Cress

September: eBook/Audio book

While most of this series has been nonstop action due to the nature of the story, I think this books really brings it all to the front. From the beginning we have our characters running, moving to not only keep ahead of the Queen and the soldiers from Earth, but also to get to the next thing they have to do in order to make things right. Slowly a plan starts to come together for Cinder and her little band of misfits, but in order for her to make things work a lot has to go exactly right. Which of course means that it doesn't.

Without wanting to give away too much I will say that there is plenty of action, drama, and feels in this third book in the Lunar Chronicles. We are also given new characters to complicate the web that Meyer has been spinning, characters with backstories that add not only to the background picture, but to how things will turn out. We get the chance to figure out some more key details to the plot and they are intense revelations.

Even being much longer than the first two books, I had no trouble at all getting through this one just as quickly, the story pulling me along effortlessly. And I eagerly anticipate an incredible final book as I hit download to Winter, the conclusion of the series.

Scarlet

September: eBooks/Audio book

Of course I rushed to start the next book in the series, and I was not disappointed. While this one starts with new characters, we are quickly shown how Cinder is doing as she bursts onto the scene, literally. In an escape attempt. Thus we meet Captain Thorne whose relationship with his ship rivals the one between Dean Winchester and his Impala. Elsewhere the story actually begins following Scarlet who is looking for her grandmother.

Two separate journeys take us racing through France in an effort to find answers that only one woman can give. And when the stories finally converge it is in full on chaos.

Once more Meyer delivers an incredible story with characters we love from our past as they are re-imagined in this new world.  She also gives us incredible humor that had me laughing out loud as I listened and drama that had me throwing my hands up in need of resolutions. So hang in there, because the next book promises to do more of the same! And I will be starting it as soon as possible!

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Part 1)

As a lover of the video games, I of course had to pick this one up when I saw it at the library. It took a while to read because I ended up lending it to a friend's daughter so that she could read it first. She enjoyed it and is eagerly waiting for me to pick up the next one for her, which is awesome. So I finally read it today and I love the story just as much as I enjoyed playing the video game.

Himekawa tells Link's tale, from being an odd kokiri with no fairy to becoming the Hero of Time himself. This is only part one, following Link up to a point in middle of his quest to freeing the sages from their curses to help save Hyrule. So if you are a fan be sure to have the next one on hand so you can continue the story.

I will be quickly picking up the next one when I go to the library next for both me and my young friend to read. I may even search out the older games so I can play and delve back into the world of Hyrule!

Cinder

September: eBooks/Audio book

A friend of mine has been a huge fan of this series since the first one came out and has been hounding me to pick them up. I'm pretty sure the only reason she gave me access to her Audible account was so that she could take away my last excuse for not reading them. And now I owe her an apology for putting it off for so long. This book was fantastic!

As I am sure you can tell from the title and cover art, Cinder is a retelling of the Cinderella story. But this one is unlike any you have ever heard. For starters, Cinder is a cyborg. That's right, our leading lady had metal limbs that she hides from everyone around her because of the unveiled contempt people feel toward the half-humans int heir midst. But that part of her sure comes in handy when one of Cinder's stepsisters contracts a deadly plague and Cinder is signed up as a research volunteer to help find a cure. Throw in a prince that needs the renown mechanic, again Cinder, to work on an android of his caring valuable information but has no idea what Cinder is, and you have a story wrought with opportunities for everything to go wrong. And so of course it does.

This story does not have a happy ending. In fact it has no ending because Meyer continues Cinder's tale into the next book, but that is another post. What this story does have is humor that will have you laughing out loud, a love story that is endearing and awkward, intrigue that will have you on the edge of your seat, and a villain you will despise for all the best reasons.  Not only am I going to encourage you to pick this one up and read it right now, but I am going to heavily suggest that you have the next book on standby so that you don't have to wait to know what happens next. (I am already 4 chapters into it.) Even more, I am going to nudge you to listening to the book on tape because the narrator does an amazing job!

In every way this book was wonderful. So go read it!

This Dark Endeavor

August: Texas Teen Book Festival

Held in Austin, TX, TTBF highlights YA authors and their audience by bringing the two together for a weekend to talk about the stories we are falling in love with.

Kenneth Oppel is one of the authors that will be at the Texas Teen Book Festival this year. Focus will be on his book Every Hidden Thing, but I couldn't find that when I went to the library. Instead I was intrigued by this previous book of his. This Dark Endeavor follows the story of a young Victor Frankenstein as he undertakes an adventurous quest into the world of alchemy to find a cure for his ailing brother. Full of action, intrigue, and passion, most of which is embodied by young Victor, Oppel's story gives us a look into Victor's past leading to hid dark curiosity into the world of the dead and the driving force behind his later experiments.

I really did enjoy this one. Oppel did a good job of creating not only a dire situation for Victor that would push him so urgently forward, but he gave an overwhelming amount of chaos behind the endeavor. Add a love triangle that leads to an internal war Victor wages as he tried to help his brother, and it makes for an amazing tale. And Oppel is a gifted writer!

My only draw back was that I was expecting Mary Shelley. This was my own fault and I should have seperated my love of the classic with my curiosity for this new tale. When Oppel's voice, a great one in its own right, was all I read it made the beginning of the novel a little slow going. hat being said I look forward to reading the next book in this little series as well as the book being highlighted at the festival this year. As I said, Oppel is a fantastic writer.

I highly encourage fans of the classic Frankenstein give this one a chance.

Attack on Titan v. 1

After a long dry spell in the book department, I immediately went to the graphic novel/manga section at the library. Because what doesn't push you back into the mindset of reading like a good comic? I started the show Attack on Titan last week and after getting half way through season 1, I saw this sitting on the shelf. Of course I had to pick it up because the show is awesome but there is only one season available at this time. Reading the manga, I was hoping to get further into the story that is so interesting. I am so glad I did!

Attack on Titan is the story of 2000 years from now when these giants have appeared to try and wipe out the human race, simply for the pleasure of killing off humans. Eren Jeager is the main focus of the story as he watched his home town destroyed by titans and his mother eaten by one five years before the main story takes place. Now the titans have attacked again and Eren is a cadet in the army and determined to kill every last one of them. But things are never that straightforward.

I've only picked up the first volume because sometimes the differences are too great or maybe the story telling isn't as good. . . Now I am kicking myself for not getting the first 10! The only real difference between the show and the manga is the added training scenes that showed a little more of what the cadets went through to become soldiers in the show. But maybe those will come a little later, I don't know. Either way I like the quick pace of the manga that throws you right into the story and makes you keep moving forward.

That being said, I didn't breeze through this one like I have with other mangas. Not because I didn't want to, no, I think if I had all day I would have read it all in one sitting. But as it was I was forced to put the story down at chapter 3 to get things done. And the story if heavy. It isn't just a couple of nice pictures with dialogue bubbles. Even watching the show first I had to slow down, take a little more time with each page, really let it all soak in. And if you ask me that is what makes it great!

Bonus: I was reading it at the DMV and the kind lady that got me my ID replacement smiled and said she loves Attack on Titan. Already I liked her and things went smoothly.  And my husband and I may have scared a few others waiting with our talk of killing titans and Vertical Maneuvering Devices.

So if you are cool with manga and haven't already, pick this one up! The story is intense, the thought behind every aspect of the story is incredible, and the characters and plot are just awesome. Check it out!

My Lucky Life In And Out Of Show Business

June: Book written by a celebrity

I grew up on reruns of The Dick Van Dyke Show. It was a good, clean show filled with humor that my mother enjoyed and I would gladly sit down and watch it with her. There are still some scenes, like the nightmare-filled episode about walnuts, that have stuck with me over the years. And of course everyone was at some point drawn to the lively chimney-sweep Bert in Mary Poppins. So when I saw this book sitting on the shelf at the library as I was browsing (despite having my own stack of books to read) I thought, why not throw it onto the list for the month. It went right along with the theme! And what's more, it was the complete opposite of the two books I had read already. While all three celebrities share humor, fame, and very real issues, Van Dyke's story is very different from Felicia and Lindsey's. Jokingly you can see the differences just by looking at the book: it is longer and in large print. Why? Because Dick Van Dyke has a much longer story to tell!

The small similarities between the three books I choose for this month extend to the fact that I greatly enjoyed each and every one of them. Dick Van Dyke tells his story from his youth in Danville all the way up his current plan, which are a little vague since he is so fond of going where the wind take him. Of course the book is filled to the brim with humor and wonderful anecdotes from nearly every project he has worked on in his fifty plus years in showbiz. But also in the narrative are moments of truth. Painful memories of barely making it by, loosing people close to him, his battle with alcoholism. While Dick Van Dyke continues to be the larger than life man I have always thought him to be, after reading this book I am  made to love him a little more because he is merely human. Despite his shortcomings, his weaknesses, his tribulations, Van Dyke has always remained an exceptional man.

Please, if you enjoy any of Van Dyke's work, I think it is completely worth reading this book. See the man that pushed himself to the brink to make these parts come to life because while he has always loved what he does, he did still missed his fourteenth wedding anniversary. There is so much more to the man that sings and dances for children with cancer. And he felt the need to tell people hi story, share with his fans tales of his life in front of and behind the camera. So read this one, listen to what he has to say. Because after 85 years, he has a lot to say.