Book Title: The Killings

Book Author: Clark Howard

Genre: Thriller

Quick Synopsis
Identical twins, Pam and Evie Hunt, are found murdered in their apartment, naked, their throats cut open, tied in a bizarre way. Detectives Fenner and Cascade, who were first on the crime scene, are going to go through a lot of trouble before they catch the murderer, in the course of long, sometimes risky, sometimes dull investigation.

What was right with it?
The book is skilfully written, action mixes with characters' backgrounds, their thoughts, a little romance and detailed description of the way an investigation is carried out. I found this information very interesting, particularly because the author managed to convey it in an attention-grabbing manner. The story provides the reader with a decent plot and proves to be a good entertainment. I enjoyed the romance part of the novel, as it consists of a number of sexual scenes.

What was wrong with it?
At times I felt the story lacked some additional information that I would like to learn about a character or the scenery. To put it differently, it seemed as if parts of the book were slightly abridged or did not get the chance to be further developed in the process of writing. Otherwise, it is probable that the novel would stand out among other similar positions.

Marks: 7 out of 10. Good reading.

Recommended Age Of Reader: 16

Reviewed By: Me

Desert Solitaire

Edward Abbey

Personal Essay, Naturalist/political/environmentalist, nonfiction

This book is a collection of essays written by Edward Abbey about the time he spent in Arches National Park as a ranger. One of the most influential books of its time/genre.

Most everything was right. It was powerful, moving, and funny. Edward Abbey writes beautiful prose and he made me long to return to the American Southwest.

Some people may not be able to connect with it

9.5/10

13+ years old
Me  

Post edited at 3:43 pm on Sep. 18, 2007 by 1337 HAXXOR

Joseph Heller

Absurd/statire

Set towards the end of world war 2, Yossarian, a pilot, attempts to escape from the war. However, he is kept from doing so by catch-22, a logical paradox in the rules. This book pokes at many things allowing you to laugh at this critique of our society. As the book goes on, the paradox of catch-22 rears its head page after page as Heller continues in his absurd master piece.

Hilarious shocking and absurd, this book will move you if you have the slightest ability to read between the lines. One of the greatest books ever written.

It can get a bit repetitive at times.

10/10

Any age the younger readers may not get nearly as much out of it, but everyone can get something.

http://www.golivewire.com/forums/profile.cgi?p=43962

Title: Friends and Enemies
Author: David Field.  
Genre: a little bit fantasy and a little bit romance.  Quick synopsis:  Basically it is the first in a three part series about a 15 year old boy who goes back in time 400 years.  He falls in love and tries to help his love get away from an evil cleric.  In the second book, they return to the present time.  

What was right: There are a lot of twists and I found it to be a real page-turner.  

What's Wrong: It isn't very well-known.  I had to get it on Amazon...I haven't found it in a library yet, so if you want to read it, it seems you have to pay for it!  

I give it a 9 out of 10!!

I think it is appropriate for anyone over age 12...but I think, like Harry Potter, adults could get into it too.

Reviewed by:  bookgirl

Book title: The Reading Group

Book author: Elizabeth Noble

Genre: Chick lit/romance

Quick synopsis: This is a book about a group of women who are all middle-aged and in various ways unhappy with their lives. They all attend the same reading group, where they complain about the men in their lives and read trashy novels.

What was right with it? It was very easy to read and was quite light - I found it was good as a pick-me-up. It also gave me a new perspective on things - not being middle-aged, I don't really know what it's like, and it gave me more of an idea of how other people might see things.

What was wrong with it? There was too much of it - it's more than an inch thick, and it really doesn't need to be. It's also quite predictable, and I feel very comfortable referring to it as 'trash'. If you want something intellectual, don't read this.

Marks: 6/10

Recommended age of reader: Anyone on livewire should be able to cope with this, explicit-wise (there's a little, but only implied/past tense), but as for being bothered to read it...if you've got the stamina to stick it out and the will to try and consider it but also the laziness to read trashy chick-lit, then go for it.

Reviewed by: Fern Periwinkle

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One drop is lonely
Two drops okay
Three drops can make a spray
Four drops get carried away

Book Title: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Book Author: Mark Haddon

Genre: Fiction

Quick Synopsis: The story is about a 15yr old autistic boy and his mishaps with a murdered dog, his father and his disgust for the colour yellow.

