The Likeness by Tana French

If you've read In the Woods by Tana French, you must read it's sequel, The Likeness. I loved In the Woods, but the ending left me feeling very unsatisfied. While The Likeness doesn't add any further resolution to the events of the first novel, overall it is an excellent story with few flaws.

Cassie Maddox, who was a murder detective in the first novel is now working Domestic Violence when she's called in to the scene of a murder where the victim could be her identical twin. Maddox assumes the victim's identity and goes undercover to try to flush out her killer.

This novel is full of twists and turns and right up until the killer was revealed I was convinced I knew who it was, only to discover I was very wrong. The story is intriguing, suspenseful and very well-written.

If you enjoy psychological thrillers/mysteries then I highly recommend this book, but read In the Woods first. Although The Likeness is the better novel, it will be easier to understand Cassie's character is you know what happened in the first novel.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by JK Rowling

I actually finished re-reading this several weeks ago, just in time to go the midnight showing of the movie. I hadn't read any of my Harry Potter books since the summer Deathly Hallows came out so I decided it was about time to re-read the last two.

Re-reading this made me a little more critical of the movie than I would have been if I hadn't read it. Overall I think the movie was pretty good, but there's a few things that should have been included: Scrimgeour, the battle inside Hogwarts and Dumbledore's funeral. I was disappointed I didn't see them, and really disappointed they burned down the burrow. But aside from that I think the movie was pretty good.

As I was re-reading this novel I came to teh conclusion that Harry Potter is so much better than the Twilight novels. I love Twilight, but Harry Potter is just so much more original and imaginative than Twilight. The books and the movies are just better.

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

I wasn't really interested in reading anything by Jodi Picoult, her novels have never really seemed appealing to me, but I had promised my Mom I would go to the movie with her, and I always have to read the book first.

I wasn't sure what exactly to expect; I had heard so much about this novel from so many different sources. After reading I have decided it really didn't live up to the hype. It was well written, and overall a pretty good book, sure, but it just wasn't somehting that I couldn't put down. Not once did I pick it up to read because I was dying to know what would happen next. And ending really bothered me. Granted, after thinking about it I think it's the only really appropriate ending, but it still sucked.

If you like sappy, emotional and sometimes depressing stories then this is a book for you. If not, don't read this. I have been told Picoult's novel Salem Falls is better, so I may try that before giving up on her completely. But I'm thinking my initial feeling, that her books aren't really my type, was probably accurate.

The Road to Woodstock by Michael Lang

As I'm sure everyone is aware, this August marks the 40th anniversary of Woodstock. I saw this book at work and was curious to read the story behind Woodstock, written by the man who was instrumental in organizing the festival.

I found the book extremely interesting, though Lang's writing style leaves a lot to be desired. At times the narration was dry, but I was fascinated by the history of the festival. We all know what happened at Woodstock, but I was amazed at how much planning actually did go into the event.

While, as I said, Lang's straight-forward narrative reads more like a research paper than a memoir (and can be a slow read at times) I definitely recommend this if your interested in Woodstock.

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

This book tells the story of a Harvard doctorate candidate, Connie, who spends the summer cleaning out her grandmother's old house and discovers references to a woman named Deliverance Dane. Connie soon traces the name to the Salem Witch trials and discovers that not all the accusations may have been false.

Howe, who can trace her ancestry back to not one but two accused witches, tells the story through Connie's narrative and through falshbacks to colonial New England. The two stories weave together to create an interesting novel, which asks the question, what if the accused in Salem had actually practiced witchcraft?

The Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

This book is Japanese 100 Years of Solitude. Well, that may not be entirely true, but in many ways it reminded me of that book. I think it was all the magic-realism. While it was set in modern times, in what seemed to be a normal universe, sometimes things happened that didn't seem entirely probable.

Overall this book was extremely well-written and intriguing. For the most part I really enjoyed the book. Occasionally it got a little weird, and there was one chapter in particular that was a little graphically violent, but overally it was a really good book. Although I was a little disappointed with the ending. It just wasn't what I had expected.

This book definitely isn't for everyone, but I would recommend at least giving it a try. It is definitely interesting, and I enjoyed the look at Japanese culture.