Tuesdays at the Castle

By Jessica Day George

Tuesdays at Castle Glower are Princess Celie's favorite days. That's because on Tuesdays the castle adds a new room, a turret, or sometimes even an entire wing. No one ever knows what the castle will do next, and no one-other than Celie, that is-takes the time to map out the new additions. But when King and Queen Glower are ambushed and their fate is unknown, it's up to Celie, with her secret knowledge of the castle's never-ending twists and turns, to protect their home and save their kingdom.

Why did I read this book again?

A friend of mine got this book from the library. I read the flap and decided that I must read it!

5 out of 5

Characters

I really loved the main character, Princess Celie.  She’s full of fire and fun and is the only person who really understands this bizarre castle the royal family lives in.  Her brother and sister are equally likeable, and the cast of side characters carried the story all the way through to the end.

4 out of 5

Did I care what happened?

Yes.  The beautiful world painted in the novel, along with the fun cast of characters, kept me wondering who or what was going to pop up next, and how Celie would deal with it. 

4 out of 5

Plot Holes

No huge holes that I remember.  Some of the logic behind the castle was a bit off—like if it actually tossed one of the rulers it didn’t like physically out, then why keep all the caniving, horrible, traitorous people around through this one?  If you mention that the castle can do that, then it should.  Just my thought. 

4 out of 5

How many times did I yawn?

This is a really fast paced book.  I didn’t have time to yawn.  It’s Middle Grade, and authors write those for kids who get bored after six seconds of doing something that doesn’t instantly entertain them, so there was no yawning.

4 out of 5

Cool Factor

Pretty much a castle that grows new rooms, can alter the rooms it already has and randomly puts in secret passages is cool.  And a little princess who crawls around and tries to map it is most kid’s dream.  Maybe not the mapping, but the whole secret passage thing.  The existence of magic felt a little wishy-washy, because we didn’t get to see any of it in actual use.  Except the castle.

4 out of 5

The End

Even for a Middle Grade book, I felt like the climax of the fight/story went by way too fast.  Then again, I have a ten second attention span, so maybe I’m expecting way more than the kids can handle. The actual end of the story was great.

4 out of 5

Overall Enjoyment

Super cute, fun read, good times novel.  As a kid I would have eaten it up.  It has a few points quite reminiscent of Harry Potter (a crazy castle as well as an atlas/map and a special cloak), but it resonated instead of slapped me in the face.  Easy and fun.

4 out of 5

Score= 33

That's a Brown Belt!

Crystal Doors #1 Island Realm

By: Rebecca Moesta and Kevin J. Anderson

Fourteen-year-old cousins Gwen and Vic have lived together ever since the mysterious deaths of Gwen's parents and disappearance of Vic's mother--until Vic's father accidentally transports them through a magical doorway to the island of Elantya. Vic and Gwen are soon caught in a tempest of ancient magic, vicious creatures, and fierce battles--all connected to a territorial feud with the sea-dwelling merlons, an age-old conflict between the bright and dark sages...and the cousins' own mysterious roots.

Why did I pick up this book again?

Because I met the authors and they gave me a signed copy. I’d never read anything by Rebecca before, and really wanted to.  So not a great fan-base or thrill factor reason.  Sorry!

3 out of 5

Characters

I thought the two cousins were cute.  Certainly a great contrast between brains/logic and being spontaneous and how both can be good.  By the end of the book the cousins had met a trio of others that became friends, and since I’m all about camaraderie in stories, I have to say that I dug the characters.

4 out of 5

Did I care what happened?

Yes.  This is a lower YA / higher Middle Grade read, so there isn’t much depth to anything but the ocean in the story, but the characters certainly all had virtues and faults, and I was quite concerned about the magic carpet at one point.

3 out of 5

Plot Holes

You know, I don’t recall anything that made my plot hole radar go off.  Of course both of these authors are titanically experienced, so it might be a lost cause to try to delve for a hole.

5 out of 5

How many times did I yawn?

No yawns.  If I was between the ages of ten and twelve I certainly would have been glued to the pages of the book.  As it is, I didn’t devour the story, but liked it and didn’t get bored.

4 out of 5

Cool Factor

Loads of magic, a flying carpet, sea monsters, mirrors, crystals, ships, shape shifting messengers and all sorts of other creations kept the cool factor high.  I wanted more flying stuff, but I’ll be okay…

4 out of 5

The End

The end worked out.  The very end is a lead in to the rest of the series.  Curse you Rebecca and Kevin.

4 out of 5

Overall Enjoyment

This is a little lower on the reader age group than I usually pick up, but I still really liked the characters (which is a must for me) and the world was brilliant.   The writing style is a little slow to start out, which tripped me up a bit. But I read it pretty fast, and even told my niece that I would loan it to her after I was finished.  She doesn’t love reading (I’m working on that) but I think she’ll like this one.  So if I’m recommending it to others, that means I liked it, right?

