Reading Right Now! Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Title: Anna and the French Kiss

Author: Stephanie Perkins

I know I haven't done one of these posts in forever and I have been neglecting my blog. I'm very sorry for that. I'm going to try to do better and post like I had planned. I'm not sure that the Wednesday posts will still be a priority, but I'm going to try to make the Monday and Friday posts a sure thing. I once again apologize for being such a lazy, book blogging bum.

So this week, I've been reading Anna and the French Kiss. I'm on page 232 and am 62% done with the book. I have heard nothing but good things about this book. It's been pitched as a contemporary for people who don't really like contemporary. It's a pretty simple story. Anna is shipped off the Paris to attend a rich kids kind of boarding school. Anna's dad is a popular writer of many romantic/tragic stories that have been turned into movies (think Nicholas Sparks) At first, Anna is horrified to be leaving her friends and family for a foreign country and a new school. Upon reaching Paris, Anna makes new friends and meets dream boy St. Clair, who unfortunately is already taken. Flirting and cuteness ensue.

I'm really enjoying this story. It's soooo cute and adorable. I love the characters. St. Clair is a little dreamboat (but I think he'd be the total package if he were taller. Not really attracted to the short guys, but that's just me.) This story is also insanely addictive. It is virtual impossible to just sit down and read one page. It's a very quick read too. I'm really liking Anna's adventures in Paris and Stephanie Perkins writing style. It's just a fun, fluffy read (with some drama and sadness) that I would recommend for anyone to pick up. After finishing with Anna, I definitely plan on reading Stephanie's next book to find out what happens with Lola and the Boy Next Door.

Just cute, cute, super cute reading.

Review of Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan

Title: Glow

Author: Amy Kathleen Ryan

Published by: St. Martin's Press

Released: 2011

Summary: A heart-stopping, action packed drama occurring in the vastness of outer space. Waverly and Kiernan are inhabitants on the Empryean. The only life they've ever known is aboard a spaceship and their ultimate mission is to reach and populate New Earth. The Empryean is one of two ships traveling to New Earth and is in year 43 of the journey. Suddenly, The New Horizon, the other ship slows down and requests a rendezvous with the Empryean. Their leader, Anne Mather, has something to discuss with Captain Jones. In one terrifying moment, Kiernan and Waverly are separated. Waverly and the other girls are kidnapped by the New Horizon's crew while Kiernan and the other boys are left to run the ship without the adults. Kiernan and Waverly must each fight to be reunited once again.

My Thoughts: Wow! What a book. A heart-stopping, action packed ride through space. I won this book through the Goodreads First Reads program and I'm glad I did. I thoroughly enjoyed this book from start to finish. The action never slowed and it left me itching to know what happens next. Just a great, well told story that I would recommend to everyone to read.

I only had two issues with this book. First, the Waverly at the beginning didn't really do anything to avoid capture. I just kept thinking, Come on. Do something! But, she just let herself get herded away and didn't do anything to fight back. Luckily, Waverly's character turned into a real fighter as the story progressed.

The second issue I had, was I felt this book was a little negative about religion. I felt in some ways it tried to cast a bad light on religion and the people who practice it. The main villian, (Anne Mather, who reminded me a lot of Umbridge from Harry Potter) was a bad person who twisted religion to suit her needs. It felt like to me that religion and belief in God was portrayed in a negative fashion. I felt it would have been more authentic for Waverly to realize that there are evil people in the world who twist religion for their own purposes, but that the majority of religious people are not evil. That aspect of the book bothered me a little. 

I really, really, really liked this book and plan on continuing with this space odyssey. I'm very curious as to what happens next.

BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 4.5/5

New Earth, here I come!

Review of: The Dead and Buried By: Kim Harrington

Title: The Dead and Buried

Author: Kim Harrington

Published by: Scholastic Point

Release Date: January 1, 2013

Summary: Jade is excited about moving into a new house and starting a new school. She feels ready for a new start. Everything is going fine until the rumors start to swirl and her little brother mentions seeing a glittery, glowing girl in his room. Jade then learns a devastating secret about her new home, a girl died there a couple months ago. But it isn't just any girl, it's Kayla Sloane, the most beautiful and popular girl in the town. While Jade can't feel the ghost, she can sense Kayla's presence  Jade can't begin her new start, her new life, until she gets rid of this ghost and the only way to do that is to find out who really killed Kayla Sloane.

My Thoughts: I would like to thank Netgalley and Scholastic for letting me review an e-arc of this book. I found it to be a very enjoyable, good book. The writing style was very easy to read and get sucked into. The characters were likable and the mystery left me guessing until the very last page. 

The Dead and Buried is a very enjoyable ghost story and I would recommend it to anyone who loves a good ghost story mystery.

BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 4/5

Mean girls make even meaner ghosts