Downsiders by Neal Shusterman (Really Good)

Sorry that I'm a bit late this week.  It's been  pretty hectic.  Anyway, back to Downsiders. 
I read this book because I absolutely LOVE all of the books by Neal Shusterman (especially Full Tilt, Bruiser, Everfound, Unwind, and The Schwa was Here). This was a really good book, not as good as some of his book but still pretty amazing.  The cover:

For future references, the book has another cover with the title and author in a circle, but I didn't put that one on this post because it had "a novel" on it. (That's my biggest pet peeve.  Look at the cover and you know it's a novel!)

The story goes like this: There's a society under the feet of New York City.  They've gotten about well enough on their own, but Talon wants to go to the Topside so much that it hurts.  He meets Lindsay, a Topsider, by a chance run in and, later, things start crashing down around them, literally.  A simple truth that could destroy everything that all of the Downsiders' lives, a broken-in-half home, a sick sister, and an execution wait within these pages, all you have to do is start reading.

Overall, I really liked this book.  He should have slowed down during the pipe part, and gone quicker during the very beginning, but it was a wonderful book.  I would definetely suggest you to read it.

I'm about halfway through Birthmarked  and I have to say that it is amazing so far.  I'll post on it next week!

The Outcasts by John Flanagan (Great)

I read the first book in the semi-new series, The Brotherband Chronicles.  This is a sequeling series to The Ranger's Apprentice and the short story collection: The Lost Stories.  Those were links to my reviews of those books by the way.  The books before have no mention in this new series.  Just the general setting of the series are the same.  Here's the cover:

This book is about a half Skandian, half Aurlen boy.  He is an outcast because of his mixed race and because he is smart in a land that values strength.  The boy, Hal, is old enough for Brotherband training, which is a competition of sorts/ school where boys learn how to sail, navigate, work as a team, etc. Hal's brotherband has to compete with two others in a bunch of risky, interesting contests.  A lot of things happen that "rocks the boat" (and no that is not supposed to be a bad pun) and everything gets complicated...

The book ended on a cliffhanger, which I absolutely hate!  I really enjoyed this book. I would suggest reading it.  My advice: the sailing terminology at the beginning of the book is really unnecessary, so you can skip reading it if you want to.  It just gave me a headache reading it, and I didn't think it helped me a lot.

I hope you decide to read it.  I'll write again once I finish reading the book I'm on: Downsiders by Neal Shusterman.

Happy Reading!

The Lost Stories by John Flanagan (Really Good)

I read a "short" story Ranger's Apprentice collection.  If you didn't see my review of the Ranger's Apprentice series click here!  I just want to tell you that this book's "short" stories are about 100 pages long each.  I was worried that all of them would be really short and boring, but they weren't. Here's the cover:

These stories have all of the characters we know and love-Will, Halt, Horace, etc.  The author made most of these stories a little after the last Ranger's Apprentice book had left off, but there were still a few in the complete past and some in the middle of the series.  It clears some questions that readers had asked John Flanagan and tells you exactly what happened with Will and Alyss. 

This book is not nesecary to read by any means, but I liked the book and would suggest reading it.  You should definetly not read it if you haven't read the other books in the series; you would be completely lost. 

I just finished reading The Brotherband Chronicles: The Outcasts also by John Flanagan.  I'll post about it soon, probably as soon as I finish writting this. 

I hope you have all had a good week.  Happy Friday!

The Third Kane Book Update

Hi! The title and cover for the final Kane Chronicles book was announced recently.  It's called, "The Serpent's Shadow.  Here's the cover:

Since it wasn't common knowledge, I thought I would tell you guys.  I can't wait for it to come out.  I mean, look at that cover!  It's coming out May 1, 2012.  I'll keep you updated on what's going on when I find out something else.

Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson (Awesome)

I read this book for Battle of the Books.  To tell you the truth, I had already decided that I didn't want to read it because of the title/cover.  This book is living proof that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover.  And in case you were wondering: Yes, I did love the book.  Yes, it was funny.  Yes, I did go to the library and read all the rest of the books in the series.  And, yes, I will also review those.  Here is the cover:

There is no way to review this book without it sounding cheesy, so I think I'll give a quick overview of the first chapter and then go to the general book description.

The beginning of the book starts with the main character, Alcatraz Smedry, being tried to an altar about to be sacrificed.  Then he has a "flashback" and the story starts.  At the beginnning of almost every chapter Alcatraz says (the book's first person) something really funny: why he is a bad person, his opinion on fishsticks, how he thinks it's funny that now you have to read the whole rest of the book to find out what happened with the altar, etc.

Alcatraz Smedry has a very rare and special talent- for breaking things.  When his long-lost grandpa arrives to take him home, he realizes that he lost his inheritence- a bag of sand.  In a dangerous mission to get it back, they will have to go to- the downtown library.  Alcatraz learns there that the librarians are trying to take over the world and influence the cultures of the world.  After all, they already have the Hushlands (Americas, Australia, Asia, Europe, Africa).

This is one of the funniest books that I have read in a long time.  Not only is it funny, but it also has a gripping plot (a weird one at that).  I would definitely recomend this book to anyone, don't let the title/cover/description scare you away.  If you don't believe me, go to a libray and read the first couple of pages, you'll love it.

I've already read the rest of the series, all that's out.  I'll review them shortly.

Happy Reading!

Important News Update!

Hey!  I just wanted to tell you all that the next book in the Beyonders series, Seeds of Rebellion is not coming out January 3, as I thought it was.  It's actually coming out mid-March.  Sorry if you're disappointed; I definitely was.

The Dangerous Days of Daniel X by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge (Good)

Hello, all!  I read The Dangerous Days of Daniel X acouple days ago.  It is the first in the Daniel X series.  It was good; it didn't last me long at all.  Here's the cover:



There is a kid, Daniel, who is an alien on Earth.  He is hunting down the worst of the aliens on his list, moving toward number one.  This time he was looking for Number Six.  Daniel thinks he can handle this alien, but things start to go a downhill, fast, and he regrets his haste in moving so far up the List.  But, Daniel has to stop Number Six before he does complete genocide.
I really liked the book.  It was funny-ish and told well.  It had a good plot and you liked Daniel while reading it (which is more than I can say about some books).  The book was fast paced, but there was an average of only two pages per chapter.  That was a bit frustrating to me.  The Dangerous Days of Daniel X was a good book.  If you didn't catch it, it was written by James Patterson, who is very famous, and Michael Ledwidge, who, quite frankly I've never heard of before, but I don't think that he gets enough credit for this book (his name on the cover is way smaller than the other guy's).
I'll post again soon with another book review!