Vampire Academy series - By Michelle Read

Vampire Academy Series

By Michelle Read

Another fictional series about vampires written by Michelle Read.. Some basics about the types of vampires in this series.

First there are Moroi vampires – these are the good vampires who can do magic and control one of the four elements of fire, earth, water and air. Then there is the Strigoi vampire – they are dead, evil and immortal.. they kill without hesitation and feed on Moroi blood to make them extinct. Third are the dhampirs i.e the guardians – these are half human and half moroi. They guard the Moroi’s from Strigoi’s. Each dhampir is assigned to a Moroi and their only purpose in life is to protect their ward from the Strigoi.

Now about the books:

Book1 – Vampire Academy: This is the story of Lissa Dragomir a Moroi and Rose Hathaway a dhampir. These best friends are studying at St Vladimir Academy and they share a unique bond between themselves literally... meaning Rose can enter into Lisa’s thoughts and see and feel whatever Lisa experiences. Rose is fiercely protective of Lissa and wants to become her guardian when she graduates. But there is someone within campus doing nasty things to Lissa by sending her dead animals.. Rose wants to find out who it is and protect Lissa from any conspiracy. She also takes special classes from an expert guardian Dimitri on whom she has a crush too.. Between controlling her feelings for Dimitri, shielding herself from the nasty rumours about her and Lissa, Rose also has to protect Lissa from someone who is out to destroy her.... Can she save Lissa from the bad vampires???????

Book2 – Frostbite: In this one a group of Strigoi have killed a royal Moroi family and their guardians sending  the vampire world in a state of shock....Protection of Moroi suddenly becomes a hot topic of discussion all around the vampire world. Some Moroi’s want to fight Strigoi themselves along with guardians whereas few other Moroi’s are against the idea. Meanwhile the students of St Vladimir Academy are on a skiing holiday during Christmas when Rose and her friends actually face a pair of Strigoi and have to fight them or become their prey...

Book3 – Shadow Kiss: The guardians of St Vladimirs are given the test of field experiences i.e they are each assigned to a Moroi in the academy and they have to protect their ward against fake attacks from their teachers. Meanwhile Rose undergoes certain experiences where she realizes that she can sees the ghost of dead people killed by the Strigoi.... Her teachers think she is going mad and go easy on her but this just infuriates her.... There is a Strigoi attack on the academy and the teachers have to protect themselves and the Moroi kids. Will they be able to do it; will Rose be able to prove herself again.. the fights are bloody with a totally unexpected ending..

Book4 – Blood Promise:  Rose Hathaway is living a nightmare on her eighteenth birthday. She has to make a difficult choice between her best friend Lissa and the love of her life who has turned Strigoi. She wants to kill her “prince” but she has to leave the Academy for that. Even if she leaves the Academy does she have the ability to fight the strongest, powerful guardian turned Strigoi?? What happens in the encounter between a novice and a Strigoi....it’s a deadly fight one which you would enjoy reading..  

Book5 – Spirit Bound: This is by far the most exciting book of the Vampire Academy series.. Rose and Lissa discover a way to turn Stigoi back to a living form. But to Rose’s disappointment it seems impossible, even though she wants it to work.... She is receiving death threats from a Strigoi who is going to find her where ever she is and kill her.... The encounter with this Strigoi is again amazing and mind blowing.... will they attempt to save themselves and kill the Strigoi or try to turn him back into a living form????????On the other side they have graduated from school and Lissa goes to stay at the Royal court where all the royal Moroi lives and then will join a college nearby... As usual Rose goes with her hoping to get assigned to Lissa as her guardian.. but she is soon caught in the politics of the Moroi vampire world and is accused of a murder she claims not to have committed...

The last two books are really good and worth reading once.... Some unexpected twists and turns in Book 4 and 5. Waiting for the last one :)

Book6 is on the way and expected to release in December 2010.... more on that when it releases.

Message in a Bottle - Nicholas Sparks

Message in a Bottle

By Nicholas Sparks

The story starts with Theresa a journalist finding a bottle near the beach in Cape Cod.. Inside the bottle is a letter addressed to a lady called Catherine and written by a stranger named Garrett where she learns that Garrett is separated from his wife and has expressed his sadness and his feelings in form of a letter.

Theresa is divorced from her husband who had broken her trust and is a single mom now raising her son Kevin in Boston. She is touched on reading the letter and somehow feels a connect with this man... She intuitively feels that this guy is different from all the guys she has known and is drawn towards him.....Then begins a journey where Theresa goes in search of Garrett which leads her to a small town called Wilmington in North Caroline... 

Theresa meets Garrett and finds that he is the man of her dreams.. Garrett who is trying to live everyday thinking of his dead wife finds a friend in Theresa.

Can their long distance relationship survive???? Can Garrett forget Catherine ever??? Is it possible for him to love someone second time over???

It is a nice book with a sad ending.. still worth reading once...

Enjoy J

Southern Lights - By Danielle Steel

Southern Lights

By Danielle Steel

Southern Lights is the story of a mother and daughter Alexa and Savannah respectively. They live in New York where Alexa is the assistant DA who prosecutes criminals. Alexa is divorced from Savannah’s father Tom who lived in Charleston and is still bitter even after 10 years of divorce since Tom betrayed her and went back to his first wife Luisa.

Alexa’s troubles start when she is preparing for a trial to prosecute Luke Quentin, a serial killer accused of the rape and murder of eighteen women. Her daughter Savannah who is seventeen years old gets creepy threatening letters and Alexa is scared that Luke is behind it and will harm Savannah in some way. She decides to send Alexa with her father Tom to Charleston for a few months even though she hates him and can’t bear to even talk to him face to face.

Savannah moves to Charleston for a few months where she starts school and tries to adjust to life without her Mom for a few months... it’s not easy for both Alexa and Savannah but it has to be done for their safety.

The rest of the story deals with Savannah’s relationship with her father’s family in Charleston where she grows up and matures a lot in the months she is away from New York. Alexa has to cope with the pressures of a high profile trial and being away from her daughter is difficult... but she does it.

                                                                                                                                                  

It’s a nice and simple story about two people and how they deal with their relationships and move on with life... a good read. 

The Wedding - By Nicholas Sparks

The Wedding

By Nicholas Sparks

The Wedding is the story of a middle age couple Wilson and Jane Lewis who have been married for 30 years. Jane is the daughter of Allie and Noah Calhoun from "The Notebook" fame.

Having worked hard for 30 years one day Wilson realises that he has neglected his personal life and his relationship with Jane has deteriorated. He gets this realisation when he forgets their wedding anniversary for the first time in 30 years.. He is not even sure if Jane loves him anymore.

Then starts a journey in his life where he starts wooing his wife again like he had done 30 years ago and tries to win her back.

He decides to surprise her with something unusual at their next marriage anniversary which is going to be their daughter’s wedding day too... He works hard all year taking some time off work and romancing his wife again; reliving all past memories and then pleasantly surprising her on the wedding day.

But its not so easy since he is not a man who can speak out his emotions clearly.. he has difficulty saying what he really wants to.. and to his help comes Noah his father in law, his daughter Anna and his entire family and friends who help him to surprise his wife.

Noah is featured on and off in this book and the writer does a wonderful job blending him in the story with Winston and Jane. The climax is truly special and one which at least I didn’t expect.. simply unbelievably awesome. :)

A wonderfully written book.. just loved it.. a must read for all married couples.:) :)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's stone: Author - J K Rowling

Harry Potter Series

Author: J K Rowling

Book I: Harry Potter and Sorcerer’s Stone

Here comes a book set in a total fantasy world about wizards and witches. Not the first of its kind but had captured the attention of everybody from a young kid to an old man....all were completely involved with the adventures of Harry Potter in the Howgarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In this first book Harry is thrilled to learn that he is a wizard and even more thrilled to learn that he can stay away from his uncle’s family to study at a school called Howgarts...

Harry is astounded to discover that he is already famous in the magic world being the only person in this queer world to face a death curse and thwart it to live.. no one knows how he did it including himself. He learns the truth of his parents’ death and how his mother Lily had sacrificed herself to protect him from death... and how an evil wizard Voldemort was destroyed...

On the train he meets his soon to be best friend for life Ron Weasley and they both are placed in the same house “Gryffindor”. Harry’s life totally changes after coming to Howgarts and he is caught in studying about magic and discovers new facts about his dead parents James and Lily Potter which he had no clue of earlier.

But being James’ son he can’t stay away from trouble.. and soon after one such incident finds a new friend in the “Miss Know all” of the school Hermione.. Harry, Ron and Hermoine are inseparable soon and spend all their time together. Alas their curious nature is tested when they wish to solve a mystery about the secret thing stored in the school...

Many startling facts, twists and surprises come in front of Harry which he has to face to solve the mystery...

The climax is amazingly well written and the real culprit comes as a shock to Harry and the readers as well...

Some of my favourite parts in the book are The first Quidditch match played by Harry.. one of the most amazing sport which the author has fantasized about.. its well written, fast paced and too good. One of the touching parts is when Harry sees his parents in The Mirror of Erised, his feelings on seeing his dead parents are too good.

The friendship between Harry, Ron, Hermione and Hagrid is also very very well brought out. But the best moments come in the climax when they solve the mysteries and also when Harry and gang win points for their house and lift the Gryffindor cup.. the utter disbelief mixed with happy expressions on their faces are so well depicted.

