Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging (IS NOT FUNNY)

Title: Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging

Author: Louise Rennison

Rating:

Who Should Read It? Um, no one? Or rather, YA readers who find British humour hilarious and don't mind slightly annoying main characters

What I Have to Say: I do NOT understand why I have heard only good things about this book. "Bridget Jones for teenagers - but funnier," "This book it funny. Very funny." I don't get it because, well, it wasn't funny. Or maybe I was just too American for it, because as opposed to finding Georgia Nicolson and all of her Britishisms funny, I found her completely ANNOYING. Along with her friends. And her sister. ALL she did was complain, complain, complain, and then say the occasional stupid thing that, I suppose, was supposed to be funny.
The ONLY reason I give this book 2 stars is because it did incite a reaction (be it a negative one), and I think I might have sort-of laughed one towards the end.
I'm sorry, but I just don't get all the rage.

Summary (which comes straight from Amazon and isn't really a summary):She has a precocious 3-year-old sister who tends to leave wet nappies at the foot of her bed, an insane cat who is prone to leg-shredding "Call of the Wild" episodes, and embarrassing parents who make her want to escape to Stonehenge and dance with the Druids. No wonder 14-year-old Georgia Nicolson laments, "Honestly, what is the point?" A Bridget Jones for the younger set, Georgia records the momentous events of her life--and they are all momentous--in her diary, which serves as a truly hilarious account of what it means to be a modern girl on the cusp of womanhood. No matter that her particular story takes place in England, the account of her experiences rings true across the ocean (and besides, "Georgia's Glossary" swiftly eradicates any language barriers).

The Library

So, I am home in Louisiana now, and yesterday I did something that I haven't done in AGES: I went to the library!!!!

One of the many reasons that I haven't done this in ages is that I haven't lived in the United States in the past 5 years, so it hasn't really been easy. But also, I find that if I love a book, I just want to own it.

The fact is, though, that now I am broke. And I no longer have the monetary luxury of buying all of the books that I want to read. So I went to the library, got a library card, and checked out three books. It's a start. I got "Ink Exchange," by Melissa Marr, which is on my summer reading list. I also got "Fever 1793" by Laurie Halse Anderson and "Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging," which are not on my summer reading list.

I really liked Wicked Lovely, so I am excited about Ink Exchange, and really, I've just been wanting to read anything by Laurie Halse Anderson, so Fever will do.

But seriously, if I keep this up, reading books that absolutely are NOT on my summer reading list (right now, for example, I am reading A Long Way Gone, which is absolutely NOT on my list), there is absolutely NO WAY that I am ever going to get the list finished.

I guess what's most important, though, is good reading - am I right? :-)

So anyhow, the library experience was a good one, and even if the library was severely lacking in book choice, they did have some pretty awesome ones. It's also comfortable there - I like the library. And I guess I'm kind of sad that in three weeks I go back to France, where the libraries are less than comfortable and there are next to no books that I want to read. And where the book stores are MAD expensive. Lucky for me, I have my kindle! Thank you, Dad!

And that's all.

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

Title: A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

Author: Ishmael Beah

Rating:

Who Should Read It? Read this if you're interested in a tragic/traumatic true story that will make you cringe and force you to become aware. No, really, whoever you are, just READ THIS BOOK!

What I Have To Say: Wow! Really, that's it, just wow! This book read more like a conversation (granted, a one-sided conversation in which I said nothing, but still. . .) than a book. I felt like Ishmael Beah was sitting right there beside me recounting the tragedy of his life as if it was just another day in war-free America. That's not to say, though, that it wasn't heart-wrenching and painful to read. It was honest, extraordinary, awesome, introspective, and straight-forward. And the story is a story that NEEDS to be heard. I think that it is important that people become aware of what children are put through in other countries, the wars that they are forced to fight - over time, awareness leads to action and action leads to change. Ishmael Beah told his story in such a way that forces even the most uninterested person to become aware - without making them feel like they are suffering through a history lesson. This book was everything it needed to be, everything it should be. . . and even more.

