The Laughing Corpse (Anita Blake Book 2)

	Title: The Laughing Corpse (Anita Blake Book 2)
	Author: Laurell K. Hamilton
	Date Published: 9/1/1994
	Pages: 294
	Genre: Paranormal Romance
	Format Read: Kindle Book (Public Library Loan)
	Find it: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Audible
Rating

The Laughing Corpse, the second book in the Anita Blake series was a fast read. In this book Anita continues raising zombies and fighting vampires. Anita is offered a job for a very wealthy man to raise a very old zombie, the thing with raising very old zombies is they require a hefty sacrifice... the kind that chickens and goats just don't cover... they require a human sacrifice. Anita quickly refuses the job, but the wealthy Harold Graynor just will not let it go. Throughout the book he sends his goons to "convince" Anita to do the raising. Meanwhile there is an unknown ghoul terrorizing the city, killing families in what are the most horrific crime scenes Anita has scene (at least this far in the series). Can Anita figure out who and what is killing families before more families are murdered? Will she be able to convince Graynor that no zombie is worth the sacrifice of a human life?

Sorry that the review is so short, however these books are REALLY good and I don't want to take the time to review, I just want to jump into the next one! Highly recommended!!

Guilty Pleasures (Anita Blake Book 1)

	Title: Guilty Pleasures: Anita Blake Book 1
	Author: Laurell K. Hamilton
	Date Published: 8/3/2004
	Pages: 368
	Genre: Paranormal Romance
	Format Read: Kindle Book (public library loan)
	Find it: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Audible
Rating

This is the first book in the Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton. Anita Blake is a necromancer, she has the ability to bring people back from the dead (as zombies), she assists the police in supernatural murders, and she is a vampire slayer! Anita is propositioned by a vampire to investigate some vampire murders. When she turns down the vampire they turn to any means necessary to gain her skills. They threaten the life of her friend, whom she will do anything to protect, including working with the vampires. Anita is angry when she learns that the vampire master Jean-Claude has recommended her to the Master Vampire of the city Nikolaus who was turned when she was just a young child nearly a thousand years ago.

As Anita is investigating the vampire murders she is introduced to things she never imagined, freaky vampire parties and the enslavement of humans by master vampires without anyone being bitten! Anita works with another necromancer, Zachary, to help determine who is killing the master vampires of the city. She comes across things she hasn't encountered before such as ghouls who aren't limited to their own graveyard and who attack humans when they should be running in fear. She meets a Wererat King who is willing to stand up to Nikolaus because he doesn't believe his wererats should be at her beck and call.

Anita will have to use all of her instincts to keep herself and her friends alive while she searches for the murderer, but will it be enough?

I borrowed this book from the Phoenix Public Library's Digital Library and read it on my Kindle app for iPad.

Pandemonium

	Title: Pandemonium
	Author: Lauren Oliver
	Date Published: 2/28/2012
	Pages: 384
	Genre: YA, Romance, Dystopian
	Format Read: Hardcover
	Find it: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Audible
Rating

Pandemonium is the second book of the Delirium trilogy by Lauren Oliver. This was a good read and now I am anxiously awaiting the third book. The ending was a little predictable, but that is nothing new for me.

Delerium left off with Lena in the Wilds, uncured and Alex shot and dead. In Pandemonium, Lena has begun to work with a group of invalids becoming a part of their community. Lena builds up her strength and eventually is reabsorbed into New York City as a plant for the resistance. Lena studies in a high school and even attends meetings and participates in a Deliria Free America (DFA) which believes that the cure should be delivered before the 18th birthday to help reduce the number of people who are lost to the disease. The head of the DFA youth group is Julian Finneman and his father is one of the forerunners insisting upon the cure. Julian has a history of cancer and tumors which means that the cure may cost him his life, but he is willing to risk it because he believes what his father preaches about the cure being the only way.

Lena and Julian are kidnapped during a rally to promote DFA. During their captivity Julian and Lena begin to get to know each other. When Lena realizes that there will be no ransom paid, she begins to plan an escape and wants Julian to come with her. Julian realizes that she is an invalid and rejects her.

Can Lena and Julian escape their captors? Who is holding them and why? What will be waiting for Lena if and when she can finally be free again?

The Hunger Games

	Title: The Hunger Games
	Author: Suzanne Collins
	Date Published: 9/14/2008
	Pages:  384
	Genre: YA, Dystopian
	Format Read: Audible Audiobook
	Find it: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Audible
Rating

Okay, first of all... this is not my first time (or second, or third) reading Suzanne Collin's Hunger Games. But, because I am off to see the movie tonight, I wanted to refresh the book in my mind! Now, it’s not very often that a book will garner 5 stars from me, but this first book in the series is a 5 star read. If you have not read this book yet, GO READ IT! I got this book when it first came out, and waited patiently for a whole year for the next book, and a whole year for the third book! I recommend this book to everyone, because there is something in it for everyone! There's a little bit of love, protection of family, dystopian futures, uprising, action, senseless violence and one of the strongest, most resilient female heroines that I have ever come across!

