Summary: Tristran Thorn falls in love with the prettiest girl in Wall and makes her a foolish promise: that he'll go find the falling star they both watched streak across the night sky. She says she'll marry him if he finds it, so he sets off, leaving his home, and heads out into the perilous land of faerie, where not everything is what it seems.


Review: I read this book last year but recently obtained the illustrated version of the book and reread it. It's the first time reading it since I saw the movie, as well, so it was really interesting. I loved the story more than ever, I am always amazed by Neil Gaiman's ability to tell such wonderful, descriptive stories. I also greatly enjoyed the illustrations by Charles Vess, they were quite beautiful and gave the book a whole new visual aspect. I'd definitely recommend trying to find this illustrated version to read, it's quite lovely.

Summary: An emperor amasses an army of hundreds of thousands, drawn from two continents, to invade a third continent and conquer a tiny, divided nation. Only a few warriors stand against them - the three hundred warriors of Sparta.

Review: Finally got to read this! I absolutely loved Frank Miller's illustrations. The story is fine as well - made for one heck of an entertaining movie - but the sheerness of the illustrations and the contrast is what really gets me. I love the drawing style a lot! Definitely worth reading for the art if nothing else.

Summary: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns is a Batman comic book miniseries written and drawn by Frank Miller and published by DC Comics from February to June 1986. It reintroduced Batman to the general public as the psychologically dark character of his original 1930s conception and helped to usher in an era of "grim and gritty" superheroes from the mid-1980s to mid-1990s.

Review: This was an interesting book; the story was much more confusing than I was expecting and took some concentration to read but were really indepth and quite interesting. Of course, the art is wonderful as well, I particularly loved the segment with the Joker (I guess it helped he is my favorite Batman villain). It was quite a dark book but the ending was nice and overall, I enjoyed the story.

Summary: The underground city of Ember, the one known surviving settlement, is slowly dying as supplies run low and the electrical system starts to fail. Lina Mayfleet and Doon Harrow watch as the light of Ember flickers & race to discover a way out.

Review: I'd never heard of this until quite recently but I saw it at the library and decided to borrow it. It's a young adult book, so was an easy and quick read, but I absolutely loved it! It reminded me quite a bit of Monica Furlong's Wise Child trilogy as well as Garth Nix's The Seventh Tower series. It had likable characters, a very engaging plot and - most importantly - an absolutely fascinating setting/world. I found myself really into the story and trying to figure out the note along with the main characters.

Summary: The voice inside Dexter's head that from time to time drives him to the theme park of the unthinkable inexplicably disappears while Morgan is investigating a gruesome double murder on the University of Miami campus. The crime scene, at which two co-eds were ritualistically killed, gives even the human vivisection-loving vigilante the creeps. As the body count continues to mount, Dexter realizes that the force behind the killings is something even more evil than his Dark Passenger.

Review: The premise for this novel was interesting but I was a bit disappointed with it because it was a hundred times less creepy than the previous books, which was part of their appeal! I'm not sure how I feel about the whole Dexter-getting-married thing (it just seems too normal for him) and the whole supernatural aspect of the book, but I loved Dexter being fatherly to Cody and Aster and the book definitely had it's moments. The ending was kind of anti-climatic, but hopefully the next will be more exciting.

Summary: John Dolan Vincent is a talented young forger with a proclivity for mathematics and drug addiction. In the face of his impending institutionalization, he continually reinvents himself to escape the legal and mental health authorities and to save himself from a life of incarceration.

Review: This was a very interesting book, not at all what I expected. It was similar to Lady Oracle in that it cut back and forth between the present and the main character's life story. I found the plot very engaging and John was, somehow, a very likable protagonist. Definitely a bit of a risque book as it's all about how this guy successfully evades the law and forges his way through lots of trouble, but I liked it. The very end was a bit too open ended (and slightly confusing) which, as usual, bothered me, but otherwise, a very well written, interesting book.

Summary: Sixteen interesting and bizarre characters, who live in a mysterious apartment building, compete to become heir to the Westing millions. A millionaire is found dead in his lonely mansion, and he wants his "heirs" to discover who killed him. Whoever brings the killer to justice wins an inheritance of two million dollars.

Review: Technically a childrens' book but it's quite cool, I love the plot a lot and I think it's very well written. Half of the fun of the book is figuring out the mystery and the other half is seeing how all of the interesting characters interact. The ending was a tad too "twist"-y but I liked the epilogue and overall, it was not only an interesting mystery but had some fascinating character developments and interactions.

Summary: Edward, realizing the danger that he and his family create for Bella, sees no option for her safety but to leave. Mourning his departure, she slips into a downward spiral of depression that lingers over her every step. It's not until Bella befriends Jacob, a sophomore from her school, that she starts to recover. Their adventures are wild, dare-devilish, and teeter on the brink of romance, but memories of Edward pervade Bella's emotions, and soon their fun quickly morphs into danger, especially when she uncovers the true identities of Jacob and his pack of friends.

