Unwholly by Neal Shusterman (Awesome)

Okay, sorry that I am like a month late.  I just didn't get around to posting so I have a bunch of really good books to post on but not enough time.  I'll start with this one and move on if I have time before more books come out.

Unwholly was the sequel to Unwind.  I LOVED Unwind.  It really made me start loving Neal Shusterman's writing.  Anyway, it was an amazing book that you should go and read.  It will sound creepy without a doubt but it's worth it.

Without further ado, the cover.

 

I'll be the first to admit this cover is downright scary.  There's a sulking multicolored teenager on the cover and that's it.  I really hated his character, as you are supposed to.  Anyway, I think they could have done a different cover that wouldn't turn people away from the book because it's not that bad.

 

The plot starts soon after the last book ended.  Conner is taking control of the Graveyard, Risa is handicapped, and Lev is under the custody of his older brother, Marcus.  Things are standing to unravel at the seems, though.  The ADR is cutting resources from the Graveyard, Risa is not as safe as she believes she is, and a tragity in Lev's life might leave him as a prisoner.  We are also introduced to some other characters such as Cam and Starkley.  Let's just say that neither will help their cause much.  And the overlying question is: When will the Juvies finally take out the Graveyard?

 

The plot thickens in this amazing sequel to Unwind.  Neal Shusterman, as always, makes a compelling, action packed story, with some very lovable characters and same very dispisable characters.

 

II would really suggest reading this book along with the first book of the trilogy.  The last book will come out eventually and I will be looking forward to it, hopefully along with you.

 

Thanks for reading this!

The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan (So Beyond Awesome)

I've been excited for this book to come out for about a week more than a year.  It didn't disappoint.  In fact, I think it's my favorite book by Rick Riordan so far.  If you haven't read any of the previous books in this series before, then you are in the wrong place.  Without further ado, the cover:

 

 

It shows Percy fighting Jason with the owl, the mark of Athena, in the background.  It's an amazing cover, even if it ended up not being what I expected it would be.

 

Description:  The Argo 2 sets sail for Rome with the seven demigods on it... and a slightly violent satyr as supervisor.  While they wind their way to Rome, a feud rises between the two camps.  Annabeth is charged with the important, yet impossible task of following the mark of Athena, which has the slightest chance of bringing peace to the camps.  With monsters, ballerina-wanna-be giants, and Diet Coke-drinking gods appearing everywhere, getting to Rome might be even harder than expected.

 

This was the most amazing story that I've read in at least two years.  It was suspenseful and sweet and sort of sad and amazing and so much more.  I actually laughed out loud way too many times to count.  This was the most hilarious, touching, and exciting of all of Rick Riordan's books so far.  It was SO amazing!

 

The next book, is The House of Hades.  The title's meaning you can guess once you finish reading it.

 

You may know how there was supposed to be a cliffhanger at the end and a part that Rick "got teary-eyed" writing.  I know now without a doubt what he was talking about.  It was so freaking sweet!  The whole second to last chapter has replayed in my mind so many times since I finished reading it.  About five minutes after I finished the book, I started crying because the ending was just so so so sweet.  You'll see what I mean.

 

I would definitely recommend this to anyone who lives.  Seriously, go read it.  Read the rest of the series first and then read it.

 

On a kinda-sorta related note, I saw Rick Riordan in Charlotte, NC yesterday.  That was super exciting and I listened to him talk about everything.  I made a couple of friends with the people around me and got to be in the third row, so that was awesome.  For the record, he didn't mean for The Mark of Athena to age in its maturity level.  And I officially love his "British" accent.

 

 But, I didn't have a chance to ask my question, so if you are going to one of the events and want to ask a question but don't have one, try to ask this.  "What monster did you feel the most evil about sending after the characters?"  I bet there's a good answer to this.  Write in the comments if you do and please tell me what he said.

 

Sorry that I've been so late, lately.  I'm going to try to post a lot to make up for all of the books on my to review list, soon.

 

PS I'd love to talk about Mark of Athena with basically anyone.  Please, please comment because I don't know anyone else who has finished and I really want to talk about it! 

 

Thanks for reading!



Caught (Missing) by Margaret Peterson Haddix (Awesome)

Sorry that I haven't been posting a lot.  I'll try to get back to posting on Fridays, but right now I'm so behind that I sort of dread thinking about it.  Since I last posted, I've read The Kill Order, The Rise of Nine, Unwholly, and this book.  Anyway, Caught is the fifth book in the Missing Series.  They need to be read in order: Missing, Sent, Sabotaged, Torn, and finally Caught. They are all amazing, so you should go read the first one at least.

The cover:

 

I don't think that I could easily explain the cover.  They rode on trains for a little while, I guess, so there's the train and maybe Jonah racing to catch up?  Whatever the point, it works.  And the title, Caught.  Well, let's just say that it makes sense in more than one way.

Time stops in the 21st century, and Jonah and Katherine are sent back in time because Albert Einstein is thinking about the wrong things and could mess up time forever.  The Einsteins have a missing child, Lieserl,  who is dying of scarlet fever.  The biggest problem, however, is that Mileva, Einstein's wife, knows that Jonah and Katherine are there.  How can they save time when it's as if everything is working against them?

I would recommend you to read this.  Not only once, but twice because it's that good.  I wish I could just talk abut the ending, but that would be a major spoiler.  It's so so so amazing!

I love this book and hope that you will read it.  I'll post again later.

P.S. Sorry this post's a bit choppy.  The "o" key on this computer only works when you stab it, so I've had to rewrite a bunch of words.

Sorry Everyone

Hi everyone.  In my Coming Soon page, I had Antsy Floats coming out yesterday.  It turns out that it comes out in more than a year.  I think it has something to do with the author's mom having a stroke.  Sorry if I got you all excited for nothing.

Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix (Great)

Here's an interesting book.  I was about a second away from returning it to the library because I didn't think I would ever get around to even reading the first sentence.  Then, of course, I felt bad.  Next thing I know, it's 1 o'clock in the morning.  So, don't give it a bad rep. because of whatever. 

