Deleted scenes from the lovely Rainbow Rowell....

For those of you who are not aware, I am a huge fan of Rainbow Rowell, author of Attachments, Eleanor & Park and the upcoming Fangirl.  You can imagine my delight when I she shared on Twitter that she has a few deleted scenes from Attachment available on her blog. 

Please share in my joy.

Review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Usually all my reviews begin with a brief summary of the book, but because I don't want to spoil even a second of this plot for anyone all I will only tell you this:

This book is about a girl with cancer.  You will laugh.  You will ball your eyes out, but you will never be sorry you read it.

This book is perfection.  Children with cancer are always described as strong and heroic and while Hazel is all of these things, she's also a 16 year old girl - a sarcastic, eye rolling teenager, trying to navigate her life.  She makes it clear to the reader that her disease may dictate what she is able to do, but it doesn't define her as a person.

And Augustus...sigh. Forget about Edward Cullen!  Augustus is the sweet, playful guy I fall in love with - my Jesse Swanson (Pitch Perfect) or Jim Halpert (The Office).  Most of the time, this type of chracter gets overlooked for the bad boy or the sauve guy, but Green makes lets him shine.  Within pages of meeting him, like Hazel, you will wonder where he has been all your life. 

Highly reccomended for those who love:

• The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
• Megan McCafferty's Jessica Darling series
• Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Review: Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

Libby Day was the only survivor of the brutal murder of her family, known as The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas - the innocent little girl who hid in the snow while her brother murdered her mother and 2 sisters.

Years later, Libby can no longer play the victim.  Her book deal failed, because no one is interested in the grown up Libby Day...except for the Kill Club - a group of murder enthusists.  Maybe they might interested in having Libby investigate the murder....

What I loved about Gillian Flynn's writing is that she is has no qualms about making her leads chracters unlikable.  Libby is unapologetically about her lack of ambition.  She doesn't work, has no friends, but what made this portrayal convincing, was that she didn't want anything.  This type of character usually wants the best for as little as possible, but Libby, she just wanted to be left alone.  It made watching her her struggle to research her family that much more compelling. 

Here was a woman who went from no interest in anything, who was now obsessed with her own journey.  It was fabulous!

Highly recommended for fans of Gone Girl (Flynn's latest novel), Megan Abbott and Sara Gran.