Review: Overall, as good as the first. It was refreshing not having it all just lovey dovey between Edward and Bella. I really like Jacob so I'm really glad he played such a prominent role in the book. Bella was irritating as all hell, though, I hate how she spent all of the time moping for Edward and leading Jacob on. I like the Italian vamps, it was fun to see them. I'm definitely interested to see whether they'll come up again.

Summary: Tally Youngblood lives in a futuristic society that acculturates its citizens to believe that they are ugly until age 16 when they'll undergo an operation that will change them into pleasure-seeking "pretties." Anticipating this happy transformation, Tally meets Shay, another female ugly, who disdains the false values and programmed conformity of the society and urges Tally to escape with her to the Smoke, a distant settlement of simple-living conscientious objectors.

Review: This book was nothing like I expected. I didn't realize it was set in the future or anything but overall I thought it was good. The idea behind the book was really interesting and it made for a wonderful premise to the story. It was a predictable book and it got a bit too dramatic towards the end but I liked it.

Summary: Set in England's Downs, a once idyllic rural landscape, this stirring tale of adventure, courage and survival follows a band of very special creatures on their flight from the intrusion of man and the certain destruction of their home. Led by a stouthearted pair of brothers, they journey forth from their native Sandleford Warren through the harrowing trials posed by predators and adversaries, to a mysterious promised land and a more perfect society.

Review: I absolutely loved this book, it was fantastic! It was extremely well written and despite the main characters being rabbits, it was easy to get caught up in the story and emotionally invested in the characters. I loved how Richard Adams created this whole culture for the rabbits including a separate language and even "folk tales." There was a great balance of action/adventure with character development and that combined with there being some suprisingly creepy stuff, it was a wonderful story.

Summary: A gifted young woman has a mental breakdown beginning during a summer internship as a junior editor at a magazine in New York City in the early 1950s.

Review: This book is ridiculously creepy for a number of reasons. The plot of the book was very unsettling because it starts out extremely carefree and fun and then halfway through takes a sudden, scary turn and spirals rapidly down from there. The ending was not at all consoling. It is beautifully written, but to the point where you feel like you are reading the direct thoughts of a real person actually going through this. Combined with what we know about Sylvia Plath and her life, it is extremely unnerving. Despite this, it is an excellent book, well worth reading.

Summary: This follow-up to the Russian magical reality books Night Watch and Day Watch returns us to Anton's mind and to Anton's relationships with those around him. Focusing on interactions with the mysterious Inquisitors, this book takes Anton further along in his path to understanding that there really is very little difference between Light and Dark and that the shades of grey they all walk in are probably more suited to all Others than being separated like this.

Review: This was by far and away my favorite book from this series so far, it was awesome! I loved all three stories very much, they were individually interesting but also fit together extremely well. I particularly loved the focus on Kostya, who is one of my favorite characters, he's very interesting. I also really liked Arina and Las a lot as supporting characters. Fantastic book, well worth reading the previous two books for!

Summary: As Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob, knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf. With her graduation quickly approaching, Bella has one more decision to make: life or death. But which is which?

Review: This ties with Twilight as my favorite in the series, but mainly because of the supporting characters and not Bella who remains as annoying as hell. I hate her stringing Jacob along, even though he did kind of turn into an ass halfway through, which was unfortunate. I'm glad the bit with Victoria was finally resolved.

Summary: Gemma has had an unconventional upbringing in India, until the day she foresees her mother's death in a vision that turns out to be true. Sent back to England, she is enrolled at Spence, a girls' academy with a mysterious burned-out East Wing. Gemma and her friends find a way to the other-world realms of her visions "for a bit of fun" and to taste the power they will never have as Victorian wives, but they discover that the delights of the realms are overwhelmed by a menace they cannot control.

Review: A book I've heard a lot about but didn't really know anything about. It didn't really have much originality to set it apart from other books in this genre in my opinion. It's just a fun book because it was set in a fun tme period, but I thought the plot was kind of bland and the characters weren't particularly unique.

Summary: Jemubhai Patel, a Cambridge-educated judge, has retired from serving a country he finds "too messy for justice." He lives in an isolated house with his cook, his orphaned seventeen-year-old granddaughter, and a red setter, whose company Jemubhai prefers to that of human beings. The tranquillity of his existence is contrasted with the life of the cook's son, working in grimy Manhattan restaurants, and with his granddaughter's affair with a Nepali tutor involved in an insurgency that irrevocably alters Jemubhai's life.

