Dream Catcher by Day and Night

Fade by Lisa McMann

The night that I started this book, bear in mind that I have already finished the first book of this series by this time, I had the most vivid nightmare. This might not be that surprising because people have dreams all of the time. The difference is that I do not remember my dreams probably 99% of the time. I’m one of those people that are genuinely surprised when I actually do remember a dream. And I’ll say something like, I had a dream last night, even though studies state that everyone dreams every night, of course I say it because it’s rare for me to remember my dreams. Back to the point I was making, I had the most vivid dream that night and of course it has to be because I was thinking about these fictional character’s dreams. The dream that I had was too horrible to talk about.

Janie Hannagan and Cabel Strumheller have a very different relationship than most teenagers, Janie is a dream catcher hired secretly by the Fieldridge police department to search dreams to catch criminal acts in their own subconscious. Cabe is an undercover employee of the same police department to find drug dealers and other law breakers. Cabe and Janie are in love and enjoying that new found love even with the bumps along the road. One added bonus is that they have to hide their relationship because of their jobs. As their love grows, Janie finds out more and more about what being a dream catcher is all about and will have to make hard decisions about not only her future, but her future with Cabe as well.

I am enjoying the premise behind this trilogy. The books are a fast pace read, while the story stays true to the plot and does not deter from the original story line. I find with some YA novels the plot is all over the place or there are separate novels within one book. This trilogy is one story, from one character’s perspective and I have enjoyed the linear feel of this book.

I have also enjoyed the simplistic-ness of the characters and their teenage relationships. Sometimes and author makes the 17 year old relationship too adult too quickly. Where these characters had to grow up too fast, both of them living on their own or having to take care of themselves100% of the time the romantic relationship seemed to stay on a young first love status throughout the first two books.

I’m sure there are plenty of reasons not to like this book, but I decided that I like it enough to ignore those and continue the series. Only one complaint would be the amount of cussing. Thanks for reading! Have you read this series or have you thought about it? Keep Reading my friends!

Your Dreams Are Not Your Own

Wake by Lisa McMann

Janie Hannagan is not a normal seventeen year old girl, she visits dreams. If someone is in the same room as she is and falls asleep, she is a part of those dreams. This secret that she doesn’t even share with her mom is a burden that she has to bear alone. Of course what’s a young adult novel without a good love story, and as their relationship grows, she struggles with keeping her secret more and more.

I enjoyed this book, it has been a long time since I’ve read a book in less than 24 hours, with a full day’s work in those hours. It is not earth shattering amazing life changing book, it’s just an original idea that’s written pretty well and has an unbelievable plot that is fun to get lost in even though it was short. I have the second book, Fade and I’m thinking about downloading the third book on my nook, which is called Gone. If you are looking for a quick fun read that will keep your attention, then this is a great suggestion. Always keep in mind that it’s young adult fiction of course.

I have seen this on reading blogs for a few years, what are your thoughts?

The Shadow of the Wind

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

We start the journey with Daniel when his father shares a secret place with him; a secret place that he has been forbidden to tell anyone about. “Welcome to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, Daniel.” The Cemetery has a long tradition, that the first time a person visits, they must take a book with them and give it a home , where the book will never disappear and will have a life of its own. Daniel found The Shadow of the Wind. A book that immediately knew that this book was meant for him, he went home and read the entire book that same night. After he had finished the book he didn’t even want to sleep for fear of losing the books magic as if it had put a spell on Daniel. He had to know more about the unknown author, Julian Carax. This begins Daniel’s years of searching and learning more about Carax and his past.

I do not want to give too much away about this book, so I will tell you how I felt, leave you with some quotes and hope upon hope that this book will land in your lap and you will find it at intriguing as I did. This gothic novel had me enraptured from the very beginning. The promise of a secret, a secret called the Cemetery of Forgotten Books had me fascinated. I wanted to jump in and tag along with Daniel and his father to pick out my very own book to take home and keep safe. The parallel between the plots was uncanny and the subplots had subplots, yet it was easy to keep up. There was so much going on within these pages that I was lost in a fictional world never wanting to leave. The writing was exceptional and the story was a great escape.

As promised, here are some of my favorite quotes, enjoy!

“This is a place of mystery, Daniel, a sanctuary. Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens.”

“Once in my Father’s bookshop, I heard a regular customer say that few things leave a deeper mark on a reader than the first book that finds its way into his heart. Those first images, the echo of words we think we have left behind, accompany us throughout our lives and sculpt a place in our memory to which, sooner or later- no matter how many books we read, how many worlds we discover, or how much we learn or forget- we will return. For me those enchanted pages will always be the ones I found among the passageways of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books.”

“There are worse prisons than words, Daniel.”

“Love is a lot like pork: there’s loin steak and there’s bologna.”

“I threw up my breakfast, my dinner, and a good amount of the anger I was carrying with me.”
“The art of reading is slowly dying, that it’s an intimate ritual, that a book is a mirror that offers us only what we already carry inside us, that when we read, we do it with all our heart and mind, and great readers are becoming more scarce by the day.”