The Witness Wore Red by Rebecca Musser

This book is similar to Escape. It chronicles the life and escape of Rebecca "Becky" Musser from the FLDS cult.  She discusses her relationship with her polygamist father, abusive "mothers", her marriage to an elderly leader of the sect, and her revelation that her lifestyle was not healthy.  There is an extended discussion of Warren Jeffs and the multitude of sins he committed, as well as the influence that he exerted over these people through manipulation of their beliefs and their lives in general.

It isn't the most gripping book I've ever read, but I enjoy the polygamists and learning about how they function.  Becky demonstrates how deeply the fundamentals of her rearing are ingrained into her through her modesty in sharing her story and it is clear that the transition was not easy.  Bonus: It reads a lot like one of my favorites shows - Big Love.

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

I loved this book.  It was a slow start.  I didn't want the first fifty pages, but once I made it past those, I couldn't stop reading.  I didn't want to go to sleep.  I went to the park at lunch to read.  We closed my office early so I could go home and finish it.

The basic premise is that a reporter is assigned to her hometown to investigate the gruesome murder of a young girl.  Soon, another young girl is killed.  The reporter explores the murder, navigates romantic and sexual relationships, and explores her strained family ties.

I highly recommend this book.  I am already looking forward to the next.

The Birth Order Connection

The birth order connection was an interesting book that explains how your placement in your family affects the way you interact with those around you and your romantic partner. It was pretty interesting.  I learned that as the oldest child, I not only like to follow the rules, but I like to make them, as well.  This makes me a good match for a last born or middle child.

The book doesn't tell you anything you didn't know, but its a fun read and a good conversation starter. It also only takes a couple hours to read.

The Dark Heroine: Dinner with a Vampire

So I bough this because I had seen it in Target just a few months before. I thought it must be good because it was in the teen section and it was a romance. I have high standards, I know... It wasn't bad, though. I actually went through it quickly and I enjoyed the story line. It wasn't a sexy romance as billed on the cover, but it was a cute story of girl (Violet) who is kidnapped by vampire family after seeing a brutal murder.

She then struggles with her feelings of fear and hatred for being kept against her will and finally with the romantic feelings that creep up on her as she develops Stockholm Syndrome with the vampire family. Okay, so it isn't played out as Stockholm Syndrome, but when you read a book like this, don't you wonder about that?

As usual, there is a good guy who is hot, and a bad guy who is (at least to Violet, the main character) hotter, and how she will choose between the good guy and the guy who is possibly carrying a host of STIs. Tough choice, right? Well, the book is quite long and there is a good possibility that Violet will choose in this book, but remember, this is supposed to be a trilogy,so who can be sure?

I do recommend this if you have some time to kill. It is fun and interesting and seems to incorporate some new elements as part of the story that I haven't seen before. I am looking forward to the next book.

Entwined by Heather Dixon

I loved this book. It seemed like a a fantastical, drawn out version of the fairy tale with the ten princesses. I read this during exams, and I loved that it allowed me to be transported to a world of magical passageways, princesses, galas, and romance. It was a teen book, but it was so good. I highly encourage this book. I hope she writes more!

Hunted

I just finished this book, the only book I actually read while I was on Christmas break. This book was probably the worst of the series, but I feel obliged to read on since I borrowed them from J and she really loved them and told me how much she loved them. I continue to try to enjoy them, but geez... Vamps, fallen gods, teens succumbing to their hormones... Ugh...

Walking Around in Cirles Before Lying Down

I loved this book. It was funny and unexpected. There were names that I recognized, and I forgot for a moment that this book was fiction. I loved that the dog had a voice and said all the things that I know my dogs say on a daily basis, though I am not tuned in enough to hear them. Please read this book. I wish I could write more about how much I love it, but alas, I am a student again and school has to take precedence.

The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker

I just finished this book and it seems fitting since I just moved into a first floor apartment in a rather large city with a high crime rate. Honestly, the book made me feel safer, not by teaching me how to fight off an attacker, but to trust my instinct when I feel I am not safe. It taught me not to fear just because of where I am, but to really listen and see and take in what is around me, because that is where the most valuable information can be found.

This book was interesting because it provided both facts and interesting incidents of aberrational behavior ranging from domestic violence to serial killers to kids who kill. I also learned that if you are in a situation in which teens are involved, especially more than one, you are really in danger because they are most likely to kill.

This book was a self-help, but not in the traditional way. It is a book that can be used to help you live in situations where you may otherwise face death. I hope I never have to apply the things I learned while reading this book, but I am glad that it was recommended and that I took the time to really dig into what De Becker had to say.

