39 Clues: Into the Gauntlet by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Yep, I finally finished this series. That's the one problem with series that have more than 3-4 books, it takes forever to finish the last book because you are either waiting for it to be released or just get tired of reading the same books over and over again. I have to admit that I started out reading this series and really enjoyed it, but by the end I was just reading the books to see how it ends. I didn't mind this book and it was longer than the other books which is nice for a change since I could usually read these in one day. We got to see a lot of what was going on with each person and how they were coping with why they were looking for these clues and who were they doing it for. For most of the kids unfortunately it made their parents look very bad and selfish, but that can be a hard fact of life. Of course Dan and Amy help save the day and are able to sort of bring all the teams together, at least their generation. The older generation has some work to do. Haddix does leave the book with room for a sequel to this series and I am curious to see if they continue on or leave it. If they do continue on, will they have multiple writers for each book in the series again? I was impressed that they were able to continue this story as well as they did with so many people involved. This is a great series for younger children who are just getting into reading. There is one other book coming out, The Black Book of Buried Secrets that will add onto the 39 Clues series that recently came out.

Anne Frank

So I started reading Anne Frank as my next classic literature pick, but I have to admit. I got a quarter of the way through and can't seem to keep reading it. If people actually read this blog they would gasp when I say that this is an incredibly boring book and irritating in the sense that Anne is very full of herself. She is 13 and talks about having to turn boys down and how she is pretty much an expert at reading them and just so irritating to listen to. I know this is her diary and if someone read mine they would probably say the same thing. Yes, it is good so see how a young jewish girl handled living in hiding for years, but there were so many Jews that went through similar situations and what of those that actually endured worse situations and the concentration camps. Yes, I know the story of Anne Frank and how she did die in a camp, but that is just a side note at the end of the book. Sure, it is good for the world to read this story and I will eventually finish reading it bit by bit, but it definately is not at the top of my list to do.

Sword in the Storm by David Gemmell

So after starting to read Anne Frank, I needed to read some fantasy again. I got this book for my husband for Christmas after reading some great reviews on it. This is the first adult fantasy book and so I was afraid it would be very wordy and spend pages describing something that could take one page, you know what I mean. Anyway, I am happy to say that this was indeed a very good book. I enjoyed how it lasted longer that two days to read like many of the pre teen/teen books I read. I'm not afraid to try some other adult literature as well once I finish the Rigante Series. There are four books in this series. For those who are sensitive to sexual scenes, I would say there is a reason that this is an adult book and not for younger kids. There are a few brief sexual scenes that are a little more detailed than younger people need to necessarily read. Otherwise, it is a great story. It is mostly a war book following a young man as he travels and pretty much grows into a war hero and man. He struggles to fight his inner demons and does some pretty horrible stuff when his wife dies, but otherwise he is just a person trying to prepare his people from the oncoming war that will wipe them out if they do not improve their fighting to match these people that he fought alongside for a while. It has a little bit of mystical spirits that grant wishes to people and kill them or if you are lucky like our young hero, they constantly save his life and give him gifts for some purpose that we do not know at the moment. My only guess now is they need him to save their life from the invaders who will likely destroy them if they get control of the land.

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

What a terribly sad book. It's hard to think that this book is often read in highschool and has to deal with some hard issues of slavery, loneliness, and working hard to make a living. Lennie and George are the main characters that work from job to job to stay alive. Lennie is mentally challenged and means no harm, but tends to kill animals he handles and hurt people when he gets scared. George tries to take care of Lennie and keep him out of trouble as much as possible. They find themselves working on land and cutting/harvesting barley in order to save up for a piece of land that they can live on. Unfortunately the son of the boss had a lonely wife that tries to get the attention of all the guys. Of course the guys want no trouble and try to stay away from her. Poor Lennie starts talking to her one day and touches her hair, but when she starts to get upset, Lennie gets scared and ends up killing her. What I can't believe is that George actually kills Lennie in order to save him from himself and others who are trying to hurt him for killing the lady. I had a hard time reading this book just because of the language and how all the working hands talk. It is realistic speach, but does get a little old after a while and is a little hard to keep up with at times.

