Jun
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
A guest post by James (Lindsey’s Husband)
I sometimes find it really difficult to get into a book and will end up reading half (or less) before giving up – but really didn’t have this problem with The Perks and Being a Wallflower at all..
I first heard of the book three days ago when randomly stumbling across a Parez Hilton blog post where he mentioned it was one of his favourite books so decided to give it a go.
The book consists of a series of letters written by the main Character, a 15 year old boy called Charlie. It’s probably best described as a “coming of age” story that features, among other things, rape, drugs, homosexuality and nudity. The book is set back in the early 90’s and spams across the year that Charlie is moving into “High school”.
I was hooked from the very start of the book and have just spend the past 4 hours since the kids went to bed lost in his world as I finished the final 50%.
I’m not really sure how to review the book without giving too much away. At the start Charlie is a loner who is best summarised near the end of the book as a “freak” but who finds some friends that bring more out of him and the letter format explains his slightly strange emotions in a really intuitive way.
The book has a lot of laugh out loud moments but the final two chapters bring everything together and I spent them huddled up under a blanket with a box of tissues and a lot of sobbing! I will say no more than that as I don’t want to give it away but certainly didn’t see the ending coming.
I’ve read quite a few books this year but The Perks of Being a Wallflower has emotionally touched me more than any book I’ve read in a long time – I absolutely recommend this book and whilst it won’t be to everyones tastes I would give it 5 out of 5 stars without any hesitation.
Since reading it I’ve also heard that it’s being adapted into a major Hollywood film (staring the gorgeous Emma Watson) so make sure you read the book first! I am sure that the movie will be great if done correctly but it’ll be hard to bring the raw emotions of the “letter” format to the big screen.
You can pick it up from Amazon on either Kindle edition (£4.99) or in Paperback (£4.31) – don’t even get me started on why it’s cheaper in paperbook than a Kindle….
Apr
In my Mailbox #9
This week I bought 4 kindle books and no paperbacks.
My Kindle books
The many lives of Avery Snow by Christy Sloat
Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine
Sep
In my Mailbox #8
Kindle
links to Goodreads
Entangled by 11 goodreads others – the poseeds go to breast cancer
Cruel..and Unusual by D. Michelle Gent
Elemental byAlexandra May
Paperback
Isle of Night by Veronica Wolff
RAK
This week I recieved my first Random Act of Kindness which I was really exited about.
Donna @ Book Passion for life sent me a copy of
Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson
Thank You Donna
Sep
In My Mailbox #7
I am trying to be good and not buy to many books. I caved though and had to buy a few.
Kindle
Breaking Point by Jess Rowen
Dream Lover by D.Michelle Gent
Hunting Lila by Sarah Alderson
Paperbacks
Going too Far by Jennifer Echols
A HUGE thank you to Donna at book Passion for life for sending me:
HereAfter by Tara Hudson
The Pace by Shelena Shorts
The Broken Lake by Shelena Shorts
Sep
My review for Dream Lover (Dusty the Demon Hunter) by D. Michelle Gent
Publish date: August 11th 2011
publisher: gingernutbooks
Format read: Kindle Edition
Date finished: 09/09/2011
Ratings: ★★★★☆
Goodreads Blurb
Dusty is a teenage girl, as normal as any of her friends… the Dryads, Faeries, Nymphs, Angels, Cherubs and half-demons like her.
She has a dark past, her mother was killed by a Demon and now she is protecting herself in case that Demon comes back for her.
In the meantime Dusty travels from this world to the Astral Plane and her adventures are legendary… amongst her friends at least
My Review
A short story by D. Michelle Gent
This is a story about Dusty who is a half Demon. Since the death of her mother she has lived with her grandparents. They have leant all there is to know about being a half demon so they are very understanding of there grandaughter.
The story revolves around Dusty’s best friend Ange, who discovers after a night out that she is being haunted by a demon in her sleep and it is up to Dusty to safe the day.
After being dragged into the the Demon world by the Demon in question its there she meets Hunter. A character that I am hoping to learn more about in bk2.
For a short story this was really good, I liked Dusty’s character, she’s a strong biker chick which I think makes a great main character. I really like that her grandparents being on her side it makes her character seem more independant. Her friend Ange is from what I gather is fully human which makes her vunerable. Then there is Hunter, we don’t get to hear much about him in this book but I have high hopes for Dust and Hunter in bk2, well I can only hope.
I have read one other of Michelle Gent’s books called Deadlier… than the male which is more adult than young adult. I will put a review up for this at some point.
Sep
In my mailbox #6
This is my last IMM until i have completed my project 10 book. I have been so exited about all these books that I would love to read them all at once.
My latest Kindle books
Bloodlines by Richelle Mead
Stealing Phoenix by Joss Sterling
One grave at a time by Jeaniene Frost
Hard back
I pre ordered this a while ago and not with an early release its in the post to me now.
Vanish by Sophie Jordan
Aug
In My Mailbox #5
A Presant
This week I had a suprise parcel. Donna from book passion for life sent me a brand new copy of :
I have had this on my goodreads wishlist for a while now so I was really exited to get this, thnk you so much Donna 
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
Swaps
Bitter End by Jennifer Brown
Aug
Rivers of London Book Review
Publish date: 20th January 2011
publisher: Orion
Format read: Kindle Edition
Date finished: 16/08/2011
Ratings: ★★★★☆
Guest Review by James Little
Welcome to a guest blog post by James – Lindsey’s other half.
I’ve always been a bit of a reader but for the past few months I’ve not managed to find a book that I’ve been able to get into and not put down. I’ve half read about 5 books over the past few months.
Then Rivers of London (also know as Midnight Riot) turned up and changed this. I actually stumbled upon the book completely by chance on a visit to Waterstones in Bluewater whilst looking in the fantasy area and wrote its name down and got it for the Kindle app on my iPad instead.
Overall it took me around 2 days to read.. the best way of describing it is that is a cross between a police crime fighting story and a magic / fantasy story. Surprisingly it works really well. As a Londoner myself I was impressed by the research that went into it and recognised a lot of the names and places from nights out in town!
The book contains modern vampires (but we don’t see much of them), ghosts and a few characters hell bent on killing.
Rivers of London reads well and my only criticism of it is that there is no real differentiation between the way that the characters speak so the tone is very similar the whole way though. Also time seems to pass between chapters pretty quickly but we never really get any sense to how much time has actually passed – hours, days or months and this can be quite confusing.
Here is a quick summary of the main characters:
Peter – We meet Peter as he is about to “graduate” into the Met Police and wants to be out on the street, not behind a wall of paperwork. Soon he finds himself as a trainee Wizard, the first Apprentice of the “Folly” in many years.
Lesley – Another trainee police officer Lesley is the object of Peter’s lust at the start of the book. Best of friends Lesley joins the “normal” police and we follow her though the story.
Inspector Nightingale – The Inspector is Peter’s mentor, teaching him about magic and the strange goings on, helping to keep the queens peace.
Overall I’d rate this book 4/5 – certainly one of the best I’ve read in a long time and I’ve now started the next in the set, Moon over Soho which picks up where Rivers of London leaves us. If you are into fantasy with a little dark humour and barely any violence then I’d suggest you give it a go.
Aug
In My Mailbox #4
On Kindle
Touch the dark by Karen Chance
Taunt (Ava Delaney #2) by Claire Farrell
Fractured (fateful #2) by Cheri Schmid
Daimon (covenant 0.5) by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Hard copy’s purchased
Dark Angel by Eden Maguire
Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles
Bargins and Betrayals by Shannon Delany
This week I recieved a kind gift from Jodie – Thank you Jodie
Forget you by Jennifer Echols
Passion by Lauren Kate
Aug
The Iron Quill (The pace series#3) by Shelena Shorts
Publish date: 29th July 2011
publisher: Lands Atlantic Publishing, LLC
Format read: Kindle Edition
Date finished: 05/08/2011
Ratings: ★★★★★
Blurb from goodreads
With Weston’s self-imposed forty-eight hour deadline having already lapsed, Sophie’s patience is pushed to the max—especially with her realization that his concern is not for his own well-being, but for hers.
Just when they embrace a reconnection, she’ll learn that her greatest threat is not necessarily something that might happen in the future, but something that’s happening… right now. And this time, Sophie and Wes will need the help of more than one person to fix it—even if it means giving up his secret.
With time forever moving, and the dark cloud at its lowest, the third book in the Pace Series stays true to its signature grace and determination as Sophie and Weston take the biggest detour so far.
Wes is not immortal and he is of this world. But, aging is not part of his existence, and eighteen-year-old Sophie Slone is determined to find out why. In doing so, she could also uncover something about her own life expectancy that she may not want to know. Suddenly, immortality will mean everything and nothing all at the same time.
In the aftermath of Sophie’s ordeal, Weston will make some uncharacteristic decisions to distance himself from the past in an attempt to change the future.
But, while venturing into the improbable, the present sneaks up in a chilling way that will lead to Wes’ unexpected submission. Suddenly, Sophie will find herself watching as both his immortal secret and his own existence are threatened.
My Review
It is hard to write a review when you are still on a high after reading such a great book, And all you want to do is read the next one to find out what will happen next, That to mean makes a great read.
It feels like forever that I have been waiting for this book to be released. I got such a surprise when I checked on Amazon and found that it had been realised on Kindle earlier than on paperback so I had to buy it straight away and read it.
I loved the first two in the series and at the end of The Broken Lake it was left with such a cliff hanger With Wes being taken that I have been on tender hooks waiting for The Iron Quill to be released.
A new twist to this book, you are not only in the mind of Sophie but the mind of Dr Carter aswell, which means you get to know what happens to Wes (I though made a nice change to other books were you don’t know were you favourite characters). We learn a lot about Dr Carter and his work, he turns out to be a very significant character
I had no idea what was going to happen and it was all written so well, this did have a few surprises in it and the fact that Wes and Sophie are growing together made this a really sweet love story. Nothing is ever simple for these two but we have learned this from the last two books.
I was not disappointed at all. After reading this book I loved Wes and Sophie even more. there characters went through a bit of a rollercoaster with events happening to both of them.
I was sad to read that The hour of Dreams #4 will be the last in the will be released in 2012
