Scowler by Daniel Kraus

Scowler reminded me of a dark, gritty horror movie, one of those that just leaves you staring at the screen in horror as the credits roll.  There were parts of the book that I liked, but parts of it were just too graphic, and disturbing for a YA novel.  I'm not sure that I would recommend this book to very many people. 

When Ry was 10 years old, he barely survived a horrifying attack at the hands of his insane father, Marvin.  Though his father was sent to prison, Ry was left with physical and emotional scars that shaped the rest of his life.  Now nineteen years old, he is faced with an even more terrifying encounter, when his father escapes prison and comes back for revenge. 

Met My Goal 2013!!!

My goal this year was to read 65 books.  I met my goal a couple of weeks ago.  I'm thinking now, that I should have made it 75 books for this year, but at the same time, I don't want to make reading feel like a chore that I have to do. 

Give me some feedback.  What should my 2014 challenge be? 

Hallowed Ones & The Outside

I loved this series, simply because it was such a unique take on the vampire story.  Our heroine Katie is a girl living in the Amish community.  All she can think about is the fact that she will be going on Rumspringa soon.  She is ready to experience the outside world for the first time.  However, all that changes when a contagion spreads through the country leaving people changed into something dark and evil.  These are not nice vampires; they are deadly and terrifying.  Strangely, Katie's community seems to be untouched, and they close the gates and forbid any contact with the outside world.  Katie goes against her community when she finds an injured man on the edge of their property.  She knows she can't leave him to die, so she hides him and nurses him back to health. 

ZOMBIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Benny Imura Series by Jonathan Maberry

I read the books in this series back to back.  I have to admit that I could barely put down the first two books in the series, Rot & Ruin and Dust & Decay.  However, the third book, Flesh & Bone, shifted a little.  I'm not saying it wasn't good, it just wasn't as good as the first two books for me.  The villains changed and we had to learn a whole new set of motives behind the new bad guys' actions.  You might think that since this is a zombie series, that they are the bad guys, but they're not.  Not really anyway.  Sure the zombies are dangerous and they kill, eat, and infect a lot of people in the book.  The difference is that they are not evil.  They are mindless and are just doing their thing.  They aren't malevolent and malicious.  For that, you have to look to the living humans.   The final book, Fire & Ash, was the book that took me the longest to finish.  I enjoyed it, but some of the plot seemed to be wrapped up a little too quickly for me.  Overall, I recommend this series.  It is fast paced and action packed. 

Alice in Zombieland

I've been wanting to read this book for awhile.  The cover just caught my eye, and of course, what's not to love about a retelling of Alice in Wonderland, with zombies!  But, that's not what this books is.  Don't get me wrong, I really liked the book, but it wasn't what I expected.  To tell you the truth, I think it was better than I expected.  If I hadn't just finished this book last night (and summer is officially over for me), then it would have definitely ranked in my top 5 for books I read this summer.

Alice Bell has lived her entire 16 years believing her dad is insane.  He has fortified their home against the "monsters" that he believes roam at night wanting to devour us.  It isn't until a tragic accident takes her family away from her, that Alice learns that her dad was not crazy.  The monsters are real, and they are far more dangerous than she ever imagined.  She soon becomes involved with a mysterious group of teenagers who teach her about the monsters they call zombies.  She is determined to avenge her family and learn to fight the creatures. 
I felt that the first half of this book was much stronger than the ending.  I know that this is just the first book in a series, but it seemed to me that the latter part of the book was rushed.  I would have liked to have seen more detail towards the end of the book.  All in all, I am looking forward to the next book in this series.

My Favorite Books of Summer 2013!!!!

I've been busy reading a lot of books this summer.  Throughout the summer I tried to constantly have a young adult novel to read and an adult novel to listen to from audible.  Many of the books I read were fairly quick reads, but I was still able to get through 10 young adult books on my break.  Now, I'm going to rank them for you from least favorite to favorite, and give you a little background on each. 

