Circle of Friends by Maeve Binchy {RIP} #AugustBreak

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

George R.R. Martin’s A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE
Three great storylines weave through the books, charting the civil war for control of the Seven Kingdoms; the defence of the towering Wall of ice in the uttermost north against the unearthly threat of the Others; and across the Narrow Sea the rise to power of Daenerys Targaryen and the last live dragons in the world.

A GAME OF THRONES

A CLASH OF KINGS

A STORM OF SWORDS, 1: STEEL AND SNOW

A STORM OF SWORDS, 2: BLOOD AND GOLD

A FEAST FOR CROWS

I have read books 1, 2, and 3 pt.1, I am in the process of getting book 3 pt 2 and 4. I am trying not to rush to quickly through this series as book 5 was only just published. Who knows when book 6 will be out?
I love these books. They are a bit slow and tedious in parts, but I am glad I've stuck with them so far. The characters are lovable, even the un-lovable ones!! I found myself constantly thinking about what would happen next after I put the book(s) down for the night.
The chapters are written from the view point of alternating characters, my sister pointed out Jodi Piccoult does the same. I would find myself flipping forward to see what happened next to certain characters. However I don't recommend this as I spoiled a few things for myself!!


These are very popular at the moment due to being a HBO TV series, so I don't know what I can say about them that hasn't already been said except for this: if the opening chapter of A Game of Thrones doesn't grab your attention, then I wouldn't bother. Just put it down and read something else! ;0) 
~LiSa


note: after re-reading this it feels like I was all over the place, I am sorry. It's just hard to say in the written word what I want to say!

Update: I have finished book 4, I found it a bit of a struggle. It introduced too many new characters and even though I liked getting all the information in book 4 A Feast for Crows, I would have preferred reading about the characters I had come to love! 
I am totally enthralled in book 5!! Now that it's back to what feels familiar!!
 ~LiSa 24/07/2012 

Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist -- A Book Review

synopsis:
Tie-in to the award-winning 2009 film, John Ajvide Lindqvist’s original novel is a unique and brilliant fusion of social novel and vampire legend, a deeply moving fable about rejection, friendship and loyalty.

This book was creepy. So, creepy that I couldn't read it before bed: I had a dream that I was hanging out with my old high school friends and we had to escape from Thief River Falls, MN because everyone there was a vampire. So, it was sorta like a zombie movie, but with vampires. Buffy showed up too. Strange. After that I decided it was best not to read the novel before bed.
I think what made it so freaky is the way the story read. Like a news story or something a friend told you about as if it actually happened. It didn't read like fiction. I like how the synopsis of the book is very simple and doesn't give anything away. I'm going to follow suit and not say too much. Except I don't think I'll be seeing the movie as the book scared me. It's not very often that a book actually scares me. So kudos to Mr. Lindqvist.
On another note - it is a bit slow at times and the characters one-dimensional, but it didn't hinder the book for me. I don't always need a book where the characters are easy to relate to. Sometimes it's not the point of the story. This book isn't something I'd recommend to just anyone. If you're looking to be creeped out have a go at it, but don't worry it's not that scary that you can't fall asleep, just know that your dreams may be a bit tainted. :0)

About the Author: John Ajvide Lindqvist is a Swedish author who grew up in Blackeberg, the setting for Let Me In. Wanting to become something awful and fantastic, he first became a conjurer, and then was a stand-up comedian for twelve years. He has also written for Swedish television. Let Me In was a bestseller in Sweden and was named Best Novel in Translation 2005 in Norway. It is being made into a major motion picture. Let Me In is Lindqvist’s first novel.

Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult - a book review

Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult : June's first husband was killed in a car crash. Against all the odds, her daughter was uninjured and, in another miracle, June found love again with the policeman who rescued them. Six years on they are a happy family, June pregnant with their own child.

But now June's second daughter is dying without the new heart she so urgently needs. And her first daughter, along with her husband, is dead, killed by Shay Bourne, an itinerant workman they welcomed into their home. The crime was so heinous that Shay has been given the death penalty for the first time in 69 years in New Hampshire. Shay is going to die, and he is looking for redemption. He wants to give June's daughter his heart . . .

