“Hell may have all the best composers, but heaven has all the best choreographers.”

According to The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (the world's only completely accurate book of prophecies, written in 1655, before she exploded), the world will end on a Saturday.  Next Saturday, in fact.  Just before dinner. 

So the armies of Good and Evil are amassing, Atlantis is rising, frogs are falling, tempers are flaring.  Everything appears to be going according to Divine Plan.  Except a somewhat fussy angel and a fast-living demon - both of whom have lived amongst Earth's mortals since The Beginning and have grown rather fond of the lifestyle - are not actually looking forward to the coming Rapture.

And someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist...

Neal Gaiman + Terry Pratchett = Amazingness.  Hilarious, profound, and thoroughly enjoyable, Good Omens, just goes to show you that one can find humour in the end of the world.

“People couldn't become truly holy, he said, unless they also had the opportunity to be definitely wicked.”

“But now I can see that there is redemption and beauty in an accident emanating from love.”

Chick Lit Superstar Emily Giffin is back!  I was starting to have my doubts about Miss Giffin for awhile there.  I, like many, fell in love with Something Borrowed and Something Blue.  However, things started to go downhill for me with Baby Proof and Love the One You're With.  I just couldn't connect with the characters and the stories the same way I did with her earlier novels.  I was concerned.  Things got better with Heart of the Matter and I think that with her newest novel, Where We Belong, we are back in business! 

Marian Caldwell is a thirty-six year old television producer, living her dream in New York City. With a fulfilling career and satisfying relationship, she has convinced everyone, including herself, that her life is just as she wants it to be. But one night, Marian answers a knock on the door . . . only to find Kirby Rose, an eighteen-year-old girl with a key to a past that Marian thought she had sealed off forever. From the moment Kirby appears on her doorstep, Marian’s perfectly constructed world—and her very identity—will be shaken to its core, resurrecting ghosts and memories of a passionate young love affair that threaten everything that has come to define her.

For the precocious and determined Kirby, the encounter will spur a process of discovery that ushers her across the threshold of adulthood, forcing her to re-evaluate her family and future in a wise and bittersweet light. As the two women embark on a journey to find the one thing missing in their lives, each will come to recognize that where we belong is often where we least expect to find ourselves—a place that we may have willed ourselves to forget, but that the heart remembers forever

I loved Kirby right off the bat and Marian grew on me by the end of the novel.  A perfect summer beach read!

“She’s like Bruce Lee, the Hulk and Neo from The Matrix all rolled in to one.”

Just your average boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story...

I loved this book! (and it's cover! Isn't it lovely and haunting?)  Kendare Blake is officially my new Teen author to watch!  Here's a quick synopsis of Anna Dressed in Blood, the first in a trilogy (Book two just came out this month and is currently sitting on my bedside table!)

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn’t expect anything outside of the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

And she, for whatever reason, spares his life.

Cas and Anna may be my new favourite supernatural couple (especially since I think they would annihilate Edward and Bella in a heartbeat).  Read this book!

“You make me want things I can't have.”

“What we have here is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.”

I can't believe I haven't mentioned one of my favourite mystery / thriller series here before! If you are looking for a great read then you cannot go wrong with Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child's Agent Pendergast series.  Aloysius X. L. Pendergast is an FBI agent who works out of New Orleans but frequently travels out of state to investigate cases of interest, mostly those that appear to be the work of serial killers.  I often recommend this series to fans of Micheal Crichton, especially Relic, the first book in the series.  Relic deals heavily with scientific elements and things that go bump in the night (specifically in the New York Natural History Museum) and very much reminds me of the style Crichton exhibited in Jurassic Park.  Pendergast is such a fascinating character and he continues to get better and better in each book.  The recently published (and soon to be finished!) 'Helen Trilogy' delves heavily into the reader discovering just who Pendergast is and how he became the man he is.  A great summer (or anytime) read!