4 out of 5

Score=31

That's a Brown Belt!

Insignia

By S.J. Kincaid

More than anything, Tom Raines wants to be important, though his shadowy life is anything but that. For years, Tom’s drifted from casino to casino with his unlucky gambler of a dad, gaming for their survival. Keeping a roof over their heads depends on a careful combination of skill, luck, con artistry, and staying invisible.

Then one day, Tom stops being invisible. Someone’s been watching his virtual-reality prowess, and he’s offered the incredible—a place at the Pentagonal Spire, an elite military academy. There, Tom’s instincts for combat will be put to the test and if he passes, he’ll become a member of the Intrasolar Forces, helping to lead his country to victory in World War III. Finally, he’ll be someone important: a superhuman war machine with the tech skills that every virtual-reality warrior dreams of. Life at the Spire holds everything that Tom’s always wanted—friends, the possibility of a girlfriend, and a life where his every action matters—but what will it cost him? (From Amazon)

Why did I read this book again?

I saw an endorsement for this book on Molly O’Neill’s blog.  She’s the editor, and said that the friendship of the characters in this book kept her laughing and happy all the way through the book (I’m paraphrasing, and probably getting some of it wrong). So I got on Amazon and read the blurb above and went and bought the book.  Science fiction and great characters?  Yes please.

5 out of 5

Characters

So Molly O’Neill raved about the characters, and I’d have to say that she wasn’t exaggerating.  Tom is an adorable underdog that starts out looking like the quintessential 14 year old boy—scrawny and  plastered with acne.  The friends he makes at the Spire are not only hilarious, but loyal.  If you want me to love a book, write about loyal friends.  I didn’t think the adults took nearly as active of a roll as they really would have (you know, if this wasn’t a book and all that), and a few of them fell a little flat, but that’s not who the story is about.

4 out of 5

Did I care what happened?

Yes.  Tom presents an interesting view on life, after having come from a drifter childhood into the coolest gaming center in the country.   Like I said, the characters were loyal and  all had me hoping everything turned out okay.

4 out of 5

Plot Holes

Nothing big here.  To finish the thought I had above, these kids are not technically military, but they are run by the military, and I felt like they were in Hogwarts instead of what should be the most secure location on the planet—trouncing around, getting in trouble and cursing one another, just without the magic wands.  So the adults don’t take much of a roll, which is okay in an YA book, but I felt they should have at least had some presence.

4 out of 5

How many times did I yawn?

There was one section that I thought was okay for the plot, but it drug the pacing down, and never really came to the fruition I was hoping it would.  The whole situation was extremely serious, but didn’t play much of a roll later, and it could have.

4 out of 5

Cool Factor

Uh, kids controlling ships in space with a computer that the military put in their brains, fighting for the rights of corporations on the other planets in the solar system…cool.  Making other kids act like chickens with computer viruses…awesome.  And their training program for physical fitness cracked me up.

4 out of 5

The End

Good and bad.  Everything wrapped up nicely, but it didn’t feel quite deserved or real.  The climax worked, but the very last few chapters…maybe they dragged a bit.  I’m not totally sure—I can’t quite put my finger on it.  Still, that doesn’t keep me from recommending this book if you like YA sci-fi that’s fun and adventure filled.

4 out of 5

Overall Enjoyment

In general I really liked this book!  It made me laugh out loud a few times, and even though the end didn’t grip me, I was totally annoyed that my car was ready when I only had about 5 pages to go.  Since when can Discount Tire put new tires on in less than 30 minutes.  Why do you think I brought the book?

Sorry, back to the story.  Great technology, and I liked that the political system was all about business, not governments.  Very interesting, but not too in your face.

A sort of Ender’s Game at Hogwarts with computer virus duels.  Take that!

5 out of 5

Score=34

That's a Brown Belt!

Royal Target

by Traci Hunter Abramson

Synopsis:

When CIA agent Janessa Rogers meets the royal family of Meridia on assignment, she expects to use her skills in linguistics and security detail to protect and serve, but she doesn't expect to find herself engaged to Prince Garrett Fortier, Meridia's most eligible bachelor, as part of the security plan. And she certainly doesn't expect to fall in love with him.

Janessa resists her feelings, fearing conflicts in her personal and professional life, yet when the Prince admits his feigned affection has become genuine she can no longer pretend. Matters of security, society, and spirituality make their unlikely romance even more complex, and escalating political intrigue gives Janessa an excuse to ignore the questions in her heart. But when a terrorist plot against the royal family endangers them both, Janessa and Garrett must face the challenges of loyalty to family, to country, to God — and to love. 

