Annette's Book Spot

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Audio Book Review: The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place by Julie Berry

The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place by Julie Berry book cover and review

The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place is humorous and charming, if a little bit outrageous.

The students of St. Etheldreda's Academy decide to hide the deaths by poisoning of their headmistress and her brother. They died right at the dining room table, and because the girls didn't want to be sent back to their homes, they decide to create an elaborate ruse to convince everyone things are normal at the school.

Well it's a difficult task, but surprisingly they are able to pull it off. They are almost caught time and time again by the many visitors to the house but through their ingenuity and lots of luck, they manage. They are also trying to solve the murder mystery at the same time.

There are many surprising twists and turns, and the girls must come up with plausible (and sometimes not so plausible) explanations on the spur of the moment. The reader can see that this situation must inevitably fall apart, but going along on this wild ride is certainly worth your time. The ending is clever, and I really had no idea who the culprit was until exposed.

The narrator, Jayne Entwistle, is perfection. She's also the narrator of the Flavia de Luce audiobooks, which are some of my favorites.

The book is targeted for middle school, and I think that audience will enjoy The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place immensely. Audiobook fans should definitely give this one a try.

Published by Roaring Book Press, 2014, Listening Library (Audio)
Copy obtained from the library
368 pages

Rating: 4/5

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Book Review: The Capture by Tom Isbell @TomIsbell

The Capture by Tom Isbell book cover and review

The Capture is the exciting sequel to The Prey, which I also really enjoyed.

Just so you know what this dystopian world is about, I've copied a bit of my review of The Prey:

This is a book about children after a radiation disaster. There are very few adults, at least that we know of. All the children are in camps for orphans. Some camps are nicer than others. Some camps aren't what they seem to be.

Hope and Faith are twins and they've been running and hiding for years with their father to keep away from the "brown shirts." After their father dies, they are captured and taken to a camp for girls. It soon becomes obvious that this camp is doing medical experiments on these children, and the prized children are twins.

Book is in a camp for boys. He thinks he's in training to be a soldier (they call them LTs, for Lieutenant, right?) He finds out that LT really stands for "less thans." All of the boys in the camp are deformed or deemed inferior in some way, and their future is far more bleak than they think.

Hope and Book end up escaping with a small group of other kids. So in The Capture, these two characters and their ragtag group are still running. Their goal is to save all the kids in both camps, the Sisters and the Less Thans. They will, of course, run into many obstacles on their way and face certain death more than once. They also continue to learn about this world and the plans of the devious people who are in charge. I'll just say -- it doesn't look good for the kids.

These books, part of The Prey Trilogy, are all about action. It's nonstop and it is constant danger for these characters. There is some relationship building and some shifting of positions within the group, but the action keeps you turning the page.

Which is why these are great books to recommend to reluctant readers. A girl and a boy as main characters, both smart and strong. Yes, there's a hint of romance but barely. Some of their narrow escapes, and there are several, are a bit too good to be true--but these are our main characters. And Mr. Isbell, I don't care what you do, but please don't kill them off!

I like how The Capture doesn't have a huge cliff hanger ending. We end with the kids in a relatively safe position. They aren't finished saving the world yet, but they've met some of their goals.

I will happily continue to recommend The Prey and The Capture to my students and look forward to the third book!

Published by HarperTeen, January 19. 2016
eARC obtained from Edelweiss
448 pages

Rating: 4/5

Monday, January 18, 2016

Book Review: Shade Me, by Jennifer Brown (DNF)

I didn't read all of Shade Me, and it's not because of the book; it's me. I've read several of Brown's books and have enjoyed them all. The writing, pacing, and character development are all fine. I just came to what for me was a roadblock in the plot.

Nikki has synesthesia, a rare condition that causes her to see colors that indicate emotions. She's had a hard time because sometimes the colors take over and keep her from doing her schoolwork or other things she needs to do.

Nikki gets a strange phone call from the school's rich, prima donna, Peyton Hollis, who she doesn't even really know. Peyton asks for help and then the call abruptly ends. Peyton turns up in a hospital severely beaten and unconscious. The only number in her phone was Nikki's, and Nikki doesn't understand why.

So Nikki gets wrapped up in trying to figure out who did this to Peyton, even though they weren't friends. Nikki's synesthesia supposedly helps her figure out clues, but I really didn't get that part. I don't think this condition has much to do with the story, except that (I can't say; it's a spoiler.) I didn't mind that this was a part of Shade Me, but I think the same story could have been just as effective without it. And that's not what made me start skimming.

