Books I Read Whilst Sick

So I had the plague. Again. This isn't really a review of anything, because I was usually too loopy to review, but here's what I read.

Night Child by Jes Battis (OSI #1)

Published: May 27th, 2008 by Ace Books

Genre: Adult urban fantasy/mystery

Binding: Paperback

Page Count: 292

Part of a series: Yes.

Amazon link.

Summary (from goodreads): That's a dead vampire, I thought. My boss dragged me out of bed at two in the morning to see a dead vampire? I might be an Occult Special Investigator for Vancouvr's Mystical Crime Lab, but a dead vampire is routine and no reason to disturb a person's sleep. Then I took a closer look at the body...

Tess Corday soon realizes that there is not going to be anything ordinary about this cares - not the lab results on the cause of death; not Mia Polanski, the teenage girl living at the address found in the vamp's pocket, who may well be in thrall to a demon; and certainly not Lucian Agrado, the necromancer who is liaison to the vampire community. Agrado is supposed to be part of the solution, but Tess suspects he might be part of the problem.

Under pressure from her boss, Tess is trying to go by the book on this one. But when Mia reaches out to her, she risks her career to help the girl - and finds herself in the middle of a paranormal conspiracy that will change her life forever.

Or possibly end it...

A Flash of Hex by Jes Battis (OSI #2)

Published: May 26th, 2009 by Ace Books
Genre: Adult urban fantasy/mystery
Binding: Paperback
Page Count: 371
Part of a series: Yeppers.
Amazon link.

Summary (from goodreads): As an Occult Special Investigator, Tess Corday has seen her fair share of disturbing crime scenes - but nothing has ever shocked her as much as the ritualistic murder of a drugged-out runaway kid, who she soon learns was not the first such victim.

All the dead teens had traces of the dangerous magical drug called Hex in their bodies. All were the children of powerful mage families. All were killed with the sacred tools of mages. It adds up to the chilling possibility that the OSI is dealing with a serial killer, one who has incredible inhuman powers.

To stop the slaughter, Tess and her partner, Derrick, will go anywhere and do anything - including seeking help from the necromancer Lucian Agrado, whom Tess is under orders to avoid. But as the deaths continue, Tess becomes convinced that the identity of the killer is locked inside her own head. And the question is, how many rules is she willing to break to get to the truth?

Inhuman Resources by Jes Battis (OSI #3)

Published: May 25th, 2010 by Ace Books

Genre: Adult urban fantasy/mystery

Binding: Paperback

Page Count: 305

Part of a series: If you haven't figured that out by now, you're probably on more drugs than I am.

Amazon link.

Summary (from goodreads): Occult Special Investigator Tess Corday is not known for her people skills. If a crime's been committed, she wants the guilty party to face justice - end of story. But when a powerful necromancer is killed, Tess has to handle the heavy politics in the occult community as carefully as she handles the scant evidence.

A priceless suit of armor may know something about the murder, but it's not talking. Neither is Tess's sometime consultant, sometime lover, Lucian Agrado - who is officially representing the necromancers in the grisly matter.

Tracking down the necromancer's killer will pit Tess against old enemies, draw her into forbidden realms - and force her to confront a nightmarish truth that will change her world forever...

Thoughts: I didn't want to do a real review on these, because I didn't read them in a reviewing frame of mind, but I did want to mention them. If you read adult books, I highly recommend you read them. They're really, really good and the author is Canadian, which is really cool. (Seriously... the bio in the back of the books says he lives like two hours away from me. It's crazy cool.) And as a big fan of murder mysteries, I really enjoyed that element as well. Recommend.

Always and Forever Friends by C.S. Adler

Published: 1990 by Avon Camelot (my edition), 1988 by Houghton Mifflin

Genre: MG contemporary fiction

Binding: Paperback

Page Count: 164

Part of a series? Nope.

Amazon link.

Summary (from goodreads): If only Meg hadn't moved away. Then maybe eleven-year-old Wendy wouldn't be so upset about the other things going on in her life. Like her mother's marriage, and the new stepfamily that came with it. If only Wendy could find someone else like Meg to be her best friend - always and forever.

There were the popular kids - who all stuck together. And there was Honor, a bright and interesting girl who didn't seem to want to be anybody's best friend. It was only when a new girl came into class and Wendy thought she'd found the perfect "always and forever" friend that she really got to know Honor... and found out what friendship was all about.

Thoughts: My mom (and Mires) said that as long as I sat on a blanket (I sat on like four, it was like a nest), I could organize my bookshelves, which I'd been itching to do since I was so bored. And, okay, so maybe I exhausted myself a little and spent the next two days doing nothing, but my bookcases are organized!

Anyways, I got distracted by this one while I was tidying. For the record, even though it's older, it's still good. I honestly thought it was from '96 or '97, not this old. The only part that  really jolted me was an eleven-year-old taking a purse to school XD Recommend.

Just One Wish by Janette Rallison

Published: March 5th, 2009 by Putnam Juvenile

Genre: YA contemporary fiction

Binding: ARC (Won in a contest)

Page Count: 264 (Goodreads says the hardcover has 272, though)

Part of a series? No, I think it's a standalone.

Amazon link.

Summary (from goodreads): Seventeen-year-old Annika Truman knows about the power of positive thinking. With a little brother who has cancer, it's all she ever hears about. And in order to help Jeremy, she will go to the ends of the earth (or at least as far as Hollywood) to help him believe he can survive his upcoming surgery.

But Annika's plan to convince Jeremy that a magic genie will grant him any wish throws her a curveball when he unexpectedly wishes that his television idol would visit him. Annika suddenly finds herself in the desperate predicament of getting access to a hunky star actor and convincing him to come home with her. Piece of cake, right?

Thoughts: It was cute, funny, and made me cry at the end. Maybe it was the drugs, but I didn't always connect with the voice entirely at the beginning and at certain parts throughout. But all and all, a solid read. If I were to rate it, I'd probably give it three and a half roses. Good characters, great dialogue, and I flew through it, so it's not that there was anything wrong with it, I'm just... hard on contemporary books. And, again, cold medicine. Recommend.

Paradise County by Karen Robards

Published: 2000 by Pocket Books

Genre: Adult romance/ mystery / thriller

Binding: Paperback

Page Count: 437

Part of a series? Nope.

Amazon link.

Summary (from goodreads): Left bankrupt after her billionaire father's sudden death, Alexandra Haywood returns to Shelby County, Kentucky - that bit of Southern splendor known as Paradise County - to sell the family's magnificent horse farm. Part of her mission is to fire Joe Welch, the sexy, stubborn farm manager who worked hard for the Haywoods while raising his children.

But Joe refuses to be fired, and he and Alex clash. They also fall for each other - hard. Just as their attraction flares, a shocking murder with ties to the past rocks the county - and cuts close to home when Joe's teenage son, Eli, and Alex's wild-spirited younger sister, Neely, vanish. Now, the evil that lurks beneath Paradise County raises its gruesome head - and Alex is targeted as the next victim.

Thoughts: This one was pretty good. I liked the crime/mystery element and Joe was hot. Some parts of it sort of felt like it was written in the 90s, not 2000, but it wasn't bad at all. Recommend.

I'm not even going to ATTEMPT to do this with movies. I've watched so many it's not funny since our cable's out and sometimes when I'm sick, the cold medicines make me so foggy that I can't focus on anything for more than five seconds at a time. Hence, a lot of movies.

Alrighty, so that's what I've been reading. What about you guys?

Peace and cookies,

Laina