Frostbite by Richelle Mead

Frostbite (Vampire Academy, bk 2)
by Richelle Mead

YA Paranormal
336 pages, softcover
Target Reader: 14-16 (see Content Rating below)

Razorbill/Penguin
978-1595141750
Release Date: April 10, 2008



From the publisher:

Rose Hathaway's got serious guy trouble. Her gorgeous tutor Dimitri has his eye on someone else, her friend Mason has a huge crush on her, and she keeps getting stuck in her best friend Lissa's head while she's making out with her boyfriend, Christian. (So not cool).

Then a massive Strigoi attack puts St. Vladimir's on high alert, and the Academy crawls with Guardians—including the legendary Janine Hathaway...Rose's formidable, long-absent mother. The Strigoi are closing in, and the Academy's not taking any risks. This year, St. Vlad's annual holiday ski trip is mandatory.

But the glittering winter landscape and the posh Idaho resort only provide the illusion of safety. When three students run away to strike back against the deadly Strigoi, Rose must join forces with Christian to rescue them. Only this time, Rose—and her heart—are in more danger than she ever could have imagined...

Read Chapter 1 HERE.

Series Books: The Vampire Academy

Even though I couldn't recommend The Vampire Academy (the first book in the series), this is such a popular series with teens that I decided to give the second book a try. Pretty much it's second verse same as the first.

The basic plot is quite intriguing. There's a subplot with Rose's mother that explains a lot about the chip on Rose's shoulder. The Strogoi/Moroi conflict escalates and it's discovered that the Strogoi are a lot more organized and focused than anyone imagined. There's also some hinting that the good guy/bad guy delineation isn't as clear cut as Rose and Lissa have always believed. Cool stuff. I can see why teens like this series.

But once again, it's all the mature content that leaves me unable to recommend this series. Early in the book, there is wholesale slaughter of a Moroi royal family and it's pretty gorey. We also get torture and murder of secondary characters, in real time. One murder is of someone we've become attached to.

Also, as with the first book, there is quite a bit of swearing and vulgar language. There is underage drinking. Rose gets drunk. There's heavy kissing and steamy make-out scenes. The reader experiences some of these scenes between Lissa and Christian, with Rose in the position as reluctant voyeur due to the connection between her mind and Lissa's.


Plot:

Characters:

Ending:

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Content Ratings

Language: Frequent and casual use of multiple swear words, some quite vulgar. Use of the name of deity.

Violence: Hand-to-hand combat, torture, murder—in real time; detailed description of slaughter aftermath.

Drugs/Alcohol: Underage drinking.

Immorality: Several steamy make-out scenes, some casual.

Values/Themes: Casual sex and drinking is treated as acceptable behaviors.

Age Appropriate: Publisher lists it as YA (16+), but due to language, violence, and mature themes, I believe that's too young.

Writing Mechanics: There are a few glitches in plot and characterization, but nothing major.


© 2010 It's a Book Affair

Lemon Tart by Josi S. Kilpack

Lemon Tart (Sadie Hoffmiller, book 1)
by Josi S. Kilpack

Culinary Mystery
368 pages, softcover
Target Reader: Adult

Deseret Book
978-1606410509
Release Date: January 29, 2009



From the publisher:

A Recipe for Murder: 5 families living on Peregrine Circle, 1 flowered curtain tieback, 1 missing child, 1 body in the field. Mix with a long list of suspects and top with two very different detectives. Increase heat until only the truth remains.

Cooking aficionado turned amateur detective Sadie Hoffmiller tries to solve the murder of Anne Lemmon, her beautiful young neighbor–a single mother who was mysteriously killed while a lemon tart was baking in her oven. At the heart of Sadie's search is the woman's missing two year-old son, Trevor. Whoever took the child must be the murderer, but Sadie is certain that the police are looking at all the wrong suspects—including her!

Armed with a handful of her very best culinary masterpieces, Sadie is determined to bake her way to proving her innocence, rescuing Trevor, and finding out exactly who had a motive for murder.

Read Chapter 1.

I like culinary cozies. I loved this new one from Josi Kilpack. Known for her social issues based novels for women, Josi has taken a new turn into the culinary mystery genre, and it fits her like a glove—or rather, an oven mitt.

I was absolutely blown away by this book. It was fun and quirky, filled with suspense and lots of unique characters, the plot twisted and turned until I didn't know which way was up (but in a good way)!

Sadie Hoffmiller is a retired widow—a little older than some of the other culinary mysteries out there—but she's perky and fun. And she keeps an eye out for the people in her neighborhood. When her neighbor is murdered and her son goes missing, Sadie is determined to find him, even if the police have told her not to get involved. I just love Sadie's determination, her attention to detail, and her unfailing talent for being in the wrong place at the wrong time!

This is planned to be a series. Can't wait for the next installment.

If you like fun, cozy mysteries, give this one a try. I promise, you'll love it!

Plot:

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Content Ratings

Language:

Violence: There's a murder and some mild violence, but it does not occur in "real time".

