Bloggin 'Bout Books Blog

Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson & the Olympians #004) by Rick Riordan is a pretty solid continuation of the Percy Jackson series.  I'm going to be honest (and I might have mentioned this in my review of The Titan's Curse), but I just feel like I'm missing something with this series. Like the story lines are fine--they have a pretty good adventure, and they're basically plots you can map out from the get-go, but that's not always a bad thing. The characters are alright: I tend to be a little underwhelmed by them. I find Percy kind of annoying, but I really rather enjoyed Nico over this book and what little part he had in Titan's Curse. The writing isn't bad, but it doesn't give me shivers. I have yet to mark a page number down to say "this quote!! omg this is soooo goood." I just feel steady about this series, I guess. Battle of the Labyrinth was no exception. The story starts with Percy's high school Freshman orientatio...

Hello Lovelies!! So I've literally been pondering this week's top ten for two weeks and I'm still just putting it all together now. So brought to you, as usual, by The Broke and the Bookish , this week's Top Ten is... Top Ten Characters You'd Want on a Deserted Island So I've put an absurd amount of thought into this one. So let me do a walk through. Katniss Everdeen: The girl can shoot a bow and arrow and hunt animals, so if it's a human-deserted island that's still populated by animals, I'd want her there with me. We wouldn't starve. And if it was actually a faux island that was manipulated by a huge government, she'd get us out of there in a split second. Iorek Byrnison: Why would I pick an armored bear? Because if this was an artic deserted island, he'd be able to protect me and keep me warm. And Iorek is like my favorite character from that whole series , let's be real. Lihn Cinder: If there was anyone who cou...

Wow. Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick is one of those books which isn't pleasant to read, but after you finish, you want to immediately have everyone read it. It's a somewhat novelized memoir of Arn Chorn-Pond's experience surviving the Cambodian Genocide of 1974-1979. McCormick's Author's Note at the end explains why the book is marketed as historical fiction instead of a biography. Part of the reason includes the fact that McCormick writes the book from Chorn-Pond's point of view. It's written in a style of broken English which gives readers a very distinct view of the narrator. English is clearly not the narrator's first language, but they speak it fluently enough to give description that can tear your heart in two. Sometimes I would feel myself choking back tears after reading a single sentence. I honestly didn't know much about the Cambodian Genocide--it was before my time, and it was never something I heard about in school. I could...

The Titan's Curse (the 3rd installment in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series) by Rick Riordan is a fun-filled adventure.  I will admit that I had to struggle to remember bits of the second book (It's been over two years since I read The Sea of Monsters!), but Riordan does a good job of reminding readers of the important plot points. I read this book in an evening, and I really enjoyed it. I'm excited to read the final two novels in the series! I feel pretty solid about this series. I don't love it, and I don't feel like I immediately have to pick up the next two (although I will since I'm borrowing them from a friend), but it's enjoyable. I can see how younger readers would really empathize with the characters and feel the deep connection that I'm missing. Prequel / Sequel Challenge Points : 60 pts + 2 = 62 points!

I was a wee bit underwhelmed by Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan. Maybe it's that I grew up in Montana where the most exciting night you can have involves Civil War Beer Pong and costumes or getting your truck stuck in a ditch. (This may be two sides of the same coin, although not with most of my friends.) Maybe it's that I found Norah annoying but weirdly relateable? Or maybe it's that I apparently don't know (or like???) enough "Punk" music? I have no idea. I guess I just was expecting so much more. And it's been several years since I've seen the movie, but I really remember liking it quite a lot. So I'm not sure why the book just didn't do it for me. Although if I went back and watched the movie now, I'd probably be angry with things they changed. I guess there's no pleasing me. (But if you've been around, you know that's the case, haha)

Blarghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Hello lovelies. I'm feeling super overwhelmed by life since I'm doing Camp Nanowrimo and trying to move and find a place to live 2600 miles away. So that's my excuse for missing last week. But now you get two weeks in a row. So this week's theme (hosted as always by The Broke and the Bookish ) is... Top Ten Favorite Movies   (And I picked Scary Movies) I have a secret. Or I guess I had a secret. And that secret is that I love  scary movies. Like anything that plays on gross special effects or melting walls or sudden appearances--I'm totally down for it. (This has only back fired on me once--when I had a panic attack watching Saw 2--I don't wanna talk about it...) So in no particular order, movies that really impressed me with their scare factors: 1. Thir13een Ghosts -- there's this scene with a glass door that is ingrained in my brain.  2. Haunting in Conneticut -- aw man, this movie is sooo good. I actu...