 

I picked this up on CD at the library because it looked interesting (sort of), and it was only 5 discs long. The last few books I tried to listen to on CD were like 18 discs long, so I wanted something short.

I only read the first paragraph above, and was not expecting an LDS novel. Surprise to me. And since I'm not a huge fan of LDS fiction (yes, I'm a sinner) parts of the review may be a bit bias.

Why did I read this book again?

After reading the fist paragraph of the synopsis, I was expecting a spy novel. This really wasn't a spy novel. It was a romance. So the hook was good, but I felt a little bit lied to.

3 out of 5

Characters

The girl, Janessa, tows a very straight line, but the author keeps her believable, which was nice. The prince should have been charming, and probably was in the author's head, but that never totally made it to the paper. I only sort of cared about them. The girl was wishy-washy about pretty much everything, which doesn't seem okay for a CIA agent supposedly in charge of royal security. Although there is no love triangle, so an extra point for that.

3 out of 5

Did I care what happened?

Mostly. But not because the author drew me into the characters or the conflict, I cared more about complaining about the writing style to my poor roommate than anything else.

The complete lack of any real emotional reactions longer than a single line of text, and leaving out important things like, “And how did Janessa feel when the price kissed her?” pretty much killed me. Okay, their lips touched...then what? That explosive, electricity feeling? Weak knees? The “Oh crap, what have I done?” None of that is in the text. Sure, I can supply it myself, but as a reader I'm not supposed to have to. Please show me what's going on! Instead the author would go on... “The queen came to say dinner was ready. Janessa and the prince moved inside.”

Oh, and the bad guys were only sort of bad. Real bad guys would have amped the tension level way up, but it feels like this author is shy of having a large body count, which I'm okay with I guess, but if felt contrived.

2 out of 5

Plot Holes

Okay, the plot was sound. Lots of little tendrils of story got wrapped up nicely in the end. Each character did get a chance to do what they needed to do. I can't be harsh here, because the story worked.

Oh, I do have to say that someone in the story actually alludes to the fact that the bad guys only killing one guard was a warning about how serious they were. If only he'd been wearing a red shirt.

4 out of 5

How many times did I yawn?

No yawns. Too busy yelling at the CD player in my car about lack of reactions, sensory input, character depth and how fast the reader was going!

3 out of 5

Cool Factor

Having expected spy stuff, and getting mostly frilly romance, I was disappointed. Granted, I've not read anything else by this author, and wasn't expecting an LDS fiction story AND I prefer explosions you can feel and taste to the ones that happen off screen, so my expectations in this area are a little high.

2 out of 5

The End

After a culmination of everything that happened in the story, the end was fine.

4 out of 5

Overall Enjoyment

I really hate railing on books, but this one just didn't do it for me. Every single conflict was resolved with a distinct lack of effort, and when I wanted to know what was going through a character's head, we were off to walking down the hall or the next scene. Maybe I'm not the right audience. Or maybe I'm a bit more harsh than usual because I just went to a very cool writing conference in which my class would have had quite a few constructive items to talk about concerning this book...and how it needed a prose overhaul.

2 out of 5

Score=23

 

That's a Purple Belt

The Cheshire Cheese Cat

A Dickens of a Tale

By Carmen Agra Deedy & Randall Wright 

Synopsis:

Skilley, an alley cat with an embarrassing secret, longs to escape his hard life dodging fishwives brooms and carriage wheels and trade his damp alley for the warmth of the Cheshire Cheese Inn. When he learns that the innkeeper is looking for a new mouser, Skilley comes up with an audacious scheme to install himself in the famous tavern.

Once established in the inn, Skilley strikes a bargain with Pip, the intelligent mouse-resident, and his fellow mice. Skilley protects the mice and the mice in turn give to Skilley the delectable Cheshire cheese of the inn. Thus begins a most unlikely alliance and friendship

The cat and mouse design a plan to restore Maldwyn wounded raven and faithful guard in the service of Queen Victoria to his rightful place in The Tower, but first they must contend with a tyrannical cook, a mouse-despising barmaid, and an evil tomcat named Pinch. Will the famous author suffering from serious writer s block who visits the Cheshire Cheese pub each day be able to help?

The first line reads: “He was the best of toms. He was the worst of toms.” That alone got me to read the book!

Why did I read this book again?

I actually met one of the authors of this novel, and his enticement of a cheese eating cat, a literate mouse and Charles Dickens struggling to write A Tale of Two Cities all hanging out at the same inn hooked me.

5 out of 5

Characters

Skilley the cheese eating cat is great! Pip the little mouse who figures out how two read and write is charming, the villainous, orange Pinch gives all cats a bad name, and poor Charles Dickens gets distracted by all of their drama. Yes, I liked the characters. This is Middle Grade, so no one is extremely fleshed out, but the relationship between them all is fun.

