Brundage's Big Bag of Books

Nine of us were sent here.  Children from the planet Lorien, but we appear as you. We walk among you and you are unaware of the powers we behold.  We are careful not to stand out; careful not to draw attention to what makes us different.  We are in hiding, constantly on the move and our planet depends on our survival.  There were nine, but that was before we were became hunted by the aliens that are determined to kill our race.  Protected by a powerful spell, they can only kill us in order.  We are scattered across your planet. There were nine, but One, Two, and Three are dead and the rest of us are on the move. I am Number Four. I have lived in many places and have been known by many names, but I am done running.  They are hunting me down and there is no place left to hide. I will fight and hopefully survive because I am Number Four and it’s my turn. 

I truly enjoyed this book.  It was Sci-Fi that was believable.  I like the fact that the author of the book is one of the Elders from the planet Lorien.  The characters were very believable, but  I did find myself thinking about Superman.  I think this book and the Superman story (especially the movie with Christopher Reeve) were very similar in theme.  I would recommend this book to all who enjoy Sci-fi and action/adventure.  The story did indeed keep me captive until the final pages. I highly recommend I am Number Four.

I have always been a huge fan of fairy tales, modern and traditional.  Fairy tales are filled with action, mystery, magic, princesses, villains and heroes.  There is always someone in trouble,  trying to figure out a way out.  There is always a villain seeking power or revenge.  And best of all there is always a hero, someone who will sacrifice it all to rescue the character in distress.  The book Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George had all of these elements and more. 

Princess of the Midnight Ball is a retelling of the traditional fairytale, The Twelve Dancing Princesses.  In this tale, a young soldier, Galen becomes tangled up in the mystery of the Princesses’ worn out dancing shoes when he lands a job as a gardener at the palace. Galen first meets Princess Rose when he fishes her out of the Swan Fountain after startling her.  Her dip in the fountain results in her and all of her sisters getting sick, yet each night the princesses disappear and return the following morning with worn out shoes.  No one knows where they go or how.  In a desperate attempt to discover the truth the King promises one of his daughters in marriage and his throne to the first prince who can solve the mystery.  Each prince fails.  But the situation turns dire as each of the princes later die in accidents.  Cries of “Witchcraft” fill the kingdom and the archbishop is calling for the king’s crown, but the princesses remain silent. They are cursed and unable to talk about their nightly journeys.  They are forced to dance every night for the evil king of the underground, known as King Under Stone. Galen begins to suspect that the princesses are in terrible danger and he is determined to save them all.  Armed with three magical gifts, he finds a way to follow the girls and discover the truth about their trips to the Midnight Ball.  However, Galen begins to believe that he may be too late to save them from the curse and their ultimate destiny to be the brides of the king’s twelve sons. 

I did enjoy this tale and thought the author did a fine job rewriting the original fairytale.  If you are one who enjoys fairytales or just a good tale, pick up Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George and then come chat with me, because this title is one of the YABA books for next year!  Hope to hear from you soon.

Graceling is the story of a young lady named Katsa, who was cursed/blessed with special abilities.  At a young age it became very evident that she was very efficient at killing.  Her “grace” is a killing grace and has made her the lackey of her Uncle’s kingdom.  If  King Randa desires a subject to be punished, he sends Katsa to carry out his punishments.  She is feared and hated throughout the kingdom.  However, a small sect of people also revere her because of her work with the secret Council.  Katsa does not like to kill, and whenever she gets a chance she tries to right the wrongs that have occurred throughout the kingdom.  During one of these Council missions, she meets Po, a graced fighter.  When she learns that the man she just rescued is Po’s grandfather, they decide to team up to discover why anyone would want to harm this sweet old man .  Along the way they begin to discover many unsettling truths that will change the way they view their world and their graces.

Again I must admit that the cover of this book enticed me to read this story, but it was the story that drew me in.  The main character is another striking young lady who does not need a man to make it in the world.  Katsa is a very strong female lead.  However, the lead male character, Po,  helps to bring out the human side of Katsa.  Through their interactions with each other, they begin to learn a lot about themselves.  I really enjoyed this story.  I thought it was an intriguing tale.  I liked the relationship that was built between the main characters and thought the action in the book helped move the story along a a quick pace. 

I would definitely recommend this book for readers who enjoyed The Hunger Gamesby Suzanne Collins and for those who enjoy a strong female lead.  It is definitely worthy of being nominated for the South Carolina Young Adult Book Awards for the 2010-2011 school year.  If you are looking for an entertaining tale, give this book a try.

