The Wizard Heir by Cinda Williams Chima

Seph McCauley's powers as a wizard are becoming more and more out of control. So much so, that someone eventually gets hurt...seriously hurt...okay, killed. He is sent to an exclusive boys' school in Maine, one in many schools he has been sent to over time. In fact, he has been sent to so many schools, that he wholeheartedly believes this is just another temporary location until he screws up again. Boy, is he wrong.

What Seph soon finds out, is that the headmaster of the school is, in fact, a wizard himself. The school is just a facade. He created it solely for the purpose of finding people of Seph's talents...people of the Weir. He is brought in by the Alumni of the school, those who have magical power and have stayed on the grounds to help the headmaster. They treat Seph as one of their own, and tell him of the brilliance of learning under the headmaster's tutelage.

Seph soon finds that all is not as it seems. When the headmaster attempts to blood bind with him, telling him that this is the only way to become a true member of the group, Seph refuses, bringing the headmaster's wrath upon him. Seph is tormented by horrifying dreams in the time after, an attempt by the headmaster at breaking him. It will take surprising inner strength, magic spells, a much-needed escape plan, revealed secrets, and characters from the first book in this series to help Seph defeat the evil that the headmaster embodies.

This book was very well-written, and the storyline was completely amazing. I have not read the first book in this series, The Warrior Heir, but will definitely have to now. Not because I don't understand the happenings of this sequel (because this book holds its own entirely, even though it is part of a series), but because I want to know more of the story. I want to surround myself even further in the world that this wonderful author has created.

My Fair Godmother by Janette Rallison

Chrysanthemum Everstar is not really the fairy godmother you would expect. She's not a doddering old lady wearing a baby blue cloak and holding a sparkly wand. In fact, she has bubblegum pink hair, loves to shop, and gets messages on her cell whenever her ward is in need of her services. She has a tendency to get wishes wrong and gets quite annoyed when anyone interrupts her fun.

This is everything sophomore Savannah Delano finds out when she discovers that her godmother is none other than Everstar.

But before we go into the goings on with this pair, let me state WHY, exactly, she was in need of a fairy godmother in the first place.

Let's see...Savannah Delano is everything I ever wanted to be when I was in high school. Okay, well, maybe not everything. She is popular, desirable, and tends not to use her brain as much as she probably could. Not saying she is dumb, more that she finds it unnecessary to study as much as she needs to.

Her sister, however, is quite the opposite in that regard. She is more reserved...more quiet...more studious.

So it is a definite surprise to Savannah when this studiousness causes her sister to catch the heart of Savannah's boyfriend, right before prom! WHAT TO DO??

Have no fear, the fair godmother is here!

Savannah learns so much throughout this book. She learns that the medieval times did not have great hair products, dragons can be killed by using a horse and gunpowder, and that goats can be very vengeful. She also learns that princes can come in the most surprising packages.

I enjoyed this book immensely, and worked myself up trying to lead the main character in the right direction. Every page was an adventure, and I cannot wait to read the next book telling of Everstar's newest assignment.

My Big Fake Irish Life by Caitlin McKenna

Linda Symcox has it all: fame, fortune, the perfect boyfriend....Well, that's at least what she wants to have. In reality, she is an aspiring actress who, for the last five years, has been desperately trying to get work. The problem is she doesn't have any qualities that allow her to stand out in the crowd.

Her solution: become someone else entirely.

When her sister invites her on a free trip to Ireland, Linda jumps at the chance to put her training to good use and learn all she can about the culture, the people, the accents, and the geography. When she comes back, she is an entirely different personality altogether.

Add a new hair do, a new wardrobe, and the luck of the Irish, and she becomes Meghan O'Connell, an Irish actress who is best known for her Lucky Charms commercial. (Surprisingly, many people fall for this throughout the entire book.)

Meghan is going to help Linda fulfill her dreams of fame and fortune. However, when her Irish world begins to clash with her American one, Linda may reconsider how good of an idea this really was.

I was first drawn to this book because of the title. Having red hair myself, I have always felt close to my own Irish roots...sparse as they may be. This was a very enjoyable read, and I am definitely going to look up more of authoress Caitlin McKenna's work.

The Wrap-Up List by Steven Arnston

Gabriela Rivera is just your normal, everyday sixteen year old girl. She loves to hang out with her friends, she has a huge crush on a boy named Sylvester, and she has just received her death letter.

Okay...so maybe she is not so normal.

