Book #79: The Vow

Title: The Vow

Author: Kim and Krickitt Carpenter with Dana Wilkerson

Date started reading: June 1, 2012
Date finished reading: June 2, 2012

Publish date: February 2012
ISBN: 978-1433675799
Number of pages: 208

Official summary: "Life as Kim and Krickitt Carpenter knew it was shattered beyond recognition on November 24, 1993. Two months after their marriage, a devastating car wreck left Krickitt with a massive head injury and in a coma for weeks. When she finally awoke, she had no idea who Kim was. With no recollection of their relationship and while Krickitt experienced personality changes common to those who suffer head injuries, Kim realized the woman he had married essentially died in the accident. And yet, against all odds, but through the common faith in Christ that sustained them, Kim and Krickitt fell in love all over again. Even though Kim stood by Krickitt through the darkest times a husband can ever imagine, he insists, 'I’m no hero. I made a vow.'" (http://www.bhpublishinggroup.com/books/products.asp?p=9781433675799)

Movie trailer:

How I obtained the book: How I obtained the book: Got through Lista.com. (It's like eBay, but it's based on a point system instead of cash exchanges)

Pre-reading commentary: This is yet another book I'm only reading because I watched the movie and wanted to check out the book too. I only sort of liked the movie. It was another movie that I watched because I found a bootleg copy online that I could watch for free when I was bored and because, well, I think the main actor is hot. (Who doesn't find Channing Tatum totally hot? If I woke up with amnesia and Channing told me he was my husband, I don't think I'd argue.)

Post-reading commentary: Boy did they change so much for the movie. The movie dropped about 95% of the true story. The book was amazing, but I didn't expect the real story to be so vastly different than what was portrayed in the movie.

Memorable quotes:

• "Life isn't fair; it's life." ~ Krickitt
• "Risk is part of love." ~ Krickitt
• "It's the toughest coaching job I've ever had." ~ Kim on helping Krickett through rehab therapy
• "It was as if I was living with two women inside one body. One was kind and gentle and doing all she could to rebuild our married life. The other was a sullen teenager with a quick temper who didn't care that her words would hurt me." ~ Kim

Buy on Amazon.com: The Vow: The True Events that Inspired the Movie

Book #78: The Lucky One

Title: The Lucky One

Author: Nicholas Sparks

Date started reading: May 30, 2012
Date finished reading:  May 31, 2012

Publish date: March 2012
ISBN: 978-1455508976
Number of pages: 416

Official summary: "When U.S. Marine Logan Thibault finds a photograph of a smiling young woman half-buried in the dirt during his third tour of duty in Iraq, his first instinct is to toss it aside. Instead, he brings it back to the base for someone to claim, but when no one does, he finds himself always carrying the photo in his pocket. Soon Thibault experiences a sudden streak of luck — winning poker games and even surviving deadly combat that kills two of his closest buddies. Only his best friend, Victor, seems to have an explanation for his good fortune: the photograph — his lucky charm. Back home in Colorado, Thibault can’t seem to get the photo — and the woman in it — out of his mind. Believing that she somehow holds the key to his destiny, he sets out on a journey across the country to find her, never expecting the strong but vulnerable woman he encounters in Hampton, North Carolina — Elizabeth, a divorced mother with a young son — to be the girl he’s been waiting his whole life to meet. Caught off guard by the attraction he feels, Thibault keeps the story of the photo, and his luck, a secret. As he and Elizabeth embark upon a passionate and all-consuming love affair, the secret he is keeping will soon threaten to tear them apart — destroying not only their love, but also their lives." (http://www.nicholassparks.com)

Movie trailer:

How I obtained the book: Got through Lista.com. (It's like eBay, but it's based on a point system instead of cash exchanges)

Pre-reading commentary: I've never been a Nicholas Sparks fan, except for the case of "A Walk to Remember." I've tried reading other books and watching other movies, and they're normally too sappy for me. I'm totally not the type that swoons over watching "The Notebook." I watched the movie based on this book for two reasons: 1) Zac Efron looked totally hot in the trailer and 2) I found a bootleg copy of it to watch for free online. I ended up really liking the movie. It didn't feel like the typical Sparks film. It was more gritty, for the lack of a better word. It felt more real than the epic romance stories that he normally does. I decided to check out the book to see if it gives me the same feelings that the movie did.

Post-reading commentary: I loved the movie... I loved the book even more. The book had the same type of feel that I got from the movie. A lot was the same, but there were some differences. The book's ending was almost the same as the movie, but Sparks put in a twist in the book that I fell totally into. I was almost in tears thinking it was ending one way, when it actually wasn't ending that way.

Memorable quotes:

• "It was strange to think of the unexpected twists a man's life could take." ~ Logan
• "Maintaining a facade of normalcy had been exhausting." ~ Logan
• "There's nothing like a drill sergeant to make a person believe that nothing in his life had really mattered to that point." ~ Logan
• "In war, unlucky is the last thing you want to be." ~ Victor
• "If relationships were hard, marriage was even harder." ~ Beth
• "If her entire life had been recorded on video, the marriage would be one of those events she would gladly record over."  ~ Beth
• "Beth could handle a lot of things, but this was beyond her. As much as she tried, she couldn't quite grasp everything (Logan had) told her. On some level, it made sense, but on the whole it just seemed off. If the guy was telling the truth, he was strange; if he was lying, he picked strange lies. Either way, it was weird." 
• "There is nothing like love. You should try it." ~ Victor to Logan
• "Most people don't know how to appreciate silence." ~ Beth
• "People liked to imagine they were free to choose their own lives, but Beth had learned that choice was sometimes illusory." 
• "Sometimes the most ordinary things could be made extraordinary simply by doing them with the right people." ~ Beth
• "You know how gossip is. It's the toxic waste of small towns." ~ Beth
• "Know this: You've never met someone like me before. You don't want me as an enemy." ~ Logan to Clayton
• "Everyone acts crazy at times." ~ Nana

Buy on Amazon.com: The Lucky One

Book #77: Silence

Title: Silence (Book #3 of the Hush Hush series)

Author: Becca Fitzpatrick

Date started reading: May 28, 2012
Date finished reading:  May 29, 2012

Publish date: October 2011
ISBN: 978-1442426641
Number of pages: 448

Official summary: "The noise between Patch and Nora is gone. They've overcome the secrets riddled in Patch's dark past ... bridged two irreconcilable worlds ... faced heart-wrenching tests of betrayal, loyalty and trust ... and all for a love that will transcend the boundary between heaven and earth. Armed with nothing but their absolute faith in one another, Patch and Nora enter a desperate fight to stop a villain who holds the power to shatter everything they've worked for — and their love — forever." (http://beccafitzpatrick.com)

Official book trailers:

How I obtained the book: Checked out of library
UPDATE on June 26, 2012: I ended up getting a copy of the book through PaperBackSwap.com. 