Summary (straight from the back of the book): This is how wars are fought now: by children, traumatized, hopped-up on drugs, and weilding AK-47s. Children have become the soldiers of choice. In the more than fifty violent conflicts going on worldwide, it is estimated that there are some 300,00 child soldiers. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them.

What does war look like through the eyes of a child soldier? How does one become a killer? How does one stop? Child soldiers have been profiled by journalists, and novelists have struggled to imagine their lives. But it is rare to find a first-person account from someone who endured this hell and survived.

In "A Long Way Gon: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier," Ishmael Beah, now twenty-six years old, tells a powerfully gripping story: At the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he'd been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts. At sixteen, he was removed from the fighting by UNICEF, adn through the help of the staff at his rehabilitation center, he learned how to forgive himself, to regain his humanity, and, finally, to heal.

His Majesty's Dragon

Title: His Majesty's Dragon

Author: Naomi Novik

Rating: 1/2

Who Should Read It? Anyone with the potential of enjoying an interesting fulfilling fantasy or sci-fi novel , especially those also interested in

What I Have To Say:Honestly, the ONLY reason that I read this book is that it was a free download for my kindle. I don't think I ever would have been interested in it otherwise. But thankfully it was a free download for my kindle, because this book was awesome.
It's like a science fiction book, but instead of space ships, there are dragons; and instead of taking place in the future, it takes place in the past. It's also a love story between a man and his dragon. It was exciting and beautifully written, and the world that Novik creates is exciting and well-developed - like a parallel universe of the times of Napoleon Bonaparte, making this book historical fiction as well as fantasy. Just as the world is well-developed, so are the characters and the relationships between them. The relationship developed between the man and his dragon is such that you also would feel the pain of it if they were to be separated. The dragon himself, Temeraire, is intelligent and witty and loving and emotional and everything that a dragon lover might hope for a dragon to be.
The ONLY problem with this book is that the battle scenes are sometimes hard to follow and a little bit uninteresting, and it is a little bit hard to believe that Temeraire could actually be as bloodthirsty for battle as he claims to be.
Aside from that, though, I really can't recommend this book enough.

Summary: The novel begins when the H.M.S. Reliant captures a French ship carrying a dragon egg that is primed to hatch. A substantial prize, it puts Laurence -- the Reliant's captain -- and his officers -- gentlemen and aspiring gentlemen -- in a difficult position: One of them must become the creature's rider when it hatches. The prize then would become a deadweight, bringing to an end "any semblance of ordinary life. . . . An aviator could not easily manage any sort of estate, nor raise a family, nor go into society to any real extent." For the one chosen by the hatchling (and a dragon won't let just anyone harness him), it would mean "the wreck of his career." Naturally, it is the heroic Capt. Laurence whom the dragon picks.

And who is this dragon? "A pure, untinted black from nose to tail . . . [with] large, six-spined wings like a lady's fan," he is a Celestial, a Chinese dragon bred for emperors alone. Laurence names him Temeraire, and it's Novik's characterization of the dragon, who speaks in perfect 19th-century English, that makes the book hum. No ancient wisdom for him, just a voracious intelligence that demands bedtime readings on such subjects as mineralogy (dragons do like gems, you know) and historic battles.

Bad Kitty

Title:Bad Kitty

Author:Michelle Jaffe

Rating:

Who Should Read It?If you're interested in quirky YA mysteries, this book might be for you. Even if you like YA novels in general, I think you might actually have to be a teen to really love this book.

What I Have To Say:Okay, so I didn't love this book. The characters had too many weird quirks, and, while I am totally into unbelievable characters (hey, if I read a book like this, it's not to read about reality), but these characters were just annoyingly unbelieveable. And sometimes I wanted to hurt them.
That's not to say that I didn't like the book, though. The story was fun and interesting (and totally predictable, which, again, is totally a-okay with me) with plot twists galore.
The beginning of the book was quite fun, but towards the end, it lagged a bit, and, while I wanted to know if what I thought was going to happen would actually happen (it did), I was ready for it to be over.
At the same time, I did like it enough that I'm thinking about reading Jas Callihan's next adventure.