About halfway through Shade Me, Nikki discovers the place where Peyton was beaten, and Peyton's car is hidden there. The police don't know. Nikki decides not to tell the police, even though she has a relationship with the detective working the case. Not only that, but she contaminates the scene with her fingerprints and meddling. I just couldn't handle this stupidity. I know it served the story, but who was Nikki to think she was better equipped to find the perpetrator than the police? It ticked me off and really made me want to throw the book. So I started skipping and skimming, because I had to know what happened, but wasn't really invested any more.

And while there is a sometimes surprising and circuitous route to get to the end of Shade Me, it wasn't a big surprise. And I don't think Brown intended it to be. The other surprises were more important.

There's a lot of action and I think teens will have an easy time with Shade Me. If you are a fan of Brown, I wouldn't hesitate to pick this one up.

Published by Katherine Tegen, January 19, 2016
eARC obtained from Edelweiss
250/448 pages

Rating: DNF

Saturday, January 16, 2016

Stacking the Shelves - Some Exciting Sequels

Browsing through some recent STS posts from you guys and realized I had missed getting some sequels that I've been looking forward to.

For Review:

The Capture, by Tom Isbell from Edelweiss

book 2 of The Prey

Banished, by Kimberley Griffiths Little from Edelweiss

sequel to Forbidden, my favorite YA book of 2014!

Girl in the Blue Coat, by Monica Hesse from Edelweiss

not a sequel -- just looked good

How to Disappear by Ann Redisch Stampler book cover

How to Disappear, by Ann Redisch Stampler from Edelweiss

a YA Thriller - those always get my attention

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Book Review: Written in Fire, by Marcus Sakey @MarcusSakey

Written in Fire by Marcus Sakey book cover and review

Written in Fire is the exciting conclusion to the Brilliance trilogy. These books have all been thrilling and are hard to put down.

The premise is that about 30 years ago certain people contracted a virus that gave them special powers. Everyone's powers are somewhat different, and they are genetic so can be passed onto their children.

The world has become a very dangerous and distrustful place. The authorities are wanting all "Brilliants" to have a chip implanted to identify them. The Brilliants have a stronghold and want to secede from the United States and govern themselves. The tensions just keep ramping up and in Written in Fire everything comes to a head and the stakes are very high. We have all the same characters from the previous two books -- good guys and bad ones (and some you can't really decide about.)

Sakey does a good job of reminding those of us who may have forgot some of the details of the previous books. The pace is nonstop, and the ending is very dramatic.

You definitely want to read the books in order. Brilliance is the first one and A Better World is next. Written in Fire is supposed to be the last book, and in the author's notes he says it is. But he sure left an opening to continue the story. The Brilliance stories are great adult books that are totally accessible to teens. And Brilliance, the movie, is in development!

Published by Thomas & Mercer, January 12, 2016
eARC obtained from NetGalley
345 pages

Rating: 4/5

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Book Review: The Guest Room by Chris Bohjalian

The Guest Room by Chris Bohjalian book cover and review

I totally forgot to write this review! And this book has been released a week ago! Sorry....

I must admit being a bit disappointed in The Guest Room, but it's not really because of the book, it's because of my expectations. I don't really read blurbs very carefully and I had read The Night Stranger by Bohjalian that was a really creepy, macabre book, so I thought this would be more of the same. It wasn't.

Richard is hosting a bachelor party at his home for his younger, very immature brother. One of the friends hires some strippers which was to be expected. But these two women do a lot more than strip, and then all hell breaks loose and they murder their two body guards. Turns out they were kidnapped Russian girls being forced into prostitution against their will. The girls escape, leaving Richard's house in shambles. His wife and young daughter are traumatized as well as the other guys that were at the party. Richard's brother's wedding gets cancelled.

We also get the perspective of one of the sex slaves -- her background and how she ended up in this mess, as well as their attempt to flee.

It's a messed up situation. And the ending is just as messed up. No HEA here, just so you know...

The writing is great and the pace is pretty frantic. It's hard to put The Guest Room down at times as I anticipated how it was all going to turn out. I must admit I was a bit disappointed, but that's just my opinion.

The Guest Room is an adult book that I would only recommend to mature teens.

Published by Doubleday, January 5, 2016
eARC obtained from NetGalley
336 pages

Rating: 3.5/5

Saturday, January 9, 2016

Stacking the Shelves - A Reread

Only a couple this week, including a children's classic. I'm just in the mood....

For Review:

Reign of Shadows by Sophie Jordan book cover

Reign of Shadows, by Sophie Jordan from Edelweiss

From the Library:

Charlotte's Web by E. B. White book cover

Charlotte's Web, by E.B. White, eBook

My 3rd grade teacher read this to us. That was almost 50 years ago. Not sure I've read it since.

I hope you got some good stuff this week. Please leave me a link so I can see. Thanks for stopping by and be sure to visit our hosts, Team Tynga's Reviews.

