Wishing for Wicked my Sara Shepard

Okay, I may be a dork (call it what you want), but I'm thrilled to death about the November 25 release of Wicked by Sara Shepard. This will be a wonderful birthday gift seeing as how my birthday is three days later.

If you haven't read the series yet, I suggest that you read it--IMMEDIATELY! I promise you, if you are a fan of teen fiction, then you will not be disappointed. I compare these novels to the Desperate Housewives sitcom just because there is so much...juice, dirt, gusto! You'll be finding yourself up at two in the morning continually turning the pages wanting to know what happens next.
I promise you all that I will have a review of this book posted as soon as it reaches my little hands. Until then, I shall be counting down the days until it's here.

Long, Lean, and Lethal by Heather Graham

I bought this novel along with several others at a garage sale during the read-a-thon, and didn't really think it would be my kind of read. I frequently buy books with hopes that they will be a nice change of pace for me, and if they aren't then I can bookcross them. This one was pretty enjoyable, and it was definitely a quick read (this one was read in about 2 days).

Heather Graham is new to me and while she may be a bestseller, I had never really heard of her. Just by judging the cover I thought this one was going to be a cheesy romance novel (the hot pink cover with a man on it kind of got me), but it just reiterated the fact that you can't judge a book by its cover. Far from a cheesy romance, this novel was a who-did-it thriller that held my attention to the last page.

Jennifer Connolly, a soap opera actress, has much to fear. Her mother has received notes from an anonymous person threatening to kill her daughter. Two other Hollywood actresses are murdered and it's suspected that the killer could be someone close to her. Conar, her stepbrother and love interest in the book, has promised Jennifer's mother that he will protect her, but he can only do so much. Jennifer even has suspicion that Conar may be the killer, but out of all her acquaintances, who is it really?

I'm not a huge fan of mystery/thrillers, and I don't read a lot of them so for me to enjoy this book is saying a lot. I'm not sure if it is because I'm craving easy reads lately, or just because this novel was actually pretty good. Read it and find out for yourself. I will warn you though, it is a good book but with a cheesy ending. I found myself rolling my eyes at the end, and I'm sure you will too. Don't let that discourage you from reading though. Most books of this kind end in the exact same way, whether we like it or not.

Long semi-bookish weekend.

This weekend probably shouldn't be called the "bookish weekend" but really the "I'm too tired to read so I'll just collect more books weekend." Friday, the boyfriend and I went to Nashville to see The Crystal Method. I took my current read, Long, Lean, and Lethal by Heather Graham, hoping I could get some reading done on the trip there, but that just didn't seem to happen. Both of us were too anxious and excited to get there.

After a three hour trip home on 3 hours of sleep, we were both extremely ready to be home. Low-a-behold when I pull into the driveway, there is a bookcrossing bookbox waiting for me on the porch. Even though I was pretty much having to hold my eyelids open, I tore open the box and looked through. These are the books I've decided to keep.

The Lost by Jack Ketchum
Silent Night 2 by R.L. Stine
Dust to Dust by Tami Hoag
Anatomy of Fear by Jonathan Santlofer
One for the Money by Janet Evanovich

There is no method to my book picking madness. If it looks interesting in anyway, then I take it. If my interest is piqued in anyway then I might as well give it a try. I'll just end up bookcrossing it if I don't enjoy it. I'm also thinking of doing a few giveaways on Book and Cranny so make sure you check back for those.

So now, that my long weekend is nearing it's end, I will pick the book back up and continue to update.

The Westing Game

This is another book I chose to read during the read-a-thon. Anyone that really knows me will know that I don't really read too much children's literature (besides Harry Potter, of course), but I picked this one up because I wanted a change of pace. I received just that. This book was such a fun read and reminded me of my childhood days, as this is just the kind of book I would have read when I was young. Actually, I'm quite surprised I never read this one as a child.

In this book, a millionaire Paper company owner, Mr. Westing, dies and his Sixteen heirs have to play a game invented by him. The game, which is layed out in his will, instructs the heirs that they must figure out who his murder is by the clues he left behind. What they soon find out is that the murder is one of the sixteen heirs, but who is it?

It was so much fun reading this and trying to figure out the murder along with the other characters. Maybe I'm slow, but I only realized who it was right before everyone else did. I did have lots of fun reading this and realized why this book was awarded the Newberry prize. Ellen Raskin has a knack for keeping the reader involved in the story. There were times when I was kind of reminded of the game Clue which was a favorite game of mine growing up (along with Guess Who?). I had lots of fun reading this one, and it made me realize that it's actually fun to read children's books occassionally. Apparently, I'm not the only one that enjoyed this one...

As Gene Shalit from The Today Show said about this novel, 'The Westing Game is wonderful-part mystery story, part play-along game, part do-it-yourself puzzle."

Booklist said, "A supersharp mystery...Confoundingly clever, and very funny."

Buy this one for your children or if, like me, you are wanting to morph into your childhood self for a while. Pick this one up and don't be embarrassed about it. As I found out, it's nice to feel like a child again.

The Other Woman by Jane Green

During the 24 Hour Read-A-Thon I had the opportunity to finish reading The Other Woman by Jane Green. I've read a few others of hers in the past and have really enjoyed them (although I must say that Jemima J was my favorite).

This book follows Ellie through her engagement and first two years of marriage. Her mother has died when she was younger and has never really know the love of a mother. When she becomes engaged to Dan, his mother, Linda, feels the need to try everything she can to make Ellie feel like part of the family-part of a family.

Ellie immediately finds Linda overbearing and intrusive. In a way, I kind of agree with Ellie. There are times when I find Linda to be absolutely unbearable and find myself feeling sorry for poor Ellie. During the course of the novel, things start to unravel in her life and you're soon finding Ellie fighting for every realtionship in her life, including the one with her mother-in-law.

I enjoyed this novel mostly because it kept my attention during the 24 hour reading binge, but also because Jane Green realistically portrays marriage and the hardest realtionship of all, the daughter and mother-in-law relationship. Jane Green has a great talent of keeping her novels fun, light, easy reads while at the same time taking on serious issues.

I recommend this book for anyone that has in-laws that they love but just can't quite connect with. It will really shine some light on it all for you.

Hour 22 and I'm done.

I read over 500 pages and stayed up 22 hours. I'm exhaused and completely non-functional right now. I'm sure I'll wake up after a nice sleep and just gasp at all my typing errors and absurd sentences.

I want to thank every person that took time to come visit me here and send me good luck messages. Your encouragement kept me going for as long as I did. I don't think I could have lasted this long without you guys. Thanks again!

I'm not off to brush my teeth and cuddle up in the bed.

Read-A-Thon: Hour 21

Title of book(s) read since last update: The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
Number of books read since you started: I'm on book 3
Pages read since last update: 11
Running total of pages read since you started: 509
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 27 min
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 12 hrs 11 min
Mini-challenges completed: 10
Other participants you’ve visited: Checked in at Dewey's page and left a comment in hopes that I will win a box of books. I also left a few comments on other readers blogs (the ones still awake) encouraging them to stay awake.
Prize you’ve won: None

I'm really about to fall asleep in my book. There are a few moment here and there that I can think clearly for a few minutes. At these times I think I may just be able to make it. However, I'm going to try my hardest to get through hour 22.