Firefly Lane

In high school (again... could've been middle school), I read On Mystic Lake by Kristin Hannah. Good book, from what I remember.

Grandma purchased another of Hannah's books this summer, and lent it to me. (Of course, it got in my pile of books-to-be-read-soon, so I had it for about a month before I actually read it, but that's not the point.) I had a hard time getting into this one, to be honest. This may have been in part due to the fact that I was annoyed with the beginning--it starts with a bit of a cliffhanger, and the rest of the book is a flashback. I hate flashbacks.

The book focuses on Kate and Tully, friends who grew up on Firefly Lane in a small town in the northwest. It follows them from the tumultuous times in the 70s, throughout their thirty-year friendship. When they meet in middle school, Kate was the undeniable geek, and Tully was the ultimate cool girl. They form an odd but strong friendship, which is what keeps them going at times, and alters their lives beyond recognition. Throughout the book, Tully is the leader and Kate is the follower, but Kate has many strengths of her own. Each girl has a face she shows to the world, and face she only shows to the other--or herself. They each struggle with insecurities throughout life, some of which they never share. In the end, there is a horrible betrayal, and some pretty disturbing news.

Overall, I would rate the book 3/5 stars. The plot was interesting, and characters were well-developed. However... there are aspects that I very much dislike. The cliffhanger-then-flashback is not a feature I appreciate in any book. Especially when the cliffhanger makes you expect one thing.... which * *plot warning* * is not what actually happens. The ending isn't what I expected at all, and I felt that it wasn't appropriate to the rest of the book. In the end, I thought that the book was worth reading and would recommend it, but I can't help but think of this book with annoyance.

Cake Wrecks: When Professional Cakes Go Hilariously Wrong

I just realized that I never wrote about Cake Wrecks on here!

Cake Wrecks is a collection of cakes gone wrong-professional cakes that, for various reasons, are AWFUL. Misspellings, poo-swirls (yes, I said poo-swirls), grammar issues, illegible writing, designs that look NOTHING like what the buyer asked for... if something can go wrong with a cake, it's probably been on CW. And they are all amazingly funny! Of course, each wreck also has commentary from Jen, the creator of CW. Jen's commentary is wickedly funny, and will keep you laughing if somehow the wrecks do not!

The book is created from the blog, with lots of new wrecks, and some old ones. Even if you are not a reader of the Cake Wrecks blog (which you should be. Go on, check it out, after finishing this post!), this book is worth buying! I have read the blog since not longer after it started, and check it daily!

I got through the book in no time at all--I could not put it down, I kept having to look at the next picture, the next picture...

I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone. And I think I am going to go look at some more pictures now... ;)

(There are some cakes that definitely have sexual references (which are probably unintentional), but Jen keeps the commentary pretty clean. She also warns, at the end of one section of the book, that the next section may be a little much.)

The Dream Thief -- Another Book Review

The Dream Thief by Shana Abe

First of all, let me say that I read this book on the plane back home from Colorado. Less than 3 hours.

Second, let me say that neither Nathan nor I realized this was a romance book. It was labeled as 'sci-fi' at our library... and I was pretty surprised to discover it was very romance-y, and kinda graphic. (I would not recommend it for kiddos - some descriptions were a little much.)


Summary
The drakon, the dragon-people, have sent a master thief to steal back the one thing that can be used to control them: the Draumr. This diamond can be used to control any drakon, and could be deadly if in the hands of the wrong person. So the Alpha and his wife send Zane to steal it from whomever has it, without telling him exactly what he is obtaining. Along the way, he discovers help from an unlikely source - Lia, the daughter of the very drakon who sent him to steal it. However, she is hiding many secrets...

My Review
This was an incredibly easy read, but I did enjoy it. I would recommend it if you are looking for an easy to read sci fi book, but not if you are looking for something to challenge you. The characters were well-developed, and very believable. The plot was interesting...and fairly suspenseful at times. The ending shocked me, too--I was expecting it to a certain point, and then there was a twist that I did not expect! It was a good twist, though-I liked it. :)

The mythology behind the story is fascinating. I'm partial to books about dragons, though. :)

I should say too, that Nathan never did read the book. He originally checked it out, planning on reading it, but he couldn't get into it. I didn't have anything else to read, so I didn't let myself put it down. (I am terrified of flying, so I needed something -anything- that would distract me until I could get a glass of wine on the flight. hehe) There were a few boring parts, but I don't think I would have set it aside even if I hadn't been on the flight.

I am the type of person who hates to not finish a book, though. Just FYI. :)

I am reading the next book in the series, also... curious on what happens. I don't think it's necessary; the ending of The Dream Thief was satisfactory. I'm just curious. :) And since I appeared to skip a book, I might go back and read that later...

Warning Note:
While it is not a smutty romance novel, it is a romance novel. I wouldn't recommend it to a middle school person.