Soldier X by Don Wulffson

This was another book that my husband read while student teaching. It is a historical fiction book written by experiences from two germans that fought during WWII. Erik is our main character that goes through these experiences. He is drafted into the war when he is 15 under the impression that he is going to be an intrepreter or spy since he knows Russian. This is because his mother and grandparents are Russian and father is German. Of course no one knows this otherwise his family would most likely be killed. Unfortunately for Erik, he's sent to the Russian front and finds himself behind enemy lines and in order to stay alive he switches to a Russia uniform and becomes a medical orderly for the Russians. It is nice to be able to read a book about the experiences that the Germans had to go through instead of always hearing it from an American view. The book even starts with Erik saying that he's a history teacher in the US and each year he has to tell his students that he lost his arm in WWII. He never corrects the students that he fought for Germany, not the US. I never even thought about Germans who immigrated to the US and how they had to deal with criticism from Americans, especially ones who fought for Germany. I know people who didn't even fight had a hard time, but imagine what it is like for those who were forced to fight or die.

Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen

So I have decided to take a break from fantasy and romance novels for a while. My brain seems to have absorbed too much of that lately that I find I no longer really enjoy what I read. It all blurs together. So to get myself out of this anti-reading block, I want to move into more school literature and even historical books. There are so many books out there that I missed out on in highschool that I would like to read them.

So the first one was Touching Spirit Bear. My husband read this with his 7th or 8th grade English class and really enjoyed it. Pretty much you follow a young, troubled, 15-year-old on the road to jail. After beating a kid up senseless, causing mental and physical trauma, Cole is in a detention center getting ready to go to trial as an adult. An officer takes special interest in him and gets him to apply for Native American Circle Justice, where he is banished on year on a secluded island in Alaska. Within the first couple days Cole is mauled by a bear and almost dies, almost losing his chance to not go to jail. Luckily he has had a change of heart and is allowed to go back to the island to face his own fears and learn how to help the kid he beat up.

This is definately a good book for students to read since they have an opportunity to understand others who are in similar situations as well as those who are victims of these people. You see how anger, mistrust, and others, especially family, can affect someone. I found it frustrating at first to see how dumb and selfish Cole could be. The first day he's on the island, he burns the shelter built for him and all his provisions because he is angry at everyone. Come on, you have to last a year and you burn everything that is given to you. It was then sad to see after Cole is mauled that they do not trust him and immediately want to send him to jail with no second opportunity. It is hard to trust someone who has manipulated the system and lied for so long. Kind of like the boy who cried wolf story. We could see the Cole had changed and this time really wanted redemption, but no one else could see that. There is so much mistrust and even anger, and prejudice in everything that goes on. There are a few people in the cirlce that do not know Cole, but represent the community and they immediately start off by saying he needs to go to jail in order to protect society and their own children. Fear causes a lot of damage.

The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

I love Rick Riordan. His books are terrific. If you haven't read the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series you need to. This series, The Lost Hero, is a continuation of the Percy Jackson series. You have some of the same characters such as Annabeth and later on I'm sure Percy will play a big role as well. Our new main characters are Jason, Piper, and Leo. Our main character is Jason who can not remember who he is, but he has an uncanny knowledge of Roman gods and fighting. Piper is an Aphrodite daughter, but does not dress or act like it at all. Leo is a fire user whose mother died in a fire when he was younger.

Spoiler: I really liked this book because, yes, it does continue the Percy Jackson story, but Percy is no longer the one big hero. All the Gods have silenced themselves from the demigods and Jason is given a Quest to save Hera who has been taken prisoner. Jason and Leo each have had multiple personal visits from Hera throughout their life. I mentioned before that Jason is very knowledgable in Roman Gods and that's because he was born from Zeus when he was in the form of a Roman God. Thalia is his sister, but she was born from the Greek form of Zeus and since Zeus had two children from the same woman, Hera was given Jason as her champion since she never has demigods to complete her requests. So why didn't we hear about Jason before, well, there is a second demi-god camp that houses all the Roman kids, however, this camp is never known to camp Half-blood or vice-a-versa because when the two camps get together there is a terrible war between the two. Percy has been switched with Jason to try to get the two groups to work together to save the word from an even greater evil than the Titans. I'm sure we will hear Percy's side of the story in the second book of his adventure in the Roman camp and we're assuming without his memory as well. So exciting.

