City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Clary is planning to travel to Alicante to find a way to wake her mother from the coma that she has been in for months. She discovers that Jace, Alec, and Isabelle have gone ahead to Idris without her and she uses her unique talent in rune drawing to create a Portal to transport her to Idris, inadvertently bringing Luke along with her. While searching for a way to save her mother, Clary is drawn into the world of Shadowhunters, and continues to struggle with what appear to be inappropriate feelings for Jace, who she believes to be her brother. Once again, Valentine, Clary's father, appears to create what looks like the end of the world for any Shadowhunter who refuses to follow him, along with all of the Downworlders, including Clary's best friend Simon. Will Clary and Jace find a way to defeat Valentine and revive Clary's mother? Read this last of the Mortal Instruments stories to find out.


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Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
In this story, the "were-animals" decide to come out to the world as the vampires had done several years earlier. The whole world comes to know about other supernatural creatures who have been living among them for years. Sookie becomes a target in a war between fairies, and must call on the werewolves and vampires for protection. Quinn, the weretiger who was briefly Sookie's boyfriend, makes a brief appearance, but is sent away by Sookie with help from Bill and Eric. Eric attempts to tie Sookie to him in order to protect her from the King of Nevada who wants to use her for his own purposes. Once again, Sookie narrowly escapes death and is left to decide whether she loves Eric or Bill. This story was practically non-stop action, with never a dull moment.


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From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Sookie Stackhouse has still more adventures in this episode. She finds herself smack in the middle of a werewolf pack war, a vampire coup, marital infidelity, and previously unknown family members. Sookie sends Quinn packing once he finally reappears in her life, and begins to find a way to deal with her feelings for Eric. Bill is quietly in the background, trying to win back her trust, and Sam, as always, stands as a tried and true friend. Sookie has many supernatural beings who are willing to protect her, but she shows them all that she can and will stand up for herself.


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All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
In this seventh of the Sookie Stackhouse stories, Sookie is once again up to her neck in supernatural beings. This time she has been contracted by the queen of Louisiana to accompany the Louisiana delegation to a vampire summit being held in Rhodes, Illinois. Her purpose is to listen in to the humans and let her party know if there is any lying or other collusion going on. Sookie's latest "boyfriend", Quinn, is in charge of orchestrating several events at the summit, and her former "boyfriends" Bill and Eric will also be in attendance. Sookie's "fairy godmother", Claudine, warns Sookie that something terrible is about happen and that she, Claudine, cannot go to the summit, since vampires find fairy blood practically irresistible. Sookie elects to go anyway, since she can really use the money she will be paid. Will Sookie return from this venture? Read this exciting mystery to find out! I find these stories nearly impossible to put down once I start one, and I am sad that there are only two more to read.


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Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Sookie Stackhouse is back in her grandmother's house after having the kitchen and back porch rebuilt following a fire in the previous story. She begins to become better acquainted with Quinn, whom she met during a packleader succession rite. Quinn is a were-tiger and appears to command great respect among other weres. Sookie is planning a trip to New Orleans to deal with the inheritance left to her by her cousin Hadley. Bill asks if he can go with her when she goes to help her deal with the queen of Louisiana, who was Hadley's love interest. Little does Sookie know that she will end up in the middle of another supernatural battle for power.


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Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I am discovering that in each of these Sookie Stackhouse stories there is a mystery to be solved. Once again, Sookie becomes even more involved with supernatural beings, especially since her brother was bitten by a were-panther and now becomes one every full moon. This time, Sookie is drawn deeper into the world of the "Weres" or shape-shifters, especially the werewolves. There is a new vampire in town, Charles, who is something of a wildcard. Sam, the owner of Merlotte's, is shot and Sookie must ask Eric, the vampire Sheriff of Area 5, to loan Merlotte's a bartender while Sam recovers. Charles is sent by Eric to bartend at Merlotte's and then the mystery deepens. There is never a dull moment in these novels! I can't wait to start the next one.


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Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Sookie Stackhouse can't seem to stay out of trouble with supernatural beings. She is still recovering from rescuing Bill from hostile vampires who were torturing him in Jackson, Mississippi. She is still angry at Bill for betraying her with a female vampire, even though he says that he had no choice because she was his "maker". Bill tells Sookie that he is going to Peru to investigate the vampire population there for his vampire database. Sookie is trying to go about her life, when, while on her way home from working New Year's Eve at Merlotte's, she comes across a half-naked man running through the woods. She stops to help him, only to realize that he is Eric, vampire Sheriff of Area 5, and he appears to have lost his memory. Thus begins another adventure which leads Sookie even deeper into the supernatural world, this time including a fairy and evil witches. These stories seem to get better and better with each one I read.


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If I Stay by Gayle Forman

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Mia is a seventeen-year-old girl in her senior year in high school. She plays the cello and has auditioned for Juilliard. Her boyfriend, Adam, is attending college part-time while playing in a band. Mia is happy with her family and her life in general, except for the possibility that attending Juilliard may cause problems in her relationship with Adam. Then, one February day, a rare snow day in Oregon sees Mia and her family going for a drive and becoming involved in a horrific car accident. The story is told by Mia as she tries to make a true life-and-death decision - to fight and live or to let go and die. It is a very emotional and compelling story.


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Club Dead by Charlaine Harris

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Sookie is puzzled about why Bill is suddenly spending all of his spare time on the computer, especially since he seems to have lost interest in her. Then he surprises her with the news that he will being going on a trip in conjunction with a project he is working on. Soon afterward, Eric comes to Sookie with the news that Bill has been kidnapped in Mississippi and Sookie's special skills are needed to help find him. This story really lives up to the mystery and horror genre, but you still find yourself hoping that Bill and Sookie will be together at the end. If you want to find out, read this third of the Sookie Stackhouse novels.


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City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
In the second of the Mortal Instruments books, Clary, Jace, Simon, Alec and Isabelle are once again fighting demons and forces of evil. Clary's mother is still in a coma in the hospital and Clary is living with Luke, her mother's friend who is also a werewolf. Jace and Clary's father, Valentine, is trying to get the Soul Sword, another of the Mortal Instruments, so that he can control demons and make them do his will. Together, the friends try to find a way to thwart Valentine. Clary, Jace, and Simon are still trying to sort out their relationships. There is a fierce battle at the end involving Valentine and his demon army against Clary, Jace, Alec, Isabelle, Simon and as many other Shadowhunters as they can gather at short notice. I quite enjoyed this story and am looking forward to reading the last book of the trilogy, City of Glass, and discovering what happens to these characters.


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Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Sookie Stackhouse is still working as a waitress at Merlotte's and dating Bill Compton in this second book in the series. In accordance with an agreement that she and Bill made with Eric, the vampire "sheriff" in their area, Sookie is sent to Dallas to assist the vampires there in their quest to find their missing "brother", Godfrey (Godric). Bill travels with Sookie to protect her, but since he cannot be out during the day, he must fly in a coffin and Sookie meets the plane at the airport to ensure that he is unloaded safely. A man who appears to be a priest comes up to her in the airport, acting as though he thinks she is a bereaved family member, but really trying to take Sookie against her will. Thus begins another perilous adventure in the world of the supernatural. We meet even more supernatural beings in this story. These stories are quite addictive, and short enough to read in a day or two. I will read the others in this series.


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WUTHERING HEIGHTS by Emily Brontë

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
Mr. Lockwood has leased Thrushcross Grange for a year in order to escape from society for a time. He goes to meet his landlord, Mr. Heathcliff, at Wuthering Heights and finds him to be a sullen and angry man. After catching a fever from being out in the weather, Mr. Lockwood persuades Ellen Dean, the housekeeper at the Grange, to sit with him and she begins to tell him the story of Heathcliff and Cathy. This is a story of two people who shared an immortal love that was confounded by circumstances. Cathy marries Edgar Linton, in some part to spite Heathcliff, then spends the rest of her life pining for him until she dies quite young after giving birth to a daughter. Heathcliff spends the rest of his life waiting for the time that he can join Cathy in the grave, while making everyone about him as miserable as he is. This story is a classic, but not a cheerful story by any means.


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Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
My very first book I downloaded on my new Kindle DX! I usually would not have said that I would like books with vampires, but after reading and loving the Twilight saga (8 times), I decided to try the Sookie Stackhouse stories. I have watched the first season of True Blood on HBO and enjoyed those, so I was hopeful that the books would be similar. As usual, the book was even better than the TV series. I downloaded the book as soon as I received my new Kindle DX this morning and finished it by the end of the day. Sookie Stackhouse is a waitress living in Bon Temps, a small town in northern Louisiana. She has what she thinks of as a disability - she can hear the thoughts of everyone around her. In the world that Sookie lives in, vampires have come "out of the coffin" and live among humans, partially thanks to a Japanese manufactured artificial blood product called Tru Blood. When Bill Compton, a vampire, comes into Merlotte's, the bar where Sookie works, Sookie is secretly thrilled. Her relationship with Bill begims with her saving him from being "drained" by Mack and Denise Rattray who want to sell his blood on the black market. To Sookie's surprise, she can't hear Bill's thoughts, and finds it delightful to be around someone without being constantly assaulted with their thoughts. Unfortunately, the small town of Bon Temps is suddenly seeing young women murdered in a grisly way. The story is romance, mystery, and adventure all in one. These stories are more graphic than the Twilight saga and would probably not be suitable for school libraries, but I really enjoyed this story and plan to read the others in the series.


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Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives by John Palfrey

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
I was hoping to get some insight and information about working with students who are part of the Digital Native generation from this book. It was a real struggle to get through this book, which seemed repetitive and rather dry. I almost stopped reading when I was about two-thirds of the way through the book and read about "John Dewey and his famous decimal system". It seems that somewhere in the editing process of this book, someone would have pointed out that John Dewey was an educational reformist and the Dewey Decimal System was created by Melvil Dewey, a librarian. I kept hoping to find answers to the problems of how to teach with technology, but most of what I got was more questions. What I did get from this book is that the Internet and related technologies will continue to change and grow and we must help our students with tools to recognize the good and discard the bad.


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16 Lighthouse Road by Debbie Macomber

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
In this book, we meet the residents of Cedar Cove, including Olivia Lockhart, her mother Charlotte, and her daughter Justine. Olivia is a family court judge and when Ian and Cecilia Randall come before her to have their pre-nuptial agreement overturned to clear the way for a divorce. Olivia makes the decision to uphold the pre-nuptial agreement in an attempt to get Ian and Cecilia to give their marriage another chance. We follow several characters as they struggle to find their way to love and acceptance. Their stories were quite moving in places, but I didn't feel closely connected to any of the characters. This is a nice, light romantic story if that is what you enjoy.


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City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book is the first in the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. Clary Fray is a fifteen-year-old girl who is going to the Pandemonium Club in New York City with her friend Simon. She sees what looks like an attack on another teenage boy about to happen and she is suddenly sucked into a world inhabited by demons, vampires, warlocks, werewolves, and shadowhunters and meets another golden-haired boy named Jace. Within 24 hours, her mother disappears and Clary is attacked by a demon. From there, this book is a roller-coaster ride as Clary tries to find and free her mother while fighting an attraction for Jace and a deepening of her friendship with Simon. I really enjoyed this story and found that the characters were very engaging, making me care what happened to them. I plan to read the other two books in the series. I would not recommend this book for an elementary school, but it seems like it would work well for middle or high school libraries.


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The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
The story of Susie Salmon begins with her rape and murder at the age of fourteen. The story is told in the first-person by Susie from heaven as she watches how her family, friends and murderer deal with her death. The story was interesting in some ways, and depressing in others. I found it difficult to stay with the story, but forced myself to finish it in the hopes of a somewhat happy ending. Of course, how can a story that begins with murder end happily? The story basically ends with the people connected to Susie reaching closure in one way or another. I would certainly not put this book in any school library lower than high school, and I would be hesitant to place it even in a high school library.


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