Sourcerer's Apprentice, Linger, and other Reviews

The Sourcerer's Apprentice, starring Nicholas Cage, was about what I expected it to be. As a Disney movie I expected it to be good, clean fun and it was. The script was good, the acting was good, and the effects were cool and not over-used (like Last Airbender). Not a must-see at the theater, but you'll probably want to catch it on cable or DVD.

I loved Linger, Maggie Stiefvater's sequel to Shiver. She's a wonderful writer - proof that young adult novels don't have to be dumbed down, which is a pet peeve of mine. She introduces a few more characters to the story of Nora and Sam, a werewolf bite survivor and a former werewolf, respectively. Stiefvater takes the story in an almost heartbreaking direction, but left me wanting more. I can't wait to read more in this series.

I re-read one of my favorite books for a book club: The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. I think I loved it more this second time around because I was able to take in more detail. Such a clever and funny book. This is definitely a must-read, as is the rest of the series.

I also read A Questionable Client by Ilonoa Andrews in the Dark and Stormy Knights anthology. This is a Kate Daniels story that takes place before the book series. It's the story of how she met Saiman. Very good story - a must read for Kate Daniels fans.

Icy Heat wasn't as bad as I thought it would be for a free Kindle download. Not really a glowing recommendation, huh? Well, I don't have a glowing recommendation for The Passage by Justin Cronin either. I gave up after 322 pages.

Inception and Many Other Reviews

The year is only half done but I'm declaring Inception the best movie of the year! Of course the special effects were good, but the story had me on the edge of my seat for the whole movie. It was original and creative, the acting was great, and the ending was fabulous!! You must see this movie.

The Swedish import of The Girl Who Played with Fire was excellent as well. I didn't find the subtitles distracting. If you can deal with subtitles you should see the Girl Who films before Hollywood gets their hands on them. However, you can completely skip The Last Airbender which sucked wind (pun intended).

Now on to books...I was hoping that I'd like Black Dust Mambo by Adrian Phoenix better than I did. I haven't read any of her other books but I know people love her Maker's Song series. I won't be reading more in this series. I did, however, enjoy the Granite Lake Wolves series by Vivian Arend. They were quick and fun to read.

I really liked the Demon Underground YA series by Parker Blue which includes Bite Me and Try Me. It follows the life of an 18 year old girl who is one-eight succubus demon. I absolutely recommend these to anyone who likes urban fantasy. I also read The Wallflower by Dana Marie Bell which was OK but not good enough for me to want to read more in this series. And I unfortunately read Lakota Flower by Janelle Taylor which was really bad.

Twice Bitten and Other Reviews

Twice Bitten, the third book in the Chicagoland Vampires by Chloe Neill, was absolutely as good, if not better, than the first two in the series. The character development is excellent and the story was riveting. I'm totally hooked on this series. I probably have to wait a year before the next book is released.

Undead and Unfinished, the ninth book in the Queen Betsy series by Mary Janice Davidson, was a decent read. Betsy continues to be hilarious, but I wasn't thrilled with the plot. However, the bombshell she dropped at the very end of the book still has me reeling - my feeble mind just doesn't want to process it! Now I'm dying for the next book in this series, too.

I watched a few DVDs this past weekend. Surrogates with Bruce Willis was good, but I was bound to like it since it was a sci-fi/action flick. X-Men: Wolverine was just okay. Blindness with Julianne Moore was weird! I thought it was supposed to be a government conspiracy thing that Julianne Moore was going to figure out since she was the only person who didn't go blind. But it turned out to be a study of how social norms break down in the absence of structure. Definitely skip this one.

Eclipse Movie and Other Reviews

Eclipse is by far the best movie of the Twilight franchise. There's a good balance between the teen love triangle of Edward, Bella and Jacob, and the character development and action scenes in the rest of the movie. The fight scene was great, and I love the wolves (they look like real wolves instead of part wolf-part monster things). It was great that this movie addressed the back stories of Rosalie and Jasper, which helped round out the story by focusing on characters other than the main trio. This definitely worth seeing in the theater.

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest is a first rate steampunk novel. It's set in an alternate reality in Civil War era Seattle. On the surface it's an action-adventure story, but her writing draws you into the story of a tragedy surrounding one family and a mother's love for a son she doesn't understand. This is definitely worth reading.

Born of Fire and Born of Ice, the second and third books in the League series by Sherrilyn Kenyon were about as good as the first book, Born of Night - which is to say that they're just okay. There's a good story in there and I liked reading them, but these were the first books she ever published and the writing lacks subtlety and the finesse she's mastered in her later books. If you want to read them, try finding them in your library or a used book store.

I. Can't. Wait!