Kricket's Happy Korner: Books!

If you hadn't noticed, I really love to read. I read as much as possible, but it's hard, I don't have as much time as I used to.

So, over the last couple of weeks I've read two very good books and I shall review them here.

The Rook by Daniel O'Malley gets 4 stars.

It's a really interesting read since the main character wakes up in a park, in the rain, surrounded by dead people and has no idea who she is. But she soon finds out that she's an agent for a secret government agency that protects the world from supernatural threats and one of her co-workers wants her dead.

This book gripped me from page one and was a great ride. Even parts of the book that could have been very info dumping and boring were good, not perfect, but still good.

I highly recommend it to people who like the paranormal and/or superheros like X-Men.

Don't Bite the Bridesmaid by Tiffany Allee gets 5 stars!

Alice needs a date for her sister's wedding that's taking place on a week long cruise. Who better to ask than her hot neighbor Noah? Problem is, Noah is a vampire.

This was just a fun and quick read all around. I'm not normally one for paranormal romance or vampires but the characters in this book are just soooo good. They feel very real and I believed everything they did. The romance was wonderfully sexy and the ending was also quite satisfying.

I haven't enjoyed a romance like this in a long time.

So there you have it. What good books have you read recently, tell me in the comments!

Have a Happy Monday!

Kricket's Happy Korner: A Slice of My Life

Hello lovely readers and welcome to the first episode of Kricket's Happy Korner! This is where I share the stuff that made me grin or laugh or whatever happy response you prefer. Let's get started shall we?

To start things off, I'm grateful for long weekends where I get to have Daniel home for an extra day and we all get to play together as a family.

Ke$ha's new CD. I've been listening to it non-stop for like a week. It's a great mix of peepy and soulful songs and it just makes me grin and want to dance or sing along when I listen to it.

So You Think You Can Dance is pretty much the best competition show on TV. Who wants to watch mediocre singers stand on a stage when you can watch amazing dancers fly across one? I mean really. Also, way better than Dancing With the Stars because these dancers actually know what the hell they're doing and they're damn good at it too.

I've become addicted to this game on my Kindle Fire called Dragon Story. It's a game were you hatch, raise and breed pretty dragons. The dragon designs are great and very diverse. I find it great fun, but I'm pretty easily amused.

And now for a book review. :)

I'm giving Mockingjay 4 Stars. I really liked it, and felt it was a good ending to the series. Not a happy ending but a real one. I've read other's reviews and understand some of the negative ones but I like that this story didn't end happy for Katniss. At least not fairy tale happy. It's more real. Some reviewers wanted her to be a super hero, but she's not really, she's just a 17 year old girl trying to survive and sometimes only kind of succeeding. I'm really looking forward to the rest of the movies.

I am a big fan of Felicia Day and she just launched a new YouTube channel called Geek & Sundry Vlogs and on it is one vlogger who talks about comics. I'm kind of new to comics and Amy Dallen does a good job of introducing the world of comics to people. Also, she's kind of cute as a button. Here is the first video. You should check out the rest of the channel as well, it's nothing but geek stuff.

And that's all for now, friends! *reads over blog* Yep, that kind of sums up my life and all the things I like to do.

So tell me, what makes you happy? Is there something new you've discovered that you'd like to share? I'd love to hear about it in the comments. *hint hint nudge nudge*

Have a happy start to your week!

Book Review: Catching Fire

(as usual, everything is from Amazon)

4 STARS

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the annual Hunger Games with fellow district tribute Peeta Mellark. But it was a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Katniss and Peeta should be happy. After all, they have just won for themselves and their families a life of safety and plenty. But there are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss and Peeta, to their horror, are the faces of that rebellion. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge.

~~~

Well, like with The Hunger Games, I'm a little late in reading this. And as with the first book, the thing that got me to pick it up was the movie trailer.

I think I liked this book more than the first one. I like political intrigue and sometimes I wish we could have seen more of that in this book. It looks like the movie will show us more of that so I'm excited to see it.

I found Katniss even more believable in this book than the first one. She's still in survival mode and now she's even more torn between Peeta and Gale, as well as torn between whether or not she should be in love with anyone at all. It's nice too see a love triangle like this where the girl isn't always consumed with lovey dovey thoughts.

I'm also impressed with the characterization of the other side characters. They're fleshed out nicely and I hope we get to see more of them in Mockingjay.

Oddly enough, Catching Fire has drawn me in more than The Hunger Games did. So I'll be reading Mockingjay soon. 

Book Review: Blackbirds

Picture and information taken from Amazon

4 STARS

Miriam Black knows when you will die.

Still in her early twenties, she's foreseen hundreds of car crashes, heart attacks, strokes, suicides, and slow deaths by cancer. But when Miriam hitches a ride with truck driver Louis Darling and shakes his hand, she sees that in thirty days Louis will be gruesomely murdered while he calls her name.

Miriam has given up trying to save people; that only makes their deaths happen. But Louis will die because he met her, and she will be the next victim. No matter what she does she can't save Louis. But if she wants to stay alive, she'll have to try.

