Harper Connelly Mysteries Part1

Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris

First word that comes to mind is, BORING! It took me 2 weeks to read this book, just because I didn’t want to read it after I started it.  The main character Harper Connelly has a strange ability to sense when she is near dead people, she developed after being electrocuted by lightning.  The story is an interesting idea, I have not read any books with this concept before but it was just not developed well. 

Harper travels with her step brother Tolliver who is a strange character that I think the audience is supposed to relate to since there is not a lot to relate to with Harper, but he falls short on a loveable character.  Plus their relationship is a little weird, I thought at any moment they were going to jump into bed together, thankfully that did not happen.  I have read most of the Sookie Stackhouse books by the same author, but where Sookie is a fun loveable character with a strange ability, she is relatable and well written, Harper is boring and uninteresting. 

The reason I read this book in the first place is because I borrowed the second and third book from a friend and I’ve had them for years. I am working through my borrowed books and thought, this will be a fast read before the next book club book.  Well I was wrong, it was not a quick read and I never got to the book club book.

Well I am not going to go into any more detail about this book because it just is not worth my time.  But true to character, I am going to try and read the borrowed second and third book of this series, if I don’t get to it, no lost sleep will happen.  Keep reading my friends!

For you, a thousand times over

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

The Kite Runner reads like a memoir, but is actually a novel.  It is an intriguing book set mainly in Afghanistan and covers the course of a young man’s life from childhood to adulthood and the different struggles he went through to accept the path that his life choices made.  We journey through Amir’s life and learn about his friendship with his servant’s son, his constant wish to be loved by his father, and his struggles to learn how to become a good person.

This book was great.  It was eye opening in a way that the news can’t be.  His perspective of what he grew up in, going from a rich home where everything was provided for him when the monarchy ruled Afghanistan to destitute and escape when Russia took over his mother country to the struggle of going back and seeing the death of his country during the Taliban’s rule.  He and his father escape to America before the Taliban takes over and he returns to a world he did not know existed except through media. 

I enjoyed this book very much.  It was well written and kept my attention locked in for the course of the 371 pages.  I read this book fairly quickly and I wanted it to last and last.  I borrowed the Kite Runner from a friend and I have also borrowed A Thousand Splendid Suns by the same author and I am excited to read it.  I have to take a break and process my thoughts before I jump into another book by the same author.  Although I loved this story, it has opened my eyes to a life that I did not know existed either in America or across the globe.  We are extremely spoiled as Americans and it’s hard for me to keep the world in perspective when I have my comfortable job and my wonderful home and my 2 paid for vehicles. 

I loved Amir, he was a character that I could relate too.  He makes a decision early in life and he regrets it for many years, but he learns to live with it.  He was a great character to grow up with too, hearing how he felt as a child sitting on his Baba’s knee, yearning to be loved, it is heartbreaking.  We watched what decisions made him into the man that he became.  As he became an adult, and fell in love, I enjoyed reading his relationship with his wife Soraya, it was traditional Afghani yet American at the same time.  I wonder how many couples must live this way in America, open and free under their roof, but drastically different under the eyes of their elders.

I know that I’m a few years behind, this book rocked the Bestseller lists many years ago, but have you read it?  What did you think?  Did you read A Thousand Splendid Suns?  Keep Reading my friends! 

Love is a mortal sin and the secrets of the past prove deadly

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

This is the third book in the Mortal Instruments series and I just have to say that I am in love with this series!  The series continues with my favorite characters Jace and Clary needing to get to Alicante, the Shadowhunter’s capital.  Jace is trying as hard as he can to keep Clary, his sister, out of the City and possibly out of danger.  The Clave, the Shadowhunter’s form of government, has requested an audience with Clary, in order to tell her side of what happened on the boat with Valentine at the end of City of Ashes.  Well we all know that it would be a short book if Jace could keep Clary out of danger and out of the City of Glass.

Of course my first reaction to this book was the cover, who is this black haired guy on the front of the book?  My first guess was Alec because he is a dark haired Shadowhunter, but then enters Sebastian.  He is dark and mysterious and Clary definitely thinks he is good looking, but there is something about him that she keeps him at arm’s length.   They have several interactions and although she can’t shake her feelings for Jace, she knows that as siblings there can be nothing between them.  So, Sebastian is a good second choice for now, or so she thinks at first.

There is so much that takes place in this book, to recap the entire book would be silly, so I will just give a few thoughts and encourage you to read this series.  This is a series that I have not just read, but I have devoured.  I have enjoyed every minute of my time with these well written characters.  I feel what each character feels, I laugh and cry and am evolved with their every move in each book and with each new character that is introduced.  I will speak shortly on the “well written” phrase from above.  Clare is not a perfect writer and it is YA literature, but the characters are so in-depth that you truly get lost in the story and are oblivious to any mistakes that may take place.  I actually can’t remember any errors, but I have read some reviews that say it is written too simplistic and there is not enough depth, it’s for teenagers, get over it!

I have read each of these books so quickly, I cannot wait to re-read them and keep them on my shelf to love them forever.  I love how each story unfolds and the audience is moved to believe what Clare is telling us to believe and with each complication and movement of the story, I lament or rejoice with these characters that I have grown to love.

If you are a lover of young adult literature, this is the next series for you!!!  Keep reading my friends!