Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

"Here is everything I know about France: Madeline and Amélie and Moulin Rouge."

After my hundredth paranormal book, I was ready to scream. Wasn't there anything fluffy to be had without a supernatural angle or heavy theme (that didn't involve mean, popular girls)? And then I stumbled upon Anna and the French Kiss, pure fluff for the sake of fluff without nasties or shapeshifters or adult content. I was saved! The week I had to wait to get my hands on it was torture. But it was worth it.

Summary: Anna's newly rich father takes her from her average life, friends, and potential boyfriend and ships her off to a French American boarding school for her senior year (because that's what rich people do). She ends up making nice friends, discovering France, and falling in love with the hottest guy near her. What else?

Reality Check: Lots of fun and a very light read - just what I ordered! Even when they were dealing with relationship and father issues, it didn't feel heavy. The characters are engaging and flawed just right - St. Clair, the love interest, could be said to be a little too flawed, but his fear of heights made him even more loveable. It is very well written, and even though there wasn't much more to the story then a normal girl falling in love with France and a boy, it kept me reading right to the end.

My only problem: A few chapters didn't transition well. We would skip over a few days and start back up in the middle of a scene, and it took a few pages to get back into the rhythm. But it was only a momentary annoyance.

Romance Rating: some innuendo and sensuality

Conclusion: An excellent read about how much work relationships take - and just how worth it the work is. I intend to buy the paperback (which releases in August) and re-read it many times when I need a fluff fix (which is every few months). Thank you Stephanie!

And I will be picking up anything else Stephanie has to offer. (Can't wait for Lola!)

"And we're finally home."

Genre: Young Adult Travel Romance

 out of 4 Paws Up!

Blue Exorcist: Volume 2 by Kazue Kato

Got my hands on Volume 2!!!

Summary: Rin, son of Satan, and his classmates work hard to rise in the ranks and become full Exorcists. But as Rin comes into his powers, he starts discovering just how many enemies he will have to face - and just how many people want him dead.

Reality Check: When this finally came yesterday I couldn't wait to read it, and now that I've finished I'm already flipping back through to re-read my favorite parts. The art doesn't even bother me anymore. Great action, engaging characters, exciting story! One of the best manga series ever!!!

My favorite part: Still what he does with his tail! XD

Conclusion: Will be collecting the entire series. If you haven't read it, start!

Genre: Older Teen Paranormal Action Adventure

 out of 4 Paws Up

SHELVED: Abandon by Meg Cabot

I have a great love for Meg Cabot's (well, as Jenny Carroll) adventure/suspense series, like Mediator and 1-800-Where-R-You. So as long as it's not Princess Diaries (one can only take so many of those - like, barely one), I always give her new stuff a try when it comes out. And when I read Abandon's premise (a dark retelling of the Persephone myth), I was intrigued. And then I started reading.

Summary: Girl dies and goes to the Underworld. Girl meets handsome boy from her past, finds out he runs said Underworld, and is offered his eternal love. Girl runs away and escapes the Underworld. Girl wakes up back in her normal life, but isn't the same. Boy appears sometimes to save her when he feels her life is being threatened (but this is never shown - only hinted at). Girl moves; boy follows. Girl constantly, constantly thinks about him and how maybe she might love him but he's a wild thing and can she really deal with that when she can't even deal with herself? I believe harpies - or whatever works as security in the Underworld - want to kill her, but maybe not. And so is the entire first half of the book.

Reality Check: Completely main character monologue, with a vague, singular plot (girl deciding if she likes the boy), and no sense of linear time. It started slow, hinting at past excitement that I kept praying would be revealed in the next chapter. When some finally was (not the really juicy stuff, though), via flashbacks woven into the current timeline, they were too long and I forgot where we were in the present when we finally returned to it. Even with a completely character-driven story, the characters were way too mysterious - as in, I wondered exactly what they were like because Meg gave me nothing to work with. And in no way did I feel like I would be getting any more information any time soon. At the end of Book 3, maybe.

The one good thing I can say: Meg writes well. Grammatically.

Conclusion: I only made it through half the book, and despair that there will be an entire trilogy. This is proof that even a national bestselling novelist should not publish the story she dreamed of writing in high school. Abandon was all internal female angst and confusion, and frustration and confusion was all I felt reading it. Sorry Meg. I will, however, continue giving her work a try. Just not any more of this.

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy

Oresama Teacher: Volume I by Izumi Tsubaki

The new manga selection has been pretty crappy as of late, but this caught my eye so I decided to give it a try. It was worth it.