~~~

About a month ago I discovered Chuck Wendig on Twitter and through his pretty awesome blog. I really like his no nonsense writing advice. Then, a couple weeks ago, this happened:

So I took his advice and bought a copy. 

I'd like to start this review with a warning that this book is pretty much rated NC-17. It's graphic, vulgar and intense. But obviously, I still liked it.

At first, I wasn't so sure. And it wasn't the grittiness that threw me off, it was the writing style. This is written in present tense, which isn't very common in fiction (at least that I've read), so it took my a while to get into it. Also, Mirriam is a rambler when she talks, and thinks. At first the writer part of my brain was dying to pull out my Big Red Pen and start cutting this thing down to size. I mean, really, do we need five different ways to describe the same thing? I swear at one point, she uses a dozen different foul words to describe one person. It made me roll my eyes a bit.

But, as I kept reading I got used to it and realized there's a certain poetry to it. And that's what saved the book for me. As much as Wendig's style threw me off, it was so masterfully done I ended up enjoying it.

The other thing that docked this book a star was the ending. It was good, but I knew from the beginning that was how the story would end. I won't say much more for fear of spoiling it. It's just one of those things that you think, "Well of course that's how it's going to end because other wise this would be a really crappy book."

And the main character, Mirriam, is the best part of this, despite the rambling. She's well rounded, complex and intense. Being in her head is a strange joy and I believe I'll be visiting again soon.

Overall, if you like wonderful characters, an interesting story and don't mind a little foul language, sex and gore then you should like this book.

 

Book Review: Judas Unchained

(Info & Pic taken from Amazon)

4 STARS!

Peter F. Hamilton’s superbly imagined, cunningly plotted interstellar adventures are conceived on a staggeringly epic scale and filled with fully realized human and alien characters as complex as they are engaging. No mere world builder, Hamilton creates entire universes–and he does so with irresistible flair and intelligence. His previous novel, the acclaimed Pandora’s Star, introduced the Intersolar Commonwealth, a star-spanning civilization of the twenty-fourth century. Robust, peaceful, and confident, the Commonwealth dispatched a ship to investigate the mystery of a disappearing star, only to inadvertently unleash a predatory alien species that turned on its liberators, striking hard, fast, and utterly without mercy. 

The Prime are the Commonwealth’s worst nightmare. Coexistence is impossible with the technologically advanced aliens, who are genetically hardwired to exterminate all other forms of life. Twenty-three planets have already fallen to the invaders, with casualties in the hundreds of millions. And no one knows when or where the genocidal Prime will strike next.

Nor are the Prime the only threat. For more than a hundred years, a shadowy cult, the Guardians of Selfhood, has warned that an alien with mind-control abilities impossible to detect or resist–the Starflyer–has secretly infiltrated the Commonwealth. Branded as terrorists, the Guardians and their leader, Bradley Johansson, have been hunted by relentless investigator Paula Myo. But now evidence suggests that the Guardians were right all along, and that the Starflyer has placed agents in vital posts throughout the Commonwealth–agents who are now sabotaging the war effort. Is the Starflyer an ally of the Prime, or has it orchestrated a fight to the death between the two species for its own advantage?

Caught between two deadly enemies, one a brutal invader striking from without, the other a remorseless cancer killing from within, the fractious Commonwealth must unite as never before.

