Summer 2019

As always I have a huge to read list and I just keep gathering more books. I find great deals all over the place and I just can't resist buying more! Unfortunately I'm running out of bookshelf space so I've decided to try to clear some of it this summer (as I did last summer). As with last summer after I read each book my goal is to post something about the book, if not a full review than at least a blurb of what I thought. Hopefully, I am able to finish all 25 books this summer!

8

1. Redwall: The Legend Begins (Redwall #1)


2. Wished (Fairy Tale Reform School #5)


3. Misfits (Royal Academy Rebels #1)


4. Samantha Spinner and the Super Secret Plans


5. Trapped (Framed #3)


6. The Early Cases of Hercule Poirot


7. The Angel Tree


8. The Rooster Bar


9. Don't Care High


10. Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective Volume 3


11. Alcatraz 1259


12. The Year of the Rat


13. Whatshisface


14. Woundabout


15. Airman


16. Engaging Father Christmas


17. Children of the Lamp: The Blue Djinn of Babylon


18. Positively Izzy


19. Escape from the Isle of the Lost


20. Danger in Paris: A Samantha Mystery


21. Ghost of a Chance (100 Dresses #2)


22. Star Darlings Collection 2


23. Big Game (FunJungle #3)


24. Panda-Monium (FunJungle #4)


25. Lion Down (FunJungle #5)

Review! Spy School Goes South

Author: Stuart Gibbs

352 Pages

Published by: Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers

Summary:

Thirteen-year-old Ben Ripley has been caught in the snares of SPYDER more than once and knows well enough to be suspicious of anything that seems too good to be true—despite needing special tutoring in advanced survival techniques. So when Murray Hill finally breaks his silence with an offer to hand over the SPYDER elite, Ben knows that there must be something going on. But his hesitation doesn’t stop the assignment.

The Mission: Follow Murray Hill to an undisclosed location with no one else but Erica Hale to identify SPYDER leadership. Once found, contact the CIA to sweep in and finish the job. DO NOT CONTACT SPYDER DIRECTLY.

However, as Ben suspected, nothing goes as planned, and what should be an easy mission quickly turns deadly. Now, Ben and Erica will have to face rogue agents, trained killers, and even very hungry crocodiles in a race against the clock to find out what SPYDER is up to this time—and thwart their evil plans.

Reading Update February 2019

I have not been very good at keeping up with posts on this website lately. I have all sorts of reason prepared, but frankly they are all just excuses.

So I decided to write a small update on what I've been reading recently.



I started reading The Killing Game by Iris Johansen and The Magic Misfits by Neil Patrick Harris. Two surprisingly different books. The only reason I started The Killing Game is because it was recommended to me by a friend's mother, who is an avid reader. I'm not very far in the story, only about two chapters in, but so far it's interesting. I am having a little bit of trouble keeping up with the characters and which character is talking during some of the dialogue, but overall I am sort of following the story line. To be honest, I thought the book would hook me in more by now (like The Cinderella Murder) but I'm sure eventually I'll get into it (at least I'm hoping).

Honestly, The Magic Misfits caught my eye when it first came out due to it's title, colorful cover, and interesting book summary. Then I realized that it was written by Neil Patrick Harris and I got even more excited. Neil Patrick Harris is hilarious so I was betting his book would be just as funny. When I first started reading it I kept looking for his voice within the text, but I just couldn't find it. At first I was disappointed, but now I'm just enjoying the story. So far I like it and I'm excited to see where it goes.

There is a third book that I'm slowly trying to make my way through. It's called The Truth Cookie. Admittedly, I don't like this book at all. I think it's boring and I don't like Lulu. But it's not too long and I don't want to judge it without finishing it, so I'm determined to make my way through it.

Review! The Wurst is Yet to Come (Bed and Breakfast Mysteries #27)

Author: Mary Daheim

304 Pages

Published by: HarperLuxe on July 3, 2012

Summary (from amazon.com):

The charming Hillside Manor is the perfect B&B for a few days of R&R. Okay, so it also features the occasional corpse or two. But is a small body count really any reason for the state to yank Judith McMonigle Flynn's innkeeper's license? Exhausted from answering the nosy critics from the state B&B association, Judith needs a change of scenery. Volunteering to help out at the State B&B booth during Oktoberfest is just the opportunity she's looking for. But before the beer begins flowing, Judith finds a dead body.