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Book Review: Passenger by Alexandra Bracken

Passenger by Alexandra Bracken book cover and review

While I enjoyed the premise of Passenger, this book really dragged for me.

Etta wakes up in an unfamiliar place after witnessing the murder of her teacher and friend. It turns out Etta can travel through time and she didn't know it. She and her companion, Sophia, are in the middle of the ocean on a ship that's just been taken over by pirates. The new captain of the ship is Nicholas. He's also a time traveler. He's been commissioned to bring Etta to New York to meet the head of the family, Ironwood.

Etta is very confused, of course, but soon begins to figure out some of what is going on. Her only goal is to return to her original time and save her teacher's life.

Ironwood has other plans. He's in search of a device that can help control time travel. Etta's mother has hidden this device in an unknown time and place. Etta must find this device and return it to Ironwood to save her mother's life. But in doing so, she gives Ironwood power to change the course of history. Nicholas ends up accompanying Etta on her journeys to protect her and also protect Ironwood's interests. Etta realizes that her mother has been giving Etta clues for this journey for her entire life.

The story is a bit jumpy at the beginning (time travel and all) so it took a while to settle in. I felt Passenger to be very repetitive. Too much lamenting by Nicholas about how his brother died and Nicholas feels responsible. Or by Etta about how she is going to save her mother and also keep the device from Ironwood. Or about how their romance is doomed. Over and over, the same soliloquies. It took me forever to read this book because I had trouble wanting to go back to it.

What I would have liked more of is world building. Nicholas and Etta travel to several exotic, beautiful, and dangerous places. I would have loved to be able to feel those places. Their trips in and out of these times/places were too short. Then back to the complaining and lamenting....

The ending was exciting, if a bit incomplete. Huge cliffhanger here; nothing is resolved. (Another of my pet peeves.) I did like the premise. The time traveling was explained well and the tension certainly (finally) built up. I think the execution could have been improved.

Published by Disney-Hyperion, January 5, 2016
eARC obtained from NetGalley
496 pages

Rating: 3/5

Sunday, January 3, 2016

2015 Statistically Speaking

I like to do these summary posts mostly for me, so I have a record, but if you are interested, here's my reading accomplishments for 2015.

You can see the detailed list of all my reviews on my 2015 Review Archives Page.

If you are interested in favorite books of the year, you can check out my 2015 End of Year Book Survey.

The numbers:

I read 124 books in 2015, which was actually 29 less than the 153 I read in 2014. That's three years in a row I've read less books! What's up with that? Well, this year I kind of have an excuse. In August, I became a grandmother for the first time!

And, in October, we broke ground on a new house. I've never built a house before, and my son is my contractor. It's been a lot of fun, but a lot of work and my mind has been very preoccupied with house plans.

So I'm a bit disappointed in my numbers, but looking at the year I've had, I'm OK with it.

If you look at number of pages, I read 46,874, which is very close to 1,000 pages less than the 56,824 I read last year. Average book length: 378 pages. Last year's 56,824 is my all time record for number of pages.

80 of the books I read were e-books and 13 were audiobooks. Pretty close to 2014 numbers.

Average book rating (out of a scale of 5) was 3.79. This may seem a bit high, but I never give a "1" rating -- if a book is that bad, I don't finish it. I DNF (did not finish) 7 books this year, less than last year. And I rarely give "2" ratings (only 1 this year). I gave several 2.5 ratings, though. 15 books got a 5/5 rating this year. (26 last year -- I must be getting harder to please!) That's about 14% of the books I read.

Here's a link to my 2014 statistics, for comparison.

Reading Challenges:

Here's a link to my 2015 Reading Challenges Summary Page

The You Read How Many Books Challenge, hosted by Book Dragon's Lair: I read 124 books, so did not meet my goal of 150 books.

The 2015 Ebook Challenge hosted right here at Annette's Book Spot: I challenged myself to read 75 Ebooks. I read 80. Completed!

The Library Books Reading Challenge, hosted by Book Dragon's Lair: Even though I failed last year, I once again challenged myself to read 50 library books. And I did even WORSE! Last year 43, this year, 36. Hmmm. Too many review books on my TBR.

I'm hoping that 2016 will be better, but it's going to be another busy year. I would always want to have bigger numbers, but I'm pretty happy with my numbers from 2015, given my life situation. So we'll see what happens in the new year!

How did your year go? Did you meet your goals? Are you surprised by anything? What about 2016? Are your goals the same, or are you making adjustments?

Thanks for visiting and Happy Reading!

Friday, January 1, 2016

2016 EBook Challenge - Post Your January Reviews HERE

Here we go! Get those batteries charged and get reading!

You can sign up for the 2016 EBook Reading Challenge here.

You can see my progress on my 2016 Reading Challenges Page.

Add your January reviews below: