Midnighters 2: Touching Darkness by Scott Westerfeld

Touching Darkness is the second book in the Midnighters trilogy. It continues the story of Jessica Day and her friends, the Midnighters, who experience the secret hour that happens at midnight every night. In this book, Jessica, Rex, Dess, Jonathan, and Melissa learn more about Midnighter history and discover a horrifying secret that began 50 years earlier. They need to learn to work together if they want to save one of their own.

I feel like I've been reading so many Scott Westerfeld books lately, but it's because he has so many series and I'm just reading my books as I get them from the long list I have at the library. I think Touching Darkness was better than the first book, The Secret Hour. It had more action and kept my attention more. I felt The Secret Hour kind of dragged, especially in the beginning. I will definitely put the third book on my list of holds at the library.

4 out of 5 stars

One for the Money by Janet Evanovich

Stephanie Plum is having major money troubles. She's selling off her appliances just so she can eat, and she doesn't want to get evicted from her apartment. If that happened she would have to move in with her overbearing mother! She finds out that her cousin Vinnie has a job opening at his business. Vinnie is a bail-bondsman and he's looking for a bounty hunter. Stephanie really needs the money so she takes the job. Vinnie gives her a week to find and bring in a man who's wanted for murder. Not only is this guy a murderer, but Stephanie realizes he is the boy she lost her virginity to when she was 16!

I know a lot of people who are in love with the Stephanie Plum series, so I was looking forward to reading the first book in the series, One for the Money. At first, I couldn't figure out why everyone loves this book so much, but now that I'm finished, I want to know what happens in the next book! Stephanie reminds me of a less annoying Heather Wells from Meg Cabot's Size 12 is Not Fat series. I like that Stephanie is just a regular girl trying to be tough in a scary job. I will definitely continue to read this series.

4 out of 5 stars

The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory

It took me a while to finish this book because, when I was very close to finishing it, I left it at my parents house. I was so mad! I only just got it back yesterday, so I finished it today!

The Constant Princess tells the story of Katherine of Aragon, King Henry VIII's first wife. Katherine was born "Catalina" to the King and Queen of Spain. Her marriage to Prince Arthur, the heir to the throne of England, was decided when she was an infant. She knew she would be Princess of Wales all of her life. When she turned 15, she was sent to England to marry Prince Arthur. At first she despised Arthur, but she grew to love him very much during the short months that they were married. As Arthur lay dying of a sudden illness, he made Catalina promise that she would marry his brother, Henry, and become Queen of England.

Chronologically, The Constant Princess comes before Gregory's other book, The Other Boleyn Girl. I really wanted to read The Other Boleyn Girl, but when I found out that this book takes place before it, I decided to read them in order. The book switches between telling the story in third person to Katherine's point of view in the first person, indicated by italics. I loved it, because it was like looking into her mind at certain points in her life. Her story is sad, but she is very strong throughout all of her hardships. I am ashamed to say that before reading this book, I had very little knowledge of King Henry VIII and the Tudors. Now I want to read anything I can about the subject. It's so interesting! I've heard there is a TV series on Showtime about the Tudors; I'll have to check it out. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to read The Other Boleyn Girl!

5 out of 5 stars

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

I finally finished the 983 pages of The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. This book is basically about the building of a cathedral. It switches from the story of the master builder, to the prior of the cathedral, to the bishop, to the master builder's stepson. All of their stories are intertwined, and revolve around the building of the cathedral.

It was a bit confusing when the story switched to different characters' points of view without warning. I liked the book a lot, though. It was obviously very long, but not too difficult to read. I liked how he told the stories of so many vastly different characters. It was very interesting and I really want to read the sequel. Although, if the sequel is as long as the first book, it will take me a long time to read it! This book has made me want to read more historical fiction.

5 out of 5 stars

This book is so long...

I've been reading The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett for a week now and I haven't even read half of it yet. I had no idea that 983 pages would feel like an eternity. I am really liking the book, but it's taking so long I've started reading shorter, easier books in between. The book is already overdue at the library and I can't renew it because it has too many holds on it! Oh well, at least the fine is only $.10 a day. I would have to have the book for more than 3 months to rack up a fine equal to the cost of the book new! I'm on page 383 of 983, so I only have 600 more pages!

I found this list online of 1001 books you should read before you die. It's from the book 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die by Peter Ackroyd and Peter Boxall. I scanned the list and I've only read 23 of them! This list is obviously just the opinions of the authors but it's still an interesting guideline. It has a lot of books on it that I've been wanting to read anyway. Maybe I'll read a book from the list each month or something. It depends on what I can get from the library. I will never be able to live somewhere where the library doesn't deliver books. It's way too convenient!

Peeps by Scott Westerfeld

I've been reading The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, but the book is so long that I decided to take a break from it and read a shorter, easier book.

Peeps is about Cal Thompson, a vampire hunter of sorts. He hunts down "peeps", people who are infected with a parasite that causes vampire-like tendencies (dislike of sunlight, craving blood, superhuman senses, etc.). The reason Cal does this is because he also has the parasite, but he is a carrier, not a full-blown "peep". He doesn't have all of the yucky side effects. During an investigation, Cal meets a girl named Lace who makes it difficult for Cal to stick to his forced life of celibacy. One kiss could turn Lace into a "peep". Cal and Lace investigate a series of disappearances and strange things start to happen.

I've been reading a lot of Scott Westerfeld books lately and haven't been too impressed with the last few, but I liked Peeps a lot more. It was an interesting take on a vampire story; a lot different than the usual. Every other chapter has information about real-life parasites. It's sort of gross, but he writes it in a way that makes it funny so it dulls the gross factor. I really enjoyed this book. The story was good and kept my attention and it was funny. Now I guess I'll get back to the monstrosity known as The Pillars of the Earth. It's over 900 pages!

4 out of 5 stars

Midnighters: The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfeld

The Secret Hour is the first book in Scott Westerfeld's Midnighters series. When Jessica Day moves to Bixby, Oklahoma, she expects to feel like an outsider because she is new; but, when she meets Rex, Melissa, and Dess she realizes just how much of an outsider she really is. Rex, Melissa and Dess are Midnighters. They do not freeze like everyone else in the "secret hour", the twenty-fifth hour in the day that occurs at midnight, they explore it and even have special powers during this hour. Jessica learns that she is one of them and she's special. The darklings, creatures that live in the secret hour, have a deadly interest in Jessica and no one can figure out why.

I've been reading a lot of Scott Westerfeld books ever since I discovered the Uglies trilogy. I thought that this book was OK. It definitely is not as good as Uglies, but it's an interesting story. It's a very short, easy read. I feel like I should stop reading Scott Westerfeld's books because they are all slightly disappointing compared to the Uglies trilogy, but I already have Peeps from the library so I'll be reading that fairly soon, if not next.

3 out of 5 stars