Rosa Tran of BlogCritics.com says, “As generic as the plot may be, Kinsella brings forth her casual and classic humor to what would normally be a frightening paranormal experience.”

Lara Lington has just been dumped by long-time boyfriend Josh, her business partner and best friend leave her to run their company alone and now her great-aunt dies at 105.

While attending the funeral, her great-aunt Sadie appears to her looking as she did in the twenties. She yells at Laura to stop the funeral so she can help her find her necklace.

Laura, being the only person who can see Sadie, is forced to help her annoyingly flirty and fun aunt find her necklace.

Sadie forces Laura to ask a handsome business man on a date so that Sadie can have her last dance. Laura promises Sadie that she will go on the date under Sadie’s condition to have full control of outfit and translation.

Laura starts to become fond of her great-aunt and helps her unravel the secret to Sadie’s past.

Nicky Schmist of Trashionista writes, “Sadie may be the ghost of an elderly woman in her twenty-something body, but she’s about to teach Lara, and the reader, a lot about how precious life is…and how we shouldn’t waste a moment.”

"Twenties Girl"

"Rebel Angels"

The 2nd book in Libba Bray’s Gemma Doyle series, takes off during Christmas break at Spence Academy.

The story begins Kartik who goes into London to see the Rakshana. The Rakshana are a group of men who watch over the women of the Order, who have the power to enter other realms. Kartik is a member of the Rakshana and his assignment is to watch Gemma.

The Rakshana tell Kartik that Gemma has released the ultimate power in the realms meaning it is free to good and evil. Kartik must woo Gemma to enter the realm and find the Temple where the power is hidden. There, his task is to destroy her.

Before the break at Spence, a new teacher is introduced into the scene. Miss McCleethy is an odd character who seems to love Felicity and loathe Gemma.

Gemma is introduced to Simon Middleton after arriving in London while she awaits her brother Tom. Tom works at the hospital and while Gemma visits her brother, she talks with a girl named Nell who seems to know where the Temple is in the realm. Nell also tells her that she was a student at a school Miss McCleethy taught at before Spence.

Emily Schaffer of Teenreads.com says, “Like its predecessor, REBEL ANGELS is an intelligent page-turner that keeps the reader guessing about secret identities, prophecies and risky alliances.”

This book opens many more secrets of the Order, Rakshana and the realm. After reading the fist two books, I am intrigued by what I will discover in the last book of the series.

Kirkus Reviews say, “While the characters and setting lack the lush richness and depth that made the first volume appealing, Gemma’s shivery adventures, lacking easy answers, make for an exciting mystical quest.”

The story is set in 19th century England. Young Jane lost her parents and lives with her aunt and cousins. They hate Jane because her uncle adored her and has recently passed away.

Her aunt sends her to live in a boarding school where the priest believes her to be an evil child.

Jane loses her only friend to illness and continues her studies to become a governess.

Once of age, Jane sets off to a large country home to become governess to a young french girl. There, she falls in love with the man of the house, Mr. Rochester. Although she is common, he realizes he loves her as well.

Pamela Crossland of Curledup.com says, “Jane’s assertion to Rochester on more than one occasion that she is his equal is especially poignant. She declines to become his mistress, preferring to choose a path that leaves her penniless but not morally bankrupt.”

Mr. Rochester asks Jane to marry him, but at the altar they are stopped by a man claiming to be Mr. Rochester’s brother in-law. It is revealed that Mr. Rochester’s wife is living in the home under supervision for she is mad.

Jane leaves the home before a fire started by Mr. Rochester’s wife breaks out and burns the house down. The woman kills her self by jumping off the roof.

In the end, Jane returns to find Mr. Rochester blind from the fire. From then on, Jane stays with her man.

Mark Thwaite of Readysteaybook.com says, “For those who haven’t yet done one of English Literature’s ‘big ones’ I’d certainly recommend it. The language is sometimes quite lovely, always exact, and the romance just sophisticated to not be cloying.”

"Jane Eyre"

"Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports"

In the 3rd book of the Max series, Max and the flock discover that their mission is to save the world from the Director of a major corporation called Itex. They realize Itex has their hands in pretty much everything. They run the world and now want to rid the world of the weak. Sort of a survival of the fittest idea.

The bird kids are attacked and captured by newly enhanced Erasers, which Max calls Flyboys…they have wings. They are about to be released to fight to the death when Ari, an Eraser and also the son of Jeb, a whitecoat, saves them. Max invites him to join them.

Fang, Max’s side kick hates the idea and decides to leave the flock. Iggy, 14 and blind joins Fang as does 8-year-old Gassman. The group splits up and Max, Nudge, Angel and the talking dog go to Europe to find the headquarters of Itex.

They are caught breaking into Itex and Max is forced to fight to the death with another super human created to destroy her.

Fang and his crew fly to Europe to help Max and they destroy the enemy.

This book in the series has a lot of action. I must say the books get better and better and the fight scenes get more intense.

Matt Burman of Commonsense Media disagrees with me by saying, “The book’s ending suggests the author is hoping to continue the series (at the end of the second book, he actually asked readers to vote on it). Well, for an utterly pointless series that makes no sense at all, that, at least, makes perfect sense.”

Chris Shanley-Dillman agrees with me and says, “his characters overflow with personality, charm and hilarity, and readers will cheer them on to the very end of this page-turning book.”

Gemma Doyle, the lead,  is only 16 when she loses her mother to a dark creature in India. It’s her 16th birthday and her mother gives her her amulet with the symbol of an eye in gold. Gemma has a vision of her mother’s death, but her father and brother decide it’s best to say her mother died of Cholera.

Gemma is sent to Spence Academy in London. Gemma learns there was a great fire at the boarding school and she begins to learn she has the power to enter into some sort of second dimension.

Gemma meets popular Felicity, shy and common Ann and beautiful Pippa. They discover Gemma’s secret and all enter the other realm together during midnight meetings in a near-by cave.

A young and handsome gypsy boy named Kartik threatens Gemma telling her not to enter the realms. He tells her he is her guardian and she holds the power of the Order as did her mother, when she was alive.

Gemma and her friends realize the realm contains both dark and light power. One of their lives soon come to an end.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It’s a quick and easy read. If you like a Victorian setting and magic, this book is for you.

Stephanie Dunnewind of Commonsense says, ” the plot, too, lurches a bit — given a secret diary, why would anyone wait so long to read the ending? — but its core mystery is still satisfying.”

Norah Piehl of Teen Reads says, “those who are familiar with Victorian novels from Dickens to Bronte will probably greatly enjoy Libba Bray’s send-up of typical characters and themes.”

"School's Out-Forever

The second book in the Maximum Ride series takes off from the 1st book. To recap, Max and her crew are all avian-human hybrid kids. They were created by mad scientists who have created “Erasers”, lupine-human hybrid kids, to destroy them. The bird kids have the advantage of flying via their wings.

In the second book, the kids are attacked by Erasers and Fang, 14, is wounded badly and must go to the hospital for surgery. A government agency finds out they are there and the head of the agency invites them to stay at her home in Northern Virginia.

The bird kids are enrolled in school during their stay. meanwhile, they have info about their parents. Only 2 of the 5 kids are related. They fly at night to track their folks, but each location is a dead-end.

Eventually, they are attacked by Erasers and flee their temporary home. It becomes known that this idea is great because the head of the agency turns out to be in on the project…being test the kids to see if they are capable of staying alive.

Diana Herald from Booklist says, “Patterson, an accomplished storyteller, once again demonstrates his ability to write page-turning action scenes, this time leavening the suspense with some surprising humor.”

Book Reviews, Harriet Klausner says, “The story line is driven by the magnificent six though in truth even six years old Angel acts and talks adult-like during a crisis, which is much of the plot.”

I like this book! I’m going with like because it’s jumpy, long and not an easy read. I read it back in high school so I figured I would give it another try. I liked it better the second time around. I think it’s because I understand life a bit better…at least I hope I do.

The story begins with the character Samuel Hamilton and his family who live in Salinas Valley. Samuel is an inventor from Ireland. The story jumps from Samuel’s family to the Trask family. Cyrus is the father of two boys, Adam and Charles. Adam is the kind older brother and Charles is the younger jealous brother. Charles becomes a soldier under his fathers wishes before his father dies.

Next, the story jumps to the Ames family. They have a daughter named Cathy. Cathy is the local beauty and also an evil spirit on the inside. She kills her parents in a fire and runs off to become a prostitute. Her employer, Mr. Edwards, falls in love with her only to learn the truth about Cathy and take her home leaving her in the street almost beaten to death.

Meanwhile, Charles returns from the military. Adam falls in love with Cathy and marries her without knowing she’s pregnant with his brother charles’ baby. Cathy has twins and leaves them for the whore house. Cathy ends up killing the mother of the whore house and becomes the owner. Her sons, Aron and Cal,  grow up and figure out who she is. Aron dies in the military and Cal dies shortly after of shock that his brother is dead.

It’s a tragic story that does not leave you feeling warm and fuzzy. 

The New York Times Book Review said it’s, “a fantasia and myth… a strange and original work of art.”

The story is about Maximum Ride aka “Max”, a 14-year-old girl grafted with avian DNA. Translation, she has wings that fold tightly to her back, slim birdlike bones easy for flying and the ability to pulverize any one who tries to mess with her or her family. Her family or “flock” which she calls them are 14-year-old Fang, 14-year-old Iggy, 11-year-old Nudge, 8-year-old Gassman aka “Gazzy” and 6-year-old Angel. The only two bird kids that are actually related are Gazzy and Angel. Each kid has their own special power, which develops at different times based on their situation.

In the first book, Max and her flock have been living in the mountains of Colorado for the past 4 years after escaping “The School” with the “white coat” known as Jeb. The School is created by mad scientists who graft animal DNA into infants in the creation of a new all-powerful species. Most of these infants were taken from hospitals where parents were told they had died or bought by scientists from poor young women. The scientists experimented on the children and kept them inside dog crates.

The scientist that helped the kids escape, Jeb, died 2 years after their escape…or so we think.

On top of all the above information, the scientists created “Erasers”. These are children who have been grafted with lupine DNA. Erasers are capable of turning into wolf-like creatures at any moment and their job is to find and destroy the bird kids.

I could not put the book down. It’s an easy read and Patterson’s imagination soars. This series will be kept on my shelf so I can read it again in the future.

Author Chris Stanley -Dillman said, “James Patterson is an amazing storyteller, grabbing the reader’s attention on page one and holding on with color and humor all the way through the book.”

Thumbs Up

I laughed out loud reading this book. Kinsella is a British writer and I love reading terms like bloke, codswallop and bugger. The read is about Samantha Sweeting, a workaholic Lawyer. Sweeting has no time for herself while working her way to partnership. A huge mistake leaves Sweeting in complete meltdown mode and she flees when she learns she has ruined her chance to make partner.