Hunting Lila

Hunting Lila
by Sarah Alderson

17-year-old Lila has two secrets she’s prepared to take to the grave. The first is that she can move things just by looking at them. The second is that she’s been in love with her brother’s best friend, Alex, since forever.

After a mugging exposes her unique ability, Lila decides to run to the only people she can trust – her brother and Alex. They live in Southern California where they work for a secret organisation called The Unit, and Lila discovers that the two of them are hunting down the men who murdered her mother five years before. And that they’ve found them. In a world where nothing and no one is quite as they seem, Lila quickly realises that she is not alone – there are others out there just like her – people with special powers -and her mother’s killer is one of them…-Back o' the Book

I found this book that was recommend on a blog site I follow and I think overall it was pretty good. To be honest I thought the beginning of the book went by rather slow, but it did pick up towards the end where I didn't really want to stop reading till I found out what happened.

The main character was a little young for me and a little boy crazy, but I'm hoping she will develop and mature in the next book because with her powers, she has a lot of potential to be a strong character. I would say this is a good book for teens to young adults who like some of the sci-fi mixed in (like I do) and I think I'm going to give the sequel of this book a chance and see if it delivers. It has tons of potential to do so.

The Green Mile

The Green Mile
by Stephen King

Welcome to Cold Mountain Penitentiary, home to the Depression-worn men of E Block. Convicted killers all, each awaits his turn to walk the Green Mile, keeping a date with "Old Sparky," Cold Mountain's electric chair. Prison guard Paul Edgecombe has seen his share of oddities in his years working the Mile. But he's never seen anyone like John Coffey, a man with the body of a giant and the mind of a child, condemned for a crime terrifying in its violence and shocking in its depravity. In this place of ultimate retribution, Edgecombe is about to discover the terrible, wondrous truth about Coffey, a truth that will challenge his most cherished beliefs...and yours. - Back o' the Book

I had heard about this book many times over the years and even saw a small portion of the movie. I recently found it for a dollar so I decided to give it a go and boy, was I sucked in! From the very start this book was completely engrossing. The characters were all so diverse and developed, it was like a movie playing in my head. I never wanted to put this book down.

It does have quite a bit of language and some more adult scenes, but I really really enjoyed it. I loved the way King created the language and set the time period so well. I also was very in love with the ending of the book. There are few novels out there that I can say I was completely satisfied with the ending, but this was sure one of them. A must read!
-Recommended (for adults)

The Space Between

The Space Between
by Brenna Yovanoff


Everything burns in Pandemonium, a city in Hell made of chrome and steel, where there is no future and life is an expanse of frozen time. That’s where Daphne lives.
The daughter of a demon and a fallen angel, she wonders what lies in store for her. Will she become a soulless demon like her sisters? Or follow in the footsteps of her brother Obie, whose life is devoted to saving lost souls on Earth? All she wants is to find a place where she belongs.
When Obie saves a bleeding, broken boy named Truman from the brink of death and then suddenly goes missing, Daphne runs away to Earth to find him. But on Earth, everything is colder and more terrifying, and Daphne struggles between her demon instincts and her growing—yet achingly unfamiliar—feelings for Truman. As Daphne and Truman search for Obie, they must navigate the jealousies and alliances of the violent archangels who stand in their way. But Daphne also discovers, unexpectedly, what it means to love and be human in a world where human is the hardest thing to be. - Back o' the Book

So I bought this book and started reading it although I still hasn't finished the other I was working on. But that's okay because this only took me three lunch breaks to read! Quick read and very engrossing. I thought that a book written by the perspective of a demon would be cool (also, I'm writing something similar so I wanted to see how she went about it).

Daphne was very interesting and I loved her mannerisms as well as Truman who I just wanted to give a hug to. I thought the author did and awesome job developing the characters even though the climax was a little lacking (in my opinion) but that didn't matter much because I just wanted to see what happened to Daphne and Truman. I thought the descriptions of things and places and people were pretty good. Not over done like some books where I find myself skipping descriptions. This was a very fun read and I would suggest it to anyone who likes books that are a little bit darker, but not depressingly so.

-Recommended

Feed

Feed
by M. T. Anderson


In a future world where internet connections feed directly into the consumer’s brain, thought is supplemented by advertising banners, and language has gone into a steep decline, a little love story unfolds. Titus, an average kid on a weekend trip to the moon, meets Violet, a brainy girl who has decided to try to fight the feed. Assaulted by a hacker who interrupts their connection, they struggle to understand what has happened to them – and to everyone around them. -Back o' the Book

I cannot begin to tell you how much I love this book. I've read it more times than I can remember and just thinking about it makes me want to read it again. It takes some time to get used to the jargon used in the futuristic setting but after a while it starts to make sense.