Review: This book was beautifully written but hard to read, I had a hard time concentrating while reading it. I thought the plot was a bit too jumpy for my taste -- I kept forgetting what had happened to each character before -- but I liked that the book only focused on any single character and we learned a lot about all of the characters involved. It got kind of intense, kind of unnecessarily so, towards the end but it was an interesting book, for the writing style if nothing else.

Summary: While a pyrokinetic arsonist targets the havens of St. Louis's legal vampire population, Anita Blake finds herself embroiled in a dangerous and deadly game of undead politics in defense of her lover, the city's Master Vampire.

Review: Was pretty good, better than the previous book in this series. If nothing else, this series has wonderful characters and in this one I particularly loved the Traveler and we also meet the elusive Asher, who I really liked. I really, really disliked Padma, he and Fernando were quite awful. It's a bit of a change since I usually love the villains in this series, heh. My only real issue with these books is the fact that Anita not only always manages to get her way, somehow, but it's like she's invincible or something and it makes her character kind of cheap in my opinion. But other than that, it was enjoyable.

Summary: After wandering in the wilderness for days, the Emberites happen upon the village of Sparks, one of the few human settlements to have been started after The Disaster. Confronted with the four hundred residents of Ember in dire need of food and shelter, the three leaders of Sparks are at first reluctant to help. Finally, they agree to help the Emberites learn about life aboveground for six months and offer them housing in an abandoned hotel, however soon the Emberites and the people of Sparks soon find themselves at odds.

Review: This book wasn't half as good as the first; The City of Ember had a lot of originality while this one really didn't. The characters were also rather tedious.

Summary: The land of the Abarat, a strange world which has twenty-five islands, called Hours, on each of which it is always the same time. For example, on the island of Pyon, it is always 3:00 in the morning. The only exception is the mysterious, magnificent, 25th Hour which is sometimes feared by the people of the Abarat. The arrival of Candy Quackenbush from Chickentown, Minnesota sparks a series of remarkable events around the Abarat as Candy journeys about the islands of the land, seemingly on random after a spur of the moment decision to enter Abarat.

Review: The world Clive Barker created is extremely bizarre, like reading an acid trip or something, haha. But it was very creative and I loved the idea of the 25 islands, one for each time of the day. Candy made for a mediocre protagonist but John Mischief is awesome and I liked Carrion. I also liked that Clive Barker included his paintings in the book, his creatures are so bizarre, it's quite nice to have visuals!

Summary: Biff has been resurrected in the present day, to complete missing parts of the Bible. Under the watchful eye of the angel Raziel, who turns out to be more interested in the soap operas on the television in their hotel, Biff is made to write down his account of the decades missing from Jesus' life. During these years he and Joshua travel to the East to seek the Three Wise Men who attended Joshua's birth, so that he may learn how to become the Messiah.

Review: I loved this book because I felt like you could appreciate and enjoy the story, whatever your beliefs are. It's absolutely hilarious and occasionally inappropriately vulgar, yet was very well written and in no way took away from who Jesus was as a person or his messages. Despite the (obviously) darker, more depressing turn the book takes towards the end, I finished it feeling satisfied and it balanced out with the lighthearted beginning to the book. Really remarkable, I would highly recommend it.

Summary: The book is the view of Gerald Durrell, aged 10 at the start of the saga, of his family, pets and life during a five-year sojourn on the island of Corfu.

Review: This is an older book that I got it from my grandmother as a birthday gift. It's an autobiography about the adventures Gerald's family had when he was really young on the island of Corfu. :D It was absolutely fantastic, I really really enjoyed it. I love older adventure books and this one was chock full of all of that great stuff I love about them!

Summary: An angel named Raziel is sent to Earth to grant the wish of a child; he decides to help a boy who has witnessed the death of a man dressed as Santa Claus. Meanwhile, the town is preparing to have a community dinner-gathering at the local church, where the cemetery is located. In his inept attempt to bring the "Santa" back to life, the angel causes the townspeople to be put under siege by brain-hungry zombies who arise from their burial spots.

Review: I'm loving Christopher Moore's stuff, he has such a sense of humor! The plot was hilarious and completely random: it started out as a story about some people in a small town getting ready for Christmas and ended in an a over-the-top battle of the townspeople versus a mob of cannibalistic zombies. The writing is perfect and it's by far one of the funniest books I've ever read; I actually laughed out loud almost every page. One thing I particularly loved was that many of his books have overlapping characters, and the "stupid angel" from this book (Raziel) was also a prominant character in Lamb.

Summary: The non-fiction story about the adventures of Christopher McCandless.

Review: This book was really, really good. Depressing as hell, but it was amazingly written and I felt like it was a great tribute to a fascinating man. The book was interspersed with stories of other people sort of like Chris McCandless so it was a very interesting look at adventurers in general as well as being a biography. I don't know if I enjoyed it per-say, but it raised some extremely interesting questions and I'm very happy I read it. Definitely a must-read in my humble opinion.