Anyway, here's the cover:

                       

 

I'm not a big fan of either of the covers, so I thought I'd show both.  Just so that you'd have options.  The left is self explanatory, but I'll point out that on the right, it says "Happily Never After..." under the title.  I think it changes the whole idea of the cover.

The book is about what happened to Cinderella (Cinders-Ella) after she goes to live with Prince Charming for her happily ever after. The castle is not what she was expecting, full of strict regulations, stiff people, and even the prince isn't as perfect as he had always seemed. Even, Jed, one of her teachers, is easier to talk to than Charming. Ella soon discovers, however, that escaping the castle will be more dangerous than first appears.

This is definitely a chick book, and I wouldn't recommend it to any guys.  But, any girl who is in the mood for a light, yet kind of fast-paced, read will not be disappointed. 

It's definitely something I would recommend.  And I hope you give it a shot.

As a side note: As I mentioned somewhere above, I got my book from the library, and I was about halfway through the book when I saw a bite mark on a page in my book. A human bite mark!  I thought it was worth mentioning, if only to make you wonder why. 

Anyways, I'll probably post mid next week instead of Friday since I'm so late with this post.  Who really knows when I'll finish my next book, so until then comment or whatever else you want to do.

Special thanks to everyone who has commented so far.  I really appreciate it.





Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian by Eoin Colfer (Awesome)

Sorry I'm late.  I have trouble keeping track of days during the summer.  This is the last book in the Artemis Fowl series, the eighth, I believe.  It is an amazing series, so I suggest reading it.  Guys can read it, believe me.  Even if you don't think it is, based on the description, you are wrong.  I needed to go ahead and point that out.  So, go ahead and read the rest of the series.  I'll still be here when I get back.

Here's the cover:

The cover shows part of the ending, so *GIANT SPOILER ALERT*  Artemis is standing near the gateway.  The wall is there between him and Holly/ Butler.  The cover basically shows Artemis Fowl saying his last words. *SPOILER ALERT OFF*  It's an amazing cover that really wraps it up nicely.

Anyway, I'm going to assume that you read the previous books and all, so I can do the review.

 

 

Artemis has gone to his last therapy session to fix his Atlantis Complex. When he is leaving Haven, he finds that a ransom note has been received by the LEP. The younger Opal has been kidnapped and will be shot unless they release the older Opal. (skipping a part because of spoilers) Artemis, Holly, and Butler race to stop Opal from destroying the whole human race and ruling all the fairies.

 

 

I thought this was the perfect book to end the series. It was just so right in so many ways...

 

 

As always, the humor was perfect. (It had a couple really awesome quotes that I will add to the quotes page later, so check there within a week.)

 

 

And the ending... It's the first time that I've gotten within a football field of crying while reading in a long time. But, so epically perfect.

 

 

*Note for people who have already read it*

 

 

You might not of noticed this, but the thing that Holly said at the end. The thing about how it all began. That was the exact first sentence of the series. Personally, I think that makes an amazing ending, to have the first and last sentence to be the same. *Spoiler for Pendragon* The same thing happened at the end of the Pendragon series. *spoiler off*

*End of Note*

 

 

Once again, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone.

 

 

Oh, and I was just thinking about how in the beginning of the series, I didn't like any of the main characters. And now I think they're all the best. You start to care for the guys you don't like eventually.

 

 

Again, I'm sorry I'm late. I'll probably post again next week. See you then. In the meantime, comment, click on an add, read my posts, or whatever else you want to do.

The Hobbit by JRR Tolken (Alright)

Sorry I'm late posting, and, truth be told, this isn't my normal review (I think I'm skipping the summary), but I figure there's no way anyone will read this because it's a super well known book.  Also, since I'm sure there are hundreds of good reviews out there for this book, I'm not supplying one.  If you don't want an honest opinion, don't read this blog.

I'm sure that you've heard about The Lord of the Rings.  I'd be amazed if you hadn't.  Anyway, a long, long time ago, I gave in and started reading The Hobbit... and I finished it sometime last week.  Thoroughly unimpressed with it.  The first hundred pages were torture to go through.  It got better after that, and I don't think I would have had as much trouble with the idea that I didn't like it if it hadn't had so much hype. 

I really had a problem with all the riddles and songs.  There was one every ten pages, and every time I saw one, I wanted to scream.  One chapter was almost completely riddles.  Personally, I don't find that particularly entertaining.

On a side note, at the end, *SPOILER ALERT* When Thorin died, it wasn't obvious.  I had to re-read the paragraphs before it, before it made sense.  It seemed like he just left instead of died.  *SPOILER OFF*

All together, I wasn't impressed, but I will still probably read the other book with the hope that they are better because #1, The Hobbit is a prequel, which is a sign that it's worse than the other books and #2, I want to understand references to it. 

On different topics:

1. I started watching Burn Notice, a TV show, and am really enjoying it.
2. I re-read BZRK (still amazing the 2nd time) and am psyched for book 2.  (February 26)

That's all for this week.  Sorry again that I was late, and I apologize for all of the awkward sentences above.  My grammer ran out the window tonight.

Feel free, as always, to comment.

The Dark Side of Nowhere by Neal Shusterman (Awesome)

I'm going to get right into it this week, so here's the cover:

The cover shows metal glove shooting lasers out of the fingers.  I really like the lettering on it; it really sets the mood.  And the title, surprisingly not actually depressing, and perfect once you've read the book.

To tell you the truth, I would feel guilty even writing a summary of this book.  The whole thing is revealed as it goes along and you can't summarize it without mention a main point, which would ruin a chunk of the beginning of the book.  I read it without having any idea what it was about (I love Neal Shusterman) and that worked out great, for the best even.  I'll put in a summary at the end of the post, just in case, and I'll make sure it won't ruin the surprise.

It was an amazing story with action, love, random funny bits, and a couple dramatic twists.  I thought I should put in the first sentence because, well, I don't really know.  Anyway: "Ethan died of a burst appendix."  (Random thought, why do Ethans never live long in TV shows and books?  My advice is to never get too attached to a character named Ethan; you'll regret it.) 

I would definitely suggest reading this book.  It wasn't long, maybe 200 pages, but it was definitely worth reading.  And the ending...  Well, if you've ever read a book by Neal Shusterman, you'll know the kind of ending he usually uses.  One that wraps everything up nicely except for one thing, which the reader is almost certain they know how will end up.  It leaves you hanging, not enough to make a sequel, but makes you think about it for a long, long time.  They should give him a prize for his amazing (if sometimes sad) endings.

Oh, random tid bit.  There's this character, Ralphy Sherman, who appears in a whole bunch of Neal's books.  He is a guy who "stretches the truth" a long ways.  Keep an eye out for him, makes it a bit more interesting.

And here's where I'll write my summary.  I'll try my hardest to make it spoiler free.

Jason lives in a nice little town where everything is normal and nice.  Nothing interesting ever happens.  That is, until his friend Ethan dies.  Then strange things start happening.  The janitor gives Jason something that, let's just say, is very unusual.  Jason and Paula start poking around the town and find somethings are not as they seem.  If fact, nothing at all is how it seems.  And it all seems to connect with a problem that happened in Old Town twenty years before and the fact that Grant (the janitor) has his satellite dish pointed in the wrong direction.

Once again, this is an amazing book and I would recommend it to every one.

P.S. I had a realization the other day that the Gone Series has a couple bits that I would feel guilty recommending to anyone under twelve years old, starting in the second or third book.  I mean, most would be okay with it, but I need to point it out just the same.  I think that currently it is my favorite series. (It's amazing, and I haven't gotten tired of it like Harry Potter, yet.)  So don't think I'm complaining.  It's just that, well, there is a little PG 13 content a little later in the series.  (I hope you know what I mean there.  If not, ask in the comments, but that's super uncomfortable, so please don't.)  I thought I'd throw that all out there and hope it doesn't deter you from the series because it is beyond amazing. I mean, seriously, go out and read it.



More Mark of Athena News

As you should all know, the summer solstice was a little while ago.  To celebrate, Rick Riordan did a Q and A thing.  You can see it all here: http://www.rickriordan.blogspot.com. 

A recap, anyway, is that Mark of Athena will have a cliffhanger, has a part that Rick got "teary eyed" while writing, mentioned Percy & Annabeth's grey hair (from holding the sky), has a Percy/ Annabeth reunion, and probably a couple other things.

You frustrated as well?

Divergent by Veronica Roth (Awesome)

The cover:

Sorry that the cover is blurry, it's the best I can do.  It shows the symble for Dauntless over thge city of Chicago. 

Summary: There are five groups of people, in five different factions: Abnegation, Candor, Amity, Erudite, and Dauntless.  They each have a role on society,and when you turn sixteen, you choose where you will live.  Beatrice wants to leave her faction.  She must go through a terifying initiation process to prove that she can make it into her new faction.  But, there is somethingthat's amiss with the leaders there.  She will have to work hard to even stay alive.

This was a great book, one that I would definity recommend.  There is even a love interest, to top things off. 

One thing I would add, though, was that, like always, my favorite character died.  It doesn't really seem fair to me, right?

Anyway, that's all for now.  See you all later.

Speeding Bullet by Neal Shusterman (Great)

Thank you to the people who have commented on this blog. I really appreciate it. Everyone who hasn't commented, please do; it lets me know that people are actually reading this.  I know this didn't fit in, but I had to say it.  Back to the summary.

I had a weird thought. I hadn't read anything new this week, since I was re-reading the Gone Series.  I have a whole list of books that are on my "to review" list, and now I can actually got to use it.  This is one of those books you read because of the author's awesome-ness.  If you click the Label beneath the post that says "Neal Shusterman" you'll see all of the other books that I've reviewed by him.  Just in case you decide you're a fan.

The cover:

Sorry, I couldn't get it any bigger.  Anyway, on the cover shows the main character in front of a subway car.  The reason that that's the picture is pretty obvious once you read it.

Nick is just an average kid living in New York City.  Until one day, while waiting for the subway car, he notices a little girl, whom would get hit by the subway without his help.  He becomes a hero, and then everyone forgets about him.  The only thing that remains the same is that whenever he flips a coin, it lands on heads.  Just an average kid whose luck can't run out.  Nick starts doing crazy, reckless things like running into burning buildings.  Only his friend, Linda, doesn't want him to get hurt.  After all, eventually everyone's luck runs out...

Overall, it was a great story.  The whole older brother complex made it even better.  I would suggest it and all, but thinking back on it, it's not one of Neal's best books.  Still amazing by most scales, but not one of my favorites.  But, that's not to say it wasn't good. 

Maybe the only problem was that I read it a while ago, and the "power" of the book has lessened over time.  Who knows?

I'll try to post next Friday.  See you then.

P.S.  If you want to be super awesome, click on an add on the side or bottom of this post.  Just the one add.  It would be awesome, and I'd love you for it.

The Enchantress by Michael Scott (Awesome)

This is the last book in a fairly large series, six books.  I don't think I'll ever post on the first five, so here's a brief description: Josh and Sophie are normal kids, until, during a routine day at the bookshop, a man comes in and starts attacking the owner, Nick Flamel.  The reason? A book.  Sophie and Josh must develop their potential powers to protect themselves.  For, the Flamels think they might be the twins of legend.  One to save the world, one to destroy it.

That is the insanely simplified version of the first five books.  I really would suggest reading it.  All you have to do is read the first paragraph, and you will be hooked.

Anyway, here's the cover of The Enchantress:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I really don't think that the cover has anything to do with the book. *Spoilers in this review if you haven't read the first 5 books*

Sophie, Josh, Dee, and Virginia Dare are teleported to Danu Talis where they meet Sophie and Josh's parents.  At the same time, Joan of Arc, Shakespeare, Palamedes, and Schatach are also on Danu Talis, their goal is to make sure the human uprising happens and Danu Talis falls.  Back in the present, the Flamels and others are holding back the attack on San Francisco.  Will everything turn out the way it should?  Read it to find out.