Pendergast Series

1. Relic
2. Reliquary
3 The Cabinet of Curiosities
4. Still Life With Crows
5. Brimstone (Book 1 in the Diogenes Series)
6. Dance of Death (Book 2 in the Diogenes Series)
7. Book of the Dead (Book 3 in the Diogenes Series)
8. Wheel of Darkness
9. Cemetary Dance
10. Fever Dream (Book 1 in the Helen Trilogy)
11. Cold Vengeance (Book 2 in the Helen Trilogy)
12. Two Graves (Book 3 in the Helen Trilogy) (coming Fall 2012)

“The question I've asked more often during our marriage, if not out loud, if not to the person who could answer. I supposed these questions stormcloud over every marriage: What are you thinking how are you feeling? Who are you? What have we done to each other? What will we do?”

Gillian Flynn officially rocks my world.  After all the buzz about her latest novel Gone Girl, I knew I had to jump on the bandwagon and check it out.  OH MY GOD.  Now here is a lady who knows how to weave a psychological thriller.  I sat down one evening to start the book and finished it the next night; I literally could not put it down.  I haven't met a psychopath quite like the one Flynn has created and my god I couldn't get enough of it.  Amy and Nick are some of the most in depth and fascinating characters I have encountered in a long time and despite being disgusted with them at times, I found that my curiosity got the best of me and I had to keep reading to find out how these two were going to continue to mess with each others minds.  This one is topping my best reads of the year list so far.

I so enjoyed Gone Girl that I picked up Flynn's debut novel, Sharp Objects.  While I didn't enjoy it quite as much, it was still fantastic.  The reader has a love-hate relationship with reporter Camille Preaker, who returns to her home town to investigate two brutal murders of two little girls.  Camille's mother and step-sister are unnerving and keep the reader continually guessing about what exactly is going on in these women's heads.

I hope to soon read Flynn's second novel, Dark Places.  I have a feeling I'm gonna love that one too.

“We were like gods at the dawning of the world, & our joy was so bright we could see nothing else but the other.”

I have always been interested in stories of the Trojan War (despite the fact that I have yet to make it through The Iliad and The Odyssey...one day!).  I had already planned on picking up Madeline Miller's novel The Song of Achilles when it won the prestigious Orange Prize.  Talk about extra motivation!

What a wonderful novel.  Beautifully written and it succeeds in creating a new and interesting way of telling an age old tale.  The protagonist is not the hero Achilles, but instead Patroclus, a character that appeared in the original story, played a vital role in the downfall of Achilles, but did not get a lot of 'screen time'.  This is not only a story of war but also one of love and the role it plays in one of the greatest stories ever told.  An amazing debut novel and definitely an author to watch.

“Name one hero who was happy."
I considered. Heracles went mad and killed his family; Theseus lost his bride and father; Jason's children and new wife were murdered by his old; Bellerophon killed the Chimera but was crippled by the fall from Pegasus' back.
"You can't." He was sitting up now, leaning forward.
"I can't."
"I know. They never let you be famous AND happy." He lifted an eyebrow. "I'll tell you a secret."
"Tell me." I loved it when he was like this.
"I'm going to be the first." He took my palm and held it to his. "Swear it."
"Why me?"
"Because you're the reason. Swear it."
"I swear it," I said, lost in the high color of his cheeks, the flame in his eyes.
"I swear it," he echoed.

“The problem with wanting is that it makes us weak”

Looking for a teen read that is not about love struck vampires / werewolves / other supernatural beings?  Check out Leigh Bardugo's debut novel Shadow and Bone, book one in the Grisha Trilogy.  As teen author Veronica Roth puts it, "Unlike anything I've ever read".  Here's a quick synopsis:
  
Alina Starkov doesn’t expect much from life. Orphaned by the Border Wars, the one thing she could rely on was her best friend and fellow refugee, Mal. And lately not even that seems certain. Drafted into the army of their war-torn homeland, they’re sent on a dangerous mission into the Fold, a swath of unnatural darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh.

When their convoy is attacked, all seems lost until Alina reveals a dormant power that not even she knew existed. Ripped from everything she knows, she is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling. He believes she is the answer the people have been waiting for: the one person with the power to destroy the Fold.

Swept up in a world of luxury and illusion, envied as the Darkling’s favorite, Alina struggles to fit into her new life without Mal by her side. But as the threat to the kingdom mounts, Alina uncovers a secret that sets her on a collision course with the most powerful forces in the kingdom. Now only her past can save her . . . and only she can save the future.

A really well written and engaging debut.  Bardugo has created a world that is unlike any I've read before and I very much enjoyed visiting it!  Alina is a wonderfully relate able character, the underdog who can't quite contemplate her own worth.  The Darkling is mysterious and seductive and you spend a lot of the novel trying to figure out his intentions and motivations.  Mal, the seemingly unattainable boy, is not physically present for much of the book but he more then makes up for that by the end. A new male to challenge Edward and Friends for the title of 'Literary Crush'!  Can't wait for the next installment!

“I've been waiting for you a long time, Alina" He said. "You and I are going to change the world.”

“Why would anyone say this stuff about themselves on the Internet? It's crazy!”

Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler have teamed up and written a wonderful teen novel called "The Future of Us."  Here's what it's about:

"It's 1996, and Josh and Emma have been neighbors their whole lives. They've been best friends almost as long - at least, up until last November, when Josh did something that changed everything. Things have been weird between them ever since, but when Josh's family gets a free AOL CD in the mail,his mom makes him bring it over so that Emma can install it on her new computer. When they sign on, they're automatically logged onto their Facebook pages. But Facebook hasn't been invented yet. And they're looking at themselves fifteen years in the future.

By refreshing their pages, they learn that making different decisions now will affect the outcome of their lives later. And as they grapple with the ups and downs of what their futures hold, they're forced to confront what they're doing right - and wrong - in the present"

Such a clever concept and one that is so prevalent in today's day and age!  Asher and Mackler's writing styles flow nicely together and they have created characters that you are interested in and rooting for in Emma and Josh.  I read this in a day and really enjoyed it.  While I would say this is a fairly light read, there are some profound moments in the novel.  One of my favourite scenes happens between Emma and her best girl friend Kellan when they are talking about boys.


“Emma:“He broke your heart! How can you call it love when he hurt you so badly?”
Kellan:“It was love because it was worth it.”

That sums it up nicely I say.

“I guess it goes to show that you just never know where life will take you. You search for answers. You wonder what it all means. You stumble, and you soar. And, if you’re lucky, you make it to Paris for a while.”

Ever since I returned from a vacation in Paris, I have been consumed by a desire to read books about the city of lights.  I recently came across a biography by Amy Thomas, "Paris, My Sweet: A Year in the City of Lights (and Dark Chocolate)" and immediately grabbed it.  A very sweet (pun intended!) story about Thomas and her move from New York to Paris for work.  She gets a dream job working as a writer for a fashion house in Paris and decides this is a sign that she is meant to see how living in her favourite city is.  What makes Thomas' story even more enticing is that she is a dessert junkie and this memoir not only chronicles her life in Paris but the many many wonderful sweets that she eats while she is there.  She does a compare and contrast of the desserts she fines in Paris with the ones from New York, ranging from chocolate chip cookies, to macarons, to cakes, and to hot chocolate.  I was pretty much drooling the entire time I was reading this yummy memoir!  An added bonus is that she lists her favourite spots in both cities so if you are going to visit either then you know just where to go to get your favourite sweet treats! Another thing that was really great about this memoir was that it often talks about how Thomas is taking a chance making this move and how sometimes we have to take the leap to find what it is we really want and need in life.  She quotes Joseph Campbell at the beginning and I want to share the quotation she uses because I just think it is fantastic:

"And I have the firm belief in this now, not only in terms of my own experience but in knowing about the experience of others, that when you follow your bliss, door will open where you would not have thought there were going to be doors and where there wouldn't be a door for anybody else. If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track, which has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living"

 A fun and light summer read and definitely one that will make you hungry!

Archie Andrews is all Grown Up!

A couple Christmas' ago, I got a great collection of Archie comics called The Married Life.  It told two parallel stories of what happens to the town of Riverdale and all the gang if Archie married Betty vs. if Archie married Veronica.  It was a really cool idea and for a Archie fan such as myself (I had stacks of these comics when I was younger!) it was very nostalgic.  I recently found out that they have created more comics following the married life of Archie and his two best gals and I got the opportunity to read two volumes which goes into more detail about what happens to the two very different Andrews families from the time they get married.  This critically acclaimed series (called by some the best comic writing in years) is fantastic and so much fun to read!  Whose team will you be on? Team Veronica or Team Betty?  I've personally always been a fan of Betty (her being a blond like me!) but I had someone recently lay this tidbit on me that has gotten me thinking: Betty is too good for Archie; Archie and Veronica deserve each other.  What do you think?  Whatever team you are rooting for, this is definitely a series to check out, especially if you want to revisit Riverdale!

Recent Reads

I haven't posted in awhile! Life has been to busy apparently! However, no matter how busy I am, I always have time to read a good book and I have read some excellent books lately!  Here's are several that I have read in the last month that I think you should know about:

Daring to Dream by Nora Roberts
The first book in her Dream Trilogy, it tells the story of Margo, the wild child who left home at a young age and now returns to the small town she grew up in to try to get her life back together.  Being a Nora Roberts novel, there is naturally a romantic element.  A definite beach read.

Jeneration X by Jen Lancaster
Love Love Love Jen Lancaster! Her most recent memoir chronicles, as she eloquently puts it, how "one reluctant adult attempts to unarrest her arrested development; or, why it's never to late for her dumb ass to learn why Froot Loops are not for dinner."  Not my favourite of her's (that would be "Bright Lights, Big Ass") but still a very fun read.

Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson
The hot memoir of the summer (so far), this is a very very funny, and at times horrific, read.  I enjoyed the first half the most where Lawson shared stories of growing up with a taxidermist for a dad.  A few of her stories had me howling with laughter and causing my husband concern about my sanity.  Loved it.

The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman
Such a beautifully written and incredibly moving novel.  This tells the story of 5 incredible  women in 70 CE.  During this time, nine hundred Jews held out for months against armies of Romans on a mountain in the Judean desert, Masada.  According to the ancient historian Josephus, two women and five children survived.  This is Hoffman's telling of this story and it is just fabulous.  A great read for the summer.

A Stopover in Venice by Kathryn Walker
I really liked this book because I a) Love Venice, and b) love art history, especially the Renaissance period.  If you are thinking, :hmm that sounds like me!" then you should pick this one up! 

Goddess of Legend
Warrior Rising
Both by P.C. Cast
These are two books in Cast's Goddess Summoning Series.  One of my favourite fun, fast, and sexy series! Cast puts a really fun spin on ancient myths and the Greek gods, these two dealing with the Trojan War and the legend of King Arthur and Camelot.  Other books in the series include:

Goddess of the Sea
Goddess of Spring
Goddess of Light
Goddess of the Rose
Goddess of Love

The Corinthian by Georgette Heyer
Reading Georgette Heyer is always a delight.  This one was lots of fun!  This tells the story of Sir Richard Wyndham who finds himself running away from a potential marriage with a beautiful young fugitive, who he finds climbing from her window by knotted sheets, who is also looking to escape a marriage of her own.

The Council of Mirrors (Sisters Grimm #9) by Micheal Buckly
The final book in the amazing young reader series, The Sisters Grimm.  I love this series and always recommend it to younger readers.  Lots of fun, great characters, well written, and full of fun illustrations.  This was a great finish to a great series.