September Summary

Books completed ~ 7
Alex Scarrow - TimeRiders: Day Of The Predator 4/5 - review
Meg Cabot, Stephenie Meyer et al - Prom Nights From Hell 2.5/5 - review
John Vornholt - Coyote Moon 3/5 - review
Cormac McCarthy - The Road 4.5/5 - review
Jay Asher - Thirteen Reasons Why 4.5/5 - review
Tess Gerritsen - Presumed Guilty 4/5 - review
James Dashner - The Maze Runner 4/5

Books bought ~ 11
Rachel Vincent - Rogue
Rachel Vincent - Prey
Rachel Vincent - Shift
Dean Koontz - Relentless
Meg Cabot, Stephenie Meyer et al - Prom Nights From Hell
Claudia Gray - Evernight
John Vornholt/Arthur Byron Cover/Alice Henderson - Buffy The Vampire Slayer omnibus 1
Michael Connelly - Nine Dragons
John Vornholt/Nancy Golden/Diana G. Gallagher - Buffy The Vampire Slayer omnibus 2
Cormac McCarthy - The Road
Helen Kennerley - Overcoming Childhood Trauma

Books won or for review ~ 3
Christopher Stookey - Terminal Care - from Pump Up Your Book
Charlaine Harris - Dead And Gone (signed) - from The Book Club Forum
James Dashner - The Maze Runners - from I Was A Teenage Book Geek

Other posts ~
# Teaser Tuesdays - Prom Nights From Hell / Coyote Moon / Thirteen Reasons Why / The Maze Runner
# Top Ten Picks - Book Covers

Overall ~
I had another terrible month, I'm really just not reading much at all at the moment, which sucks, but I'm really hoping next month is much better. My favourite read was The Road, it was as fantastic as I was expecting. My least favourite was Prom Nights From Hell, it just wasn't what I was expecting at all! In the next month I'm going to enjoy my re-read of the Harry Potter series, and I also have my first book tour coming up next month which I'm very excited about! :)

Teaser Tuesdays (23)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Just do the following:

1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a random page
3. Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
4. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
5. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!


My Teaser:

Images of people flashed across his mind, but there was no recognition, their faces replaced with haunted smears of colour. He couldn't think of one person he knew, or recall a single conversation. ~ p.2, The Maze Runner by James Dashner.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (23)

This weekly meme is hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey Through Books.

In the past week I read:

Jay Asher - Thirteen Reasons Why 4.5/5 - review (re-read)
Tess Gerritsen - Presumed Guilty 4/5 - review
Nikki Logan - Their Newborn Gift 3/5

At the moment I'm reading:

James Dashner - The Maze Runner

In the next week I hope to read:

J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter series (re-read)

In My Mailbox (21)

In My Mailbox is a meme created by The Story Siren, and sums up my past week in book purchases!

So this week I didn't buy anything, but I did receive a book I won from I Was A Teenage Book Geek:

James Dashner - The Maze Runner

When the doors of the lift crank open, the only thing Thomas remembers is his first name. But he's not alone. He's surrounded by boys who welcome him to the Glade - a walled encampment at the centre of a bizarre and terrible stone maze. Like Thomas, the Gladers don't know why or how they came to be there - or what's happened to the world outside. All they know is that every morning when the walls slide back, they will risk everything - even the Grievers, half-machine, half-animal horror that patrols its corridors, to find out.

Presumed Guilty by Tess Gerritsen

No. of pages: 347
Rating: 8/10

Synopsis: Miranda's ex-lover is found murdered. She had a motive and the opportunity. After being arrested for the crime, Miranda is shocked to learn she's been released on bail - bail posted by someone determined to remain anonymous. Is someone trying to help Miranda? Or is someone trying to manipulate Miranda and draw her into the dark and secret world of a murdered man, where everybody's presumed guilty?

Review: When Miranda comes home to find her ex-lover dead in her bed, stabbed with her knife, she knows there's no way anyone will believe it wasn't her. But when someone posts her bail and all sorts of things start to happen, she realises she has to find out who the killer really is, no matter what the cost will be...

