Iron Fey Series - Julie Kawaga

one sentence summary:
A half fey, half human girl tries to figure out where she belongs.

review:
I have only read the first two books in this series and I don't think I will keep going. The idea behind the novels is interesting but the execution needs some help. The characters are all really annoying, all whiny and they all create drama for themselves, basically teenagers will relate well to these stories.

4/10

Darkborn - Alison Sinclair

One Sentence Summary:
There are two races, one born of light the other of darkness, they coexist but what happens when something threatens both races??

review:
This was better than I expected it to be. The characters were fairly stock, not a lot going on with most of them but there are enough entertaining quirks that they kept me interested in what was happening to them. And that was the strong point of the book, a fast paced plot that keeps the pages turning. I recommend this to you if you enjoyed the Hunger Games series.

8/10 middle/high school (the people who like hunger games)

Where The Sidewalk Ends - Shel Silverstein

one sentence summary
Poetry and illustration team up to explain why life doesn't actually suck (or at least that is what I took out of it)

review
if you are between 8 and 108 and haven't read this yet, put down your knitting and go read it now! The quirky little poems will rattle around in your head for the rest of your life. And you will be grateful for it. It is a brilliant work.

10/10

The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand

one sentence summary:
there once were two architects, they both were misunderstood, in the most pretentious ways possible.

review:
This is really well written but I totally hated it. I liked the writing style, I loved the prose, but I HATED all of the characters and the plot too. It was just so pretentious, it is one of those books which all the yuppies read or pretend to have read because they think it gives them some sort of "greater-than-thou-ness". I understand why "misunderstood" teenagers  would love it, but never ever ever let them read it as they will use it as justification for being total shits for as long as they possibly can. That said the writing itself is beautiful.

4/10

Remember Me - Sophie Kinsella

one sentence summary:
a 25 year old average girl with bad teeth and no carer wakes up three years in the future and is living the "dream life"

review:
The writing on this one isn't as good as Kinsella normally puts out, but it isn't the worst I have read, could probably have just used some more editing and a few rewrites. But it is an entertaining airplane/beach read, a quick moving story that will have you laughing out loud. the characters are all endearing and the plot is cleaver. I would like this to continue as a series with the protagonist pulling her life together. If you like chick-lit and want a brainless read this is for you!


6/10

The Crystal Cave - Mary Stewart

one sentence summary:
the story of Merlin before he was the great Wizard we all know him as.

review:
A wonderful take on the Merlin myth. We are introduced to a young Merlin and follow him as he enters adulthood. Filled with family drama and suspense, mystery and intrigue this is a well written, entertaining read. Stewart did a fantastic job of flushing out not only fantastic characters and relationships but also a fascinating country complete with politics and details that are often overlooked in "Arthur" stories. A great mix of verifiable fact and familiar myth. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys long, detailed historical novels and/or the Arthur legend.

6/10

Coraline - Neil Gaiman

one sentence summary:
a little girl finds an alternate world that is exactly like her own, but is completely different.

review:
A really well written story with a strong, independent female protagonist aimed at kids old enough to know the difference between reality and make believe. I can guarantee I will be reading this to my niece and grandniece given the opportunity. Gaiman does a fantastic job of describing the world through the eyes of a child. I highly recommend this to everyone, especially young girls who feel misunderstood by the world.

8/10

Stranger in a Strange Land

one sentence summary:
A human raised by martians returned to earth as a young adult.

review:
This novel embodies the ultimate culture shock. Written in the early 1960's this is a fascinating look at what was thought to be possible. A classic of the SciFi cannon for a good reason, it is brilliantly written and the characters embodies every big question science fiction authors strive to answer. What is the future of humanity like, what happens to human morals, where do we go from here, etc. I recommend this to anyone who has any interest in SciFi, Philosophy or Sociology.

8.5/10

The Princess Bride - William Goldman

one sentence summary
 The movie is a classic everyone has seen, the book is better.

review:
This story has everything, drama to action to love and adventure. It tells a compelling story using a fantastic vocabulary built around amazing characters and their adventures. I recommend everyone go steal a fourth grader (boy or girl, doesn't really matter) and read this novel out loud with them. If you haven't read it yourself do it now or forever consider yourself deprived of one of the best stories ever. It is a highly entertaining fast paced read with easy to follow intersecting character lines. I have heard criticism that the female protagonist isn't strong, and isn't a good role model, this is true, she isn't but you can use her as a lesson on what not to do in life, and as an adult look at her as one of those stupid annoying females that we all know far to many of. This is a parody after all, you do have to be able to laugh at the characters in their over the top trope ness. In conclusion if you haven't read it read it now...