I can 100% recommend this book to any reader. My sister has read it and I told my best friend that she also needs to read it. Take the time to go through. It does take quite a bit of time, and not everything will apply to every reader, but it really is worth it.

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

I read Shiver only because I saw it at Walmart one day and it looked like something a younger kid might like. Little did I know that it would be GREAT! The book is about a girl who loves wolves and has her fantasy realized when her favorite wolf turns out to be a human. This book is not the traditional werewolf story. It is a book that highlights young love, and for me, a late 20's woman, it really transported me  back to the fantasies I had when I was 14, 15, 16 years old. There are alternating viewpoints, both from the male and female perspective.

 I am slightly disappointed that there is a series because I wanted the book to end where it did and let me imagine the rest, but there are more. I will have to read them eventually, namely because I just thought of more questions that I wanted answers to, but I would have been content to let this book stand alone.

Recommendation? Read it! Be 14 again. Love again. Hide away for the few hours this book lasts.

Untamed by P.C. and Kristin Cast

I finished this book today. I am still really enjoying this series. There is a lot of repetition, and that can get old, but there are big punches of action in each book. I forgot about Zoey's love life being a big source of conflict in the last book. In this book, it really played a large part in the plot. Zoey, bless her heart, is struggling with her relationship with three beautiful men who all seem to adore her, an everyday problem for all of us, I'm sure... In this book, her love life continues to spiral out of control, as does her relationship with Neferet. There is a huge climax at the end that made me happy to have the rest of the series in my house so I can keep going. I was waiting for this moment, so I am glad it actually ended the way it did, though it was a major cliff hanger.

Recommendation? Keep reading! : )

Chosen by P.C. and Kristin Cast

I admit I finished this book about a week ago. I was sick and didn't feel like typing. Now, I still don't feel like typing, but I finished the next book, so I am going to go ahead and write what I need to write. I can't remember Chosen as well as the most recent book I finished. I know that Stevie Rae was a main character in this book in a big way. I liked it well enough to immediately request the next at the library, so get started with this series and keep reading. So far, I am enjoying it.

A Touch of Dead by Charlaine Harris

I read this book because I wanted to know about Sookie. Surprisingly, I finished half of it while I was waiting in the pharmacy for three prescriptions. It was truly a collection of short stories. I remembered some of the main characters, but there were more minor characters that I didn't remember or didn't care about. I plan on sharing this book with J, who loves Sookie and so many other books. I think it is one to read if you have some spare time, but it isn't memorable enough to keep.

Betrayed by P.C. and Kristin Cast

I read this book over the course of a day. I also carried it to the pool, balcony, and beach. This book is about Zoey's progress through her first year at The House of Night. Some major things happen, including more deaths, and Zoey finds out what the ghosts she is seeing really are. Zoey and her best friend's relationship evolves in a way I couldn't predict, and the one big event I had been waiting for finally takes place with Neferet. When I finished this book in the car, I immediately requested the next one from the library. When I checked my library, I was incredibly excited to find that I had the next one, so I will just cancel that request and move on to the next book. Read these if you can. They are getting better.

Baby Proof by Emily Giffin

I vacationed at the beach and I carried this book with me to the beach and the pool and the balcony. I didn't want to read it, because I have no real interest in children and I thought this book would be all about that, maybe more like Something Blue than any of Giffin's other, better books. It is not about babies. There are children in the book, but they are minor characters, and the real story is a romance. It is a sad and beautiful story. I don't want to give away what happens, so I will just say that this book is one of strength and hope and love. I am super excited to pass this on to Sister. Read it and love it.

Marked by P.C. and Kristin Cast

I have been resisting this series for years. I didn't want to read it, but when I found a couple of the books at Goodwill, I decided I would try them. I really liked this book. I finished it quickly. It is about a young girl who is marked as a vampyre and who discovers that she is far from normal. She struggles with supernatural issues (drinking blood, ghosts, Imprinting, etc.) as well as crushes, best friends, boyfriends, fights, and more. I enjoyed reading it and was ready for the next one.

I recommend this to a more mature reader. It is not for someone with delicate sensibilities, as it contains sexual references and also, it may not be for easily swayed children, as it focuses heavily on goddess worship rather than a focus on God as I know Him. I encourage a preview of this book before it is shared with anyone else.

The Secret Year by Jennifer Hubbard

I picked this book up for a couple of dollars from a discount store. Within two hours of getting it home, I had finished it. I didn't want to put this book down. It focuses on a young man who is relatively poor who has this secret romance with a rich girl from up the mountain. He reads her journal for a year after a significant event.

