The Running Bibliophile

Betrayal (The Secret Diaries, #2) by Janice Harrell picks up where the first book in the series leaves off.  When Casey starts drinking and blackmailing Johanna's group of friends, they start to worry about his well being and whether he will spill the beans about what happened to Laurie Jenkins. This is one of my favorite series from when I was a teenager, and I have to reread it every so often . . . it's that good and in my opinion, has stood the test of time despite none of the kids having cell phones.  Although cell phones were a thing in the early 1990's, they were still expensive to make phone calls on, so not everyone had one, and that is the reason they aren't featured in this story.   Part suspense, part horror, this is a great young adult novel for kids thirteen and up.  It even has some romance in it.  One of the characters does have sex in the book, but it doesn't go into any detail at all about it other than the characters were kissing.  It was...

To say I was excited about Stephen King's newest book, The Institute , coming out last year is an understatement. However, I wasn't sure I wanted to pay full price for a brand new book, but while shopping at BJ's Wholesale Club, they were selling The Institute for under $16.00, so it was an easy decision that I should buy a copy. Although I was super excited about this book, I needed to wait a bit to read it because I was reading another of King's books. There were a few things that I loved right off about The Institute . Since most of Stephen King's books take place in the Northeast, at least that is the impression I've gotten from the books I've read by him so far, I was extremely surprised that several cities in the Southeast were mentioned. The one I loved the most was the mention of Marietta, Georgia, which is where I grew up. It's in the Metropolitan Atlanta area, so it isn't some small town, but unless you live in Georgia, you've ...

When Jenny Thorns original plan for her boyfriend Tom's birthday party had to change, she has to scramble to come up with something that will interest every one in their small group. Coming across a store called "More Games", she's not sure she'll be able to find something that will please the entire group. When the store clerk Julian suggests a game in a white, unmarked box, Jenny decides to buy it, and the entire group is in for a huge surprise. See you at nine . . . Not sure she heard Julian correctly, Jenny has second thoughts about the game once she gets home. However, she's overruled by the group. Part Jumanji and part Nightmare on Elm Street , the friends are in for the ride of a lifetime.  I stumbled across The Hunter (The Forbidden Game, #1) by L.J. Smith while I was in high school. Ecstatic that one of my favorite authors had another book out, I immediately bought this book. I loved this book as a teenager and read this book and th...

The Initiation (The Secret Circle, #1) by L.J. Smith tells the story of Cassie Blake on vacation in Cape Cod, Massachusetts and becomes friends with Portia Bainbridge. When Cassie's mother receives a phone call that her mother is in poor health, she makes the decision that Cassie and she will move to New Salem, Massachusetts to take care of her mother. Intimidated by a new school, Cassie is in awe of a group of teenagers who rule the school where even the adults are afraid of this group. The Secret Circle trilogy was my introduction to the author L.J. Smith. I immediately fell in love with The Initiation and couldn't wait to read the other two books in the series. Since it was originally published in 1992, it was turned into a television show, and I was ecstatic about the news. However, when the first trailer came out, I was disappointed because many of the characters were nixed, and they changed some huge parts of the series that vastly changed the story, including ad...

L.J. Smith churned out yet another winner with The Strange Power (Dark Visions, #1) . It was originally published in 1994 by Archway Paperback. Kaitlyn Fairchild is an out cast in her Ohio town because of her drawings that predict the future. That along with her violet rimmed eyes have made the town called her a witch. When she is presented with the opportunity to attend the Zetes Institute with four other psychic teens, Kaitlyn jumps at the chance for a new start. Let me begin by saying that I absolutely loved this book and engrossed from the very first page, even as an adult. I first read The Strange Power (Dark Visions, #1) as a sophomore in high school. It is slightly different from her other trilogies in that it deals with psychics instead of vampires, witches, and/or werewolves. There is a bit of suspense, thriller, mystery, romance, and fantasy throughout. For a young adult book, the characters are very well developed, and the plot moved along very well. There weren't...

Before  Twilight , there was The Vampire Diaries and Night World , both series written by the phenomenal L.J. Smith (a.k.a. Lisa Jane Smith). The first book in the Night World series is entitled Secret Vampire and was published in June 1996.  Sixteen year old Poppy North receives news that she has only months to live. When her best friend, and crush, James Rasmussen visits in the hospital, Poppy sees another side of James when he offers to make her a part of the Night World and leave her loved ones behind. Secret Vampire (Night World, #1) was my first introduction to books on the topic of vampires when I was a teenager. I still have yet to read Dracula or Interview with a Vampire . Although, I have seen the movie of the latter many times. I recently picked up the book for a reread as I hadn't read it since I was a teen and couldn't remember much about it. What I loved about Secret Vampire (Night World, #1) is that it deals with a serious life and death si...

The year was 2008 , and it seemed everywhere I went, I heard people talking about the book Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. The movie based on the book was finally in theaters, and on a Saturday afternoon, I finally decided to breakdown and buy the book to see what all the fuss was about. That night, I started reading the book and stayed up until the wee hours the next morning. When I woke up, I had to buy the rest of the books in the series so I could immediately start reading the next one. I was absolutely enchanted by the story. In the many book discussions I've had with different people, they say how poorly written Twilight is, but in the same breath, they add that they were sucked in by the story line. This always blows my mind because if it were so poorly written, then they wouldn't have been as engaged as much as they were . . . at least in my opinion. Will Twilight ever be considered true literature and be in the same league as the classics? Probably not. With t...