Book #25 of 2012...

Miss Peregine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

From Goodreads.com:

A mysterious island.An abandoned orphanage.A strange collection of very curious photographs.

It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

My take:

5 out of 5 stars. I had read this wasn't a good book, that the story line was lacking and the only good thing was the pictures. But I didn't find this to be the case. I liked the character of Jacob very much and found the story to be very engaging. My only question is, is there going to be a second book? I haven't found anything that says there is going to be a second book but the end of this one sure seems to indicate that there is going to be one. I would read this one again.

Book #24 of 2012...

The Red Rooster by Micheal Wallace

From Goodreads.com:

Of all the desperate women in German-occupied Paris, Gabriela Reyes is the least likely to scratch out her survival as a whore for a Gestapo agent. After fascists murdered her mother and brother and tortured her father in an insane asylum, she hates the Germans as much as she fears them. But when she discovers the man responsible for destroying her family, she decides to become his mistress to try to free her father and avenge her family.

Helmut von Cratz is a war profiteer using his wealth to undermine the Third Reich and is one meeting with an American agent away from ending the German occupation of France.

But Gabriela's sudden appearance as Colonel Hoekman's mistress jeopardizes Helmut's careful plans. Now he must decide: will he abandon his plans, or will he sacrifice yet another woman to the German war machine.

My take:

5 out of 5 stars. I really enjoyed this book. It was interesting reading about what life may have been like for a single woman behind the German lines in France during World War II. It was a good story line and it really made me think about what I would be willing to do in the same situation.

Book #23 of 2012...

Obernewtyn by Isobelle Carmody

From Goodreads.com:

After the nuclear holocaust of the Great White, the surviving humans condemn all Misfits (mutants) to either death by fire or exile to Obernewtyn, a remote mountain institution where mysterious experiments are performed on some exiles. Elspeth Gordie is a Misfit, struggling to hide her mutant mental abilities and earn a Normalcy Certificate. But when her secret is betrayed, she is sent to Obernewtyn, from which no one has ever escaped. At Obernewtyn she finds not only dreadful experiments, but ambitious overlords who seek to use the Misfits' paranormal powers to recover the devastating secrets of nuclear war.

My take:

4 out of 5 stars. Decent story but I'm not sure that I'll read the next one.

Book #22 of 2012

Hollowland by Amanda Hocking

From Goodreads.com:

"This is the way the world ends - not with a bang or a whimper, but with zombies breaking down the back door." Nineteen-year-old Remy King is on a mission to get across the wasteland left of America, and nothing will stand in her way - not violent marauders, a spoiled rock star, or an army of flesh-eating zombies.

My take:

5 out of 5 stars...this is THE BEST post apocalyptic/zombie book I've read this year. Loved it, loved it, loved it. Can't wait to read the second one. This not a long book but the characters are good, the plot is good. Keeping this one to read again.

Book #21 of 2012...

Strange Places by Rob Heinze

From Goodreads.com:

After Seth dies at a place called Widow's Peak, Tracy Mitchell takes a reporter's job at a magazine called Strange Places. The job description is simple: visit so-called "strange places" in New Jersey and write about what you find. Tracy has another motive for taking the job, and that is to understand how Seth, her best friend's brother, had been killed by a lightning strike on a clear day at a strange place called Widow’s Peak. And to understand this will allow her to process her friend’s subsequent death.

What Tracy discovers is a terrible evil linked to all the strange places...an evil that does not want to be discovered.

My take:

5 out of 5 stars on this one. This was another Amazon freebie I picked up on a whim but it was really good. Scary and a good mystery. This was not a book that I figured out the ending before I got there. Interesting character development and just all around good story telling.