Book Review: I'd tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter

The Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Girls is seen by the locals as a place for the rich and spoiled but they could not be more wrong. The school is really a training school for spies. Yes, spies. The girls have classes on Covert Operations, Culture and Assimilation, etc. They are dangerous, smart and highly qualified to join the CIA once done with school.

Cameron, the headmistresses daughter, meets one of the local boys during a training mission in town and begins a secret relationship with him. It takes all her knowledge and skills that she has learned to keep her true identity a secret.

I was rather surprised to find that I really enjoyed this book. I haven't had the best of luck with my YA book choices lately for some reason, but this book was just what I needed. Smart, interesting girls, fun and mysterious setting, boy troubles. It was perfect.

I did notice some eerie similarities to a certain other book series set at a specialized and secret school for training young wizards, but the differences kept it interesting.

4/5

Source: purchased







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Book Review- Ice Cold by Tess Gerritsen

I am a big fan of Tess Gerritsen's books. I read the first book back in the 90's while in college and have been reading each book as they come out. This most recent book in her Maura Isles and Jane Rizzoli series, is Ice Cold, which comes out on June 29th. I was very excited to receive it through the Early Readers Program at LibraryThing.
Well, I have to say I was a bit disappointed as I got started. The characters we are introduced to were just plain annoying. They are meant to be, as it turns out, even to Maura, but my goodness. I was ready to stop reading because it just seemed so different from her previous books.  About midway through, though, circumstances change and the story moves on. Once the story starts following Rizzoli and the search for Dr. Isles, I got much more interested and the story picked up. 
Despite redeeming itself in the end, this was definitely not my favorite of Gerritsen's books. Not going to give up, though. Still really love reading about Rizzoli and Isles. Sorry there isn't much in plot summary here, wouldn't want to give anything away. Instead, here's the product description the publisher: 

In Wyoming for a medical conference, Boston medical examiner Maura Isles joins a group of friends on a spur-of-the-moment ski trip. But when their SUV stalls on a snow-choked mountain road, they’re stranded with no help in sight.

As night falls, the group seeks refuge from the blizzard in the remote village of Kingdom Come, where twelve eerily identical houses stand dark and abandoned. Something terrible has happened in Kingdom Come: Meals sit untouched on tables, cars are still parked in garages. The town’s previous residents seem to have vanished into thin air, but footprints in the snow betray the presence of someone who still lurks in the cold darkness—someone who is watching Maura and her friends.

Days later, Boston homicide detective Jane Rizzoli receives the grim news that Maura’s charred body has been found in a mountain ravine. Shocked and grieving, Jane is determined to learn what happened to her friend. The investigation plunges Jane into the twisted history of Kingdom Come, where a gruesome discovery lies buried beneath the snow. As horrifying revelations come to light, Jane closes in on an enemy both powerful and merciless—and the chilling truth about Maura’s fate.

3/5
Source: Library Thing's Early Reviewers Program

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New Books in the House

A couple days late but I have a couple new books in the house. One came through Library Thing's Early Reviewer program. I received an ARC of Tess Gerritsen's newest book, Ice Cold, that comes available on June 29th. The second book was a gift at my baby shower this Saturday. What to Expect the First Year. Hopefully its as helpful as I am hoping it will be. 
     


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Word Verification

Ugh. Way too many Anonymous spam comments being left lately. Time to go back to word verification. Sorry. I know its annoying but it is even more annoying going through all my posts looking for the spam to delete.
More reviews to come soon. Comments are lovely. So I hope any readers I lost in my absence find their way back.
Happy Hump Day.
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Little 16 socks

Little 16 socks
Originally uploaded by my_weezy

My first baby knit for the little one. These are adorable. Love them. Photo isn't very good. Took it with the iPhone due to my camera's battery being dead. Anyway, very cute and ready to make some more.

