BOOK REVIEW: The Book Thief

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

This is a book set in Nazi Germany during WWII. I really enjoyed this book. It is told from the point of view of "death"--essentially the "grim reaper." This book does a great job of telling the story of life in Germany at the time without the focus being on the war, fighting, or concentration camps. It is also the tale of a young girl falling in love with reading, which is something I love.

Review From School Library Journal

Starred Review. Grade 9 Up–Zusak has created a work that deserves the attention of sophisticated teen and adult readers. Death himself narrates the World War II-era story of Liesel Meminger from the time she is taken, at age nine, to live in Molching, Germany, with a foster family in a working-class neighborhood of tough kids, acid-tongued mothers, and loving fathers who earn their living by the work of their hands. The child arrives having just stolen her first book–although she has not yet learned how to read–and her foster father uses it, The Gravediggers Handbook, to lull her to sleep when shes roused by regular nightmares about her younger brothers death. Across the ensuing years of the late 1930s and into the 1940s, Liesel collects more stolen books as well as a peculiar set of friends: the boy Rudy, the Jewish refugee Max, the mayors reclusive wife (who has a whole library from which she allows Liesel to steal), and especially her foster parents. Zusak not only creates a mesmerizing and original story but also writes with poetic syntax, causing readers to deliberate over phrases and lines, even as the action impels them forward. Death is not a sentimental storyteller, but he does attend to an array of satisfying details, giving Liesels story all the nuances of chance, folly, and fulfilled expectation that it deserves. An extraordinary narrative.–Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA
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AUTHOR REVIEW: Shannon Hale

I love Shannon Hale books.  They are awesome.  The first one I read was Princess Academy.  It was so cute.  I then read the 4-book Goose Girl Series, I have read Book of a Thousand Days, Austenland, and The Actor and the Housewife.  I really liked them all.  I have most of them. :)  They are fun books about princesses or people with magical powers.  Austenland and The Actor and the Housewife are geared more towards the older crowd.  They were a little more mature but still good.  I remember there was kissing in Austenland, but nothing raunchy.  The Actor and the Housewife also has had mixed reviews.  It's all about a Mormon housewife who runs into her celebrity crush and they become best friends.  You either love it or you hate it.   All in all, they are very fun books.  I am excited to read her new ones that have come out.  Here is her website.

http://www.squeetus.com/stage/books.html

You can get online and read the first chapter in each of her books.  She also has other fun tidbits about each book.  Anyway, you can't go wrong with a Shannon Hale book for a good, fun, quick read.

BOOK REVIEW: Miss Peregrine's School for Peculiar Children

Miss Peregrine's School for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

This book has interesting facets. I didn't LOVE it. There wasn't anything objectionable in it. It is set up for a sequel, and when I got to the end and realized that I was disappointed--I would have been happy with it just being wrapped up. Not a bad read, but there are definitely better reads out there.

BOOK REVIEW: Lorien Legacies

Lorien Legacies series (by Pttacus Lore)

I really enjoy this series. I have read the three main and there are more coming. It is about a small group of members of an alien race hiding on Earth until they can be strong enough to go back and fight for their planet again. This is one of my favorites I have read this year.

BOOK REVIEW: Graceling

Graceling (by Kristin Cashore)

This is a series--the first is Graceling.

This book is a young adult fantasy book. The premise is original and quite interesting. It is set in a mid-evil type of a world where some people are born with certain graces--extra power to do things well. Some can read minds, some can use swords well, some are strong, some are good with animals, etc.

I do not, however, recommend this book. It alludes to adult themes and the characters have standards that are definitely not my own. I won't write out what it is because it can give things away, but if you want more details, you can ask me. It is a small very part of the book, which is too bad because the idea of the book is a good one.

BOOK REVIEW: Hunger Games Series

The Hunger Games Series (by Suzanne Collins): .

The Hunger Games

Catching Fire

Mockingjay

My review: Loved it! I won't summarize it since most people know the basic storyline. There is violence (obviously) but I don't remember it being graphic or descriptive. A lot of people are killed though. I don't remember any other questionable content like language or adult themes

BOOK REVIEW: The Matt Cruse

The Matt Cruze Series (by Kenneth Oppel): 

Airborn

Skybreaker

Starclimber

My review: I really enjoyed this series as well. It is young adult, fantasy and a lot of fun. There was some violence and suspense but I don't remember any notable graphic content, language, or adult themes.

Here is the Amazon description. Matt Cruse is a cabin boy on the Aurora, a huge airship that sails hundreds of feet above the ocean, ferrying wealthy passengers from city to city. It is the life Matt's always wanted; convinced he's lighter than air, he imagines himself as buoyant as the hydrium gas that powers his ship. One night he meets a dying balloonist who speaks of beautiful creatures drifting through the skies. It is only after Matt meets the balloonist's granddaughter that he realizes that the man's ravings may, in fact, have been true, and that the creatures are completely real and utterly mysterious.

In a swashbuckling adventure reminiscent of Jules Verne and Robert Louis Stevenson, Kenneth Oppel, author of the best-selling Silverwing trilogy, creates an imagined world in which the air is populated by transcontinental voyagers, pirates, and beings never before dreamed of by the humans who sail the skies.

BOOK REVIEW: The Giver Series

The Giver Series (by Lois Lowry):

The Giver

Messenger

Gathering Blue

Son

My review: Great Series! Great Message and it will make you think. I just really enjoyed it. Each of the books are a pretty fast read as well. I would totally recommend this to anyone. I can't think of any bad content at all. 

I don't want to give away the details but the series starts by following a boy, Jonas, that lives in a community where everything is perfectly orderly and controlled and all your decisions are made for you including what your life's work will be. Everything seems perfect until it all changes, at least for Jonas.

BOOK REVIEW: The Maze Runner Series

The Maze Runner Series (by James Dashner)

The Maze Runner

The Scorch Trials

The Death Cure

The Kill Order (Prequel)

My review: Seriously loved this series (I haven't read the prequel yet). It sucks you in and keeps you hooked. There is action, mystery, suspense, etc. There is a fair amount of fighting and violence some of which is fairly detailed. There isn't any language or adult themes. 

Here is the Amazon write-up for the first book:  

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade—a large, open expanse surrounded by stone walls.

Just like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night they’ve closed tight. And every thirty days a new boy has been delivered in the lift.

Thomas might be more important than he could ever guess. If only he could unlock the dark secrets buried within his mind.

BOOK REVIEW: The Divergent Series

The Divergent Series (by Veronica Roth)

Divergent

Insurgent

Allegiant (due to release Oct 22, 2013)

My review: Great series (so far). It has kind of the feel of Hunger Games but a totally different storyline. It is based in a dystopian world with factions based on 5 different virtues. It is well written and a lot of fun, suspense, mystery. It's just awesome. It is really intense. There is some violence, fighting, and war. Some of it is fairly descriptive. I don't remember if there is any language in it. There isn't any explicit adult themes but there is romance (kissing and gunk like that). 

Here is the Amazon write-up for the first book:  

In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

7

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.