Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

Don't read this review if you haven't read the other books in this series, as it may contain spoilers!

I finally finished the book! I got it the minute it came out at Walmart, but I haven't had much time to read it. I'm glad I finished it! It was great! I think it was a good end to the saga. I'm a little sad that the series is finished, but I'm not feeling as depressed as I thought I would.

I wasn't sure I was going to like Breaking Dawn at first. I was a little unsure of where the story was going, but I started to like it more and more! I want to reread it already, but I have a lot of library books to read. I've renewed them as many times as I can already. Well, I hope Stephenie Meyer changes her mind and decides to continue to write books in this series. I have to say that it pushed the Harry Potter series out of the top spot on my favorite series list. I guess I'll just have to make do with the movie and the guide that are being released in December!

5 out of 5 stars, of course!!

Post-Reading Deprsession

I'm getting closer to the end of Breaking Dawn and I can feel that my post-reading depression (I swear it exists!) is going to be worse than usual. I'm kind of procrastinating so that I can hold it off a little longer. This happens to me a lot when I finish a really good series, or even just a really good book. It happened with the Harry Potter series, Uglies series, His Dark Materials, and Pope Joan, Eclipse, and The Host. I can't believe I'm almost finished with the Twilight series! It's not fair! I'll post about the book when I finish, and after I come out of the "depression" a little bit.

Note: I realize that post-reading depression is not really depression as it only lasts a few days or so, but it's the best way I can describe the feeling. It's pretty awful and emotionally draining.

The Waste Lands by Stephen King

This is the third book in the Dark Tower series. If you haven't read the first two books, don't read this review as it contains spoilers.

The Waste Lands is the third book in Stephen King's Dark Tower series. It continues the story of Roland and his quest for the mysterious Dark Tower. As Roland, Eddie and Susannah continue their journey, Roland is fighting madness. When he stopped Jack Mort from pushing Jake in front of the car, he changed the past. If Jake didn't die, he must not have met Roland at the way station. But, if Roland didn't meet Jake at the way station, why did he remember it happening? Jake is feeling the exact same way in his own reality. He eventually finds a way to Roland's world and joins the quest for the Dark Tower. The foursome must follow the path to the Dark Tower and they have two children's books from Jake's "when" to help them.

That was a terrible synopsis, but I've found that it's very difficult to summarize the books in the Dark Tower series. Once I start my summary, I feel like I want to describe every detail. I'm trying to stay away from too many spoilers, though. Anyway, I really enjoyed this book even though it took me over a month to read it. It really had nothing to do with the book, though, it was because of a pretty crazy month. I liked The Waste Lands more than The Gunslinger and I definitely want to read the next book.

4 out of 5 stars

I'm going to reread Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse before Breaking Dawn comes out on August 2nd, so it may be a little while before I post again. I guess I could post about the books again with my opinion about them after a second read. Maybe I'll do that...

Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson

Here is a synopsis from Amazon.com:

"Ever hear of Zeus? Michelangelo? Attila the Hun? According to 14-year-old Molly Aster they all derived their powers from starstuff that occasionally falls to Earth from the heavens. On Earth, it is the Starcatchers' job to rush to the scene and collect the starstuff before it falls into the hands of the Others who use its myriad powers for evil.

On board the ship Never Land, an orange-haired boy named Peter, the leader of a group of orphaned boys being sent off to work as servants in King Zarboff the Third's court, is puzzled by his shipmate Molly's fantastical story of starstuff, but it inextricably binds him to her. Peter vows to help his new, very pretty friend Molly (a Starcatcher's apprentice) keep a mysterious trunk full of the stuff out of the clutches of the pirate Black Stache, a host of other interested parties, and ultimately King Zarboff the Third."

This book is very cute! I love how it's a prequel to the Disney movie. It was obvioulsy written for a younger audience, but it made it very easy to read. Life has been pretty crazy lately, so I needed to read something that would be quick and easy. I love how the story explains how the orphan, Peter, went from being a "normal" boy, to the flying and forever young Peter Pan. I can't wait to read the other books in this series. I hope they're as good as this first one.

4 out of 5 stars

Once Upon a Time in the North by Philip Pullman

Once Upon a Time in the North is about the aeronaut, Lee Scoresby, when he is about 24 years old. He has just won his balloon in a poker game and is flying from city to city looking for work and adventure. He lands in Novy Odense and meets some very interesting characters there, including talking bears! He decides to help a ship captain with a customs dispute and mayhem ensues.

This book is very cute. I read it in about an hour and a half as it's only 95 pages long. It's not part of the His Dark Materials trilogy, but it has some of the same characters. It takes place 35 years or so before The Golden Compass. I really enjoyed reading about Lee Scoresby when he was young. He's my favorite character from The Golden Compass, so I definitely found this book interesting. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who liked His Dark Materials. I haven't read Lyra's Oxford yet, but I'd like to. It's similar to this book in that they are both about some of the same characters from the trilogy but are not actually part of the trilogy themselves. Anyway, Once Upon a Time in the North was a very quick, easy read, and very enjoyable.

5 out of 5 stars

Two for the Dough by Janet Evanovich

This is a sequel. Don't read this review unless you have read the first book, One for the Money, as this contains spoilers.

Two for the Dough is the second book in the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. It continues the story of Stephanie's life as a bounty hunter. This time she's looking for Kenny Mancuso, a guy who shot his friend in the knee. Joe Morelli is back on the force and is getting in Stephanie's way. They're both looking for Kenny while also trying to solve a mystery involving missing caskets.

