11 of 144

Clementine's Letter by Sara Pennypacker

This is the 3rd story about Clementine, a very fresh engaging 3rd grade voice. Her teacher has been nominated for teacher trip to Egypt to be part of an archeological dig which means he would not be around for the rest of the school year. Clementine's world is thrown out of whack with this possibility and what ensues is Clementine needing to learn to deal with changes. Her voice is spot on for a 3rd grader learning lessons and growing. I found myself laughing out loud as the story went on.

10 of 144

Revelations by Melissa de la Cruz

This is book 3 of the Van Allan Legacy. It seems like a little snippet of the story not a fleshed out story. A lot of build up. Very little resolution. Of course there are more books in the series so I guess that is the point. Keeps you reading. I just like a little resolution with my conflict.

9 of 144

Evolution, Me, and Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande

There was lots of potential in this book but maybe too much lack of focus. The narrator of the story is dealing with starting high school and the fall out from a break down in her friendships. She is also struggling with her faith and what role it should play in her life. Which was a good topic to explore. My problem comes with how her parents treat her and the argument/discussion they have towards the end of the story and what her mother says to her. I was tempted to stop the story right there and not finish it cause it really turned me off to the story.

The actual end of the story was good. Resolution without over the topness. Room for growth for the character.

8 of 144

The Ever Breath by Julianna Baggott

A story of twins who are polar opposites of each other. Their father has disappeared and everyone is frazzled. They go to stay with their grandmother (who is also a twin) and things start to get really wacky really quickly. There is another world and the balance between the two worlds is maintained by their grandmother and her twin sister but the balance has been destroyed cause the Ever Breath has been taken.

Her writing style is disjointed and random. Not a bad thing just a thing to be aware of when reading. Told from different points of view and not just the twins. Not solely a boy or a girl story.

7 of 144

Fired Up by Jayne Ann Krentz

The first in a new trilogy for her based on her Arcane Society theme. Seems book one is written by Ms. Krentz. Book 2 will be written by her historical romance alter ego Amanda Quick. I think this story line was reference a lot in this book. Which was kinda annoying. It made me feel like I should have already read the Amanda Quick book but of course it isn't published so that wasn't an option. The third book will be written by her futuristic romance alter ego whom I have never read and actually have never had a desire to read. I'll feel conflicted when it is time to actually read the third book cause I really don't have a desire to read it but I will of course want to finish the trilogy. Decisions. Decisions. Decisions. That I really don't need to make right now.

But back to actually talking about this book. It was good. The hero and heroine met up pretty early. The heroine had more information than the hero about the situation so that was enjoyable. The heroine didn't immediately fall in love and the hero actually experienced the feelings of being destined before the heroine. The search for the lamp was more involved than actually working the lamp which seems conflicting but what do I know? Continue to enjoy how this Arcane Society storyline kinda lets the characters have whatever abilities Ms. Krentz wants them to have irregardless of the abilities the other characters in other books may have had.

6 of 144

Flush by Carl Hiaasen

This was my first Carl Hiaasen (adult or juvenile). I liked it over all. Not usually a fan of adult authors who try to write for kids. Usually find that they can't bring their writing to a younger audience. Carl Hiaasen can. He has a funny voice. He doesn't take himself to seriously. Doesn't talk down to readers and brings in the environmentalist line without bashing their heads over it. I think I have Scat somewhere around here. Have to unearth it and get reading on my next Carl Hiassen.

5 of 144

Immortal: Love Stories with Bite by Rachel Caine, Cynthia Leitich Smith, Claudia Gray, Richelle Mead, Nancy Holder, Kristin Cast, Tanith Lee

I think it is safe to say I like almost all of these stories. More of these were snippets from established series than Eternal Kiss. Makes me more excited to read these other authors.

4 of 144

The Eternal Kiss: 13 Vampire Tales of Blood and Desire by Holly Black, Libba Bray, Melissa De La Cruz, Cassandra Clare, Rachel Caine, Nancy Holder & Debbie Viguie, Cecil Castellucci, Kelley Armstrong, Maria V. Snyder, Sarah Rees Brennan, Lili St. Crow, Karen Mahoney, Dina James

I liked more than half of them which is good based on my last short story reading experience. Most of these stories had resolution so that is definitely a step in the right direction. Interested to read more by some of these authors. That's even more exciting.

3 of 144

Blue moon by Alyson Noel

#2 in The Immortals series

It was good. I wanted a little more to the storyline. It ended with resolution and the cliff hanger but there are a couple of plot points it will be interesting to see how she passes off in the next book.