4 out of 5

Did I care what happened?

Every time I see an orange cat I glare at it and wonder if it has been attacking any royal ravens recently. And I'm totally craving cheese right now.

4 out of 5

Plot Holes

The story was sound. It's charming, intense and fun enough language to keep me sucked in. Although if you don't approve of literate mice or angry ravens, don't read this book.

4 out of 5

How many times did I yawn?

Once, but it was Sunday afternoon...

The story isn't terribly fast paced, but the chapters of the book are short and punchy, which kept my attention. And there are cute illustrations interspersed throughout the text

4 out of 5

Cool Factor

While the most action that went on in this book was a cat vs cat vs raven fight, I'd have to say that all of the geeky, writers references were well worth it. And I'm certain I missed a bunch of them.

Kids, if they enjoy animal tales, will like this. It's beautifully written and would be great to read aloud.

4 out of 5

The End

The end was great. You have to see it to get it.

5 out of 5

Overall Enjoyment

4 out of 5

Score= 34

That's a Brown Belt!

Possession

Possession by Elena Johnson

(From Amazon)

Vi knows the rule: Girls don’t walk with boys, and they never even think about kissing them. But no one makes Vi want to break the rules more than Zenn…and since the Thinkers have chosen him as Vi’s future match, how much trouble can one kiss cause? The Thinkers may have brainwashed the rest of the population, but Vi is determined to think for herself.

But the Thinkers are unusually persuasive, and they’re set on convincing Vi to become one of them…starting by brainwashing Zenn. Vi can’t leave Zenn in the Thinkers’ hands, but she’s wary of joining the rebellion, especially since that means teaming up with Jag. Jag is egotistical, charismatic, and dangerous—everything Zenn’s not. Vi can’t quite trust Jag and can’t quite resist him, but she also can’t give up on Zenn.
This is a game of control or be controlled. And Vi has no choice but to play.

I met Elena Johnson at a writing conference last year, and found her to be hilarious. So I bought her book. Her spunky and snarky personality come through loud and clear in Possession.

Why did I read this book again?

The premise sounds cool, and when I read the query letter at the writing conference last year, I was ready to buy the book right there. (It was better than the above blurb.)

3 out of 5

Characters

Vi (the heroin) straddles the line between being tough as nails and fragile as glass. The two boys (yes, love triangle...you all know how I feel about the love triangle...hate them) are okay. Zenn is the dependable one and Jag is the sexy, more alive one. The set up for the characters is good, but by the end I wasn't as impressed as I wanted to be by them.

3 out of 5

Did I care what happened?

I really wanted to cheer for these characters, but when it came down to it I found the leads annoying. Everyone is lying to everyone, and they flip fop about how they feel about each other and what's going on around them so much that I felt like I had emotional whiplash by the time I finished the book. And not in a good way. And since it took me a LONG time to actually finish the novel, I have to say I didn't care as much as I could have.

2 out of 5

Plot Holes

There are a lot of awesome things going on in the world: mass destruction followed by people who control everyone so everyone is good, Goodies, Baddies, lots of cool technology and a slew of ridiculous rules that are just begging to be broken.

However, there were way too many things that happened through or by “coincidence” for my taste. Also, I sill have no idea what is really going on. This concept works for some books, but not usually for me. It was like watching Anime—they never seem to explain anything.

2 out of 5

How many times did I yawn?

The novel was never un-exciting, but I had a hard time caring as much as I wanted to. And I rolled my eyes a lot at Vi and Jag. Really you two, just figure out what you want. Don't have an emotional fight every single 5-page chapter

2 out of 5

Cool Factor

With as much as she packed into this first novel, I'd say the cool factor was pretty high. Teenager girls will love it, I think.

4 out of 5

The End

This book does not have a happy ending. I was warned, and wasn't expecting one. The end itself was a great hook into book 2 (which comes out pretty quick if I remember right) and I thought it was okay. Not great, but okay.

3 out of 5

Overall Enjoyment

Liked the premise and the voice for the main character.

I've been trying to figure out why this book didn't grab me. And I came up with this...Did you see the Hunger Games? Remember how the whole dang thing was filmed? Kind of jerky and never really focusing on the point of the shot for more than a fraction of a second? That's how I felt this book was written. Everything felt short and jerky, and as I reader I never got to settle down into story enough to enjoy the journey.

That might not make sense to anyone else. I wouldn't be surprised.

Seriously, angsty, teenage girls will love this. I'm not the book's audience, so my judgment may be a bit harsh.

Because I really like Elena Johnson, I'm going to add an extra point to this one.