This book is all about consumerism and the degradation of language and writing (most kids growing up don't know how to write with their hands, thanks to their feed they are connected to). I found this book to be a warning sign for the direction we as a nation and as a species are heading to. Very powerful stuff if you stop to think about it and not just read the words. I've forced my sister to read this and now she is in love with it too and rereads it occasionally.

The one downside to it is the amount of foul language ridden throughout the book, although it's just another example of the degradation of society that takes place.

-Highly Recommended

If I Stay

If I Stay
by Gale Forman


In a single moment, everything changes. Seventeen-year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall riding along the snow-wet Oregon road with her family. Then, in a blink, she finds herself watching as her own damaged body is taken from the wreck... A sophisticated, layered, and heartachingly beautiful story about the power of family and friends, the choices we all make—and the ultimate choice Mia commands. - Back o' the Book

I thought this book had a very interesting premise, it reminded me of The Lovely Bones, which I should also do a review on. I was curious how the author would pace it since Mia is almost dead and just floating around but she brought you back to many flashbacks of her life. I would say this was beautifully written and hard to put down. The main character was very different from most female leads to see in Young Adult novels. It is pretty sad in some areas and I found myself torn, just like her, about whether she should stay or go.

I would recommend this to older YA readers since there are some gory scenes and death is a bit of a touchy subject.

-Recommended

Wake

Wake
by Lisa McMann

     For seventeen-year-old Janie, getting sucked into other people's dreams is getting old. Especially the falling dreams, the naked-but-nobody-notices dreams, and the sex-crazed dreams. Janie's seen enough fantasy booty to last her a lifetime.
     She can't tell anybody about what she does -- they'd never believe her, or worse, they'd think she's a freak. So Janie lives on the fringe, cursed with an ability she doesn't want and can't control.
     Then she falls into a gruesome nightmare, one that chills her to the bone. For the first time, Janie is more than a witness to someone else's twisted psyche. She is a participant... 
- Back o' the Book

     I thought this one was very well written and easy to read. The writing style was different in a way that it seemed like quick thoughts coming from Janie's mind. It zipped by but held my attention. I was pulled through this story as fast paced as it was and I really enjoyed it. It seemed not too far fetched and I really liked Janie's character.
     Very quick, very engrossing. I do believe I will be getting the next book in the series.

-Recommended

Generation Dead

Generation Dead
by Daniel Waters

Phoebe Kendall is just your typical Goth girl with a crush. He’s strong and silent…and dead.
All over the country, a strange phenomenon is occurring. Some teenagers who die aren't staying dead. But when they come back to life, they are no longer the same. Feared and misunderstood, they are doing their best to blend into a society that doesn't want them. The administration at Oakvale High attempts to be more welcoming of the “differently biotic." But the students don’t want to take classes or eat in the cafeteria next to someone who isn't breathing. And there are no laws that exist to protect the “living impaired” from the people who want them to disappear—for good. 
When Phoebe falls for Tommy Williams, the leader of the dead kids, no one can believe it; not her best friend, Margi, and especially not her neighbor, Adam, the star of the football team. Adam has feelings for Phoebe that run much deeper than just friendship; he would do anything for her. But what if protecting Tommy is the one thing that would make her happy? - Back o' the Book

     Despite the obviously cheesy cover (in my opinion) I picked up this book at a second hand store because of the back. I thought it was a pretty interesting concept and it caught my interest enough to want to know how this was going to play out. It was a pretty easy read and it was in a high school setting so it wasn't the most complicated of dialogue. I must say I wan't a fan of Phoebe's crush (the dead guy). He was a deep thinker when you get to know him more but I was not endeared towards him at all. Some of the supporting characters were a little flat, her best friend was the typical bumbling silly/loud best friend that usually accompanies thoughtful female leads.
     Although it was a little young in audience for my taste, it did hold my interest the whole way through and I really couldn't guess what was going to happen in the end. There are more books in the series and I may or may not buy them. I'm not totally invested in the characters but maybe when I have free time or when I get through my large book list.

-Recommended (for teens)

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
by Mary Roach
For 2,000 years, cadavers -- some willingly, some unwittingly -- have been involved in science's boldest strides and weirdest undertakings. Stiff is an oddly compelling, often hilarious exploration of the strange lives of our bodies postmortem. - Back o' the Book

     Although this book may seem morbid to someone who just picked it off the shelf, I'd say it was one of the funniest books I have ever read, hands down. There were parts in there that had me laughing out loud on several occasions. Mary Roach has the extreme talent of taking a taboo subject and making it more interesting, less uncomfortable, and ten times more humorous. 

     "Laughing at dead bodies?" you say? I assure you that she does it in a respectful manner while holding your interest the entire time. This is one book where, while you get to know things about the human body that may have been a mystery to you before and simultaneously get to know the author and realize how the whole book is dripping with her zany personality. 

     Even if you're a bit squeamish, I guarantee a great read! (If it's not, you can throw the book at me as hard as you'd like).

-Recommended