Memorable quotes:

• "I've sworn off guys. If I need romance, that's what Netflix is for." ~ Vee
• "If I lose you, I lose everything." ~ Patch to Nora
• "The truth is, normal might take years. Normal might never happen." ~ Nora
• "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to figure out how to live my life again." ~ Nora
• "Seeing the color black was one thing, but making out with it was taking it to a whole 'nother level. I had to stop haunting myself this way. If I kept it up any longer, I was genuinely going to doubt my sanity." ~ Nora
• "Vee never needed a reason to do something stupid. Sad thing was, most of the time I didn't either." ~ Nora
• "I'm not particularly fond of getting stabbed in the back." ~ Nora
  "I wouldn't stab you in the back. Not on something this serious." ~ Marcie
  "Note to self: Marcie is only a backstabber on trival things." ~ Nora
• "Anything was better than nothing. Half-full was better than empty. Ignorance was the lowest form of humiliation and suffering." ~ Nora
• "When I watched Lifetime original movies, it took me a day or two to get over the idea that the cute boy next door is actually a serial killer." ~ Nora
• "Erasing someone's memory isn't as easy as it sounds. It's like trying to pick all the chocolate chips out of a cookie. It's never going to be perfect. Pieces get left behind." ~ Patch
• "For every law, there's someone out there willing to break it." ~ Patch
• "The term 'burn in hell' isn't a figure of speech." ~ Patch
• "You gotta play dirty to win." ~ Marcie 
• "Don't take this the wrong way, but I've been checking up on you now and then. I needed to know the best times to contact you. By the way, your social life is pathetic." ~ Scott to Nora
• "You're starting to make this sound like a role reversal of Beauty and the Beast. We all know you're beautiful, Scott." ~ Nora
• "Dogs are people too, you know." ~ Marcie
• "God moves in mysterious ways. You move like lightning -- here one moment, gone the next." ~ Nora to Patch
• "A few months of freedom is better than a lifetime in prison." ~ Patch
• "I would do anything for you, even if it means going against my instincts or my very nature. I would lay down everything I possess, even my soul, for you. If that isn't love, it's the best I have." ~ Patch to Nora
• "I can't decide if your naivete is adorable, or if I want to smack some sense into you." ~ Dabria to Nora
• "I wondered if I'd ever see this side of Patch. I wondered if there even was an end to the many sides of Patch. The more I thought I knew him, the more the mystery deepened." ~ Nora
• "I had to sacrifice my own love for the interest of my entire race. ... My life has been defined by difficult choices. I won't stop making them tonight." ~ Hank

My commentary: This was so vastly better than "Crescendo." It restored my faith in this series. I'm still not all swoony about Patch like a lot of fans of this series because I still think the good in him doesn't outweigh all the bad, but he's growing on me.

Buy on Amazon.com: Silence (Hush, Hush Saga)

Book #76: Crescendo

Title: Crescendo (Book #2 of the Hush Hush series)

Author: Becca Fitzpatrick

Date started reading: May 24, 2012
Date finished reading:  May 27, 2012

Publish date: October 2010
ISBN: 978-1416989431
Number of pages: 432

Official summary: "Nora should have known her life was far from perfect. Despite starting a relationship with her guardian angel, Patch (who, title aside, can be described as anything but angelic), and surviving an attempt on her life, things are not looking up. Patch is starting to pull away and Nora can't figure out if it's for her best interest or if his interest has shifted to her arch-enemy, Marcie Millar. Not to mention that Nora is haunted by images of her father and she becomes obsessed with finding out what really happened to him that night he left for Portland and never came home. The further Nora delves into the mystery of her father's death, the more she comes to question if her Nephilim bloodline has something to do with it as well as why she seems to be in danger more than the average girl. Since Patch isn't answering her questions and seems to be standing in her way, she has to start finding the answers on her own. Relying too heavily on the fact that she has a guardian angel puts Nora at risk again and again. But can she really count on Patch or is he hiding secrets darker than she can even imagine?" (http://beccafitzpatrick.com)

Official book trailer:

How I obtained the book: Paid $4.37 for it through the Doubleday Book Club

Memorable quotes:

• "Light had a way of keeping the monsters of my imagination at bay." ~ Nora
• "It's no secret Patch is trouble. He's got the whole bad-boy-in-need-of-redemption thing going on, but the catch is, most bad boys don't want redemption. They like being bad. They like the power they get from striking fear and panic into the hearts of mothers everywhere." ~ Vee
• "Redheads are a liability." ~ Scott to Nora
• "Patch is a lot of things, but honest isn't one of them." ~ Vee
• "Nothing says cheap like shoplifting." ~ Vee
  "Nothing says fat like a double chin." ~ Marcie
• "The only thing a boyfriend was good for was a shattered heart." ~ Nora
• "There's a name for girls like you, Nora Grey. Crazy makers. You're like the fly that nobody can shoo away." ~ Detective Basso
• "Why was it so wrong for (Patch and I) to be in love? Were angels and humans really that different?" ~ Nora
• "Nothing makes me happy quite like a boatload of freshly fried fast food, smothered in good old-fashioned MSG." ~ Vee
• "My life sucks when I'm only half-aware of it. If I quit drinking and saw what it's really like, I'd probably jump off a bridge. ... When I'm wasted, I can almost forget who I am. I know I'm still there, but only barely. It's a good place to be." ~ Scott
• "My sense of adventure stops short of a kamikaze suicide mission." ~ Vee
• "Sometimes bad things have to happen before good things can." ~ Patch
• "I'm really starting to like all this spy work. When my normal life gets boring, all I have to do is sidle up next to you." ~ Vee to Nora
• "I don't know what it is about hot dogs, but they're like an instant shot of courage. I feel like I can do anything after I've had a hot dog." ~ Vee

My commentary:

• Getting through the first half of this book was like watching paint dry. I was bored out of my mind and it felt like the book would never end. It did get better in the second half.
• I'm not sure why so many readers seem to swoon over Patch. Frankly, he's more of a jerk in my opinion than a heartthrob. In order for the bad-boy-as-a-love-interest thing to work, there really needs to be enough good in the guy to outweigh the bad (or at least match the bad). Obviously there is good in Patch, but I don't see that it even comes close to the bad in him. 
• The ending totally caught me off-guard. I did not expect the plot twist that happened with this book's villain. I didn't see it coming. It almost redeemed the book in my mind. I stress "almost" because I'm still annoyed at how bored I was with the first half of the book.

Buy on Amazon.com: Crescendo (Hush, Hush)

Book #75: Hush Hush

Title: Hush Hush

Author: Becca Fitzpatrick

Date started reading: May 22, 2012
Date finished reading:  May 24, 2012

Publish date: September 2010
ISBN: 978-1416989424
Number of pages: 416

Official summary: "For Nora Grey, romance was not part of the plan. She's never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how much her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her. Not until Patch came along. With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Nora is drawn to him against her better judgment. But after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora's not sure who to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is, and to know more about her than her closest friends. She can't decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is way more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel. For Nora is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen -- and, when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost her life." (http://beccafitzpatrick.com)

Official book trailer:

How I obtained the book: Bought for $4.24 at used book store

Memorable quotes:

