Twilight Series By Stephenie Meyer

Twilight

Bella Swan's move to Forks, a small, perpetually rainy town in Washington, could have been the most boring move she ever made. But once she meets the mysterious and alluring Edward Cullen, Bella's life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. Up until now, Edward has managed to keep his vampire identity a secret in the small community he lives in, but now nobody is safe, especially Bella, the person Edward holds most dear.

New Moon

Bella celebrates her birthday with her boyfriend Edward and his family, a unique clan of vampires that has sworn off human blood. But the celebration abruptly ends when the teen accidentally cuts her arm on broken glass. The sight and smell of her blood trickling away forces the Cullen family to retreat lest they be tempted to make a meal of her. After all is mended, Edward, realizing the danger that he and his family create for Bella, sees no option for her safety but to leave. Mourning his departure, she slips into a downward spiral of depression that penetrates and lingers over her every step. Vampire fans will appreciate the subsequently dour mood that permeates the novel, and it's not until Bella befriends Jacob, a sophomore from her school with a penchant for motorcycles, that both the pace and her disposition begin to take off. Their adventures are wild, dare-devilish, and teeter on the brink of romance, but memories of Edward pervade Bella's emotions, and soon their fun quickly morphs into danger, especially when she uncovers the true identities of Jacob and his pack of friends.

Eclipse

Jake, the werewolf met in New Moon, pursues Bella with renewed vigilance. However, when repercussions from an episode in Twilight place Bella in the mortal danger that series fans have come to expect, Jake and Edward forge an uneasy alliance. The plot patterns have begun to show here, but Meyer's other strengths remain intact. The supernatural elements accentuate the ordinary human dramas of growing up. Jake and Edward's competition for Bella feels particularly authentic, especially in their apparent desire to best each other as much as to win Bella.

Breaking Dawn

In Breaking Dawn, the fourth and final installment in the series, Bella’s story plays out in some unexpected ways. The ongoing conflicts that made this series so compelling--a human girl in love with a vampire, a werewolf in love with a human girl, the generations-long feud between werewolves and vampires--resolve pretty quickly, apparently so that Meyer could focus on Bella’s latest opportunity for self-sacrifice: giving her life for someone she loves even more than Edward. How close she comes to actually making that sacrifice is questionable, which is a big shift from the earlier books. Even though you knew Bella would make it through somehow, the threats to her life, and to her relationship with Edward, had previously always felt real. It’s as if Meyer was afraid of hurting her characters too much, which is unfortunate, because the pain Bella suffered at losing Edward in New Moon, and the pain Jacob suffered at losing Bella again and again, are the fire and the heart that drive the whole series.

I have read these four books over the last week or so and I have been totally drawn into these books and the nice warm feeling I get when reading them, strange considering they are about Vampires and Werewolves! These books are aimed at young adults, maybe I just never grew up.

I totally recommend them! There is another book the fifth, in the making called Midnight Sun, the first chapter can be read here. It mirrors Twilight from Edward Cullen's point of view!

Eleven Hours by Paulina Simons

This book had me afraid for the Didi the main character and reading it before the story really unfolded had me feeling uneasy! I knew the worse was to come.

She is nine months pregnant and goes off in the noonday heat of Dallas to do some last minute shopping. She is approached while in the cool of the shopping mall by a pleasant young man, who asked could he help her with her bags; although he looks quite innocuous, she has a feeling of unease about him and says no. But because she thinks he is following her she phones her husband to meet early for lunch, of course like all hubbys when you need them their phones are on message.
Back out in the scorching heat of the day in the parking lot, she hears a voice behind her and the nightmare begins.

The book is written with each alternate chapter about Didi and her abductor and then her husband Rich and the FBI man who informs Rich in situations like this only 20% of victims are found alive.
This is a real page-turner and I stayed up till the early hours to finish it!
I am certainly going to look out the other two books written by this author in my library, in fact I am off this morning as we are away next week.
A thrilling frightening read!!

Chris

Coastliners by Joanne Harris

On the tiny Breton island of Le Devin, life has remained almost unchanged for over a hundred years. For generations, two rival communities, the wealthy La Houssiniere and the impoverished village of Les Salants, have fought for control of the island's only beach.

When Mado, a spirited local girl, returns to Les Salants after a ten-year absence, she finds her home threatened, both by the tides and a machinations of a local entrepreneur. Worse, the sommunity is suffering from an incurable loss of hope.