2 of 144

Vacations From Hell by Libba Bray, Cassandra Clare, Claudia Gray, Maureen Johnson, and Sarah Mlynowski

Don't read it...5 short stories that weren't worth it...plot lines not fully developed...supposedly "love thrives" through all of the hellish situations...i saw little love actually brought in to the plot lines...this is part of the "from hell" series put out by Harper Teen, includes Prom Nights From Hell and Love is Hell each with their own 5 amazingly talented author sets...didn't enjoy Prom Nights either...each of those stories actually made me angry cause they all seemed to stop on the cusp of a major event with no future reading being offered at all

maybe i just don't like short stories...i'll have to try some other collections during this 144 book challenge and see what i think of them...i'll keep you updated

1 of 144

Hunted by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast 1/2/2010

This is number 5 of the House of Night Series...fast moving series...3 books take place in the span of a week and half...of course they were published 6 months apart so if i had been reading them as they were published instead of all at one time to get caught up with the series i would have been very anxious for the books between publication...the bonds of credibility are a little stretched with this whole series...don't pick it up if you are looking for deep meaning but for 300 pages the rest of the world disappears cause you have to keep turning the pages cause you almost can't believe that all of this can really be happening to this girl

i'm back

it's been a while...but i'm involved in a contest...no...competition...no...challenge...yes challenge to read 144 books in 2010 so i'll keep track here too

Scrambled Eggs at Midnight

Scrambled Eggs at Midnight by Brad Barkley and Heather Hepler was my reading fun for today. I really enjoyed it. Cal (Calliope) is constantly moving with her mother from town to town. She has recently moved to Asheville, North Caroline for the summer Reinessance Faire. She meets Eliot. Eliot's family owns and operates a camp outside of Asheville for overweight Christians. Eliot and Cal meet in town in a book shop. From then on they are connected almost immediately. Cal is finally able to establish some roots that are on the brink of being ripped out again when some major life changes are made for Cal and for Eliot. Cal and Eliot tell the stories from their point of view in alternative chapters. I thought the story was told very well. Each lead character was well developed and fleshed out. They each grow and change as the story progresses.

shadow dance

I recently finished Shadow Dance by Julie Garwood. i enjoyed it alot. I'm a fan of Julie Garwood's in particular and series/linked characters in general and this book tied a lot of things together. Jordan Buchanan who's brothers had a number of books already and Noah Clayborne who showed up in a number of previous books are the starring characters in this novel. Noah challenges Jordan to shake up her safe world. He doesn't plan for her to find dead bodies in the process. What I like about this book was that it gave insight into Noah's as well as Jordan's through "his point of view." Too often we only read the female's point of view. This book also tied together some of Julie Garwood's earlier titles, in particular Come the Spring for Noah Clayborne's character and Ransom for Jordan Buchanan's character. Until this point I never realized that the leading man from Ransom and the entire Buchanan family from the contemporary suspense novels were connected.

whoops

ok...so it's been a year since i posted and i hadn't posted very much at all before that but i'm going to try and be better about it now...so let's go

Avalon High

So yesterday I started reading Avalon High by Meg Cabot. I enjoyed what I was reading. This morning when I got up this morning I picked it up again. And I couldn't put it down. I stayed in bed 2 hours reading it. Lucky for me today was a free day for me since I work on Sunday. I made myself get up. Ate breakfast. Got myself together. Started some laundry and pulled the sheets off the bed. Then I stretched myself out across my bed and picked up Avalon High again. I didn't put it down until I was done. And when I was done I was upset that I didn't have another Meg Cabot book to read. I really like her style of writing. I think she usually writes from first person, at least her teen chic lit. She uses popular culture. Her characters don't have huge egos. They are actually usually self-deprecating. They are also usually pretty smart and down to earth. What a great role model she is providing. Yahoo Meg Cabot!

Avalon High(2006). Meg Cabot. NY: HarperCollins Publishers.
Ellie is the new girl at Avalon High. Somehow she becomes part of the In Crowd and then gets wrapped up in an King Arthur tragedy. Ellie is a character who has a great deal of confidence who keeps her head when things start to fall apart around her.

who am i

So I guess the introduction comes first. I am Terri. I am a Youth Services Librarian. I love books, reading, and connecting them to children. Good job choice for me. I'm planning to use this site to keep a running list of the books I'm reading. After 4 Literature for Children classes this has become my annotated bibliogprahy. Hope you enjoy it.