I must say, the ending way AMAZING!!!  You couldn't guess it until they mentioned his hand...  Okay, no spoilers, but it was pretty amazing.  I have to admit that earlier in the series, I was getting a little annoyed with Josh.  It sucks when one of your favorite characters switches sides, but I'm happy to say that it's not a problem in this book.  (That didn't spoil anything, by the way.)  All in all, it was an amazing book.  I would definitely suggest it.

*Spoiler for this book*  However, I have to admit that on the Flamel side of the story, I have no idea if three characters died at the end.  Could someone tell me if Black Hawk and the Flamels made it.  Did they go to Paris to die, or since Josh is Death, did they just go to Paris?  Please comment if you know/ think you know what was up with that.

*Spoiler off*

I hope you give this book/ series a chance.  It was really good. 

Sorry I'm late, by the way. I try to be on time next week.

Bye.

UPDATE :  Someone commented with a cover description.  I'll post part of it below so you can see it easily.

The cover for the book is actually very descriptive into the book itself. lined with a silver book cover it has references to the enchantress "sophie" it has pictures of vimanas and ziggurats. the moon and sun in the center are the centerfold of the story once you know the secrets to the book.

Spiral (Tunnels book 5) by Roderick Gordan and Brian Williams (I honestly don't know what to rate it.)

This whole series is a bit hit or miss.  There are incredibly boring parts that make you wonder why you're reading this at all, and then, there are amazing parts, like the end of this book, that make you wonder why you ever doubted it.  Basically, my idea of this book depends on when you ask me, and since it ended on an amazing part, I would just say this to anyone considering starting this series:  Stay with it until it gets to an interesting part.  It doesn't take all too long. 

Now, I'm going to assume that you've all read the previous books and not worry about spoilers from before this book.  *Spoiler Alert for the first four books* 

I'm just going to go ahead and tell you that this cover really doesn't work, in my opinion.  Sure, there's a Styx woman on the cover; but, what's up with the car and the hairy cave?  Please, please don't judge it on the cover.

I just realized how much stuff builds on itself.  This won't be the best summary, only because of spoilers. 

The Styx have pulled out all the stops.  The Phase is the next step.  It involves laying eggs to produce the warrior Styx.  In a mad dash to stop them, a number of things happen that complicate things.  From being trapped, to digging through places where there are loads of memories, to having a new girl introduced to make love interests more complicated.  A whole bunch of new characters are introduced and a couple of old favorites die. 

All in all, a pretty good book.  If you liked the earlier books, you will like this one.  I really loved the ending (if you don't count the epilogue).  And here's a random bit of info that will let you get a reference:  The Highfield Mole is another name for Tunnels, the first book in the series. 

There is, based on the ending, probably going to be another book in the series.  A bit too open to leave like that.

Anyway, I hope you all have a good summer.

P.S. Anyone who's read it, comment if you know/think why it's called "Spiral" because I'm really curious about that.

Delirium by Lauren Oliver (Awesome)

I needed to change pace a little bit, so I read a love book.  I thought I should point that out, so if you're not interested, you can move on to a different review.  Amazon has been practically begging me to read this, so I read the first chapter or two online, realized it was amazing, and went out and bought it.  Definitely should be on your to do list.

The cover just basically shows the main character, Lena, standing there.  (Personally, I think she looks like Charlotte from the tv show Revenge. )

Love, or amor deliria nervosa, has been declared a disease.  The one that causes everything: strokes, suicide, you name it.  There is even a cure, but they cannot preform it until a person reaches the age of eighteen, for health reasons.  Lena has been looking forward to being cured since she was little.  She wants to forget certain things in her past...  Everything is moving perfectly until she meets someone special, spectacular even.  There is another problem with deliria, though: those who contact it don't want to be cured, no matter what happens to them because of it.

It takes place in what could easily be a week from now.  The whole thing kept you sitting on the edge of your seat. Then the ending... talk about powerful. 

There is a sequel, Pandemonium, which is on my reading list, for sure.  I believe that it's in a trilogy, and the last book isn't currently out, to the best of my knowledge.

It's definitely a book that I would recomend.  This feels like it's going to be the next big love story.  Oh, and if you liked Matched, it's a bit like that except with only one guy. Actually, think of any future society books and combine them with a love book and you have it, sort of.

Anyway, that's all for now.  Bye.





The Mark of Athena cover, first chapter, and my thoughts

Here's the cover.  Mine's not really good quality, but if you zoom in, there's really detailed faces.  You should check it out.  Get prepared for everything I think about it.  Left to right.

1. Jason vs Percy  (one's blond, the other's black haired)
2. venti vs pegasus
3. imperial gold vs celestial bronze
4. storm vs water
5. purple vs orange
6. Romans vs Greeks
7. owl = the sign (mark) of athena (hence the title)
8. owl's left eye is either way less angry than the right eye, or it's just not winking.

If I had to say, I'd think Jason was winning because there's lightning on Percy's side and no water on Jason's side. 

No matter what, I'm officially psyched.  Oh, and here is the link to the official first chapter link.

What's your opinion?

The Invaders by John Flanagan (Awesome)

Sorry I'm so late.  Exams and everything...  Anyway, I wrote half of this awhile ago and am finishing it now

Hi everyone! The last book I read was the second book in the Brotherband Chronicles.  The first book, The Outcasts, left off on a bit of a cliffhanger, and this book picked right up where the last one stopped.  I would suggest reading my previous review first (link above) so that I don't spoil anything that's revealed in book one.  The cover:



It shows Hal fighting some nameless pirate.  (You know it's Hal because he has a sword.)  The Heron is in the background, and flames are surrounding them.  Pretty obvious once you read it.

The book is about the Herons riding around on their ship, trying to find the pirates.  Bad weather comes around, a random village has problems, and a cute girl are all thrown in the mix.  Read to find out what happens to everyone in the next instalment of the Brotherband Chronicles.

I would suggest reading this book.  It's pretty much exactly what you would expect based on the author, John Flanagan. (Whom I'm a big fan of, by the way.)

The next is coming out October 30, 2012 and is called Hunters.  I look forward to it coming out and can't wait to see you about it, then. 

Since I'm epically behind, I thought I would skip the last three books in the Jimmy Fincher series.  They are exactly like the first book, except for the fact that the last book is the best one by far.

