Book Review: All Fall Down, by Ally Carter

Don't forget to enter the 2015 EBook Reading Challenge hosted right here!

Carter has created yet another powerful teen girl in All Fall Down, the first book in her new Embassy Row series.

Grace has been sent to live with her grandfather, the ambassador, in the U.S. Embassy in the fictitious country of Adria. Grace's mother died three years ago, and her father is away serving our country.

Grace witnessed the death of her mother, who she believes was murdered by a man with a scar on his face. The authorities claim it was an accident, and that her mother died in a fire. When Grace sees the scarred man in Adria, all of the counseling she has received goes down the drain as she tries to determine who this man is, and make him pay.

Grace is assisted by some other teens -- all kids who live in various embassies in Adria.  They sometimes believe her, but sometimes it is difficult because she has no support from the adults in her life. When she overhears the scarred man talk about committing another murder, their quest to find him and stop him gets even more exciting -- and dangerous.

Even though there are tense parts in All Fall Down, the story has a lighthearted tone, and even a hint of romance towards the end. Grace and her friends are rebels, doing things over and over again in defiance of the rules. This is especially dangerous because breaking the rules could mean starting a war!

As with Carter's other series (The Gallagher Girls and Heist Society) the plot is a bit far-fetched. But the determination and resourcefulness of these characters makes it worth going along for the ride. Grace seems to be a more troubled character than those in the other series. The dramatic ending reveal is, of course, a bit unbelievable too, but that's not why we read these books. The ending is satisfying, although it leaves much room for the continuation of the series.

The pace is frantic, and the book reads very quickly. Teens who have enjoyed Carter's books will definitely want to check out All Fall Down. 

Published by Scholastic, January 15, 2015
ARC obtained from Library Media Connection Magazine
310 pages (qualifies for my Books You Can Read in a Day Challenge!)

Rating: 4/5

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Books You Can Read in a Day Challenge - December Update and Year End Totals

Once again I've had fun trying to see how many interesting, short books I can find that I can read in a day. I managed to add three more books in December:

21. The Prince Charming Starter Kit, by Carolyn Carter

22. The Bishop's Wife, by Mette Ivie Harrison

23. Midwinterblood, by Marcus Sedgwick

While this was a valiant effort at the end, I still missed my goal of 25. Just barely. Oh well. Here's a link to my summary for the year.

I'm not hosting this challenge in 2015, but I am hosting the 2015 EBook Reading Challenge if you are interested.

Thanks for participating.

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Book Review: The Prince Charming Starter Kit, by Carolyn Carter

The Prince Charming Starter Kit is a cute original story that will appeal to the middle school crowd.

McKenzie McIntyre has a huge crush on Evan Jacoby, but he doesn't seem to even know she exists. When her friend, Em, finds a mysterious website that offers a kit to make anyone into your Prince Charming, they decide to go for it.

The kit comes with Inspector Number 068 to help them with any problems, but no directions are included and the inspector is nowhere to be found. So, McKenzie decides to take matters into her own hands and use the kit as she sees fit. Of course things don't turn out as McKenzie expects.

McKenzie and Em are in the seventh grade, and this book is perfect for those kids. It's short, reads easily, and has a lot of dialog. It's a lighthearted book that will have you chuckling -- because the reader can see what McKenzie cannot.

I would have liked a bit more character development because I didn't feel the bond between McKenzie and Em. A little more back story of all the characters would have helped me settle in to the tale.

The writing is really done well. When there were descriptions, they were vivid and complete. I wish some more descriptions were included to pad out all the dialog, especially at the beginning of the book.

For being a self published work, The Prince Charming Starter Kit is very well edited. I didn't find any typos.

Carolyn Carter is a high school classmate of mine, and I'm so excited that she has written such a wonderful book. I can't wait to share it with my students.

Published by CreateSpace, August 17, 2014
Copy obtained from the library
198 pages (qualifies for my Books You Can Read in a Day Challenge!)

Rating: 4/5

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Books You Can Read in a Day Challenge! - November Update

Another month has come and gone, and while I'm making progress towards my goal of 25, I'm beginning to have my doubts that I'll make it!  Here's what I added in November:

19. Bleed Like Me, by C. Desir

20. Creed, by Trisha Leaver and Lindsay Currie

If you're participating please leave a link. Thanks for stopping by!

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Books You Can Read in a Day Challenge! - October Update

Wow. October flew by. I did manage to add a couple of books to my list! Here's the update:

Books read in one day in October:

17. Skink No Surrender, by Carl Hiaasen

18. The Cure for Dreaming, by Cat Winters

My goal is still 25, but it's going to be close! Wish me luck. How about you? Have you read any books in a day? Give me some recommendations.