• "You keep life on a short leash. ... You're scared of what you can't control." ~ Patch to Nora
• "I have to admit, his dark side calls to me." ~ Vee about Patch
• "I don't have a type. I'm not that narrow." ~ Nora
  "You, babe, are more than narrow -- you're confined. Cramped. Your spectrum is about as wide as one of Coach's microorganisms. There are very few, if any, boys at school you would fall for." ~ Vee
  "That's not true. It isn't about the boys, it's about love. I haven't found it." ~ Nora
  "It isn't about love. It's about fun." ~ Vee
• "This is a good thing, and a bad thing. You find the wrong boy, you ask for trouble. You find the right boy, you find love." ~ Dorothea
• "If rule number one of flirting was no lists, I was fairly certain rule number two was no sweating." ~ Nora
• "I think you should treat him like a loaded gun. Something about him isn't normal." ~ Vee about Patch 
• "The whole night felt unbalanced. It was hard to have a showdown with someone as indifferent as Patch. No, not indifferent. Perfectly controlled. Down to the last cell in his body." ~ Nora
• "Keep in mind that people change, but the past doesn't." ~ Patch to Nora
• "Betrayal hurts, doesn't it?" ~  Dabria
• "This whole night felt like a dark fairy tale I'd strayed into and couldn't find my way back out of. A fairy tale with fallen angels, human hybrids, and sacrificial killings." ~ Nora
• "My whole world felt like a joke, and I was the last one to get the punch line. I wasn't Nora Grey, average girl. I was the descendant of someone who wasn't even human. And my heart was smashing itself to pieces over another nonhuman. A dark angel." ~ Nora
• "I knew it was wrong. He was the worst kind of wrong. He was so wrong it felt right, and that made me feel completely out of control." ~ Nora about Patch
• "First rule of auto theft: Try not to hang around the crime scene longer than necessary." ~ Patch
• "Finding him was like finding someone I didn't know I was searching for. He'd come into my life too late, and now he was leaving too soon." ~ Nora about Patch

My commentary:

• I'm not sure if I had built my expectations for this series up too high or if it's because I just finished the "Fallen" saga by Lauren Kate, but this book just didn't live up to what I hoped it would be. I probably shouldn't have started this series right after another one about fallen angels. I loved the "Fallen" books so much. Maybe "Hush Hush" is just suffering the consequences of coming second. It wasn't really bad. I enjoyed some parts, but I just couldn't get into as much as I hoped. Patch pales in comparison to the fallen angels created by Lauren Kate, and I prefer Luce from "Fallen" to Nora from "Hush Hush." I'll still read the rest of the books in the series though. 
• One thing I do really love though... and this is such a graphic designer type thing to notice... is the little black feathers that are scattered throughout the book.

 

Buy on Amazon.com: Hush, Hush

Book #74: Fallen in Love

Title: Fallen in Love (Companion book in the Fallen series)

Author: Lauren Kate

Date started reading: May 20, 2012
Date finished reading: May 21, 2012

Publish date: January 2012
ISBN: 978-0385742610
Number of pages: 256

Official summary: "What makes your heart race a little faster? It's FALLEN IN LOVE, four wholly original new stories collected in a new novel set in the Middle Ages by Lauren Kate. FALLEN IN LOVE gives fans the much-talked about but never-revealed stories of FALLEN characters as they intertwine with the epic love story of Luce and Daniel. The stories include: Love Where You Least Expect It: The Valentine of Shelby and Miles , Love Lessons: The Valentine of Roland; Burning Love: The Valentine of Arriane; and Endless Love: The Valentine of Daniel and Lucinda." (http://www.randomhouse.com/teens/fallen/books.php)

Official book trailer:

How I obtained the book: Bought for $6.79 at used book store

Memorable quotes:

• "If someone loved me enough to dive through multiple millennia just to find me, I'd get over myself." ~ Shelby
• "Traveling with him was like carrying around an encyclopedia." ~ Shelby about Miles
• "Maybe there is such a thing as true love." ~ Miles
• "(Roland) had always had a knack with animals, especially horses. Animals could hear the music in his voice more clearly than humans. Roland could whisper a few words to a startled filly and calm her like sunshine after a tornado." 
• "Mortals could rarely recognize their true feelings before those true feelings hit them in the face." ~ Roland
• "Daniel and Lucinda were emblems of romance, ideals that every mortal and some immortals needed to believe in, whether or not they themselves were capable of making a connection so true. Daniel and Lucinda were an idea that informed the way the rest of the world fell in love." ~ Roland
• "Love means not being afraid to let yourself go, trusting that I will desire everything you have to offer." ~ Rosaline to Roland
• "Love is impossible. Get out and save yourself the heartache." ~ Cam to Roland
• "Forever wasn't possible between a woman and a fallen angel." ~ Cam
• "Solitude was one thing, but it warped into ugly, wretched loneliness after the soul had tasted love." ~ Roland
• "Love is hell." ~ Arriane
• "Sometimes love was not about winning, but about wise sacrifice and the reliability of friends like Arriane. Friendship, Roland realized, was its very own kind of love."
• "I'm tired of fairy tales." ~ Tess
• "Good. Evil. They're just words." ~ Tess to Arriane
• "Maybe Tess was right: When one lover suffered from a broken heart, no matter how badly the other wanted to help, she couldn't be the one to heal it." ~ Arriane
• "As far as possible, Arriane realized, each soul had to be content alone before plunging into love, because one never knew when the other would move out of that love. It was the greatest paradox: Souls need each other, but they also need to not need each other."  

My commentary: These stories were really interesting. The first one (about Miles and Shelby) was so cute. I wouldn't have thought about Miles and Shelby as a couple, but they were really cute. The second one (about Roland) was sad. Third was about Arriane and totally heart-breaking. It made me want to cry so hard. Somehow when Arriane was first introduced in the first book, I thought she was a lesbian, but it still came as a shock when this story confirmed it. A lesbian angel... I don't have any issues with it, but it just seems odd overall. The last story (about Luce and Daniel) was both happy and sad.

Buy on Amazon.com: Fallen in Love: A Fallen Novel in Stories

Book #73: Passion

Title: Passion (Book #3 in the Fallen series)

Author: Lauren Kate

Date started reading: May 19, 2012
Date finished reading:  May 20, 2012

Publish date: June 2011
ISBN: 978-0385739160
Number of pages: 432

Official summary: "Luce would die for Daniel. And she has. Over and over again. Throughout time, Luce and Daniel have found each other, only to be painfully torn apart: Luce dead, Daniel left broken and alone. But perhaps it doesn’t need to be that way. ... Luce is certain that something — or someone — in a past life can help her in her present one. So she begins the most important journey of this lifetime… going back eternities to witness firsthand her romances with Daniel ... and finally unlock the key to making their love last. Cam and the legions of angels and Outcasts are desperate to catch Luce, but none are as frantic as Daniel. He chases Luce through their shared pasts, terrified of what might happen if she rewrites history. Because their romance for the ages could go up in flames ... forever." (http://www.randomhouse.com/teens/fallen/books.php)

Official book trailers:

How I obtained the book: Bought for $7.64 at used book store

Memorable quotes:

• "Good or evil. Enemy or friend. They should have been easier to separate, but nothing was easy anymore. Everything that had once been black and white now blended into gray." ~ Luce
• "A close study of every inch of (Daniel's) skin would reveal only two small scars: two fine white lines above his shoulder blades where his wings unfurled. All of the fallen angels acquired these scars when they took their human bodies. In a way, the scars were all any of them had to show for themselves. ... For Daniel, an existence without scars was just another indication that his destiny was out of his hands." 
• "You could fill a book with all the things you don't know, girl. In fact -- I think someone may have already written it." ~ Bill to Luce
• "The boundaries between 'good' and 'evil' have been blurred by millennia of free will." ~ Bill
•  "You are a bull in the china shop of love." ~ Roland to Luce
• "Time tidies up after itself." ~ Roland
• "Honey, Daniel loving the real you is the last thing you should be worried about. You're freaking soul mates. You two coined the phrase." ~ Bill
• "For Daniel, their love was as much a part of him as his wings. But for Luce, it must be different. She didn't have access to the splendor of their love. Only its fiery end. Every moment would be an utter revelation." 
• "Think of me as your travel agent, and of yourself as on vacation!" ~ Bill
  "We're not on vacation, Bill." ~ Luce
  "We're not? I thought we were taking the Grand Tour of Love." ~ Bill
• "Desperation and Announcer-travel do not mix well. Like pickles and chocolate." ~ Bill
• "Suicide was a mortal luxury not afforded to angels." 
• "Free will. It's all the rage these days." ~ Cam
• "There are snobs in every lifetime." ~ Bill
• "Only crazies talk to their invisible gargoyles, and crazies don't get invited to many balls." ~ Bill to Luce 
•  "Luce would happily die a thousand times just as long as she could be with (Daniel) again on the other side." 
• "The beauty of our love endures death, endures everything." ~ Luce
• "(Daniel) wore the ball and chain of a prisoner -- but the real jailer here was his own guilt." 
• "Life is a nightmare." ~ past-life Daniel
• "Expect chaos. Embrace chaos." ~ Bill
• "Daniel's love for (Luce) was one long, uninterrupted stream. It was the purest form of love." 
• "Our world isn't rooted in teleology. It's chaos." ~ Cam
• "Not all of us are lucky enough to be bound to our lover by a curse." ~ past-life Cam
• "Can't a gargoyle enjoy a nice cup of jasmine tea without coming back to find that his charge has dug her own grave?" ~ Bill
• "Grow up, Luce. There's more to life than teenage passion." ~ Bill
• "Nothing stays the same forever." ~ Daniel
• "I'll love you with all my heart, in every life, through every death. I will not be bound by anything but my love for you. ... One day, our love will conquer this dark cycle. That's worth everything to me." ~ Daniel to Luce
• "Some people spent their entire lives looking for love like this. Luce had had it all along." 
• "Every touch was rapture." ~ Luce
• "I will wait for you as long as it takes. I will love you every moment across time." ~ Daniel to Luce
• "Some people are just unlucky in love." ~ Satan
• "Fear has envy in it somewhere." ~ Satan
• "Love is the only thing worth fighting for." ~ Daniel

My commentary:

• The ending of this book did not shock me one bit, but it was so amazing that I was left "fan-girling" like never before in my life. I can't wait until the final book in the saga "Rapture" arrives in a few weeks.
• I keep thinking about how awesome this book would be portrayed on a movie screen. Luce keeps coming face-to-face with her past lives, and Daniel talks to himself in the past too. That would be so interesting shown on screen. Plus, there'd be so many beautiful period costumes. 
• It took until this book for me to really see Daniel as the ultimate right person for Luce. I think I needed the journey through her past lives as much as she did. 
• Present-day Luce is a really good example of a strong woman. She's unwilling to just accept a life/love with Daniel because that's what "feels" right to her. She questions things. She won't accept going into love blindly. The angels keep talking about how God gave them free will, and that really seems to be what Luce is in search of. She wants to know that she still has the freedom to choose her path in life even if there is a "curse" on her and Daniel. 

Buy on Amazon.com: Passion (Fallen)

Book #72: Torment

Title: Torment (Book #2 in the Fallen series)

Author: Lauren Kate

Date started reading: May 17, 2012
Date finished reading: May 19, 2012

Publish date: September 2010
ISBN: 978-0385739146
Number of pages: 464

Official summary: "Hell on earth. That’s what it’s like for Luce to be apart from her fallen angel boyfriend, Daniel. It took them an eternity to find one another, but now he has told her he must go away. Just long enough to hunt down the Outcasts — immortals who want to kill Luce. Daniel hides Luce at Shoreline, a school on the rocky California coast with unusually gifted students: Nephilim, the offspring of fallen angels and humans. At Shoreline, Luce learns what the Shadows are, and how she can use them as windows to her previous lives. Yet the more Luce learns, the more she suspects that Daniel hasn’t told her everything. He’s hiding something — something dangerous. What if Daniel’s version of the past isn’t actually true? What if Luce is really meant to be with someone else?" (http://www.randomhouse.com/teens/fallen/books.php)

Official book trailers:

How I obtained the book: Bought for $2 at Friends of the Library charity book sale

Memorable quotes:

• "(Daniel and Cam) were alike in so many ways. But Cam was something worse, a demon, and that made him capable of despicable acts with no remorse. Daniel was crippled by remorse. And right now, he was further crippled by love."
• "Little-known fact about angels: We make excellent pillows." ~ Daniel
• "A demon is teaching our humanities class? And that's okay?" ~ Luce 
• "Okay, hit me, what's the weirdest thing about Shorine so far?" ~ Miles
  "I don't even know where to start. Maybe my roommate, who I think snuck in just before sunrise this morning and was gone again before I woke up. No, wait, it's taking a class taught by a demon-and-angel couple. Or the way the kids here look at me like I'm some legendary freak. Anonymous freak, I got used to. But notorious freak --" ~ Luce
  "You are not notorious." ~ Miles
• "End Times aren't supposed to be very pretty." ~ Roland
• "I have to go." ~ Daniel
  "How shocking. Turn up out of nowhere, pick a fight, then duck out. This must be real, true love." ~ Luce
• "Usually, we'll take just about anyone we can get, but even Satan has his limits." ~ Cam
• "Good and evil aren't as clear-cut as you think. ... What you think of as evil -- well, to my kind, it's a simple problem to connotation." ~ Cam
• "Daniel and I are two sides of the same coin. It must pain you to hear that." ~ Cam to Luce
• "Luce was certainly no expert when it came to love." 
• "Reincarnation is for freaks." ~ Shelby
• "I'd given anything to just be normal." ~ Shelby
• "(Luce and Daniel) could steam up windows with their kisses, but as soon as they started using their mouths for other things -- like talking -- everything got so complicated."
• "I love you, Luce. So much it hurts." ~ Daniel
• "Love and hate were supposed to stand cleanly on opposite sides of the spectrum. The division seemed as clear as ... well, angels and demons would once have seemed to her. Not anymore." ~ Luce
• "Sometimes beautiful things come into our lives out of nowhere. We can't always understand them, but we have to trust in them. I know you want to question everything, but sometimes it pays to just have a little faith." ~ Francesca to Luce
• "Kissing me is dangerous." ~ Luce to Miles
• "Loneliness in a crowd of people was the worst kind of loneliness." ~ Luce 
• "Compared to Shoreline, (Sword & Cross) was a gruesome sort of Purgatory." ~ Luce
• "Now she realized that the only worthwhile way to make a change was to earn a real one." ~ Luce

My commentary:

• There is a scene where Daniel and Luce are dancing on top of the ocean. I can't wait to do some photo-manipulation artwork via deviantART based on that. A sorta-gothy girl with an angel dancing on an ocean? Yeah, perfect artwork for me.