About few of the characters in the book

Harry Potter– The absolute favourite 11 year old wizard in the book

Ron – Harry’s best friend and confidant for life.

Hermione – The studious, nerd, never to break rules kind of a girl...

The kind of friendship between Harry, Ron and Hermione is a kind which every kid would want to have.. absolutely loyal, sincere and totally supportive of each other.

Hagrid – The half giant gamekeeper at Howgarts and Harry’s absolutely most favourite person in the school

Professor Dumbledore – Headmaster of Howgarts, an eccentric and genius wizard. The only person whom Voldemort feared... he absolutes loves Harry and keeps a close watch on him even though Harry never realizes it.

Professor McGonagall – The strict teacher and Head of Gryffindor house... a severe tickler for rules, her mere eye contact with a person is commanding and enough to scare you. But beneath the strict look is the loving and caring heart of a woman who is concerned about the safety and well being of all her students

Professor Snape – Potions master and head of Slytherin house.. who for some unknown reason hates Harry and Harry shares a mutual hatred for him... The encounters between Snape and Harry are amazingly written; the progression of Snape’s character through out all the seven books in the series is mind blowing.

You Know Who (Voldemort) – The most evil wizard in the magic world who killed Harry’s parents but couldn’t kill Harry.. was destroyed by his own death curse... few people still believe that You Know Who is just biding his time and will make a comeback soon; will Harry be able to destroy Voldemort again????????????

Twilight series... Book II: New Moon: Author - Stephanie Meyer

Continuing the story of Twilight Bella dreams of being with Edward all her life... But her dreams are shattered when Edward leaves Forks forever with his family after an incident which took place at Bella’s birthday party where Jasper nearly pounced on her wanting to kill her and taste her blood which has spilled by accident. Bella is heartbroken and cant stand separation from her beloved Edward and is shattered for days together. Only a warning from her dad to move her back with her mom brings her back to senses and she tries to carry on with life.. She renews her friendship with Jacob Black from La Push. They both become very good friends soon with Jacob wanting to take their relationship to the next level while she is not yet ready to carry on… Alas everything changes again in Bella’s life when Jacob suddenly becomes unresponsive and stops talking to her for no reason… She is again heartbroken on losing a friend but decides to find out the reason behind Jacob’s silence… Soon another truth comes to light which completely shocks her but doesn’t break her friendship with Jacob… Meanwhile a small misunderstanding leads Edward to believe that Bella is dead and he goes to Italy to confront Volturi the royal vampire family who can destroy any vampire who breaks the rules…….. So does Edward die? What happens to Bella and Jacob? Will Edward come back to Bella or is this the end of their love story??????…. 

Twilight - Author: Stephenie Meyer

Twilight is about Isabella Swan who calls herself as Bella. She has come to Forks a small town in USA from Phoenix to live with her dad Charlie when her mom remarries and moves to Jacksonville with her new husband. She doesn’t realize that her life would turn 180 degrees when she moves here. By nature she is an introvert, caring and “accident prone’ girl who is a magnet for disaster and can’t spend even a day without getting involved into a mishap… After coming to Forks she sees “the most handsome and gorgeous guy on earth” Edward Cullen and his family in school.. she finds each and every person in his family good looking J; however her friends warn her that Edward never dates and the Cullen family doesn’t interact very socially with others and they are a very very close knit family. On her very first day in school Edward ignores her like she is a disease and doesn’t even talk to her… it’s as if talking to her would be a death sentence for him. He is missing for the next few days and when he comes back apologizes for his rudeness.. a slow friendship starts between them even though Edward keeps warning her that being his friend is not safe for Bella.. but she doesn’t care. She wants to know this guy further and wants to know the real Edward behind the façade.. When Edward miraculously saves her from getting crushed under a van she realizes that this guy is not normal.. there is something really super natural about him. She tries to find out the truth behind this gorgeous guy when he saves her a second time from a pack of goons..... After learning some old stories from a friend who thinks it all superstition she discovers that Edward and his family have a lot of traits of vampires like... (read the book to find out J J). However this doesn’t stop her from being attracted to him and in her words she is “dazzled” by the handsome guy so much that she doesn’t even care that she is playing with fire. Edward is also very much taken with this girl who keeps attracting trouble for herself where ever she goes.. not even a day would go when she wouldn’t stumble and fall down somewhere and Edward would be there to protect her.. The bond between them slowly deepens and they become inseparable after sometime….

But again trouble awaits her in the form of a tracker James who sees her with the Cullen family one day and finds her scent too tasty to ignore. James has never failed in tracking and killing his prey once he gets attracted... He never misses his prey and now he has his eyes set on Bella.... What happens to Bella now... will she end up on James dinner menu or in the safe arms of Edward or something worse????

It is the most fast pacing and not to be put down book once you start reading....