Summary: Garion lives on farm in Sendar, a Kingdom of the West. He doesn't know anything about being a descendent of the Rivan King. He knows only of Faldor's Farm, Aunt Polgara and an old storyteller he calls Mr. Wolf who stops by occasionally. One day, his normal life comes to an end as he is whisked away on a mysterious adventure with Aunt Pol, Mr. Wolf and a their friends to find a mysterious jewel and it's thief.

Review: Coming Soon.

Summary: The search for the Orb of Aldur grows more urgent as a bigger scheme is revealed. Garion has trouble controlling his sorcery and comes face to face with Salmissra, the Snake Queen of Nyssia.

Review: Coming Soon.

Summary: As the hunt continues, Garion finds out who Mr. Wolf and Aunt Pol really are. They travel to Rak Cthol, home of Torak's disciple, where Ctuchik and Belgarath must battle for the Orb.

Review: Coming Soon.

Summary: The Orb had been regained, but they must find a way to get out of Cthol Murgos. The Hierarchs of Torak drove to destroy them.

Review: Coming Soon.

Summary: The Orb had been restored, Belgarion was crowned as the Rivan King, but the prophecy had yet to be fufilled. In the East, Torak awakened and promised destruction. Belgarath and Belgarion left in the night to travel to Ancient Mallorea, where Torak awaited them. While the prophecy drove Garion on, it still gave no answer on how to kill an immortal god.

Review: Coming Soon.

Summary: The prophecy had been seemingly fufilled. King Belgarion was learning to rule with the willful Ce'Nedra. Then the voice of Prophecy comes alive again, and announces "Beware Zandramas!" Belgarion finds out in the previous prophecies that the Dark is still waging war over the Light. Garion finds himself a pawn, again.

Review: Coming Soon.

Summary: Belgaran and Ce'Nedra's infant son, Geran, has been kidnapped from the Isle of the Winds. They, along with Belgarath, Polgara and Silk must again go on a quest to save Geran from Zandramas, who is planning to use the child in an evil ritual.

Review: Coming Soon.

Summary: The fourth novel in the Twilight series. It's divided into three sections: the first and third books are told from Bella Swan's perspective, and the second is told from that of Jacob Black. Bella and Edward must fight the Volturi once and for all.

Review: This book was kind of ridiculous, not going to lie. I definitely did not see the whole Renesmee thing coming and it really seemed like it deviated from fiction to fanfiction. The entire plot was way, way too fluffy, I feel like it would've worked better if the ending hadn't been quite so neat. I did love Jasper and Alice, though, as well as the foreign vamps (including the Volturi). The interesting supporting characters kept the entire thing from being totally unsalvageable.

Summary: Garion and his friends are captives of Zakath, the Emperor of Mallorea. Meanwhile, hordes of demons ravaged the cities they must travel to and Zandramas was ever nearing towards her ultimate goal.

Review: Coming Soon.

Summary: Troubles and delays mounted as Garion and his friends pursued Zandramas across the world. Zandramas' demon armies threatened on one side while Zakath's Mallorean armies threatened on the other.

Review: Coming Soon.

Summary: The plot revolves around the protagonist's curiosity and insatiable desire to see and practice magic. While trying to perform a spell to transform into a bird, he accidentally gets transformed into an ass. This leads to a long journey, literal and metaphorical, filled with in-set tales. He finally finds salvation through the intervention of the goddess Isis, whose cult he joins.

Review: I really liked most of this book, I'm a fan of classic mythology and this book was filled with that (including one of my favorites, which is the story about Cupid and Psyche). The writing was witty if not a tad surprising at times (they really liked coming up with disturbing torture methods) and I liked the plot up until the ending, which took a sudden and awkward turn to religion. Obviously, this was written waay back when so it's not surprising, but the ending definitely had a much different tone than the rest of the book.

Summary: Time was running short for Garion and his companions to find out where the Place Which Is No More is. If they don't, Zandramasm the Child of Dark, would triumph.

Review: Coming Soon.

Summary: Discovered "among the many papers which Dumbledore left in his will to the Hogwarts Archives," the venerable wizard's ruminations on the Tales allow today's readers to place them in the context of 16th century Muggle society, even allowing that "Beedle was somewhat out of step with his times in preaching a message of brotherly love for Muggles" during the era of witch hunts that would eventually drive the wizarding community into self-imposed exile.

Review: I wish Rowling had written more stories but these five were very enjoyable. It was neat to read the stories that were mentioned in the Harry Potter books and also interesting to see what sort of "fairy tales" the wizards have. I think my favorite was 'The Fountain of Fair Fortune,' it was very sweet. :] I liked 'The Tale of the Three Brothers' as well since it had the most to do with Deathly Hallows and the rest of the series.