As I've said many times before, Tess Gerritsen's romantic thrillers aren't as good as her medical thrillers, but they are still very good. This particular story was my favourite of her romantic thrillers that I've read so far, it focused more on the thriller aspect than on the romance, and I enjoyed trying to guess who the killer was. I liked the character of Miranda, although very vulnerable, she still managed to be a strong woman who fought hard to prove her innocence. I definitely could see more of the Tess Gerritsen I know and love coming through in this novel, and I'm really looking forward to something new from her.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

No. of pages: 307
Rating: 9/10

Synopsis: A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food—and each other.

Review: An apocolyptic event has happened, and the earth has burned. Few humans have managed to survive, but a man and his son have and are walking south in the hopes of out running the bitter cold in which they will not survive another winter. As they scavange their way through towns trying to find food and shelter, they have nothing but a gun with two bullets to protect themselves and their map to lead them south.

I decided to read this after watching and appreciating the film, and I'm so glad I did. The book is just as bleak, if not even more so than the film, and it really makes you think about what would happen if such a thing were to really occur. I found the lack of punctuation slightly strange, and it took a little while to get used to, but that and the lack of chapters lends to the feeling of endlessness, to the lack of hope the man must feel as the story evolves. While normally I wouldn't like such a book, for this particular story, it was absolutely perfect. I found it hard to put down, because it's just so gripping, the story of this man and boy trying to survive against all odds. I found the ending very sad, but in a way, it was hopeful too. I would absolutely recommend this, it's beautifully told, even if it's almost too hard to bear at times.

Coyote Moon by John Vornholt

No. of pages: 165
Rating: 6/10
Series: Buffy The Vampire Slayer (Book 1, Story 1)

Synopsis: In every generation, there is a Chosen One. A slayer destined to protect the human race. She alone must fight the demons of hell. She alone must risk her life to stop the spread of evil.

Buffy is the Chosen One.

In Coyote Moon, a typical night at the carnival becomes deadly as shape shifters turn the amusement park into their own house of horrors.

Review: Buffy Summers is the 'chosen one' of her generation, meaning that she has to kill vampires, demons and all sorts of other monsters that she comes up against living over the hellmouth. Buffy, Willow and Xander are enjoying the end of their summer at the carnival when Buffy discovers the carnival owners are more than what they first seem, and they have deadly plans for Sunnydale.

I've just recently finished re-watching the seven seasons of the show, and so really enjoyed reading some of the fiction based on it, which I never did as a teen when I originally watched the show. I thought the characters were very recognisable as the original characters, Xander in particularly was hilariously funny during the story. I enjoyed some of the funny comments made throughout, but I found some of the dialogue to be a bit more cheesy than it is in the show. The plot was interesting and original, and I enjoyed reading Coyote Moon, but feel like it would have been better read when I was in my teens.

Prom Nights From Hell by Meg Cabot, Stephenie Meyer, Kim Harrison, Michele Jaffe & Lauren Myracle

No. of pages: 304
Rating: 4/10

Synopsis: Stephenie Meyer and Meg Cabot head up this collection of 5 thrilling paranormal short stories which take bad prom nights to a whole new level. Imagine discovering you're dancing with the Grim Reaper -- and he isn't there to tell you how hot you look. Worried that your Prom Night is gonna bite? This thrilling collection takes bad prom nights to a whole new level -- a paranormally bad level!

Review: Five short stories, showing the terror of the school prom. The Exterminator's Daughter - Mary is trying to hunt down and kill the vampire that got her mother. The Corsage - Frankie gets a corsage that grants her 3 wishes, although in the end she wishes she had never touched it. Madison Avery And The Dim Reaper - Madison meets the grim reaper at her prom, and finds he has very nasty plans for her. Kiss And Tell - Miranda has 'super powers' and uses them to protect a young girl she encounters during her job. Hell On Earth - A low level chaos demon decides to have a little fun at the prom.

This turned out to be nothing like what I was expecting it to be. I thought all of the stories would be set within proms, instead only one story was, the rest had about 3 pages of prom action, which I found to be disappointing. Of the five, I only thought one of them was particularly good, and that was Michele Jaffe's Kiss And Tell, which was by far my favourite. I don't really know what else I can say other than to say it was generally very dull to read, and it was only the fact the stories were so short that I bothered to finish it.