Drugs/Alcohol:

Immorality:

Values/Themes:

Age Appropriate: For adults—the main character is older—but some teens will like it as well.

Writing Mechanics:

© 2010 It's a Book Affair

Confessions of a Bookaholic

I was gifted money for Christmas (thanks Mom & Dad). I bought a few "grandma toys" but saved most of it, waiting for the Whitney finalists to come out, because I knew I'd need to buy more books. I also had one Twilight themed Borders gift card that my sister gave me which I was saving specifically for Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George.

So yesterday, with $60 and gift cards in hand, I headed out to buy as many books as I could. I was hoping I could find most of them on sale because I had 16 titles on my shopping list (15 Whitneys and the aforementioned Princess book).

First stop, Deseret Industries because sometimes I can find gently used LDS books there. After 45 minutes of browsing, I left with Free Men & Dreamers: Dark Sky at Dawn by L.C. Lewis because I already have book 2 but haven't read it yet; Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver because I really liked The Poisonwood Bible; The Persian Pickle Club by Sandra Dallas (Read this several years ago and loved it. It's a mystery that I not only didn't figure out until it was revealed, but I was totally shocked by it—in a good way.); and Murder Among Friends (a collection of short stories by various authors) because it looked cool. Okay, so none of these books were actually titles on my shopping list, but they were cheap and...well, cheap.

Next I went to Seagull. (Shhh, don't tell my boss.) I love hitting their discount table in the back of the store. I found a board book called In Grandma's Arms by Jayne C. Shelton and Baby Einstein See & Spy Counting—both titles were only $1.99 and I had to get them because, well, I'm a grandma. Then I got Royal Target by Traci Hunter Abramson. (Yea, check one off the Whitney list.) While there I also got Ghost of a Chance by Kerry Blair because I just read her book, This Just In and LOVED it. I also got a copy of Farworld: Water Keep by J. Scott Savage. (Yes, I have the ARC but I wanted a copy with the illustrations in it.) Last, I got Lemon Tart by Josi S. Kilpack. I'm sure Lemon Tart will be a Whitney finalist for 2009, so I'm simply starting early. So, I left with six books, only one of which was on my shopping list, but they were ALL on SALE! I refuse to feel guilty about that.

Then I went to Deseret Book. I scored there. They had Leven Thumps and the Eyes of the Want by Obert Skye for only $1.99! Cool! Yes, I know there's a newer one out, but I'm behind in that series. I also got Pillage by Obert Skye for 50% off. Yea! Oh, wait. Neither of those were on the list. But still. $1.99??? How can you pass that up? And if you average that with Pillage, that makes them what, 75% off each one? Isn't that smart shopping?

Last, I went to Borders to get the Princess book. Not. In. Stock. What??! It's an "online only" title. That is just crazy. I was informed that they could special order it for me or I could order it online and have it shipped to the store for no extra charge. That's nice. It would cost me the same in gas to go pick it up. I was so frustrated! They didn't have any of the remaining 14 books on my Whitney list either! I almost left in a huff but then I remembered I had a gift card and I had to spend it here. So I browsed and browsed, and I found a copy of Peeps by Scott Westerfield that I've wanted to read for a long time and my library doesn't carry it and I've never been able to find it in stock at any bookstore. They had one copy so I snagged it. I still have $10.13 left on the card, so I guess I'll be forced to shop at Border's one more time.

By this time (four hours later), I was pooped and my feet hurt. I came home, jumped online and did some price checking. I ended up ordering three titles from Amazon: Princess of the Midnight Ball (only $11.55; $5 less than stupid Borders); Ender in Exile by Orson Scott Card ($9 cheaper than Borders); and Alcatraz vs the Scrivener's Bones by Brandon Sanderson ($5 cheaper than Borders). AND FREE SHIPPING TO MY HOUSE! Hah! What do you think about them apples, I'm-too-lame-to-stock-your-books-Borders?

All told, I got sixteen books—three of which were actually on my list. Now I only have two questions:

1) Who can loan me some Whitney titles?

and

2) Which book do I read first?

© 2010 It's a Book Affair

Have I Got Some Reading to Do, or What??

The Whitney finalists have been announced. For those of you who've never heard of them, the Whitneys are annual awards given to outstanding LDS fiction titles published in a particular calendar year. The 2008s were announced this morning.

I thought I'd been doing pretty good reading LDS fiction this year. I've read 25 "LDS" novels published in 2008 (and about 6 that were older LDS fiction titles, plus a bunch of non-LDS, but I digress...) So anyway, I'm feeling pretty good about all the reading I've done, and then I look over at the LDS Fiction site and according to LDS Publisher, there were 136 titles published by LDS authors last year. I'm not real good at math, but I think that means I've read a little less than 1/5th. :(

Of the 30 Whitney finalists, I own 15 and have finished reading 11 of them. So that's...uh...HALF that I bought because I thought they looked good.

Does that mean I'm good at picking winners?

© 2010 It's a Book Affair