3 out of 5

Score=22

That's a Purple Belt!

City of Bones

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder—much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It’s hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing—not even a smear of blood—to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary’s first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It’s also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace’s world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know. . .

I know, I know, this book has been out for a long time. I'm slow. Let's move on.

First off, I have to say that this story is beautifully written. The author uses words like paint, drawing the reader a clear, vivid picture of each and every scene in the novel. A couple of times I could have sworn I was tasting the stench in the air that the characters were smelling.

As for the story, I liked it. The characters were cool. Most of them had teenage angst of some sort, which is fine. They got over some of it by the end, which was good. I will probably always like books that portray our world as more than meets the eye: magic, warlocks, downworlders, demons, mundanes...each story has it's own twists in this department, and I think City of Bones definitely held its own.

I do NOT like love triangles, and tolerated this one with only a few outbursts of screaming at the book. I always feel like the nice guy gets shafted. Enough said.

By the end of this book I was a little tired of the sickeningly sweet descriptions—especially during the fight scenes. People are hitting each other!!! Give the moonlight hitting his hair like flower petals on the water a break for crying out loud. Let there be action!

Okay, I'm better. I might read the second one. I peeked at the spoilers on the web (yes, I am a bad person) and found out that the love thing still isn't really resolved at the end of book 3 or 4. So not happy about that. Kind of annoying. It all depends on how well it's told...

If you like YA, check it out. Very fun book.

Monster Hunter Alpha

Earl Harbinger may be the leader of Monster Hunter International, but he’s also got a secret. Nearly a century ago, Earl was cursed to be werewolf. When Earl receives word that one of his oldest foes, a legendarily vicious werewolf that worked for the KGB, has mysteriously appeared in the remote woods of Michigan, he decides to take care of some unfinished business. But another force is working to bring about the creation of a whole new species of werewolf. When darkness falls, the final hunt begins, and the only thing standing in their way is a handful of locals, a lot of firepower, and Earl Harbinger’s stubborn refusal to roll over and play dead. (Blurb borrowed from Amazon)

Have I mentioned how much I enjoy the Monster Hunter International world? Larry Correia makes me laugh, which means I will be a loyal fan until one of us dies. Is he the greatest writer in the world? Uh, no. Do I think I can take him with my awesome, below the belt Kung Fu moves? Depends on how many guns he's got. Do I understand even a quarter of the gun-nut talk he puts into his books? Nope.

If it make big hole, it big gun. That's all I've got.

Naturally, I'm going to say that I loved reading this book. I cared about the characters, cheered when the stupid ones got bit in the face and got all excited when a girl told Earl off...and he listened. It read fast for a long book.

However, there is another reason for me to like this book. You see, I donated to a cause a while back, and one of the perks was that Larry Correia would kill you in a novel.

Yes, please. Thank you very much.

This is what happened to Jo Ann Schneider, phone sex goddess and secretary for a monster hunting organization. Goes out on a call into a little town being overrun by werewolves, bullies the men, shoots her gun at monsters, gets eaten by a digger, then vomited back up, shot by a government prick just as she was feeling better, then her looser boyfriend leaves her as bait for the undead werewolves that were chasing them, she gets bit, turned into an undead werewolf and kills said looser ex-boyfriend. Then I'm pretty sure she gets chopped up in the giant snowplow.

Not bad.

What did you do with your weekend? Hmmm?

I'm still laughing.

His Majesty's Dragon

By: Naimo Novic

Aerial combat brings a thrilling new dimension to the Napoleonic Wars as valiant warriors rise to Britain’s defense by taking to the skies . . . not aboard aircraft but atop the mighty backs of fighting dragons.

When HMS Reliant captures a French frigate and seizes its precious cargo, an unhatched dragon egg, fate sweeps Capt. Will Laurence from his seafaring life into an uncertain future–and an unexpected kinship with a most extraordinary creature. Thrust into the rarified world of the Aerial Corps as master of the dragon Temeraire, he will face a crash course in the daring tactics of airborne battle. For as France’s own dragon-borne forces rally to breach British soil in Bonaparte’s boldest gambit, Laurence and Temeraire must soar into their own baptism of fire. (Borrowed from Amazon)

I literally picked this book up on a whim. I had one audio book from the library in my hand, and for whatever reason decided that I could use another. So I sauntered down the aisle, pretty much looking for the fantasy or sci-fi stickers they put on the CD cases, and stumbled across this.

Dragons. Napoleon. Sure, I'm in.

I don't actually know anything about the Napoleonic Wars, only that Napoleon was involved, so as for the historical accuracy—I've got nothing. However, Naomi Novic drew me in with the first chapter and I never got bored. The main character is so stoutly British as to be amusing to me (I am American—talking back is one of my favorite past times) but I loved him and cheered for him at every turn.