What was right with it?: Very well written and funny. The author captured the boy's autism very well. It didn't seem fake or dramatized at all.

What was wrong with it?: There is too much math for my liking in the book. Since autistic children often identify with numbers, the boy would explain math problems and count a lot. I simply skimmed over that part.

Marks:  _8_ out of 10
Recommended Age Of Reader: Teens and up

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If one, settling a pillow by her head,
Should say: "That is not what I meant at all. That is not it, at all."

UK/Ireland Cover

Other Covers

Book Title: Cirque Du Freak -- The Vampire Prince

Book Author: Darren Shan

Genre: Mainly Fiction, Possibly Horror?

Quick Synopsis: Basically, after failing his trials, Darren runs away, and when he ran away he found out a good deal of information that would help his fellow Vampires. So, he returns to Vampire Mountain (putting the fate of death behind him for the well-being of the clan) and tells the Princes of the 'traitors' and 'invaders'.

What was right with it?: A great addition to the 12-book series. It was hard to put down, and was a very good book. It kept you on your feet, and interested at all times.  

What was wrong with it?: At the beginning, it was a bit boring. But, if you continued to read, it got alot more interesting.

Notes: This is the sixth book in the series. Also, it may not be the best book in the series, but it is still very good.

Marks:  8 out of 10

Recommended Age Of Reader: 13+

Reviewed By: xPhoenix

UK/Ireland Cover

Book Title: Cirque Du Freak -- Hunters Of The Dusk

Book Author: Darren Shan

Genre: Teen/Fiction

Quick Synopsis: The New Prince is greeted by Desmound. Him and two other's are chosen among the rest to 'hunt' for the Vampaneze Lord.

What was right with it?: Alot. Once you got into it, it was fast-paced. Like most of the books, it was hard to put down. Very Well Written.

What was wrong with it?: A bit slow at the beginning (like most books). Not the best out of the series, had potential. Didn't live up to the first 6.

Marks:  8 out of 10

Recommended Age Of Reader: 13+

Reviewed By: xPhoenix

Book Title: Love Story

Book Author: Erich Segal

Genre: Romance /Adult Drama

Quick Synopsis: Harvard hockey jock Oliver Barrett IV falls in love with Jenny Cavilleri, a Radcliffe music student of Italian descent. They struggle a lot and get married even though Oliver's father doesn't approve. Upon hearing that Jenny is sick and soon to die, things are turned upside down.

What was right with it?: It's a very touching story from a completely different angle. The two lovers are not even touchy-feely, but you can notice the real surroundings. It's a deep story full of passion and it really makes you think about the real worth of love and life.

What was wrong with it?: You have to be a person who is able to think deeply and understand emotions in order to understand the book which in my opinion makes the book terrific. I love books that make you think. It means that the book is a success.

Marks:  10 out of 10

Recommended Age Of Reader:  I'd say 16+. It's not a teen or children's book so some maturity is required.

Reviewed By: MaryLin

Post edited at 11:06 am on Oct. 28, 2007 by MaryLin

Book Author: Richard Uhlig

Genre: Young Adult

Synopsis:  
Arty Flood is stuck in his tiny western hometown. He's not sure what he wants to do with his life the summer after his senior year of high school, but he wants to get out of his town. He's stuck with a girlfriend he can't stand, an affair with his drama teacher he can't get out of, and a family that is falling apart that he can't quite leave. One day, he meets a girl at his town's lake and falls into a plot of discovering her, himself, and what life is really about.

What was right with it?: Everything is right in this book. I totally related to this young man as I'm sure every teenager does - we want to leave and do our own thing far away from where we are now. This book is perfect from how the author reveals the story to the language and twists and turns thrown in.  
 
What was wrong with it?: Nothing.

10 out of 10

Recommended Age Of Reader:
I would say 14 and up. There's some pretty foul language and a bunch of sex in it, but I'm sure a high school freshmen and up can handle it.

