Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer

There is no way for me to outline the plot without it sounding somewhat stupid, but here goes. Human teenager falls in love with 100-year-old vampire. 100-year-old vampire becomes obsessed with keeping human teenager safe. Teenager figures out vampire is a vampire and goes to meet his "vegetarian" (meaning they don't drink human blood) vampire family.... it goes on from there, but I can't continue without really ruining it.

If you haven't heard of this book (or the movie, recently released, based on the book), you must've been living in a cave somewhere... or maybe you have a life. Lucky. This book (and the rest of the series) have become some of the bestselling books of our time. I'm really not surprised. Edward (100-year-old vampire) is written as this perfect being who can do no wrong-- every teenage girl's dream of the perfect boyfriend. Morally, this book starts out okay. Bella (the human) is one we can all relate to-- the clumsy new girl at school. In the beginning of their relationship, Edward is dead-set against any physical relations (obviously sending a good message to teens, right?). Well, yeah, but the whole "blood-sucking vampire thing" isn't so great. Even though Edward is willing to lay down his life (go figure...) for Bella and there are some good messages in this book, it's not one that I'd suggest anyone younger than 14 or so read. Even so, I still liked it.

Thumbs Up! (with caution)

DragonQuest, by Donita K. Paul

The sequel to DragonSpell, this book picks up as Dragon Keeper Kale Allerion is summoned to the Wizard Fenworth’s home in The Bogs to start training as an apprentice wizard. The meech egg that Kale found in the previous story has now hatched, and the meech dragon Regidor needs both training and guidance. Who better for this job than the Dragon Keeper herself? All is well until Kale finds out thaat the evil wizard Risto has captured another meech egg and has sinister plans for the dragon inside. It’s up to Kale, Regidor, and their new acquaintance Bardon to rescue the meech egg and foil Risto’s plans.

We’ve all heard it said, “Sequels are never as good as their precursors”. Most of us have even experienced it. Well, this is one book that doesn’t live up to that phrase. I admit to being wary as I began this book—because it is, after all, just a sequel. In my opinion, though, it’s even better than DragonSpell. We meet several new and more charming characters as we follow Kale on her quest as a servant of Paladin as she also expands her talents as Dragon Keeper. I really enjoyed reading this book. If only it were a few pages longer...!

Thumbs Up!

PAUSE!!!

Uh-oh. Finals this week. I'm sorry, but it'll be awhile before I've recovered enough to read anything but textbooks. My next post'll have to wait! :(

I'll be back before y'all know it. Adiós!

P.S. I'm always open for prayers-- goodness' knows I need 'em!

DragonSpell, by Donita K. Paul

Kale is used to being treated like the village slave she is. But when she is inexplicably drawn to the egg of a minor (small) dragon her life changes drastically. The village elders decide to send her to the Hall to be trained under Paladin as a recognized servant of Wulder and to learn how she is to defeat the evil wizard.

Though geared toward younger adults and teens, I enjoyed this book immensely. The allegory found in this book is along the same lines as in C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia series. The character Wulder is the Creator of the world and Paladin is his son, while the wizard Risto is the lover of darkness and evil. Both Wulder and Paladin are portrayed as very kind, loving and always there when you need them, although not interfering. These themes are woven into the story very nicely so as not to blatantly preach. This is one book that is a definite must-read with a huge thumbs-up from me!

Thumbs Up!

Skin, by Ted Dekker

The cover looks questionable. The title is just plain weird. The plot line is totally what you'd expect from Ted Dekker. It could be viewed as an exploration into the idea of beauty. Or it could just be a great story about a questionably sane serial killer. It combines Dekker's signature twisting plot with the classic theme of beauty only being skin deep. The killer, whom we know as Red or Sterling, poses the question "What is beauty?" More than just a philosophical idea, Red takes it to another level when he forces a group of 5 random people into deciding who dies based on their beauty. But wait a minute. Is it really happening? Or are they dreaming? No one besides these 5 people seem to hear from the killer. No one else notices the tornadoes that cover the town in sand up to the rooftops. Interesting...

Holy mackerel. I can't do this book justice. WOW. It might just be my new favorite Ted Dekker book. Is it weird? A little... but that's just Dekker for ya. One of the best things about Ted Dekker is his way of getting his ideas and beliefs across without preaching. Somehow, he can create a book like this that is able to appeal to fans of authors such as James Patterson or even Stephen King. I definitely encourage y'all to read Skin-- it may not change your life, but you'll never look at sand the same way again.

Go, Dekker!
Multiple thumbs up!!!

The Princess, by Lori Wick

Most little girls dream of being a princess. For Shelby Parker, that dream is becoming reality. The Prince of Pendarin is looking for a wife in name only, and Shelby is chosen. Prince Nikolai's first wife has passed away, and his parents urge him to find another. However, Nikolai has no desire to torture his heart in that way again. Shelby longs for real love, while Nikolai does not. Will the new Princess of Pendarin find the love her heart years for?

Lori Wick is definitely one of my favorite authors. There was a time when her novels were all that I'd read. Now, I have to be in just the right mood. The Princess is one exception. There's something in the way it's written that makes me feel like a daydreaming little girl again. Sappy, dreamy, and sweet, this book has the potential of making you cry—if you're one of those people.

Thumbs up! (if you're in the right mood)

Thr3e, by Ted Dekker

Kevin Parson is an unsuspecting seminary student, trying to make sense of his life, when one day a stranger calls and tells him he has three minutes to confess his sin to the world. The punishment for not doing this? Death. What follows is an exciting, edge-of-your-seat thrill ride as the killer, known as Slater, haunts Kevin.
This is, quite frankly, my absolute favorite Ted Dekker book—so far. This book really has everything you could want in a book: suspense, murder, romance, action, and of course, a major twist at the end. This is one book that I'll never tire of reading. *WARNING* Reading this book will cause you to stay up until all hours of the morning in order to finish it!

Thumbs up!

Trying something new-ish

So, I decided that since my real website is such a pain to update, I'd kind of continue it here. I figure that, since it's so hard to find spare time with Mom, that I would do it myself. (she's the one that's been updating my website for me). Basically, the whole point of afore-mentioned website was to review my favorite books for y'all to read about. This worked okay, except for the fact that I'd forget which books I read and how I liked them. I'm hoping this works better.

I'll do my best to up date often
and provide a wide array of genres.

If anybody has any suggestions, please feel free to contact me! I can't guarantee I'll be able to get my hands on them, or that I'll enjoy them, but I'll give it a shot.

If you don't agree with my opinions, well, sorry, but I'm an opinionated kind of gal.

So here goes. My blog.

Fin.