Book #6 Saving Rachel - John Locke

My sixth book of the year was by far the weirdest of my choices but despite it's weirdness I found it to be an entertaining although completely far fetched at times read.   It was a quick read that I finished in a day and although short it kept me entertained throughout.  

Book #5 Sisterhood Everlasting - Ann Brashares

My fifth book of the year had me revisiting some old friends by the names of Bridget, Tibby, Carmen and Lena.  This book takes place 10 years after the last book and we find that the girls have settled into their adult lives and are fast approaching their 30th birthdays.   When out of the blue they get and invite to Greece from Tibby who over the last few years has grown very distant from the other girls, they all decide that this is just what they need for the Septembers to feel close again.   When the time arrives all the girls set off for their rendezvous in Greece with Tibby, little did they know that when Tibby set up this gathering she would teach them all something about themselves and each other that they didn't already know.  


   Having read all the books in the Sisterhood series I found this to be a good way to close out the series.   

Book #4 The Virgin Cure - Ami McKay

This was my second Ami McKay book that I have read the first being The Birth House which I thoroughly enjoyed and this book proved to be just as enjoyable. 

Publishers excerpt;

Knopf Canada | October 25, 2011 | Hardcover

Following in the footsteps of The Birth House, her powerful debut novel, The Virgin Cure secures Ami McKay''s place as one of our most beguiling storytellers. (Not that it has to… that is pretty much taken care of!)

"I am Moth, a girl from the lowest part of Chrystie Street, born to a slum-house mystic and the man who broke her heart." So begins The Virgin Cure, a novel set in the tenements of lower Manhattan in the year 1871. As a young child, Moth''s father smiled, tipped his hat and walked away from his wife and daughter forever, and Moth has never stopped imagining that one day they may be reunited - despite knowing in her heart what he chose over them. Her hard mother is barely making a living with her fortune-telling, sometimes for well-heeled clients, yet Moth is all too aware of how she really pays the rent.

Life would be so much better, Moth knows, if fortune had gone the other way - if only she''d had the luxury of a good family and some station in life. The young Moth spends her days wandering the streets of her own and better neighbourhoods, imagining what days are like for the wealthy women whose grand yet forbidding gardens she slips through when no one''s looking. Yet every night Moth must return to the disease- and grief-ridden tenements she calls home.

The summer Moth turns twelve, her mother puts a halt to her explorations by selling her boots to a local vendor, convinced that Moth was planning to run away. Wanting to make the most of her every asset, she also sells Moth to a wealthy woman as a servant, with no intention of ever seeing her again.

These betrayals lead Moth to the wild, murky world of the Bowery, filled with house-thieves, pickpockets, beggars, sideshow freaks and prostitutes, but also a locale frequented by New York''s social elite. Their patronage supports the shadowy undersphere, where businesses can flourish if they truly understand the importance of wealth and social standing - and of keeping secrets. In that world Moth meets Miss Everett, the owner of a brothel simply known as an "infant school." There Moth finds the orderly solace she has always wanted, and begins to imagine herself embarking upon a new path.

Yet salvation does not come without its price: Miss Everett caters to gentlemen who pay dearly for companions who are "willing and clean," and the most desirable of them all are young virgins like Moth. That''s not the worst of the situation, though. In a time and place where mysterious illnesses ravage those who haven''t been cautious, no matter their social station, diseased men yearn for a "virgin cure" - thinking that deflowering a "fresh maid" can heal the incurable and tainted. 

Through the friendship of Dr. Sadie, a female physician who works to help young women like her, Moth learns to question and observe the world around her. Moth''s new friends are falling prey to fates both expected and forced upon them, yet she knows the law will not protect her, and that polite society ignores her. Still she dreams of answering to no one but herself. There''s a high price for such independence, though, and no one knows that better than a girl from Chrystie Street.

Book #3 The Sisters Brothers - Patrick deWitt

   My third choice for the year was my first Western themed book and I was not disappointed, I actually think I have found a new favorite genre of fiction.  In this book we find ourselves following the crazy adventure of the notorious Sisters brothers Eli and Charlie.   The two brothers are complete opposites, but despite their differences they have each others back no matter what unexpected hiccup may come up on their quest to find Hermann Kermit Warm.  The brothers are what you would call the old west version of modern day hit men, they do the messy jobs no one else wants to.    I found the story to be a non stop adventure and read the book in a couple days.  


 The publishers excerpt;
House Of Anansi Press Inc | October 15, 2011 | Trade Paperback

Hermann Kermit Warm is going to die. The enigmatic and powerful man known only as the Commodore has ordered it, and his henchmen, Eli and Charlie Sisters, will make sure of it. Though Eli doesn''t share his brother''s appetite for whiskey and killing, he''s never known anything else. But their prey isn''t an easy mark, and on the road from Oregon City to Warm''s gold-mining claim outside Sacramento, Eli begins to question what he does for a living - and whom he does it for.With The Sisters Brothers, Patrick deWitt pays homage to the classic Western, transforming it into an unforgettable comic tour de force. Filled with a remarkable cast of characters - losers, cheaters, and ne''er-do-wells from all stripes of life - and told by a complex and compelling narrator, it is a violent, lustful odyssey through the underworld of the 1850s frontier that beautifully captures the humour, melancholy, and grit of the Old West and two brothers bound by blood, violence, and love

Book# 2 Perfect People - Peter James

For my second read of the year I went with a book that I had heard a lot of good things about.   Peter James' Perfect People is a great example of what happens when nature takes a back seat to science.   We follow the life of a couple John & Naomi who lose thier young son to a rare genetic disease.   Now a couple years later they are ready to have another child but they want to make sure this child doesn't have the same fate as their first.   This is where Doctor Dettore comes in, not only can he guarantee them a child that will be illness free, he can offer them a child that they design entirely from scratch whatever you want he can give that child.   It's at this point where this start to go from bad to worse.....   

  I really enjoyed this book, it had just the right amount of science , drama and mystery to keep me turning the page.

 Here is the publishers run down;

All they wanted was a healthy child...What they got was the perfect nightmare. I Can Eradicate All Diseases...John and Naomi Klaesson are devastated after the death of their child from a rare genetic disorder. More than anything they want another, but the chances of their next child being born with the same defect are high. I Can Give You the Child You Have Always Wanted...Then they hear about Doctor Leo Dettore. He has methods that can spare them the heartache of ever losing another child to any disease, and so begins their journey. I Can Make Perfect People...They should have known something was wrong when they saw the list. Choose the eye colour, hair, great sporting ability. They can design their child. Now it's too late to turn back. Naomi is pregnant, and already something is wrong...

Book# 1 The Lost Girls - Jennifer Baggett, Holly C Corbett & Amanda Pressner

This was my first book of 2012, I wasn't sure if I would like it as I have always been a fiction reader, but I was pleasently surprised.  I really enjoyed following  Jennifer, Holly and Amanda as they set out to find themselves.    At several points throughout the book I found myself thinking that it would have been a lot of fun to do what they did, just up and leave your job and head out for a once in a lifetime adventure with your friends. 

  Here is the publishers run down on the book.

HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS | April 18, 2011 | Trade Paperback

With their thirtieth birthdays looming, Jen, Holly, and Amanda are feeling the pressure to hit certain milestonesÂ-score the big promotion, find a soul mate, have 2.2 kids. Instead, they make a pact to quit their jobs, leave behind everything familiar, and embark on a yearlong round-the-world search for inspiration and direction.
Traveling 60,000 miles across four continents, Jen, Holly, and Amanda push themselves far outside their comfort zones to embrace every adventure. Ultimately, theirs is a story of true friendshipÂ-a bond forged by sharing beds and backpacks, enduring exotic illnesses, trekking across mountains, and standing by one another through heartaches, whirlwind romances, and everything in the world in between.

I took the Pledge!

After seeing it mentioned several time on Twitter via Harper Collins and The Savvy Reader I decided to join thousands of other readers and take the Pledge to read 50 books this year.   So join me as I blog about each book on this reading adventure.

  If you would like to join here is where you too can take the pledge; #50BookPledge