Mado is not so easily discouraged. Dogged by prejudice from superstitious villagers, she is forced to enlist the help of Flynn, an attractive drifter. But Mado's attempts to transform the dying community have unforseen consequences. As Les Salants returns slowly to life, so do past tragedies, including thew terrible secret that still haunts Mado's father. And is Flynn really who he says he is?

I loved this book, but then Joanne is my favourite author (she wrote Chocolat). I could not put the book down and I felt like I'd lost something when I'd finished.I need to read Five Quarters of an Orange next,then I have read all her books.

Lesley Pearse - Trust Me

'Trust me!' she spat. 'As soon as someone says trust me, you can be sure they're going to let you down or hurt you.'

All her life, people have told little Dulcie Taylor they'll look after her. And every time, she and her sister May have been hurt. Their parents. Their teacher. The convent. Then the two girls are offered the chance of a fresh start in Australia.

But the new life that they hope for in an exciting, vibrant country goes horribly wrong. Will Dulcie break away from her sad past and build a bright new future for herself?

This book was based on facts about the orphans that were sent over to Australia and how the nuns/brothers mistreated them and consequences that happened in their lives. You probably remember the stories that were in the news a while back and this was no exception, very sad in some parts but a very interesting read.

Barb sent this so me, so its now looking for a new home, if anyone would like it, please let me know.

Julie x

Husbands and Lies-Susy McPhee

there are some people you would do anything for... For Fran that list would include her Daughter, her Husband and her best friend, Alison. Only Alison is now desperately ill and she needs Fran's help. She wants to find her husband a new wife, and leave her young child with a new mother. Fran finds the whole idea deeply uncomfortable, but it's hard to refuse your closest friend at the best of times, let alone ignore her dying wishes..

So Fran reluctantly logs on to an internet dating site, where she stumbles across an all to familiar profile. 'Footloose' describes himself as divorced, but his photo looks exactly like Fran's husband Max. What's a wife to do when she suspects her husband's cheating, and can't bear to confront him outright?
Posing as 'Sassy' Fran sends a reply to 'footloose' and sets out to date her own husband. But this increasingly crazy plan leads Max to start to have doubts of his own.
Torn between suspicion and love, life for Fran just got very complicated- can her marriage survive?

I really enjoyed this book, it takes you through several emotions. Although a really easy read, it's perfect for bedtime reading. I liked Susy's style of writing
I think i'll look out for Susy's next book due out in Sept.

Nineteen minutes-Jodi Picoult

In nineteen minutes, you can mow the front lawn, color your hair, watch a third of a hockey game. In nineteen minutes, you can bake scones or get a tooth filled by a dentist; you can fold laundry for a family of five.... In nineteen minutes, you can stop the world, or you can just jump off it.

In nineteen minutes, you can get revenge.

Sterling is a small, ordinary New Hampshire town where nothing ever happens -- until the day its complacency is shattered by a shocking act of violence. In the aftermath, the town's residents must not only seek justice in order to begin healing but also come to terms with the role they played in the tragedy. For them, the lines between truth and fiction, right and wrong, insider and outsider have been obscured forever. Josie Cormier, the teenage daughter of the judge sitting on the case, could be the state's best witness, but she can't remember what happened in front of her own eyes. And as the trial progresses, fault lines between the high school and the adult community begin to show, destroying the closest of friendships and families.

Nineteen Minutes is New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult's most raw, honest, and important novel yet. Told with the straightforward style for which she has become known, it asks simple questions that have no easy answers: Can your own child become a mystery to you? What does it mean to be different in our society? Is it ever okay for a victim to strike back? And who -- if anyone -- has the right to judge someone else?

Really enjoyed this one, and I never guessed the twist at the end.

Skellig - David Almond

There's something or someone strange in the tumbledown garage at the bottom of Michael's new garden. Shrouded in dusty cobwebs, dead bluebottles strung in his hair and crooked wings growing out through rips in his shirt, Skellig is the last thing Michael thinks he needs. But with his baby sister lying dangerously ill at the hospital, Michael and his new friend Mina begin to suspect that Skellig and the baby's fates may be connected. Perhaps as Skellig's strength returns and his beautiful wings unfurl, the baby's heartbeat will get stronger...

This is a children's book for ages 9 - 12. I have read it as we are using it in school . It's a very moving story, easy to read but full of meaning. Recommended for any youngster especially htose young at heart.