not your typical vampire novel.

The Farm by Emily McKay is a YA novel that will keep all ages on the edge of their seats. America has just been attacked by a band of blood-sucking Ticks devouring all humans who cross their path. Twin sisters Lily and Mel were sent by their parents to the Farm for their "protection" and they (primarily Lily) share their story.

After the huge attack, parents were convinced that the Farm was the only way to keep their children safe. Little did they know, the Farm is a quarantined camp where teenagers live and farm out their blood FOR the Ticks. Lily and (autistic) Mel are about to age out of this little program, and instead of waiting to see their fate, Lily comes up with a plan to get them out of there. But who can they trust? Once they leave the Farm, there are no electric fences protecting the girls from these blood-sucking monsters. Lily realizes that it's really up to her to protect her sister and keep hope that they will find some sort of normalcy in this terrifying world.

time to get inspired.

"Being unstoppable is about believing and achieving. Its about having faith in yourself, your talents and your purpose and, most of ALL, in God's great love and His divine plan for your life."

After all of the tragedy that has hit our country lately, I'm thinking we are all in need of an inspirational story about living life to the fullest - no matter what. I haven't read Nick Vujicic's first book, so when I received a copy of Unstoppable, I was unfamiliar with his story. As you can see on the cover, he hasn't let being born without arms or legs stop him from pursuing what he refers to as "a ridiculously good life." Each chapter takes readers through a different life lesson Nick has encountered. These situations are truthful, real, and relatable. He has a way of writing, that makes you feel as if you are simply getting to know one another and he is sharing his life experiences with you.

We can all learn something from a man like Nick. This would be a great non-fiction to bring into the classroom if our country still allowed God in past the pledge of allegiance. Teens facing adversity could really benefit from Vujicic's story. Really.

when you got it, you got it.

When a series gets to it's thirteenth book, the author must be doing something right. Haven by Kay Hooper is the latest edition in the bestselling Bishop/SCU series which came out in July. This installment was another crowd pleaser if you ask me, and everyone else in the world.

For those of you who don't know, Jessie Rayburn works for Haven, a privately owned company that is associated with Bishop's FBI division. Noah Bishop and his group use their powers such as clairvoyance, empathy and medium to solve crimes. Every member of this team has some sort of special power. In this novel, Jessie has chosen to go back home to finally put her past to rest. She left Baron Hallow fifteen years earlier after a traumatic event which she can't quite remember.  Meanwhile, her younger sister Emma, who stayed in their hometown and now runs a B & B in their childhood home has been having nightmares of women being brutally murdered. The two sisters have not seen each other in fifteen years, and Hooper lets readers feel the uneasiness of their reunion. To help uncover more of the mystery, Nathan Navarro, another Haven operative whose specialty is locating dead people, is thrown into the mix. Hooper keeps us on our toes for the duration.

if you liked fifty shades...

If you liked Fifty Shades of Grey, and you're looking for the same type of erotic guilty pleasure, but with writing that is well, better, look no further than Sylvia Day's Crossfire trilogy. The first installment, Bared To You jumped from self-published eBook to Berkley published paperback very quickly as it's popularity shot through the roof.

As the story starts, Eva has moved to New York from California where she's taken a new job at an ad agency. She has a typical meet cute with Gideon, the deliciously wealthy, and just plain delicious owner of the building she works in - and sparks instantly fly. I know this storyline sounds very familiar, but give it a chance. Gideon and Eva are super dysfunctional, and don't really belong together. Hello, been there. They both know this about themselves and are trying to find a way to make things work. No matter how hard Gideon tries, Eva keeps running away. Both are very jealous and extremely possessive. Gideon has never truly committed to a woman and Eva's past has her feeling extremely vulnerable. These aren't characters that I envy by any means, but the sex is good.

better late than never.

I know I am way behind the game for this next review. What can I say? I'm a busy girl. I know ya'll are probably still exhausted from putting away all of your Christmas decorations, but bare with me.

Susan Wasinger has put together 31 extremely clever and original projects designed for that spooky time of year in her book, Artful Halloween. The materials for every project are easily accessible, and will without a doubt grab the attention of your more older, pickier, "I'm borrreeddd" children. Wasinger cleverly takes pumpkin carving to a whole new level, and includes both indoor and outdoor decorations. Some projects seem more useful than others in my opinion, but honestly my only complaint is that I wish there were more. How about a sequel?

a YA novel that practically reads itself.

Fourteen-year-old Everett Singh is the only witness to his father's kidnapping off the dark streets of London. His dad, a scientist whose area of expertise is the multiverse theory, disappears without a trace, and the authorities seem strangely unmotivated to pursue the investigation. His father did leave one very important thing behind, the Infundibulum, which is basically an iPad app that allows the holder to unravel a map of the multiverse. Everett, the brilliant mathematics protegee, sets out on a multi-dimensional quest to rescue his father.

Planesrunner, the first book in the Everness series by Ian McDonald, is a fast-paced, fun adventure story that I personally cannot wait to share with my 9th grade students.

i hope you're not busy for the next two days.

Hey, Happy New Year, people!! I am loving this whole Christmas Break thing - it's given me a lot of time to do absolutely nothing but read whatever the hell I want. I just finished an older Jodi Picoult book titled Keeping Faith, I basically spent the past 48 hours sucked in. It was a pretty wild ride.

Mariah White is head over heels in love with her husband, Colin. At the beginning of the novel their marriage seems idyllic. It's five to six pages of my husband and I can't stand to be away from each other, then BAM. Their daughter, Faith left her ballet leotard at home and when the two went home to grab it they find Colin naked in the bathroom with ANOTHER WOMAN. Picoult unravels Mariah and Colin's past pretty quickly during the aftermath. It turns out that Colin has made a bit of a habit of cheating on his wife, he did so seven years ago and Mariah was so depressed after finding him in bed with another woman that she attempted (and failed) to kill herself. Colin being the awesome dude he is, sends his wife to a mental institution. When Mariah's mother found out she came to save the day, and the two women have been very close ever since. It is her mother, Millie, who starts picking up the pieces after this most recent calamity.

To make matters more weird and uncomfortable, seven-year-old Faith starts seeing God. The rest of the story is about how the family deals with this. People start hearing about this little girl who talks to God and then seemingly performs miracles, and their lives turn into a circus. There are a lot of objective religious aspects to this novel, and Picoult handles them beautifully. She is a professional, afterall.