Summary: When Mafuyu, accidental leader of her high school gang, gets expelled, her mother sends her to a boarding school far off in the country. Determined to live a normal school-girl existence, Mafuyu decides to leave her delinquent past behind her. But the random guy she defends the night before school isn't so random - he's her teacher! And he's determined to make the most of Mafuyu's fighting spirit to clean up his school - by any delinquent means necessary...

Reality Check: Even with all the fighting it's a light and upbeat read, with lots of fun and funny while it's at it. (Super Bun to the rescue!!!) Interesting characters, an overall good plot and good chapter stories. The art is easy on the eyes, and the style is easy to follow.

Conclusion: A nice shojo read that shouldn't alienate the boys too much. I'll definitely be reading more.

Genre: Teen School Adventure

 out of 4 Paws Up

Tron Legacy Soundtrack by Daft Punk

It is rare now that I like the soundtrack more than the movie, probably because after so many scores they all begin to sound alike. But when Tron Legacy (okay for a movie) ended, I knew I had to get my hands on the soundtrack. And then I found out it was by Daft Punk. Now it was essential. When the black disc was finally in my possession, I sat down in front of my stereo with my eyes closed to listen to it (well, with a magazine handy).

Summary: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack to Disney's Tron Legacy by Daft Punk.

Reality Check: Nothing special without the "electronic minimalism," just like the movie was nothing without the lights. Any song that didn't have electro additions proved pretty boring (magazine-flipping time). The whole disc was a rollercoaster of likes and dislikes for me. It began slow (tracks 1-2), picked up (3-6), lost me (7-11), picked up again (12-14), wasn't as good (15-20), and had a strong ending (21) if you ignore the last song (22 = yawn). But the soundtrack pretty much kept my attention, and I think I only skipped through one song (although the magazine really helped).

Update: After listening to it again, I discovered the songs I wasn't impressed with before weren't as bad the second time around. That's what I get for listening to it half asleep the first time. =)

Conclusion: For a band's first try at a soundtrack, it was pretty good. Overall, not a bad score. I'll definitely listen to my favorite tracks over and over again. And if Daft Punk does any more soundtracks, I'll be listening.

Genre: "Classic Orchestral Themes with an Electronic Minimalism" Movie Soundtrack

 out of 4 Paws Up

Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson

"So there I was, tied to an altar made from outdated encyclopedias, about to get sacrificed to the dark powers by a cult of evil Librarians."

Book 1 in the Alcatraz Series. This was a second reading for me, after a brilliant first one that had me collecting the whole series. Sanderson is an absolute genius with children's fantasy, and when I couldn't find anything new to read this week, I turned to an old favorite.

Summary: After being shuffled from foster home to foster home for thirteen years, Alcatraz Smedry receives - and subsequently loses - a mysterious inheritance from his real parents: a bag of sand. When his grandfather arrives (late, of course) and informs Alcatraz that his knack for breaking things (doors, kitchens, chickens) is a family Talent, and in the wrong hands the sands could cause untold suffering, they head off to infiltrate a library and steal back his inheritance from the evil and dastardly librarians who rule the world (or at least part of it). Along the way Alcatraz breaks many, many things (some helpful, some most definitely not), learns romance novels can be deadly, girls make killer knights, and lenses are not just corrective eyewear, and finds the true place where he belongs.

Reality Check: This book is pure brilliance and absolutely hilarious. The writing is flawless, the characters are quirky and fully developed, the story is completely original, fun and fraught with excitement and danger, and it's about librarians. It can't get any better than this! It is "written" by Alcatraz himself (under a pen name, of course), who goes off on many, many fun tangents about life, adventure, and how writers write simply to torture people. (Why else would they write?)

A Word of Advice: If you wish to find this book at a library, do not ask a librarian for assistance. They will lead you to a section on the opposite end of the building where there are books about sick mothers and dead dogs. They will say that the book has been lost, but may they recommend this book instead? It is much more suitable. Do not listen to them. Simply thank them kindly, back away slowly, and look on the opposite end of where they lead you, behind books that begin with the letter Q.

Rutabaga.

Conclusion: Gak! Why haven't you read this book yet? Go get a copy immediately! And while you're at it, buy the rest in the series as well! Get to it then!

"And so, untold millions screamed out in pain, and then were suddenly silenced. I hope you're happy."

Genre: Middle Grade-Younger YA Fantasy

 out of 4 Paws Up!