Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I am a big fan of YA novel. I read the first book from this series last year and enjoyed it. I am not sure what happened this time around. I lost patience with the childish and idiotic ways the characters behaved. I understand that this is a novel about teenagers, but really!!!! I don't know any teens that would think the way Nora and Vee thinks. Hot dogs for courage!!! Ughhh! Also, the drama between Nora and Marcie got old after a while. The story dragged and dragged and in the end, there was not much to make me want to read the next book. I will wait a year and see if I am still interested in this series by then. Oh well!

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Insurgent by Veronica Roth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am enjoying this series very much. Beatrice is a bit too suicidal for my taste, but I guess this is who she is and what makes the story interesting. Looking forward to read the third book in the series.

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Stay Where You Are And Then Leave by John Boyne
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I won this book in a "First-Read" contest. This is the first book from John Boyne I have the pleasure to read. I saw the movie The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and liked it, so I was intrigued to read this short novel by the same author. I normally don't gravitate towards war time books and I was wondering if I would get into it. Well, Stay Where You Are And Then Leave was totally awesome. I loved the well written story which described with accuracy the struggles of the soldiers' family members who were left behind to take care of themselves. It also addressed the stress the war has left on soldiers and how they had to cope with the painful memories.

The story takes place during the first World War. It follows the life of a young boy named Alfie, between the ages of 5 and 13. Alfie is no ordinary boy. His story of courage and sense of honour was so touching. Every characters in the book had something to bring to the story and it made it even more interesting to read.

The book was written for a young audience between the ages of 9 to 12. I don't think this should discourage the teens and adults to read this wonderful book. It has a lot of mature elements that would tickle all audiences' likes.

I recommend it! It was a pleasure to read this book. It will be available at your local bookstore on March 25, 2014.

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I finally got access to my craft stuff (after almost two months). I made the two following cards with what I unpacked so far:

Thanks for looking! :)

The Imposter Bride by Nancy Richler
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I read this book for my book club. I did not particularly like it. The story is confusing and hard to follow. Lots of wonderful characters with great story potential, but not explored by the author.

I am not sure what was the point of this story in the end. I did not fully understand why Lily left her husband and daughter and why Ruth decided to stay in Israel longer than expected. I am sure many of you will volunteer that information if you have read the book. But really? That did not make much sense to me and I don't really want to spend more time on this book. Oh wait! I will have to... at the book club meeting. :(

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