If you are participating, please leave a link to your post, or just list your books in the comments. Hope you are having fun with these "little gems."

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Books You Can Read in A Day Challenge - September Update

I'm not making great progress, but at least some. My goal is still 25 books, so we'll see!

Here's what I added for September:

15. Illusions of Fate, by Kiersten White

16. The Devil's Intern, by Donna Hosie

Here's a list of all the books I've read in a day, and also where I keep track of my other challenges.

How about you? Have you read any books in ONE DAY? Give me some suggestions.

If you are participating, please leave a link to your post, or just list your books in the comments. Hope you are having fun with these "little gems."

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Books You Can Read in a Day - August Update

Epic fail. Here's the books I added in August to my BYCRID Challenge:

NONE

It seems going back to school really cut down on my reading time, so even books that are short are still taking me more than a day! I think I'll finish a book today that I just started last night, so hopefully I'll at least have that one for September.

Here's a list of all the books I've read in a day, and also where I keep track of my other challenges.

I'm moving slowly this year, but still making some progress.  I have 9 more books to reach my goal and 4 months. I still think I can do it! How about you? Have you read any books in ONE DAY? Give me some suggestions.

If you are participating, please leave a link to your post, or just list your books in the comments. Hope you are having fun with these "little gems."

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Books You Can Read In A Day Challenge - July Update

Did some catching up this month, and added three books to my BYCRID Challenge! Here's how I did on my challenge for July:

12. Escape from Camp 14, by Blaine Harden

13. Conjured by Sarah Beth Durst

14. World After, by Susan Ee

Here's a list of all the books I've read in a day, and also where I keep track of my other challenges.

I'm moving slowly this year, but still making some progress.  I have 9 more books to reach my goal and 5 months. I think I can do it! How about you? Have you read any books in ONE DAY? Give me some suggestions.

If you are participating, please leave a link to your post, or just list your books in the comments. Hope you are having fun with these "little gems."

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2014 Middle of the Year Update

Wow! Hard to believe 2014 is halfway over. I just wanted to take stock of how I'm doing on my reading and challenges so far.

First of all, a June update for my Books You Can Read in a Day Challenge!

I added a couple books to my list in June:

10. The One, by Kiera Cass

11. Complicit, by Stephanie Kuehn

How about you? Have you read any books in ONE DAY? Give me some suggestions.

If you are participating, please leave a link to your post, or just list your books in the comments. Hope you are having fun with these "little gems."

If you'd like to see my progress on all my challenges, look here.

Here's a list of the books I've read so far in 2014. A quick summary of the numbers:

I've read 27, 963 pages and 75 books through the end of June. Last year, I read 55,794 pages and 167 books, so I'm on pace for pages, but I need to read some shorter books to catch up on the number of books!

How's your year going? Are you getting to read as much as you wanted? I hope the second half of 2014 treats you well! Thanks for stopping by.

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2014 Books You Can Read in a Day Challenge - April Update

Happy May Day! Here's how April went for me for my Books You Can Read in a Day Challenge:

6. A Time To Dance, by Padma Venkatraman

7. Savage Drift, by Emmy Labourne

I'm not making rapid progress, but at least I'm making progress! How about you? Have you read any books in ONE DAY? Give me some suggestions.

If you are participating, please leave a link to your post, or just list your books in the comments. Hope you are having fun with these "little gems."

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2014 Books You Can Read in a Day Challenge - March Update

It's April! It's time to see how we're doing on our Books You Can Read in a Day Challenge so far in 2014. You can keep track of my entire year's progress for all my challenges here. My goal for the year is to read 25 books. I did make a little progress in March, as you can see below.

Here's what I read in March:

5. A Death-Struck Year, by Makiia Lucier

How about you? Have you read any books in ONE DAY? Give me some suggestions.

If you are participating, please leave a link to your post, or just list your books in the comments. Hope you are having fun with these "little gems."

ALSO: This is the LAST DAY to enter my GIVEAWAY of Notorious.

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2014 Books You Can Read in a Day Challenge - February Update

Happy March! It's time to see how we're doing on our Books You Can Read in a Day Challenge so far in 2014. You can keep track of my entire year's progress for all my challenges here. My goal for the year is to read 25 books. I did make some progress in February, as you can see below.

Here's what I read in February:

3. Manor of Secrets, by Katherine Longshore

4. Maybe One Day, by Melissa Kantor

To update you on the other challenges I'm participating in:

EBook Challenge:  Goal - 75  Read - 15

Library Book Challenge:  Goal - 50  Read - 5

You Read How Many Books?   Goal - 150  Read - 27

How about you? Have you read any books in ONE DAY? Give me some suggestions.

