Book Overload!!

We're currently having a librarians reading challenge at work & just like every other year I went book bananas. I have 15 books checked out to read between now and March, that's not counting the ones that will come in on hold for me to read. Here they are:

1. Variant / Wells, Robison E.        
2. Strange angels / St. Crow, Lili.
3. The girl in the steel corset / Cross, Kady,
4. The iron queen / Kagawa, Julie.
5. Tiger's curse / Houck, Colleen.                
6. Nevermore / Creagh, Kelly.
7. Always a witch / MacCullough, Carolyn.
8. Glow / Ryan, Amy Kathleen. Details
9. The landscape photography bible / Worobiec, Tony.                       
10. Cinder / Meyer, Marissa.
11. The best of me [sound recording] / Sparks, Nicholas.
12. Magic of the moonlight / Schreiber, Ellen
13. Wonderstruck : a novel in words and pictures / Selznick, Brian.
14. Beautiful days / Godbersen, Anna.
15. Every other day / Barnes, Jennifer

 I'm cuckoo, I know it :) Go big or go home right?

Speaking of going big, my ankle is still killing me & I still can't drive. Dad's been amazing and taking me back and forth to work. Hopefully it heals quickly.

Fateful by Claudia Gray

Fateful by Claudia Gray
Release Date: September 13, 2011
Pages: 328

Synopsis: In Fateful, eighteen-year-old maid Tess Davies is determined to escape the wealthy, overbearing family she works for. Once the ship they’re sailing on reaches the United States, she’ll strike out on her own. Then she meets Alec, a handsome first-class passenger who captivates her instantly. But Alec has secrets....

Soon Tess will learn just how dark Alec’s past truly is. The danger they face is no ordinary enemy: werewolves are real and they’re stalking him—and now Tess, too. Her growing love for Alec will put Tess in mortal peril, and fate will do the same before their journey on the Titanic is over.

Featuring the opulent backdrop of the Titanic, Fateful’s publication is poised to coincide with the 100-year anniversary of the ship’s doomed maiden voyage. It is sure to be a hit among Titanic buffs and fans of paranormal romance alike.

My Thoughts: I love how in the authors note section Claudia Gray says she made up some of the characters in order to be respectful to those who truly were on the Titanic and died when the ship sank. With that said, I loved this book and it's one of my favorites.

Tess and Alec's story is timeless and perfect. Tess is the kind of heroine you root for and hope for the best throughout the book. Even though a lot of reviews didn't like Tess for not standing up to the family she served, you need to realize that in the time this book was set you couldn't do that. Tess knew she had to keep a job or starve. She didn't like it anymore than we did however that was the life of most servants then. Tess is a strong female heroine and was courageous and brave when she needed to be in order to survive.

The villain was perfect in this book and made you want to kick him in the shins just like Tess did.

I loved Alec's character as much as I did Tess. You saw the toll that being a werewolf took on him and how no matter what he had to do he would do what was right. He's a stand up character and that's a plus in my book. I don't want the characters to be wishy washy or flakey.

The Brotherhood in this book is seriously scary. I love the twists with Tess's sister thrown in there and how it affected her even tho they were hundred of miles away. It made the Brotherhood seem real to the reader and to Tess.

5/5 stars

As I Wake by Elizabeth Scott

As I Wake by Elizabeth Scott  
Release Date: September 15, 2011
Pages: 269  

Synopsis: Ava is welcomed home from the hospital by a doting mother, lively friends, and a crush finally beginning to show interest. There's only one problem: Ava can't remember any of them - and can't shake the eerie feeling that she's not who they say she is.

Ava struggles to break through her amnesiac haze as she goes through the motions of high-school life, but the memories that surface take place in a very different world, where Ava and familiar-faced friends are under constant scrutiny and no one can be trusted. Ava doesn't know what to make of these visions, or of the boy who is at the center of them all, until he reappears in her life and offers answers . . . but only in exchange for her trust.  

My thoughts: As I Wake was very emotional for me. I easily get attached to characters and Ava's amnesia was hard for her to handle and I could only imagine how I'd handle it.

However this book did get confusing in a few spots for me. I've read several books where the author uses italics to switch between point of views, etc. Elizabeth Scott uses italics in this book to show the reader when Ava is remembering an event. At first I had to re-read several times to try to figure out what was happening. In the end though I enjoyed the memories in the plot of the book. At first it won't make sense but then it will in the end :)

4/5 stars