July15th to August14th Group Read

Sorry everyone for being so behind on posting this, it's been a crazy couple of weeks. Anywho, this month's group read is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. You can click HERE to read all the info for it. This month's group read will go through August 14th.

Also, for anyone who is a die hard Hunger Games fan, the 3rd installment in the series will be released August 23rd into stores. I don't know about you, but I cannot wait for the exciting conclusion and all its mysteries to be released!

Book Review - The Angel Experiment

The Angel Experiment (The Fugitives, #1; Maximum Ride, #1)
By James Patterson
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, 2005
422 pages
Read: 6/19/2010
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Science Fiction, Adventure, Action, Coming of Age

First Line of Book: "Congratulations. The fact that you're reading this means you've taken one giant step closer to surviving till your next birthday."

Review: The Angel Experiment was a reread for me, as I'd only read it a month before. This series debut was very intriguing. The characters were different--besides the fact that they were teenage mutants--and we got to see from the whole flock's perspective. It was a little choppy, though, as the book's chapters are so short and didn't include a lot of information.

The book starts off sort of fast-paced: Max explains everything as she goes along with the story, so you have to keep up with everything or you get lost in the midst of action. The flock's youngest member has been kidnapped by Erasers--half men, half wolves; also mutants--and taken somewhere that none of them ever wished to see again. Now, Max and her family set out to rescue their beloved sibling, getting beat up, captured, and chased by evil, infamous Erasers along the way. Max is having head troubles, and starts thinking she's going to be the first to die. And Angel discovers some mysterious powers of her own. But, in the end, all is well with the flock, and they set out to find the one thing they all have wondered about--their parents.

This book was absolutely amazing. Let's compare the wonderful book hypothetically: I'm on the road, looking for a rest stop. These motel owners get me interested in their place. I stop and stay the night. Automatically, they have me loving the place, with all their hospitality and politeness, giving me everything I need and want without thinking twice about it. Defined, fascinating, and a great price.

Rating: I rate The Angel Experiment (aka, the motel)
5 kisses!

Quotes from the Book:

"He'd been the Gasman ever since he was a baby. What can I say? The child has something funky with his digestive system."

"Fang is not the huggiest person in the world--he turns into an unbending statue, and you just have to do the best you can."

"In the dictionary, next to the word stress, there is a picture of a midsize mutant stuck inside a dog crate, wondering if her destiny is to be killed or to save the world. Okay, not really. But there should be."

"I clamped my lips together so I wouldn't answer it. When I wanted information, it was silent; when I didn't want to hear from it, it got chatty. It was almost as irritating as Fang."


" 'We're in the Institute,' I said.
'Uhm, is that a good thing?' asked Gazzy.
'Holy [insert a swear word of your choice here],' Fang said, stunned.
'No kidding,' I said."

" 'You really hurt me. I wouldn't hurt you. Not like this.' " Ari

Posted By: Zakiya!

June 15th to July 14th Group Read

Hello our fabulous readers! I am posting to notify all of you that the monthly group read started yesterday and the book is Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment (Maximum Ride No.1) by James Patterson. You can view all the book info, including cover and synopsis, by clicking here.

Also, you can participate in our active discussions by clicking the link here or you can send your comments when the review is posted (I will attach a link at that time). We can't wait for your comments, so head on over to the links provided so we can hear all you have to say!

Lastly, we will be voting on next month's group read. To cast your vote, please click the link here and submit your opinion to the poll.

Never stops reading,
Your local bibliophile -- Jen

Stardust - Book Review

Book: Stardust

Author: Neil Gaiman

Publisher: HarperTeen

Pages: 333

Read: 4/05/2010

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy Fiction

Reviewed By: Elyssa

*For The L♥ve of Reading group voted Stardust to be the first group read.*

Neil Gaiman's words spins together a unique world that many people should not miss. There are pirates who fish for lightning bolts, unicorns, evil witches, helpful hairy men, trees that talk, and many other new world phenomenon that will keep you flipping pages. It is good to escape every once in a while. Neil's simple prose allows you to do just that very easily. Brilliant.

Dunstan's mischievous rump during market time results in a small bundle being pushed through the broken wall with a small name pinned to it.... Tristan Thorn.

Young Tristan is an odd lad who wants nothing more then to woo his true love Victoria Forester. In his quest for her lips he offers her everything under the sun. Still a proper lady she declines his offers. However, shortly he will be on a quest for a most unusual object to win his lady loves kiss and hopefully her hand in marriage.

Tristan says farewell to his family in Wall and starts on his journey in Faerie after his beloveds request, the fallen star.

Young feet and a love sick heart fuels Tristan's journey throughout Faerie laced with a bit of good luck. He finds his fallen star, except this star is not what he thought he would find. It was not a rock but yet a beautiful young lady. This odd duo disagreed with each other, the star did not want to go with Tristan to be an object for his love and of course that is all he wanted. Lets just say she did not make his life easy.

This book is not all mushy love quest but it has a very interesting sub plot that intertwines pretty nicely. The sons of Lord Stormhold were sent out on a quest to retrieve a family amulet. Several of the sons are already dead but they are hanging around as ghosts. The sons that are alive are trying to kill each other off in attempt to grab ahold of the family throne.

From start to finish Tristan's quest is anything but bland.

This book has also been turned into a fantastic movie, which doesn't happen often. I did watch the movie a very long time ago. I was sure that I didn't remember most of the movie except for Michelle Pheifer looking really grotesque. But as I read the book the images of the movie came flooding into my head. Most often that is exactly why a reader likes to read the book before watching the movie. But I have to say the movie images did not hinder this book in anyway. I might just have to go and burrow the movie again.

Rating: 4 Kisses

Quotes:

"I would not wish to marry someone who had already been married. It would be,' she opined, 'like having someone else break in one's own pony."

"The manly heroes of the penny dreadfuls and shilling novels never had these problems getting kissed."

"Every lover is, in his heart, a madman, and, in his head, a minstrel."