The dragon, Temeraire, is hyper intelligent and all sorts of interesting. I pretty much want one of my own. Only I don't have any cows or lambs for a dragon to eat, so that might not work out very well. I'll have to work on that.

Being an action junkie, I wanted a bit more of the war side of the story, but the lack didn't distract at all. I'm just need my action fix! MHA, here I come...

This is the first of like nine books (not all written yet), and I'm going to have to see if the library has book 2 on CD. If you haven't checked this series out, give it a shot. You might like it!

Lord Sunday

The fantastic conclusion to Garth Nix's NEW YORK TIMES bestselling series!

The House is falling apart, and when it is destroyed, all existence will be destroyed with it. Arthur Penhaligon and his friends Leaf and Suzy must use every power at their disposal - magical or practical - to defeat the enemies attacking them from all sides.
For Arthur, the most formidable challenge comes from Lord Sunday, the most elusive of the Trustees of the Will. Lord Sunday's magic is unlike anything Arthur has encountered before - and his secrets have the potential to destroy not only Arthur, but also all the people he holds dear.

(Hijacked from Amazon)

It's been years and years since I started this series. All of the books have been very imaginative and engaging. Although I do have to admit that large chunks of the sub-plots have been lost over the last few years—that's what happens when your brain is full and it starts dumping unimportant information out the back end. I wish I had a flash drive. Or one of those cool things in Harry Potter that keeps memories. Yes, I could look it up, but I'm not going to. Mostly to frustrate those who remember what it's called (and can perhaps spell it). :)

Anyway, I finally got this on CD from the library and listened to it in my car. The reader was great—has been since the beginning—and once again the imagination that went into the world building blew me away. Poor Arthur seems to be destined/cursed to live in the mysterious house forever—never again able to go home and be with his family. Leaf has to lead the charge to save the upper house with Daisy (a large everything killing plant who only obeys whoever has her leash) and Suzy has to be (can we have a gasp) responsible. Action, fun, adventure and plenty of tension.

Up until the very last part.

You know, the part that should be awesome.

To me it was a major let down. I drove down the freeway, yelling at my CD player. “What!?! That was the plan . . . all of these idiots knew the plan and not one of them ever bothered to TELL Aurthor? Not ONE!?!”

The words, “That's totally lame!” also came out a few times.

I hate it when the end of a book doesn't live up to the rest of the set up. Garth Nix is a genius. I love his writing, world building, magic systems and all of the deep tidbits he buries in his books. Not liking the end of this series made me sad. I'll keep reading Nix, but with somewhat lower expectations of the impending payoff.

Seriously, just the last thirty pages or so. *insert dramatic sigh*

Time Riders

Book blurb (from author's web site)

Liam O’Connor should have died at sea in 1912.

Maddy Carter should have died on a plane in 2010.

Sal Vikram should have died in a fire in 2029.

Yet moments before death, someone mysteriously appeared and said, ‘Take my hand . . .’
But Liam, Maddy and Sal aren’t rescued. They are recruited by an agency that no one knows exists, with only one purpose – to fix broken history. Because time travel is here, and there are those who would go back in time and change the past.
That’s why the TimeRiders exist: to protect us. To stop time travel from destroying the world . . .

What I expected: a Quantam Leap sort of thing with a pack of teenagers jumping around in time trying to fix broken stuff.

What I got: One guy getting trapped in an alternate line of history while the others stayed in New York with the cannibalistic Gollums.

Once this book got going I rather enjoyed it. I love history in literature—that way I get to read it in within an interesting plot. This guy Kramer goes from the far future back to WW II and tells Hitler not to invade Russia. Hitler wins the war there, Kramer takes over and invades America. The Time Riders are supposed to go back and stop him. Fun locations, decent history and a pretty good story. Like I said, once it got to this part I liked it. Too bad the beginning was slow.

This is just me, but I do not like omniscient POV. To jump from one character to another without some sort of a break drives me crazy. I get why people write that way, but it feels so impersonal to me. I definitely didn't get to know any of the characters very well in this novel. They've got potential, but nothing terribly substantial right now. Heck, the AI support unit they named “Bob” had the most character development.

The novel is directed toward a YA audience, and I'm thinking teenagers who like action, adventure and a smattering of history will really enjoy it. There are four more out in England (I believe) and who knows, I might pick up the second one. Maybe.

The Amulet of Samarkand

Summary (borrowed)

Nathaniel is a young magician with only one thing on his mind: revenge.
As an apprentice to the great magician Underwood, Nathaniel is gradually being schooled in the traditional art of magic. All is well until he has a life-changing encounter with Simon Lovelace, a rising, star magician. When Simon brutally humiliates Nathaniel in front of everyone he knows, Nathaniel decides to speed up his magical education, teaching himself spells way beyond his years. Eventually, he masters one of the most difficult spells of all: summoning the all-powerful djinni, Bartimeus.