Teaser Tuesdays (22)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Just do the following:

1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a random page
3. Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
4. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
5. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teaser:

When you mess with one part of a person's life, you're messing with their entire life. Everything...affects everything. ~ p.201, Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (22)

This weekly meme is hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey Through Books.

In the past week I read:

John Vornholt - Coyote Moon 3/5
Cormac McCarthy - The Road 4.5/5

At the moment I'm reading:

Tess Gerritsen - Presumed Guilty
Jay Asher - Thirteen Reasons Why (re-read)

In the next week I hope to read:

Dean Koontz - Relentless

In My Mailbox (20)

In My Mailbox is a meme created by The Story Siren, and sums up my past week in book purchases!

So this week I bought 3 books:

John Vornholt/Nancy Golden/Diana G. Gallagher - Buffy The Vampire Slayer omnibus 2

In every generation, there is a Chosen One. A slayer destined to protect the human race. She alone must fight the demons of hell. She alone must risk her life to stop the spread of evil.

Buffy is the Chosen One.

In Halloween Rain, as if Halloween at the Hellmouth isn’t bad enough, a brewing storm threatens to bring new demons to life, just in time for a celebratory massacre.

A curse on the school’s rummage sale causes strange behavior in the halls of Sunnydale High in Bad Bargain.

Buffy and her friends are looking forward to the revival of the old drive-in theater, but when people start slipping into comas in Afterimage, this late show may be their last...

~~~~~

Cormac McCarthy - The Road

A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food—and each other.

~~~~~

Helen Kennerley - Overcoming Childhood Trauma

Childhood abuse, whether emotional, physical, or sexual, can be the source of enduring difficulties in adulthood. Overcoming Childhood Trauma is a self-help manual for those who are struggling with the aftereffects of having suffered from abuse in childhood.

Based on clinically proven techniques of cognitive therapy, this book will help readers to understand the links between past trauma and present difficulties, and will offer methods of gaining control over these problems in order to deal with intrusive memories, manage mood swings, and build better relationships in adulthood.

~~~~~

And I also won a book:

Charlaine Harris - Dead And Gone (signed)

For Sookie Stackhouse, the day to day activities of the vampire and were communities in and around Bon Temps, Louisiana, are of vital interest. But for most of the humans in Bon Temps, the vamps are mysterious seductive creatures-and they don't even know about the weres.

Until now. The weres and shifters have finally decided to follow the lead of the undead and reveal their existence to the ordinary world...

Apologies...

I must say how sorry I am that I've been MIA for the past few weeks. My life has gotten pretty crazy, and it's become rather difficult to balance life and reading, let alone find time to blog as well. I have a few reviews waiting to be written, and I'm hoping to do them tomorrow, so fingers crossed Book Sanctuary will be back to normal working order this week! So please bear with me while I try to catch up, because I really appreciate that I have the visitors that I do to my blog :)

TimeRiders: Day Of The Predator by Alex Scarrow

No. of pages: 433
Rating: 8/10
Series: TimeRiders (Book 2)

Synopsis: Liam O'Connor should have died at sea in 1912. Maddy Carter should have died on a plane in 2010. Sal Vikram should have died in a fire in 2029. But all three have been given a second chance - to work for an agency that no-one knows exists. Its purpose - to prevent time travel destroying history.

Review: Liam, Maddy and Sal all should have died, but just minutes before death they were taken into a different destiny, one in which they time travel to save the world. Liam goes on a mission to stop the assassination of someone important to the future, but something happens and they all get thrown back to the dinosaur era. As they race against time to get back to the future, they come up against something they never could have imagined...

This was a review book, so I'd not heard anything of this series before I went into reading Day Of The Predator, which is the second in the TimeRiders series. The synopsis was intriguing though, especially the aspect of dinosaurs which I'd never read a book about before. The action starts up from the first page, and just intensifies as the story goes on. I really enjoyed how well the author had researched the dinosaur era, with both the dinosaurs themselves, but also the surroundings in which they lived. The characters were well written, although as Sal and Maddy played a background role in this book we don't get to know them too well, so I hope that changes in future books. I think Becks turned out to be my favourite, I really enjoyed her evolution from pure robot to having more human reactions. I'm definitely going to back and read the first in the series, which I would recommend to people thinking of reading these books as they do refer back to previous storylines. The next in the series The Doomsday Code is out in February and looks awesome, it's going to be about Robin Hood and Sherwood Forest, can't wait!

Teaser Tuesdays (21)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Just do the following:

1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a random page
3. Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
4. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
5. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teaser:

It loomed ahead of them - a metal facade with a painted mural depicting lovely scenes of murder, mayhem and decapitation. Scantily clad women ran screaming from gooey, bloody monsters. ~ p.65, Coyote Moon by John Vornholt.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (21)

This weekly meme is hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey Through Books.

In the past week I read:

Meg Cabot, Stephenie Meyer et al - Prom Nights From Hell 2.5/5

At the moment I'm reading:

John Vornholt - Coyote Moon

In the next week I hope to read:

I've been in a major reading funk lately, so I think this week I'm just going to take it as it goes, and read whatever takes my fancy rather than planning what I'll read.

In My Mailbox (19)

In My Mailbox is a meme created by The Story Siren, and sums up my past week in book purchases!

So this week I bought 2 books:

John Vornholt/Arthur Byron Cover/Alice Henderson - Buffy The Vampire Slayer omnibus 1

In every generation, there is a Chosen One. A slayer destined to protect the human race. She alone must fight the demons of hell. She alone must risk her life to stop the spread of evil.

Buffy is the Chosen One.

In Coyote Moon, a typical night at the carnival becomes deadly as shape shifters turn the amusement park into their own house of horrors.

Buffy starts having past-life nightmares in Night of the Living Rerun, and must face her historic counterpart before the events of the past repeat in the present.

In Portal through Time, Slayers over the centuries are in danger, and Buffy must protect them in order to save her own life and legacy.

