Clarity by Kim Harrington

Book: Clarity

Author: Kim Harrington

Publisher: Point

You'd feel sorry for Clarity (or Clare, as she prefers to be known). She's sort of psychic, her mother's clairvoyant, and her brother's a medium. Whenever Clare touches something, she sees things-often things she really wishes she couldn't see at all. She's also been the long-standing school freak and her boyfriend's just cheated on her with the most popular girl in town.

All-in-all, not the best summer ever.

To top it all, a rival psychic is putting severe strain on the family business and now there's a dead girl who's death is being blamed on Clares' brother Perry. Add into the mix a plucky new detective and the added complication of his hot, hot son, you'd wonder why Clare ever leaves the house. But leave it she must; the police look at set to arrest her brother for murder and Clare must use her special psychic skills to clear his name. Without getting herself, her ex, or her new love interest killed in the process...

I LOVED this book. Loved it big style. It was so good that, two thirds of the way through, I went ahead and ordered the sequel. I never do that. I just knew even before I finished it that this book and I would be life long friends. Why?

Several reasons. The writing is clean, sharp and tidy, so the plot just zips along without feeling stilted. The narrator Clare, is fabby. She's snarky and funny and you root for her from page one. And then there's the setting. It's a beach book! They live by the sea! Brownie points before I'd even cracked the spine. Okay, the ending is a wee bit predictable but whatever, I didn't really care.

Rating? Nine out of ten. A great summer read!

Saved By Cake

Book: Saved By Cake

Author: Marian Keyes

Publisher: Micheal Joseph

Guys! Following on from my recent interlude with Rachel Khoo, I have become rather enamored with cookery books and food writing. My level of skill has not progressed a bit, mind you, but some of the books have such pretty pictures!

This week, as college is finished and I had a few days off work, I decided to try baking. I purchased a mixing bowl:



and set to work.Well, I just wanted an excuse to buy the mixing bowl really. And it was on sale. But I still had to try and justify it somehow.

My efforts were wholly unsuccessful, but I did discover the sweetest cookbook ever. It's called Saved by Cake, and it's by the doyenne of women's fiction, Marian Keyes. Marian is the only chick lit author who I can read without wanting to kill-I love her! And now, she has written a cookbook!

The stuff in here is fantastic. There are all the usual suspects: blondies and brownies, muffins, cheesecake and scones (because if you are Irish and female, you have to be able to make scones. Even I can do them, and I fail at life). But there are also some mad, out-there creations: wasabi cupcakes, and a pear, almond and tahini tart for example. Like, what the hell? But they supposedly taste amazing.

Best recipe? Strawberry and Raspberry upside down cake. So delicious. And baked in the shape of a heart. Love. And even I was sort of able to make it.

Rating? Eight out of ten. It get's five just for the cover and the pics, and also for Marian's fab way of describing everything. My favourite bit was when she said that white chocolate 'suffers with it's nerves'...I love this woman.

Cover Slut

I may have mentioned at some point in the past that I, fo sho, judge books by their covers. If there's a choice between a nice cover and a not-so-nice one, I go nice cover every time, even if it means spending more. I recognize the stupidity in this, but hey.

I know that you're always being told that it's what's on the inside that counts, but when it comes to books...nah. Aesthetics are important. In short...

My name is Kitty, and I am addicted to book covers.

My point? I have recently discovered Penguin Deluxe Classics. Dude. They are so PRETTY.

Just look at Emma:



Or the Wizard of Oz:



Preeeeeeettttty. Pretty.

There are others. There's The Scarlet Letter: 



And Jane Eyre: 



I have complete book lust. I want ALL of these. I have read them all already, but now I want to get them and stroke them.

I need to delete my Book Depository account now. Otherwise I may order all of the above, and that would be bad (and, if I'm honest, I got the Jane Eyre one already....).

The times they are a-changing

Tomorrow, guys and dolls, is my last college exam.

My last undergraduate activity. Boo. And hoo. And crying. Lots of it.

I have no idea what I want to do with my life. And everyone always tells me that the year after you finish college is the worst year of your life.