Reviewed By: PetitOiseau

Post edited at 9:30 am on Nov. 18, 2007 by PetitOiseau

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Take your dollhouse dreams and make them real.
- Kara's Flowers ♪

Book Title : The Notebook
Book Author : Nicholas Sparks
Genre : Romance
Quick Synopsis : This novel follows the romance of Noah Calhoun and Allie Nelson. The romantic couple end up falling in love during one summer while Allie is in the small town of New Bern, North Carolina for the time being. Allie ends up leaving Noah behind in the small town whilst the moves to the city life for college and the couple don't end up meeting until 14 years later. Noah ends up building the house he and Allie always planned on together in hopes of her coming back to him. Allie ends up meeting an older, handsome, successful lawyer by the name of Lon afterwards. Allie then sees a picture of Noah in the newspaper, and everything seems to come back to her. They end up meeting back again, exchanging memories and whatnot. Will Allie choose Noah or Lon? Oh, my.
What was right with it? : I really loved how the author wrote the story, going from present to past memories. He also did an extraordinary job with how he described the events and used adjectives so beautifully. It was my first and best so far romantic novel I've read.
What was wrong with it? : Hmm. I can't really think of much that was wrong with it. I think that perhaps it might have been better for me if the author kind of went in order from their summer romance as teenagers - as adults - their life as elderly people.
Marks : 10 out of 10.
Recommended Age Of Reader : Eh, probably 13+ or so since there tends to be some love making in the novel and good choice of words.
Reviewed By : Anna, music4evr.

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Did you ever see that one person?
& the subtle way that they do these things and it hurts so much?
So much like choking down the embers of a great blaze
It's that moment when your eyes seem to spread aspersions

Book Author: Cecila ahearn

Genre: sort of love/sad/funny its a chick book

Quick Synopsis
Hollys husband gerry dies near the begining of the year and each month for the rest of the year she finds letters that gerry had left for her to help her get through her soulmates death each one gives her a new task to do that month such as kareoke, going to a ball and he had even paid for a holiday for her and her friends for her birthday and at the end of each letter he write ps i love you

What was right with it?
it was such a good book and it captured all your emotions. i was crying laughing thinking smiling everything throughout the 2 days it took me to read. it was a hard book to put down and i cant wait for the movie to come out

What was wrong with it?
i cant think of anything wrong with this book it was so good.

Marks: 10 out of 10. Good reading. my fave book ever

Recommended Age Of Reader: erm there is nothing really bad in this 14 or 15 year old will be ok with it and over

Reviewed By: Me


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[IMG]http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc76/bremarie93/loveisadream.gif[/IMG]
i love him

Throughout the novel, themes such as patriotism, morality, wealth, religion, and sacrifice are touched upon often.

What's the twist? Irene Nemirovsky, who, although born a Ukrainian Jew, had lived in France for over 20 years, wrote about the events in the novel as she witnessed them. She wrote Suite Francaise as a historical novel, when, as she wrote in her notes, she didn't even know how that history would turn out.  

She intended Suite Francaise to be a five-part novel, spanning the entirety of the events of the war. Unfortunately, she never the chance to finish the work, as she died in a concentration camp in 1942.  

The novel was written in a diary, and it was not found by her daughter until many years later. It and Nemirovsky's personal notes that accompanied it were first published in 2004.  

Basically, the story behind the story is just as interesting (and heartbreaking) as the story itself.  

What was right with it?: The characters- the characterization is astounding. The characters are real human beings. She makes you hate, love, and pity them all at the same time. I'm telling you- novels never make me cry, but as I was reading certain parts of this, I had to wipe away tears from my eyes.

The descriptions- she describes everything in such detail, with such an eye for the little things about a setting.  

The cleverness of it all- one chapter is told completely from the perspective of a house cat.

Overall, it is beautifully written and very emotionally moving.

What was wrong with it?: It's awfully depressing, but that kind of goes without saying, considering the subject matter.  

It's unfinished, so the ending can definitely leave you wanting more. And then you think about why it's unfinished, and if the actual story didn't make you depressed, that thought will.

But it stands perfectly well as is, a testament to the time period as seen through the candid eyes of a direct observer whose life was cut so short, ironically, because of the events she describes.  

Marks: 9.5 out of 10 (Excellente!)
Recommended Age Of Reader: I'm going to say 13 and up. The writing's not too terribly hard to understand, but there are some mature themes throughout.
Reviewed By: Mary (airemaye)

Post edited at 7:49 pm on Dec. 17, 2007 by airemaye

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Stuff I've written
*For the wretched of the earth, there a flame that never dies
Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise*