It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (Oct. 31, 2016)

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is a meme begun by Sheila at Book Journey. Kellee at Unleashing Readers and Jen at Teach Mentor Texts have given it a kidlit focus.

It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading, is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

Other Than Reading...

This was a quiet week as we are winding down the first quarter of the school year. Our girls' soccer team is playing in the State Semifinals on Monday which is bringing lots of excitement to the high school. Halloween always brings excitement to the elementary. Only the Kindergartners wear costumes. They parade around the school in the afternoon. The rest of the student body should be divided into black and orange for Halloween or maroon and gold to support our soccer girls.

I'll be busy catching up on my grading and working on report cards for my twelve classes of students.

Read Last Week

Flashfall by Jenny Moyer was the first in a science fiction series that reminded me a lot of The Hunger Games. This one is for fans of dystopias. My review will be posted on Nov. 10.

The Whizbang Machine by Danielle A. Vann was a fantasy adventure that had real problems with voice. The story was mostly entertaining but I couldn't believe the narrator was a fifteen-year-old girl. Vocabulary, sentence length, and sentence structure all sounded like a woman in her mid-thirties with a pretentious vocabulary. My review will be posted on Nov. 12.

Currently

Next on the calendar is Gap Life by John Coy which will be released on Nov. 22.

Next Week

• Their Fractured Light by Amie Kaufman
• The Girl in the Picture by Alexandra Monir (Nov. 15)
• Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst (Nov. 22)

Reviews Posted

• Altered by Jennifer Rush
• Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

Want to See What I Added to My Stack Last Week?

I was surprised to receive a box from Swoon Reads (Macmillan) this week. The box contained a book bag, two ARCs of Duels & Deception by Cindy Anstey and a bunch of bookmarks. They were advertising the fact that Swoon Reads is now three years old and publishes books in all genres. Unfortunately, I already had this ARC but a new book bag is always nice.

I bought a copy of Raging Sea by Michael Buckley since I just finished reading Undertow.

You can check Inside of a Dog (my other blog) to see what adult books I read, reviewed, and plan to read. 

Book Review: Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

Truthwitch
Author: Susan Dennard
Series: The Witchlands (Book 1)
Publication: Tor Teen (January 5, 2016)

Description: On a continent ruled by three empires, some are born with a "witchery," a magical skill that sets them apart from others.

In the Witchlands, there are almost as many types of magic as there are ways to get in trouble--as two desperate young women know all too well.

Safiya is a Truthwitch, able to discern truth from lie. It's a powerful magic that many would kill to have on their side, especially amongst the nobility to which Safi was born. So Safi must keep her gift hidden, lest she be used as a pawn in the struggle between empires.

Iseult, a Threadwitch, can see the invisible ties that bind and entangle the lives around her--but she cannot see the bonds that touch her own heart. Her unlikely friendship with Safi has taken her from life as an outcast into one of of reckless adventure, where she is a cool, wary balance to Safi's hotheaded impulsiveness.

Safi and Iseult just want to be free to live their own lives, but war is coming to the Witchlands. With the help of the cunning Prince Merik (a Windwitch and ship's captain) and the hindrance of a Bloodwitch bent on revenge, the friends must fight emperors, princes, and mercenaries alike, who will stop at nothing to get their hands on a Truthwitch.

My Thoughts: This is the first volume of an epic fantasy series. On this world there are rival empires nearing the end of a twenty-year truce. Some people are born with magical talents. This story is centered on two girls who are best friends despite being from vastly different social strata and having very different talents.

Safi is a truthwitch able to tell truth from lie. She is from the nobility but is from a poor land and has been raised by her drunken uncle. Iseult is this world's equivalent of a gypsy. Most look down on her. She is a threadwitch which lets her see the emotions of others. But she is not able to do what other threadwitches can and so was sent away from her home.

The girls find themselves on the run from an emperor who wants to marry Safi for her talents and also on the run from other empires who want to control her. They are in the company of Prince Merik who is under contract to deliver Safi to a deserted town. He needs the trade contract to keep his people from starving since they live in a magic ravaged land.

Safi and Iseult are also being trailed by a bloodwitch who has a hidden agenda of his own and who doesn't want to believe that the girls are this generation's foretold saviors. Of course, they don't know that they are supposed to be saviors and are dealing with day to day dangers that threaten them.

I thought this one had a bit of a slow start as I tried to separate the girls and their talents so that I knew who was who. Once I figured that out the pace picked up until it became a whirlwind of battles, monsters, conflicting conspiracies, and adventure. I am eager to see where this series goes next.

Favorite Quote:

Iseult stumbled over the deck toward Safi, her face pinched and pale. She was the only person Safi had left, the only piece from her old life. But how long before Iseult gave up too?

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

Happy Friday everybody!!

Book Beginnings on Friday is now hosted by Rose City Reader. The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Beginning:

Everything had gone horribly wrong.