Buy on Amazon.com: Torment (Fallen, Book 2)

Book #71: Fallen

Title: Fallen

Author: Lauren Kate

Date started reading: May 15, 2012
Date finished reading:  May 17, 2012

Publish date: December 2009
ISBN: 978-0385738934
Number of pages: 464

Official summary: "There's something achingly familiar about Daniel Grigori. Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price's attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah, Georgia. He's the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are all screw-ups, and security cameras watch every move. Even though Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce -- and goes out of his way to make that very clear -- she can't let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, she has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep secret ... even if it kills her. Dangerously exciting and darkly romantic, Fallen is a page turning thriller and the ultimate love story. (http://www.randomhouse.com/teens/fallen/books.php)

Official book trailers:

How I obtained the book: Bought for $1 at Friends of the Library charity book sale

Memorable quotes:

• "People are here because they've got baggage. I'm talking curbside-check-in, pay-the-fine-'cause-it's-over-fifty-pounds kind of baggage." ~ Arriane
• "People who are chronically tardy never understand the many ways in which they screw up the schedules of people who are punctual and normal." ~ Penn 
• "The only way to survive eternity is to be able to appreciate each moment." ~ Daniel
• "Trust is a careless pursuit at best. At worst, it's a good way to get yourself killed." ~ Miss Sophia
• "I should like to have a word with whoever thought putting the fate of all our eternal souls in the hands of one lovesick pair of infants was so brilliant an idea." ~ Miss Sophia
• "You're the human equivalent of a migraine." ~ Miss Sophia to Luce
• "You know everyone loves to hate a happy pair of lovebirds." ~ Arriane

Pre-reading commentary: I always try not to get my hopes up too high before starting a new book (especially a new book series), but my hopes are extremely high for this series. I fell in love with this book the second I saw it back in 2009 because of the cover, and every book after it has had a cover I love too. I love photo manipulations like this. In fact, I joined deviantART primarily to seek out artists who do this kind of artwork. Also, I've heard so many people say good things about the series that I can't help but hope for an amazing journey through "Fallen" world. I really pray I'm not disappointed. 

Post-reading commentary:

• I was totally hooked on the book half way through the first chapter. I didn't want to put it down.
• I feel like I'm a little hot-and-cold on the issue of love triangles. I often gripe about how so many books (and TV shows and movies too) feature love triangles. I'm getting sick of it overall, but then I come across a book like this with the Daniel/Luce/Cam triangle, and I'm all ooh-ing and awe-ing over it. I'm all picking sides in the triangle and going all googly over the guys. 
• I also feel like I'm always going back and forth on the reincarnation subject too. Normally I mostly just roll my eyes at reincarnation, but then I read a book like this, and I love the idea. I guess it all just depends on the author's writing and the backstory. 

Buy on Amazon.com: Fallen

Book #70: Witches of East End

Title: Witches of East End (first of spin-off series from "Blue Bloods" series)

Author: Melissa de la Cruz

Date started reading: May 12, 2012
Date finished reading:  May 15, 2012

Publish date: June 2011
ISBN: 978-1401323905
Number of pages: 288

Official summary: "It’s the beginning of summer in North Hampton, and beautiful Freya Beauchamp is celebrating her engagement to wealthy Bran Gardiner, the heir to Fair Haven and Gardiners Island. But Freya is drawn to Bran’s gorgeous but unreliable brother Killian, and sparks fly when the two decide to play a dangerous game, following an ancient story of love, betrayal and tragedy that harks back to the days of Valhalla. Witches of East End follows the Beauchamp family — the formidable matriarch Joanna and her daughters Freya and Ingrid. Freya, a sexy bartender, has a potion to cure every kind of heartache, while Ingrid, the local librarian, solves complicated domestic problems with her ability to tie magical knots. Joanna is the witch to see when modern medicine has no more answers; her powers can wake the dead. Everything seems to be going smoothly until a young girl, Molly Lancaster, goes missing after taking one of Freya’s irresistible cocktails. As more of the town’s residents begin disappearing, everyone seems to have the same suspects in mind: the Beauchamp women. Fraught with love, small-town secrets, and witchcraft, Witches of East End will capture any reader who craves a page-turning, heart-stopping story of myth and magic from an author who knows how to deliver." (http://melissa-delacruz.com)

Official book trailer:

How I obtained the book: Paid $4.37 for it through the Doubleday Book Club

Memorable quotes:

• "Love wasn't a solution to everything." ~ Ingrid
• "Old houses had a way of getting under your skin, Joanna Beauchamp knew; not just your skin but into your soul, as well as deep into your pocketbook, defying reason or logic in an ever-elusive quest for perfection." 
• "You've got to stop thinking everyone's problems can be solved by falling in love." ~ Ingrid to Freya
• "It was understood that women of a certain age no longer cared about their looks, but it was a lie. Vanity did not die of old age, especially in beautiful women." ~ Joanna
• "That was the problem with motherhood: not only did it make you fat and put anxiety lines in your forehead, but the love you felt -- that intense, all-consuming love for one's child -- was like owning the sharpest and most exquisite knife. It stabbed her right in the heart." ~ Joanna
• "Marriage was like the surface of an ocean, seemingly placid and serene above; yet if you weren't careful, seething and raging with underground earthquakes below." ~ Ingrid 
• "Time did not exist where love and lust were concerned." ~ Freya
• "Being in love with two men at the same time was not what she had signed up for when she had launched this affair. She had to stop acting and start thinking." ~ Freya 
• "Time did not mean anything to those who had too much of it, but it was even more precious once it was limited." ~ Joanna

My commentary: This book wasn't what I had expected. Of course, I really have no clue what I expected. It's definitely an "adult" book instead of "young adult" like the Blue Bloods series. I think I'm going to have to sit and stew on this book for a while before I make a final decision on how I feel about it. I didn't really like it, but I didn't really dislike it either. There were positives and negatives. I do wish, however, that the appearances by the Blue Bloods characters lived up to the promises the author made.

Buy on Amazon.com: Witches of East End (The Beauchamp Family)

Book #69: All or Nothing

Title: All or Nothing (Book #3 of the "To Save a Life" series)

Authors: Jim & Rachel Britts

Date started reading: May 9, 2012
Date finished reading:  May 11, 2012

Publish date: 2012
ISBN: 978-0-9850626-0-6
Number of pages: 384

Official summary: "Jake Taylor and Amy Briggs planned to spend the rest of their lives together. But the traumatic loss of Jake’s childhood best friend during their senior year of high school set in motion a series of events that turned both of their lives upside down. Separated by thousands of miles as they pursue their dreams at college, Jake and Amy find their paths moving in very different directions. As Jake lives out his fantasies of playing college basketball for the University of Louisville, Amy begins to uncover an exciting calling of her own. But as Amy hones in on her new passion, Jake loses focus on his relationship with God and realizes that he needs to make some drastic changes to get back on track. As college graduation looms in the future and Jake and Amy’s lives take exciting twists and turns, there is one thing holding them both back from moving forward — each other. When their dreams seemingly make it impossible for them to be together they confront life’s greatest question: Am I willing to sacrifice it all and trust God?" (http://amazeinc.com/bb/html/all_or_nothing.html)

