Laura's Holiday Reads (1)

Just so you're aware, it's Irvine, not Hulme. Laura has contributed waaaaay too much for us to be co-hosts of this site, but since I'm on holiday and there isn't much to do, I'd like to let you know what I'm reading from our library. I have absolutely no time to read during term, which is terrible since I eat books like cake, which is to say with great appreciation and in huge quantities. We're giving cake a rest these holidays, and trying to satiate the hunger of reading instead. So.

I went away this past weekend to a wonderful place in the middle of nowhere fifteen kilometers or so from Dassiesfontein which is quite near Caledon. As people who are deprived of their great love and find it again overdose just a little, I read for three straight days, and managed to read the entire Hunger Games Trilogy. I know there's been lots of hoo-haa about the series and movie (no, I haven't watched it yet) but to tell the truth I enjoyed everything until the end of the third book - I think it had the most unsatisfying ending out of the past hundred books I've read. I won't ruin the story for anyone, because they really are worth reading if you enjoy books that don't really need any brain-power to read (my favourite to veg out to) but please, fellow bibliophiles, make up your own ending. Collins writes with a wonderful cliff-hanger approach at the end of every chapter that makes you want to carry on, and makes her characters very real as you can empathize with them as well as get frustrated with the choices they make. They really aren't bad teen-reading, and although the writing isn't the most beautiful I've read, it certainly is a good story for those who like science-fiction / futuristic books.  

I'm now reading something completely different: David, by Mary Hoffman. One of the newest books in the library, this is also a teen read but takes place when Michelangelo was alive in Florence, Italy and is narrated by the 'milk-brother' of Michelangelo, and is supposedly the model of his famous sculpture, David. I haven't read that much yet so can't really give you a clear idea of what it's about, but the word 'mystery' is written on the cover so it should be good. Have a wonderful Tuesday everyone, and happy holiday reading!

It's that time of year again...

Featured book: Knife, by R.J. Anderson

Once upon a time, a fairy is born. She lives in an old oak tree at the bottom of a garden with the rest of the fairy folk. Never has she known a time when life hasn't been hard, with many dangers and much adversity. But when she becomes the Hunter of the group and learns to do battle in the outside world, her adventures really take off...Don't read this book if you're expecting fairy dust - the last thing Knife is likely to wield is a magic wand...
Found here.

Featured book: City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments #1), by Cassandra Clare

 When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder -- much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing -- not even a smear of blood -- to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know. . . .

Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare's ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.

Found here. 

New book: Rosebush, by Michele Jaffe

Instead of celebrating Memorial Day weekend on the Jersey Shore, Jane is in the hospital surrounded by teddy bears, trying to piece together what happened last night. One minute she was at a party, wearing fairy wings and cuddling with her boyfriend. The next, she was lying near-dead in a rosebush after a hit-and-run.

Everyone believes it was an accident, despite the phone threats Jane swears were real. But the truth is a thorny thing. As Jane's boyfriend, friends, and admirers come to visit, more memories surface-not just from the party, but from deeper in her past . . . including the night her best friend Bonnie died.

With nearly everyone in her life a suspect now, Jane must unravel the mystery before her killer attacks again. Along the way, she's forced to examine the consequences of her life choices in this compulsively readable thriller.

Found here.

New book: Divine Justice, by Joanne Hichens

 In the aftermath of a vicious attack and near rape, addiction counsellor Rae Valentine - feisty, sexy, flesh and blood gorgeous and vital - begins to rebuild her life, emerging as resourceful woman in charge of their destiny. Not only does she give motivational talks, is commissioned to write a memoir and has more facebook fans than she can handle, but as a newly badged investigator Rae keeps the floundering Mendes, Saldana and Valentine Private Investigation business in rent money while the men in her life sort out their troubles. In Divine Justice, Rae catches a break from the small-time clientele who have her hopping after cheaters and fraudsters, to hunt the stolen jewellery of a new client. Little does she realise she will soon be caught up in a web of lies and deceit as the shenanigans of a deranged Evangelist and his followers keep her on her toes....so to speak...

Found here.

Competition: Win R5000!

Like the Facebook page The Wall, Get to know the Mall Rats from Lily Herne's books Deadlands and Death of a Saint and you could win R5000. Details here.