The Hunger Games: Official Illustrated Movie Companion by Kate Egan

I seldom if ever get the movie companion guide but I just LOVED, The Hunger Games and am anxiously awaiting the movie.

The movie companion gives an inside view on the selection of actors, the setting, clothing and director's vision.

There are a lot of photos of the movie but it doesn't' give anything away. This is a fun way to let the time pass as you await the movie.

Grade: A

I've Got Your Number: A Novel by Sophie Kinsella

I've Got Your Number is a cute, fun read. The story is predictable and the main characters are likeable, enough.

This book isn't as well written or exciting as her previous books but it is entertaining enough. There are footnotes and if you aren't a fan of them, skip this book. I personally enjoyed them and think they added to the book but others might find it tiresome.

Poppy loses her engagement ring and along the way stumbles into someone life, while discovering things about herself. If you liked Becky from, Kinsella's shopaholic series you will love the main character, Poppy. They are similar and quirky.

Grade: B-

Overview [B&N]
I’ve lost it. :( The only thing in the world I wasn’t supposed to lose. My engagement ring. It’s been in Magnus’s family for three generations. And now the very same day his parents are coming, I’ve lost it. The very same day! Do not hyperventilate, Poppy. Stay positive :) !!

Poppy Wyatt has never felt luckier. She is about to marry her ideal man, Magnus Tavish, but in one afternoon her “happily ever after” begins to fall apart. Not only has she lost her engagement ring in a hotel fire drill but in the panic that follows, her phone is stolen. As she paces shakily around the lobby, she spots an abandoned phone in a trash can. Finders keepers! Now she can leave a number for the hotel to contact her when they find her ring. Perfect!

Well, perfect except that the phone’s owner, businessman Sam Roxton, doesn’t agree. He wants his phone back and doesn’t appreciate Poppy reading his messages and wading into his personal life.

The Way We Fall: The Fallen World trilogy by Megan Crewe

The Way We Fall is an average read, told by journal entries.

A deadly virus breaks out on an island, they are quarantined, there is chaos, people die and a few survive.

The characters are rather flat, the story is just okay and the ending leaves you irritated. I wanted and expected so much more. The premise is great and I love a good story about a epidemic but this particular book just didn't captivate me.

I didn't get the paranoid, this could happen feeling.

Would, I read the second book in this trilogy ? Sure. Would I rush out and get it? Nope. Borrow this book or check it out from the library.

Grade: C

The Lying Game #2: Never Have I Ever by Sara Shepard

A great sequel with a surprise ending - a cliffhanger! Are you surprised ? I'm not! Shepard seems to be the Queen of cliffhangers.

In this book we find out a little bit more about, Sutton and what she was doing around the time of her disappearance. We also learn details and events of past, lying games.

Shepard has an excellent way of putting characters together. This is a fast, entertaining read and I am hooked.

Grade: B+

Overview [B&N]

My perfect life was a lie.

Now I’d do anything to uncover the truth.

Not long ago, I had everything a girl could wish for: amazing friends, an adorable boyfriend, a loving family. But none of them know that I’m gone—that I’m dead. To solve my murder, my long-lost twin sister, Emma, has taken my place. She sleeps in my room, wears my clothes, and calls my parents Mom and Dad.

And my killer is watching her every move.

I remember little from my life, just flashes and flickers, so all I can do is follow along as Emma tries to solve the mystery of my disappearance. But the deeper she digs, the more suspects she uncovers. It turns out my friends and I played a lot of games—games that ruined people’s lives. Anyone could want revenge . . . anyone could want me—and now Emma—dead.

Home Front by Kristin Hannah

Home Front is an excellent novel, by Kristin Hannah. It tackles subjects no one really wants to talk about. The war and the affect of the war on soldiers and their families.

Jolene is a mother, wife and solider. Her marriage is falling apart, her husband tells her he no longer loves her and then she is called into active duty. along with her best friend, Tami.

The war is difficult for both of them. He is left to care for their children, something he has never really had to do before.

As a black hawk pilot she has to go on many missions... one proves to be more dangerous than the rest. The helicopter is shot down into enemy territory. Her best friend is bleeding profusely and her life and her crews are at stake.

I won't divulge anymore details. This is a fast and emotional read. You don't have to be in the military to"get" it (I'm not). In fact I know very little about military life yet, this book moved me. Hannah, puts you right into the moment, in the midst of all the action and emotions that come with it.

Grade: A

Brightest Kind of Darkness by P.T. Michelle and Patrice Michelle

Brightest Kind of Darkness has a lot of potential. The story is quite original but it is rather long winded. The plot isn't really revealed until your half way though but the characters are well developed.

I'm not exactly sure why but I really struggled to get trough this book. It took some time and effort to finish it. Had I not cared for the character's, I would have left this fairly decent book unfinished.

If you get stuck like I did, push through it because the read is worth it.

Grade: B

Overview [B&N]
Nara Collins is an average sixteen-year-old, with one exception: every night she dreams the events of the following day. Due to an incident in her past, Nara avoids using her special gift to change fate…until she dreams a future she can’t ignore.