How I obtained the book: Purchased for $15.98 ($9.99 plus shipping) from the authors' website: http://amazeinc.com/bb/html/all_or_nothing.html

Memorable quotes/scenes:

• "Do you know how many girls would give anything to find an attractive, charming, godly man? Just think how lucky you are that your problem is choosing which one." ~ Cari to Amy 
• "That girl's like your personal Mona Lisa. She's staring at you no matter where you are in the room." ~ Grant to Jake about Amy's photo
• "Love is a universal language ... especially with young children." ~ Jodi
• "For the first time, the grossness of casual sex with multiple partners really hit Jake. He'd already known it was wrong and really regretted it, but now he was just disgusted by it. No wonder God designed the intimate sharing of sex to be constrained within the boundaries of a committed marriage relationship! People didn't willingly share each other's toothbrush, so why was everyone so obsessed with sharing each other's bodies? It was repulsive."
• "Sin has a way of sinking its claws deep, making us pay long after the wrong was committed." ~ Jake
• "Truth was such a complex thing." ~ Amy
• "Money doesn't make someone generous; it merely reveals generosity." ~ Buddy 
• "The only thing that really matters in life is your faith. Without faith, we're toast." ~ Jake
• "When it comes to love, Jake, it's all or nothing. Do you love her?" ~ Buddy
  "You know I do." ~ Jake
  "I'm almost afraid he loves her too much." ~ Grant
  "That's impossible. Real love is one hundred percent or it's not the real thing." ~ Buddy
  ...
  "Quick grammar lesson. When you say you love someone, what part of speech is love?" ~ Buddy
  "Verb?" ~ Grant
  "Bingo! That just about says it all, huh?" ~ Buddy
  "Wait, I don't get it." ~ Jake
  "If love is a verb then it's an action not a feeling." ~ Grant

My commentary:

• I know the authors had some trouble getting this book published because the second book of the series ("Jake's Choice") didn't sell as well as the first, and I'm so very glad that they figured out a way to get it out there. I wanted them to be able to finish Jake and Amy's story for themselves... and for the fans of the series. Frankly, to me it was no surprise the second book didn't sell as well as the first. The first one's sales were driven a lot by the movie by the same title. DUH. I have seen rumblings on Twitter and Facebook that "Jake's Choice" may be made into a movie now too, and I pray that it does. The first movie was life-changing, not only for me but tons of other people I know who have watched it.  
• I've been having fun in the last 8 months or so going into the local Barnes & Noble stores and grabbing copies of "To Save a Life" and "Jake's Choice" and sneaking them into the displays of Sara Shepard's "The Lying Game" book series. I figure that everyone who watches "The Lying Game" TV show and decides to read the books too will recognize actor Randy Wayne on the cover of the Britts' books (Randy was in the movie) and may pick up the books. I am sure that the Barnes & Noble workers are starting to hate me, but I feel like God's calling me to try to get these books into teenagers' hands, and if even one person reads these books because I did that, then well, I regret nothing... 
• Okay, so onto this book... There were some minor editing errors throughout the book. Many people probably wouldn't have even noticed them, but I did. Of course, I work as a copy editor, so I get paid to notice those things. Despite that, the story was so powerful that I was easily able to overlook the little errors. Plus, those things can easily be fixed in any future printings. 
• The Britts have this amazing power to make you completely question everything in your life and reconsider if you're doing what you should be doing. Lately I've tried to stick primarily to totally fictional stories (like vampires, witches, werewolves, etc.) because sometimes it's hard for me to delve deeply into my own emotional pain. I knew reading this was going to be hard, but I was waiting months for this book to end up in print so I could read it no matter what it made me question. This series deals with so many tough subjects -- suicide, teen pregnancy/abortion/adoption, drinking, drug use, self-injury, sexually transmitted infections, domestic violence, child abuse, extramarital affairs, just to name some of them. It's a book series that I wish would've been written 10-15 years ago when I was younger. I've attempted suicide (more than once). I've self-harmed (starting at age 12 and 18 years later I still struggle with the desire to cut myself again). I was abused by my father throughout my childhood, and then I ended up marrying a man who makes some serial killers seem sane. I used to drink and use casual sex to escape my emotional pain. From my own experiences, I can honestly say this book series needs to be put in the hands of every teenager and college student ... and their parents. These books -- and the movie(s) -- have the power to help so many people.
• When I started reading "All or Nothing," I really wasn't certain if I thought Jake and Amy should wind up together as a couple or not. In real life, I know very few couples who were high school sweethearts and can actually last into adulthood, but both Amy and Jake really come of age and mature into good Christians and become really great for each other. They both find a way to pursue their dreams, serve God, and be together. Their relationship definitely wasn't a fairytale, but it was very real and their love is something to strive for. 
• I absolutely love how the authors basically took Jake's path to God full circle. He wound up in basically the same spot that his youth minister was in when the first book started.
• I thought I'd take this opportunity to share a photo of how things look at my house when I'm reading. I have three dogs, two of which (if not all three) are always right there with me on the couch, no matter what time of day or night I'm reading. This photo was taken at 3 a.m. as I was almost finished with "All or Nothing."  Reading is definitely a family affair in my house (or rather me reading/them sleeping is a family affair).
  

Buy the book: http://amazeinc.com/bb/html/all_or_nothing.html

Book #68: Black Dawn

Title: Black Dawn (Book #12 of The Morganville Vampires series)

Author: Rachel Caine

Date started reading: May 7, 2012
Date finished reading:  May 9, 2012

Publish date: May 2012
ISBN: 978-0451236715
Number of pages: 384

Official summary: "Ever since the draug -- mysterious creatures that prey on vampires -- took over Morganville, the lives of Claire Danvers and her friends have been thrown into turmoil. Most of the residents have evacuated, but Claire, Shane, Eve, and Michael have chosen to stay and fight. By using the town's water system to spread, the draug have rapidly multiplied. Things in Morganville look grim, especially since vampire Amelie -- the town Founder -- has been infected by the master draug's bite. If Claire and her friends don't figure out how to cure Amelie and defeat the draug, it looks as though Morganville will become little more than a ghost town." (http://www.morganvilletexas.com)

Official book trailer:

How I obtained the book: Bought on its release date at Barnes & Noble. It's the first time in a long time that I paid the full list price of a book. Paid $19.47 total.

