Magic Slays

Magic Slays
Ilona Andrews
New York: Ace Books, 2011
384 pages

Magic Slays continues the adventures of Kate Daniels in dystopian Atlanta. The pendulum has swung, and magic is returning to the world, slowly destroying human technology.

Now consort to the Beast Lord, head of the shape shifters in Atlanta, Kate finds herself minus the resources of her former employer, and knee deep in serious trouble. An anti-magic faction has got their hands on a weapon that will destroy magic - and anyone capable of using it. Time is running out and everyone Kate loves is in terrible danger.

This series is true Urban Fantasy - our world mixed with elements of magic. Magic Slays is book five in the series. Interested parties should start with Magic Bites.

Book Count: 11 down, 189 to go!

Wonderstruck

Wonderstruck
Brian Selznick
Toronto: Scholastic Press, 2011
640 pages

Do not read this book unless you have the time to read it in one sitting. Trust me, you will not be able to put it down! Reading a book by Selznick is an entirely new experience - and a fantastic one at that! Told half in gorgeous illustrations, and half in written form, both Wonderstruck and Selznick's award winning The Invention of Hugo Cabret are and incredible paring of picture and word.

The two stories in Wonderstruck are set 50 years apart. Rose's story in picture and Ben's in words weave in and out of each other with startling coincidences and parallels, and rise to a wonderful blending at the end of the story. I think I enjoyed Wonderstruck more than Hugo Cabret as the imagery suited the over-arching topic of deafness.

Truly a wonder, these children's books should be experienced by all.

Book Count: 10 read, 190 to go!

Rage

Rage
Jackie Morse Kessler
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011
228 pages

Kessler's Four Horsemen novels are not necessarily easy reads. They take real teen issues such as eating disorders and self-mutilation, rip them open and lay them out bare for the reader to see. Trust me, it's not pretty. Rage is the second of these novels and deals with self-mutilation, specifically cutting. Missy is a typical teenager but with one difference - she cuts to relieve herself of the pain and humiliation she experiences in her life. One day, after a particularly horrifying experience, she cuts a little too deep and accepts Death's offer to become War, one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Through her experiences as War, Missy learns about control and acceptance of who she is.

Interested readers should start with the first book in the series Hunger as there are some references in Rage to the previous book. Don't expect a picture perfect ending to these novels - life doesn't work like that.

Book Count: 9 read, 191 to go!

Tempestuous

Tempestuous
Lesley Livingston
New York: HarperTeen, 2011
368 pgs

Kelly is in big trouble. She's broken up with her boyfriend to keep him safe, been stripped of her winter powers by her father Auberon, and is not getting along with her mother, Mabh. She may be a fairy princess, but Otherworld is falling apart and taking earth with it.
Sonny's not doing so hot either. He's not sure why Kelley's left him, his friends on the Janus guard have defected, and his liege, Auberon is dying.

The third and final volume in Canadian author Lesley Livingston's series which began with Wondrous Strange is non-stop chaos to the final page. Secrets are revealed, sides are changed, and only Kelley and Sonny stand a chance of saving both worlds.

Rife with characters straight out of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, anyone who enjoys the books by Melissa Marr, and Aprilynne Pike will love this trilogy.

Book Count: 8 read, 192 to go!

Divergent

Divergent
Veronica Roth
New York: Katherine Tegen, 2011
496 pgs

Reader be warned: If you are approaching the middle of the book, stop reading unless you have time to finish it. Trust me.

Teens hot off The Hunger Games trilogy will love this novel by Veronica Roth, although I found it more similar in tone to the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld. Divergent is the first novel in a series and it is intelligent and action packed.

Triss lives in a city where people are divided into factions to better regulate their lives. Brought up in Abnegation, her test scores indicate that she could belong to more than one faction. She is divergent. Told to hide this fact from everyone, Triss chooses to leave Abnegation and her family and join Dauntless, the fearless faction.

Put through a rigorous initiation, Triss finds herself the target of other trainees and finds it more and more difficult to hide who she is from the others. Surviving her training soon becomes the least of her worries as she discovers a plot against her old faction, and her divergent ability may be the only thing that can save them all.

Book Count: 7 read, 193 to go!

The Holmes Inspection

The Holmes Inspection
Mike Holmes
Toronto: Harper Collins, 2008
224 pg

This book is like a security blanket. You know, the one you had to have every night before going to bed? Except you need this book every time you are going through the process of buying or selling a home.

If you're like me, you watch Mike Holmes on TV and are then thoroughly terrified that you are going to buy a piece of crap house and/or hire a terrible contractor, and not be able do afford to do anything about it. Since we just bought a house this week, I have vividly entertained these horror stories in my brain. The book helps. The book guides. It's like having Mike standing behind you with his arms crossed lecturing on minimum code.

The book is divided into sections of the house and outlines the good, the bad and the ugly. Things to watch out for, things to expect, and things that everyone should know about their own home. My favourite part is the checklist for each house feature (roof, basement, kitchen, etc.) to make sure your home inspector has looked at everything closely.

Hopefully I didn't miss anything and our house will be fabulous. Thanks, Mike!