After Nara prevents a bombing at Blue Ridge High, her ability to see the future starts to fade, while people at school are suddenly being injured at an unusually high rate.

Grappling with her diminishing powers and the need to prevent another disaster, Nara meets Ethan Harris, a mysterious loner who seems to understand her better than anyone. Ethan and Nara forge an irresistible connection, but as their relationship heats up, so do her questions about his dark past.

Lenobia's Vow: A House of Night Novella by P. C. Cast and Kristin Cas

Lenobia's Vow is a mini- novella . This tiny book packs in a lot of fictional biographical information on Lenobia. She is one of my favorite characters and reading her story before she came to the House of Night is intriguing.

The book is set in 1788 and follows Lenobia on her voyage from, France to New Orleans. Her story is interesting and I look forward to more min- fiction biography's on other characters from the House of Night.

I suggest you check it out of the library or borrow it, if you find $10.00 too steep for 85 pages.

Grade: A

Overview [B&N]
A great journey…

A new love….

A dark secret revealed.

Evreux, France, 1788: Before she is Zoey’s favorite professor and the House of Night’s powerful horse mistress… Lenobia is just a normal 16-year-old girl – with enough problems to last a lifetime. As the illegitimate daughter of a powerful baron, she has never quite belonged, and instead has to watch her spoiled half-sister, Cecile, get anything she wants. As if that’s not enough, her remarkable beauty draws unwanted attention wherever she goes. For once, she would like to just fit in.

But when fate intervenes, Lenobia suddenly finds herself surrounded by other girls, on a ship bound for New Orleans, where they will be married off to the city’s richest Frenchmen. And they’re not alone…. An evil bishop who is skilled in Dark magic makes the same journey. His appetite for lovely young women makes him dangerous – most of all to Lenobia, who caught his eye back in France. So she remains hidden, making secret visits to the ship’s stables, where a handsome young man and his beautiful Percheron horses soon capture her attention.

Will they make it to land before the bishop discovers her true identity and a powerful evil breaks loose? And will Lenobia follow her heart, even if it puts lives at risk?

Truth by Julia Karr

Nina's life is turned upside down and much more complicated than in, XVI (Karr's debut novel).

Pops is accused of committing a crime, her grandmother is in the hospital and CPS wants to take Dee. Things are intense and Nina is fighting to keep her family together.

Truth is a transition book, between 1 and 3. It does not stand alone. Character development has grown and the story while interesting doesn't measure up to, XVI. The ending is a cliff hanger and will leave you craving more. I can't wait to see what happens to Nina in the next book.

Grade: B-

Overview: [B&N]
Nina Oberon's life has changed enormously in the last few months. When her mother was killed, Nina discovered the truth about her father, the leader of the Resistance. And now she sports the same Governing Council—ordered tattoo of XVI on her wrist that all sixteen-year-old girls have. The one that announces to the world that she is easy prey to predators. But Nina won't be anyone's stereotype. And when she joins an organization of girls working within the Resistance, she knows that they can put an end to one of the most terrifying secret programs the GC has ever conceived. Because the truth always comes out . . . and the consequences can be deadly.

Dark Inside by Jeyn Roberts

Dark Inside is an intense and creepy, post apocalyptic novel. There are loads of characters and it takes a while to get them all straight in your head but once you do the read is captivating.

It all starts with an earthquake --- one of massive proportions. Chaos ensues and the downfall of society begins. This is all about survival and only the fit will make it.

This book lives up to its title.

Grade: A

Overview [B&N]

Since mankind began, civilizations have always fallen: the Romans, the Greeks, the Aztecs…Now it’s our turn. Huge earthquakes rock the world. Cities are destroyed. But something even more awful is happening. An ancient evil has been unleashed, turning everday people into hunters, killers, crazies.
Mason's mother is dying after a terrible car accident. As he endures a last vigil at her hospital bed, his school is bombed and razed to the ground, and everyone he knows is killed. Aries survives an earthquake aftershock on a bus, and thinks the worst is over when a mysterious stranger pulls her out of the wreckage, but she’s about to discover a world changed forever. Clementine, the only survivor of an emergency town hall meeting that descends into murderous chaos, is on the run from savage strangers who used to be her friends and neighbors. And Michael witnesses a brutal road rage incident that is made much worse by the arrival of the police--who gun down the guilty party and then turn on the bystanding crowd.

Hana by Lauren Oliver

Hana by Lauren Oliver will be for sale [e-book, format only] on February 28, 2012.

Hana is based upon a character from Oliver's book, Delirium. Hana is Lena's best friend and this is her story. This simple short story gives us Hana's view on things, what happens to her, her feeling and thoughts --- her world.

Oliver delivers a quick, entertaining and clever short story, that makes you wish she would write an entire series about, Hana. Hana has her very own secrets and the twist will shock you.

Expect to read this in one sitting.

Grade: A

PS. I've posted both covers because I love the look of each one.