This will be humanity’s finest hour–or its last gasp.

~~~~~~

I'm giving this one 4 stars for a lot of the same reasons I gave Pandora's Star 4 stars. You can't read one without the other. I get the feeling that when Hamilton wrote this story it was all one big manuscript that had to be cut into two books. But I'd give the story all together a definite 5 stars.

Judas Unchained picked up where Pandora's Star left off. You're dealing with all the same characters with the same problems. And what makes this so magical is that Hamilton manages to bring pretty much every character into the final conflict in one way or another. And that final battle takes a long time and I was honestly not sure if the good guys would win or not.

But what amazes me most about these two books is from a writing perspective. There is so much creativity here. So many characters and worlds and alien races, I can't even imagine how Hamilton kept track of all of it while he was writing.

Anyway, if you like space opera on an epic scale, then you'll like this. There's something for everyone within these two books.

Well, thanks for reading, and have a great Wednesday!

Book Review: Pandora's Star

(Info & Pic taken from Amazon <--- Buy the book!)

4 STARS!

Critics have compared the engrossing space operas of Peter F. Hamilton to the classic sagas of such sf giants as Isaac Asimov and Frank Herbert. But Hamilton’s bestselling fiction—powered by a fearless imagination and world-class storytelling skills—has also earned him comparison to Tolstoy and Dickens. Hugely ambitious, wildly entertaining, philosophically stimulating: the novels of Peter F. Hamilton will change the way you think about science fiction. Now, with Pandora’s Star, he begins a new multivolume adventure, one that promises to be his most mind-blowing yet. 

The year is 2380. The Intersolar Commonwealth, a sphere of stars some four hundred light-years in diameter, contains more than six hundred worlds, interconnected by a web of transport “tunnels” known as wormholes. At the farthest edge of the Commonwealth, astronomer Dudley Bose observes the impossible: Over one thousand light-years away, a star . . . vanishes. It does not go supernova. It does not collapse into a black hole. It simply disappears. Since the location is too distant to reach by wormhole, a faster-than-light starship, the Second Chance, is dispatched to learn what has occurred and whether it represents a threat. In command is Wilson Kime, a five-time rejuvenated ex-NASA pilot whose glory days are centuries behind him.

Opposed to the mission are the Guardians of Selfhood, a cult that believes the human race is being manipulated by an alien entity they call the Starflyer. Bradley Johansson, leader of the Guardians, warns of sabotage, fearing the Starflyer means to use the starship’s mission for its own ends,.

Pursued by a Commonwealth special agent convinced the Guardians are crazy but dangerous, Johansson flees. But the danger is not averted. Aboard the Second Chance, Kime wonders if his crew has been infiltrated. Soon enough, he will have other worries. A thousand light-years away, something truly incredible is waiting: a deadly discovery whose unleashing will threaten to destroy the Commonwealth . . . and humanity itself. 

Could it be that Johansson was right?

~~~

This book was pretty much amazing. So why 4 stars instead of 5? Well it ends in a literal cliff hanger. Actually, more of a waterfall hanger, but same difference. I'm going to have to read the next book to finish the story. Which is okay, I was going to read the second book anyway, but I just do not like that kind of extreme cliff hanger.

Anyway, like I said this book is great. It's very complex. The universe is massive, the character list is large and the scale is epic. Within the first few chapters you are introduced to at least 5 major characters. So there is a lot to keep track of, but Hamilton handles it beautifully. He's great at creating distinct voices for all the characters.

This book was a slow start for me. But I think that was mostly due to me not being used to reading science fiction. I'm used to reading about horses, swords and magic, not wormholes, laser pistols and quantum physics. But I still got pulled in so hard and the characters were so well established in my mind that even after taking a two week break from the book, I could jump right back where I left off and still love it.

Also, this story covers every classic scifi theme possible. There are wormholes, spaceships, aliens, artificial intelligence, robots, people living forever, war, politics, terrorism, everything. It's a complete, living breathing world.

Overall, 5 stars, minus one for the mean cliff hanger ending, for a total of 4 stars. And yes, I will be reading the next one, Judas Unchained, as soon as I can get my hands on it.

Book Review: Heir to Sevenwaters

(Picture and Info taken from Amazon)