Pattern: "Little 16" Newborn Socks by Stitch-n-Stitch
Yarn: Schachenmayr nomotta Regia Uni / Solid 4-ply / 4-fädig
Needles: US 1

Book Review- Fourth Comings by Megan McCafferty

Fourth Comings is Jessica's words in journals meant for Marcus to read after he returns from orientation. He has just enrolled in Princeton having only recently returned from his years away and dealing with his dad's illness. Jessica is contemplating her future with him, her future as a writer, her future in general.

I have completely lost interest in this series. Don't really like Marcus much anymore and I can't summon up any sympathy for Jessica's predicament in this installment. First two books were great and the third was okay but this one just disappointed. It took me more than two weeks to trudge through. Not sure if I will be reading the final book after reading and not enjoying this one.

Those of you who have read the fifth book, should I read it?

2/5

Source: purchased



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Book Review- Birth Day by Mark Sloan, MD

I am absolutely loving this book. Not even finished yet, but had to review already. 
One of my best friend's mom sent it to me when she learned I was pregnant. It is written by  a former student of hers. It is an in depth look at delivery and babies. It tells the history of birthing, and goes through the science in a very understandable way. 
If you aren't much into science and knowing the gory details (not that they are that gory) of natural and cesarean births this may not be the book for you. Also, if you don't want to read about difficult or emergency deliveries, you shouldn't pick it up either. The book is all very positive, however, with lots of happy moms and babies. 
I am finding it all very interesting. Of course, I am a bit of a biology nerd. The anatomical changes that must happen within a fetus for them to live outside the womb fascinates me. Also, the changes that have occurred to women during our evolution that has changed the way we have babies is also very interesting. Did you know that apes have easier births than we do all because they are not bipedal? 
You should definitely pick this one up if you are expecting, or know someone who is. Hopefully you will enjoy it as much as I am.
5/5
Source: gift

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Book Review- Trackers by Patrick Carman

Trackers is the new book by Patrick Carman that combines web videos with the book for a multi-media experience that kids will love.  Carman's Skeleton Creek series was the first at blending the two mediums and proved to be very entertaining. This is another great addition to the genre.
Trackers is basically a techno-thriller for kids, told through transcripts of an interrogation of Adam, the creator of this group of teenage trackers, mixed with links to websites and videos. Looking to help others, and to have fun doing it, the group don't realize how much danger they are in for  when they get involved in something they shouldn't.
The book did seem to end very abruptly right in the middle of the action. Hoping the next book in the series isn't released to long after this one.
Trackers will be released on May 11, 2010 in hardcover. 
4/5
Source: ARC from author/publisher
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Baby Knitting

I have started some baby knitting. Just a wee pair of socks but I have a lot of other knits that I want to get done for our little girl before she arrives.  I would love to have a hat knit and ready for her for her birth day.  The socks are looking a little too big for her to use right away. Of course, she could have feet like her daddy. He wears size 14 shoes compared to my size 6.5. I am hoping her feet are a little more like mine. Easier to find shoes. :)

So, are there any really cute baby patterns that I just have to knit? I would love to knit a really great blanket. Ideas?

Sunday Salon (April Recap)

I can't believe it is already May. Where did April go? The months are flying by. Getting closer to the day we move back to CA, closer to the day when our little girl will make her appearance. Big changes happening here and they have definitely affected my reading and reviewing.

The end of the school year is fast approaching and there is so much to get done, including figuring out what materials are mine and which will remain with the school. Not quite sure on a lot of things. Nine years of teaching with the same materials will do that. It is still hard to imagine not coming back to work next fall. This is my last class!
April was a slow month for reading. Here is what I managed:

23. Spellmans Strike Again by Lisa Lutz (review)22. Revenge of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz (review)21. Luxe by Anna Godberson 20. Trackers by Patrick Carman
19. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
18. Hunted by P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast
These were all finished early on in the month. For the past two weeks I have been stuck on one book. I will let you know more about that one as soon as I finish. It's not a big book either.
Do look for my review of Patrick Carman's new book, Trackers on Wednesday. 
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