The Kari AnnAlysis

Archive for July, 2010

Lenah Beaudonte is 529 years old. She was turned into a vampire at the age of 16 and soon became the Queen Bee of her coven. After 400+ years, she decided what she really wanted to was to feel. She wanted to be human again. To do that, she had to take a nap for 100 years and lose the love of her vampire life.

When Lenah wakes up, she’s in the states, at one of the most privileged prep schools in the country. She can feel, her heart beats and she finally learns what it means to really be a 16 year old, and care about others more than you care about yourself. And of course, there’s a cute boy and a BFF that help make this possible.

I got this ARC from the Early Reviewers Program onLibrarything.

We’ve all read the vampire books lately, the lust for vampires is CRAZY! We all know how they got there, but never really have heard anything about turning back into a human.Who even knew this was possible? Rebecca Maizel did an awesome job of bringing this to life. I love knowing what it would be like for a vampire to be thrown back into society.

There were some great parts of this story, some great quotes that I can’t quit running over in my head:

Pg178: “I had forgotten what it meant to be a daughter. I had been queen for so long.”

Pg276: “The instant the sun rises, it also begins to set. The moment we are born, we begin to die. all of life is a cycle, Tony.”

One of the things I like best about this book is the ending. I had an idea of how I thought it was going to end and as I continued to read, those ideas changed… and none of the ways I thought it would end really happened. I love when that happens. I love being surprised.

This book had it all. There was drama, suspense, love, teen angst, comedy. I was very impressed with all the emotions I felt. And I may… may have shed a tear or two. I can’t handle when men cry

I give Infinite Days 5 bookmarks.

Make sure you follow Rebecca Maizel on Twitter! She is awesome and always writes messages back to me

I have realized that I have become a seasonal reader… for certain seasons. Last year, I read Interview with the Vampire and a couple of TrueBlood books at Halloween and I participated in a reading challenge to see how many “holiday” books I could read from Thanksgiving until Christmas.

I’m not as avid about the seasonal reading during the summers. Not this summer at least. I have so many books stacked on my shelf to be read, I can’t make myself buy anymore. I have, however, been keeping my eye on some summer reads on Bookmooch, hoping for them to pop up.

Here are some covers for the one’s I’m spying on:

I absolutely love the covers for all of these books. The hubs and I were at the mall over the weekend, so I spent some time in the YA section of Borders. I started looking for summer books, but then decided I have too much on my plate right now to try to sneak any of these in. But who doesn’t agree, that in the middle of the summer, it’s nice to read about what other people are doing for the summer. I enjoy reading about other people’s vacations and crazy trips and fantasize that I was there … except when people are murdered.

Check out the “Summer” section of Bookmooch here.

So, next comes Halloween. Right now, I don’t have any Halloween books lined up, but I am counting on Jenn’s Bookshelves to give me some ideas. She’s been talking about spooky books forever on twitter.

Now to the Big Kahuna, the holiday books. I actually already have a couple of these on my shelf that I have found at book sales, but I’ve also started making a “To Read: Holiday” list. Here’s what’s on it:

If you can’t tell, I am definitely a cover girl when it comes to reading these books. If it has a cute cover, I could care less what it is about, as long as snow is involved.

Ok, this may be bad… and a few months too early, but I am pumped for winter so I can read these. I had a REALLY hard time last year making myself wait until after Thanksgiving to start these. If any of you have been reading my blog for a while, you will know I LOVE the Christmas holiday. I hated it growing up, but I love, love, love it now. Movies, books, the Christmas tree, family and the reason for the season. Oh, and of course the snow. I hate that I have to drive in the snow to work, and stay in hotels when it does snow, but it’s just so beautiful, I can’t hate it.

I recently got a gift card from work, we do a drawing every month and it’s called the “Best Work Winner.” My boss knows me way too well and got me a Borders card. I am saving this for holiday reads. It may take some major self restraint not to use it until then, but I know when the holiday season comes and I’m scrounging around for money for gifts, I’ll be glad I waited to feed this habit with a gift card.

So now, do you guys read for the seasons? And do you have any suggestions for me to read?

And check out my list of books I read last year during the holiday season as part of the Christmas Reading Challenge.

