Glass Houses - Rachel Caine

For the horror theme in Bookclub this term, I read 'Glass Houses' by Rachel Caine.

The book is the first in the 'Morganville Vampires' series; my friend recommended it to me so I thought I should give it a go. I'm not really a horror genre person, the only ones I read are an occasional Steven King novel. Vampire books are really not usually my thing.
The story follows a 16-year old girl named Claire, who is super smart and graduated high school two years early and decides to go to college. But seeing as Yale is really far away and her parents are frightened that she won't be able to handle it, she gets sent to this creepy university closer to home in a town called Morganville. I don't want to give the whole plot away, but she moves into a house with two guys and a girl after some popular girls at her university try to kill her by pushing her down the stairs, and she finds out that the town has some creepy vampire connections and gets wrapped up in it all.

If that doesn't sound like your thing, I still reckon you should give it a go. It's probably more of a girls read, just because it has a female main character, but I wouldn't go as far as saying that guys wouldn't enjoy it either. There are guy characters in it too and a fun amount of vampire violence. The thing that caught my attention the most though, was how it was written. It was published in 2006, but I feel like I could relate to it (all the main characters being between the ages of 16 and 19) because the author really gets into the teenage frame of mind as she writes.

It's hard to do the book justice in a review, but all in all, it's a great book. I read it in one day, which should tell you that it's worth it. So if you're looking for something different, definitely go for it!

John Grisham - The Associate

I admit, this book seemed very long to me. I must have renewed it about 3 times, but I have finally finished it!

The book is 'The Associate' by John Grisham. I'd only read one book by this author before, 'The Painted House' (Which I totally recommend by the way, it was really good!), but my dad's really into his books relating to law, so when I saw it on the table I thought I'd give it a read. 

I won't give too much away about the plot, but basically it's about a recent grad law student who gets blackmailed into joining a massive law firm and stealing their "secrets" about an upcoming case.

The book itself gets a bit slow at times, it's only 300 pages but the middle seemed to be about 300 in itself! The end went very fast though, and I ended up finishing the last 100 pages in 30min.  

Would I recommend it? I say read it. It's probably not the best to read it when you're studying for exams, because it'll sit by your bed collecting dust as it did with me. But if I'd actually sat down and read it in a week, I think I'd be much more enthusiastic about getting other people to read it. Overall, if you're into that sort of crime and law genre, definitely read it, it's really well written and if you're passionate about the subject it'll be perfect for you. If you don't like crime stories or you've never tried them, I say read one of John Grisham's just to see what it's like, because there's tons to choose from and he's a very good writer.

Dear Alison - Simon Pollard

This was the book I had to read for Book Club, and the subject was imprisonment. I wanted to grab something that wasn't too long and complicated, just something simple but interesting. This book seemed pretty cool because when I opened it, it was full of little ink cartoons, which caught my interest instantly.

The book itself is a diary of a New Zealand man who was a prisoner of war in Germany during WWII, and the book is his letters to his niece, who was 4 at the time.

Overall, I thought that the book got kind of boring at times. It was interesting at the beginning, but by the end I had to make myself finish. Personally it would be a good book to just skip through and read little parts and look at the pictures, but for some people, reading it the whole way through could get boring.

x Phoebe

the dreamwalkers child

The dreamwalkers child now normally it would be the kind of book i would walk past on a book shelve but at the first book club meeting there it was sitting there nestled between two much larger tomes. I picked it up carefully and turned it over intending to read the back but hey i fgured i would start reading it any way. So here i was sitting in my room lamplight shining as i devoured everypage. Ok on to the book itself it is a story about a boy called sam who moved out of the city and into a remote country area. While there he discovers his interest of bugs so if you find your self creeped out by bugs big or small i would recomend you find something else despite how good i found this book to be. So after a while sam notices the bugs seem to be following him as time goes on more and more follow until one day when he is riding his bike and out of no where a swarm of wasps fly towards him. Naturally he trys to escape but as he rides away smack hit by a truck. Thats all im going to give away from here but i would definetly say reading this book is good if you are in the mood for something action packed and highly dosed with witty comments and story. ps sorry about my spelling.

Welcome to 2011

Prison or imprisoned is the theme for the Book Club.
Everyone has their books so get reading and start your reviews. We would love to see your comments.

Black House by Stephen King and Peter Straub

So i have FINALLY finished this book. It was a REAL pain. Its about a town that has been "blackened" by a serial killer. The killer was possessed by a monster from another realm that goes by The Territories(by the main character) and Far Away(by an important character). The killer kidnaps children and takes them away to this land, where they are forced to work to try and break the cage that keeps The Crimson King in place. The main character, Jack Sawyer, is a 'coppiceman' (policeman) that is a highly thought of L.A homicide detective that comes to French Landing for his retirement. As the killer kidnaps children, he starts to get involved to try and catch this man, even though he is retired, and along the way he crosses over the The Territories on many occasions to discover more about the kill and the monster that has possessed him.