~~~~~

Michael Connelly - Nine Dragons

Harry Bosch is assigned a homicide call in South L.A. that takes him to Fortune Liquors, where the Chinese owner has been shot to death behind the counter in an apparent robbery.

Joined by members of the department's Asian Crime Unit, Bosch relentlessly investigates the killing and soon identifies a suspect, a Los Angeles member of a Hong Kong triad. But before Harry can close in, he gets the word that his young daughter Maddie, who lives in Hong Kong with her mother, is missing.

Bosch drops everything to journey across the Pacific to find his daughter. Could her disappearance and the case be connected? With the stakes of the investigation so high and so personal, Bosch is up against the clock in a new city, where nothing is at it seems.

Teaser Tuesdays (20)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Just do the following:

1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a random page
3. Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
4. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
5. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teaser:

And the woman who opened the front door? Exactly what you'd expect of someone creepy and cultish, Miranda thought. ~ p.192, Prom Nights From Hell - Kiss And Tell by Michele Jaffe.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (20)

This weekly meme is hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey Through Books.

In the past week I read:

Suzanne Collins - The Hunger Games: Mockingjay 5/5 - review
Alex Scarrow - TimeRiders: Day Of The Predator 4/5

At the moment I'm reading:

Meg Cabot, Stephenie Meyer et al - Prom Nights From Hell

In the next week I hope to read:

Pittacus Lore - I Am Number Four
Alyson Noel - Shadowland

In My Mailbox (18)

In My Mailbox is a meme created by The Story Siren, and sums up my past week in book purchases!

So this week I bought 6 books:

Rachel Vincent - Rogue / Prey / Shift

Okay, so cats don't always land on their feet. I know that better than most. Since rejoining the Pride, I've made big decisions and even bigger mistakes: the kind paid for with innocent lives. As the first and only female enforcer, I have plenty to prove to my father, the Pride, and myself.

~~~~~

Claudia Gray - Evernight

She's been uprooted from her small hometown and enrolled at Evernight Academy, an eerie Gothic boarding school where the students are somehow too perfect: smart, sleek, and almost predatory. Bianca knows she doesn't fit in.

Then she meets Lucas. He's not the "Evernight type" either, and he likes it that way. Lucas ignores the rules, stands up to the snobs, and warns Bianca to be careful—even when it comes to caring about him.

But the connection between Bianca and Lucas can't be denied. Bianca will risk anything to be with Lucas, but dark secrets are fated to tear them apart . . . and to make Bianca question everything she's ever believed.

