PopSugar Challenge book 5 - Rise of the Dragons

So, I have to say that I am a pretty big Morgan Rice fan.  My youngest daughter and I have read her complete Sorcerer's Ring series.  When I saw her new book, I was excited because it would fit into several categories that I might need for the challenge. Plus, it has dragons....

I thoroughly enjoyed the main character, Kyra.  She is strong and brave, a fierce protector of those she loves and a friend to animals.  Kyra isn't like other girls, she wants to be a warrior and he father, a war chief, doesn't quite know what to do with her.  Kyra's destiny and possibly the destiny of her people finds Kyra during an act of kindness in the form of a dragon.

The story really has three main threads, with three seperate leads.  Kyra is only one of the leads.  Merck and Alec are two additional characters that you get a brief glimpse of, but they are not fully developed yet.  I found the story to be somewhat choppy moving in and out of story lines, unlike her other works.  Still, I think the potential is there for later development and for this to be a truly wonderful series.  I will definitely read the next one to see how the story progresses.  I gave it 3/5 stars, only because the story didn't necessarily flow easily. 

A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl

I chose this one to meet part of my Pop Sugar reading challenge.  This book was on the banned/ challenged list and just speaking about literature alone, it's easy to see why.   The author does do a nice job of recreating that rush of first love - it's urgency - but beyond that - nothing.   The story involves three very different girl all with the same boy.  They all think that he is different with them, that he really cares about them.  In none of the cases is that the truth.  Sadly the lessons learned from the girls in the book is that a bad boy is never good for a girl.  Never.  2 stars and a check mark off my goal for the year.  Moving on.

The Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend by Matthew Dicks

This one was suggested by a friend for my IRL book club. I thought it sounded interesting, so I am really glad that it was ultimately chosen.

This is a poignant story about Max, a young boy with special needs, and Budo, his imaginary friend.  I felt the book was extremely insightful about what it is to live as a child with special needs.  I love how he described Max, " You have to be the bravest person in the world to go out being yourself everyday, when no one likes who you are."   I think this is so true, especially of people with special needs who are so often misunderstood.

I love how Budo worked so hard to do the right thing, the hard thing.   He acts completely outside of his own self interest, finally, and that is a very difficult choice to make.  I love how he helps Max.  I especially enjoyed the scene with Max and the 5th grade bully.  A teacher can really appreciate how likely a story like that could be, especially a teacher who works with children like Max.

Finally, I would just like to say to Mr. Dicks, who is a teacher - not all "paraprofessionals" are like Mrs. Patterson and yes, sometimes the children really do love us - quite a lot.  Even those with special needs.  I gave this one  4/5 stars only because in some bits it seemed to drag on in an irrelevant way.  

The Truth about Alice

I guess the cover of this book is really what got me interested in it.  It seemed, from the cover, to have a similar plot to other books I have read, most noticeably by Laurie Halsie - Anderson.  Still, there was just something about it that spoke to me, so I decided to read it.  I'm really glad that I did.

This is the first book I have ever read of Jennifer Matthieu's, but it won't be the last.  The story is about a girl named Alice, who is going to be a junior in high school.  She is a popular girl, but not the queen bee.  The story is mainly about what happens to Alice when people start spreading horrible lies about her and how quickly people, even her friends, are to believe them. 

Sociology was one of my favorite classes in school - understanding why groups of people behave in the ways they do and what makes them behave that way.  The changes in behavior that her friends exhibit don't happen over night for Alice, but they do happen and seem to be easier and easier for people as time goes on.

Alice is an extremely strong heroine and yet, we don't have a single chapter from her perspective until the very last one.  The entire story is moved through the point of view of others.  It is extremely well done.  I loved this book and admired Alice's ability to rise above the stupidity of others.  She reminded me of my daughter, though thankfully, nothing terrible like this has happened to her. 

It's a great read, and easy.  I read it in less than a day but the story, and it's lessons, will stay with me for a long time. 

Oh, and for those of you who know me, it totally didn't hurt that there were numerous Outsiders references in this one.  Gotta love my Ponyboy.  Stay gold, everyone.

The Truth Teller's Lie by Sophie Hannah

Just finished my first book of the new year.  It wasn't the book I was intending to read first, but as my Nook was acting up, it just happened that way.  This one has been on my tbr pile for a while now, ever since I read the first in the Waterhouse & Zailer series - Little Face.  I read Little Face about a year ago now, and it was just amazing.  If you love mysteries/ thrillers - don't miss Little Face.

I started this book with high expectations and it did not disappoint.  I love that each of the Waterhouse & Zailer books seem to stand alone.  Although a character from Little Face was briefly mentioned, it was in passing and I didn't feel like I had to have read that story first to follow along with this one.

