6. Ode by Arthur O'Shaughnessy

WE are the music-makers,   

And we are the dreamers of dreams, 

Wandering by lone sea-breakers,   

And sitting by desolate streams; 

World-losers and world-forsakers,         

On whom the pale moon gleams: 

Yet we are the movers and shakers   

Of the world for ever, it seems.   

With wonderful deathless ditties 

We build up the world's great cities, 

And out of a fabulous story   

We fashion an empire's glory: 

One man with a dream, at pleasure,   

Shall go forth and conquer a crown; 

And three with a new song's measure  

Can trample an empire down.   

We, in the ages lying  

In the buried past of the earth, 

Built Nineveh with our sighing,   

And Babel itself with our mirth; 

And o'erthrew them with prophesying   

To the old of the new world's worth; 

For each age is a dream that is dying,   

Or one that is coming to birth. 

Losing It by Cora Carmack

Bliss Edwards is about to graduate from college and still has her V card (her words, not mine). She is determined to lose her virginity before graduation and decides that the best thing to do is to just get it over with - a one night stand. Bliss sets off with her best friend to a local college bar where she meets Garrick Taylor, a gorgeous guy with a British accent, and decides that he is the one. Bliss makes it back to her apartment with Garrick and just when they are about to have sex, she panics and leaves him naked in her bed. Bliss is determined to forget the whole awful experience until she walks into her theater class and meets her new professor - the man she left naked in her bed the night before. Garrick and Bliss are draw to each other, but their relationship is not without complications.

This is a sweet story and has all the elements of a good romance novel - a hot guy, forbidden love, a love triangle, etc. The only thing that was really lacking for me in this story was some more angst. There just wasn't enough drama, mystery, or angst to really make me pine for the characters. It is a good distraction read and at just over 200 pages it is the perfect book to read while wasting an afternoon. It gets 3 stars from me. 

Beautiful Disaster (Disaster #1) by Jamie McGuire

Abby Abernathy is a good girl, or at least she is trying to be. She has fled her hometown to attend Eastern University and escape her past. Travis Maddox is the epitome of a bad boy - covered in tattoos, earns money fighting in an underground fight club, and is notorious for his one night stands. When Abby meets Travis at one of his fights, she is instinctively drawn to him and Travis is intrigued by her outward disdain for him. The truth is that neither one can stay away from the other. When Abby loses a bet, she must live with Travis for one month. The more time the two of them spend together the more complicated and entwined their relationship becomes, bring them both to the point of destruction.

I liked this book, but I didn't love it. It is basically a twist on Beauty and the Beast. Abby is not as innocent as Belle is, but she is the antidote to Travis' beastly ways. She's no angel herself however. She often pushes Travis' buttons and tries to provoke a response from him, even though she knows he is a bomb waiting to explode. Travis is a much more complex character than Abby, and I was disappointed that we do not get to learn more about his back story, because it might explain why he is the way that he is. He is certainly not the perfect male lead. In fact he is really more of a cautionary tale. He is jealous, possessive, prone to violence, and borderline abusive. I found myself cringing sometimes when reading this book over the things Travis did, because they are simply not acceptable in a healthy relationship. He was not the dark angel for me, he is simply just dark. In the end, they do definitely deserve each other and I guess you can say that they save each other. I just not sure if either of them is a better person because of it.

Book two, Walking Disaster, is due to be published in April 2013 and is the same story told from Travis' point of view. I have to admit that I am intrigued by this and will most likely be picking the book up when it comes out. For me, Travis is the more interesting and complex character of the two and I am looking forward to reading the story through his eyes. 

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Nick and Amy Dunne live in a small town in North Carthage, Missouri. On the outside they appear to be the perfect couple, but appearances can be deceiving. When Amy goes missing, in what appears to be a violent way, on the couple's 5th wedding anniversary, the couple's not so perfect marriage is thrown into the spotlight and Nick finds himself the lead suspect in his wife's disappearance and possible murder. As the investigation into his wife's disappearance continues, more and more of Nick's indiscretions come to light, but is he really the killer? And is Amy really the perfect wife that her diary and the town paint her to be?

