Sparrow Road

02. May 2013 · Comments Off · Categories: Children's Books, Fiction, Leslie · Tags:

Sparrow Road by Sheila O'Connor, read by Leslie on 04/30/2013

Sparrow Road

Twelve-year-old Raine spends the summer at a mysterious artists colony and discovers a secret about her past.

I really think that this is going to be my favorite Mark Twain nominee.  The characters were all so real and the storyline rolled out at a nice pace.  Sometimes authors try to stuff things into their stories as they are reaching the end so it feels too rushed.  I thought that Raine’s personality as an only child trying to deal with all the upheaval was well done, she is a very grounded character, not flighty like some authors might make their characters when dealing with similar plots.  Very well done.

In Front of God and Everybody

02. May 2013 · Comments Off · Categories: Children's Books, Fiction, Leslie · Tags:

In Front of God and Everybody by K.D. McCrite, read by Leslie on 04/26/2013

In Front of God and Everybody

Growing up in the country is never easy, but it sure is funny–especially if you happen to have a sister obsessed with being glamorous, a grandma just discovering make-up, hippie friends who never shower, and brand new neighbors from the city who test everyone’s patience.

I loved April Grace!  Having been the older sister, I can’t see her view of what’s it’s like to be the younger sister, but I loved her sarcasm when dealing with her sister.  And as a kid, she is rather invisible and dismissed by adults when overhearing and seeing things they think are secret.  Very good book, I can’t wait for the next one.

The Indigo Spell

01. May 2013 · Comments Off · Categories: Fiction, Leslie, Paranormal, Teen Books

The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead, read by Leslie on 04/21/2013

The Indigo Spell (Bloodlines, #3)

As former Alchemist Marcus Finch pushes Alchemist Sydney Sage to rebel against the people who raised her, Sydney finds that breaking free is harder than she thought. There is an old and mysterious magic rooted deeply within her. And as she searches for an evil magic user targeting powerful young witches, she realizes that her only hope is to embrace her magical blood–or else she might be next.

I love companion series, they make the original series so much fuller and you get to see more of that world!  Sydney begins to realize that she no longer embraces the Alchemist rules like she used to, the more she is with the Moroi and dhamphirs she is assigned to.  Finding out you have been lied to can also be unappealing to someone with the brains to figure it all out.  A good continuation of the Alchemist side of the story.

Book of the Dead

01. May 2013 · Comments Off · Categories: Fiction, Leslie, Mystery

Book of the Dead by Patricia Cornwell, read by Leslie on 04/17/2013

Book of the Dead (Kay Scarpetta, #15)

Kay Scarpetta has dealt with many brutal and unusual crimes before, but never a string of them as baffling, or as terrifying, as the ones confronting her now. Before she is through, that book of the dead will contain many names-and the pen may be poised to write in her own.

As I go back and fill in the books of hers that I have missed (something I tell my students not to do!) I try to unravel the storyline from the book I previously read and try to see why certain comments were made or how the relationship between the characters became what it did.  This book had a lot of strings come together that were not evident in the telling of the tale but made you wonder enough to make inferences.  Of course, the biggest string came with an ending I didn’t even suspect until the very end.  Good story if you like her books.

The Darkness Dwellers

01. May 2013 · Comments Off · Categories: Fiction, Leslie, Mystery, Teen Books

The Darkness Dwellers by Kirsten Miller, read by Leslie on 04/07/2013

The Darkness Dwellers (Kiki Strike, #3)

While Kiki Strike is in Paris trying to stop her evil cousin, the princess Sidonia, from all sorts of terrible deeds, it is up to Ananka and the other Irregulars help Kiki find the cure for baldness, foil the evil plans of Oona’s twin, and keep Ananka herself from falling in love with wrong young man.

This series is rather fun, not heart-stopping like some mysteries.  The main mystery to me is how all these characters get along, despite the huge differences in personalities, and maybe that is what makes it work so well.  The underlying message of friendship, no matter what, makes it worth the read.

