false 3 221 204 true 5746357 read 4 true 5374931 currently-reading 13 true 5374919 to-read 3 false 5388834 my-favorite-books <![CDATA[AnnJoMarie is on page 89 of Silvertongue ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/62344840 AnnJoMarie is on page 89 of 352 of Silvertongue ]]> <![CDATA[AnnJoMarie added 'Fool Moon']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/62341795 Fool Moon (The Dresden Files, #2) by Jim Butcher
bookshelves: currently-reading
]]> <![CDATA[AnnJoMarie added 'Silvertongue']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/62344840 Silvertongue (Stoneheart Trilogy, #3) by Charlie Fletcher
bookshelves: currently-reading
]]> <![CDATA[AnnJoMarie added 'The Time Traveler's Wife']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/62085242 to: The Time Traveler's Wife (Paperback) by Audrey Niffenegger
First, this goes in my top 20, maybe even top 10 list.

Second, it is definitely an adult book for a reason. You have been warned.

However, everything in it, PG or R or whatever, serves a purpose, and is not just in there for the sake of being explicit. It reads like a honest, candid account of two people's experiences in life, and whatever it is that happens to be going on at the time is reported.

I guess what I'm saying is, if you are an adult, read it. Because the experience of reading this book is so worth it.

Truly an amazing story: stock up on the Kleenex. So good that I stopped the audio-book I'd gotten from the library two chapters in, and went out and bought the book--full price!--so I could have the pleasure of reading it myself. Not that the audio-book wasn't excellently done, it was.

My Rating: not quite R (explicit language, adult situations) ]]> <![CDATA[AnnJoMarie added 'The Graveyard Book']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/67897591 to: The Graveyard Book (Hardcover) by Neil Gaiman
This was a very charming story. I loved every second. Again, I listened to this one on audio-book (the narration is perfectly read by the author). This comes across as an old-fashioned read: each chapter recounts a separate adventure more than it advances the plot, almost like a serial in a newspaper or magazine. But Gaiman, in his genius, ties it all masterfully together in the end, and you will never once be bored and will be continually delighted on the journey there.

My Rating: G ]]> <![CDATA[AnnJoMarie added 'The Hunger Games']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/62339214 to: The Hunger Games (Hunger Games, #1) by Suzanne Collins
I just finished listening to this one on audio-book, and it is a new favorite. While I did enjoy Suzanne Collins "Gregor" books, they were a little too fantastical for me. But I recognized her to be an amazingly talented storyteller, right up there with Dianna Wynne Jones and J.K. Rowling, so I snatched up "The Hunger Games" the minute I saw it.

It was everything I hoped, and more. Suzanne Collins has taken a somewhat tired setting, post-WWIIIish type world, and given it new life. Among what is stellar about this book: characterization, plot, description... I could go on. In fact, to be continued...

...OK. I'm back. One of my favorite things about this book is that it continued to surprise me. For example, when you've read a lot of books, you can usually choose within chapters which guy is going to be the one she ends up with. Not this one. Minor Spoiler: Book ends, and you STILL don't know.

The plot was also full of surprises. Usually you can tell when someone's about to "snuff it", but the death of one secondary character took me completely unawares. Most of the time, when an author pulls this, it turns the audience against them because they've invested in the character and now they're gone. But here, it brings home the danger and terror of their situation, and also forwards the plot in an ingenious way.

Oh, just read it already!

My Rating: PG-13 (violence & mild candor) ]]> <![CDATA[AnnJoMarie added 'American Gods']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/67897376 to: American Gods (Paperback) by Neil Gaiman
Don't bother. Waaay too "adult". You have been warned. I'll stick to his tamer books. Wish books came with a rating system. This one would be a sickening, distubing "R". I didn't finish it. ]]> <![CDATA[AnnJoMarie added 'Catching Fire']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/67899323 Catching Fire (Hunger Games, #2) by Suzanne Collins
bookshelves: to-read
]]> <![CDATA[AnnJoMarie added 'Stardust']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/67897559 to: Stardust (Paperback) by Neil Gaiman
]]> <![CDATA[AnnJoMarie added 'Neverwhere: A Novel']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/67897388 Neverwhere: A Novel (Paperback) by Neil Gaiman
bookshelves: currently-reading
listening on audio book ]]>