I finally got to read a book I’ve been waiting for for at least a couple of years: Committed, by Elizabeth Gilbert. It’s the follow-up to Eat, Pray, Love; which, if you haven’t read it, you SHOULD. It’s how she got through a horrible divorce and discovered just what matters to her in life while she healed from the experience. I loved that book. A lot. Read it twice in the same year, actually. It just made me feel so much better about certain things going on in my life. Ms. Gilbert put into words exactly how I felt at a couple of times, and sort of validated the whole experience for me. (And also, I was a little jealous of her packing up and traveling for a whole year. I’ve always longed to do that, but have been too chicken to actually consider it.)

So, anyway, Committed is the follow-up. It… wasn’t the same as Eat, Pray, Love, which was what I was hoping for. This time, Ms. Gilbert explores the history of marriage and different marriage customs around the world as she tries to come to terms with marriage after her bad first experience, in preparation for her… rather unplanned… second venture into wedded bliss.

However, it did make for some interesting reading. I enjoyed it, actually, and it’s probably something I needed to read, to maybe help me over some of my own skepticism concerning marriage (My divorce was nowhere near as bad as hers, but I still have issues, okay?). A worthwhile book, as long as you don’t go into it expecting it to be a repeat of Eat, Pray, Love.

Okay, so about a year and a half ago, at the Conestoga writers’ conference, I sat in on a panel with Rachel Vincent and her agent, Miriam Kriss. Rachel mentioned she was writing a book about a girl who finds out she’s a banshee. I thought Wow. What a cool idea. I HAVE to read that. So, when the first one, My Soul To Take, came out, I was all over it. Now, I love the Shifters books. A LOT. (Although I was not so happy with a couple of things that happened in the last one. I do have faith though, and am eagerly awaiting the next one in March.) I think Ms. Vincent is a talented writer, and she tells a dang good story, so her YA story about banshees was kind of a must-read for me.

If you haven’t read My Soul to Take, you should. Seriously. Teenager Kaylee thinks she’s going crazy when she starts having an uncontrollable urge to scream, and people drop dead around her. The second book, My Soul to Save, has Kaylee trying to figure out why teenage pop stars die in front of her, and she has no desire to wail. This means the dead girls don’t have a soul, and of course, Kaylee is determined to find out why these girls are trading their souls, which involves sneaking around and trips to the dangerous Netherworld.

There’s a lot of the typical teen angst in the books (Apparently, banshees aren’t exempt from this.), overbearing parents, and school drama. But Ms. Vincent captures these things so well you really feel like you’re the one going through it all. Since a lot of my writing is YA, I’m truly amazed by this (and hopeful that one day I might manage to capture some small part of it in my own work). If you like fast-paced YA books set in a truly original world (Or, in this case, the DFW area, which made me a tiny bit homesick.), you should definitely read both of these books.

I just finished reading Captivate, by Carrie Jones, the sequel to Need. It’s about pixies, but not cute, glittery Tinker Bell pixies. No. These are blue, have scary-sharp teeth, and sometimes eat people. Yeah. So NOT Disney-approved. But still very cool.

Zara is half-pixie, half-human. Her father is a sometimes-insane pixie king she keeps imprisoned. Nick is her werewolf/guardian boyfriend. Then there’s Devyn, another were, and Issie, who is human. Together, the four of them patrol for pixies and lock them away for the safety of their small town. But then things change. Astley, another pixie king shows up. Someone has to take over the territory left untended by Zara’s father, so the pixie kings are circling like vultures. This in turn draws the Valkyries, who are searching for warriors. Nick is a warrior. He’s determined to protect Zara, which puts him in danger. And Zara has to decide between giving in to what she fears the most to protect Nick, or remaining true to herself.

This book is an excellent read. Once I started it, there was no putting it down. The voice is light-hearted and fun, yet serious and angsty at the same time. Very fitting for a YA book. Some funny moments, lots of tension and drama, and some pretty cool relationship moments. My only issue? The fact that it ended and I can’t find out what happens. RIGHT. NOW. Can’t wait for the next one to come out! (Whenever that is.)