Unfortunately, Judith's reputation has preceded her, and the local police chief wants her help. So Judith hits on a brilliant idea: Her cousin Renie will pose as the sleuth. Now, what could possibly go wrong?

Review! The Mystery of the Painted Dragon (Sinclair Mysteries #3)

Author: Katherine Woodfine

339 Pages

Published by: Egmont Books Ltd on 09 February 2017

Summary (goodreads.com):

When a priceless painting is stolen, our dauntless heroines Sophie and Lil find themselves faced with forgery, trickery and deceit on all sides!

Be amazed as the brave duo pit their wits against this perilous puzzle! Marvel at their cunning plan to unmask the villain and prove themselves detectives to be reckoned with – no matter what dangers lie ahead . . .

Review! Sleeping Giants (The Themis Files #1)

Author: Sylvain Neuvel

336 Pages

Published by: Del Rey on April 26, 2016

Summary (from amazon.com):

A girl named Rose is riding her new bike near her home in Deadwood, South Dakota, when she falls through the earth. She wakes up at the bottom of a square hole, its walls glowing with intricate carvings. But the firemen who come to save her peer down upon something even stranger: a little girl in the palm of a giant metal hand.

Seventeen years later, the mystery of the bizarre artifact remains unsolved—its origins, architects, and purpose unknown. Its carbon dating defies belief; military reports are redacted; theories are floated, then rejected.

But some can never stop searching for answers.

Rose Franklin is now a highly trained physicist leading a top secret team to crack the hand’s code. And along with her colleagues, she is being interviewed by a nameless interrogator whose power and purview are as enigmatic as the provenance of the relic. What’s clear is that Rose and her compatriots are on the edge of unraveling history’s most perplexing discovery—and figuring out what it portends for humanity. But once the pieces of the puzzle are in place, will the result prove to be an instrument of lasting peace or a weapon of mass destruction?

Review! Wilma Tenderfoot and the Case of the Frozen Heart (Wilma Tenderfoot #1)

Author: Emma Kennedy

335 Pages--Ages 8-12

Published by: Dial Books by 15 September 2011

Summary (goodreads.com):

Wilma Tenderfoot, a tiny, brash, and determined ten-year-old orphan, dreams of becoming a worldfamous detective so she can find out who her parents are. Wilma discovers that her new next-door neighbor is the renowned detective Theodore P. Goodman, and he has a new case. Wilma is set on becoming Mr. Goodman's apprentice, so with the help of her beagle, Pickle, she makes deductions, follows leads, and scouts out suspects. She's sure she'll win the famous detective over and crack the case, as soon as Pickle stops eating the clues.

With wicked humor, dastardly villains, red herrings, and a setting that would make Sherlock Holmes proud, this mystery is just like Wilma-funny, feisty, cheeky, and charming.

Review! Howard Wallace PI (Howard Wallace #1)

Author: Casey Lyall

272 Pages--Ages 8-12

Published by: Sterling Children's Books on 06 September 2016

Summary (goodreads.com):

“What’s with the get-up? Is that the company uniform or something?”
“This? All P.I.s wear a trench coat.”
“Dude, that’s a brown bathrobe.”
I shrugged and straightened out my sleeves. “First rule of private investigation, Ivy: work with what you’ve got.”

Twelve-year-old Howard Wallace lives by his list of rules of private investigation. He knows more than anyone how to work with what he’s got: a bathrobe for a trench coat, a makeshift office behind the school equipment shed, and not much else—least of all, friends. So when a hot case of blackmail lands on his desk, he’s ready to take it on himself . . . until the new kid, Ivy Mason, convinces him to take her on as a junior partner. As they banter through stakeouts and narrow down their list of suspects, Howard starts to wonder if having Ivy as a sidekick—and a friend—is such a bad thing after all.

Review! Love, Ish

Author: Karen Rivers

288 Pages--Ages 9-13

Published by: Algonquin Young Readers on 14 March 2017

Summary (goodreads.com):

Things Mischa “Ish” Love will miss when she goes to Mars: lying on the living room floor watching TV, ice cream, her parrot Buzz Aldrin. Things Ish Love will not miss when she goes to Mars: mosquitoes, heat waves, missing her former best friend Tig.

Ish is convinced that she’ll be one of the first settlers on Mars. She’s applied to—and been rejected from—the Mars Now project forty-seven times, but the mission won’t leave for ten years and Ish hasn’t given up hope. She also hasn’t given up hope that Tig will be her best friend again (not that she’d ever admit that to anyone, least of all herself). When Ish collapses on the first day of seventh grade, she gets a diagnosis that threatens all her future plans. As Ish fights cancer, she dreams in vivid detail about the Martian adventures she’s always known she’d have—and makes unexpected discoveries about love, fate, and her place in the vast universe.

Review! The Ugly Princess and the Wise Fool

Author:  Margaret Gray, Randy Cecil (Illustartor)

176 Pages--5-10 years

Published by: Henry Holt and Co. on 01 October 2002

Summary (goodreads.com):

"A very long time ago, when all the countries you’ve ever heard of were in different places on the map, a princess was born who was not beautiful. She wasn’t even remotely pretty, and the whole kingdom was in deep shock about it."

Princess Rose doesn’t get any prettier as she grows up, but the kingdom does get over its shock. Everyone adores the skinny, buck-toothed princess, and she doesn’t mind her appearance—until the handsomest prince in the world comes looking for a bride. Despite warnings from her seafaring fairy godmother and a wise fool named Jasper, reckless Rose wishes for beauty. She gets her wish, and the prince, but finds neither is as nice as she had expected.

Summer 2018 Ending Thoughts

The summer officially ends in 2 days, on September 22, 2018 so I decided to post my Summer 2018 ending summary.

I ended up not being able to finish my 20 books this summer. The original list was:

1. The Wurst is Yet to Come


2. Engaging Father Christmas


3. Pippi Longstocking


4. Children of the Lamp: The Blue Djinn of Babylon


5. The Genius Files: Never Say Genius


6. Wilma Tenderfoot: The Case of the Frozen Hearts


7. It’s Raining Cupcakes


8. Murder on the Links


9. Class Dismissed


10. The Sinclair Mysteries: The Painted Dragon


11. Draw Blood


12. Blood Dawn


13. Airman


14. The Book Scavenger: The Alcatraz Escape


15. BOB


16. Fairy Tale Reform School: Charmed


17. Fairy Tale Reform School: Tricked


18. Fairy Tale Reform School: Switched


19. Descendants: Rise of the Isle of the Lost


20. Archie Greene and the Magician’s Secret

I only managed to finish 11 of these books. That's not to say I didn't read 20 books, there were just a couple I read that weren't originally on this list.

Oh, and my plan to clear out my bookshelf totally backfired. I ended up going to my library's summer sale where I bought like 4 books. Then my local used bookshop ended up having their end of the summer sale which was buy one get one free on everything! As you can imagine, I bought so so so SO many books. So now I had to clear out some space just to store all these new books.

The other books I ended up reading this summer were:

1. Hermes and the Horse with Wings (Heroes in Training #13)


2. Chocolate Fever


3. Perseus and the Monstrous Medusa (Heroes in Training #12)


4. Wild Card (Dresden Files Graphic Novels #6)


5. Dionysus and the Land of Beasts (Heroes in Training #14)


6. Samantha and the Missing Pearls (American Girls Short Stories #17)


7. Samantha's Short Story Collection


8. I am Mordred


9. The Report Card


10. Posted


11. The Arctic Incident (Artemis Fowl #2)


12. Murder in Retrospect (Hercule Poirot #25)


13. Sage and the Journey to Wishworld (Star Darlings #1)


14. The Princess Imposter


15. Restart


16. Schooled


17. Sugar and Spice (Confectionery Yours #3)


18. Flipped

So, while I didn't finish all of the 20 books I initially set out to read I ended up reading 29 books! Which, overall, is more than my initial goal of 20. So I'll take this as a half way win.

In the end I didn't really meet my goals, but I still think it was a fun try anyway.

Review! Restart

Author: Gordon Korman

256 Pages--Ages 8-12

Published by: 

Summary (goodreads.com):

Chase's memory just went out the window.

Chase doesn't remember falling off the roof. He doesn't remember hitting his head. He doesn't, in fact, remember anything. He wakes up in a hospital room and suddenly has to learn his whole life all over again . . . starting with his own name.

He knows he's Chase. But who is Chase? When he gets back to school, he sees that different kids have very different reactions to his return.

Some kids treat him like a hero. Some kids are clearly afraid of him.

One girl in particular is so angry with him that she pours her frozen yogurt on his head the first chance she gets.

Pretty soon, it's not only a question of who Chase is--it's a question of who he was . . . and who he's going to be.

Review! Switched (Fairy Tale Reform School #4)

Author: Jen Calonita

304 Pages--10-13 years

Published by: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky on 06 March 2018

Summary:

Things at Fairy Tale Reform School are great. Rumpelstiltskin has been ousted, and everyone is buzzing about the fact that Beauty and Prince Sebastian (aka the Beast) have joined the teaching staff. Everyone, that is, except Gilly, who can't seem to focus on anything but Anna. How is it that her beloved sister somehow went bad and joined up with Rump? And why doesn't anyone seem to care? Sure, the Royal Court says they're working on it, but they've got exactly nothing to show for it.

But when new-kid Jack joins FTRS with tales of his own family being snatched by Rump, Gilly knows she's in good company. Jack wants answers, just like Gilly. And if the Royal Court can't get the job done, then maybe it's time to break some rules...

Review! The Princess Imposter

Author: Vivian Vande Velde

208 Pages-Ages 8-12

Published by: Scholastic Press on 10 October 2017

Summary (goodreads.com):

Princess Gabriella is accustomed to a certain kind of castle life. So when she wakes up one morning in a crowded hut, surrounded by squabbling fairy siblings, it takes all her princess training to maintain her poise and good manners.

Meanwhile, across the kingdom, Fairy Phleg revels in Gabriella's luxurious lifestyle. As long as she can fool the castle into believing she's the real princess-with a little help from her magical disguise-then she's set to enjoy three glorious days of sweets and comfort.

The mischievous fairies have placed a bet, and Gabriella is caught in the middle of it. Can she survive her time in the chaotic fairy household without failing the ultimate princess test and losing her temper? Phleg turns the castle upside down as she poses as Gabriella, but when an important guest arrives, will her antics unwittingly send the kingdom into war?

Review! Tricked (Fairy Tale Reform School #3)

Author: Jen Calonita

256 Pages--Ages 10-13

Published by: March 7th 2017 by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky

Summary:

Things are changing at Fairy Tale Reform School.

At least, that's what Gilly's heard through the Enchantasia rumor mill. Word is, notorious trickster Rumpelstiltskin has taken over management from Headmistress Flora, and he's locked down the school tighter than the Pied Piper's pants. Not that this news concerns Gilly. She's been released from FTRS and is now suffering through attending Jack of All Trades School, where she gets to learn about different kinds of shoe leather and ways to measure feet. Truly riveting stuff.

But when Gilly's little sister Anna gets whisked off to FTRS thanks to her troublemaking new friends, Hansel and Gretel, Gilly knows she's got to get Anna out of there. There's only one thing to do; make some serious trouble and get thrown back into FTRS.

It's time to out-trick a trickster.

Review! Charmed (Fairy Tale Reform School #2)

Author: Jen Calonita

288 Pages--Ages 10-13

Published By: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky on March 2016

Summary:

Sometimes it's good to be bad...

It takes a (mostly) reformed thief to catch a spy. Which is why Gilly Cobbler, Enchantasia's most notorious pickpocket, volunteers to stay locked up at Fairy Tale Reform School...indefinitely. Gilly and her friends may have defeated the Evil Queen and become reluctant heroes, but the battle for Enchantasia has just begun.

Alva, aka The Wicked One who cursed Sleeping Beauty, has declared war on the Princesses, and she wants the students of Fairy Tale Reform School to join her. As her criminal classmates give in to temptation, Gilly goes undercover as a Royal Lady in Waiting (don't laugh) to unmask a spy...before the mole can hand Alva the keys to the kingdom.

Her parents think Gilly the Hero is completely reformed, but sometimes you have to get your hands dirty. Sometimes it's good to be bad...

Review! It's Raining Cupcakes

Author: Lisa Schroeder

208 Pages

Published by: Aladdin on January 1, 2010

Summary:

Twelve year old Isabel is dying to get out of Willow, Oregon (population 39, 257) and experience something other than her small town. It seems that everyone gets to travel except Isabel--even her best friend, Sophie. When Isabel's mother decides to open up a cupcake shop across town, Isabel is once again stuck in Willow for the summer as she tries to help her mom get the shop up and running. But when Isabel learns of a baking contest where the finalists get an all-expense paid trip to New York City, she realizes this is her chance to finally get out of Willow. Except there are two major roadblocks to this plan: Sophie, who also is entering the contest and is always the best at everything, and her own mom, who wants her to enter the contest on her terms.Can Isabel manage to finally do something for herself, without losing her best friend and further straining her already tenuous relationship with her mother? In this sweet coming-of-age story from popular teen author Lisa Schroeder, Isabel discovers that it's not about where you go in life as much as it is about enjoying the view wherever you are.

Review! Archie Greene and the Magician's Secret

Author: D.D. Everest

320 Pages

Published by: HarperCollins on April 21, 2014 (first printing)

On his twelfth birthday, Archie Greene receives a mysterious package from a man he has never met, a package containing an ancient book in a language he doesn’t recognize. The gift leads him to a family he didn’t know he had and a world he never knew existed.

Soon Archie becomes a bookbinding apprentice to the Flame Keepers, a secret group devoted to finding and preserving magical books at the Museum of Magical Miscellany. With the help of his cousins, Bramble and Thistle, Archie tries to unravel the mystery behind his book, but he begins to realize that his gift is something more powerful than he could have imagined. And the only thing more perilous than its contents is being its owner.

The book waited 400 years for Archie Greene. Now Archie must discover why.

Review! Class Dismissed

Author: Allan Woodrow

272 pages

Published by Scholastic Press on 27 October 2015

Summary (from goodreads.com):

Class 507 is the worst class Ms. Bryce has ever taught. And she would know -- she's been teaching forever. They are so terrible that when a science experiment goes disastrously wrong (again), Ms. Bryce has had it and quits in the middle of the lesson. But through a mix-up, the school office never finds out.
Which means ... Class 507 is teacher-free!
The class figures if they don't tell anyone, it'll be one big holiday. Kyle and his friends can play games all day. Samantha decides she'll read magazines and give everyone (much needed) fashion advice. Adam can doodle everywhere without getting in trouble. Eric will be able to write stories with no one bothering him. And Maggie ... well, as the smartest kid in the class she has an ambitious plan for this epic opportunity.
But can Class 507 keep the principal, the rest of the students, and their parents from finding out ... or will the greatest school year ever turn into the worst disaster in school history?

Summer 2018

It's probably been really obvious, but I haven't been reading much lately. Of course, there are still some books that interest me, but I just can't seem to find any motivation to actually sit down, pick them up, and read them. Whenever I visit a book sale I still find something to buy, but my TBR pile just keeps growing! So this summer I decided to try to work my way through the shelves full of books I have at home that I haven't read. I've found 20 books that's I've decided I'm going to finish this summer. Aside from my 20 books, I found some books that I'm interested in reading, but I know that I won't be finishing those for quite some time. Those are the types of books that I really need to be in the mood for, for example: A Song for Fire and Ice (Game of Thrones #1), The Lost Gate - Shadow of the Hegemon, etc.

As I continue to clean out my room/house I'm sure that I'm going to find many more books that I forgot I even owned. Hopefully this will get me out of my reading funk (which has been going on for over a year now). I have to face the possibility that maybe I'm just not an avid reader anymore. Maybe this funk is actually my normal and my reading boom was an anomaly. I guess only time will tell.

Anyway, for each of the books I read this summer on my list I'm determined to actually post a review for them (even if it's just a short here's what I thought). So the 20 books are:

1. The Wurst is Yet to Come


2. Engaging Father Christmas


3. Pippi Longstocking


4. Children of the Lamp: The Blue Djinn of Babylon


5. The Genius Files: Never Say Genius


6. Wilma Tenderfoot: The Case of the Frozen Hearts


7. It's Raining Cupcakes


8. Murder on the Links


9. Class Dismissed


10. The Sinclair Mysteries: The Painted Dragon


11. Draw Blood


12. Blood Dawn


13. Airman


14. The Book Scavenger: The Alcatraz Escape


15. BOB


16. Fairy Tale Reform School: Charmed


17. Fairy Tale Reform School: Tricked


18. Fairy Tale Reform School: Switched


19. Descendants: Rise of the Isle of the Lost


20. Archie Greene and the Magician's Secret