The Reading Chair: Review of Moonlight by Rachel Hawthorne

Description:(From rachelhawthorne.net)
Kayla has always felt a kinship with nature. Adopted as a child, Kayla has no idea that she’s inherited the gene that will turn her into a wolf. She can’t understand why she’s so drawn to distant, aloof Lucas...

As the leader of the Dark Guardians, a pack of werewolves that gather in the national forest, Lucas must watch Kayla until she discovers her destiny as his perfect other half. Just when Kayla finally begins to understand her fate, a new danger emerges...one that threatens their very existence.

My Review:
Ordinarily, it's the cover or title that draws me to pick a book off the shelf of the bookstore. The cover of Moonlightdid very little for me, as it is not nearly as intriguing as it could be. The title, however, did draw me into this book.

I found Moonlight on a day when we had ventured out to the bookstore to do some research. Crystal and I had recently decided to write a novel about werewolves and we wanted to see what was already out there. We probably spent an hour going up and down the young adult aisle looking for books with titles related to the moon, werewolves, or wolves. We did not find nearly as many as we predicted we would.

Among the few books we did find was Moonlight by Rachel Hawthorne. I read the back of the book several times. After each time, I would replace it on the shelf and keep looking for other wolf related books. I kept coming back to this book. I was not planning on buying a book that day, but curiosity eventually won out and I bought it in the name of "research."

I don't regret purchasing this book for an instant. The characters are interesting and the storyline is unique. Hawthorne kept me on the edge of my seat as I read the story. I continuously wanted to know more about Lucas and Kayla's attraction to him. I wanted to know more about the wolves that lingered in the woods.

I could not find a dull moment in this book and read it in less than a day. It was the first book in months to grab my attention. I would have to honestly say that this book got me back into reading on a more regular basis. I highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the supernatural and young adult literature. As a writer of werewolves, I cannot say enough about this book.

My rating:

5 pawprints! Way to go Rachel Hawthorne!!

The Reading Chair: A Book that's on My List for 2010

I promise, a Valentine's Day post is coming, complete with playlist. But, for now, I wanted to share a little bit about Linger, the sequel to Stiefvater's Shiver. I read Shiver this past summer and enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to the sequel.

And for you curious folks -

In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other.  Now, in Linger, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping a very dangerous secret about her own well-being. For Sam, this means grappling with his werewolf past . . . and figuring out a way to survive into the future. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has the potential to destroy the whole pack.  And Isabelle, who already lost her brother to the wolves . . . and is nonetheless drawn to Cole.

At turns harrowing and euphoric, Linger is a spellbinding love story that explores both sides of love -- the light and the dark, the warm and the cold -- in a way you will never forget.

Comes out in stores everywhere July 20th. Pre-order here.

Enter to win an advanced review copies of LINGER, Sisters Red, The Dead-Tossed Waves, and The Replacement on Maggie's blog.

New Features Coming

Just a short description of some of the new features coming to the blog:

Obsessed: My sister and I are all the time finding new things to be obsessed with. I'll keep abreast of what we're "obsessed" with and why. This is your chance to learn a bit more about me.

Opinionated: This one's for everyone out there who has a desire to share their opinion! Periodically, I will make a post about a specified topic and ask for your opinions in return. I want your honest opinions. This is about learning about differing views and seeing where others stand. Feel free to comment under annonymous on these posts if you would like!

Sister Time: Sisters (at least Crystal and I) share a bond that is extremely unique. I'm going to try to share some of those "sisterly moments" with you.

Words from a Writer: Similar to my previous Writerly Wednesday, this section will focus on writing and my thoughts on it.

Contests & Giveaways: Contests will require a little bit of effort to gain extra entries (mostly advertising the blog), while giveaways will allow for one entry and no extra effort. I'm hoping to host the first of these in February. Occasionally, I will also use this section for contests and giveaways of others.

Song of the Day: I am going to continue this feature with future posts, so keep an eye out for this section at the end of every (okay, most) posts.

Fun & Games: I will be hosting fun games in an effort to get to know my followers better. With each thing I host, I will invite you to host the same game on your own blog. Let's get to know each other better and have a little fun doing it!

Project Organize: I would say I'm systematically unorganized, meaning that I'm quite disorganized, but I know where to find things. One of the things I would like to work towards in 2010 is becoming more organized. I really think it would help in the future.

TV Talk: There are certain television shows that I watch each week. From time to time, I'll post snippets about them on here.

Movie Mayhem: Essentially the same thing as TV Talk, just with movies.

The Reading Chair: This one will be all about reading! Expect to find reviews and comments on books and other things that are reading related.


Hope you're as excited as I am for these new features!!