Sophie Hannah tells amazing thrillers.  The stories twist and turn in ways that can't be predicted, almost right up to the very end.  I would say that I did find the Big Baddie to be a bit predictable, but the way that you get there is a wild ride.  

My one complaint about these books is the heroine, Charlie Zailer.  Although she is very smart and has a lot going for her, she seems to have a low self esteem is appears to be constantly looking for love in all the wrong places.  I believe that she could be a stronger character with all this left out of the story completely and nothing would be missing.

Still if you enjoy a good mystery, I give this one four out of five stars - for reasons stated above.

Pop Sugar Reading Challenge - Making a Plan

As I reader,  I don't just read books - I consume them.  I'm always looking for ways to push myself and encourage reading books that I wouldn't usually select for myself ( hello, that's why I'm in a book club!)   I found this reading challenge and corresponding group on facebook, so I thought I would give it a try.  I realized at once that to be successful with a challenge of this magnitude, I needed a plan.  So here it is.   Any of you out there interested in this challenge  - it looks like a lot of fun.

• a book with 500 pages - Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
• a classic romance - a book that became a movie - 
• published this year - Golden Son by Pierce Brown
• a book with a number in the title
• a book written by someone under 30 - V. by Thomas Pynchon
• a book with non-human characters- Rise of the Dragons by Morgan Rice
• a funny book - Hark! A Vagrant by Kate Beato
• female author- The Wicked Will Rise by Danielle Paige
• one word title - Moth by Daniel Arenson ( if I like the first one, I may use this as the trilogy instead)
• mystery or thriller - The Truth Tellers Lie by Sophie Hannah
• a book of short stories When it Happens to You by Molly Ringwald
• a book set in another country- The Budapest House by Marcus Ferrar
• a non-fiction book The 6th Extinction by Elizabth Kolbert
• a popular author's first book - Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
• a book a friend recommended- Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend by Matthew Dicks
• a pulitzer prize winner- Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
• based on a true story - All  that is Solid Melts into Air by darrough McKeon
• new author - The Truth about Alice by Jennifer Mathieu
• mom recommends- The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair by Joel Dicker
• bottom of to be read list - Heading Out to Wonderful by Robert Goolrick
• a book that scares you- The Good Girl by Mary Kubica
• more than 100 years old - The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper
• based entirely on it's cover - Love and Treasure by Ayelet Waldman
• a book you should have read in highschool but didn't - Perks of Being a Wallflower
• a book set somewhere you have always wanted to visit - River God by Wilbur Smith
• a book released the year you were born - Love Story by Eric Segall
• a book with bad reviews White Noise by Don DeLillo
• a trilogy - wolf hall series
• a book from your childhood - Fly by Night by K.M Peyton
• a book set in the future - UnDvidide by Neal Shusterman
• a book with a love triangle
• a book set in highschool - The Truth about Alice by Jennifer Matthieu
• a book that made you cry
• a book with magic
• a book with a color in the title - The Black Dahlia by James Elroy
• a book by an author you've never read before
• a book you own but haven't read- The Book of Strange New Things by Michael Faber
• a book set in your hometown - THe Mysteries of Pittsburgh by Michael Chabon
• a book written initially in another language - A Day in the Life of Ivan Denosovitch by Alexander Solzhenitsin Or Gulag Archipeligo  Volume 1.
• a book set during Christmas- What Happens at Christmas 
• a banned book - A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl by Tanya Lee Stone
• a book based on a tv show - Friday Night Lights
• a book you started but didn't finish
• a book with antonyms in the title- Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins

As you can see, this is a work in progress, but I wanted to get the gist of it here on paper to guide my reading.  And speaking of reading, it's time I finish here and get back to my book. 

Queen of the Tearling

I gave this selection 5/5 stars.   I loved the character development in it.  Sometimes with fantasy books, the author is in such a hurry to move the story that they forget that the story is about these characters and the worlds they are building.  Erika Johansen did a great job in developing all the characters, and those that still leave you guessing, that is done for a reason to move the story into the next book.

Young Kelsea, future Queen of the Tearling, is raised in hiding by her foster parents.  At the appointed time, the loyal members of the Queen's Guard appear to accompany her on her journey to take her throne.  She is being hunted both by her Uncle, the Regent of Tearling and the Red Queen of Mortmesne, who will do everything in her power to prevent Kelsea from reaching her full potential and unlocking the secrets of the Queen's Jewel.

I love strong heroines, and this story has that in abundance in Kelsea.  She is a leader who knows how to earn loyalty.  She leads through her own actions, not through orders.  If you enjoy works of fantasy, this story is well developed and written.  I am looking forward to the sequel, The Invasion of the Tearling, sometime in 2015.