7. Broken

This, I think, will be the the last of my separate posts for different books that are part of a series that follow the same characters, but since this one doesn't necessarily pick up directly at the end of the previous one, I thought it was necessary, or at least acceptable. 

I dub this one worthy of an A.  I was more into this one than STOLEN purely for the romance factor.  One of my favorite things about Clay and Elena's story is that we get to see them after they've already fallen in love.  They are living their lives together, and even though they're learning new things about each other, their relationship is strong, stable, and comfortable rather than new, searching, and tenuous. 
I particularly enjoyed reading about Elena's pregnancy and Clay's reaction to it.  I'm a sucker for protective, possessive men and Clay writes the book on that particular type.

I've already discussed the writings style, and nothing's changed between STOLEN and BROKEN. 

It occurred to me, while I was reading this book, that just as there are many many different types of personalitites and builds of people, we are attracted to differet types of people.  I have two types:  The Musician, and the Strong, Confident, Possessive Man.  What's your type?

6. Shit My Dad Says

HILARIOUS!!  This is one of the best books I've read... ever!  I laughed from start to finish.  Out loud.  In public! An easy A+. 

Justin Halpern has a wonderful way of telling the truth, even if it might be a little embarrassing to relive some of his childhood stories.  Life is all about growing, right? And why not share your experiences with the world.  Bonus if you can make them laugh while doing it!  Honest and refreshing, I would recommend this book to almost anyone!  Beware the language, though, if you are someone with sensitive eyes and ears.  Halpern's dad isn't one to mince his words. 

A thoroughly enjoyable read!

5. Alinora

This book was one I couldn't even finish.  I could hardly force myself to get past the first few pages...  This is my second attempt at this review, as I feel bad for speaking ill of a book.  I almost nixed this post entirely because I didn't finish, but if I can save even one reader out there from raking their eyes over this train wreck of a book, then I will consider my job well done. 

From me, ALINORA by Kara Lockley receives an F.

The idea of the book (woman dreams of a lover, then discovers that her dreams may be more real than she first thinks) is an intriguing one!  It could make for a wonderful story!  It was the writing style that completely put me off.  The sentences didn't flow quite write and the writing seemed almost childlike in the sentence structure.  Very basic descriptions of things, I thought.  I was highly unimpressed with this book.  Would not recommend, even though it is free on BN.com. 

Hope you had a better reading day than I did!

4. Stolen

STOLEN, by Kelley Armstrong, was an exciting, adventurous sequal to BITTEN.  Elena and Clay are back for a second round of fighting (though, this time, they won't be fighting so much with eachother ;)  ).  Elena, the world's only female werewolf, has been kidnapped for research and her captors will soon find that they have bitten off more than they can chew, so to speak.  Just because Elena is a woman is no reason to assume that she's weak.  You know what they say about assume...

Armstrong's writing style is fun and honest.  She adds enough honest thought in there to make you really connect to the character.  Most of her books that I've read are written in the first person, rather than from an all knowing narrator.  She has a way of drawing you in to connect with the characters (who are all very well developed, I might add.) 

From me, this books receives a solid A-. 

It's a decent read.  Has everything you'd want from a good book - romance, drama, excitement, adventure, horror, blood and gore... the works.  The only reason i'm giving it an A- instead of an A or and A+ is because there were a couple parts that I found myself having to skip over to stay interested.  This didn't happen often, but often enough to make me take note of it.  I am already working on the 3rd Elena + Clay book, BROKEN. 

Happy reading! 

3. Mockingjay

So the only thing that might possibly be left for this is the writing style.  If you've read the first two books, there isn't anything I can say to get you hooked if you aren't already.  MOCKINGJAY is the third and final book of THE HUNGER GAMES series.  The books, as I'm sure you've already noticed, are written in first person AND in present tense.  This is rather different, for me.  Most books I've read have been written from the view of a narrator (with a few exceptions, of course) and in past tense.  Collins writes well.  Her story flows with a type of grace that seems to only come to natural born writers.  As you can probably already tell, I have thoroughly enjoyed these books. 

Something I've decided to start doing is "grading" the books.  Perhaps rating is a better word?  I should say in advance, though, that the grading system will be rather... unfair.  Just because a book is well written doesn't mean that it automatically deserves an A.  I've read far too many truly incredible books to just slap an A on every mildly interesting book that passes my way.  Not many books have the capability to measure up to the OUTLANDER series, ANITA BLAKE, VAMPIRE HUNTER series, or the MERRY GENTRY series.  Add to that THE HUNGER GAMES books, THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE, THE TEA ROSE, and a few select others and books with titles like "the duke's mistress" just seem to fall humerously short of even a B.

That being said, I give THE HUNGER GAMES, CATCHING FIRE, and MOCKINGJAY all outstanding A+'s!

I hope you enjoyed these as much as I did <3.

Happy reading!