But summoning Bartimeus and controlling him are two very different things—and Nathaniel may be in way over his head.

I picked this up on CD at the library because I heard the author do an interview on a pod cast that I listened to. They guys in the pod cast said the book was funny, so I picked it up.

Now the book is funny. At least the Bartimeus parts. Nathaniel is a whining, sniveling, stupid little boy that I wanted to smack most of the time. He is decidedly not funny. I wanted funny. The djinni is funny. So half of the book is funny because about half of it is from each character's point of view.

The fact that I had to renew the book twice from the library tells me that I didn't like it that much. It just didn't draw me in after Nathaniel's part started. Of course, it's a middle grade book, and I'm not exactly a middle grader, so that could be the problem. If it's not middle grade my deepest apology goes out to Jonathan Stroud.

I'm thinking young boys would love it. There was plenty of action once things got going, and I liked the magic system. Seeing part of the book from the djinni's point of view made things more interesting. And more fun.

Did I mention that Bartimeus was funny?

Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grille

Synopsis: (borrowed) Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grille serves the best matzoh ball soup in the Galaxy, and hires some of the best musicians you'll ever hear. It's a great place to visit, but it tends to move around-just one step ahead of whatever mysterious conspiracy is reducing whole worlds to radioactive ash. And Cowboy Feng's may be humanity's last hope for survival.

A couple of good friends of mine recommended this book to me a few weeks ago. They laughed about it and said how great it was. One of them read me some of the opening lines, and I laughed too. So I expected reading the book to be a romp through the plot, with lots of bad puns and interesting humor.

Okay, so I got all of that, but even more, I got an unexpectedly deep plot and (wait for it) a book that made me think.

Yes, I typed think.

I don't normally go for thinking books. I prefer my fiction light and fun. Sure, some depth is expected, but if I'm having a bad day I plow through it to get back to the action. I'm sure there are several derogatory terms for my fiction habits, but hey, they're my habits, so back off!

Oh, that reminds me, the other day at work I almost changed the signature at the bottom of my e-mails to “Yes, I'm still cranky”. A co-worker decided she might change hers to “Back Off!” I suggested BOMB for Back Off Monkey Boy (movie reference, anyone get it?). She laughed. I had my clever moment for the week. We moved on.

And that's what this book is like. Random (but enjoyable) tangents and deep thoughts thrown in at every twist and turn. Not like my thoughts, but real ones.

My favorite line was “I laughed, I cried, I fell over, it changed my life.” Or something like that. Sorry, I returned the book to it's owner earlier today and a six second Google search did not pull it up. It's probably everyone's favorite line, but that's okay. It's good. I loved it. I haven't fallen over about it, but that could still be coming.

So anyway, I was expecting a lighthearted romp and got a very cool, rather deep, character rich read that left me feeling sad and glad all at the same time. I guess deep is okay. Maybe, someday, I'll write a deep novel and be remembered for my quirky and realistic look into our world.

Yeah.

Right.

The Scorch Trials

This is the second book to that The Maze Runner by James Dashner.

I wanted to love The Maze Runner when I read it last year, but didn't really. I felt like it lacked something—something that I couldn't quite put my finger on. Perhaps it's because I'm not a young man ages 13-16 (or whatever YA is targeted at).

This second book was better. Of course by the end of it I was sick and tired of these kids pretty much being tortured. Maybe it's the ninja girl in me, but I was ready for them to fight back. The end hints that this will happen in book three.

The basic plot is the world is in chaos, sun flares have fried the equatorial regions, killing a lot of people. A disease called the Flare turns people into decaying corpses that are still alive (not really zombies, but close). These kids have been put through the Maze and now the Scorch Trials so that the experimenters can get patterns from their behavior that will supposedly save the human race.

Yes, it sounds strange. Hello, dystopia Sci-fi. Love it. My next project is the same genre, totally different story, obviously.

Anyway, I enjoyed this second novel more than the first. The characters weren't so stereotypical and it seemed like the author was more at ease writing them, which was cool. Everyone got into their groove, which made the book really easy to read and hard to put down. Good setting, always varied and loads of action.

If you don't like unhappy stories, don't read this book. I've vowed to read something happy before I go on to the second book of the Hunger Games. Two in a row might make me pretty grouchy.

