Woohoo For Santa!!

OK! I had an EXCELLENT Christmas! Santa knows just what I want (because I sent him my reading list) and I got this lovely stack for Christmas! (I tell you it was as exciting for me as the kids to open on Christmas morning!)Aren't they beautiful folks? So I thought I might give you all a synopsis of each and as I read them I will post my reviews and you can decide if these sound like something you might want to pick up in your spare time.
They are from Top to bottom:

"Beastly" by Alex Flinn- this one is not a new release but has just been cast for a movie. It is a modern take on the Beauty and the Beast story-always one of my favorites-told from the "Beast's" point of view.
Here is a link to the movie site. Looks pretty cool.
http://www.beastlythemovie.com/
This will be in theaters July 2010 and stars:
Alex Pettyfer as Kyle Kingsbury (Very cute boy!)
Vanessa Hudgens as Lindy
Mary Kate Olsen as Kendra the witch
Neil Patrick Harris as Will, the beasts tutor (love him!)

"Ballad" by Maggie Stiefvater
This is the sequel to "Lament:Deception of the Faerie Queen" which I read at the beginning of December and LOVED!!!! It is an awesome book and I was completely intrigued with the story and was SOOO stoked to have more of it to read. I cannot wait for this one!!!
She is also the author of "Shiver" which I have and read first. It was beautifully written and a great romance story and that is what made me want to read other things by her (while I was waiting for the sequel). But I liked "Lament" even better.

"NightWorld" by L.J. Smith
Same lady who wrote "Vampire Diaries". Yep "Vampire Diaries". Guilty!! I picked it up before the T.V. show came out because I was in between books and I was interested in the premise of the show when I saw a trailer for it. I wasn't expecting to like it but the series is kind of addicting for reasons unbeknownst to me. Luckily I don't think I am alone because I know several people (you know who you are!)who can't get enough of the TV show. And we all know the books are better than the movie, or TV show, in this case. Anyway back to "Night World" Rachel and Andrea Whitaker, in my Young Women's group, have read both series and of the 2 this is their favorite. Apparently it has a little bit of everything, witches, werewolves, vampires, shapeshifters all living in a "Night world" within our own, thus the title. Intriguing I know...Thanks girls.

"The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman
I've never read anything by him. He is the guy who wrote the book "Coraline" you know from the Tim Burton "kids" film. I know Stephenie Meyer recommended one of his books, "Anansi Boys" on her book club picks on Twilight Moms website. He always sounded just a little dark for me but my sister in law, Julie, just read this and said it was pretty fascinating. It is a story about a child raised in a graveyard by ghosts after his parents where murdered. Yeah sounds a little creepy I know. However it was awarded the Newberry Medal Award and is highly recommended at Barnes and Noble. It is Young Adult so how creepy could it be? I'll give it a shot and let you know.

"The Hourglass Door" by Lisa Mangum
This is written by a first time author who happens to be LDS. Sam Arntsen read it and recommended it and then my sister in law Jenny was reading it on recommendation from Natalie Hansen who both really liked it. It is a love story that sounds a lot like Twilight at the outset but once they get into it it's totally different. Tweaked Twilight? Sounds great to me.


"Fire" by Kristin Cashore
This is the sequel to "Graceling" that I read last Christmas Break (along with "The Hunger Games"). (That little Christmas break readathon really jump started my love affair with reading this year and since then as I look back I have probably finished just under 50 books.) I REALLY enjoyed it "Graceling" , except for the ending, until I realized she was probably saving the good ending for book 2 so here I am! This series is a high fantasy in a land where some are born with special gifts or "graces" that set them apart in their field. Katsa was graced, unuasually, with killing and was trained and used as a political mercenary for her Uncle the ruler. She has always secretly hated her grace until she meets Po another "graced" noble and her match in many ways and she starts to see herself and her grace in a new light. Good stuff but like I say, I reserve judgement on the end till I read this one.

"Fragile Eternity" by Melissa Mars
This is Book 3 out of 5 in the Wicked Lovely series. Picked these up at the recommendation of Sam Arntsen and they have kind of been my guilty pleasure. I love faeries and even when they aren't the nicest of faeries. "Wicked Lovely" was great! "Ink Exchange" I LOVED and now I can't wait to read this one!
"Fallen" by Lauren Kate
This is a new release that I read about on Mundie Moms website and thought it sounded intriguing. It's about a girl who after an unexplainable accident has to go to a reform school. There she meets a boy who she feels she knows from somewhere but he won't give her the time of day yet she can't get him out of her head. On the other hand there is another boy who is plenty interested so why can't she just forget about the first? Not just a love story plenty of supernatural which to me is the perfect mix. Anyway the cover is cool enough.

"The Dark Divine" by Bree Despain
This came out on December 21st so it is very new. I heard about this on Mundie Moms as well and after reading the synopsis I RAN (or typed very quickly) to read the first chapters which are posted online here http://www.breedespain.com/TDDsneakpeak.html. I was hooked! SO excited for this one!!


"Beautiful Creatures" by Kami Gracia and Margaret Stohl
This also just came out at the beginning of December and was much "hyped on" around my network of book blogs so I had to get it and I will let you know if the hype is worth it.


So there you go. Stay tuned for reviews as I read each one and know that these are all on my bookshelf and there is nothing I like better than sharing a good book (as long as I have read it first) so if anything strikes your fancy...borrow away.