Well as you can see, something happened to the blog server and all of my January’s posts disappeared.  I lost blogs on the following books: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan; the books Rumor, Envy, and Splendorby Anna Godbersen; and Wicked by Gregory Maguire.  If I can think, I will try to reblog them, but for now I am just moving on.  But I did want to let anyone reading my blog that I enjoyed each of those books very much andI highly recommend them.

The book I just finished reading was Royal Blood: A Vampire Kisses Novelby Ellen Schreiber.  It is the 6th (and not last) book in the Vampire Kisses series.  I began reading this series a few years ago because they were quite popular in our media center. So I had to read Royal Bloodbecause I wanted to see what Raven was up to this time.  I have to admit I enjoyed this volume much better than the 2nd – 5th books.  This one was more like the first book.  It kept my attention, and it was enjoyable. 

In Royal Blood, Raven and Alexander are back in Dullsville and not so ready to give up the freedom they had enjoyed together over the summer.  However, it is not just school that is going to interrupt their time.  Alexander’s parents are finally returning to Dullsville to reunite with their son.  Raven is thrilled, because she can’t wait to meet these vampire parents, but when Alexander starts to withdraw and avoids introducing Raven to his family, she starts to wonder what is going on.  Determined as ever to get to the bottom of the mystery, Raven starts to snoop and what she finds is not such wonderful new.  The news she must face is that she might lose Alexander despite everything they had already survived to be together.    But not one to step down from a fight, Raven starts her scheming to figure out how to keep Alexander with her even when his parents have other ideas.

I must say that my favorite part of this novel was the interaction Raven has with Mrs. Sterling.  Alexander’s mom embodies everything Raven wishes to become and their “day” out together is priceless.  If you have read the previous five books, I think you will appreciate this latest story.  As always these are light fluffy romantic vampire stories, but it was an enjoyable read.

In this vivid account of the life of Catherine Howard, King Henry VIII’s fourth wife, Catherine tells the story of the blessings and curses of being a queen.  This is a historical fiction account of what her life could have been like.  She is married at the young age of fifteen to the king.  However, by this age she has already experienced a lot and has a lot in her past that she must hide from her husband.  The biggest secret is her love for one of his guards.  She must try to forget this love and focus her attentions on a very aging King Henry.  Her task at hand is to produce the heir that King Henry so longs for.  She fears if she fails her fate will be the same as the queens before her.  However, sometimes in the strive to make everything right people tend to make all the wrong decisions.  Catherine’s life and death show that actions definitely speak louder than words.

I truly enjoyed this book, but I am a big fan of historical fiction novels.  I must admit that after reading this novel the thought of being a queen is not appealing.  When one thinks of being a queen, we often picture great wealth and priviledge.  We don’t picture the life of the women who were chosen to wed  a king who was three times their age, or those who loved another but did not have a choice who they married.  We also never feel the threat of giving birth to a girl instead of a boy.  Yet through the stories such as this one, we can witness what it may have been like to be these fortunate but unlucky girls.

I must admit that I do not follow the advice of the saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” because the cover is what attracts me  to books.  I mean look at this cover…it’s beautiful!  I want to know who this girl is and why is she in such a magnificent dress.  I truly do choose books with great covers.  Now this does not mean all of the books are wonderful, but most of the time I do enjoy them.  Take Twilight for an example.  It has an awesome cover and it was an awesome book!  Anyways, enough about covers…

The Luxe was a great story of love and loss.  Elizabeth Holland is trapped in a world of riches and luxury.  She must behave how society dictates girls in her position should behave.  She must be friends with the right people, dress the right way, and even marry into the right family.  This becomes extremely important when her father dies and leaves the family in debt.  She is forced to hide her love for a common working man and become engaged to the son of a very rich and influential family.  She is miserable, but the fate of her family rests on her shoulders.  However, as the wedding draws nearer, events that will change and eventually end Elizabeth’s life begin to occur.  I absolutely loved how the first page of the book was Elizabeth’s obituary.  If that does not pull you into a story, I am not sure what will.  After the brief funeral scene, I was left to figure out the characters of the story.  Who they were, their importance, and their role in Elizabeth’s life.    I must admit the beginning of the story is a bit slow as they build the stage, but it does turn into a really good tale.  My favorite character, Elizabeth’s sister Diana, truly steals the spotlight and gets the reader hoping for a certain twist in the story.    If you enjoy historical fiction and romance, you will most likely enjoy this tale.  It has all the drama of the late 1800′s time period wrapped up in the mystery of how Elizabeth Holland died.  I have already checked out the second book, Rumors to see where the story will lead.  Enjoy!

