Giving Thanks

There are a million things to be thankful for this year, as with every year.  I have the best family in the world.  I've been blessed with many things that others do without on a daily basis:  job, house, car, clothes.  It's not something I take lightly or advantage of on any occasion.   I thank God for it all every single day. 
And on that note, let's get back to books!  :)
So I had to pick a book for Book Club.  This was a decision of great importance seeing as how I did not like a single book we have read so far this year.  My book club consists of other professional women my age, so I figured they wouldn't appreciate my love for YA paranormal fiction.  It turns out, maybe I should have tried to sell them on it any way.  I ended up choosing Jodi Picoult because her books have been made into many Lifetime movies and I figured I couldn't go wrong.  Well guess what??? I did.
Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult
This book is about a woman who catches her husband in bed with another woman and ends up going through a divorce.  It seems as though that isn't the worst it could get.  Mariah's daughter then begins to talk to an imaginary friend, it turns out that her imaginary "guide" is actually God.  I find absolutely nothing wrong with talking to God, I do it on a regular basis.  However, Faith, the daughter, not only talks to God, but she heals people too.  She heals them of disease, depression, autism, death.  Yeah, yeah, I know what you're thinking.  So was I.  Second coming??? Could have been, but the book just played it off into part of the melodrama that the mother was dealing with in the divorce.   As if that was more important.  Hello???? Crazy woman??? Your daughter is talking to God AND raising people from the dead.  No one cares if your husband is a loser!  So needless to say, this was another Book Club book on my "thumbs down" list.  Wait until I have to explain this to the girls!

Destined for a Vampire & To Kill an Angel (Blood Like Poison #2 & #3) by M. Leighton
M. Leighton has become one of my favorite authors.  She can write the most elaborate and creative stories.  They can be light or dark, fantasy or real,  so much depth in each one.  And there's tons of them!!  This particular series was definitely a good one if you like vampires.  Nope not Twilight.  Don't let Twilight warp your opinion of vampires, they aren't all written as sparkly, love-struck, infallibly rich beings.  The vampires in this book are not all nice and it doesn't mention once that they sparkle.  The second book was kind of tiring and depressing.  There was lots of woe-is-me,the female lead, Ridley, has lost her love, Bo, the vampire.  It was a means to an end for me.  The third book, however, totally redeemed the pain of the second book by leaps and bounds.  Unfortunately, Ridley had to turn into a vampire for that to happen.  Lots of other characters were introduced, and there was more action.  Enjoyed this series.
Unmaking Hunter Kennedy by Anne Eliot
This was written by another of my favorite authors.  Anne deals with realistic teen issues and offers other ways to deal with them through her writing.  The first book I read by her Almost, was amazing.  This book dealt with low self-esteem, depression, parental issues and drug/alcohol abuse.  I loved her use of realistic characters.  This was lots of tear-jerker moments in this book.  It was very sweet.  I look forward to it being made into an ABC Family movie soon!
For the past couple of weeks, I have stepped out of the realm of YA and entered adult paranormal fiction.  It turns out, those are great too!  I've been reading the Fallen Angels series by J.R. Ward.  Covet was totally unexpected.  The tie that bound all of the characters together was fascinating.  I had no idea how it was going to go.  Now that I know and am reading the second book in the series, Crave, it's a little more expected.  I hope that there are some surprises though!  I will let you know!
In the meantime, I hope that you have a wonderful and relaxing Thanksgiving!  Don't forget to read something!