4 STARS

The chieftains of Sevenwaters have long been custodians of a vast and mysterious forest and a new heir has been born. But the family's joy turns to despair when the baby is taken, and something unnatural is left in his place. To reclaim her newborn brother, Clodagh must enter the shadowy Otherworld and confront the powerful prince who rules there.

~~~

So this book is number 4 in a series. I own the first three and thought that was it for a long time, but just a few months ago I learned there are two more books already out and a third due in Nov. So I'm very excited to have new Sevenwaters adventures.

For those of you new to this series I strongly suggest you start with the first one Daughter of the Forest. Unfortunately, Heir to Sevenwaters is not a stand alone book. This series revolves around a family in medieval Ireland and the family connections of who married whom and what kids they have start to get complicated by the 2nd and 3rd books. But it is all very worth the read.

I'd given the first 3 of this series 5 stars and the only reason I gave Heir 4 stars was that it became apparent to me that Marillier uses a formula for these books. It's a good formula and I enjoy it because the characters are still original and the stories interesting, but sometimes you want a little variety.

One thing I love about these books is the love stories. They always tug at me and make me all warm and fuzzy inside. And the love story in Heir was very well done and at the very beginning the relationship between Clodagh and Cathal made me think of the relationship between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice. Which works well for me. :)

So overall, I really enjoyed this book and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series. And again, if you're interested in this book, you really should start at the beginning of the series.

Book Review: The Gift of Fear

My sister Michelle suggested I read this, so I did. :)

(Info & Pic taken from Amazon)

4 STARS

True fear is a gift. Unwarranted fear is a curse. Learn how to tell the difference.

A date won't take "no" for an answer. The new nanny gives a mother an uneasy feeling. A stranger in a deserted parking lot offers unsolicited help. The threat of violence surrounds us every day. But we can protect ourselves, by learning to trust—and act on—our gut instincts.

In this empowering book, Gavin de Becker, the man Oprah Winfrey calls the nation's leading expert on violent behavior, shows you how to spot even subtle signs of danger—before it's too late. Shattering the myth that most violent acts are unpredictable, de Becker, whose clients include top Hollywood stars and government agencies, offers specific ways to protect yourself and those you love, including...how to act when approached by a stranger...when you should fear someone close to you...what to do if you are being stalked...how to uncover the source of anonymous threats or phone calls...the biggest mistake you can make with a threatening person...and more. Learn to spot the danger signals others miss. It might just save your life. 

~~~

I learned so much from reading this book. I learned about how intuition works and how to make it work in my favor to help protect me and my family.

This book is geared towards women, mostly, but I strongly suggest everyone read it. It teaches you what to be afraid of and what not to be afraid of. And how to deal with threatening people and/or situations.

Sometimes, it seems a little scary to read when de Becker recounts stories of people being hurt by others. But there is so much to learn from other's experiences. This book will change the way you think, I promise that.

4 out of 5 stars for being incredibly enlightening and informative.

Book Review: Bound

(Info and Pic taken from Amazon)

4 STARS

When a photo shoot ends in tragedy, Kira discovers her best friend, Lydia, has been keeping a secret. Knowing the truth, and accepting it, will change Kira's life forever and thrust her into a world of ancient curses, magical objects, and savage enemies. What happens next will challenge everything Kira knows about her world, herself and the shape-shifting warrior she's falling in love with. No longer the timid mouse her mother accused her of being, but a woman who finds the mental and physical strength to endure and survive. BOUND is a heroic tale of true friendship, infinite sacrifice and untamed love. 

~~~

I got this book for free off my Kindle. The description there sounded interesting so I thought I'd give it a shot. It was way better than I expected.

The character's felt real to me and I really sympathized with Kira. This book took me a lot of different places that I wasn't expecting and the world Bryant created felt totally original to me.

I gave it 4 out of 5 stars because I was not expecting a free Kindle book to be this good. This is another world that I will be revisiting in Bryant's next installment Broken.

Book Review: Banshee Charmer

This book is written by a friend of mine from Absolute Write, Tiffany Allee.

(Info and Pic taken from Amazon)

4 STARS

When she’s sent to a crime scene and finds her second dead woman in as many weeks, half-banshee detective Kiera “Mac” McLoughlin is convinced a serial killer is on the loose. Incubi are extinct, her boss insists. But what else can kill a woman in the throes of pleasure? When her partner is murdered after using witchcraft to locate the killer and Mac is thrown off the case, her frustration turns to desperation.

Certain the killer is an incubus, Mac works behind her department’s back to chase down slim, sometimes perilous leads. While the killer eludes her, she does discover handsome Aidan Byrne, an investigative counterpart from the enigmatic Otherworld Enforcement Agency. Mac typically runs her investigations fast and hard, but with Aidan at her side, she’s running this one “hot” as well. But Aiden knows more than he’s letting on—something that could shatter their blazing romance and add Mac to the killer’s growing body count… 

~~~

I really enjoyed this book. It's not normally the genre I read, being that it's part paranormal romance and part murder mystery, but I was very entertained. I do watch a lot of crime TV, my two favorite TV shows being Bones and Castle, so I really enjoyed the "who-done-it" aspect of this.

The characters were well done. I liked the air of mystery around Aidan. As you read, you know he's somehow involved in the murders but the way in which he is I did not expect. And of course, this is a romance, so the steamy bits were steamy. ;)

Overall, 4 out of 5 stars. A fun read and a world that I plan on revisiting with Allee's next book Succubus Lost.

Book Review: Don't Bite the Messenger

Don't Bite The Messenger  4 Stars

(Taken from the Amazon page)

Anchorage, Alaska

The vampire population may have created an economic boom in Alaska, but their altered energy field fries most technology. They rely on hard-living—and short-lived—couriers to get business done...couriers like Sydney Kildare.

Sydney has survived to the ripe old age of twenty-six by being careful. She's careful when navigating her tempestuous clients, outrunning hijackers and avoiding anyone who might distract her from her plan of retiring young to a tropical, vampire-free island.

Her attitude—and immunity to vampires' allure—have made her the target of a faction of vampires trying to reclaim their territory. Her only ally is Malcolm Kelly, a secretive charmer with the uncanny habit of showing up whenever she's in trouble. Caught in the middle of a vampire turf war, Sydney has to count on Malcolm to help her survive, or the only place she'll retire is her grave...

32,000 words

~~~~~

I read this book because it was written by a friend of mine from my favorite writing forum Absolute Write. Also, I read this a couple months ago, but having a baby has set me behind on my book review schedule.

I'll be honest and say that I don't normally read a lot of paranormal romance. The last book I read in that genre was the Twilight series and it seriously put me off for a long time. But after reading this I've begun to explore the waters a bit.

Over all, this was a fun, fast read. I love Summers take on vampires and the culture surrounding them. So very high marks for creativity and originality. Sydney is a fun character to run around with as Summers throws her into ever increasingly dangerous situations.

The reason this only got 4 stars was it was too darn short! I would have loved to spend more time with the characters in their world. I wish there had been more fleshing out of, well, everything. Of course this makes me eager to read the next book but when I got to the end of this one I kept turning the pages on my Kindle wondering were the rest of the book was.

So if you're looking for something fun, fast and action packed (with a side of romance ;) ) then try out Don't Bite the Messenger.

~~~~

I'm trying to catch up on my book reviews. So if things go according to plan I should have a new one up every week.

Thanks for reading and Happy Sunday!

The Hunger Games Book Review

Alright, so my goal for this year is to update my blogs once a week.  I'm thinking this one will be updated every Tuesday.  So here we go!

The Hunger Games  By: Suzanne Collins  4 out of 5 stars.

"In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games," a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed."

I read this book a little over a month ago now.  It was the first book I got on my new Kindle Fire. :)  It had been recommended to me by lots and lots of people.  And then while I was looking at it online I saw the movie trailer and decided it was worth a look.

I gave this book a 4 out of 5 for a couple reasons.  5 out of 5 requires that I absolutely fall in love with the book, so this getting a 4 out of 5 isn't really bad.  I was able to read the book in one day.  It's such a quick read because the language is simple and Collins writes it in such a way that you can't put it down.  Every chapter ends with a cliff hanger so you have to keep reading or it will drive you mad.

I liked the main character, Katniss, she was well rounded and believable.  I also admired her total focus on her goals.  But I was not a big fan of Peeta; he just seemed weak compared to Kat.  I also found the world this story was set in to be believable.  It seems extreme at first, a government that requires people to sacrifice their teenagers to the viewing of all seems really strange.  But given the back story of the collapse of civilization as we know it, it makes sense to me.  Also, the action scenes were very well done.  I can see how this will translate into a movie very well.

Although this isn't the kind of thing I'd normally pick up to read (my favorite genres are adult or YA fantasy) I did like it.  And 90% of the reason I read it was because the movie trailer looked really cool and I figured I should read the book before I go see the movie in March.

So, overall, 4 out of 5 stars.  I enjoyed the book, it was entertaining, but I'm not sure I'll read the rest of the series.  It didn't grab me that hard.

***

As I said before, I'll be updating this blog every Tuesday.  And next week I'll be reviewing The Help.  Again, if you have any suggestions of books I should read and review, please leave a comment.  I'm trying to broaden my reading horizons, and I'm always looking for good suggestions. :)

Happy Tuesday!