Bibliophile Support Group

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! To celebrate, what is more appropriate than a ghost story?! Famous Last Words is a YA contemporary murder mystery –slash- ghost story by Katie Alender. Still haunted by the circumstances surrounding her dad’s death two years ago, Willa is struggling to adapt to a new life – after all, she’s still trying to return to the person she once was before her dad’s death. With a successful Hollywood director as her new stepdad, Willa and her mom have moved into a mansion that used to be the abode of 30s starlet Diana Del Mar. Overall things are going okay – if a bit awkward and strained – but the fact that there is a serial killer targeting young, burgeoning actresses on the loose makes the move hard to swallow. When Willa begins to have strange visions – and begins to get the sense that either she’s crazy or this house is haunted – she has no one to turn to. Until she meets Reed – a guy at her school that is obsessed with the Hollywood Killer. But – is that ...

Unmade is the third book in the YA contemporary supernatural trilogy The Lynburn Legacy by Sarah Rees Brennan. This is a phenomenal, emotional trilogy that you MUST read in order!!! Therefore, feel free to check out my review of the first book Unspoken here and the second book Untold here . But whatever you do – DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW UNTIL YOU’VE READ THE FIRST TWO BOOKS! Understand?!? I’m trusting you!!! An only recently severed psychic link connected Kami and Jared their entire lives – creating a bond that was indescribable to others. Half the time they thought they were crazy – but oh how they relied on it. When Kami and Jared came face to face in Kami’s small, English town of Sorry-in-the-Vale, the shock of realizing they were both real, flesh-and-blood people nearly tore them apart. Now, Kami is left heartbroken as Jared is missing – and everyone is telling her he must be dead. She’s sure she would know if he were dead… wouldn’t she? During the months of...

Hexed is a YA supernatural contemporary novel by Michelle Krys. Indigo Blackwood has followed her best friend to popularity in high school. She’s a cheerleader and dating one of the best looking guys in school. This is against all odds since she could instead easily be considered the daughter of that weird woman who runs an occult shop. Since that would be accurate. But then strange things start to happen. A guy drops dead in front of her. Her mother’s ancient “bible” of witchcraft goes missing and she gets some odd, offbeat visitors at school. Not long after that Indie’s life begins to change forever… Hexed surprised me. This is a fast-paced book with humor and intriguing paranormal suspense. I went back and forth between thinking Indie was pretty unrealistic and not loving her to finally coming around a bit later… In fact, I had a hard time with ALL of the characters for a while but did find myself begin to thaw. Hexed is fun, yet surprisingly violent, with dark twi...

A Wrinkle in Time is a classic sci-fi children’s novel by Madeline L’Engle. I know, I know. This another one of those, “How could you not have read this yet?” books. Well, I’m getting around to them!!! Many of you have probably already read A Wrinkle in Time – but for any of you who haven’t, join me in fixing this literary crime. It’s a stormy, windy night when Meg simply cannot fall asleep in her attic bedroom. Wandering down the stairs she is joined by her beautiful, scientist mother and little brother Charles Wallace. It’s on this night that the mystery of her father’s disappearance begins to unravel. It’s on this night that the marked difference of Charles Wallace becomes all the clearer. It’s on this night that Meg meets Mrs. Whatsit. Thus begins a journey of Meg, Charles Wallace and new friend Calvin O’Keefe – a journey that will reveal that far more is out there in creation than she could have ever imagined – including her father. It’s a journey fraught with pe...

The Thousand Dollar Tan Line is the first book in the book series based on the Veronica Mars television show written by creator Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham. Stop right there, bibliophile. Have you watched all three seasons of Veronica Mars ? Have you watched the recent Veronica Mars movie? If your answer is no to one or both questions – get on that ASAP. Veronica Mars is one of my favorite TV shows and the kickstarter campaign that funded the movie follow-up seven YEARS after its cancellation is a clear indication I’m not alone in that. Anywho, this book takes place after the latest movie – in other words you will spoil awesome, heart wrenching binge Veronica Mars viewing if you read this before you do the aforementioned binge watching. Only those of who who’ve seen everything to date on Veronica Mars , continue – Back in Neptune, California ten years after graduating, Veronica is pursuing a much different career path than she’s been working towards for the last m...