In this book by Steven Arnston, one percent of all fatalities in the world are brought about by these death letters. Letters sent by various deaths to unsuspecting humans letting them know they have only a certain amount of time left to live. In that time they must write their wrap-up list, A list of what exactly they want to accomplish before their remaining time comes to an end.

After the initial shock of receiving the letter, Gabriela gets to work on her own list. First kisses for her and all of her friends...and a pardon.

Everyone wishes for a pardon, because a pardon from your assigned death is the only thing that can save your life. The catch: she needs to figure out her death's secret weakness.

With the help of her friends, her dead grandfather, and her secret crush, Gabriela may just have a chance at staying alive.

I loved this book. It had a dark feel to it, but a beautifully dark feel. The concept of being escorted from the living world by an assigned death makes leaving the living behind seem a bit more bearable. In this wonderful story, you do not go alone.

Whodunnit: Murder in Mystery Manor by Anthony Zuiker

Ten guests arrive at Westlake Estate expecting a week of pampering and leisure. What they do not realize until it is too late...there is a killer among them. On their first day, during a wonderful dinner to kick off their week, one of the guests suddenly bursts into flames. The guest slumps to the floor dead, leaving the rest of the guests in horrored shock.

They are soon given the rules to a horrific game of life and death. A game that forces them to use their imaginations and their deductive reasoning skills to figure out how each grisly murder was committed. The cost of getting it wrong: becoming the next victim.

Each guest is pushed to their emotional limits as they deal with the killers ruthless attitude toward human life. They also begin to show their own true colours in the face of each tragedy. 

Sometimes, keeping your enemy close is the only answer.

Since I watched the show Whodunnit in its entirety, I was definitely intrigued and excited to read it in book form. The book does work like the show, but with one wonderful twist. Each death in the book can go so much farther than the individual deaths in the show could. Some of the bodies are actually dismembered! YAY! That is one point that made me extremely happy. I mean, you can only kill someone so many times while keeping their bodies whole, am I right?

Anyway...I actually listened to the audio book of this. Most likely because Giles the butler () was the one reading it. He was my favourite in that entire show!

Also, the audio book has some features that cannot be applied to the regular book. Mainly, the creepy music at the end. *Do not listen to at night if afraid of the dark.

So...I totally recommend this for fans of the show, and murder mystery buffs everywhere.

P.S.:

I CALLED THE KILLER FROM THE BEGINNING!!!

The Sacrifice: The Only Way To God by Rev. Allen Smith

It always interests me to read anything pertaining the Bible, so I was quite excited when given the opportunity to read and review The Sacrifice by Rev. Allen Smith.
This document is very well-voiced, and brings up some very good points pertaining to sin and how God reacted to sin, and how he attempted over the years to help man make its way back to Him. From the banishment of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden to the sacrifice of Jesus upon the cross, this book explains not just how God reacted to sin, but how man reacted to sin as well. While reading this, I could actually imagine it as one of those educational shows on PBS. The author obviously has a wonderful knowledge in this topic, and it shows throughout his work. I will definitely have to check out more of his work.

How Not to Murder Your Grumpy by Carol E. Wyer

Okay, must start this review out by saying that the book How Not to Murder Your Grumpy by Carol E. Wyer cracked me up when I first saw the title. Well…actually, I was more confused at first. I thought grumpy meant grandpa, and I originally thought the book was actually about murder. However, when I read an excerpt from it, I immediately knew I had to read this. Because it is not, in fact, about real murder and grandpas, it is about GOMs (Grumpy Old Men a.k.a Husbands) and wives who just want them out of their hair. It is about finding something to do in the retirement age.

I realized, though, that this book doesn't just have to apply to older people. It can apply to us younger generations as well. There are so many activities to be done around the world, so many interesting and wonderful things that can spice up life. In fact, this book gave me several ideas on things I might want to do in the near future. Things like hunting for sapphires and diamonds, or extreme ironing (something my cousin just recently started), or even putting together the world’s largest jigsaw puzzle (It is called Double Respect and has approximately 32,256 pieces…all half an inch in size.) No, I am not crazy…I just really like puzzles.

Along with informing the reader about things that we can do, there are also anecdotes, jokes, and the occasional fun fact.

For me, this book went very quickly and I quite enjoyed it.  From A to Z, Carol Wyer has included an activity for everyone. And I mean everyone…

Although, I would like to point out to Mrs. Wyer that Quidditch has actually become a real thing in the ‘muggle’ world. It was established as a real-live sport in 2005 in Middlebury, Vermont, and one of these days I vow to join a team.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves an interesting and entertaining read.