This book was so fun to read! I really like this series. I just wish everyone else didn't love it so much, too, because it's very hard to get from the library. I sat on the waiting list for over a month before I got the book! Well, it was worth the wait. Two for the Dough was fast-paced, funny, and easy to read. I love that Stephanie has to try very hard to be a bounty hunter (and not a very good one at that!). I'm tired of the books about people who "fight crime" with the ease of a superhero. It makes Stephanie seem more real and makes the story more believable. These books remind me of Meg Cabot's Size 12 is Not Fat books. I see many similarities between Stephanie Plum and Heather Wells. I can't wait to read Three to Get Deadly! I guess I should put it on hold at the library now...

5 out of 5 stars

So, on a personal note...

My husband and I bought a house just over a month ago, and we have been completely redecorating it. I don't want to ever touch a paintbrush again in my life, but we're still not finished. We've been spending a lot of time at the house, so I haven't had as much time to read. I will try to keep updating, but we'll be moving in soon, so that will take time also. We're moving to a different county so I will be using a different library. I hope it's as good as the one I'm currently using!

The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King

Warning! This is a sequel to The Gunslinger. If you haven't read the first book yet, don't read this review as it contains spoilers.

The Drawing of the Three is the second book in The Dark Tower series by Stephen King. It continues the story of Roland's search for the Dark Tower. Roland must "draw" three people to help him on his quest. All three are from different times in New York City. Roland enters their minds and draws them into his world. The first is Eddie, a young drug addict; the second is Odetta, a schizophrenic; and the third is Jack, a serial killer. In some way or another, all three of these people are important to Roland's quest for the Dark Tower.

This book was definitely better than the first. It was easier to read and introduced more characters. They are really what makes the book interesting. We still don't know very much about why Roland is looking for the Dark Tower or what the tower is, but I assume eventually that will be revealed. The book was definitely pretty graphic in the violence department (it wouldn't be Stephen King without the violence, though). Overall, this book was way better than the first, and made me want to read the third book, The Wastelands.

4 out 5 stars

The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory

The Boleyn Inheritance tells the story of Henry VIII's fourth and fifth wives, Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard. Both women are very different but the both eventually learn how dangerous it is to be Henry Tudor's wife.

This book is just as interesting and emotional as The Other Boleyn Girl. I loved that it was in the perspective of the three women, Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard, and Jane Boleyn. All three women had such vastly different personalities and thoughts about what was happening. Anne was so independent and was just trying to live her life without a man telling her what she could and couldn't do, Katherine was naive and vain, and Jane was calculating and a little mad, I think. I loved this book, and I wish Philippa Gregory had written more books about Henry VIII, but this was the last one. Maybe I will find some written by other authors. I've seen them at the bookstore. I'd like to see how other authors tell the story of the Tudor family.

5 out of 5 stars

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

I finally finished this book. It took me forever to read it! I liked it more than Wuthering Heights, which was written by her sister. I thought the story was interesting, but it was a bit slow. It took a lot of energy to force myself to read it. Anyway, this book is in the book 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. That leaves me with 976 books to go!

My husband and I just bought a house a little over a week ago and we've been fixing it up every weekend. So far, we have almost all of the walls primed and about half of them painted! After the painting, we need to have tile and carpet put in. I'm excited to be finished so we can move in! I have been very busy with house stuff, so I haven't updated my blogs in a while. I also noticed that reading hasn't been as fun because I feel like I'm just doing it so that I can update my blog. I may end up taking a break from blogging. I don't want to, but I want to enjoy reading again.

3 out of 5 stars

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

I finally finished The Host today. I got it last Wednesday, so it took me a little over a week to read it. I've been busy with crocheting (I've made two bags and I'm currently making bunny slippers!) and we're closing on a house tomorrow, so that's been keeping me busy, too. Anyway, back to The Host. Here is the summary from Amazon.com:

"A species of altruistic parasites has peacefully assumed control of the minds and bodies of most humans, but feisty Melanie Stryder won't surrender her mind to the alien soul called Wanderer. Overwhelmed by Melanie's memories of fellow resistor Jared, Wanderer yields to her body's longing and sets off into the desert to find him. Likely the first love triangle involving just two bodies, it's unabashedly romantic, and the characters (human and alien) genuinely endearing."

I loved this book! It was so good! I think I would love anything Stephenie writes, though. She's such an amazing writer. At first I thought the book would be really weird, but it was great! The "love triangle" was a very cool aspect of this book. I hope she writes a sequel. I want to read more about Wanderer and everyone else! I already want to reread the book. I thought I would compare it to Twilight the entire time, but I really didn't. If you liked Twilight and aren't sure if you should read The Host, you should! Go read it! Right now! You won't regret it! Can you tell I'm excited about this book?

5 out of 5 stars!

I Have The Host and I'm Loving It!

I got The Host on Wednesday, and I've been liking it a lot. The only problem is that I have a new obsession that has been taking up a lot of my time: knitting and crocheting! I've made a baby blanket, some scarves, a clutch, a baby hat, and I'm currently working on another bag. I've been writing all about my projects in my other blog which is linked on the right. Go check it out!

Tithe by Holly Black

Tithe is about a girl named Kaye who can see faeries. When she was young, she had three faerie friends. When she moves back to her childhood home with her mother, she finds her faerie friends again. They tell her about a plan to help out all faeries, and they need her help. She agrees and ends up in way over her head.

This book is very odd and I found it to be pretty confusing, especially at the end. Overall, it was an interesting book, but not my favorite. I'll probably read the next book, Valiant, just because I want to know what happens in it. I liked that Kaye was portrayed as a "real" teenager, but it also teaches young adults that it's OK and normal to smoke and drink alcohol when they're under-age. Eh, I guess Holly Black is just not my favorite author.

3 out of 5 stars