#10 The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern


I really wanted to love this book.  The cover is beautiful and the premise was so interesting.  However, I just felt like the story was a little flat.  There was so much potential, but it was so slow in places that I nearly put it down.  I did enjoy the story, but it just needed something more to keep me going.  The story surrounds two magicians who are in competition, within the setting of a circus that appears mysteriously and is only open at night.

#9 World War Z by Max Brooks

I actually did enjoy this book, but it wasn't what I expected.  The book is divided into interviews with various survivors of our war against the zombies.  Some of the stories were a little slow, but all of them were interesting. 



 #8 The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett

This was a quick, fun book.  Dusty Everhart is a magical creature.  She is a nightmare, which means that she feeds on dreams.  However, everything changes when she enters Eli's dreams.  He is dreaming of a murder at Arkwell Academy, a school for magickind.  Not only should he not know anything about the academy, but the dream comes true.  Dusty and Eli have to team up to try to solve the murder.  I liked this book, but parts of it (characters, setting, some events), were just a little too similar to things in the Harry Potter series.

#7 Unremembered by Jessica Brody

I really enjoyed this book, but I thought it needed more development in some places.  I would have liked to have seen more character development in the flashbacks.  I liked the concept of the story and I will continue reading this series. 

#6 Sky on Fire by Emmy Laybourne

Monument 14 was a really good book, and so was the sequel, Sky on Fire.  My only complaint was that it was just a little too short.  I wanted more details, especially since the group was divided.  Dean and Astrid, along with some of the younger kids, stay behind in the store, as Alex, Niko, and the others search for their families and help at the Denver airport.  I felt like this book pretty much wraps up the story, so I'm curious to see Laybourne will do in the third book of the trilogy.


From this point forward, it is going to be very difficult to rank the rest of the books I read this summer. They were all really good.

#5 Eve & Adam by Michael Grant

This book reminded me a lot of The Adoration of Jenna Fox.  Evening was in a terrible accident.  She is rushed to her mother's research facility by a boy named Solo, where she makes a miraculous recovery.  When she becomes bored with her surroundings, her mother gives her the task of creating the perfect boy using new simulation software.  However, with the help of Solo, Eve learns that there is more to her mother's research than it appears. 

#4  Game by Barry Lyga

This is the second installment of the Jasper Dent series.  Like I Hunt Killers, this book is definitely creepy.  I really enjoyed it, but I am desperately wanting the next book now.  This one will leave you hanging.

#3 Stung by Bethany Wiggins

This was a different take on the zombie apocalypse story.  Fiona awakes in her home to find that the world has changed without her.  Not only that, but when she went to sleep she was 13, but she awakes as a 17 year old.  She also has a weird tattoo on her hand that she doesn't remember.  She soon learns that people who were given a vaccine and the tattoo turned into mindless beasts.  However, Fiona is unaffected. 

#2 The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

This was a great book, and would probably be my number 1, except that I got a little aggravated with it at times.  The story switches points of view too often, and left me wanting to go back to the previous person.  The others have come to destroy the human race in waves.  Cassie has survived the first 4 waves, but now she has to save her little brother before the 5th wave destroys them all.

#1  Mackenzie Bishop is a keeper who works for the Archive.  The Archive doesn't store books, but histories.  When a person dies, their lives are recorded in the archive.  Sometimes these histories become restless and wake.  It is Mackenzie's job to send the histories back to where they belong.  However, Mackenzie's job has been harder since she lost her brother to a terrible accident.  Her whole family is in mourning and they move to live in an old hotel, where there are more restless histories than Mackenzie has ever dealt with before. 

Blood Red Road

 

Blood Red Road by Moira Young is the first book of a new dystopian series.  Saba and her family struggle for survival near a dried up lake bed.  After a massive dust storm, Saba's twin brother is taken by men on horseback.  Saba takes off across the desert to save her brother, Lugh. 

I loved this book, and I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.  Saba is a strong character, but she does have her faults.  One of which is that she dislikes her younger sister and treats her terribly.  She learns valuable lessons about herself along the way.  She also begins to respect her sister more, and she tries to make amends for her earlier actions.