Friday 56:

Once Iseult felt certain that her hair was sufficiently covered, her face sufficiently shaded, and her sleeves sufficiently low enough to hide her pale skin, she reached for Safi's Threads so she could find her Threadsister among the crowds.

This week I am reading Truthwitch by Susan Dennard. Here is the description from Amazon:

On a continent ruled by three empires, some are born with a "witchery," a magical skill that sets them apart from others.

In the Witchlands, there are almost as many types of magic as there are ways to get in trouble--as two desperate young women know all too well.

Safiya is a Truthwitch, able to discern truth from lie. It's a powerful magic that many would kill to have on their side, especially amongst the nobility to which Safi was born. So Safi must keep her gift hidden, lest she be used as a pawn in the struggle between empires.

Iseult, a Threadwitch, can see the invisible ties that bind and entangle the lives around her--but she cannot see the bonds that touch her own heart. Her unlikely friendship with Safi has taken her from life as an outcast into one of of reckless adventure, where she is a cool, wary balance to Safi's hotheaded impulsiveness.

Safi and Iseult just want to be free to live their own lives, but war is coming to the Witchlands. With the help of the cunning Prince Merik (a Windwitch and ship's captain) and the hindrance of a Bloodwitch bent on revenge, the friends must fight emperors, princes, and mercenaries alike, who will stop at nothing to get their hands on a Truthwitch.

Book Review: Altered by Jennifer Rush

Altered
Author: Jennifer Rush
Series: Altered (Book 1)
Publication: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; First Edition edition (January 1, 2013)

Description: They were made to forget. But they'll never forgive.

Everything about Anna's life is a secret. Her father works for the Branch, at the helm of its latest project: monitoring and administering treatments to the four genetically altered boys in the lab below their farmhouse. There's Nick, solemn and brooding; Cas, light-hearted and playful; Trev, smart and caring; and Sam . . . who's stolen Anna's heart.

When the Branch decides it's time to take the boys, Sam stages an escape. Anna's father pushes her to go with them, making Sam promise to keep her away from the Branch, at all costs.

On the run, with her father's warning in her head, Anna begins to doubt everything she thought she knew about herself. She soon discovers that she and Sam are connected in more ways than either of them expected. And if they're both going to survive, they must piece together the clues of their past before the Branch catches up to them and steals it all away.

My Thoughts: ALTERED was a great science fiction thriller. Anna is used to her life with her father doing scientific experiments on the boys in the Lab. She is homeschooled and just about finished with high school but doesn't know what she is going to do next.

Anna has built her life around helping her father with his experiments and befriending the four boys who are prisoners in his lab. Her best friend among them is Trev but it is Sam who is the object of her crush. Nick scares her and Cas is a light-hearted goof. When the Branch decides that it is time to remove the boys to whatever secret thing is next for them, the boys manage to escape taking Anna along with them at her father's request.

Since the boys have all had their memories wiped, they are all trying to follow cryptic clues tattooed or carved into their bodies. They are also trying to keep ahead of the Branch agents who want to recover them at all costs.

Along the way, Anna learns that the life she led might have been just an elaborate fake. Her perceptions of everything from her past change and her world is remade. There was a bunch of action and dangerous situations in this one. There was also a growing romance between Sam and Anna.

This book begins a three book series and, so, leaves questions unanswered. I know it made me want to read the rest of the series as soon as possible.

Favorite Quote:

That's what hope was. Clinging to something you weren't sure would ever be yours. But you had to hold on anyway, because without it, what was the point?

I bought this one in 2013. You can buy your copy here.

WoW: The Turncoat's Gambit by Andrea Cremer

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. She has a linky widget at her site each week for your post and to make it easy to find posts by other people.

The purpose of the meme is to spotlight books that we are eagerly anticipating. It is fun to take a look at what others are waiting for. I have noticed that it has expanded my wishlist though. Be warned!

The Turncoat's Gambit

Andrea Cremer

Nov. 15, 2016

What if America had lost the Revolutionary War? And now lived in constant fear and oppression? From the bestselling author of Nightshade, this is the action-packed final chapter of The Inventor's Secret trilogy

Charlotte has spent her whole life fighting the British Empire, following in the footsteps of her parents and their group of rebels. But when her reunion with her mother laid bare horrible truths about the rebellion, Charlotte knew she had to escape. Now she is on the run, with no idea who the enemy is--or which of her compatriots is truly on her side.

In this action-packed conclusion to the Inventor's Secret trilogy, full of swashbuckling pirates and young ladies who can hold their own against them, Charlotte will need to fight for her life and for her beliefs -- whatever they might be.

I loved books 1 and 2 and can't wait to read this one.

Teaser Tuesday: Altered by Jennifer Rush

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Books and a Beat. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Teaser:

Sam saw me coming, and tossed the gun to Cas, who snatched it easily from the air. I threw a punch, connecting first with Sam's jaw, then his shoulder, before he grabbed me by the wrists and swung me around.