Ever After

03. April 2013 · Comments Off · Categories: Fantasy, Fiction, Leslie, Paranormal · Tags:

Ever After by Kim Harrison, read by Leslie on 03/30/2013

Ever After (The Hollows, #11)

When Rachel sets off a chain of events that could lead to the end of the world – demonic and human–she must use her gifts to save those closest to her while preventing an apocalypse.

This is the closest that Rachel has come to being killed off, so far.  In this latest installment of The Hollows series, it’s a little more fast-paced in the action department. It’s also the closest that Rachel and Trent have come to finally admitting they might be right for each other.  Although I hated that 2 characters met their end in this book, I’m sure it will add something to the next one.

A Perfect Blood

03. April 2013 · Comments Off · Categories: Fantasy, Fiction, Leslie, Paranormal · Tags:

A Perfect Blood by Kim Harrison, read by Leslie on 03/18/2013

A Perfect Blood (The Hollows, #10)

When she discovers that a would-be creator is determined to make his (or her) own demons and needs her blood, former witch-turned-day-walking-demon Rachel Morgan, a bounty hunter, faces her toughest adversary yet –humanity.

Kim Harrison spins a perfect story of a world, post-tomatoes!  I love her Hollows series and I am not looking forward to the day when she finishes tying all the threads together.  Rachel goes from being a rather inept witch to finding out she is really a demon and along the way, makes a family of the most unfamily like assortment, from witches, vampires (both dead and alive), elves, fairies, pixies, demons and any other mythical creature you can think of.  I love the way she has Jenks use Tinkerbell (of Disney fame) to color his cursing.  Rachel comes one step closer to being comfortable in her demon skin in this book.

Elemental

03. April 2013 · Comments Off · Categories: Dystopia, Fiction, Leslie, Teen Books

Elemental by Antony John, read by Leslie on 03/10/2013

Elemental (Elemental, #1)

In a dystopian colony of the United States where everyone is born with powers of the elements, water, wind, earth, and fire, sixteen-year-old Thomas, the first and only child born without an element seems powerless, but is he?

While I liked this book, I didn’t find myself as engrossed in it as I thought.  I’m hoping the sequels are a little more in-depth with the mystery of the past and why the colony chose to close themselves off from any other humans.  Some of that is uncovered and part of the storyline, but I want more!

The Name of the Star

03. April 2013 · Comments Off · Categories: Fiction, Leslie, Mystery, Teen Books · Tags:

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson, read by Leslie on 03/02/2013

The Name of the Star (Shades of London, #1)

Rory, of Boueuxlieu, Louisiana, is spending a year at a London boarding school when she witnesses a murder by a Jack the Ripper copycat and becomes involved with the very unusual investigation.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, with it’s take on Jack the Ripper.  For a while, it seems as though the ghost of Ripper is actually back and as the story goes on, it becomes clear it is a ghost, albeit a copycat.  The characters are all real-seeming and entertaining as they try to cope with the mysterious murders.  I thought the way the author came up with to explain who could see the ghosts and who couldn’t was very inventive.  And throughout the book you find yourself hoping that none of the minor characters find themselves as the next murder victims.  The main characters are almost always safe, as they are needed for the sequel!

Elemental

28. February 2013 · Comments Off · Categories: Dystopia, Fiction, Leslie, Teen Books

Elemental by Antony John, read by Leslie on 02/26/2013

Elemental

Sixteen-year-old Thomas has always been an outsider. The first child born without the power of an Element—earth, water, wind or fire—he has little to offer his tiny, remote Outer Banks colony. Or so the Guardians would have him believe.

Another dystopian book for this month!  I like the way the kids in this book learn to cope with the rigid rules the adults have set, in order to survive.  There is one girl who always ignores the rules, several kids that always follow the rules and a pair of brothers who are also treated as outcasts, even within their group.  They have to learn to trust each other and know that adults don’t always know best or do the right thing, if they want to survive the assault on their colony.  Another one that begins a series I might read as it comes out.

