Fifty Shades of Grey by EL James (17+ only)

Published: May 26th 2011

Pages: 540
Format: Paperback (New)
Stars: ★ ★ ★ 


When literature student Anastasia Steele is drafted to interview the successful young entrepreneur Christian Grey for her campus magazine, she finds him attractive, enigmatic and intimidating. Convinced their meeting went badly, she tries to put Grey out of her mind - until he happens to turn up at the out-of-town hardware store where she works part-time. 

The unworldly, innocent Ana is shocked to realize she wants this man, and when he warns her to keep her distance it only makes her more desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her - but on his own terms. 

Shocked yet thrilled by Grey's singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success – his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving adoptive family – Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a passionate, physical and daring affair, Ana learns more about her own dark desires, as well as the Christian Grey hidden away from public scrutiny.

Can their relationship transcend physical passion? Will Ana find it in herself to submit to the self-indulgent Master? And if she does, will she still love what she finds?

Erotic, amusing, and deeply moving, the Fifty Shades Trilogy is a tale that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever.

Let me just start out by saying, when a book gets a lot of hype (good or bad) , I usually end up sucked into reading it. I believe that's part of being a bookworm and book blogger. We have to know so we can give an opinion on it. That is the reason that I have decided to read Fifty Shades of Grey. I just had to know!

The first thing that I have to say about this book is that I would have a lot more respect for it if it was NOT labelled as a romance novel. Why? Well to be nice, Mr Grey is an...a!s and Ana just seems to be way too  gullible  to know any better. In my opinion, that does not make a romance novel and I think that people (mostly girls and women) are really going to get the wrong idea about what true love is. Mr. Grey and Ana are NOT it.

Second point, the writing is pretty bad. I mean, I have read worse written books then this one but that doesn't make this one good. I feel like this was written by someone who knows nothing about sex or the real meaning of love.

So..If you go into this series knowing these two things, maybe you will enjoy it. It reminds me of a car crash. You try to look away but it sucks you in.

Cracked by K.M Walton

Published: January 3rd 2012

Pages: 311
Format: Hardcover (New)
Stars: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★



Sometimes there's no easy way out.

Victor hates his life. He has no friends, gets beaten up at school, and his parents are always criticizing him. Tired of feeling miserable, Victor takes a bottle of his mother's sleeping pills—only to wake up in the hospital.

Bull is angry, and takes all of his rage out on Victor. That makes him feel better, at least a little. But it doesn't stop Bull's grandfather from getting drunk and hitting him. So Bull tries to defend himself with a loaded gun.

When Victor and Bull end up as roommates in the same psych ward, there's no way to escape each other or their problems. Which means things are going to get worse—much worse—before they get better….

As soon as I saw this book and read the blurb at Barnes and Noble, I knew this would be a new favorite. I have never heard of this author or anything before I found this book but I LOVE young adult books that deal with realistic subjects and tissues.

I found Cracked to be very realistic and heart touching. I know what it's like to be very depressed and think that there is no easy way to get away from your problems. But sometimes, you have to face your problems in order to deal with them. That's exactly what this book is about. It gets you involved with the characters and makes you thankful for the life/family that you have. But it also reminds you that even through the darkest times, there is hope.

I highly recommend everyone reading Cracked or at least giving it a try.

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The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks

Published: February 28th 2012

Pages: 384
Format: Paperback (New)
Stars: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★


In his 14th book, bestselling author Nicholas Sparks tells the unforgettable story of a man whose brushes with death lead him to the love of his life. 

After U.S. Marine Logan Thibault finds a photograph of a smiling young woman buried in the dirt during his tour of duty in Iraq, he experiences a sudden streak of luck -- winning poker games and even surviving deadly combat. Only his best friend, Victor, seems to have an explanation for his good fortune: the photograph -- his lucky charm. 

Back home in Colorado, Thibault can't seem to get the woman in the photograph out of his mind and he sets out on a journey across the country to find her. But Thibault is caught off guard by the strong attraction he feels for the woman he encounters in North Carolina - Elizabeth, a divorced mother -- and he keeps the story of the photo, and his luck, a secret. As he and Elizabeth embark upon a passionate love affair, his secret soon threatens to tear them apart -- destroying not only their love, but also their lives. 

Filled with tender romance and terrific suspense, THE LUCKY ONE is an unforgettable story about the surprising paths our lives often take and the power of fate to guide us to true and everlasting love. 


I fell in love with Sparks when I first saw A Walk to Remember. Then I saw The Notebook when it first came out and as I fell more and more in love with books, I finally decided to read a book by him called The Last Song and then I was hooked. Sparks has a way of making his characters 100% realistic and I don't know anyone that can write a better love story then him. I don't see myself ever hating anything that Sparks writes and I can't wait to read more by him.


As for The Lucky One, it was a truly beautiful story but very different from what I've read and seen by Sparks. But not different in a bad way at all. Different in a good way because the plot and characters were fresh. I honestly enjoyed every second of it. It's a book all about: love, chance, mistakes, family, friends, relationships and risks. I highly recommend it.

Too Good to Be True: The Colossal Book of Urban Legends by Jan Harold Brunvand

Published: October 17th 2001

Pages: 480
Format: Paperback (New)
Stars: ★ ★ ★ ★


Brunvand has been collecting and studying urban legend modern folklore for over 20 years. In "Too Good to Be True" he captures the best stories in their best retellings, along with their latest variations and examples of how the stories have changed as they move from person to person and place to place. 70 illustrations.


I am a big fan of Urban Legends and I have been for years. So I wanted a book with tons of Urban Legends to read and keep on my shelf and while browsing on Amazon, I found this huge almost 500 page book on just Urban Legends! As soon as it arrived in the mail, I started to read it and it only took me about 2-3 days to finish. Now, I thought it was a really great book and contained some scary (and funny) urban legends but...I was a little disappointed because a lot of the stories in this book, I've already read countless numbers of times. Now, this is not the author's fault at all but I would have liked to see some different (maybe less known) legends. If you are a fan of Urban Legends though, I do recommend adding this book to your collection because it is something that is nice to have.  I also plan on reading more by Brunvand in the future.

Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers

Published: December 23rd 2008

Pages: 214
Format: Paperback (New)
Stars: ★ ★ ★ ★


When "Perfect" Parker Fadley starts drinking at school and failing her classes, all of St. Peter's High goes on alert. How has the cheerleading captain, girlfriend of the most popular guy in school, consummate teacher's pet, and future valedictorian fallen so far from grace?

Parker doesn't want to talk about it. She'd just like to be left alone, to disappear, to be ignored. But her parents have placed her on suicide watch and her conselors are demanding the truth. Worse, there's a nice guy falling in love with her and he's making her feel things again when she'd really rather not be feeling anything at all.

Nobody would have guessed she'd turn out like this. But nobody knows the truth.

Something horrible has happened, and it just might be her fault.


This book was one of the books that are really hard to rate and review. I've heard really good things about Courtney Summers in other book reviews so I decided to pick up Cracked up To Be at Barnes and Noble. It was my first Summers book and I enjoyed it for the most part. However, I kind of hated the main character Parker. Now how can I enjoy a book but hate the main character at the same time? Honestly, I don't know. Like I said, this book I had really mixed feelings about but I still felt it deserved a decent rating. I guess mainly because I felt like you could NOT love Parker and that you weren't suppose to.

Anyway, I thought the plot was touching and I liked all of the other characters. Some parts were slow but still kept my attention for the two days it took me to read this book. So overall, I would recommend checking out this book if you are interested but I wouldn't expect anything amazing. I do plan on trying to read one of her other books later down the line though.