If you are the kind of person who likes to read a lot of descriptions and not get into the main story until about 2/3s of the way in, just to end up not even getting much of a surprise, this is the book for you! i personally did not like much (except a few parts which were cool, like the demon dog) and i would not recommend it to you. i think there was an earlier book, which might be why i found it hard to follow, so if you read that first you might like this one. i give this a 3/10, marks because it had a lot of stuff i would like to use (like 'zip up your fly' which is used by a radio broadcaster to say that the game is over (i think)), after all the boring stuff it did get slightly exciting, and that it did have a good ending.

Daemon Hall

im back! after like 2 mins. XD now this book is very unique to me. Divya M was reading it and i found that it suites my taste of horrors alot. a famous horror author named Ian Tremblin i think.. is holding a competition for budding young authors to get a book published. you get into the draw by writing a horror story and the top 5 will spend the night at a haunted house and the last one standing will win. its practically a bunch of horror stories in 1 book but there is quite a good poem that is spread through out and this really pulled me in:

"Five little finalists waiting at the door,

One went down a hole and then there were four.

Four little finalists, plain for all to see,

One was dragged into the night and then there were three.

Three little finalists made up this hearty crew,

One was forced to walk the plank and then there were two.

Two little finalists, one went on the run,

screamed and tripped and broke a neck and then there was one.

The last little finalist almost had it won,

poor thing went insane and then there were none."

this really pulled me in!! the horror stories arent to bad to be honest but i think that it could have been more about the plot instead of the stories (atleast half the book was stories by far) but they werent too bad. i would give this a 7/10 due to the vast amount of stories and little plot there. also i kinda figured out what was going to happen after the stories were though. (i think i know horror way 2 much. the same happen to me with movies)

Changeling: Discover The Beast Within

this book is about a boy named trey whos parents died in a "car accident" and we all know that means they were murdered. could have guessed that a mile off sadly D= well he has been living in a care home when he wakes up one morning to find his room completly TRASHED! he thinks that someone broke in and the head care man thinks he did it. hes been living in this home becaus ehe has no family until his uncle Lucien comes for a visit. his uncle has this special power and has a bad allergy to sunlight. eventually trey finds out his uncle Lucien (total vamp name) is a vamp and hes actually the last of hereditary werewolves. he must learn to control his power to save humanity!! this book is quite a good book and i recommend reading it. 8/10 points lost because it was quite typical for this kind of book.

btw could we PLEASE get the 2nd book in?? its called dark moon. we have the 1st (this 1) and the 3rd (blood wolf) but not the 2nd! could we PLEEEAAASSSEEE get it in??

Goosebumps Comic: Creepy Creatures

Boy it's been a long time since i've been on here but it's great to be back,
With this epic story I tell you I thought this was great
If your one of those poeple that read at night trust me this
is a story for you, of course it's written by none other than
R.L. STINE and when you hear that name you know it's gotta be great
This comic version of Goosebumbs consists of 3 different comic stories
they include "The warewolf of Fever Swamp", "The scarecrow walks at midnight" & "The Abominable snow man of Pasadena"
Where all these stories have an epic story and not to mention a epic end will he survive will he not all brought to you by R.L. STINE

Yours
MASTER BLOGGER

Coraline

What did you think of the artwork?

It was quite simple, but seemed very mature artwork and didn't seem like a children's comic.

By Pheobe Rolfe

Silverfin, graphic novel, young bond series

What did you think of the artwork?
Simple, not too much detail. Easy to follow.

By Jade Wang

Ultimate Fantastic Four Vol. 1

What did you think of the artwork?

Sometimes I got confused and read the wrong panels. People's faces changed a lot.

By Hazell Fernandez

Percy Jackson And The Sea Of Monsters

hae everyone just in the middle of the 2nd book in the percy jackson series and it's going great, whats been happening is that percy has been breaking the rules (hehe, like he hasn't before) because he's on a quest, that hasn't even been given to him, by the god of the roadways, travellers, merchants and thieves yes Hermes, and what the quest is is that he has to find the golden fleece (from the greek story jason and the golden fleece) before thalia (the border that protects half blood hill) dies because someone has poisened thalia

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan

Hey everyone,

After going to the movies to watch Percy Jackson, I decided to read the book, which as everyone should know, is a pretty dumb thing to do. In my defence however, I didn't know that a book existed before I went to watch the movie. Anyway, as usual, the book was way better than the movie.

