Glass Houses - Rachel Caine

The plot for this novel is as follows: Claire has just started at a university in Morganville Texas but she's having a few problems fitting in with the other girls and this eventually leads to Claire moving out of dorms and into the Glass House with 3 other roommates. Claire soon discovers that Morganville is not as it seems. The town is run by vampires and the town is divided into two different sets of people: the Protected, and Unprotected. Claire soon ends up in a bit of trouble and its up to the inhabitants of the Glass House to sort it out with a few surprises thrown in.

I absolutely loved this book. It actually read it in one night. The characters are totally lovable and Claire's ability to get herself into trouble is very endearing rather than being annoying. The twists thrown into this book are excellent and keep you on your toes. The plot moves at a briliant pace and I never felt myself getting bored whilst reading this book. This is definately one of the better young adult books that I have read previously. I'm so glad that this is the first book in a series rather than a stand alone novel because I can't wait to read the next one.

Overall Marks out of 10: 9

Angels And Demons - Dan Brown

So I think I'm safe in assuming that everyone knows about this book.

The plot is as follows: Robert Langdon, a professor at Harvard University is called in to assist in a murder where the vicitim has been branded 'Illuminati' and then starts a ride that takes him and a very smart Italian named Vetra to Vatican City and all around Rome solving clues to find the forgotten meeting place of this secret society. Chuck in a bunch of Cardinals on the verge of deciding the new Pope and you have a very fast paced thriller novel.

My feelings on this book are very mixed. I love the history and architecture and science that he weaves into this incredible storyline, he always makes me want to see these things for myself, whilst still keeping it relevant and up to date. The pacing of this novel is also fantastic and I found it very difficult to put down until I got to the final chapters and this is where my mixed feelings come in, and the same thing happened with Da Vinci Code, I find he ruins it with some unbelievable ending. I can believe that Robert langdon solves the clues, I can believe that there will always be corrupt people in the church, but jumping out of helicopters I don't think so. I feel that maybe Mr Brown should take a step back and think I am I going to far with this story line and if he did I think the answer he would find would be 'yes'.

Overall Mark out of 10: 8

Shall We Tell The President? - Jeffrey Archer

This is the last book I have finished and it's probably best I give you some background on why I actually read this book. When I was younger and first getting in to more adult novels my mum recommended I read 'Kane and Abel' also by Jeffrey Archer and I just adored the book, so obviously that lead me on to reading 'The Prodigal Daughter' which I also adored and the follow on from that was 'Shall We Tell The President'. For years and years I could not find this book anywhere and eventually I found it on Bookmooch and I was absolutely delighted.

So the story starts as Florentyna Kane has just become president and now she is up for re-election. It is a given that she is re-elected and she announces her two main bills for her time in the White House - one on gun control and another on free medical care for everyone. Flash forward to years to the time when her bill on gun control is being debated and a waiter overhears a plot to assassinate the president. This is where the FBI gets involved and things get nasty when everyone but one person who knows of the plot dies. It's upto FBI agent Matt to uncover all he can in a week to foil this attempt whilst keeping under the radar.

So I went into reading this book already expecting to love it and I was a tad disappointed. This book lacked the hook of the previous two books and I put this down to the lack of face time with Florentyna. Throughout 'The Prodigal Daughter' she was such a compelling character and there was a certain part of me that needed her to still be there more than she was. As you can imagine there is a love understory in this novel which I also find to be a bit far fetched. However the police procedural part of this book is excellent. I share every discovery that Matt makes and I found myself figuring things out with him at the exact same time. Overall I think this is a excellent book as a standalone novel but if you read this as part of the trilogy I imagine you will be disappointed but that may just be because I read the book so long ago they've gotten better with time.

Overall marks out of 10: 7

Summer

So I'm on my summer holidays at the moment and have been doing lots of reading to pass the time. So far this week I have finished 3 books and I've decided I should share my knowledge and love of books with other people.

I feel though that maybe I should let everyone know that I don't have a preferred genre and I will go through phases of reading only one kind of book and then moving on or I will chop and change between genres with each book.

I am also open to recommendations on books you may have read so feel free to email me at feallan@o2.co.uk if you have an idea for a book I would like that you've loved.