The Twilight Before Christmas (Christine Feehan)

The Twilight Before Christmas was another novel recommended by a friend.  It's the second book in the Drake Sister series by Christine Feehan.  I read the first book, Magic in the Wind, this past summer and didn't mind it, so I thought I would give this one a try as well. (I'm a little late in posting this since I finished it in December 2012, but better late than never!)

For those who don't know, this Drake Sister series is about seven sisters who have special witchcraft powers - one sister may be able to help heal someone who is ill and another can use her abilities to calm someone down.  The Twilight Before Christmas is focused on the love story of Kate Drake and Matt.  He has always had a thing for her and she has always thought that they were two people who were too different to be together.  As they are trying to figure out these differences between them, they unlock a 'cloud' with some evil behind it.  This 'spirit' is out to ruin Christmas for the community and the Drake sisters need to figure out what is going on and how they can use their powers for good and stop it.

It took me a lot longer to get through this book than it did to get through the first one in the series.  I was reading it on my eReader and, again, mostly during lunch breaks.  I wasn't as interested in the relationships being formed between Kate and Matt or in the story behind the "magic" in this book. 

It wasn't necessary to have read the first book in the series to understand what was happening in the second.  The same characters are involved, so the knowledge from book one can help you with the relationships between the characters, but the storyline is independent of the first book.

I remember being told that "The first book is ok.  It gets a lot better the more books you read in the series!"  I may put these back on the shelf for a bit and try the third book eventually, once I have read a few books that are on my "to-read" list! 

Would I recommend it?  Well... I liked the first book better than this one.  If you're looking for a very easy to read love story, try the first novel in the series before reading this one.  The overall writing reminds me of a slightly more adult version of Twilight.  You can make the call once you see her writing style and meet the chracters. 

"My imagination provides a wonderful adventure without the risk or the discomfort." (Christine Feehan, The Twilight Before Christmas)

Magic in the Air (Christine Feehan)

This book came recommended by a friend.  It's the first book in the seven book Drake Sisters series.  (I would also like to add that this is the first book that I have read in its entirety on my Kindle eReader!)  You can order a paperback version of this book online, but the eReader versions are only about $3 per book.

Magic in the Wind by Christine Feehan takes place in Sea Haven, a small town where seven sisters (the Drake Sisters) live.  In this book, though, not all of the sisters make an appearance.  There is something a little bit magical about these sisters... They seem to be able to help people out in different ways.  The main sister in this book, Sarah, has a good ability at convincing people that they should do something - like go visit a cardiologist or hire someone to do the roofing - because she seems to be able to tell when things may go wrong for people.  Damon Wilder is new in town and all he knows about the sisters is what he has heard through town gossip.  Though he thought that moving to the small town would be a good way to escape his old life, some men have tracked down his whereabouts.

The book was decent.  I didn't know very much about the book at all when I read it - I simply trusted my friend and started to read.  When I was talking to her about it, she did say that the first book was a bit slow but then the rest of the series really got exciting.  I would agree that this book, Magic in the Wind, was slow, but I do think that they did a decent job of setting up the characters for the rest of the series.  You started to really see the relationships between characters and see how things could get more intense and exciting in future books.

I was trying to figure out what the genre or target audience of the book would be... I would say Young Adult-ish... But not in the "I-like-Twilight" YA category.  More in the "I'm-over-twenty-years-old" type of YA series.  It has the love story in this book, but also a bit more than just the love story. 

It was by no means a challenging read.  It was easy to follow and a fast read. I'm looking forward to reading the next book, but unfortunately I am going to hold off for a week or two before reading book number two...  Only because I'm going on holidays (and possibly spending a day at the pool) before schools starts up again next week (yay for teaching!) and don't want anything to happen to my nice Kindle eReader!

The Night Circus (Erin Morgenstern)

I'd heard about The Night Circus from a few different sources.  It made numerous "Top 2011 Picks" lists last year and I also really take to heart recommendations from friends.

It took me way longer to read The Night Circus than it should have.  I found when I picked it up and started reading, I couldn't put it down... Yet for some reason, I had put it on hold for a bit there. 