Summary:Jasmine Callihan, her father, and stepmother are vacationing in Las Vegas at the posh Venetian Hotel. All the 17-year-old really wants to do is sunbathe by the pool, write in her journal, and attempt to be a Model Hallmark Card daughter, all the while avoiding her perfect cousin Alyson and her Evil Hench Twin, Veronique. Her plans go awry, however, when a small boy and his cat make Jas a central character in a murder investigation. Soon Jass best friends come from LA to join her adventure and all attempt to solve the murder of Len Phillips, business manager of world-famous photographer Red Early.

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You

Title:I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You

Author:Ally Carter

Rating:1/2

Who Should Read This Book?Pretty much anyone interested in YA books, especially light-hearted, fluffy ones.

What I Have To Say:What can I say? I loved this book. It was very much a Young Adult novel, and while I don't think I would recommend it to just anyone, I did think it was an exceptionally fantastic YA novel. There's spies, there's girly girls, there's love, there's comedy, there's fluff, there's action - what else could a girl ask for from a YA novel? And it's written in such a way that I believed I was actually listening to Cammie, the main character, and not Ally Carter, the author. A lot of YA authors, I find, have trouble making that happen.
Anyhow, this book was just adorable.

Summary (straight to you from Amazon):Cammie Morgan is a student at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, a fairly typical all-girls school-that is, if every school taught advanced martial arts in PE and the latest in chemical warfare in science, and students received extra credit for breaking CIA codes in computer class. The Gallagher Academy might claim to be a school for geniuses but it's really a school for spies.

Even though Cammie is fluent in fourteen languages and capable of killing a man in seven different ways, she has no idea what to do when she meets an ordinary boy who thinks she's an ordinary girl. Sure, she can tap his phone, hack into his computer, or track him through town with the skill of a real "pavement artist"-but can she maneuver a relationship with someone who can never know the truth about her?

Cammie Morgan may be an elite spy-in-training, but in her sophomore year, she's on her most dangerous mission-falling in love.

The Bartimaeus Trilogy: the Golem's Eye

Title: The Bartimaeus Trilogy: the Golem's Eye

Author: Jonathan Stroud

Rating:

Who Should Read This Book? Anyone into teen fantasy with a bit of second degree humor; any adult looking for a dark, funny, pseudo-light but kind-of deep read with demons, magic, and politics.

What I Have to Say: Because of how much I love love LOVED the first book in this trilogy, I was SO hoping to be able to give this book five stars, and in the beginning, I thought I was going to be able to. Bartimaeus was back, with the same hilarious and sarcastic whit. He was everything the first book brought us to expect and then some.
Unfortunately, Bartimaeus's point of view is severely underrepresented in this second volume. Stroud puts way too much focus on Nathaniel who, despite being the main character, has gone from just somewhat unlikable to completely unlikable, and this adds a little bit too much gloom to the already gloomy atmosphere of the book.
Luckily, Stroud also spends a great deal of time focusing on Kitty, a fiery, feisty girl who plays a major role in the resistance. She is completely likable and allows us to see everything from an outsider point of view.
Jonthan Stroud's writing is strong, his story intricate, complex, and exciting. One of the amazing things accomplished in this book is that it is almost impossible for the reader to decide whose side they are on. Who are the good guys and who are the bad guys? It's hard to tell.
While there were a couple parts that lagged and while I think a bit more Bartimaeus would have made it a bit more readable, this book was awesome for what it was, and the world Stroud creates is vivid and fascinating and something about which I am excited to read more..

Summary(taken directly from Amazon):Due to the success of his first campaign involving the Amulet of Samarkand, Nathaniel, now fourteen, has been appointed the youngest representative ever to the Office of Internal Affairs, and has been devising traps to capture members of the Resistance--a secretive group of commoners who are determined to undermine the ruling class of magicians. When a magic-sapping Golem’s surprise first attack is labeled an act of Resistance terrorism, Nathaniel reluctantly summons Bartimaeus for help. Meanwhile, a zealous young member of the Resistance, Kitty Jones, is planning to rob the sacred tomb of the great magician Gladstone, and turn the power of his buried magical instruments against the spell makers. The towering clay Golem and its shadowy master unites the destinies of Nathaniel, Bartimaeus, and Kitty together in one fateful night--unfortunately, that night is much too slow in coming.