Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

My Review:
I wasn't sure if I was going to like this. 'Great, another YA school paranormal trilogy' is what I was thinking to myself. I ended up like this though. Sophie does yet another spell that goes wrong. This time it lands her in a paranormal boarding school called Hecate Hall. From the moment she set foot on the island her life as she knows it changes. Never having met anyone else like herself, she is now surrounding by witches, shape-shifters, faeries, and a vampire. Throughout the school year she learns about her family and those who want to destroy people like her.

The story never stops in Hex Hall. I enjoyed getting to know the characters. Lately I haven't been connecting with the lead characters of these types of books. Sophie is a character that I could relate to. She isn't the type to sit around pining for friends who don't want to be friends with her. Though she has a crush, she is not obsessed over him. She is witty in the way she see the world around her.

Fast paced and interesting to read the only thing you can really say negative about this book is that it's not all that original. But hey, there are only so many story-lines to go around. What is important is that the characters are relate-able, the story is interesting, and there is no lagging in the read. Looking forward to reading book 2 Demon Glass


Trivia Question: What is on this cover that shouldn't be?
Hint: Sophie says the answer by name

Challenges:
Paranormal Reading Challenge
2013 Where Are You Reading Challenge
Let Me Count The Way

Against Nature by John G. Nelson

#NewReleaseTuesday
pages 215 (ebook)
Wildchild Publishing  April 2011
rating: 5stars

Synopsis:

The U.S. is ground-zero for a mysterious global pandemic. The disease is highly infectious and kills its victims within two weeks of exposure. It’s neither bacteria nor a virus and all traditional treatment regimens have failed.

Serena Salus, a radical scientist, discovers the organism is an extraterrestrial dust mite brought to earth by a shuttle astronaut. The government contends it’s a genetically-engineered organism created on earth by enemies of freedom.

Dr. Salus uncovers a vile plan for distributing her experimental vaccine and finds herself in a deadly confrontation with powerful forces that’ll stop at nothing to control the distribution of her vaccine.



Review:

Okay let me tell you this right of the bat. I was contacted by the author and asked if I would like to read Against Nature as part of the Dystopian Reading Challenge. Why am I giving you this disclaimer? Because I loved this book and I want you all to know that it's because I like the story and not because I was given this book. So on the the review.

The action gets going right from the beginning. While trying to return a satellite back to its orbit, a astronaut gets cut. Thinking the cut is minor everyone deboard the shuttle and head their separate ways. Soon they are turning up dead all over the planet. Turns out the astronaut picked up extraterrestrial dust mite in that cut. These mites are high contagious and deadly. Everyone who becomes infected dies.

The mites are really the background story. The real story is how the government handle this crisis. Many people may find this story to fantastical. Government would act that way. Or government could make this decisions in such a rash way. I am not one of those people. The world that Nelson lays out is completely plausible. Look at any election and you will see hints of what goes full blown in Against Nature.

So here's the jest of things. This country is full on contradictions. We are a nation of Christians (our money states "In God We Trust") but we have business open on the Sabbath. We claim to be peaceful but we have been in one war or another since Vietnam. We say "every man is created equal" yet we are still having the first black this, the first Latino that. The list of contradictions could go on.

When it is all said and done though, this country is about money. Period. Those who have it and those who want it. One of the quote from the book stands out I'm paraphrasing "the middle class is an illusion. There are only two classes. The leisure and the working." You know what, that is the most true statement about society. Because no matter how many figures you are making at upper middle class, you still have to work in order to maintain that lifestyle. So though you may get paid more that Burger King worker you consider yourself better than just like him/her you are in the same boat. You NEED a job.

Lastly another highlight for me was how the book pointed out that people who don't outright say God is great and this country is perfect are looked at as socialist, anti-christian, and/or anarchist. There are those who may read this and think those things of me. Here's a news flash. Waving a flag doesn't make you a patriot and quoting scripture doesn't make you a believer. If we all thought the same way this country would be completely different than it is today.

Against Nature makes you think. Whether you think a post pandemic world like the one depicted in Nelson pages can happen or not, it will at least get you to thinking about what you value, who you are, and where you stand.

*source: given by author for an honest review

Challenges:
Let Me Count The Way
2013 Ebook Reading Challenge
Dystopian Reading Challenge

Company by Max Barry

rating: 2 stars
mp3 10 hrs 17min

from Kobo:

Stephen Jones is a shiny new hire at Zephyr Holdings. From the outside, Zephyr is just another bland corporate monolith, but behind its glass doors business is far from usual: the beautiful receptionist is paid twice as much as anybody else to do nothing, the sales reps use self help books as manuals, no one has seen the CEO, no one knows exactly what they are selling, and missing donuts are the cause of office intrigue. While Jones originally wanted to climb the corporate ladder, he now finds himself descending deeper into the irrational rationality of company policy. What he finds is hilarious, shocking, and utterly telling.

