Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

I really enjoyed this book and had trouble putting it down. It was creepy, mysterious, funny, sad, a love story and a great fantasy. I look forward to the second book. The author did a great job creating different worlds.

Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling

I made it to page 33, and I think I am done. I cannot stand this book. It isn't for me. I think she set out to write as different a book from the Harry Potter books as she could. Congratulations, J.K., you've succeeded. It is one disgusting situation or comment after another. I've read about big breasts resting on forearms, erections, masturbation, coupling, beds banging against the wall, a 5 year old girl pulling her pants down at school and pretending to "do it", boys squeezing a girl's breasts in the back of the classroom and speculation about how a very fat man manages to use his penis - all in 33 pages. It's not Harry Potter. I don't even think it's that well-written. I understand she was trying to write about "dark and gritty" life in a small town. Not everything about small town life is this gross, though. I understand there's rape and pedophilia to come. No, thanks. If there was one redeeming character in this story, I'd persevere. I haven't found one yet so I think I'll quit.

Fall of Giants by Ken Follett

It was just okay - LONG. It dragged in spots. I liked the history of it. I wish he had focused on fewer characters and gotten more in-depth with some of them.

He spent too much time jumping from story to story. He'd spend a short amount of time with a few characters, and just when you were interested in where the story line was going, he'd jump to another set of characters and start in on their story. Back and forth and back and forth he went. It could have been written in a different way so that it still covered all the main characters, and it would have been a lot more interesting. There are some characters he could have written less about, and that would have been okay, too.

I struggled to finish this - it dragged on, and I'd lost interest several times. I kept checking to see how many pages I had left to read and hoping somehow that it would hurry up and end.

I have the second book - Winter of the World - waiting to read, but I haven't started it yet. I am hoping it is written better and doesn't drag like the first one. I enjoyed the historical aspect of the book, and I learned some things that I did not know. I just wish it hadn't been such a struggle to get through.

Killing Floor by Lee Child

Wow. While this is not my usual type of book, I very much enjoyed reading it. It was definitely a book that I found difficult to put down. I bought it because a co-worker was reading Lee Child's "The Affair" and was plowing through it and enjoying it. I did some research on the series and decided to give it a try so I bought the first book.

Yes, it is a little gruesome at times, but the gory parts are not drawn out and can easily be skimmed if you are squeamish. I liked that Reacher didn't take crap from anyone. He went after the bad guys and took them out. I hate those books where the hero has to suffer some at the villain's hands before he finally wins in the end. Reacher only suffers mentally in this book; other than that, he kicks ass.

At one point, he's asked how he feels about killing the criminals, and he says, "How do you feel when you put roach powder down?" Prior to that when he's sneaking up to take out one of the sadistic bad guys, he thinks to himself, "The books I used to read, the movies people see, I should have fought him nobly." "We should have duked it out, face to face. He should have been made aware of who his opponent was. He should have been made aware of why he had to die. All that noble, man-to-man stuff. But real life wasn't like that."

Reacher is my hero. I will definitely continue with the series.

Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

Fifty Shades of Crap.

When I first finished the Twilight series and was looking around for something similar, I happened upon the fan fiction sites. I refused to read this then because I think that anyone who can’t come up with their own set of characters to write about in a novel is an idiot. Not long after I noticed that Fifty Shades was available as an eBook on Amazon. I also saw it on the shelves in Barnes and Noble. Everyone started talking about it and raving about it so I thought maybe I was wrong. I downloaded it to my Kindle and started reading.

First off, the author might as well have called the characters “Bedward” and “Ella”. He has tousled, copper-colored hair, gray eyes, he’s wealthy, drives fast sports cars, he’s the gorgeous bad boy. She’s a brunette, shy, nervous, awkward, trips over her own two feet, no self-confidence; she’s a misfit and thinks no one notices her. Seriously? She couldn’t even change the basics about the characters?

I read the first twelve chapters (39% through, page 151) and can’t go any further. Can you delete something from your Kindle? What an awful mess this book is. Everyone jokes about how horribly written the Stephenie Meyer books are – this is worse. At least Meyer’s books are readable. This is squirm-worthy. When she uses his toothbrush, ick. When he drinks the wine and spits it out into her mouth while she’s blindfolded, ick. So far, he’s only tied her up a couple of times and slapped her once. I haven’t even gotten to the scenes in the Red Room of Pain yet, and I can go no further. The Christian character is a controlling, sick freak, and she’s a sad, desperate moron to think he’s worthy of her attention. Who would sign a contract agreeing to what she is contemplating agreeing to? How about for safe words we use “nauseating” and “garbage”?

Seriously, don’t waste your time or your money on this dreck. There are so many other good books out there to be read.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

I saw the movie first and thought it was well done.  The acting was superb. It was tragic, funny and heartwarming.  I bought the book and struggled some to get through it. It seemed to drag in places, and I had to force myself to stick with it. I did enjoy reading it, though. The story takes place in the 60's and is about black women (the Help) taking care of white families and their children.  The way they were treated (like less than human) was sad.  They were okay to raise the babies, but they couldn't use the bathroom inside the house because they were thought to be "diseased". It was terrible the way they were treated. The movie flowed better than the book, and maybe it's because the story did have several disturbing/tragic parts that it was easier to get through those parts on film than in print. I would recommend this book, but I also recommend the movie.

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

I could not wait for this book to come out.  I loved Divergent. It was dark, a little creepy, and I could not put it down.  I follow Veronica Roth on Goodreads and Facebook, and I enjoy reading her blog posts.  Both books (Divergent and Insurgent) are about a dystopian world. Everyone is divided into factions, and they all have their places within their communities. If you are going to read Insurgent, read Divergent first. Insurgent picks up where Divergent left off. Insurgent was also creepy, violent and fast-paced.  Its ending is a cliffhanger, and there's a definite twist there. I enjoyed the main character, Tris, more in the first book.  I enjoyed the hero, Tobias (Four), in both books. The books are part of a planned trilogy so I am eager to see  how Roth plans to end the story.