Enchanted by Alethea Kontis

Enchanted was interesting take on many different fairytale themes.  If you enjoy retold fairy tales, then you will enjoy this book.  Normally, I love this type of book, but I thought that there were parts where this story had a tendency to drag on.  Furthermore, I felt that the author tried to incorporate too many fairy tale elements into the story.  We had pieces from the story of The Frog Prince, Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella, The Princess and the Pea, the story of the Red Shoes, where the girl dies after being forced to dance continuously, and many others.  I would have liked to have seen the author focus on a couple of these elements more, rather than just throwing them all together.  However, I did enjoy the main story.  The seven woodcutter sisters are all named after the days of the week. The Woodcutter family has a lot of fairy blood, and each member of the family has his or her own special abilities.  Since Sunday is the the seventh daughter of a seventh son, she is very powerful.  Anything she writes will become true, and she can create magic through storytelling.  When she meets an enchanted frog at the well, she begins to tell him the story of her life with her siblings.  Through their time together, they fall in love.  One day as she is leaving the well, she kisses the frog.  Her kiss transforms him back into a man after she has already left.  Unfortunately, he is the price whom her family hates.  He knows that he must win her love in his new form, so he goes back to his castle and declares that there will be three balls.  Prince Rumbold then tries to capture Sunday's heart in his own form.

My Favorite Books of Summer 2014

 

I tried to branch out and read more books geared towards adults this summer.  However, that does not mean that I didn't read any young adult literature.  I've ranked my summer YA reads from least favorite to favorite!

 

  #8 Zombie Baseball Beatdown by Paolo Bacigalupi  - This book is geared more towards middle school aged boys.  Since I don't fall into that category, it wasn't my favorite read of the summer.  However, there are parts that are extremely funny and entertaining.  Rabi, Miguel and Joe are on their own when the zombie apocalypse hits their hometown. 

  #7 Liv, Forever by Amy Talkington  - I enjoyed this book, but I thought some of it was predictable.  Liv thinks things are finally going her way.  She has just been accepted into a prestigious school on an art scholarship, and Malcolm, one of the popular
  #6 Hollow City by Ransom Riggs - This is the second book in the Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children series.  I enjoyed this installment, but not as much as the first book in the trilogy.  Jacob and his peculiar friends must try to find someone who can help Miss Peregrine, who is stuck in her bird form, while eluding their enemies.

  #5 Unforgotten by Jessica Brody - This is the second book in the Unremembered trilogy.  I thought this was a good second book to the series, and I am looking forward to the next book.  Unfortunately, this book leaves the reader with a cliffhanger.

  #4 Half Bad by Sally Green - Some people have compared this book to Harry Potter, but other than the fact that it is about witches, there are few similarities.  This book focuses more on the main character, Nathaniel.  Nathaniel is a "half code" (half white witch, half black witch), in a world where white and black witches try to destroy each other. While he has been raised by his white witch relatives, most white witches have treated him terribly.  He sets out to find his father and find out more about the black witches.  It is a story about good versus evil, but Nathaniel has seen both good and evil on both sides.

  #3 Raging Star by Moira Young - I have been waiting for this book for so long!  This is the final book in the Dustlands trilogy.  I have thoroughly enjoyed this series, but parts of the ending of this book were disappointing.  Saba, her brother Lugh, sister Emmi, and Jack set out to destroy DeMalo and the Tonton before they enslave the people of New Eden.


  #1 & #2 - Splintered and Unhinged by A.G. Howard are the first two books in a trilogy, and I cannot wait for the final book! Alyssa has always known that insanity runs in her family.  Her mother is in a mental institution and bugs and plants have always talked to her.  What she didn't know is that her mother isn't crazy.  Her family really is cursed by what Alice did in Wonderland.  Alyssa goes down the rabbit hole with her neighbor and crush, Jeb, to save her mother's sanity, along with her own.  Along the way, she meets Morpheus, a handsome Netherling who visited Alyssa in her dreams as a child. 
  I loved both of these books, but I think the second one was my favorite.  Morpheus is a great character, and Alyssa is a strong character.  My only complaint is Jeb.  He stands in Alyssa's way too often.  I'm curious to see how everything turns out in the final book!

The Caged Graves by Dianne K. Salerni

Okay, so I know I am way, way, way behind on my blogs lately.  I was shocked to realize that I haven't blogged since January!  I've been pretty busy, but still!  Anyway, I'm glad to start back with this book.  I can't recommend it enough!

The Caged Graves is a great historical fiction, mystery novel.  I could hardly bring myself to put it down!  The story is set in 1867, but is connected to events that occurred in 1778.  In 1778, Silas Clayton, a deserter from the Continental army, escaped the British with the payroll  for the Continentals.  Silas was later captured and executed in the town of Catawissa, but the gold was never found.  People in and around Catawissa have been searching for the gold ever since. 

In 1867, Verity Boone returns to Catawissa to live with her father and meet Nathaniel McClure, a boy she has been corresponding with and intends to marry.  Verity was sent away to live with her aunt when she was two, because her mother died.  On her arrival, she sees that she may have been hasty accepting a proposal from a Nathaniel, who she has never met in person.  Her doubts are further realized when she meets a handsome, young doctor's apprentice by the name of Hadley Jones.  Beyond Verity's confusion over which man to choose, she also is shocked to find that her mother's and her aunt's graves are located outside of the church cemetery and are enclosed in cages.  She is told varying stories as to why the graves are caged.  Some claim it is protection from grave robbers, others accuse her mother and aunt of being witches, she hears of curses, and also the belief by many that they were buried with the missing gold.  As Verity tries to unravel these mysteries and find the truth, she also must find her place in her father's life again, and make the decision of who she should marry.

Final Counts

For the 2013 Good Reads Reading Challenge, I challenged myself to 65 books.  My final total turned out to be 92.  Of those 92 books, 23 were audiobooks.  I was a little surprised to realize that 63 of the books I read were in the genre of young adult literature, and most of those are available in the BHS library.  I read a lot of great books in 2013, and I hope to read even more in 2014.  I am challenging myself to 100 books for 2014.  I hope that I will be able to reach this goal.  I'm off to a good start so far, as I've read 4 books since January 1.  I also hope to read more books in the high school library, so it will be easier to help kids find books that they will enjoy.