The Glass Casket is a YA fantasy fairy tale by McCormick Templeman. Rowan’s village has been a quiet, peaceful place for many years. Now something dark has invaded it. It begins with five horses and five riders that gallop through the village and up the hills with covert intent – only to be found days later dead. Dead in a disturbing, unnatural way. The official word is a wolf attack – but anyone who saw the violence knows it was no wolf… Other strange happenings take place as well – such as a beautiful girl close to Rowan’s age suddenly moving into the village. A girl that seems to have a connection with Rowan… Something ravenous – something deadly – has come to occupy their village. Rowan could be next… The Glass Casket perplexed me a bit. On the one hand, the plot itself was stimulating and darkly intriguing. On the other hand, I found I could never truly connect with any of the characters. I just never really care about any of them, which causes the story to no...

Starstruck is a YA novel set in the world of 1930s Hollywood by Rachel Shuckert. Margaret eats up any news on her favorite actress – the dazzling Diana Chesterfield – like candy. She’s seen all her movies and can only imagine one day meeting her. Her zeal helps to liven up the otherwise unexciting finishing school life she lives in Pasadena. When a bigwig from Olympus Studios, MGM’s greatest competitor, discovers Margaret at soda shop one day and notices her exceptional beauty – her life turns into a whirlwind as she swept toward the silver screen. She can hardly believe her luck! Though, sadly, it comes on the heels of Diana Chestefield’s questionable disappearance from the public eye… Meanwhile, Gabby Preston has been working the Hollywood and Vaudeville scene since she was a little girl struggling to survive under her mother’s demands during the Great Depression. Her gorgeous singing voice hasn’t transcended into a gorgeous exterior and she struggles to lose weight and see he...

The Bride Wore Size 12 is an adult contemporary mystery humor novel by Meg Cabot – and the fifth book in the Heather Wells series. To fully enjoy the series in order read the books as such: Size 12 is Not Fat Size 14 is Not Fat Either Big Boned Size 12 and Ready to Rock The Bride Wore Size 12 Got it? Now, if you haven’t read books one through four yet – don’t read this review! It’ll contain spoilers of the earlier books!!! Established Heather Wells fans, read on: Preparing for incoming freshman at New York College as the assistant director of Fischer Residence Hall – a.k.a. Death Dorm – is almost as exhausting as planning a wedding at the Plaza. Heather wants nothing more than for everything to go smoothly. Then an attractive junior turns up dead in her room. Tragic? Absolutely. Murder? Heather certainly hopes not. Yet Heather’s rather skilled observational talents and nose for trouble is starting to wonder… In the meantime, Heather’s mother shows up - the m...

Rebecca is, as the cover states, a classic tale of romantic suspense by Daphne Du Maurier. Shy and timid, our heroine is stunned when the dashing, enigmatic Maxim de Winter asks him to marry him. They barely know each other but have spent many days in Monte Carlo – while her employer was ill in bed, leaving her an unusual amount of free time – taking drives and enjoying a comfortable quiet. She knows that his home, Manderley, is revered and that she will be the second Mrs. de Winter, but when she accepts Maxim’s proposal she isn’t too concerned about all that. Upon arriving at Manderley, however, she finds a magnificent manor that feels as though it’s still inhabited by Rebecca – Maxim’s first wife. The servants still follow her orders as though she were alive, the townsfolk speak of her beauty and grace with awe and the eerie, disconcerting housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers, lays out clothes for Rebecca in her old rooms. Certain that she will never meet the standard Rebecca met – and ...

Playing by Heart is a Christian historical fiction romance by Anne Mateer. After growing up as flighty “Fruity Lu”, Lula Bowman has prided herself in turning her life around – focusing on academics and achieving a prestigious scholarship in mathematics. When her mother died, Lula’s father looked to her to achieve his dream of her being the first woman with a PhD – and she longs to make him proud, even as he sits now – elderly and heartbreakingly unaware of her accomplishments. It’s when Lula’s sister Jewel calls her and desperately needs her help after a shocking death shakes the family to their core that Lula’s goals have to be put – reluctantly – on hold. Moving back home to help her sister, Lula takes a job at the local school as a music instructor and basketball coach – the only options available to her. Only problem? She has no idea how to play basketball! Good thing the handsome boy’s coach Chet seems very willing to help her learn. But her undeniable magnetic pull...