It took me a long time to get into this book. In fact I stopped several times in the middle of reading it to pick up other books. If I didn't have the OCD tendency of always finishing a book, no matter how horrible it is, I might not have finished it. The book doesn't really start to get good until about half way through. The beginning of the book is spent painting the husband, Nick, as this horrible person (which in many ways he is) and murderer. It is not until about the half way mark that the mystery surrounding Amy's disappearance final starts to unravel and we finally reach the much need plot twist that makes this book worth reading. It just takes way too long in my opinion to get there. The characters are horrible people and deserve everything that happened to them. Nick and Amy are almost a modern day Heathcliff and Catherine. They are both horrible, selfish, rotten people who really are meant for each other. They did not have a single redeeming quality in my opinion, which made it hard to feel for either one of them.

If you are into delayed gratification, pick this book up. I did like the structure of the book, which flashes between Nick and Amy's perspectives. It gets a two star rating from me because it was a little drawn out and because I have absolutely no love for either of the main characters.

Do Not Stand At My Grave and Weep by Mary Elizabeth Frye

It's been awhile since I have posted any poetry, but I came across this poem the other day and thought it was beautiful and deserved to be shared.

Do not stand at my grave and weep 

I am not there. I do not sleep. 

I am a thousand winds that blow. 

I am the diamond glints on snow. 

I am the sunlight on ripened grain. 

I am the gentle autumn rain. 

When you awaken in the morning's hush 

I am the swift uplifting rush 

Of quiet birds in circled flight. 

I am the soft stars that shine at night. 

Do not stand at my grave and cry; 

I am not there. I did not die.

Easy by Tammara Webber

Jacqueline's world has fallen apart. She followed her high school boyfriend to the college of his choice where he promptly dumped her in order to play the field. Now she finds herself at a school where she doesn't want to be, with a considerably smaller circle of friends, and failing a class for the first time in her life. She never thought she would be this girl.

Against her better judgement, Jacqueline's friend convinces her to attend a Halloween party at her ex-boyfriend's frat house. When Jacqueline decides to leave the party early she is physically assaulted by Buck, one of her ex's frat brothers. Before Buck can accomplish his ultimate goal, the attack is stopped by a passing stranger who saves Jacqueline and takes her home. Jacqueline wants nothing more than to put the incident behind her, but her strange savior begins appearing in unexpected places, like in the back row of her econ class. She finds herself drawn to this apparent bad boy named Lucas, with his startlingly ice blue eyes and tattoos. Her friends nominate Lucas as the perfect rebound guy, however the  more she gets to know Lucas the more Jacqueline realizes that he is hiding a world of secrets. As their love affair intensifies both find themselves struggling to trust the other with the total truth.

I really enjoyed this book and it was a really easy read, despite the fact that it deals with heavy subject matters - physical assault and rape. I liked the characters and I thought they were relatable. Lucas is a great male lead and will be up any girl's alley who enjoy a bad boy with a heart of gold. He's protective, mysterious, an artist and intelligent. Where do I get me one of those? The story was somewhat predictable, but there were a few surprises - mostly in terms of Lucas' real back story, which I won't reveal here so as not to spoil the book. I enjoyed the author's narrative and would recommend this for anyone who enjoys a good romance with an easy plot.

Hush, Hush Series by Becca Fitzpatrick

I loved, loved, loved this series and it is probably one that I will find myself going back to reread every now and again. I think if you are fans of series like Twilight, you will probably enjoy this series. You will have to substitute fallen angels for vampires and Nephilim for werewolves, but it's not a bad transition in my opinion. Patch is my new favorite fictional (sigh, why are all the good ones made up??) male lead. He is the bad boy that Edward Cullen always aspired to be, but was never quite able to live up to. Nora, unlike Bella, didn't make me want to punch her in the face every 5 minutes. She does have some serious issues with trust and jealousy, but as a female literary character she's not that bad. Vee is a great character and I have a feeling that she would be a lot of fun to hang out with. I'm sure I would have to have bail money ready, but hey, what's life without a little fun?

