masterfully.  The romantic element of the book progresses slowly enough to not take away from the primary story of the dig and the ghost.

This is my first book by Kearsley but I look forward to reading others.  I received a copy of this book from Sourcebooks in exchange for a review.

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon on October 13th

While I will never read 24 hours straight because I lose sleep for no book, I will try to focus on reading books more than reading email on Saturday, October 13th as part of Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon.  Love Dewey.

To sign up for the Readathon go to:  www.24hourreadathon.com

The Hunger Games (YA)

Book #61 Read in 2012
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

This book is the first in a series.  I gave up on it the first time I tried to read.  Friends loved it.  Students loved it.  I figured I would try it again--and this time I ended up loving it.

Katniss lives in District 12, a relatively poor district, with her mother and younger sister.  When contestants are selected for this year's Hunger Games, a contest where children fight to the death, Prim, the younger sister, is selected to be in the Games.  Katniss refuses to allow this to happen and she volunteers to take her sister's place.  Also selected is Peeta, the son of the local baker.  The two form an alliance and Peeta seems to have romantic feelings towards Katniss.

The Games themselves are brutal and horrible.  During the Games, the rules are changed so that two winners from the same district will be allowed.  This means that Katniss can band together with Peeta, who is gravely injured.  But will this rule change really give them a way to survive and win together?

This book had a lot of action, great characters and a decent romance.  Katniss is a tough cookie.  Peeta is a hero whom readers will end up rooting for--to win the Games and get the girl.  I will continue on to book 2.

Bookmark update

Bookmarks (real and virtual) are in the following:

The Shadowy Horses (review book)

Shadow of Night (Kindle)

The Hunger Games (Kindle)

Wolfishly Yours (review book)

One Good Friend Deserves Another (review book)

Dragonfly in Amber

This back to school thing is cramping my reading time :-(

My Life as a White Trash Zombie

Book #60 Read in 2012
My Life as a White Trash Zombie

This is the first book in a series. Angel wakes up in the emergency room, not really remembering how she got there.  She gets a note telling her that she now has a job in the coroner's office.  She does not know who got her the job but she needs a job and money.  Then she gets a note to eat brains.  She is not sure why but this makes sense to her; she is actually craving brains.  Eventually she realizes that she is a zombie.

There is someone going around killing people and chopping off their heads.  Angel fairly quickly figures out that the victims had all been zombies.  So now she knows that there is a zombie killer on the loose.  To further complicate things, her drunken father destroys her brain stash.  Things escalate quickly from bad to worse.  But help comes from some surprising sources at times.

This book was a good, fun read.  It had mystery elements, a hint of romance, good action and humor.  Angel is a complex, interesting character.  She seems to be hard core but she has a soft center.  There are decent secondary characters in the book as well.  Angel's father is a character that readers will love to hate.

I enjoyed this book and have the second book on my Kindle to read.  Hope to get to it soon.

Psycho Kitty

#59 Book Read in 2012
Psycho Kittty by Pam Johnson-Bennett

The author of this book is a certified Animal Behavior Consultant.  I enjoyed her book Cat vs. Cat.  In Psycho Kitty, problems covered involve litter box issues, aggression, "weird" cat behaviors and scratching the furniture.  As the proud (?) owner of a cat on Prozac, I enjoy reading these cat behavior books to get any tips that I may not be using already with my zoo crew.  This book was a very quick read.  Issues are addressed in a helpful manner.

Kiss of Steel

Kiss of Steel

This book is part of the steampunk genre, which I am relatively new too.  It is sort of a mix of paranormal and science fiction, in my opinion.

In this book, Honora is trying to provide for her younger sister and brother.  Her brother is sick with the craving disease.  In order to be able to afford any medical treatment, Honora turns herself over to Blade, a highly feared man in their neighborhood.  Normally blood or body would be payment for Blade's protection, but the two strike a deal that she will provide him diction lessons to make him sound more like a gentleman.

Of course the two have chemistry and try to fight that.  There are complications in their relationship--Blade's enemies, Honora's pride etc.  This book was a decent read.  I received a copy of this book from the publisher, Sourcebooks, in exchange for a review.