Review - The Statistical Probability of Love at First Flight by Jennifer E Smith

Title: The Statistical Probability of L0ve at First Flight
Author: Jennifer E Smith
Publisher: Poppy
Publish Date: Jan 2, 2012
Hardcover, 236 pages

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The romantic in me just cried out for this book. I wanted so badly for Hadley and Oliver to end up together.

Okay, yes it does seem a bit far fetched that two random strangers meet on a plane, talk forever and feel that kinship that grows to be love in less than 14 hours. BUT my non-rational heart in me screams, "It is possible!" There are many moments in this book that I caught myself denying the parts actually could happen, but that was immediately covered up by love itself does find it's way.

Hadley is going to London to see her father who is getting remarried to a woman Hadley has never deigned to meet. Quite frankly she wouldn't even have been on the way to this wedding had her mother not insisted she go. Her father left them after being in London for half a year and falling in love with this other woman. He broke up their family and broke Hadley's heart. She doesn't want to see him.

Oliver is going to London to return to his family. His story is a bit of a mystery until the end so I am not going to give away any of it.

Hadley and Oliver are cute together. They kind of fit. There strangeness in family matters and their vulnerability catches my heart. I really liked that Jennifer Smith did a great job never letting on whether or not they would actually end up in the end. So read it and find out.

Summary -
Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything?

Today should be one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan's life. She's stuck at JFK, late to her father's second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon to be step-mother that Hadley's never even met. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport's cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he's British, and he's in seat 18C. Hadley's in 18A.

Twists of fate and quirks of timing play out in this thoughtful novel about family connections, second chances and first loves. Set over a 24-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver's story will make you believe that true love finds you when you're least expecting it.

Review - Vampire Academy by Rachelle Mead

Title: Vampire Academy
Vampire Academy #1
Author: Rachelle Mead
Publisher:
Publish Date:

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I was completely confused for most of the book. What is a dhampire? Did she just misspell Vampire? What is a Moroi? If any book needs a companion it is this series. Rachelle Mead took no time in building the plot she jumped right in to the story. We, as readers are meant to just catch up.

Regardless of being a bit in the dark, I still really enjoyed the first book and will continue to read the next ones.

Rose is a body guard for Lissa. Lissa drinks blood and when they fled the school for protection from an unknown thread, Rose allowed Lissa to drink from her blood. When dragged back to school, Rose was in grave trouble. She ended up being in the spotlight among her peers. She chooses to take the brunt to protect Lissa. The have a bond where Rose can see within Lissa's mind and can feel her emotions. This comes in handy when protecting Lissa, but can be a burden when Lissa wants to keep secrets. Rose and Lissa have many secrets.

Rose has a very handsome, big shouldered instructor for training skills. They mostly run, but there is hope of one day learning all his protection skills. She spars with her peers in class and mostly just tries to survive after years on the lamb with Lissa.

There is so much packed in to this first book it will be interesting to see where this goes. As with the fact, this book seems to have so many followers, it's fun to be in the know.

Summary -
Vladimir’s Academy isn’t just any boarding school—it’s a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They’ve been on the run, but now they’re being dragged back to St. Vladimir’s—the very place where they’re most in danger. . . .
Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy’s ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi—the world’s fiercest and most dangerous vampires—make Lissa one of them forever...

Best Books of 2011

In no particular order,

here are my
TOP BOOKS of 2011

Before I Go To Sleep by SJ Watson
Delirium by Lauren Oliver
The Body Finder series by Kimberly Derting
Drink Slay Love by Sarah Beth Durst
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
The Dirty Life by Kristin Kimball
Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Thirst by Christopher Pike
The Bucolic Plague by Josh Kilmer-Purcell

These books were not necessarily printed in 2011, but I read them in this year. It was a tough call because there were so many awesome books that grabbed my attention for so many different reasons. These particular books will stay with me for a long time. The impact they had on my thoughts, feelings and actions.

Review - The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder

Title: The Probability of Miracles
Author: Wendy Wunder
Publisher: Razorbill
Publish Date: Dec 89, 2011
Hardcover, 366 pages

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I love the vibrancy of the cover and knowing this book has sadness injected in it, it definitely helps soften the book.