~~~~~

Meg Cabot/Stephenie Meyer et al - Prom Nights From Hell

In this exciting collection, bestselling authors Meg Cabot, Kim Harrison, Michele Jaffe, Stephenie Meyer, and Lauren Myracle take bad prom nights to a whole new level—a paranormally bad level. Wardrobe malfunctions and two left feet don't hold a candle to discovering your date is the Grim Reaper—and he isn't here to tell you how hot you look.

From angels fighting demons to a creepy take on getting what you wish for, these five stories will entertain better than any DJ in a bad tux. No corsage or limo rental necessary. Just good, scary fun.

~~~~~

Dean Koontz - Relentless

Hostile reviews may have hastened the deaths of some writers, but Cubby Greenwich is made of sterner stuff. At least this is what he tells himself, meanwhile obsessing about the scathing review of his latest bestseller by Shearman Waxx in a national newspaper. A feared and therefore revered critic, Waxx has an aura of mystery about him that has carried him far as an arbiter of taste, but the mystery itself is about to break cover. In an unexpected encounter with Waxx, Cubby says one innocent word, but it is the wrong word, and it seems to trigger an inhuman fury in the critic, who becomes bent on destroying Cubby and everything he loves. For it soon becomes apparent that Waxx is not merely a ferocious literary enemy, but a ruthless sociopath. When Cubby finally learns the truth, can he save himself and his family from the appalling danger they are in?

~~~~~

And I also received 2 books from a friend as a gift:

Adam L G Nevill - Banquet For The Damned

Few believed Professor Coldwell was in touch with an unseen world and could commune with spirits. But in Scotland’s oldest university town something has passed from darkness into light, and now the students are being haunted by night terrors. And those who are visited mysteriously disappear. This is no place for outsiders, especially at night, so what chance do a rootless musician and burnt-out explorer have of surviving their entanglement with an ageless supernatural evil and the ruthless cult that worships it? This chilling occult thriller is both a homage to the great age of British ghost stories and a fast-paced modern tale of diabolism and witchcraft.

~~~~~

Adam Nevill - Apartment 16

Some doors are better left closed...In Barrington House, an upmarket block in London, there is an empty apartment. No one goes in, no one comes out. And it's been that way for fifty years. Until the night watchman hears a disturbance after midnight and investigates. What he experiences is enough to change his life forever. A young American woman, Apryl, arrives at Barrington House. She's been left an apartment by her mysterious Great Aunt Lillian who died in strange circumstances. Rumours claim Lillian was mad. But her diary suggests she was implicated in a horrific and inexplicable event decades ago. Determined to learn something of this eccentric woman, Apryl begins to unravel the hidden story of Barrington House. She discovers that a transforming, evil force still inhabits the building. And the doorway to Apartment 16 is a gateway to something altogether more terrifying...

~~~~~

And I also received a book from Pump Up Your Book for review as part of a tour:

Christopher Stookey - Terminal Care

Phil Pescoe, the 37-year-old emergency physician at Deaconess Hospital in San Francisco, becomes alarmed by a dramatic increase in the number of deaths on the East Annex (the Alzheimer's Ward). The deaths coincide with the initiation of a new drug study on the annex where a team of neurologists have been administering "NAF"—an experimental and highly promising treatment for Alzheimer's disease—to half of the patients on the ward. Mysteriously, the hospital pushes forward with the study even though six patients have died since the start of the trial. Pescoe teams up with Clara Wong—a brilliant internist with a troubled past—to investigate the situation. Their inquiries lead them unwittingly into the cutthroat world of big-business pharmaceuticals, where they are threatened to be swept up and lost before they have the opportunity to discover the truth behind the elaborate cover-up.With the death count mounting, Pescoe and Wong race against time to save the patients on the ward and to stop the drug manufacturer from unleashing a dangerous new drug on the general populace.

Book Blogger Hop (9)

Welcome hoppers from the book blogger hop! In case you don't know what I'm talking about, this is a weekly event hosted by Crazy for Books where bloggers and readers can find each other and share their love for books!

If you're hopping by here, leave a comment and I'll be sure to visit you in return! :)

Do you judge a book by its cover? Yeah, I guess I do sometimes, I won't necessarily when it comes to recommendations, but when I'm browing in a store, covers do matter.