See you soon.


The Serpent's Shadow by Rick Riordan (Awesome)

I wrote an amazing post about this, then it deleted it.  I spend at least half an hour on it.  I'm really frustrated, so you get the short version now.



The cover has Carter and Zia (who the cover guy made Sadie) looking out at the Sea of Chaos, which has Apophis's shadow held back by the obelisk.

*SPOILER ALERT IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE FIRST 2 KANE CHRONICLES BOOKS*

My other summary was better, but here you go.  Carter and Sadie have the task of stopping Apophis from swallowing the sun, and they could easily kill themselves completing their assignment.  The hardest part is picking the right guy.  Dying guy or god that's forbidden to talk to you?  the answer is a twist.  Find out what happens in this very penguin-y adventure.

I would suggest reading this book.  It was really good.  The chapter titles were as entertaining as ever. 

Now the interesting part.  Remember how Rick Riordan answered my question ?  Well, around page 80 (give or take 20 pages), they are at a dance and Drew and Lacey show up from The Lost Hero.  Drew is that girl that called everyone "honey" and flirted with Jason; Lacey is the nice one from Aphrodite that had to wear nurse's shoes.  It's pretty minor, but exciting.  It makes you wonder if Carter and Sadie will be mentioned in The Heroes of Olympus series. 

I'm taking this as an opertunity to tell you to read all of Rick Riordan's books.  I probably won't have time to review the one's that are already out, so I'm telling you now.  You won't regreat it. 

My next post will be on The Invaders by John Flanagan.  See you then.

Author Visits (Rick Riordan and Margaret Peterson Haddix)

In October, when the Son of Neptune came out, I was about an hour away from one of the seven tour stops.  I was, of course, really excited about this and was able to convince my mom to take me.  Rick Riordan arrived on a "chariot" pulled by black horses.  It was supposed to have something to do with Hades.

I had been thinking of a question to ask him for weeks.  I wanted something unique.  We stood in line forever!  I was number 202.  That was apparantly really good; I think there were about 800 of us. 

I got up there and he signed my book.

You can't really see my face or my purple t-shirt, but still an amazing picture!!!  Here's what I asked (not paraphrased at all).

Q: In the Kane Chronicles, when you said that Manhattan had its own problems, did you mean the Greeks and Romans?

A: *nodding his head* Yes, and you'll see what I mean in book three. 

It doesn't sound nearly as exciting when you write it, so picture one of your favorite authors basically telling you, "Wow.  How observant! My third book will be completely amazing, and you know that for a fact before everybody else does."  As you can see, he even signed the person behind me's book while still talking to me! 

Personally, I was so happy about the whole thing that I almost started crying while picking up sauce at the Taco Bell on the way home.  Here's his signiture in case you're curious.  I think I have crazy eyes but I can't help it because I'm not photogentic at all.

***

Now I'm going to talk about Margaret Peterson Haddix.  She came to my school about two weeks ago.  Somehow, I managed to eat lunch with her, along with six other middle schoolers.  That was pretty exciting, too. 

However, this time I had no questions at all.  I made up some on the fly, but they weren't very exciting.  Some of the other kids had some good questions, though, so I'll list some of those, slightly paraphrased.

Q: Who is Jonah?

A:  That's a surprise, but you'll find out in the seventh book (the last one).

Q: What's your favorite book that you wrote?

A: I won't say because that would be like favoring children.

Q: How did you come up with the idea for the Shadow Children sereis?

A: My family was debating about whether or not to have a third child.  We considered over population, and I said that if it was such a problem, there would be a law against third children.  The idea just popped into my head.

Q: How did you get the idea for the Missing series?

A: I got disoriented when I woke up when our plane was landing, and I couldn't remember who I was for a moment.  I started thinking what would happen if a bunch of kids were disoriented in a plane and no one could tell them who they were.  The idea moved on to babies.

Sorry, but those are some of the only ones that I remember enough to write about.  Someone asked how much she wrote a day, and I remember that she answered with an insanely large numbers of hours, but I don't think non-exact answers are really helpful.

For all of you who have no idea what she looks like, here.



I have a picture with her, but I really don't want to look through my email to find it.  I'll try to do another screen shot of her signature; it's a bit neater than Rick Riordan's.

I hope that was at least a  little interesting for you.  It sure took forever to write.  Probably, because I was trying to take the screen shot via skype. 

Hope you all have a very nice weekend.

PS. Mrs. Haddix told us when all of the rest of her book in the Missing series come out.  You can see it in my Coming Soon page.  (There will be seven.)

PPS.  My books aren't actually yellow.  They are all white, put my lighting's awful.



BZRK by Michael Grant (Awesome)

Sorry I didn't post last week.  I had too much stuff to write about to choose.  So, this week I'll post twice.  Once on this book, BZRK, and another on author visits.  That would include Margaret Peterson Haddix, whom I met two weeks ago and, if I have enough time, Rick Riordan from October.  Oh, plus I need to review Speeding Bullet, The Always War, Prized, and the rest of the Jimmy Fincher Series.  I'm really behind!  Well, here we go into this review. The cover:



This is one of those covers that aren't very exciting/ don't make much sense until you've read the book.  It's perfect for the book.  There is a biot/ nanobot on an eye with another one on the "z" in BZRK (pronounced berserk). 

The author, Michael Grant, also wrote the the Gone series which is why I read this book to begin with.  I was a bit skeptical from the official summary (that's why I always write my own) but I was really glad I read it.

 

 

There are two sides of a battle that is going on in the nano level. Tiny biot/ nanobots are fighting. One side: The Armstrong Fancy Gifts Corporation (AFGC). The other: BZRK. AFGC is lead by conjoined twins Charles and Benjamin and under their command: Bug Man. There goal is to make all of the human race as one. There would be no anger or jealousy. BZRK is headed by the mysterious Lear that no one has actually met, and they're fighting for free choice (or, as Nijinsky said, 'the right to be unhappy'). Through all of this, BZRK's new recruits Noah and Sadie have to get up to speed and learn to fight before the AFGC moves to their target, the President of the United States. There is only one problem with controlling biots in the nano level: if they die, you go crazy.