The Eleventh Plague

27. February 2013 · Comments Off · Categories: Dystopia, Fiction, Leslie, Teen Books · Tags:

The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch, read by Leslie on 02/22/2013

The Eleventh Plague

Twenty years after the start of the war that caused the Collapse, fifteen-year-old Stephen, his father, and grandfather travel post-Collapse America scavenging, but when his grandfather dies and his father decides to risk everything to save the lives of two strangers, Stephen’s life is turned upside down.

A quick read for me, I do enjoy reading dystopia novels.  There were a few things about the book that made me go “hmm” and  a couple of times it didn’t seem plausible, but then again, that’s why I don’t write because I don’t think my stories would necessarily flow smoothly.  I might just read the sequel.

 

Chicago Blues

27. February 2013 · Comments Off · Categories: Fiction, Leslie, Mystery · Tags:

Chicago Blues by Hugh Holton, read by Leslie on 02/18/2013

Chicago Blues (Larry Cole)

Police Commander Larry Cole returns in his most dangerous case to date. the investigation of the murders of two hit-men leads Cole to an old colleague, FBI Special Agent Reggie Stanton. Cole had known Stanton when he was a Chicago cop accused of vigilante knife-murders on Chicago’s South Side. Now the murders of the two assassins bear the same M.O. as those long-ago cases.

I liked this book but it isn’t the type of mystery I usually read.  It seems very old school, police, mobsters, very realistic, considering that Hugh Holton was a police officer in Chicago.  So, it’s very natural that it is the setting for this book.  There weren’t a lot of twists and turns, I could see them as they developed, but it gives the reader a glimpse of what it must have been like in a big city, trying to hold back organized crime and bad cops.  I think I would read more of his work if it were the type of book I tend to read.

Red Mist

27. February 2013 · Comments Off · Categories: Fiction, Leslie, Mystery

Red Mist by Patricia Cornwell, read by Leslie on 02/10/2013

Red Mist (Kay Scarpetta, #19)

Determined to find out what happened to her former deputy chief, Jack Fielding, murdered six months earlier, Kay Scarpetta travels to the Georgia Prison for Women, where an inmate has information not only on Fielding, but also on a string of grisly killings.

This was as intriguing as the book that comes before it. I liked all the twists and turns and the characters who seem like minor ones, turning into major ones.  I like the undercurrents that flow between the characters and how she pulls all the threads together in a convincing way.  Patricia Cornwell is definitely one of my favorite authors.

Port Mortuary

01. February 2013 · Comments Off · Categories: Fiction, Leslie, Mystery, Thriller/Suspense

Port Mortuary by Patricia Cornwell, read by Leslie on 01/30/2013

Port Mortuary (Kay Scarpetta, #18)

As the chief of the new Cambridge Forensic Center in Massachusetts, a joint venture of the state and federal governments, MIT and Harvard, Scarpetta is confronted with a case that could shut down her new facility and ruin her personally and professionally.

I missed reading a few of her books before this one so I felt a little lost as to what exactly the background of the story was, but I caught on fairly quickly.  The story mainly takes place in about a 24 hour period.  I did feel there were a few gaps in some of the interactions between the characters but I wasn’t sure if it was because I skipped reading a few of the previous novels or just the way she had written it.  It was a fast paced, very riveting book, which shows that the author still has it when it comes to her Scarpetta books.  I could see the twists almost before they occurred but it was a very good read.

Finally

30. January 2013 · Comments Off · Categories: Children's Books, Fiction, Leslie

Finally by Wendy Mass, read by Leslie on 01/21/2013

Finally (Willow Falls, #2)

After her twelfth birthday, Rory checks off a list of things she is finally allowed to do, but unexpected consequences interfere with her involvement in the movie being shot at her school, while a weird prediction starts to make sense.