Top Ten Picks: Book Covers

Top Ten Picks is a weekly meme by Jillian about your top 10 picks! Each week, there will be a different theme and this weeks theme is 'book covers'. So here are my top 10 book covers (in no particular order) ~

1. The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins

I think these books are just so pretty and eye catching. My favourite is the first book, I love that it has Katniss on the cover. In person the HG monogram is raised, so gives the cover a nice feel.

2. Dark Goddess by Sarwat Chadda



This is one of the prettiest covers I've ever seen, and I love how it completely ties in with the story in every way. It also has pretty shiny gel like swirls all over the cover which is a nice extra.

3. Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick



A falling half-naked angel, need I say more? I also love the fact the background is metallic silver.

4. Memoirs Of A Geisha by Arthur Golden



I love anything that is Geisha related, so this naturally falls into that catagory. Her face is just so pretty, I find this cover almost mesmerising.

5. The Shadow Of The Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon



I love the colour, and the almost haunting picture of the shadowed man walking alone through the streets.

6. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger



Again, this cover depicts the story so well, plus I just think it's kind of intriguing. When I first saw this cover I couldn't stop wondering why the little girl was stood by a pile of clothes and shoes, obviously when I read the book it became apparant.

7. The Arena (The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins)



I think I was around 14 when I first saw this cover, and the it drew me in instantly. I have a thing for covers with faces on, and the girl mixed with the sepia tone, the great title font and the title all mixed together make a great cover.

8. Fallen by Lauren Kate



Not only do you have the mysterious girl at the front who's covering her face, but you have the kind of creepy blue and black background, the whole thing just intrigues me.

9. Fairytale Of New York by Miranda Dickinson



I'm not a massive fan of chick-lit, and I don't read it that often, but this book cover is just so pretty that I had to have it! With the pink and purples, and the girl on the bridge with her face to the sky, I just think it's lovely.

10. The Death And Life Of Charlie St. Cloud by Ben Sherwood



This cover just seems so care free, two brothers playing and having fun and that reflects the aspect of the book about Charlie and Sam being such close brothers and not being able to let go of each other.

So what are your favourite book covers?

August Summary

Books completed ~ 10
Sarwat Chadda - Dark Goddess 4/5 - review
Kelley Armstrong - Waking The Witch 5/5 - review
Linwood Barclay - Fear The Worst 4/5 - review
Eve Edwards - The Other Countess 3.5/5 - review
Carol Lynch Williams - The Chosen One 4/5 - review
Elizabeth Gilbert - Eat, Pray, Love 4/5 - review
Sebastian Fitzek - Therapy 5/5 - review
Suzanne Collins - The Hunger Games 5/5 - review
Suzanne Collins - The Hunger Games: Catching Fire 4.5/5 - review
Suzanne Collins - The Hunger Games: Mockingjay 5/5 - review

Books bought ~ 12
Suzanne Collins - The Hunger Games
Suzanne Collins - The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Elizabeth Gilbert - Eat, Pray, Love
Carol Lynch Williams - The Chosen One
Stephenie Meyer - Breaking Dawn
Suzanne Collins - The Hunger Games: Mockingjay
Rachel Vincent - Pride
Charlaine Harris, et al - Night's Edge
Tess Gerritsen - Whistleblower
Tess Gerritsen - Presumed Guilty
Meg Cabot - Love You To Death & High Stakes
Rick Riordan - The Lightening Thief

Other posts ~
# Teaser Tuesdays - Dark Goddess / The Other Countess / Eat, Pray, Love / Therapy / TimeRiders: Day Of The Predator
# Top Ten Picks - Favourite Book Quotes / Fictional Places
# Bookish Survey

Overall ~
I'm quite pleased by how many I ended up reading in August, because I had a pretty rough month illness wise, and went quite long periods without reading anything at all, so I'm glad that despite that, I managed to rack up 10 books this month. My favourite reads were undoubtedly The Hunger Games trilogy, I adored them and thought it was a fantastic series of books. But I also really loved Waking The Witch and Therapy and would definitely recommend them both too. My least favourite was The Other Countess, but I still enjoyed that one, so I consider this month to be a success! I'm glad summer is finally coming to an end though, I always read more when it's cooler, purely because there's nothing more I love than snuggling in bed with a cup of hot chocolate and a good book when it's cold outside, so fingers crossed that in the last few months before the end of the year I manage to get my reading close to my goal of 150.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

No. of pages: 455
Rating: 10/10
Series: The Hunger Games trilogy (Book 3)

Synopsis: Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she's made it out of the bloody arena alive, she's still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge...