Starship Troopers

Ever since I was about twelve years old, and I saw Aliens on TV for the first time, I've been a huge fan of military Sci-Fi. One of the first Sci-Fi, military books I read is called White Wing. I was probably only twelve or thirteen when I read it. Ender's Game is a favorite of mine as well. Unfortunately, at the time I had a hard time finding any military Sci-Fi (the bookmobile wasn't very big in Westminster Colorado), so I kind of jumped off that wagon and on to the fantasy wagon. One of my teachers recommended the Foundation series, and I remember hating it. I think I was way to young to get it.

Apparently I didn't look in the right place. Starship Troopers was written in 1959 (it must have been in the library somewhere when I was growing up) by Robert A. Heinlein. I just finished it on CD, and loved it. Loved it, loved it, loved it. Of course, if the above cover was on the book, I probably got scared and put it back.

I was expecting more action. The opening consists of Johnny (the main character) going on a drop with is unit to “shock and awe” the skinnys into submission. But after that, the story flashes to how he enlisted and then goes through boot camp, his first few assignments and officer's school before we finally get back to the action. Surprisingly, I was okay with that. Besides a few chapters that went a little too heavy handed on moral philosophy, I was totally entertained.

Of course, I'm a sucker for a good military story. All the while listening to Starship Troopers I kept finding things people had stolen. Aliens (still love that show) borrowed heavily from Starship Troopers, as did all those fun Mobile Suit Gundam Animes that I've watched. It was really cool to read the original. Or maybe there is something before this? I dunno. I'll find it someday.

Boneshaker

By: CheriePriest

In the early days of the Civil War, rumors of gold in the frozen Klondike brought hordes of newcomers to the Pacific Northwest. Anxious to compete, Russian prospectors commissioned inventor Leviticus Blue to create a great machine that could mine through Alaska’s ice. Thus was Dr. Blue’s Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine born.
But on its first test run the Boneshaker went terribly awry, destroying several blocks of downtown Seattle and unearthing a subterranean vein of blight gas that turned anyone who breathed it into the living dead.
Now it is sixteen years later, and a wall has been built to enclose the devastated and toxic city. Just beyond it lives Blue’s widow, Briar Wilkes. Life is hard with a ruined reputation and a teenage boy to support, but she and Ezekiel are managing. Until Ezekiel undertakes a secret crusade to rewrite history.
His quest will take him under the wall and into a city teeming with ravenous undead, air pirates, criminal overlords, and heavily armed refugees. And only Briar can bring him out alive.


I picked this book up at the library after doing a web search for popular Steampunk books. I've got a collaborative Steampunk project brewing, and I hadn't read much from the genre. I have to say I liked it. Briar is a tough woman who has been hiding from her past for 16 years, but when the time comes to act she doesn't hesitate. She gathers her gear and follows her son into a dead city.

Both her and her son meet the kinds of people you'd imagine hiding out in a dead city in the old, wild west. There are tavern brawls . . .with zombies, air ships, a bunch of Chinese guys, cool “technology”, a mad scientist, sky pirates, and even a few funny lines. The pace was good and the book was fun to read!

The Dark Divine

Book blurb:
Grace Divine, daughter of the local pastor, always knew something terrible happened the night Daniel Kalbi disappeared—the night she found her brother Jude collapsed on the porch, covered in blood. But she has no idea what a truly monstrous secret that night really held. And when Daniel returns three years later, Grace can no longer deny her attraction to him, despite promising Jude she’ll stay away.
As Grace gets closer to Daniel, her actions stir the ancient evil Daniel unleashed that horrific night. Grace must discover the truth behind Jude and Daniel's dark secret . . . and the cure that can save the ones she loves. But she may have to lay down the ultimate sacrifice to do it—her soul.

Yes, it's teenage, paranormal romance. No, I don't normally get into this sort of thing. I met the author of this book at a conference a few months ago and I was so taken with the way she described The Dark Divine that I bought it. Honestly, I put it at the bottom of the pile of stuff to read. Mostly because of the teen romance angle. I need no reminders that some teenage girl can get a date with a supernatural creature and I can't. But let's not talk about my non-dating life.

In a nutshell, this book was the Prodigal Son and paranormal creatures. Huh. I picked it off my shelf yesterday afternoon and had 40 pages read before I knew it. The book was good! I actually read it in less than 24 hours, which I hardly ever do.

The main character, Grace, is believable and I felt sympathy for her right away. I liked the fact that there was religion in the book, but it all came from the characters, so it wasn't in-your-face. The Prodigal Son is one of those parables from the Bible that I think I fail to understand. I sympathize with the wayward son, sure, but the steady, loyal son has a good point. Yes, yes, I'll probably go somewhere besides heaven unless I figure it out before I die. It was the Prodigal Son angle that made me want to read this book, and it didn't disappoint. I got sucked in and stayed there until I finished it just a few minutes ago. Good job goes to Bree Despain for her first novel! Number 2 is supposed to be out this winter.