Greatest Mysteries of the Unexplained by Lucy Doncaster and Andrew Holland

Description: A compelling compendium of some the world’s most mystifying conundrums, from strange quirks of nature to supernatural phenomena, this collection of scintillating investigations presents the theories surrounding a diverse range of topics that defy straightforward explanation. Tales are recounted in vivid detail and incorporate all the latest scientific research and conclusions.     
     Where possible, specially chosen images accompany the stories to help explain a particular riddle or provide a deeper insight into the nature of the unknown generally. Including investigations into prophecy and the paranormal and religious and medical marvels, this book attempts to discover the truth behind the greatest enigmas of the universe. It is sure to both bewilder and intrigue.
                                                                                          -From Goodreads.com

Review: I definitely enjoyed and liked this book. Was it the best supernatural book out there? Nope. But it was a fun read. As the description says, there are pictures, although they are in black and white. Even though the description says "where possible," there are more pictures than someone may expect. Nearly every other page has a picture.
     The chapters are organized well, except for Chapters 4 and 5. Chapter 4 is "Paranormal Powers" and Chapter 5 is "Seers and Oracles." Most of the parts in both chapters were about the same type of thing: people who can "see" the future.
     In the "Mysteries of the Cosmos" chapter(the last one), the views and theories are complete and utter crap, to put it simply. Even though any sensible person would know that none of these theories could possibly be true, the authors write about them as if they could be 100 percent true. This bugs me because it's theories like that that make people with an interest in the unexplained look crazy to the rest of society. One of the theories is that humans had lived on the moon or Mars before migrating to Earth, completely ignoring the fact that the atmosphere of both are not able to support humans.
     A few things I really liked about this book were that it had a lot of big ideas, and it really gets the reader to ponder about life and our world. Also, it provides good insights, and the themes are interesting to discuss with other people. I definitely learned quite a few things from this book.
     Overall, this was a good, informative read. Sometimes it gave too many details that didn't seem relevant to the main subject, and it was confusing in some parts because of that. I would recommend this book to people who are interested in paranormal and supernatural things, or if you just want a good summer read.
                                                              Overall Grade: B   
  

Unhallowed Ground by Heather Graham

     Unhallowed Ground is the seventh book in Heather Graham's Harrison Investigation series, and it is amazing, to say the least. Sarah McKinley is a historian who moves into her childhood dream home, a large, historic house in St. Augustine, Florida. While renovating the home, tons of human skeletons are discovered in the walls, all of them many years old.
     Caleb Anderson is a private investigator with Harrison Investigations who is in town to investigate the disappearance of a young girl who vanished a year ago. Another girl has also gone missing, and Caleb believes that the disappearances are connected.
     Sarah and Caleb team up to try to solve the mystery of the disappearances and find out what happened in Sarah's house years ago. They uncover stories of withcraft and murder, and try to stay safe in the process.
     I loved this book. The ending took me by suprise, it was a big twist, but I liked it. I have fallen for Heather Graham's writing. This is only the second book by her that I have read, but I love her style and how she develops her characters. It was never boring, and it didn't take me long to read because I never wanted to put it down! I definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes supernatural, kind of romance, mystery books; it was a great book.

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

    

  Her Fearful Symmetry is a book about twins, London, and the supernatural. Julia and Valentina Poole are twenty-year-old, identical twins that live in the suburbs of Chicago. Their mother, Edie, also has a twin, named Elspeth. While Edie lives in Illinois, Elspeth lives in London, England, where the two are originally from. The reader finds out that the elder pair of twins had a falling out earlier in their lives, and do not speak to each other anymore. Elspeth is unmarried, but has a relationship with Robert, who lives in the flat below her. Their flats are next to the Highgate Cemetary in London, an expansive cemetary where many famous and well-known people have been buried.
     Sadly, Elspeth dies of an illness, leaving Robert alone in the world. In her will, she leaves her flat in London to Julia and Valentina on two conditions: they live in it for a year before selling it and that their parents never step foot inside it. After much debate in the Poole household, Julia and Valentina are allowed to go. Eventually, they meet Robert, and Martin, the obsessive-compulsive who lives in the flat above them. The girls soon find out that Elspeth's spirit lives in the flat, and they begin to communicate with her. I won't give any more of the plot away yet if you want to read this, so stop reading now if you don't want to know what happens later!
     I loved this book, for the most part. Audrey Niffenegger is a beautiful writer, her words flow nicely and encapture the reader's attention. The supernatural part was enticing, and the cemetary sounded stunning. I did not really care for the ending though. SPOILER WARNING. At the end, Elspeth's spirit kills Valentina, because Valentina wants to escape her overbearing twin, and instead of later returning Valentina's spirit into her body, Elspeth takes her body instead. She claims that she tried, but could not return Valentina. Robert, who had loved Valentina after they got to know each other, left Elspeth(in Valentina's body), and he never returns to her. Valentina lives on as a spirit in the flat, where Julia decides to stay. Eventually, Valentina is able to escape the flat and roams the cemetary as a ghost, meeting new and old ghosts in the burial grounds. I had really liked Valentina as a character, and I think she deserved a much better fate than this. Julia meets a man, and they have a nice relationship. I did like the end for Martin, who overcame his OCD and reunited with his wife. Other than Valentina getting a terrible ending and Elspeth's betrayal, I really liked this book. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes supernatural books, or even just wants an interesting, well-written read.