This was written in true Picoult style. It has all the twists and turns you come to expect from her. This book has had lots of criticism of resembling Stephen Kings The Green Mile. In fact I feel it was very similar, but I also know that she knows that. She has one of the inmates on I-tier call Shay Bourne 'Green Mile' and even has one of the characters say they would rather be curled up with the latest Stephen King novel. Besides the main character basically being the same the stories are very different. Jodi Picoult's is based on the very the touchy topic of religion. Where Green Mile is more about the death sentence and sentencing innocent people. If you liked Green Mile, which I did, I would recommend Change of Heart to you. And vise versa if you liked this then I would recommend The Green Mile, not the movie. Where the movie was entertaining it didn't have the same impact that the book did, there was just something lost in the feeling for the main characters. A topic I could go on and on and on about all day!
As I am a very curious person when it comes to religion I really did like this book. Religion is a very personal thing as I feel it says a lot about the person, but I hate how it's something people can't talk about in an easygoing conversation. It always seems to turn into a childish argument of who is right and who is wrong. If you are a close-minded person when it comes to religion I would stay clear of this book as it's just going to piss you off. I'm sorry if that statement pissed you off. I'm just warning you.

I think this book warrants a read. Maybe not my favorite Picoult novel but it definitely still has me thinking!

Check out our other reviews of Jodi Picoult's books: House Rules, Keeping Faith, The Pact, My Sister's Keeper, The Tenth Circle and Plain Truth.

The Pact by Jodi Picoult -- A Recommendation

In this contemporary tale of love and friendship, Jodi Picoult brings to life a familiar world, and in a single terrifying moment awakens every parent's worse fear: We think we know our children… but do we ever really know them at all?

For eighteen years the Hartes and the Golds have lived next door to each other, sharing everything from Chinese food to chicken pox to carpool duty-- they've grown so close it seems they have always been a part of each other's lives. Parents and children alike have been best friends, so it's no surprise that in high school Chris and Emily's friendship blossoms into something more. They've been soul mates since they were born.

So when midnight calls from the hospital come in, no one is ready for the appalling truth: Emily is dead at seventeen from a gunshot wound to the head. There's a single unspent bullet in the gun that Chris took from his father's cabinet-- a bullet that Chris tells police he intended for himself. But a local detective has doubts about the suicide pact that Chris has described.
The profound questions faced by the characters in this heart-rending novel are those we can all relate to: How well do we ever really know our children, our friends? What if…? As its chapters unfold, alternating between an idyllic past and an unthinkable present, The Pact paints an indelible portrait of families in anguish… culminating in an astonishingly suspenseful courtroom drama as Chris finds himself on trial for murder.

With this riveting psychological drama, Jodi Picoult explores the dynamics of intimate relationships under stress-- from the seemingly inexplicable mind of a teenager to the bonds of friendship and marriage. Few writers have such a gift for evoking everyday life coupled with the ability to create a level of dramatic tension that will keep you up reading late into the night. The Pact is storytelling at its best: wonderfully observed, deeply moving, and utterly impossible to put down.

http://www.jodipicoult.com/the-pact.html

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt -- A Recommendation

~Imagine coming upon a fountain of youth in a forest. To live forever--isn't that everyone's ideal? For the Tuck family, eternal life is a reality, but their reaction to their fate is surprising. Award winner Natalie Babbitt outdoes herself in this sensitive, moving adventure in which 10-year-old Winnie Foster is kidnapped, finds herself helping a murderer out of jail, and is eventually offered the ultimate gift--but doesn't know whether to accept it. Babbitt asks profound questions about the meaning of life and death, and leaves the reader with a greater appreciation for the perfect cycle of nature. Intense and powerful, exciting and poignant, Tuck Everlasting will last forever--in the reader's imagination. ~
Taken from amazon.com

I read this, I believe in the 5th grade. It always stuck with me. It made me think and years ago I went and bought my own copy as I felt it a must for every book collection. I don’t think I need to say a lot as the description above really says it all. If that doesn't spike your curiosity then nothing I say will.

P.S. The movie does not do it justice and I don’t recommend it.