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!

King's Ransom by Jude Watson (Good)

Hello, again.  I just finished A King's Ransom and wanted to post about it.  Before I get into this particular book, I just want to give you my overall thoughts of this series, complete with pros and cons

1. The series is really good.  (pro)
2. There are, like, six or so authors, so it doesn't really flow very well. (con)
3. There are way too many books, all of them being only about 200 pages.  But, I still read them because I'm caught up in the story. (con)
4. Almost all of the books end in cliffhangers.  It makes the story better, but I can't help being frustrated.  (neutral)
5. A book comes out every two months or so.  You have a new book quickly.   (pro)

As you can see, the bad evens out with the good.  I always look forward to the next book coming out.
Now back to King's Ransom.



IF YOU HAVEN'T READ ONE (rather The Medusa Plot or this book) OF THE VESPER RELATED CAHILL BOOKS STOP READING BECAUSE OF POSSIBLE SPOILERS!!!
This book is about Amy and Dan's attempt to help the hotages that Vesper One is keeping.  They have to find an ancient world map that hasn't been seen since way before they were born.  Not only do the have to find it before the police find them, but they also have the new problem of other Vespers being determined to find the map before them.  They find unexpected allies, some with very complex problems, in unexpected places. 
It was worth reading.  It answered some questions that I didn't even know needed asking and I have to admit that the cliffhanger has me hanging.  You definetly have to read the rest of the series to get this book.  I liked the book, but I wish it was longer.  I read most of it in one car ride (a long car ride, but still).
If you read it tell me what you think about it.
Happy late Boxing Day!

The Shining by Stephen King (Awesome in a weird way)

Hey, guys!  Sorry that I forgot to post on Friday.  I can't keep track of the days of the week during breaks.  Anyway, I finally have a new book to post about: The Shinig.  All I can think to say is wow. The cover:

This is a very famous book.  Most likely one of the most well known Stephen King books. 

The book is about a family (Jack, Wendy, and their son Danny) who move to a hotel so that Jack can be the winter caretaker.  The hotel has many secrets from its past including the previous caretaker, who killed his entire family.  Danny (who has a special gift to see the future) knows that there is something about the hotel that will be very dangerous to his family.  The book is a mix of never-ending parties, a bloody mallet, mysterious hedges, a secret scrapbook, a boiler that creeps, and undead spirits crawling through the hotel.  The question that everyone is wondering is 'Will everything go to pieces in this isolated hotel before the spring comes?'.

For fair warning, this book has very bad language.  It is also might scare some people.  (It has the tendancy.)  Truth be told?  It is not meant for someone below high school, but if you, like me, have an alright filter and don't get insanely freaked out by scary things, you will love it.  I know I did.

I also want to point out that the movie is an almost completely different story than the book.  They didn't even get right who lived and who died.  So if that affects your opinion whether or not to read it, they are completely different, in a good way.

I really liked The Shining.  I wish I could write more in the description, but, like so many other good books, it builds on itself and I don't want to ruin anything.  I will say that half of the best parts occurs in the last 100 pages (out of a little less than 700).  This book will make you cry with despare, rant to someone is frustration, or make your eyes widen with pure shock.  (I know that sounds overly dramatic, but it's true!)  If you read it, you will really enjoy it.

I will be posting a lot soon, so I can cover the books I got for Christmas.

Hope you all had happy holidays!

All of the books from school so far (pretty bad)

Hey all!  I decided to review the books that they made me read for school.  There are two of them. 
The first is Touching Spirit Bear which I didn't like.  It was probably because I hated all of the characters and thought they were all the stupidest people ever.  It was also very metaphoric.  The cover:

It was about this troubled kid that got mauled by a bear (he definetly deserved it) and then blamed the world for it.  He bascically gets banished twice from the world.  For, like, half the book he was lying on the ground having flashbacks.  I'm sure that someone would enjoy it, but, personally, I didn't like it.  I was just overally annoyed at all the characters and the plot just wasn't grabbing enough.

The second book was Chinese Cinderella.  It wasn't all that bad, but I wouldn't have read it if it wasn't for school.  Here's the cover:



This book is an autobiography.  It was about a girl whose parents hate her.  She has a lot of family issues growing up and she wrote a book about them.  It was written well and you found yourself hating the right characters and feeling really sorry for the main character, Adeline/ Wu Mei. (That's the same person.  It has something to do with the Chinese Culture.)  It was an alright book overall, but since all the characters had, like, four different names, so I was a bit confused. 

Those are all the books so far.  I will probably post again this week, because school's out!  Hope you all have a great break!