Review: Still recovering from the events of the second Hunger Games, Katniss doesn't really understand what's going on. That's until they tell her about the uprising in all the districts, and how she, as the Mockingjay, has become the face of the revolution. But war is never easy, and Katniss is about to find that out firsthand...

I wasn't sure what to expect from Mockingjay, and in a way I was a bit apprehensive, after all, what if this one book came to ruin a series I had quickly come to adore. But I need not have worried, as Mockingjay was fantastic, and even exceeded my highest hopes for ending this series. I loved the plot of the uprising, and how Katniss stood up as the Mockingjay to give everyone hope that they could win. Character wise, there were a few things I wasn't expecting, such as what happens to Peeta, and also seeing Prim mature so much and come in to her role as healer. I found quite a few of the deaths devestating, and in a way I hate Collins for killing them off, but the story is about war, and good people die in wars so I guess she had to show that. The ending was exactly what I expected of Katniss, and I was glad she ended up with the person she did. In a way I feel like it was always going to be inevitable from the first page. A fantastic ending to an amazing series, I would definitely recommend this series to everyone!

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

No. of pages: 472
Rating: 9/10
Series: The Hunger Games trilogy (Book 2)

Synopsis: 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.

Review: Katniss and Peeta have survived the Hunger Games, but only by defying The Capitol, which has made them very angry. There are rumours of rebellion in the air, with Katniss and Peeta being coined as the leaders of it. That can only mean one thing for Katniss and Peeta, and that is punishment from The Capitol, but they can only wonder what will happen...

Catching Fire felt a lot slower than the first book, especially for the first half, and whilst it wasn't necessarily a bad thing, I didn't feel quite as gripped as I did with The Hunger Games. But I did enjoy seeing how things had changed for Katniss, and the slow build up to the second half of the book, which I really enjoyed. I thought the theme of the arena was great, and I loved the introduction of Finnick, who became a fast favourite. I'm really glad I went into this series not having read much about it though, because they are the kind of books that you need to go into not knowing what's going to happen, that way, when the twists come along, it's a lot more enjoyable. I'm not a huge fan of the Peeta/Katniss/Gale love triangle, and I dislike the way it seems like Kaniss is just playing them both along, so I hope that is addressed early on in the last installment. Although Catching Fire is a great book in it's own right, I can't help but feel most of the events in the book are just filler to lead up to the great final that is due in Mockingjay, but still, I love this series, and think Collins is a great writer.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

No. of pages: 454
Rating: 10/10
Series: The Hunger Games trilogy (Book 1)

Synopsis: In a dark vision of the near future, a terrifying reality TV show is taking place. Twelve boys and twelve girls are forced to appear in a live event called the Hunger Games. There is only one rule: kill or be killed.

When sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen steps forward to take her sister's place in the games, she sees it as a death sentence. But Katniss has been close to death before. For her, survival is second nature.

Review: Set in the future, Panem is split into 12 districts and the Capitol. Each year, every district has to provide 2 teenagers to take place in the games - one boy and one girl. When 12 year old Prim Everdeen is chosen, her 16 year old sister Katniss steps forward to take her place, alongside Peeta Mellark. As Katniss and Peeta are sent in to the arena, they can only wonder if they will make it out alive...

I'm finding it hard to put into words how much I loved this book. I picked it up expecting to enjoy it, but for it to not be anything special, but I was completely blown away by how gripping the plot was, to the point that I stayed up half of the night to finish reading it because I just couldn't put it down without knowing what happened to Katniss. I loved the plot line of the games, despite how brutal it was and came to care about so many of the characters. Not only did I admire Katniss, but I also came to love Peeta, Gale, Prim and even the smaller characters like Cinna and Effie. I thought the author did a great job giving them all different personalities, yet making sure they all connected somehow. I cannot recommend this book enough, and it has definitely become one of my favourite YA books.