Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket

I wanted to read this again because it is coming out as a Netflix series soon.  I bought book 1 on Overdrive as an ebook, but there is also books 1-3 out as an ebook collection. It was as delightful as the first time I had read it.  This 13 book series is all about the Baudelaire children. After a house fire kills their parents, they have to go live with their evil uncle, Count Olaf.  He is really just after their fortune and he really is awful. I suggest reading this series (none of them are really long)  before watching the Netflix series...I ALWAYS suggest reading the books first.

Tiger's Curse by Colleen Houck

I followed my own advice and decided to start the other series by the author I just blogged about.  I enjoyed Tiger's Curse as much as Reawakened.  This story is another romance wrapped in a mystery. This time it is a prince from India who has been cursed to live as a tiger for centuries. After caring for the tiger when she is working at a traveling Circus, Kelsey is found to be the one that can help him break the curse.  I enjoyed learning some myths and legends from India as I read this book.  Maybe too much romance for my taste, but still a great story.  This series has four books, so if you like this one, you have 3 more to look forward to.

Reawakened by Colleen Houck

This book is a great read for those of us that like the mythology of Egypt as well as adventure.  Lily seemed to "fall" for the Egyptian prince that has risen extremely quickly, which I found just a tad irritating. But, this did not stop me from enjoying this story as they make their way to Egypt and try to stop Seth, the god of chaos from rising and taking over the world.  The author did a great job creating a very vivid picture of Egypt. If you enjoy this book, you may want to try another by this author. She wrote the series: Tiger's Curse, which we have in the library. 

The One Thing by Marci Lyn Curtis and Gold Fish by Nat Luurtsema

Oh my goodness I really enjoyed both of these books.  Both were short and totally delightful.

The One Thing is about Maggie.  Maggie looses her sight when she gets meningitis. But, then, she meets Ben and, amazingly, she can see him. The fact that Maggie can see Ben is the focus of this story. Maggie and Ben are fantastic characters, they complement each other very well.  Maggie is angry and sarcastic and kind of mean, at times.  Ben is ever the optimist. He is generous and funny. You will like this book if you like books about overcoming difficulties.

Gold Fish is laugh out loud funny.  I really, honestly, laughed right out loud in several places.  Lou (Louise Brown) is hoping to be an olympic swimmer, but her hopes are dashed when she does poorly at the time trials.  Her friend, however, makes it to the High Performance Training Camp.  Lou isn't quite sure what to do with herself without her friend and without swimming.  Just like Maggie, in the story above, Lou has a pretty sarcastic sense of humor.  She decides to help a group of boys try out for a tv show doing underwater dancing and the results are pretty funny.

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

What a heart wrenching book!  This is by the author of Between Shades of Gray, which I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED.  If you like historical fiction, than Ruta Sepetys is the author for you! This one tells the story of 4 people all affected in different ways by WW II.  All are making their way to the coast as they try to board ships to safety and freedom.  As the refugees make their way, their lives converge.  This tells the tragic story of the worst tragedy in maritime history: the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff ship.  You MUST read the author's notes after this book, she is such a thorough researcher that these notes are so informative!  I now will probably look for a nonfiction book about this topic to learn more about it.

The Edge by Roland Smith

Peak was one of my favorite novels.  It is about a boy whose father wants him to be the youngest person to summit Mt. Everest.  The Edge is another climbing adventure about Peak.  This time Peak and his mother are flown to Afghanistan to take part in a climb to promote peace. Peace is something they do not find when their climbing party is kidnapped.  This book is a suspenseful adventure that is hard to put down.  

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (READ THIS BEFORE THE MOVIE COMES OUT)

Yes, this is being made into a movie and I can't wait to see it because I really liked the book.  Conor is 13 and dealing with his mother having cancer. A monster, in the form of a yew tree, comes to help him. The monster in this book is scary, but also protective and at times funny in his dealings with Conor.  He won't tell Conor directly why he is there to help him, he tells stories to help Conor figure out why he called the monster.  You might be interested to know that the author, Patrick Ness, was asked to write this story based on an idea of another author, Siobhan Dowd, after she died of cancer at age 47.