Emma Caldridge is a chemist on a mission when her flight from Miami to Bogota gets hijacked. She is thrown from the plane and able to escape the capturing of guerrillas, but she has a long road ahead of her. She is in the depths of the jungle, with just a small backpack and a tent, luckily she is used to running ultramarathons, 100 miles, and has the endurance needed to survive something like this.

She teams up with another American as they run from the “devil” and try to make it home alive. Unfortunately, the guerrillas aren’t the only enemy. Emma has a secret, a formula that can kill on contact and spread to others and kill within 12 hours. She has to right a wrong, before any one else gets their hands on the formula.

WOW! This book was incredible! I can’t say I’ve really read any books like this before. Normally, if I stray from the light and fluffy, I read a murder mystery to test my skills at solving crimes. I guess a bit of that comes into play here, trying to figure out which American is after Emma.

I was actually offered Freveletti’s second book, Running Dark which now I am dying to read, but hadn’t read the first in the series yet. Freveletti’s awesome publicity team sent me both books to get started.

I’m not even really sure where to get started in showing my love for this book. Emma is an amazing character, and an amazing woman. She’s a chemist, she’s a runner, she has everything she needs to be left in the jungle. I probably wouldn’t make it 2 hours, but she endures, makes alliances and survives.

The men in this book, how Gladys and I see them, are mouth watering! Every single guy, well, not the bad guys of course, are heart throbs! They are tough, they are chivalrous and they kick some major guerilla butt.

I think one of the things I liked most about this book was that although it was fiction and kept me turning the pages, I actually felt like I was learning from it. It was a survival lesson and drama all balled into one. I caught myself asking my husband a few times, “Did you know…” and neither of us did. Now if only I could remember what I learned, to ensure survival next time my plane is hijacked in the jungle. I know to keep my mouth open when explosions happen , so the waves go through me instead of knocking me around (I know, great explanation right?).

I give Running from the Devil, no surprise after my gushing review, I’m sure, 5 bookmarks!

Learn more about Jamie, check out her websiteor check her out on Twitter, @jamiefreveletti

This week’s Teaser Tuesday comes to us from Rebecca Maizel’s ARC of Infinite Days. I normally don’t add a cover, but I love this one, so that’s why it’s here too.

Pg 5: “I didn’t look a day over sixteen, yet if someone had calculated on that particular day — I officially turned 592.”

I think this is the first time I have ever gone under the required two sentence tease! 

What are you reading?

In the town where I live, there aren’t many unsolved murders. In Boston, however, there are a lot. There are some that were killed in a bathtub, but their bodies were never found. There are some gang bangers, from different cliques that are getting shot by the same gun. And, of course, there are the Prom Night Murders, where couples are found dead, dressed to the nines.

In 2 in the Hat, we follow a couple of detectives who are trying to solve the Prom Night Murders, 10 years after they started. Once again, a couple turns up dead, wired to trees in formal wear. There are too many similarities to make it the work of a copy cat, but they end up needing someone who doesn’t know a whole lot about the case to lend them a hand. Turns out though, that hand may also have the answers to the other murders.

I got this book from the Kelley and Hallcompany. I was really impressed with how creative the murders were that Yessayan wrote about. I always feel so morbid when I feel like that, but it’s the kind of creative writing every author wants to be able to pull off. I imagine Yessayan’s time as an ADA probably helped with this.

There were a couple of things about this book that I had a hard time with. First, each chapter is from the standpoint of a different character. There are a lot of players in this book, including the two detectives, the ADA, two convicted felons who now try to get gang bangers off the street, the Prom Night Killer, you get the point. For the first few chapters, I had a hard time deciphering who all of these guys were. The longer I read with them, the easier it was, but it took a while.

I am always a fan of the murder mystery. It keeps my mind ticking, trying to figure out through the twists and turns who the killers are. I wish in this book, the killer would have been kept under wraps for a little longer. The ADA figures out who the Prom Night Killers is about 2/3 the way through, so the suspense is kind of gone from that portion of the plot. I mean, obviously he could be wrong, but the evidence is pretty tight. There are a couple of twists through the last 1/3, but I like waiting until the last little bit to know who my killer is going to be.

I will definitely keep my eye out for more Yessayan books in the future! I give 2 in the Hat 3 bookmarks.