Here is my list of excuses:

• I have been supply teaching more than I was in January, so that has left me with fewer days to lounge around and read.
• I've been preparing for my 'future.'
•  I may have watched all of Season 4 of "Chuck" and Season 2 of "Modern Family".  (Ok, I definitely did.)
• "The Bachelor" has recently started back up again, so that takes up 2 hours of my week, every week.
• Other shows have now picked up again after a short Christmas break - such as Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, Glee, The Biggest Loser, The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, and I could go on...

Basically, there has been more TV watching in my free time recently than there has been reading.  This all changed when I went, "Wait!  I borrowed The Night Circus from the library and it's due in 2 days?! Gotta get on it!" 

I really enjoyed The Night Circus by Erin Morgernstern.  The circus arrives in any given town on any given day.  This circus runs only at night and is black-and-white themed.  This isn't just any circus.  Here, two magicians (Marco and Celia) are in a dual and neither one of them is aware that there is to be only one winner (survivor) at the end of it.  When they fall in love (and find out the reality of their situation), they must play out the dual. 

When I first read what the book was about, I immediately thought, "Like The Hunger Games?  It's a fight to the death?"  However, this book is very much not like that, so if that's what you're expecting you won't see it.

Morgenstern uses such good descriptions that you can imagine being there and being part of the experiences.  It was wordy, but not in an annoying way, because you really get kind of mesmerized in the words (and their magic).

The book moves between different times and places, so my suggestion to those who are going to pick up this book (which I would highly recommend) is to make special note of the date and place of each chapter.  You start to make some great connections between characters as you're reading the book. 

I loved it and I would recommend it to anyone (again, if you're down with the whole magic thing, because I know that this isn't everyone's style).  It's a love story mixed with the magic of an entirely different world than we're used to. 

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Ransom Riggs)

I bought this book with a gift card I received for Christmas.  Basically, I was at Chapter's and wanted to take advantage of the 30% off hardcover boxing day sale.  I searched on their computers for top 2011 picks and Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs showed up under Top Teen Books.  (And once again, I did judge the book by the cover... Doesn't that picture make you want to read it?)

The story is centered around Jacob, a sixteen-year-old boy who used to believe everything his grandfather told him (because who doesn't believe these fairy tales as a young child?).  Jacob's grandfather, Abe, then whispers his final words to Jacob, filled with weird ideas and confusing information.  When his terrifying nightmares start, Jacob journeys to an island near Wales to find some answers.  If nothing else, Jacob's family hopes that this journey will help him distinguish between fantasy and reality.  Once there, he finds "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" and begins to believe that these children, who were in fact "peculiar," may still be alive. 

Sounds a little weird, right?  The first hundred pages seemed like they could be very real - no talk of magic - everything seems to be based on Jacob's imagination.  Later in the book, though, there is some "magic" (if you want to call it that!)  There is some time travel - that is, Jacob, who has found the home for peculiar children and knows that something is up, finally finds the entrance to their loop, which is a different world and relives September 3, 1940, over and over again. 

Now what do I mean when I say the children are peculiar?  Well, one of the boys is invisible, one girl has super human strength, another girl can light a flame ball in her hand, and another boy releases bees from his body every time he opens his mouth.  Sounds weird, but it actually makes a lot of sense in the story.

This story mixes real photography from old collections with a new fiction story. I really loved how these very strange photographs were used to tell a creative story.  Just looking at the pictures is cool enough, and then reading the story that "goes along with them" lets you use your imagination and really get into the plot. 

The storyline really kept me interested, especially near the middle and end of the book, where there is a lot more adventure than there is at the beginning.  Without too much of a spoiler... while the book could be a standalone book, I feel like there could possibly be a second one on the way, with the story left kind of wide open at the end. 

I liked this book.  It was good and kept my interest.  You need some imagination to read it - don't expect it to be like a true story based on the photographs.  It's worth reading just to see how well Ransom Riggs connects the photographs.  It was a great first novel by Ransom Riggs and I would definitely read another.