I've been trying to think of a way to describe my feelings for Rainbow Rowell's Landline for literally hours. And I just...can't. Every thing I write seems insufficient to explain my feelings for the book. So I'm going to try something a bit different for this review. This is gonna get a little personal. Dear Rainbow Rowell, It's been a year. One year, more or less exactly, since I read Eleanor & Park -- the first book of yours that I read. I had recently been let go from a job which I didn't adore, but I'd been hoping to work at for at least two years, and I was working an extremely part-time minimum wage job. Eleanor & Park made me like life again. It was five months until I read another one of your books. I had found a full time job which I adored, but it was Christmas / New Year's time, and I was spending it all away from my family for the first time in my life. I'd received a copy of Fangirl for Christmas (which I was ecstatic ab...

The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo was another wondrous journey through DiCamillo's poignant view of life. The Magician's Elephant tells the tale of a young orphan named Peter and an elephant which is accidentally summoned by a magician. How do the two connect? Through at least seven other characters.  DiCamillo connects each individual flawlessly. She connects every single character to their dreams.  I wasn't as fond of this one as her others, but it was still a delightful read about achieving the impossible and trusting the universe to work even when it seems like it won't.

The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin was just as mind-bending and interesting as the first book in the series. I'm going to be real honest here and admit that I basically read this one in two sittings. If I hadn't had to go celebrate the Fourth of July, I definitely would have finished it in one. I'm still reeling a little from finishing this book. To be fair, I devoured both books in three days, so I think I deserve a little WTFing right now. This sequel took so many unexpected turns from the original book that I have no idea what's happening or what's going to happen, but in a good way? Like the first thing I did when I finished it was to text my friend who had pushed it on me in the first place (heyyyyyy Melissa!). I can't wait for The Retribution of Mara Dyer to hopefully clear some things up for me in the future (November!!). As it is, I can feel I'm going to spend a lot of time thinking about this one. Fans of the first one should reall...

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin is a whirlwind ride of a horror novel. I read it in about three hours, but let me warn you, you might start to feel a little bit crazy yourself if you take this route.  Mara Dyer is the main character of Hodkin's novel, and the novel begins with Mara losing her best friend, her boyfriend and her boyfriend's sister in a bizarre accident where a building collapses on them. Mara is the only person to escape, and she does so relatively unscathed.  Emotionally, however, Mara's a mess. She has symptoms of PTSD--hallucinations, losing track of time, and other effects. Her family decides it might be best to move away from their home town and start over. So that's how Mara Dyer ends up at Croyden Academy in Miami, Florida.  Honestly, I have no idea what to say about this book. It was really good--as evidenced by the fact that I devoured it. But I can also see how some people might not like it. It has a very horror-...

Ellen Hopkins' Perfect is a fantastic companion novel to Impulse . While Impulse tackles the world from the viewpoint of three teens who have ended up in a psychiatric hospital, Perfect tackles the world from the view of four teens who are struggling with the kind of behaviors that can eventually lead to a psychiatric hospital. Cara has parents who demand perfection, and she's been striving for it too. Then she finds herself falling in love with a girl. But her boyfriend seems like the perfect guy. Sean, Cara's boyfriend, is an all-star baseball player. He gets a little help from the pharmaceutical world. Kendra is an aspiring model who just wants to be a size two and can demonstrate the control needed to get there. Andre has fallen in love with Kendra's sister, Jenna. Jenna likes to party a little too much, and also, her father is a racist--a pretty big problem when Andre's black. Over all, I enjoy the way Hopkins writes. I don't read many novels ...

Hello Lovelies! Yes, once again, I am a day late and a dollar short when it comes to Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by The Broke and the Bookish ). But here they are anyway. This week's topic is  Top Ten Classic Books I'd Like to Read So, in no particular order, here they are. Moby Dick : I feel like even saying that is guaranteeing myself torture, but a semi-reliable source thinks it's amazing, so I'll give it a try. Little Women: I watched the movie because it's one of my best friend's favorite movies and found it enjoyable. I can only imagine that the book will be better (isn't that usually the case?). Three Musketeers: Another one which I've seen adapted in various ways, but I want to read the book for myself. Count of Monte Cristo: I tried to read this in high school but I gave up pretty early on. I think I've learned how to be patient with my reading by now, and I'd like to try it again. Dracula: I love vampires, but I've nev...

Touted as, "Harry Potter for grown-ups," The Magicians by Lev Grossman seemed to be right up my alley. Boy was I wrong.  Right now, I'm trying to think of a book about magic which I have hated more than The Magicians, and absolutely nothing is coming to mind. So what was wrong with "the best urban fantasy in years"? EVERYTHING. First of all, while the characters can be relateable, they're all horrible people. And even the good people are horrible. Like I spent most of the book wanting to place all the main characters in a circle and just running around the middle of a circle with a chair in my hands, smacking every single one of them across the head with it. And the writing might not be bad, but Grossman has the tendency to just skip huge chunks of time. By my estimate, the book covers about seven years? And you would think that most of those years would need a lot of explaining, but Grossman would disagree. He also has the tendency to focus on the m...