Carlos

When was the last time you read a truly great ghost story? Really? Funny tangent. Me and my flat mate (so much funner than saying roommate) were browsing through netflx, and came across the 'thriller' category and decided we were in the mood to be 'Thrilled'. And in the memory of Veronica pushed forward. We came across a show called Ground Control, with Keifer and a killer storm in Az, and we figured sounds good. Oh it was good... in the Mystery Science Theater kind of way. we had a good laugh. Then we watched Artic Drift, where the hole in the ozone creates a drop in temperature so fast and severe everyone freezes to death until one lone hero saves the day by shooting things up in it to close it. It got about as intense as watching jello set, but we did have some good laughs and it is always fun listening to a cute guy talk with an Australian accent, so there was that. Needless to say we were thrillless. Then we went and watched Matt Damon in Contagion at the theater. NOW THAT was a thriller. It was kind of interesting leaving the theater, everyone was dead silent, until I blurted out, 'All of a sudden Germaphobes make sense' and got a few chuckles.

So.... this same week I pick up a book called "Prince of the Mist". The only reason I had purchased it was because I was by the author of one of the truly great books on my shelves. Shadow of the wind. If you haven't read that, put it on your list. No really. Do

Shadow of the Wind is an adult book by a very well known Spanish author. It is about book cemeteries, and lost books, and yes the devil is in it, it is a little bit of a thriller, but not crazy scary. Carlos is a phenomenal author you have to experience it to fully understand. Have I ever steered you wrong?

Prince of the Mist is a YA book, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Needless to say I was THRILLED. It was an honest to goodness ghost story. I got goose bumps several times, there are creepy statues, a sunken ship, adventure, a little romance, and a lot of ohhhhhh scarry! I loved it and couldn't put it down. Yay to Carlos, you have a gift.

I was also entranced by all the beautiful covers of this book.

Read 3 books in the past few weeks. 1 was a adventurous romp to a post apocalyptic society of children living in the NYC subway tunnels - 1 of a million new trilogies. 1 was light and fun and silly about a cranky but intelligent teen stuck on an deserted island with a bunch of crazy celebrities, but bad language. 1 was a fantasy remake of the 12 dancing princesses. Can you guess which is which?

Sisters Keeper

I know I just posted yesterday about a book, but well... I picked up a book yesterday and sometime WAY past my bedtime I realized I was going for a finish, and well I did, all 400 pages in one day...

While I was in PDX last month I had a delicious Hawaiian dinner with some friends and found an unknown bibliophile among them. We started shooting books back and fort at each other, her husband thought we were talking about one author or related books. No just random books we wanted to recommend. They both brought up Jodi Piccoult. I'd heard the name around but hadn't given much thought. Then they mentioned 'My Sisters Keeper' the movie? i asked, yes the movie was based on this book. but of course.... the book is better. So I added it to my collection thinking I'd get to it sometime. Well sometime was yesterday, and only yesterday as i read it straight through. Warning up front this is a SAD book, sad sad sad. But very thought provoking and such great writing. Hope you like it too!

Shades of Grey

If I was asked to list a few of my favorite authors, that would be a hard task, there are so many with so many different ideas and styles. But if you asked me what I thought about Jasper Fford, I’d say he has yet to disappoint. I know very little about Jasper except he writes mind blowing (literally) novels and refuses to sell his work to Hollywood. Really what else do you need to know. His most well known Series is the Thursday Next series. If you like books and you like action and you like having your mind stimulated, then these are the books for you. The first ‘The Eyre Affair” is just fabulous and introduces you to Thursday’s world. I can recommend this book highly enough (though be warned she has a potty mouth) The next series he wrote was the Nursery Crime books. Jack Sprat solves cases involving Nursery Rhymes (was humpty dumpty murder or suicide?) Again, just super duper books.

My latest read is of his newest series. Shades of Grey. If I could just have a few hours to pick Jaspers brain, I still don’t think I’d fully understand where he gets these ideas from. Shades of Grey was hard to get into at first because I had to train my mind to think like him and get invested in this Chromatia Colorful world. This dystopian world where everyone’s social status depends on what color they can see predominantly. 500 years in the future where every move is dictated by the ‘rules’. Again I am just blown away at the ideas and nuances that comes out of his head. A future where spoons are no longer manufactured so they become rare and valuable, where artificial light is so taboo that no one has ever gone out at night so Stars are as mythical as M’Donna and Chuck Nourus.

The next book doesn’t come out until 2013… curse you Fford!