I read the three books in this series out of order and I still do not have the answers to all the questions that have cropped up as a result.  I enjoyed the book, girls, especially, will enjoy reading it.  There is light romance as the girls show an interest in boys for the first time.  There is coming-of-age angst as Rory looks forward to and realizes that all of her goals as a 12 year-old are not what she imagines them to be.  But the questions I have as a result of reading them out of order will hopefully be answered eventually.  How did Rory manage to snag a movie star boyfriend in the 3rd book when they weren’t at the end of the 2nd one, why do 2 of the characters write on a blackboard to each other in the 3rd book, and probably a couple of others I don’t remember now.  These should have been explained in the 2nd book!  I guess that’s one way of bringing the reader back.

The Crown of Embers

30. January 2013 · Comments Off · Categories: Fantasy, Fiction, Leslie, Science Fiction, Teen Books

The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson, read by Leslie on 01/16/2013

The Crown of Embers (Fire and Thorns, #2)

In the sequel to the acclaimed The Girl of Fire and Thorns, a seventeen-year-old princess turned war queen faces sorcery, adventure, untold power, and romance as she fulfills her epic destiny.

I enjoyed this second book of the series much more than the first.  While the first really focused on the religious aspect of the land and characters, this one focuses more on the political intrigue of a person in power.  And it is more difficult when that person is a 17 year old queen, who never imagined she would be in this position.  I cannot wait for the next book.

Out of Sight, Out of Time

30. January 2013 · Comments Off · Categories: Fiction, Leslie, Mystery, Teen Books

Out of Sight, Out of Time by Ally Carter, read by Leslie on 01/13/2013

Out of Sight, Out of Time (Gallagher Girls, #5)

When seventeen-year-old Cammie wakes up in a convent high in the Alps, she slowly comes to realize that she’s been tortured, the last four months have been erased from her mind, and an ancient terrorist organization is hunting for her.

I really like this quirky little series by Ally Carter.  Who would ever imagine a series of schools that train young girls to become spies for their country?  Cammie awakes to find that she is missing her whole summer and part of her senior year in spy school and spends her time trying to make up her school work while trying to recover her memory.  This book takes us to many different locales in the pursuit of the truth.

The Golden Lily

30. January 2013 · Comments Off · Categories: Fiction, Leslie, Paranormal, Teen Books

The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead, read by Leslie on 01/07/2013

The Golden Lily (Bloodlines, #2)

Sydney Sage is an Alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets—and human lives.

In this next installment of the companion series to the Vampire Academy series by Mead, we get to see how hard it is to keep the vampires and their half-human, half-vampire offspring, separate and secret from the human population.  Sydney is finding it harder and harder to keep her emotions under control.  She should be very cautious about becoming close to them but as she spends more time with them, she finds herself becoming more entangled in their lives.  A very fun series that is well written and keeps you looking forward to the next book.

Vanished

27. December 2012 · Comments Off · Categories: Children's Books, Fiction, Leslie, Mystery

Vanished by Sheela Chari, read by Leslie on 12/27/2012

Vanished

Eleven-year-old Neela must solve the mystery when her beautiful but cursed veena, a classical Indian musical instrument, goes missing.

This was a good book but I thought it was a little long on details, mainly due to the explanation of culture and such.  I don’t know that too many of my students will give it the attention needed to finish.  I enjoyed it and I don’t think that boys will even want to pick it up.

 

Without Tess

27. December 2012 · Comments Off · Categories: Fiction, Leslie, Teen Books

Without Tess by Marcella Pixley, read by Leslie on 12/24/2012

Without Tess

Fifteen-year-old Lizzie Cohen recalls what it was like growing up with her imaginative but disturbed older sister Tess, and how she is striving to reclaim her own life since Tess died.

I thought the book was well written but I don’t think I would recommend this to anyone younger than high school age.  It has a lot of disturbing parts where you aren’t really sure if Tess is mentally disturbed, if she only suffers from anorexia, if she is really what she imagines herself to be.  It takes her sister Lizzie a long time to come to terms with what happened to her sister and you worry if she will ever do so.  This did take me longer to read than I thought it would and definitely not for younger readers.

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