10/10

The Twilight Series - Stephanie Meyer

one sentence summary
an overly emotional teenage girl falls in love with a much older man...(a vampire is still a man right...?)

review:
This series is not the worst writing I have ever read (here's looking at you Fifty Shades) but it is far from what I would call good. Longer does not mean better. The books keep getting longer as you read through the series. The writing is reminiscent of Harlequins but with infinity more teen angst.  Some of the characters were really well developed while others were lacking, and one in particular (here's looking at you Bella) did not grow at all over the thousands of pages, she ended pretty much identical in ideology to where she started, you would think that learning about the paranormal world first hand would alter one's perspective on the world...you would be wrong. That said the story is fairly entertaining and does move along at a pretty good clip (other than the hundreds of pages interspersed here and there so full of superfluous details that any sane editor would have left in the rubbish and never ever have published...maybe they are paid by the page?). I recommend this to anyone who has an angsty teenage girl that they are trying to get to read.... or anyone who is curious what all the fuss was about (in which case I recommend skipping to the last book "Breaking Dawn" as it was the most interestingly extreme of them all, just read the Wikipedia summaries of the first 3 and you will be k).

4/10
4/10

The Iron Fey - Julie Kagawa

one sentence summary:
a "normal" girl finds out she is part fey.

review:
An interesting twist on A Midsummer's Night Dream, a teenage girl raised in the human world's younger brother is stolen away (and replaced with a changeling) to the other side of the "veil" where she is compelled to follow to save him. The writing is ok, not great but not quite terrible. The characters are all rather static, and very "Bella" (as in Twilight Bella, irrational girl with no self worth) which irritated me. The stories do move along at a rather fast clip, in fact I would guess that most real readers could breeze through the three I have read in a single day at the beach. I recommend this to people who liked Twilight and those who are looking for a light read full of teen angst with a twist of the paranormal.

6/10

Study Series - Maria V. Snyder

one sentence summary:
Yelena has some magic in her, journey with her as she discovers it.

review:
This is a remarkably well written series that appeals to the Twilight readers. The female protagonist in this series is actually a strong person who changes as she learns more about herself (almost like a real person). I enjoy the way that the personality of Yelena changes based on her life experiences (unlike other teen characters in popular fictions). The language of the story is very direct and lacks the super descriptive pros of traditional fantasy but is much better written than most of the modern-aimed-at-teenage-girls stuff. The series starts out really strong and goes down from there so if you can't find the second and third books after reading the first I would say that's ok.

8/10 for the first one, 6/10 for the other two.

Journey to the Centre of the Earth - Jules Verne

one sentence summary 
An inquisitive scientist goes on a journey to the centre of the earth.

review
The writing is antiquated, the story is timeless and the characters are charming. I love the attention to detail and the general quality of the writing, it seems to me that authors used to write better than they do now. I recommend everyone read this great adventure.

8/10

Angelfall - Susan Ee

one sentence summary
Angels have been sent to earth to destroy the modern world. A true apocalypse.

review
I was surprised at how well written and well thought out this book was. It is categorized as young adult but has more violence than the Hunger Games series by far. The plot is enthralling and fast paced. The characters are very sympathetic (I dare say I feel more for Penryn (this book) than I did for Katniss (hunger games)) and well written. The novel also touches on mental illness and some of the less glamorous aspects of a post-apocalypse world that most novels skim over.  If this quote makes you squeamish I do not recommend you read this book, "six butter knives stick out of his chest in a circular pattern. Someone has drawn a powder-pink lipstick pentagram with the knives at the end of the points. Blood bubbles up...My mother is safe. She has purposely missed his heart, and he will slowly bleed to death." I highly recommend this novel to anyone who still want's to read it after reading the above quote. It is beautiful and haunting, violent and full of compassion. It is an all around good read.

8/10

The Giver - Lois Lowry

one sentence summary:
with great responsibility comes an ample dose of crazy.

review:
This, for most people, is one of the first looks at a dystopian/utopian world. A coming of age story that is relatable to by almost everyone in our vastly media savvy world where everyone wants to be the same as everyone else. On first read through as an adult it seems very preachy with religion thrown in your face nearly every time you turn the page, but on a second read through it is a much better read. It is a really well written poignant story using beautiful language to contrast with the harsh sameness of the subject matter. On a personal note (coming from someone who has read an awful lot of dystopian fiction) this is the kind of "utopia" I imagine could actually work for a limited number of generations, familial bonds are kept strong (but not too strong), tasks are assigned based on aptitude and evolution has continued in humans to make maintaining the sameness possible. This is well worth reading, it is a short book so just take an afternoon and do it.