If you are participating, please leave a link to your post, or just list your books in the comments. Hope you are having fun with these "little gems."

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2014 Books You Can Read in a Day Challenge - January Update

Wow! It's February already! It's time to see how we're doing on our Books You Can Read in a Day Challenge so far in 2014. You can keep track of my entire year's progress for all my challenges here. My goal for the year is to read 25 books. I did make some progress in January, and am on track to make it.

Here's what I read in January:

1.  The Scar Boys, by Len Vlahos

2. Heartbeat, by Elizabeth Scott

How about you? Have you read any books in ONE DAY? Give me some suggestions.

If you are participating, please leave a link to your post, or just list your books in the comments. Hope you are having fun with these "little gems."

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Books You Can Read in a Day Challenge - 2103 End of Year Update!

Thanks to everyone who participated in my 2013 Books You Can Read in a Day Challenge. There were only a few of us, but that's OK. So how did you do? Let me know in the comments, or leave me a link.

If you are interested in joining me for 2014, here's a link to the challenge page. There's also a link on the sidebar of my blog.

My 2013 goal was to read 25 books, and I barely made it! I read the last three in December. Once again, I only read a few off of my original list. I just read a lot of quick books as I found them. So, the rest of my list for 2013 is on my 2014 list.  Feel free to give me suggestions throughout the year!

Here's my list of books read in a day during 2013:

1. A Certain October, by Angela Johnson
2. All the Earth, Thrown to the Sky, by Joe R. Lansdale
3. 12 Things to Do Before You Crash and Burn, by James Proimos
4. The Always War, by Margaret Peterson Haddix
5. Dying to Know You, by Aidan Chambers
6.  The Best Night of Your (Pathetic) Life, by Tara Altebrando
7.  The Future of Us, by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler
8.  Six Years, by Harlan Coben
9.  The Elephant of Surprise, by Brent Hartinger
10. Rotten, by Michael Northrop
11. Manicpixiedreamgirl, by Tom Leveen
12. Trapped, by Michael Northrop
13. Towering, by Alex Flinn
14. The Pregnancy Project, by Gabi Rodriguez
15. All I Need, by Susane Colasanti
16. Sky on Fire, by Emmy Laybourne
17. The Testing, by Joelle Charbonneau
18. The Tragedy Paper, by Elizabeth Laban
19. Never Fall Down, by Patricia McCormick
20. Changeling, by Philippa Gregory
21. Countdown, by Michelle Rowen
22. Mojo, by Tim Tharp
23. The Elite, by Kiera Cass
24. The Perfect Christmas, by Debbie Macomber
25. And Then There Were None, by Agatha Christie
26. Perfect Scoundrels, by Ally Carter

Happy New Year, and thanks for visiting!

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2014 "Books You Can Read in a Day" Reading Challenge

You can grab this button for your post. If you want to link back to this post, copy the code from the button on the sidebar.

I've hosted this challenge for a couple of years, with little participation. But because I want to keep track of these books myself, I'm offering it again -- even if I'm the only participant. Feel free to participate if you are interested.

I seem to have a lot of little, short books that are being added to my TBR. And there are also some old classics that are short that I still haven't found time to read. So....I'm challenging myself. And, so of course, I'm going to offer the challenge to you too.

What can you read in a day? Well, that's kind of up to you to decide. I don't want to be too rigid about this -- it's supposed to be fun. Most of the books I've chosen are less than 200 pages. However, if it's a novel in verse, it could be longer. Any size graphic novel will probably work. And, if you don't make it in a day, don't beat yourself up. You can still count it if it takes a little longer (not, of course, if it takes several days, though.)

Rules:

You don't need a blog to participate. But you probably need a Goodreads, Shelfari, or LibraryThing account. Someplace you keep track.

Audio (if you can listen in a day) and ebooks are OK.

Books must be adult, YA, or middle school books. No children's or picture books allowed.

No re-reads, however you can count books read for this challenge towards other challenges in which you are participating

Copy the button, create a sign up post and post the link below.

Not required, but very helpful if you would follow my blog. That way, when I do update posts, you will be aware so you can link to them.

Please post at least a few books that you intend to read for this challenge (that my help others add to their lists), but feel free to update your list as the year goes on.

Challenge goes from January 1, 2014 - December 31, 2014

Levels:

Level 1 - Read 15 books

Level 2 - Read 25 books

Level 3 - Read 35 books

Level 4 - Read 50+ books

I am going for Level 2. In 2013 I BARELY made that, but I'm going to try for 25 books again. I'm hoping I'll get some ideas from all of you. These are in no particular order, and you will see they are the ones from last year's list that I still haven't got to!

1.  Animal Farm by Orwell

2. Locomotion by Woodson

3.  From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by Konigsburg

4. The Alchemist by Coehlo

5.  This is What I Did by Ellis

6. Blank Confession by Hautman

7. If I Grew Up by Strasser

8. How to Say Goodbye in Robot by Standiford

9. Jumped by Williams-Garcia

10. Chasing Brooklyn by Schroeder

11. Scars by Ranfield

12. Things a Brother Knows by Reinhardt

13. I Heart You, You Haunt Me by Schroeder

14. Tighter by Griffin

15. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Wilde 

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Book Review: Perfect Scoundrels, by Ally Carter

Normally, I don't post reviews on Saturday, but I just HAD to get one more review in before the end of 2013! Also, I didn't get ANY books this week, not even for Christmas, so I have no Stacking the Shelves post for today. Enjoy your weekend!

I love the Heist Society books and Perfect Scoundrels is no exception.

This time the heist is more personal. Kat is trying to save Hale. You see, he's inherited the family business, but Kat has been led to believe that the will was not valid. She needs to find the real will. Since Hale is a minor, the company will be run by a trustee, Garrett, until Hale is 25.  But Kat knows that Garrett cannot be trusted.

That's the set up, but things don't go as planned, and there are a lot of surprises. All the old characters are back to help Kat, and a few new ones. I love how these books always make you think all is lost, but somehow they manage to pull it off.

I love Kat. She's feisty and smart. I love Hale. He's mysterious and cute. Although Kat and her crew travel all over the world, the settings are not that important. These books are all about the plot. And, also about figuring out Hale's first name (which isn't revealed in Perfect Scoundrels!) Their romance does move forward, but still doesn't take over the book.

Perfect Scoundrels is a rip-roaring, fun ride that never stops. It reads quickly and makes you feel good at the end. All is well -- at least for the time being! I wouldn't call these books predictable -- there are too many surprises -- but they have a familiar rhythm, ala Oceans Eleven. And to me, that's a plus. The series doesn't need to be read in order, but the prior heists are referred to, so I recommend reading Heist Society and Uncommon Criminals first.

Published by Disney Hyperion, February 5, 2013
Copy obtained from the library
328 pages (qualifies for my Books You Can Read in a Day Challenge!)

Rating: 4/5

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Books You Can Read in a Day Challenge! - October Update

Another month has come and gone so it's time to see how we're doing on our Books You Can Read in a Day Challenge! You can keep track of my entire year's progress here. My goal for the year is to read 25 books. This month I didn't read ANY books in a day. I keep saying I'll make my goal of 25, but not at this rate! I only need 4 more, but there's only TWO months left!! In general, October was a really LOW reading month for me. Life, work, and all kinds of stuff just got in the way. I hate when that happens. I feel unsettled if I don't get to read for at least an hour a day -- usually it's several hours -- and that just isn't happening lately. So anyway:

Here's what I read in October:

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

How about you? Have you read any books in ONE DAY? Give me some suggestions.

If you would like to join us it's not too late! There's a link to the challenge page on the sidebar.

If you are participating, please leave a link to your post, or just list your books in the comments. Hope you are having fun with these "little gems."

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Books You Can Read in a Day Challenge! - September Update

Another month has come and gone so it's time to see how we're doing on our Books You Can Read in a Day Challenge! You can keep track of my entire year's progress here. My goal for the year is to read 25 books. This month wasn't great, but I'm still on pace to make my goal. I feel like I'm not getting many chances to read for this challenge, because I've been so swamped with new releases to read -- and most of them aren't short!

Here's what I read in September:

21. Countdown, by Michelle Rowen

That's it folks!

How about you? Have you read any books in ONE DAY? Give me some suggestions.

If you would like to join us it's not too late! There's a link to the challenge page on the sidebar.

If you are participating, please leave a link to your post, or just list your books in the comments. Hope you are having fun with these "little gems."

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Books You Can Read in a Day Challenge! - August Update

Another month has come and gone so it's time to see how we're doing on our Books You Can Read in a Day Challenge! You can keep track of my entire year's progress here. My goal for the year is to read 25 books. This month wasn't great, but I'm still on pace to make my goal. It's funny though, that these books I'm reading aren't the ones on my list. I still have a huge list of books I can read in a day, but I never get to them!

Here's what I read in August:

20. Changeling, by Philippa Gregory

That's it folks!

How about you? Have you read any books in ONE DAY? Give me some suggestions.

If you would like to join us it's not too late! There's a link to the challenge page on the sidebar.

If you are participating, please leave a link to your post, or just list your books in the comments. Hope you are having fun with these "little gems."

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