Hidden

A few months after I graduated from college, I was introduced to the House of Night series by PC Cast and Kristen Cast by my friend, Alex. She told me it was like a cross between Harry Potter and Twilight. In a way, I guess she was right. It's teen lit, so noone actually expects it to be good, and having read all ten books in the series, I think I can say, it's not good anymore.

The series had potential to be great, but it "jumped the shark" early in the series, and has never really recovered. I just read, as I said, book ten in the series, Hidden.

In this installment, Neferet is wreaking havoc (what else is new?), and Zoey and the nerd herd have to save the day. Again, what else is new? You'd think that after ten books, the Casts would be able to think of something more creative.

My main problems with the series are as follows:
1. They are vampyres in name only. Everything they do suggests witchcraft, not vampyres. Blessed be, Merry meet, and calling the elements? Totally witchcraft.
2. The heroine, Zoey, is a whiny teenage girl. For crying out loud, make the heroine a stronger person. I have no problem that she's a teenager, but, for heaven's sake, does she have to whine and snot cry so much?
3. Neferet is evil. No, really? Got it. Perhaps changing the villain with each book might help. The whole "Neferet is trying to take over the world and Zoey is in her way" is old.
4. The authors try to hard to talk like modern teenagers and fail miserably.
5. The characters are annoying, except perhaps Aphrodite. She's the only "real" one in the whole series.

I'll finish the series. I have too much time and money invested in it to quit now, but I don't expect them to get better.

Private: London

As you know, James Patterson is one of my favorite authors. His books are suspenseful, and a fast read. His newest offering, Private: London, is very good.  This new Private series is one to get involved in.  It's not as good as the Alex Cross series, The Women's Murder Club series, or even the Michael Bennett series, but they are well worth the read.

Private: London is about Dan Carter, an agent for Private, who is charged with keeping a young girl safe. Said young girl was kidnapped on her 13th birthday, and watched her mother being raped and murdered because her father didn't pay the ransom. While in college in London, the girl is kidnapped again.  Dan Carter has to find her. Additionally, some sick bastard is murdering people, and cutting off their ring fingers. Dan's ex-wife is in charge of finding out who was doing that.

There's a ton of drama and suspense, and you won't want to put this book down. I know I didn't anyway.

Lost

Long time, no post. Between teaching, parent choir, and knitting scarves, I haven't exactly had time to read lately. But, I am on winter break, and I have several new books, so maybe I can get back on track. 

Lost by Gregory Maguire. I tried to read this several years ago, but couldn't get into it. Having read nearly everything else he's written-some good, some not so good-I thought I'd give it another shot.

Winnie Rudge is the protagonist. The book starts out with her at an informational meeting about overseas adoptions-research for her next book, she says. Then Winnie is off to London, also research, but she has a cousin there that she generally stays with. The house this cousin owns belongs to a great-great grandfather, Ozias Rudge, who is said to be the inspiration for Dickens' Scrooge. 

When Winnie gets to Rudge House, she cannot find her cousin, John, and there is a renovation going on in the house. The renovators release a ghost, and the existence of said ghost plagues Winnie throughout the book. This ghost forces Winnie to examine her life, and visit the past to see where things went wrong.

This book was only ok. It took nearly two months to read because I could put it down. If a more interesting read came up, I read it instead.

Onto the next one...