This book covers being a teen. There is a love story, broken hearts, grief, unrequited love, unfaithful romances, embarrassment, and so much more. I took it to my sister and while she and cousin S and I were playing cards, S read through at least 100 pages, only stopping to play her hand. She couldn't put it down, either, and it is being returned to Sister when she finishes. I do recommend this book. It was really good.

Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris

Oh, Sookie... I love the True Blood series, but the last two books have been disappointing. I started reading this early this week, but put it down to start and finish Why We Broke Up. The book wasn't bad, but it just wasn't great. I read it, but there was reluctance in picking it up. I felt almost like I did when I read Steven King novels in high school, not because I liked him, but because my friends read the books and I wanted to be able to talk to them about those things we could share.

Harris seems to include a lot of action lately, but it makes it hard for me to remember was is going on. Who does Sookie love? Is it Eric? Bill? Quinn? Sam? Who? I never can keep up. I tire of hearing how attractive Sookie is and I am also tired of the stupid Fae. Alcide is changing and I don't like that. What happened to the sexy lumberjack (okay, that's what is in my head) who drives a pick-up truck and washes dishes? *sigh* Harris, I am not your biggest fan these days. Maybe I will just watch the HBO series and skip your next novels. I doubt I'd be missing much.

Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler

Why We Broke Up is a long and rambling letter to Ed from Min, explaining why she is returning all these wonderfully sentimental items to him and finally getting to why they broke up. Before I go on, I just have to say that immediately upon finishing this book, I texted my best friend, J, to tell her she had to read this book. I revealed that it hurt me to go to sleep and to church this morning because I wasn't able to finish this in one sitting. Truth be told, I actually sat in the church parking lot until the last possible minute so I could read more of this book before the service started.

I want to be as witty as Min and I want to have a love affair like the one described in the pages of this novel. Obviously, the relationship did not end well, but it burned bright, super nova style until it exploded. This book will transport you back into high school. Almost immediately, I was feeling everything Min did, excitement, hope, anxiety, sadness, fear, everything. I was there, was digging through a box, holding things and talking about things and cringing at moments when Min was cringing.

I LOVE this book, love love love. I like the style in which it is written, long and rambling, urgent, sad, underpunctuated. It is not just for young adults. I think it is appropriate for anyone who is 16 or older, perhaps younger. I have trouble believing that the man who wrote the Lemony Snickett books wrote this. It is beautiful.

I found the book at Barnes and Noble and flipped through it, but was hooked when I saw the beautifully sparse drawings. The art is beautiful, but the story... It is such a beautiful book, so carefully woven together, that it happens without your knowledge or permission, the story unfolding with ease. I was falling in love, but I had that nagging feeling in the back of my mind, that was verified at the end of several sections, that this would not be good.

The characters are complex and surprise you, just when you think you know them. The roles that are set forth here do not play out like you would expect, but that adds to the majesty of this book. I can't say enough wonderful things. I just really love it. I love the book. Please read it and share it.

Mortified

I bought this book because of the goofy picture on the cover. I am SO glad I judged this book by the cover. I laughed, cried, and cringed along with the authors of terrible journal entries and letters contained in this book. At one point, I really thought someone had stolen my own journal and used it as theirs. Oh, yes, there were many moments like this.

I finished half the book in the parking lot of Target. I sat there and started reading and did not want to stop. When it really hit home, I had to put it aside, but not before I decided that my best friend, co-author of some amazingly embarrassing correspondence had to read the book. I took it with me everywhere, reading tiny snippets while waiting to go into the doctor or in the parking lot when I was early for lunch with a friend or even while I was waiting for my small group to start in the church parking lot.

If you journaled at all, you need to read this book. It is so amazingly funny and current and wonderful. It is okay to shudder a little about the stupid things you remember and relate to. It will make you feel 12, 14, 16, or however old again. That is a really great thing. Even if it does make you feel a little sick for a moment to remember how obsessed you were with that all-consuming crush, it is nice to remember that feeling of love and desire and even hurt that is not so easy to experience as an adult.

Please read this book and share it if you can.

Is the B*tch Dead or What?

I didn't want to read this book. A casual acquaintance loaned it to me because she thought I enjoyed the first one, mostly because I actually read the first one. We are having lunch today, so I wanted to finish it up. It was a good as the first in this series, and by that, I mean it was terrible. I struggled to get through it. The only redeeming character in the book is Tracee, the best friend, who is discovering Jesus.

There are so many characters in this book, it is difficult to keep up. Each chapter (which are generally 2-3 pages long) is from another point of view. There are such gems of writing as this:

"The nurses were on their toes, but Ritz would rather have Tracee help her to the bathroom, help her eat, and other personal stuff like that."

I would not accept a sentence like than in a freshman comp class. Really?!? Please, Wendy Williams, stop writing. It would help the world.