All I actually want to do is watch marathons of The Big Bang Theory and cultivate my love of Leonard,  and also read all of the lovely books that I've been neglecting. But alas, I have to go to work and decide what I want to do about graduate school. Scary, scary times.

Maybe I'll win the lottery on Friday. That'd be nice.

Still, my summer reading list is exciting. I have made one hard and fast rule. I will only read books that I actually want to read. I'm not reading anything Tolstoy-ish (the only Russian I even like is Nabokov) or anything even remotely wordy and miserable. Instead, these are the books I want to read:



Book: The Raft by SA Bodeen

This doesn't come out until August, but it looks amazing. It looks like a teen version of Castaway, and I love that film.



Book: My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick 

I have been excited about this book since January when I started seeing people getting ARCs of it. It's out in early June and I am prepared to stalk my postman until it gets here.



Book: Coffeehouse Angel by Suzanne Selfors 

I got this last week and I realllllyyyy want to read it. I just haven't had a chance yet because I've been learning off reams of poetry for our last exam.



Book: Belles by Jen Calonita

I am a cover slut, and the cover of this book is just gorgeous. I  want it for my shelf. I may at some point read it, or I may just buy it and stroke it.



Book: Such a Rush by Jennifer Echols 

I do not feel like I need to justify why I want to read this. It is by Jennifer Echols. And that is all.

When You Were Mine by Rebecca Serle

Book: When You Were Mine

Author: Rebecca Serle

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

I feel like I should send Simon and Schuster a note of thanks, cause they've published everything I've read this week! Go S&S! And three for three, they've all been good books!

When You Were Mine has a sense of inevitability about it. It's a Romeo and Juliet retelling, so we kinda know how it's gonna end, but to change things up this is told from the perspective of Romeo's (or Rob's) first love.
The protagonist, Rosaline, has been in love with her best friend Rob for years, but they've only just shared their first kiss when Rosaline's beautiful cousin Juliet moves back to town. The chemistry between Rob and Juliet is instant, and Rosaline soon finds herself forgotten by the boy who was her whole world. But such instant, devouring passion is not always a good thing, and Rosaline soon finds herself concerned not just for Rob's heart, but for his very life.

I've seen several people make this comment when reviewing this book, but I'm adding in my two cents for good measure: Rob is an ass, and Rosaline shouldn't have been so hung up on him. He and Juliet deserved one another, as she was not particularly nice either. She was very prissy and spoiled; she sort of reminded me of Naomi from 90210,before she mellowed a bit. Sadly, Juliet doesn't really get the chance to do a Naomi and win us all over.

The really great thing about this book is the supporting characters. Rosaline's friends Olivia and Charlie are really well developed in their own right, and very funny. Olivia is also a touch Naomi, but in a good way! There's also Len, Rosaline's stoner lab partner, who you like even though you know you shouldn't. I also like the ending, which was very well done, especially considering the fate we all know that Rob and Juliet are destined for.

This was a great debut, and I'm looking forward to seeing what Rebecca Serle does next.

Rating: Eight out of ten

Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

Book: Second Chance Summer
Author: Morgan Matson
Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Sniff. Cry. And sniff again.

I've just finished this book, and I will warn you: it's very sad. I was not expecting this. When I read the title I thought it was going to be a nice, Lauren Barnholdt-y type of affair. Oh how wrong I was.

Taylor Edwards is seventeen and the odd one out among her siblings. Her little sister is a ballerina like their mum, and her older brother is academically brilliant like their father. The only place Taylor ever felt like she belonged was at the family lake house with her friends Henry and Lucy, but the family haven't visited the house in years. But then Taylor's father gets some devastating news, and the family decides that one last summer at the lake house might be just what they need.

Oh, God, this book is sad. Like reallllllly sad. It's brilliant and I loved it, but it's not a laugh-a-minute kind of a book. Like, you might not want to read this is you've just had a row with your mum or your boyfriend, without giving too much away. Also, the ending is not exactly happy. It's really well written and the characters are great though, and it does have a few funny moments-there's a hilarious bit where Taylor's older brother tries to flirt with a girl in a pet store that's really endearing.

Overall, a fantastic book but not the most cheerful thing I've read this month!

Rating: Nine out of ten.