Cam has cancer. Her recent diagnosis is that she is in the final stages and cannot be saved. Her mother refuses to believe she will die and takes them to Promise, Maine a place known for it's healing properties. Cam on the other hand would rather wallow in her sadness and die at home, but seeing her mother's need to believe she goes along with the move. Along the way, she encounters her friend, who is also ailing from the same cancer and her grandmother who is a bit crazy.

Cam's life is filled with chaos, inside termoil and staving off her families need to believe in something more than just life and death. Her mother constantly pulls her in to her life saving schemes and her sister is a bit selfish and acts out accordingly. Stuck in a car with these two and her bird, Tweety keeps things interesting.

When they finally reach Promise, Maine could it be that Cam really is starting to show signs of curing. She is feeling more energy, her bruises are fading and she is finding a life. She meets new people and falls in love with a boy.

My favorite part was even though Cam is no longer willing to fight this disease she doesn't let it drain her of her life. She is still sarcastic, funny and able to prank. It gives this book what makes it stand out among those other sad books.

Summary -
Dry, sarcastic, sixteen-year-old Cam Cooper has spent the last seven years in and out hospitals. The last thing she wants to do in the short life she has left is move 1,500 miles away to Promise, Maine - a place known for the miraculous events that occur there. But it's undeniable that strange things happen in Promise: everlasting sunsets; purple dandelions; flamingoes in the frigid Atlantic; an elusive boy named Asher; and finally, a mysterious envelope containing a list of things for Cam to do before she dies. As Cam checks each item off the list, she finally learns to believe - in love, in herself, and even in miracles.

A debut novel from an immensely talented new writer, The Probability of Miracles crackles with wit, romance and humor and will leave readers laughing and crying with each turn of the page.

Wordless Wednesday - I love winter

Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday - Tune In & Teaser

When The Lights Go Down In the City by Journey
If you work in retail, my heart goes out to you. Holiday is not the worst time of the year for customer service people . . . it is the time right after. When we get these stray people who seem to think if they yell and scream and throw a fit, we will miraculously change the corporation's store policies to suit their needs. Instead of trying to be civil and/or being aware of the return policies, they choose to be hateful and ruin everyone else's day. Sorry, tough day.
This song was in my head when I got home.





"Here we had this incredible tool at our disposal with the Internet. We had search. We had wikis. We had all the social networking tools. We had micro-lending and personalized charity. But poverty wasn't going away. If anything, the internet was widening the gap between rich and poor."

Scored
Lauren McLaughlin

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Review - Cinder by

Title: Cinder
Lunar Chronicles #1
Author: Marissa Meyer
Publisher: Jan 3, 2012
Publish Date: Feiwel & Friends
Hardcover, 387 pages

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Cinder is the story of Cinderella told in the form of cyborgs, princes and Lunars (ie: witches). I really love the layout of this book. It is sweet, interesting with just the right amount of futuristic play. Marissa Meyer did such a wonderful job keeping the feel of Cinderella, but making it her own.

Cinder is a half human, half cyborg. An accident in her life at an early age allowed for her to be remade in to a cyborg. Her stepmother, Adri is mean (of course). She has two step sisters, Pearl and Peony. Feeling a bit like the movie, Ever After with Drew Barrymore, Pearl is the hateful sister and Peony is the nicer, friendly even sister though she must keep up appearances in front of her stepmother. They live in a world plagued by letumosis which is killing humans every day and the prince's father has recently been infected. Finding the cure will not only save the King, but maybe all of humanity. Among one of the methods of finding a cure cyborgs are being drafted to aid in finding a cure (ie: science monkeys). When Cinder's awful stepmother gets it in her head to subject Cinder to the "not so optional" draft for science, she is sent away to be poked and prodded with the disease until she dies.

There is of course a handsome prince, Kai, who meets Cinder at the market where she works to earn money for her stepmother by fixing mechanical parts. Kai is in need of her services when his cyborg nanny has gone on the fritz. Naturally there is a connection, but with him being undercover in the market and her being a cyborg/human, how will love ever come about?

This was so much fun! What a great way to incorporate a child's tale with technology and witchcraft.

Cinder's story continues with Scarlet, Cress and Winter consecutively being released one each year.

Summary -
Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

In this thrilling debut young adult novel, the first of a quartet, Marissa Meyer introduces readers to an unforgettable heroine and a masterfully crafted new world that’s enthralling.