 

 

This was an amazing book. Plot, characters, everything. However, I feel like I have to write a disclaimer. This book is written for a crowd older than what I usually read. That means that there was some language. They suggested things (I hope I got that point across and I don't have to explain more). Some of the tech stuff might be confusing if you're younger, but it probably won't be a problem. Lastly, most of the characters had two names. It wasn't that confusing, but I thought that I would mention that the second to last page has both their real and code names in case you get confused.

 

 

This is definitely a book that I would suggest. It will probably make you wash your face more, too, so that's a plus. Unless this is one of those books with an open ending, (I really doubt that since under Ophelia at the back, he said her real name wasn't revealed yet.) there will be a sequel. I'll definitely read that as soon as it comes out. It doesn't seem fair that I have to wait for the next book in THREE of his series. Gone, BZRK, and The Magnificent 12.

I'll try to post again really soon.  See you then.

The Seeds of Rebellion by Brandon Mull (Awesome)

Sorry it took so long to post about this book, I could have sworn that I had already reviewed it. The cover:



This is the second book in the Beyonders series.  The first book was A World Without Heroes; I would really suggest reading the first book before reading this review and/or book because it would spoil it and you would be confused.

The cover shows the Blind King fighting one of the leader Amur Kell.  Pretty excited, right?

The Summary:  Jason was ejected into the Beyond and is trying desperately to get back.  If that means attacking a hippo, so be it.  Rachel and Drake are desperate to avoid the thing that is following them, which means asking for help from Elaine.  The people who protect the syllables of the word are being killed off.  All of the good guys need to raise an army and find out the future of the rebellion before Maldor ends them all.
I wish I could say more. I couldn't even mention some of the main character without revealing a lot of things.  For example, Jason does a whole lot of things over the course of the book; he's not stuck in the Beyond the whole time. (By the way, that wasn't a spoiler at all.)  That's why writing a book summary is so annoying. 
I liked this book, but it wasn't as funny as the book before it.  I think it may just be because half the book was in Rachel's point of view, which means that she's jealous because Jason isn't just talking to her.  I agree with her; Jason was being annoying by talking to Connie (my least favorite character).
Other than that, I loved the book.  He fit everything into it, and I mean everything.  From zombies to prophecies to nightmares, it had it.  I would suggest reading it, and I look forward to Chasing the Prophecy in spring 2013. 

PS  I found that I'm on the first page of google if you search:  Chasing the Prophecy Beyonders.  It's a link to my Coming Soon page.  Since I'm above amazon, I thought I would share the moment with you.

PPS Now, I'm on the top of the second page for: the arcade catastrophe brandon mull.  This is pretty cool.

Fear by Michael Grant (Awsome)

This is the fifth book in the Gone series and it came out on Tuesday.  The series goes like this: Gone, Hunger, Lies, Plague, and, this book, Fear.  I would definitely suggest reading the series, along with a lot of other people (it's a mildly famous series).  You absolutely have to read them in order, so that's why I put the order of it above; if you didn't, you would be incredibly lost. 
THIS POST WILL HAVE SPOILERS FOR THE PREVIOUS FOUR BOOKS IN THE SERIES!!!
Here is the cover of Fear:



So, the people of the cover.  The girl is definitely Diana and the guy is either Sam, Caine, or Drake (I doubt that last one).  I'm thinking it's Sam just because he doesn't look like Drake, and Caine wouldn't make that much sense. 

Now that I've covered the cover (haha), I'll move to the author then do the summary/ review.  Michael Grant is an amazing author. He has written the Gone series and the less well known Magnificent 12 series.  It's amazing how different they are, but I figured that I would mention it if there were any hard-core fans of Michael Grant's.
It's been a relaxing four months for everyone in the FAYZ (Fallout Alley Youth Zone), but everything is about to get complicated, again.  It all starts with a small realization from those outside the wall; (yes, I did say outside the wall.  They do a couple chapters from Mrs. Temple's point of view) the barrier is letting in the tiniest percent of X-rays.  That means that in the FAYZ, the dome is slowly turning black, rising toward the sky and slowly blotting out the sun. And what makes it worse? Sam is scared of the dark.  When the darkness is threatening all life in the FAYZ, Sam and Caine need to join forces to stop the gaiphage from doing all of the evil things that it wants to do.  Also important, Diana's fetus is maturing way too fast, the DNA of some people is being messed up, and, of course, there's Drake/Brittney to deal with.
I really loved this book; it was exciting all the way through and still is making me think about the ending of it.  They killed of one of my favorite characters, one that I bet no one else likes, and that was a bit shocking.  The whole thing was just so unpredictable that it was refreshing; too many books make it obvious who's going to get killed off and take most of the fun out of reading it.  Again, I would suggest reading this.
If you don't want to know if there is another book in this series or not, just skip this paragraph; that's my suggestion anyway.  Throughout the entire book, I was sure that this was the last book because they did little outside-the-wall-parts.  Well, that and the fact that the entire book seemed to be leading up to the dome coming down.  I was wrong, happily, epically, wrong.  The ending was so amazing that I woke my sister up to explain it to her. ( She had no idea what i was talking about.)  It was the perfect ending to Fear.  I really want to rant about the ending and what I think will happen later, but I'm not spoiling it.  I will give a hint that I promise won't give anything away; in fact, you probably won't even get it: The accusations between Mr. Temple and the accusers are probably going to be more intense.
The rest of you can join me again here.  If you did what I suggested and ignored the last paragraph here:  The ending was perfect.
I think I summed it up pretty well.  Please read the book, it's freakishly amazing. 
Have a nice Easter or Passover or whatever else is this weekend.

P.S.  This post made me start thinking of who I was most like out of the characters.  I would say Taylor, but Fear put a stop to that.  Not Sam, Astrid, Edilio, Caine, Lana, Brianna, Dekka, Diana, or even Quinn (the 1st book stopped that).  I decided that almost all of the characters had changed since the beginning to be: alright guys who were ruined by the beginning, evil guys who were corrupted by the FAYZ, or just kind of grouchy guys.  I just thought I would point out that everybody changed.  I challenge you guys to find one person who doesn't have a bit of evil in them, are like Taylor in Fear, or is just plain mopey. 