8/10
8/10

The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales - The Brothers Grimm

one sentence summary:
Before there was Disney fairy tales were much more gruesome.
review:
I happen to know a lot about the brothers Grimm and I can tell you that they did not come up with all of these stories on their own, rather they collected all the folk tales in Eastern Europe and wrote them down, thus they get all of the credit. I do not recommend these for children unless you stop reading and add your own happy endings because none of the true endings of fairy tales are happily ever after ones. These are all timeless classics and I believe no library is complete without them in it. Translated into almost every language these are all brilliant stories. Personally, I have a beautiful copy that was given to me by one of my mom's friends at my baby shower.
10/10

The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

one sentence summary;
there was a lot of death during WWII

review:
This is a beautifully written, terribly depressing story. This is geared to young adults, but I would say adults might get more out of it. A fascinating look at WWII told by an ingenious narrator showing us a side of the war we don't often see. I highly recommend this book to everyone, keeping in mind that it is not a quick read.

8/10

The Med Center Series - Diane Hoh

one sentence summary:
Grey's Anatomy for 11 year old girls in the 1990's.

Review:
This is a cotton candy read, bad action, terrible dialogue and unbelievable characters. All thrown into one unbelievable disaster after another.They are awesome in their ridiculousness. I recommend them for pretty much noon but they are highly entertaining reads, just don't bitch at me about how terrible they are, I already know it. I am one of those people who will watch bad action movies (such as 2012, Twister, Day After Tomorrow, Earthquake, Volcano etc.) over and over again, these books are like those movies. People like me are who I recommend them to.
6/10

the Flavia de Luce series - Alan Bradley

8/10
6/10 middle - high school (coming of age)


The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
(Flavia de Luce #1)

One Sentence Summary:

A precocious young girl solves a murder in her 1950 town.

Review:

I really enjoy the character of Flavia, however she will not be for everyone as she is a very precocious child. Bradley's writing style brings to life the setting but sometimes lacks in the character development end of things. The story in this novel, while not the most believable is still enjoyable.
8/10

The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag
(Flavia de Luce #2)

One Sentence Summary:
Flavia uncovers another murder, this time of a traveling puppeteer. 

Review:
Flavia really came into her own on this story, and so did Bradley. His writing reached a stride that eliminated the distracting loss of rhythm that was in the first. Again the plot was rather unbelievable but so were all of the characters so it seemed to flow better than the first one.
8/10

A Red Herring Without Mustard
(Flavia de Luce #3)

One Sentence Summary:

Flavia uncovers another murder, this time of a traveling gypsy. 

Review:

I like Flavia even better now, in this story she comes to terms with her life, the death of her mother and the distraction of her father. And Bradley's writing is still on the upswing.

8/10

I Am Half Sick Of Shadows
(Flavia de Luce #4)

I finally got my hands on this one, it was even better than the earlier ones. I recommend sticking it out with the series. Flavia grows even more as a character as she faces the trials of a Christmas with her family, her sisters also develop more and become almost likeable in this instalment. 

Speaking from Among the Bones
(Flavia de Luce #5)
this is not out yet, will be out in 2013 apparently

Notable Quotes:

"I gave her a partial smile and kept the rest of it for myself..." -The Sweetness...

"...silence is sometimes the most costly of commodities." -The Sweetness...

"I wish I could say I was afraid, but I wasn’t. Quite the contrary. This was by far the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life" -The Sweetness...

"I wanted to shake the stuffing out of him; I wanted to hug him; I wanted to die." -The Sweetness...

"Experience has taught me that an expected answer is often better than the truth." -... Hangman's Bag

"If you remember nothing else, remember this: Inspiration from outside one's self is like the heat in an oven. It makes passable Bath buns. But inspiration from within is like a volcano: It changes the face of the world." -... Hangman's Bag

"She consumed books like a whale eats krill." -... Hangman's Bag

"There's a lot to be said for being alone. But you and I know, don't we, Flavia, that being alone and being lonely are not at all the same thing?" -... Hangman's Bag

"I remembered that Beethoven's symphonies had sometimes been given names... they should have call [the Fifth] the Vampire, because it simply refused to lie down and die." -... Hangman's Bag

"I was learning that among friends, a smile can be better than a belly laugh." -Red Herring...

"The very best people are like that. They don't entangle you like flypaper." -Red Herring...

"Whenever I'm with other people, part of me shrinks a little. Only when I am alone can I fully enjoy my own company." -Red Herring...

"Spare us the pout, there’s enough lip in the world without you adding to it." -Red Herring...

"Thinking and prayer are much the same thing anyway, when you stop to think about it -- if that makes any sense. Prayer goes up and thought comes down -- or so it seems. As far as I can tell, that's the only difference." -Red Herring...

"Books are like oxygen to a deep-sea diver," she had once said. "Take them away and you might as well begin counting the bubbles." -Half Sick...

"Either way, the whole thing was a pain in the porpoise." -Half Sick...
If you enjoyed this you should read:

To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
Remarkable Creatures - Tracy Chavellier
The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern