Wednesday, May 28, 2008

June 1st pick

Darci was recommended this book by her sister in law, and I had been wanting to read it for awhile, too. It's a story about circus life and the people that are involved in it. I've heard good things about this book so I can't wait to read it.

The Host - review



Both Erin and I had loved the Twilight Series and knew that we would like Stephanie Meyers new book. The Host is an Adult Fiction, where the Twilight series was for Young Adults, so it was not as easy of a read, plus it is Science Fiction. Everyone and their mother was reading this book and people had a hard time with it for the first 120 pages or so because it was an overload of information. Once I got past that part I couldn't put it down and read it in 2 days, which is crazy because it is a thick book and I have a toddler!!! It is action packed, there is always something going on. The characters were well evolved, you really thought that you knew them. You even started to like the "alien" Wanda and wanted her to win as much as you wanted Melanie to win. I can always tell if a book is going to be one of my favorites because the minute I finish it I want to read it again and that is how I felt with The Host.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Change of Heart - review

I have been trying to get Darci to read Jodi Picoult forever. I lent her my copy of "The Pact" which she promptly gave back to me and said that she couldn't get into it. So it was fitting that the first Picoult book that she read (and finished!) was called "Change of Heart". I think she liked it, didn't you, Darc?

I had read a few Jodi Picoult books before this one, and she stayed with her typical "ripped - from - the - headlines" / "hot - button - issue" main plot. This time she was dealing with the death penalty and more specifically the rights of those inmates on death row. She really did a good job of getting you to see the world from Shay's point of view. He's not a character that you would normally feel like identifying with, since he was convicted of murder, but you really do feel for him and what he's going through. I also really liked the romance storyline for Maggie. As a parent, it was hard to think that a mother could be presented with the type of choice that Mrs. Nealon was presented with in the book - what would you do? What a difficult choice to try to honor your one child that was taken from you in a horrific way, or to try to save your other child that is here with you now.

I really liked this book and still love Jodi Picoults style of writing. She writes a gripping novel that keeps you interested from the start.