Memorable quotes:

• "Even bipolar vampires needed sleep from time to time, and (Myrnin) was well past his recommended safe dosage of stress." ~ Claire
• "Eve liked to live on the edge, but she wasn't exactly Buffy reincarnated. And in some ways her hard edges made her the most fragile of all of them." ~ Claire
• "Sometimes growing up sucked." ~ Claire
• "Myrnin being Claire's vampire boss -- if a relationship that crazy could be called employer-employee, anyway. She was Igor to his Frankenstein. ... Myrnin was walking chaos, and a lot of the time that was fun. Sometimes, not so much." 
• "We're a tragedy waiting to happen." ~ Michael to Eve
• "You've always been insane. Insane for your beliefs, insane for power, insane for blood. I suppose that may be what we require now. More insanity." ~ Theo
  "That may be the kindest thing you've ever said about me, Doctor." ~ Oliver
• "There is nothing more frightening than a medical man willing to inflict pain." ~ Theo
• "I'd rather be invisible than a walking snack-pack." ~ Eve
• "Your curiosity is an addiction that will kill you one of these days." ~ Claire
• "It was easy to love somebody when love was happy, but when it was hard, when it meant facing things you feared... that was different." ~ Claire
• "An Aliens reference always makes me feel better at times like this. Except I'm not sure I"m the one who lives through the movie." ~ Eve
• "There was a lot more to Myrnin than just the pleasantly crazy mayhem; underneath it, there was calculation, and a cold, still monster that he kept mostly caged." ~ Claire
• "You are insane. You can't go around licking things that came out of a water treatment plan. That's just unsanitary." ~ Claire to Myrnin
• "She liked science because it was neat. It followed rules. And it never broke her heart." ~ Claire
•  "Solitary confinement with vampire supervision is really healthy. You know, exercise, good diet, self-improvement. It's like a spa, but with teeth." ~ Jason
• "Oliver might have been nobly born, but he has the manners of a pig farmer." ~ Naomi
• "Romantic love is an illusion, invented by poets and purchased by fools." ~ Naomi
• "This cat-and-mouse game could end only one way: the cat's way. But the mice had a trick or two left yet, and even a cat could get hurt if the mice bit hard enough." ~ Claire
• "My idea of research is looking at take-out menus." ~ Eve
• "I wanted a day without a crisis. Just one." ~ Eve
• "Death by research. That was not a glorious end." ~ Eve
• "Never mind what the movies say -- girls don't get prettier when they cry." ~ Shane
• "Real life isn't perfect. Perfect is boring." ~ Claire
• "Politics was a game of murder, and always had been." ~ Oliver
• "Getting married sounds crazy. I do crazy for a living." ~ Eve
• "We are into the This Is A Bad Idea neighborhood, and heading down I Have A Bad Feeling Street." ~ Shane
• "It hadn't been much of a fight, because it isn't a fight when your enemy just completely ignores you." ~ Shane
• "Scars are the least of my problems." ~ Hannah

My commentary:

• I intended on waiting a while to buy the book so I could get it cheaper, but I watched the trailer on May 1st and went straight out to buy it. The trailer made it sound so much like Shane was hurt or killed, and I couldn't wait to read it, since Shane's my favorite character.
• Before starting to read this, I may have "accidentally" read some spoilers about what happens in the book. I say "accidentally" in the manner that someone "accidentally" gets pregnant by having unprotected sex while not on birth control. When you don't want to be spoiled on something, you don't go on tumblr and go through posts tagged with it. So when I looked at the "Morganville Vampires" tag, I knew I'd run into spoilers, so I can't really say I found them truly by accident. Anyways, I was both relieved and annoyed by what I found out. Most people seemed more annoyed and/or flat out pissed off, but I'm not quite in that anti-Rachel Caine mob right now. 
• There was a chapter right in the middle of the book, which takes place right after the scene depicted in the video trailer, that confused the hell out of me. It took until the author flat out explained what was happening for it to actually dawn on me what had happened. In all honesty, I think she was trying to create the confusion, so either it was awesome writing or I'm just stupid enough to totally fall into a trap of confusion.
• Two more good nicknames given for Myrnin by Shane: "Chatty Batty" and "Batty McCrackula." And one for Oliver: "Lord High Cranky."

Buy on Amazon.com: Black Dawn: The Morganville Vampires

Book #67: Last Breath

Title: Last Breath (Book #11 of The Morganville Vampires series)

Author: Rachel Caine

Date started reading: May 5, 2012
Date finished reading: May 7, 2012

Publish date: November 2011
ISBN: 978-0451234872
Number of pages: 352

Official summary: "With her boss preoccupied researching the Founder Houses in Morganville, student Claire Danvers is left to her own devices when she learns that three vampires have vanished without a trace. She soon discovers that the last person seen with one of the missing vampires is someone new to town -- a mysterious individual named Magnus. After an uneasy encounter with Morganville's latest resident, Claire is certain Magnus isn't merely human. But is he a vampire or something else entirely?" (http://www.morganvilletexas.com)

Official book trailer:

How I obtained the book: Checked out of the library

Memorable quotes:

• "Vampires. A total pain in the neck -- literally." ~ Claire
• "Look, vampires and humans together have never been a good idea. It's like cats and mice hooking up. Always end up badly for the mouse." ~ Shane
• "Lesson number one in Morganville. Keep walking. Just keep walking." ~ Eve
• "Marriage is a big word for all guys. You know that. It's kind of an allergy. We get itchy and sweaty just trying to spell it, much less do it." ~ Shane
• "Every story's tragic somewhere along the way. You just have to know where to stop telling the story to make it a happy ending." ~ Eve
•  "I'm not the vampire welcome wagon!" ~ Claire
• "Not that the guy's stable any time, but today he's extra-crispy crazy." ~ Shane about Myrnin
• "When the two of us agree, something is definitely wrong." ~ Shane about him and Eve
• "I had heard many insane things during my lifetime, and more than half of them had come from Myrnin." ~ Amelie
• "In my position, mercy is the last option considered, not the first." ~ Amelie
• "You're the book whisperer." ~ Shane to Claire
• "Civil war among the vampires: not pretty."
• "Oh, try not to sound so much like Mom -- you don't have the ovaries." ~ Monica to Richard
• "Nice to know some things never change. Plagues, deaths, taxes, Monica." ~ Shane
• "Sorry, lady, but nobody's staking anybody at this party! I hung a disco ball for this!" ~ Shane
• "Pain was life, and life could be beautiful, with all its scars and flaws." ~ Claire

My commentary:

• I so very much love the nicknames Shane comes up with for Myrnin: Crazy McTeeth, Nutty McFang, Count Crackula.
• This series just keeps getting better and better. It's such a nail-biting series. I can't get enough of it.

Buy on Amazon.com: Last Breath: The Morganville Vampires

Book #66: Bite Club

Title: Bite Club (Book #10 of The Morganville Vampires series)

Author: Rachel Caine

Date started reading: May 2, 2012
Date finished reading:  May 5, 2012

Publish date: May 2011
ISBN: 978-0451233189
Number of pages: 352

Official summary: "After discovering that vampires populate her town, college student Claire Danvers knows that the undead just want to live their lives. But someone else wants them to get ready to rumble. There's a new extreme sport getting picked up on the Internet: bare-knuckle fights pitting captured vampires against each other -- or humans. Tracking the remote signal leads Claire -- accompanied by her friends and frenemies -- to discover that what started as an online brawl will soon threaten everyone in Morganville..." (http://www.morganvilletexas.com)

Video interview with the author that explains the series through this book (I thought it was rather interesting. It's still current information except for the part about the film rights, which have now expired):

How I obtained the book: Bought a copy on eBay for $3.75

Memorable quotes:

• "(Claire) was living in a house with a vampire. And, strangely, that was not the weirdest part of her life." 
• "When you sleep later than a vampire, Claire thought (about Eve), that's probably taking it a little too far." 
• "You didn't have to finish first to win, not in science. You just had to be more right than the other guys." ~ Claire
• "Afternoons are hard. Mornings are pure evil from the pits of hell, which is why I don't do them anymore." ~ Eve
• "You take me the most interesting places ... murder scenes, interrogations..." ~ Eve to Michael
• "Interesting news travels quickly in a town as boring as this." ~ Myrnin
• "It's like The Terminator meets Buffy." ~ Claire describing Oliver and Amelie fencing each other
•  "Always glad to be of help to the vampire community. We all know there is no crime in Morganville. And the humans are all just happy to be here. It's paradise on earth. Ain't that what it says in the brochure?" ~ Frank very sarcastically
• "Juice, Claire figured, was Eve's new code for blood. Well, technically, it was juice, Claire supposed. People juice." 
• "Deep down ... way deep down, I realized why my dad had been the way he was. It was easy to let go of all those demons, let them roar. And it felt good. That was more frightening than anything else I'd ever known." ~ Shane
• "Claire realized that she'd sneaked out of a window, and nobody, not even Shane, knew where she was. That hadn't been the best plan ever probably. Note to self: in the future, leave an I-know-who-killed-me message. Morbid, but practical, at least in her social circles." 
• "It's a sad day when Myrnin is the safe choice." ~ Claire
• "Their idea of justice is to haul in the usual dickheads and throw somebody to the wolves. Doesn't matter who it is." ~ Jason
  "You're saying you're not guilty." ~ Claire
  "I'm the usual dickhead." ~ Jason
• "Morganville's changing you. You used to be scared of them, but the more you're around (Myrnin), the more you think the vamps can be your friends. They aren't. They can't be. They're ranchers. We're cattle." ~ Shane to Claire
• "Everything gets better with pancakes. It's a law of the universe. ... Eat up. Pancakes is brain food." ~ Eve
  "Apparently not grammar food." ~ Claire
  "Wow. You college girls are mean." ~ Eve
• "Critical thinking has become a sadly rare skill these days." ~ Myrnin
• "Old loyalties die hard among our kind. So do old enemies." ~ Myrnin
• "Life with Dad had been boiled down to gyms, bars, cheap motel soap, and blood." ~ Shane
• "Pain was good. Pain kept you sharp and kept you motivated. Pain made me feel alive." ~ Shane
• "Shopping (with) Miranda. Really? Wow. Talk about the color-blind leading the blind." ~ Eve to Claire
• "Karma. It's a bitch." ~ Miranda
• "There's a lot of us who are sick as hell of getting our asses kicked by vampires, sick of being your cheap wine bottles with legs, sick of letting you rule this town like lords." ~ Shane
• "I hate fang-bangers worse than the vamps. At least the vamps are just doing what comes natural. Your kind, you're perverts." ~ Sandro to Eve
• "A bleeding human was like catnip to a vampire."
• "I trained my son to survive in Morganville. I'm not apologizing for that." ~ Frank
• "I'm the best killer who ever lived." ~ Bishop

My commentary:

• One thing about this series that I find interesting that I haven't commented on yet is about how the author includes a list of songs at the end of each book that helped inspire her as she wrote the book. I thought I had a large variety of musical tastes, but seeing Rachel Caine's track lists make me think I may not be as weird in my playlists as I thought. I normally think you can figure out a lot about a person by the type of music he/she listens to. But seeing Rachel list Bob Dylan, Kelly Clarkson, Marilyn Manson, 3OH!3, Ke$ha, Three Days Grace, Hilary Duff, Sick Puppies, Maroon 5, Vanessa Hudgens, Within Temptation, and so forth... I honestly have no clue what her music lists say about her personality. Her music player must be like a jukebox set on random...
• With this book, the author starts bringing in other perspectives than just Claire's. It's weird switching from just seeing things from Claire's point-of-view, to seeing things from someone else's. That being said, it was intriguing getting to see so intimately into Shane's head. I love Shane's character. I think maybe I relate to him so much because of the abuse in his past. There is so much pain inside him and a deep-seated anger at the world. I feel for him. I feel like him most of the time.

• I was personally struck by the scene shown in the photo above. Eve was talking about the type of wedding she'd want and said that her bridesmaids would wear black and she'd be in a red gown. This really stood out to me because that's exactly what I've been planning for my own wedding. I am wanting the red wedding dress below with the bridesmaids all in black dresses. It's really awkward when a goth character's dream wedding colors are basically the same as yours.

• This may actually be my favorite book so far in the series. It was very action-packed with so many emotions and so many conflicts, both internal and external with the main characters. Rachel Caine keeps me on the edge of my seat (figuratively speaking because I'm normally laying down when I read) during the entire time I read her books.
• There is one specific quote by Claire in this book that I think completely sums up reading this book series: "Let's get this circus on the road."

Buy on Amazon.com: Bite Club (Morganville Vampires, Book 10)

Book #65: Lenobia's Vow

Title: Lenobia's Vow (companion book to House of Night series)

Author: P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast

Date started reading: May 1, 2012
Date finished reading: May 1, 2012

Publish date: January 2012
ISBN: 978-1250000248
Number of pages: 160

Official summary: "Before she is Zoey’s favorite professor and the House of Night’s powerful horse mistress… Lenobia is just a normal 16-year-old girl -- with enough problems to last a lifetime. As the illegitimate daughter of a powerful baron, she has never quite belonged, and instead has to watch her spoiled half-sister, Cecile, get anything she wants. As if that’s not enough, her remarkable beauty draws unwanted attention wherever she goes. For once, she would like to just fit in. But when fate intervenes, Lenobia suddenly finds herself surrounded by other girls, on a ship bound for New Orleans, where they will be married off to the city’s richest Frenchmen. And they’re not alone. ... An evil bishop who is skilled in Dark magic makes the same journey. His appetite for lovely young women makes him dangerous -- most of all to Lenobia, who caught his eye back in France. So she remains hidden, making secret visits to the ship’s stables, where a handsome young man and his beautiful Percheron horses soon capture her attention. Will they make it to land before the bishop discovers her true identity and a powerful evil breaks loose? And will Lenobia follow her heart, even if it puts lives at risk? (http://www.houseofnightseries.com)

How I obtained the book: Checked out of library. This is a somewhat funny little story. My library system (which consists of 18 libraries) did not own a single copy of this book. I actually joined another library system through the mail so I could check this book out. It is a 40 mile roundtrip to the nearest library in that library system. For that much driving considering the price of gasoline, it's probably worth it to just buy the book at a store nearby my house... but oh well...

Memorable quotes:

• "How do I remember who I am if I am pretending to be someone else?" ~ Lenobia 
• "Horses and happiness -- they go together." ~ Lenobia 
• "If the worst that can happen to me for choosing to live by your side is that I die in peace loving you, then I choose whatever happiness we can find in this world." ~ Lenobia to Martin

My commentary:

• I had to interrupt my regularly scheduled reading of the "Morganville Vampires" series to read this because the next Morganville book is not currently available at the library, and the copy I bought through eBay hasn't shown up yet. That's okay though because I wanted to read this anyway.
• This book is so incredibly sad and serious. It was drastically different than the regular books in the series. I had trouble getting into the story at first, but it got better as it went on... but also more and more sad. It was definitely necessary to the main series' storyline about Lenobia because it explains why she's hesitant to let herself fall in love. 

Buy on Amazon.com: Lenobia's Vow: A House of Night Novella