P.P.S.  *SPOILER ALERT* How did that couple possibly think: 1. Their cat found food  2. Anybody knew which cat "Ariel" was  3. Any one cared enough about their cat to respond when others were asking about more important things, like, their kids!!!   I wouldn't have responded to that even if all of the cat hadn't been eaten.

The Blood by DJ MacHale (Awesome)

Hey everybody!  So, this book, the last in the Morpheus Road Trilogy, came out on Tuesday.  I haven't written a review of the first two books yet, so here is a simplified version: The Light comes first, then the Black.  They are both great, but you should read them in order, otherwise you ruin the surprises.  I'm going to write this review assuming that you've read both of those but haven't read The Blood yet.  There will be no spoilers from this book though.  Here's the cover:



I'm assuming that the cover is of the Coliseum in the Blood, though I don't really get these covers.  I really couldn't tell you who that guy is supposed to be. 

Before I get too reviewy, I want to suggest to read the Author's Foreword.  This is the same author who wrote the Pendragon books (I really suggest that series by the way) and his little beginning thoughts are hilarious sometimes.  I know most of you probably skip those, so I thought I'd point it out.

My summary: Marsh needs a way to help Coop. He can't keep hiding. Cooper needs to find Damon's captives or else the good guys would loose the war. Damon wants his battle for glory. A spirit worse than Damon resides in the Blood.  And Sanger (a new guy) might just be the worst of them all.  When it comes down to the final battle, will the worst of mankind destroy the best place in the world, or will the best of mankind stop it first.

Go find this book somewhere and read it.  It was really good (even if i didn't like Marsh's attitude for a little bit, but it got better quickly).  It's definitely a book that I feel good suggesting.

There is so much that I can't write about what happens with Marsh and Cooper without spoiling anything that it's frustrating.  For example, I can't say anything about the poleax or even why the book's called the Blood. 

I do have one more thing to say, there are a couple Pendragon tie-ins, so I would suggest reading that series before this book so that you can be as excited as I was when I read it. 

In fact, I still am excited enough that I really want to talk about it, but there will be big spoilers from Pendragon and some minor spoilers from the Blood.  I would suggest not reading this if you haven't read Pendragon yet!!!

*SPOILERS FOR PENDRAGON AND THE BLOOD SECTION*

So, in the Blood, Marsh and Cooper do some things until it is revealed by a dark-skinned, quiet woman Watcher that they needed to find another Watcher who was in the Blood.  I'm not going to reveal much about the Blood (the book, not the place), so I'll just say that a couple things happened that lead them into the Blood(the place).  There they met the Watcher, who looked like "a dad... or an uncle". At the time, I thought it was a weird place to put dot-dot-dot, but it was a bit important.  Then the guy talked about how in his last time in the Light he had helped stop one of their own from changing the course of multiple worlds.  Then he revealed his name: Press.

A couple of other things happened, and the next thing you know, Press's twirling around a wooden stave that a friend gave him.  More things happen and Solara is mentioned.  A whole lot of other things happen and Press and the Watcher I mentioned above both stood together and told the group some important things.

So, what did that all mean? The dark-skinned woman was Osa.  Press was an uncle... of Bobby Pendragon.  The guy who wanted to change the course of worlds was Saint Dane.  The wooden stave was from Zadaa.  And Solara was the place that Pendragon saw his family in book 10.  There were a couple other things mentioned in the Light or the Black: Both books main characters were from Stony Brook.  Mark Diamond (about college-aged) was working in the engraving shop that Marsh worked in. 

Altogether, it was exciting to realize all of those things.  I feel like I'm missing somethings, though. If you find any other tie-in please tell me via the comment section.  Thanks for reading this really long post! See you next week!

The Shadow Club Rising by Neal Shusterman (Awesome)

Here's the sequel to The Shadow Club which I posted about a couple weeks ago.  It was really good and wasn't overshadowed by the first book at all.  Without further ado, the cover:

The story was a lot like the first book. Pranks are being played on a boy and they're getting more dangerous as they go. And throughout the whole thing, somehow the main guy, Jared, got caught up in it. It's a desperate ploy to stop the new Shadow Club. Where will it lead? I can tell you that some dramatic plot twists are in play; my favorite involves a bee. Just make sure you watch out for TSC.

This is an amazing book.  I can't really describe it to make it sound as good as it is; the voice of the whole book is what makes it. Well, that and the ending. It's one of the best endings that I have ever read.  Neal Shusterman's, the author's, endings are one of the main things that makes his books so good.

Long story short, I would suggest reading this book.

I'm still behind on books, so I'll give you a tiny review right here until I actually post about them: Seeds of Rebellion= an awesome book and Prized= a great book that I didn't know why I liked. 

Just as an update, the next book in the Morpheus Road series comes out on Tuesday. I am going to read that, and, based on the other books, I suggest you do too.

See you guys next week!

Double Identity by Margaret Peterson Haddix (Alright)

I read Double Identity and frankly, I wasn't crazy about it. Anyway, here's the cover:

The cover is pretty explanatory once you've read it, so I won't get into that. I'll do my description before I tell you about my review of it.

Bethany has a nice, cushy life until one day when her dad drops here off with a mysterious relative and then vanishes. She needs to unravel the truth of her past. There's only one thing she has to go by. A name. Elizabeth.

Before I go any farther, I want to say that I really like the author of this book, Margaret Peterson Haddix.  I particually like the Missing Series and The Shadow Children Series.  

Personally, I was very, very bored when I was reading it.  Bethany just sat around moping all the time!  Then there was a tiny exciting part, near the end, but when I was reading it, I just couldn't get very into it because I hate the character of Bethany so much.  Now, it wasn't all bad by any means. I wouldn't go as far as to advise you not to read it if you have it laying around. But, I wouldn't suggest buying it. It had a couple of all right parts, there was a plot twist (that's good in my opinion), and not everyone would hate Bethany as much as I did; I'm sure that some of you would like it if you read it, but let it be known that I warned you.

Sorry that I haven't really posted very much recently. I'm really behind on books, but i just haven't had any time! I'll try to do some more reviews whenever I can. 

Hope you all have/ had a good spring break!

New page

I added a new page. The Quotes page. You should check it out.
Oh, and by the way. There are absolutely no major spoilers in it. That way you can read my excerpt and then read the book and nothing will be spoiled for you.
Enjoy!

The Shadow Club by Neal Shusterman (Great)

I was a bit worried from the official description of The Shadow Club that it wouldn't really get interesting, but I was wrong. It definitely was good, and I'm glad I read it.  I only just now understood the cover, since it looks really weird.  Here it is:



I'm sorry, the cover's a bit blurry, but what can you do?Anyway, if you also don't get the cover after reading it, I'll give you some hints: Tyler, the lighthouse, that night, Tyler's dangerous problem. I hope that helped clear it up.

Here's my description. Jared has always been second best at track. He always gets the silver medal because of the awful Austin Pace. But Jared isn't the only second best; there are others: the second best swimmer, basketball player, singer, brain. All of the second- bests band together to form The Shadow Club to get revenge on all the unbeatables. It starts out as just harmless pranks, but even when they stop messing with the unbeatables, the pranks keep on coming, getting more dangerous as they go.

I really liked this book. It had a nice balance to it. Some dramatic things, some funny things, and acouple heart breaking things. Neal Shusterman is the author of it, which automatically means that it's stellar.

I would recommend reading it. It's not a very long read, but it's good all the same.

It has a sequel, The Shadow Club Rising, that I'm curently reading. I'll tell you guys about it soon.

I'm a bit behind on books, but I'll post with Double Identity and The Shadow Club Rising as soon as possible.

Hope you all have a nice President's Day weekend. 

Update!

Hi everyone!
I wanted to point out that I just updated my Coming Soon page. It now has all of the books, that I'm aware of, that  are coming out and that I'm planning on reading. Tell me if there's any books that you want to add or any dates/ titles that you know more about than I do. Hope you guys find this page helpful, especially if you're one of the people who like reading the book as soon as it's out.

A Door into the Woods by James Dashner (Good)

Hi! I'm early this week for the first time ever!
The last book I read was A Door into the Woods.  James Dashner wrote this, along with The Maze Runner Series and the 13th Reality Series.  Most people haven't heard about this series, the Jimmy Fincher series, because it isn't very well known. (It took a little while for me to find.)  In any case, I liked the book.  Here's the cover:

I really liked this cover because of all the little details that are on it.  I don't want to ruin any surprises, so I won't mention any of them. But, I would suggest finding them after you read the PERSONAL description of the door.  I know that doesn't make any sense right now, but it will!

Here's my description: Jimmy Fincher is just an ordinary, extremely southern kid from Georgia who likes to do ordinary things like climb trees.  That is, until he sees a woman get killed and then gets kidnapped.  Jimmy learns that the world's not what it seems.  Then he gets advice from people that he thought he knew well and from people who are a bit on the crazy side on what to do about the bad guys (characters such as Monster and Raspy).  The only thing that anyone agrees on is that the door in the woods is important, very important.

Now, my review.  I really liked it.  The whole book had this feel about it; I'm not sure what to call it, but it sounded funny and at the same time sort of intense.  Whatever you call it, it sounded good.  It was written really, really southernly, though.  It was so southern that, being mildly southern, I would have been slightly offended if James Dashner wasn't actually from Georgia.  The only bad thing about it? Jimmy cried a lot in the beginning. I know that's probably what we would all do in that situation, but it was still a bit annoying.

I would definitely recomend reading it.  It was definitely interesting.

So, that is my book review for The Door into the Woods.  I hope you liked it. Have a nice week.

Birthmarked by Caragh M O'Brien (Good)

Hi everybody! I finished Birthmarked early this week and it was...interesting. Personally, I think that it is a more girl-oriented book than what I normally read. (I'm putting that out there for all you guys.) But, then again, I think any book with a more sophisticated love scheme is a girl's book, even if that's not what it's all about.  Here's the cover:

Birthmarked is about a girl, Gaia, who is the midwife for a village and has to give three babies per month to the advanced society of the Enclave.  She happily serves until she hears that her prisoner parents are about to be executed.  The only way to save them would be to break into the Enclave and orchestrate a prison-break.  The problems? Sgt. Grey, who seems to be going out of his way to "help" Gaia; a mysterious black oven; an intervention to a cruel execution that could lead Gaia into deeper trouble; a secret code; and the knowledge of something that might change everything: the birthmarks.

This book builds on itself so much that I can't really give you any hints of the really good stuff.  I can say that a love interest builds between Gaia and another character and almost all of the characters have at least one juicy secret.

The book is the first in a trilogy, and I'm planning on reading the rest of the series after I finish the rest of the books I got for Christmas. 

My only problem with the book was that (mild SPOILER ALERT) the time in the prison was way too long.  Usually when the character's captured in a book, I think that the time before they figure out a way out is a bit short (Black Water, Fablehaven:Keys to the Demon Prison, Ranger's Apprentice, 13th Reality: The Blade of Shattered Hope, Tunnels, The Death Cure, Gone, and probably a couple other books I can't remember right now). Usually the author just skips a little so that it doesn't seem boring; the author of Birthmarked did skip a little, but it still ended up seeming really long.  (It's pretty impressive to get me to think that that part of the story is too long; that might have been on purpose but still.)  SPOILER ALERT OFF

In any case, I liked the book and hope you read it as well.  I finished A Door in the Woods last night and will post on that soon. 

Oh, and by the way, the books that showed as examples above are really good, and I would suggest you to read them along with the rest of the books in their series. In case you don't want to risk seeing a spoiler by accident, here: Pendragon: Black Water, Fablehaven: Keys to the Demon Prison, Ranger's Apprentice, 13th Reality: The Blade of Shattered Hope, Tunnels, The Death Cure, and Gone.

That's all for this week.  Have fun watching the Superbowl!

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!