I thought this book was pretty good. The author describes battles and other major events in a gripping way in my opinion. Plus the storyline isn't half bad either. It's about this boy named Percy Jackson (major shock) who finds out that he's the son of a Greek God. And then he finds out that he's been labelled 'The Lightning Thief' (another major shock, who would've guessed that's what the book's about!) because Zeus' lightning bolt has gone missing and everyone thinks he took it (which is absolutely crazy, but what else can you expect from the Greek?) Now he's on a mission to find the lightning bolt and clear his name. The only problem is that truck loads of hideous monsters are now coming from all corners of the earth to kill him which is quite a hindrance surprisingly.

The only thing I didn't like about this book was that the writing was in first person. Since the main character is like 12 or something, this made the book look like it was written by some little kid which annoyed me. But the battles and major events were described alright.

All in all, a pretty good book which was easy to read and satisfying. It ends with a pretty good cliffhanger which paves the way for us to read the rest of the books in the series.

7/10

Dead Gorgeous by Malorie Blackman

hey all here i am reading more Malorie Blackman =D this cover isnt the one the library has but its the same book. Dead Gorgeous is about a family who bought this hotel, which has tunnles under it. and 10 years before a boy was searching through them when it collapsed and killed him. he is now a ghost in the hotel. his name is Liam. and Nova (child of the family) is the only one that can see him when he is in ghost form (he can turn solid when emotional). Nova and Liams brother are trying to find his dead body so he can move on. i found this book to be a bit out of my fancy. it wasnt very fast paced and it was a little bit exciting but i didnt like it as much as Noughts and Crosses. i give this a 7/10. marked down due to the slow pace and not very much excitement.

Full Metal Alchemist 14

This is book is a manga and i know i shouldnt have read it before the meeting but i really like Japanese stuff =D this is about Edward and Alphonse Elric, or The Elric Brothers as the are known for. They are in search of the Philosphers Stone (NO HARRY POTTER REMARKS PLEASE!) which gives them absolute power in alchemy. in this manga episode they find the person who has the stone and it looks just like their father!! there is a fight and they cant use their alchemy. i give this book a 7/10 and i think there should be more manga =D=D maybe exclusively for book club and librarians since people may rip out pages... XD

Angels and Demons by Dan Brown

Three words...a. ma. ZING.
Robert Langdon, symbologist, gets a call at the crack of dawn. Someone was murdered, and he gets a fax...a symbol. An ambigram (looks the same from upsidedown) of the word ILLUMINATI...an ancient brotherhood that has supposedly been lying low for 400 years. Many learned symbologists have been trying to recreate the ambigram, and failing, and suddenly it turns up on a murdered scientist at CERN.
CERN has been developing a new technology: antimatter. An EXTREMELY explosive device, a quarter of a kilogram of it is equal to five kilotons (VERY explosive) it would wipe out a whole town.
The canisters holding the antimatter have battery charged magnets that hold the antimatter in suspension...but if the battery was to fail...and the antimatter comes into its direct opposite (matter)...by touching the bottom of the canister...
They have 24 hours counting down untill the battery fails. Robert Langdon teams up with Vittoria Vetra, daughter of the murdered scientist, and who invented the antimatter, and takes an adventure of a lifetime to the Vatican city.
The Vatican city is in the prossess of choosing a new pope after the death of the old one. But theres a problem. The four preferred Cardinals have been kidnapped and the antimatter is somewhere within the Vatican City, ready to explode at midnight. The four cardinals are going to be murdered by the Illuminatus on the four "altars of science". Robert and Vittoria do all they can to stop the murderer, who claims to work for the illuminatus, and they beleive that following the "path of illumination" will lead them to the four altars of science and finally to the antimatter. If they could only get it before time runs out...
A breathtaking adventure
The whole book is like one enormous jugsaw puzzle that all fit in together for a while and then, at the end, BAM! the WHOLE structure changes in one unEXPECTED ending...

Going Solo

I thought this book was awesome; full of Roald Dahl's old lifetime stories from way back. It was really exciting because it was full of information about his working conditions and history as an author. It did keep my interest and the most interesting part for me was the biographies on his precious books.

This review was written by Jasmine Henderson-Cook in response to the Book Club 'Hero' theme.

Mao's Last Dancer

I thought the book was really excellent, I liked the description and the way the author wrote the book. It was exciting, but of a different sort because it is a biography. Overall, it did keep my interest but sometimes I had to make myself read the next part.

This review was written by Phoebe Rolfe in response to the Book Club 'Hero' theme.

Zlata's Diary

I thought this book was very informing but I don't think it is as serious as Anne Frank's Diary. I didn't think it was really exciting. The excitement was generally consistent throughout the book but sometimes I lost interest.

This review was written by Jade Wang in response to the Book Club 'Hero' theme.