In Alane Ferguson’s final book in the Christopher Killer series, Cameryn is fighting for her life.  After nearly being killed twice in the previous books, Cameryn is now being hunted.  She must deal with the constant threat of being trapped and killed by a psychopath.  Cameryn feels like her life has already been taken over and she is living in a fish bowl where all those who care about her are constantly watching.   The Dying Breath is full of surprises that will take your breath away. 

I must admit that I truly have enjoyed the four books in this series.  Alane Ferguson did a wonderful job weaving all of the exciting forensic evidence in to the story.  Fans of CSI will truly appreciate these exciting and thought-provoking books.  I highly recommend that you pick up The Christopher Killer, The Angel of Death, The Circle of Blood, and The Dying Breath.

First, if you have not read The Hunger Games, then stop and go read it!  It is wonderful and this is the exciting sequel.  I must say when I read The Hunger Games I was truly captivated by the story.  The story was so horrific, but so awesome at the same time.  Watching the main character, Katniss, struggle to survive while still maintaining her human nature was inspiring.  Because even after all she had to endure, she was the same girl who was devoted to those she loved.  Catching Fire carries on that same spirit.  Katniss is a victor, but she is not off the hook for the trick that helped her survive the games.  In fact, she is in serious trouble, and she is having a hard time finding her way out without losing her identity.  There are so many choices she is faced with that she is completely overwhelmed.    But in order to survive, she must put aside all her doubts and fears and just act.  Catching Fire is filled with the feelings of desperation, loss,  and a few moments of hope. 

I must say that this sequel was excellent.  It had all of the drama and all of the flair of the first book.  I was drawn in by Katniss’ situation and her relationships with the other characters.  I wanted to see how the Capital would react to her action.  I was not disappointed.  I must say though that the end of the book happened so fast.  The climax occurred suddenly and the reader (me) was left with all of these questions.  I am now anxiously waiting  for the third book in this trilogy.  I can’t even predict what will happen, but I am hopeful that Suzanne Collins will not disappoint the readers and we will have another tremendous story.

Secrets.  Everyone has secrets.  Some secrets are small and not to be bothered with, but some…some secrets are huge.  The type of secret that everyone knows exists, but no one knows the whole tale.  This story is about one of those secrets.  Frankie Landau-Banks is a very clever student at the elite Alabaster Preparatory School.  As a freshman, she was a shadow of her older senior sister, but upon her return for her sophomore year her transformation is quite evident.  Frankie is a knock-out.  Now this would not be such a big deal, but her transformation leads her directly into the arms of Matthew Livingston, the popular, funny senior boy who also happens to be one of the top dog in the very secretive (does it even exist?) Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds.  At first Frankie is flattered to be a part of his world, but when it becomes evident that she is merely arm candy and there is a larger part of his life that he will not share, she quickly becomes determine to unravel his secrets.

When Frankie creates a few secrets of her own, the events of the story begin to flourish.  The members of the Bassets are pulling pranks cleverer than they ever had.  But as Frankie tries to pry into Matthew’s thoughts about the pranks, he remains secretive.  The Alpha dog of the Bassets is receiving all of the glory for the mal-doings, but is he really the mastermind or just the puppy on a very tight leash? Read The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks to discover just how far Frankie will go to be included in a secret world where she was not invited or possibly even wanted.  Will her meddling bring her the glory she longs for or will it just leave her left out of the very group she is trying to be a part of? 

I loved this book!  Frankie is the type of girl I would want to be friends with.  She is clever, funny, determined… The list just goes on.  I love how she is not satisfied to be the pretty girlfriend of the popular guy on campus.  She has a brain and she wants all of those around to know it.  She does not play dumb, and that is one of this characters enduring qualities.  The book is fabulous.  I especially loved all of her made up positive negative words.  It just shows how bright she truly is and how everyone around her is in a fog!  I would highly suggest reading this book!  It is a great story that you will not want to put down!!!

If you like basketball, you will enjoy Game by Walter Dean Myers.  The main character, Drew Lawson is determined to succeed in high school and make it to the next level, college ball.  He has the talent, but some question his dedication and drive.  He is determined to show them all that in the game of basketball and in the game of life he will not quit. 

The message of the book is good, but this was not the book for me.  Visual descriptions of basketball games filled the book leaving little else to read about.  Most of the time I did not understand what had happened in the game, until the words said that the team had won.  However, if you know the game and the lingo, you would probably enjoy this book.  You would probably be able to visualize the game the boys were playing.  So if basketball is the sport that interest you, give this book a chance.  If it is not, as in my case, leave this one the shelf and keep looking  for something else.