My Review:

I am torn. I really liked Jennifer Government. Many people did not and I could see why they didn't. Many people like this book and I can see why they did. However, for me this book was lacking. So let's break it down like this. 

What did I like?

I like that the company turn out to be an experiment. Even though it's to the extreme I have worked places where people are too afraid to speak. Managers who don't do anything. Managers who don't even know how to do the job of the people they are managing.

What didn't I like?

I didn't like the main character. I found him to idealistic and naive. I cannot tell you how much he annoyed me. The ending also didn't impress me. The type of people in the Alpha program didn't strike me as the type of people who would just give up and go on to other things. The experiment was done in secret so to me they seem like the types that would've tried to set up shop in another city. 

Company was an interesting look at corporate American in what I would probably say as the 80s. Good for a fast read. Don't take it too seriously but don't be surprise if you see a little of your workplace environment depicted in the story. TBR 3

Challenges:

2013 Audio Book Challenge

Let Me Count The Way

Killing Rain by Barry Eisler

#ThrowbackThursday
book 4 John Rain series
narrator:Michael McConnohie
mp3 audiobook
rating: ★★★★ (4.4)

From Goodreads:
Killing Rain, John Rain has a new employer, the Mossad, which wants him to fix a "problem" in Manila; a new partner, Dox, whose good-ol'-boy persona masks a sniper as deadly as Rain himself. He also has a new hope: that by using his talents in the service of something good, he might atone for all the lives he has already taken. But when Rain's conscience causes him to botch an assignment, he finds out that the Mossad's next assignment is himself. And when Delilah, the alluring Israeli agent he once fought and then loved, reappears in his life, is she there to help him - or to finish him off?

My Review:
This is the first book I have listed to by this author. I must say that it is quite a story. Narrator Michael McConnohie has a great voice. A great story is always key but with audio books the voice of the narrator is most important because if I don't like the voice that the end of listening to the audio version.

John Rain (wonder if he had John Wayne in mind) is an assassin for hire. He is hired to take out a guy named Manny. With not much to go on, John and his partner Dox has to watch Manny for the perfect opportunity to take him out. The right time presents itself but at the last minute circumstances change and John freezes. Now John is the hunted by those who hired him and the man Manny was working with.

The story is completely interesting. The characters are believable. Each having their own personality and quirks. It's fast paced but still contains detailed information. Though this is book 4, I had no problem reading it out of order which is definitely a plus. A great book for any reader who loves thrillers, suspense, and spy-mercenary novels.

Challenges:
2013 Book Bingo Reading Challenge
Let Me Count The Way
2013 Audio Book Challenge

Other:
Winter's Respite Read-a-Thon

Let Me Count The Way 2013

Let Me Count The Way
1Jan13-31Dec13

I know there are many of us out there with goals to read 1 million pages in our lifetime, and some people with lesser goals. I decided to create a challenge for those of us with a page count goal and for others to start one. I'm excited about this!

The challenge goes from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2013

There are levels for you to choose from. You can always move up a level but you can't go down. The levels are:
Living with the parents: 0 - 2000 pages
College Dorm: 2,001 - 4,000 pages
Off Campus Apartment: 4,001 - 6,000 pages
My First Place: 6,001 - 8,000 pages
Condominium: 8,001 - 10,000 pages
Mansion: 10,001 + pages


There is also an audio version for those of you who like to listen to audio books!!!

Just like the book version, you can always move up a level but you can't go down. The levels are:
Living with the parents: 0 - 75 hours (0-4,500 minutes)
College Dorm: 76 - 150 hours (4,501-9,000 minutes)
Off campus Apartment: 151 - 225 hours (9,001-13,500 minutes)
My First Place: 226 - 300 hours (13,501-18,000 minutes)
Condominium: 301 - 375 hours (18,001-22,500 minutes)
Mansion: 376+ hours (22,501+ minutes)

To participate all you have to do is create a post announcing your participation with a link to the challenge in and sign up with the link below. You should also specify which version you're doing on your post, you can also do both if you would like. If you don't have a blog you can make a post on Goodreads or Shelfari. If you use audible.com or another audio book site you can track your progress on there as well so others can see it.

Happy reading & listening!

My Level:

College Dorm: 76 - 150 hours (4,501-9,000 minutes)

Killing Rain by Barry Eisler ________________9hrs 55min
Company by Max Barry __________________10hrs 17min___
Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson___4hrs
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins______________11hrs 41minn
The Litigators by John Grisham______________11hrs 30min_______r/t 47hrs 38min


My Level:

College Dorm: 2,001 - 4,000 pages
Against Nature by John G. Nelson ______________215pgs