I was happy that the supposed love triangle between Nora, Patch and Scott never really took off. I don't think I could have made it through the books if I had to relive a New Moonish type storyline again. I was slightly disappointed with how the book ended. I feel like Finale dragged a little bit and I was hoping for more of an epic standoff between Nora and her Nephilim usurper, which never really happened. I feel like the last two books were building to this huge battle that seemed like it was over before it really got started. Some things in the story came together a little too easily in my opinion and I wasn't thrilled with the Epilogue of the last book. It just wasn't where I anticipated the story to go and while I didn't hate it, it is not how I would have liked the story to end. I can say that I feel like everyone, with a few exceptions, got what they deserved. Definitely a easy 4 star rating for me.

Spoilers begin....NOW!


Nora lives in Coldwater, Maine and appears to be your average teenager trying to get through the day. Since her father's murder, Nora feels that someone is watching her. Her life continues in the same patterns until she meets Patch, who is unlike anyone she has ever known. He is beautiful, mysterious, and dangerous, and Nora feels drawn to him. She cannot decide whether or not to trust him. He always seems to be where she is and knows more about her than even her best friend, Vee. As Nora finds herself being stalked by a dark figure, she cannot help but to suspect Patch. As she seeks the truth, it becomes clear that Patch is more than he appears. He is a Fallen Angel - doomed to wander the Earth forever - searching for a way to become human. The problem is, in order to become human he needs a sacrifice - Nora. Despite the danger, Nora can't stay away from Patch as they fall for each other. Loving Patch is not without consequences, and Nora soon finds herself in the middle of a battle between the immortal Nephilim and the Fallen Angels.

The story continues in Crescendo...Nora survives the attack on her life and Patch, having earned his wings back, is now Nora's guardian angel. The problem is angels are not supposed to fall in love with humans. Everything seems to be going well until Nora lets three little words slip...I love you. After that, Patch becomes increasingly distant and begins to spend a great deal of time with Nora's arch-enemy Marcie Millar. Nora, believing that Patch has betrayed her and that she is just another one of his female conquests, breaks things off with Patch, but their lives continue to intersect. When an old acquaintance, Scott Parnell, moves back into town Nora can't help but think that he's hiding something about his past. When she receives an anonymous note and ring saying that the Black Hand killed her father, Nora becomes determined to find out who the Black Hand is. When the signs start to point to Scott and then Patch, Nora doesn't know who to trust. Solving the mystery will take Nora into ever increasingly dangerous situations and will lead to a discovery about her past and family that she was not expecting.

In book 3, Silence, Nora wakes up to find herself in the cemetery at her father's grave. The problem is she has no idea why she is there or how she got there, and soon discovers that she has been missing for 3 months. To make matters worse, Nora can't remember anything that happened for the last 5 months, including meeting and falling in love with Patch. Nora experiences flashes of memories - the color black - and feelings that she is missing something, or someone, important. While she was missing, her mother has begun dating Hank Millar and although she doesn't understand why, Nora is deeply suspicious of Hank. When her path crosses with Patch's (now going by Jev), Nora finds herself once again drawn to Patch without understanding why. Patch doesn't want Nora to remember. He swore an oath to her father Hank - if he let her go and kept her out of the war brewing between Nephilim and the Fallen Angels, Patch would turn spy and report the Fallen Angels' plans back to Hank. He wants her safe, but he too is drawn to Nora. When Hank double crosses Patch, all deals are off and he and Nora being plotting his demise and seeking a way to disband the Nephilim army he has been creating. After learning of a prophecy telling of his approaching death, Hank has no intention of keeping Nora on the sidelines and embarks on a plan to make her his true heir and future leader of the Nephilim army. A decision that will have dire consequences for all involved.    


Nora and Patch's story concludes in Finale. Nora is now Nephilim and leader of her father's army. She finds herself riding a precarious line as she attempts to fulfill her blood oath to her father and her promise to the archangels. Nora wants to lead her race to freedom, but doing so will result in the destruction of the fallen angels, including Patch. Nora knows she cannot live without Patch, but when the Nephilim are reluctant to accept Nora as Hank's heir, she and Patch are forced to stage a public break up and see each other only in secret. Nora throws herself into finding a solution that will allow her to free her people while still remaining with Patch. Nora soon discovers that there are powers and forces that she never imagined could exist. When she finds herself drawn to a new and addictive power she finds herself poised to lose everything that is important to her. The series concludes with an epic battle between Nephilim and the Angels. Betrayals abound. Only one race can win and both sides will suffer loses. But after all is said and done, will Nora and Patch survive together?