Wrecked by Anna Davies

Book: Wrecked
Author: Anna Davies
Publisher: Simon and Schuster

I feel sorry for mermaid-siren-water-person type books, because it seems like nobody really likes them except me! I love Tricia Rayburn's Siren novels (cannot wait for Dark Water) so I was so excited when I got Wrecked.

Good thing number one: This book is blurbed by Becca Fitzpatrick. Love her.

Good thing number two: I loved the setting of this book. Loved it. I am guaranteed to give any book set on the coast at least a five out of ten, just for proximity of the ocean. I can't help myself.

Good thing number three: I also liked that the main character had a legitimate reason to be upset and annoyed; most of her friends were dead and she was getting the blame for what happened to them. That would irritate me! Also, the love interest Christian? Swoon worthy.

Bad things? I can't put my finger on exactly why this isn't my new favorite book. It has all the ingredients: sea, paranormal romance, bitchy grandmother. This book should be rivaling Anna and the French Kiss for my affections and it just isn't. I think that's my issue though; it's not the books fault.

Rating? A good seven out of ten. I'd definitely recommend this as a start-of-summer read.

Book Haul!!

Yay!

I only have one exam left, and it's an easy one, so I can finally start to enjoy all the lovely books that arrived in the post last week.

Four of them arrived on one day. The post man was cross. There was muttering and grumbling.

The books I got were:

Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris (finally!!)



Breaking Beautiful by Jennifer Shaw Wolf



In Honor by Jessi Kirby  (So Excited for this one!)



Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson (I've started this one and it's great)



Now I just need to quit my job and my life so that I can read full time!

Social Suicide (Deadly Cool #2)

Hand up who loves Nancy Drew? Lots of you? Fantastic. If, like me, you were raised on a diet of Nancy Drew novels and Murder She Wrote (woooo Jessica Fletcher) then you are going to love this book.

Note to all: Social Suicide is a sequel. The first one is called Deadly Cool. You can happily read Social Suicide with no prior knowledge of the series but as Deadly Cool is awesome, why would you be doing that?

Anyway! We open the novel in the aftermath of our narrator Hartley's first adventure, and like all good amateur sleuths she has now taken a post as a reporter on the school newspaper. In her new capacity, she gets asked to investigate the Queen Bee who is at the centre of (gasp! shock! horror!) a mathematics cheating scandal! Hartley thinks it's great that she's secured an interview with aforementioned Queen Bee...but then the Queen Bee is found dead in her swimming pool! Now Hartley must find the killer...before he strikes again!

I loved this little book to bits and pieces. It's such a good series. Yes, the culprit is gonna be a bit obvious to all of us who did eat Nancy Drew books as small children, but who cares? This book is so funny and has such a cute romance in it that you won't even care.

Now. Stop reading. And go out and get this book. Well, get in on May 10th when it comes out but in the meantime prepare yourselves with the first installment!

Coming soon: I get a ridiculous number of books in the post and our mail/post man yells at me...

Insert Random Excited Noise Here

Yesterday was a good day, I think we are all in agreement. Yes. Very good day.

Then, after I had posted last night, my mam arrives in from clothes shopping, and presents me with this:



Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

This is not due out til the 8th!! And for whatever reason, because I'd pre-ordered Insurgent I didn't pre-order this one. And I'm now glad I didn't because my mam is awesome and she thought I needed cheering up from my research project induced misery. I have nooooooo time to read this (and technically I'm still reading City of Fallen Angels) but yaaaaaaaay!

And the cover is so pretty.

I am a happy bunny!

Best. Wednesday. Ever.

As if my day had not been made awesome enough by the fact that Insurgent arrived this morning (see hysterical and incoherent post below) I getin from college to discover two things:

1. The continous assessment grades for The Worst Class In History had been released, and by some miracle I did not fail.

2. THIS arrived while I was out:



I may need to lie down now. It's too much good stuff to happen to a girl in a single day.

Hooooray!!!

Guess what came today?! Guess?!

No? Okay, I'll tell you....Insurgent!!!!



I have abandoned study temporarily to start it. I am fifty pages in and it is amazing.

Buy this book. And that is all.