Last Sacrafice by Richelle Mead

It's always sad when another good series comes to an end. The final chapter of the Vampire Academy Series was worth the wait. Rose was left in the last book being accussed of murduring the queen and is now stuck in a white cell and going crazy not being able to do anything. Her friends and father are working tirelessly to find the truth, however, things change when her trial date is set in two weeks. This time, her friends stage a wonderful break out and Rose and Dimitri find themselves on the run with one crazy lead to find Lissa's secret relative and the person who really murdured the queen.

SPOILER: So I did not find Rose so infuriating like in past books since she has suddenly grown up and realized how precious life is and that you can't just run into situations without some sore of plan. Of course, her and Dimitri really don't have set plans, but things work out. Dimitri is still struggling with forgiving himself for being a Strigoi and he and Rose are at an understanding that there is no love between them and so Rose is still hooked up with Adrian. I love how Dimitri and Rose finally get back together, but you feel so sad for Adrian. I wish that Richelle Mead had tied up some loose ends at the end. Yes, Dimitri and Rose still are guardians guarding Lissa and Christian, but still able to continue their relationship, however, Adrian's heart is broken and you terribly wish for a happy ending for him. I also wanted to see how Christian feels towards Rose and what really happens to Eddie, Mikhail, Sydney, etc... Their future is left unknown with how Rose's escapade has affected their life adn whether they are happy with it. All in all a terrific series definately worth reading.

The Husband Tree by Mary Connealy

So I just realized that this is actually the second book in the Montana Marriages series. The first book is Montana Rose and the last is Wildflower Bride. I don't think you really need to read them in order since I read this book and figured there had to be a second book since there is a side story that has nothing really to do with the rest of the book. So Wildflower Bride will be about an white girl brought up by an indian tribe and a white man falls in love with her, but she is promised to another indian. You are left in the book with the white indian girl being kidnapped by white trapper and saved by the man that falls in love with her who returns her to her tribe.

Anyway, so back to the original book, The Husband Tree. I wasn't so sure about this book, however, my mother/father-in-law book read this book and loved it. So I figured why not, it's short. It has some subtle humor and matter-of-fact phrasing instead of the flowery, lovey type writing a lot of romance novels have. I would consider this a slight romance novel, but not the heavy kind in any way. Belle Tanner has an issue keeping her good-for-nothing husbands alive and after burying her third husband she is through. She has 4 capable daughters who must help her cattle drive 100o cattle through a treacherous trail before winter sets in. Her youngest is only a baby and is strapped to her back through her trip. She hires Silas, a wandering wrangler who swears he's done with women after almost being forced into a marriage by gun-point. He has no idea he's going on this cattle drive with only girls, but finds himself in love with the family. A pleasant, short read for an afternoon.

The Pirate Ruse by Marcia Lynn McClure

Yes, it has been a while since I have read one of Marcia Lynn McClure's romance novels and had forgotten how simple, but enjoyable some of her books can be. This is one that I have entertained the thought of eventually buying. One of the few of her many short books that she has.

Cristabel Albay has found herself abducted and prisoner on a ship which is being overthrown by pirates; and of course, another pirate ship has arrived and the captain of this ship insists that if she wants to live she's to jump overboard with him and swim to his ship. Trevon Navarrone is one pirate that is known for being a little more kind than other pirates and Cristabel will take her chances with him. Not so much a humorous book, but a tale of piracy, traitors, and kidnapping, The Pirate Ruse is set differently than most of McClure's old western books. Trevon and Cristabel of course find themselves in love, but must overcome ghosts from their past.

Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder

This is the third book of the Study series and was a good ending to this series. I have to admit that Yelena had some very irritating attributes this book that you just want to shake her and tell her to stop being so selfish and untrusting. She just would not listen to Moon Man or anyone else and insisted on taking everything into her own hands. How annoying. She could have prevented so many distressing and horrible times if she just took the time to find out her strengths and how to handle her role as a Soulsaver. It was surprising to find out who the real traitor/bad guy was at the end since you are led to believe the last couple of books that it is purely Ferde, but you'll be surprised who the leader behind everything really is. Valek plays a role as always, but more of an outside role and you see a little more hurt and worry from him this book than the cold, hard person in the previous books. Past characters are also brought back and play some major roles in the plot as well. Definately a series that I would suggest to others.

Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder

The second installment of the Study series, this book was better than Poison Study. Poison study kept you on your toes as you anticipated the day Yelena will get poisoned or killed by her enemies. This book Yelena is being reunited with her family and her brother who beleives she is a spy from Ixia. She is also learning to master her magic and learn what her specific skill is. Someone is kidnapping young girls and doing horrible things to them before killing them. Yelena saves one young victim and must save the last victim before all is lost while once again watching her back from people who believe she really is a spy and try to kill her and Valek. Yes, how could we go through this story without Valek showing up to rescure Yelena and help her save the day once again.

The Journal of Curious Letters by James Dashner

My husband picked this book up a couple weeks ago since it was pretty cheap and he thought it looked like something I might enjoy reading. Pretty much it is about a couple 12-13 year-olds that start recieving mysterious letters that have clues that they have to figure out. They tell them the day and time they have to do some strange movements and say a magic word in order to save lives from something terrible. This first book of the 13th Reality series is all about the clues and how Tick (our main character) and the others try to figure out all the clues while also escaping from some strang occurances. The very end we actually find out what their mission is and a glimpse at what the series will be trying to accomplish. Not my first pick of books to read, but not one I would dismiss either. I'll eventually read the whole series when I've got nothing else to read.

Fire by Kristin Cashore

This is the prequel to Graceling which as you can read below I was a little disappointed in, but decided to read the prequel and see if it was any better since a friend refered this to me and really enjoyed it. Well... I was pleasantly pleased that this book was much better than Graceling and Kristen Cashore spent the time and effort needed to keep the book good through out the entire novel instead of just the first half. This is obviously set before the time of Graceling since it is a prequel, but it isn't set that far back. It starts out giving the story of Leck and his birth and life until he is 10. So about when he ends up being 'adopted' by the kingdom he takes over. He finds himself in a land set on the other side of a nearly unpassable mountain range and in a country that has colorful monsters of every species including human. We are then transported to the last human monster that can manipulate peoples thoughts and if extremely beautiful which causes people to do things they do not mean to do since they lose their mind at the sight of her. So we follow her as she becomes involved with the kingdom and their involvement in a war and eventually with Leck himself.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

This book was refered to me by A Novel Addication and I was excited to read it. I had originally began reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but could not get into it. It just did not appeal to me so I read Graceling. It started off immediately catching my attention and I wanted to keep reading it. Great book with potential. It seems the author got halfway through the book and had so many ideas that she wanted to cram into the book, but was done writing so she just threw it together and ended it. It lacked a real climax and could have been made into multiple books with a great story and detail added. It's too bad Cashore seemed to lose focus.

So just a quick overview, Katsa is Graced with the ability to fight. When you are born Graced you have two different colored eyes and you are not exactly looked highly at and accepted in most societies, especially when you are a female noble Graced with killing. She encounters another Graced noble who fights extremely well and is suprised to find a friend in him. Po and herself end up searching for who is in charge of kidnapping his grandfather and what secrets are really hidden in a secluded territory. I wouldn't dismiss reading this book since it is still an enjoyable read. There is a second book called Fire so we'll have to see if this continues to add to the book and is given the attention it needs or if I find it slightly lacking like Graceling.