In the future, what once was the United States has become a country called Panem in which there are 13 districts and a Capitol to lead them. After an uprising of the districts against the Capitol, and a civil war which left one district annihilated, the Capitol devises a way to punish and remind the districts of their mistakes, the annual Hunger Games. Every year each of the remaining 12 districts sends a male and female tribute drawn from a lottery of 12 to 18 year citizens of the districts to a battle of the death. The winner not only lives, but earns a life of splendor in a land where there is never enough. When Katniss Everdeen's 12 year old sister Primrose is selected as the tribute in the 74th annual games, Katniss volunteers to take her place. Katniss will be sent into the arena with her fellow classmate Peeta Mellark. In a turn that Katniss didn't see coming, Peeta declares his love for her in an interview that everyone in Panem is mandated to watch. Katniss and Peeta head into the arena to fight not only each other, but the other 22 tributes in the death match that will leave only one standing!

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

	Title: Daughter of Smoke and Bone
	Author: Laini Taylor
	Date Published: 09/27/2011
	Pages: 432
	Genre: YA, Fantasy
	Format Read: Audible Audiobook
	Find it: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Audible
Rating

Daughter of Smoke and Bone was a great read! I really enjoyed this book by Laini Taylor. The characters are well written and Taylor uses a lot of  descriptive imagery, so you'll have no problem picturing things in your head.

Karou is a 17 year old art student in Prague with a weird occupation, she collects teeth for Brimstone, the chimaera who raised her. Suddenly, scorched handprints are appearing on all the doors that she uses to travel between Brimstone's world and ours. During one of her teeth collecting missions she comes across a seraph named Akiva who tries to kill her. Madness begins to ensue, first Brimstone banishes her, then Akiva hunts her down, and eventually Karou figures out who she truly is. With an ending that even I didn't see coming, this is a must read! I can't wait for the sequel to come out in November! If you read this book, you won't be disappoitned and you will be left in anticipation of the sequel!

The Art of Seducing a Naked Werewolf

	Title: The Art of Seducing a Naked Werewolf
	Author: Molly Harper
	Date Published: 3/29/2011
	Pages: 352
	Genre: Paranormal Romance
	Format Read: Audible Audiobook
	Find it: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Audible
Rating

This second book in the Naked Werewolf series doesn't use the same narrator as the first. This book follows the sister of the love interest (Cooper) from the first book. We follow as Maggie leads her pack as Alpha, and tries to discourage a sexy young doctor who comes to the area to check into Mo's attack in the first book. Dr. Nick Thatcher has come to Grundy, Alaska to prove the existance of werewolves. He believes Mo's attack has something to do with the recent werewolf attacks, and he believes Mo is behind it. Maggie tries to discourage him from looking into the matter, and true to Grundy style, antics ensue.

This book was a fun light hearted read, but not as entertaining as the first in the series. Harper tends to write in a predictable plots, and we see the same themes repeating in this book as in the last one. That said, if you have the time, want a light read, and enjoy werewolf romance, this is the book for you.

Beautiful Creatures

	Title: Beautiful Creatures
	Author: Kami Garci & Margaret Stohl
	Date Published: 9/14/2010
	Pages: 592
	Genre: YA, Fantasy Romance
	Format Read: Paperback
	Find it: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Audible
Rating

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl was a great read. I'm not sure exactly why I bought this book, I thought that a friend had recommended it, but when I let her know that I loved it she told me she'd never heard of it! Regardless, I'm glad I grabbed it at the Scholastic sale.

Ethan is a southern gentlemen raised in a small town, Lena is an outcast who comes to Gatlin to live with her recluse uncle. As soon as Ethan meets Lena, he knows this is the girl he has been dreaming of, literally. Ethan has been plagued with nightmares of being torn away from the girl that he loves, to wake up to dirty muddy sheets. When he meets Lena he knows she is that dreamgirl even though she denies it. The town turns against Lena because they are not fond of outsiders, and Ethan is the only one to stand by her side. His family, her family, the town.... no one wnats them together, yet Lena and Ethan are drawn to each other.

I highly recommend this book. Find the time to read it! The authors have a way of drawing you into the story and great visualization in their writing. They incorporate some Southern Civil War history into the story that doesn't seem dull and boring. This book is also being made into a movie that will have Viola Davis (The Help) and Emmy Rossum (Phantom of The Opera) as part of the cast!