This week my teaser comes from Altered by Jennifer Rush. I bought this one January 12, 2013. Here is the description from Amazon:

They were made to forget. But they'll never forgive.

Everything about Anna's life is a secret. Her father works for the Branch, at the helm of its latest project: monitoring and administering treatments to the four genetically altered boys in the lab below their farmhouse. There's Nick, solemn and brooding; Cas, light-hearted and playful; Trev, smart and caring; and Sam . . . who's stolen Anna's heart.

When the Branch decides it's time to take the boys, Sam stages an escape. Anna's father pushes her to go with them, making Sam promise to keep her away from the Branch, at all costs.

On the run, with her father's warning in her head, Anna begins to doubt everything she thought she knew about herself. She soon discovers that she and Sam are connected in more ways than either of them expected. And if they're both going to survive, they must piece together the clues of their past before the Branch catches up to them and steals it all away.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (Oct. 24, 2016)

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is a meme begun by Sheila at Book Journey. Kellee at Unleashing Readers and Jen at Teach Mentor Texts have given it a kidlit focus.

It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading, is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

Other Than Reading...

I'm sitting here in my new living room looking around at empty and full boxes on a quiet Sunday morning. The bulk of the first half of our move is done. My brother still has quite a lot of things to move from the old house to the new house.

As I thought, he hadn't started packing anything. It took us a whole day to pack up his CDs, DVDs, and books and the movers were coming the next morning. My library will take at least that long and I'll be doing it alone. However, I do not tend to wait until the last minute to start. I plan to bring home empty boxes when I'm back in Duluth for Christmas so that I can start packing. At least now I know how much of my kitchen stuff will fit in our new kitchen. I do have furniture that will fill in some of the empty spaces in the new house.

The movers came bright and early Friday morning and were finished unloading and setting up everything they moved by 3:30. Bill and I returned to the old house on Saturday to pack up the kitchen. We also got most of it set up in the new house by bedtime on Saturday.

I need to head back home to go to school again on Monday. I'm telling him I'm sorry to leave him with so much left to do but I'm secretly grateful. I am so tired that going back to work sounds like a vacation to me. It is a little daunting that I will be doing the same thing next June.

I think I only read 2% of my current book since Wednesday morning. I'm looking forward to having more time to read once I get back home.

Read Last Week

Undertow by Michael Buckley was the first book I bought in 2016. I enjoyed this science fiction story and just bought the sequel. I guess there is an advantage to having books sit on TBR mountain for a while. I didn't have a long wait for book 2. My review will be posted on November 5.

Currently

Next on my stack is Flashfall by Jenny Moyer. It will be released on November 15.

Next Week

I have three more review books queued up.

• The Whizbang Machine by Danielle A. Vann
• Gap Life by John Coy
• Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst

Reviews Posted

• The Stranger Game by Cylin Busby
• Ryan Quinn and the Rebel's Escape by Ron McGee

Want to See What I Added to My Stack Last Week?

Two for TBR mountain this week.

• Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas
• Rose & Thorn by Sarah Prineas

You can check Inside of a Dog (my other blog) to see what adult books I read, reviewed, and plan to read.

ARC Review: The Stranger Game by Cylin Busby

The Stranger Game
Author: Cylin Busby
Publication: Balzer + Bray (October 25, 2016)

Description: The Stranger Game is a dark, suspenseful, and twisty novel that is Gone Girl for teens. Perfect for fans of Lauren Oliver and E. Lockhart.

When Nico Morris’s older sister mysteriously disappears, her parents, family, and friends are devastated. But Nico can never admit what she herself feels: relief at finally being free of Sarah’s daily cruelties.

Then the best and worst thing happens: four years later, after dozens of false leads, Sarah is found.

But this girl is much changed from the one Nico knew. She’s thin and drawn, when Sarah had been golden and athletic; timid and unsure, instead of brash and competitive; and strangest of all, sweet and kind, when she had once been mean and abusive. Sarah’s retrograde amnesia has caused her to forget almost everything about her life, from small things like the plots of her favorite books and her tennis game to the more critical—where she’s been the last four years and what happened at the park on the fateful day she vanished. Despite the happy ending, the dark details of that day continue to haunt Nico, and it becomes clear that more than one person knows the true story of what happened to Sarah. . . .

My Thoughts: This is a story about a girl coming home after disappearing for four years. Nico Morris's older sister Sarah disappeared when Sarah was eleven. It was a devastating event for the whole family. Nico's mother became an advocate for missing children; her father buried himself in work; and Nico grew used to people looking at her as the "girl whose sister disappeared." Her best friend is someone she met after Sarah was gone.

There have been countless leads over the years, suspected sightings that turned out to be false alarms. This time a girl walks into a children's shelter in Florida and says her name is Sarah Morris. Nico, her mom and dad fly to Florida to get her and bring her home. But this Sarah is greatly changed. She has amnesia but is a much nicer version than the Sarah who tormented Nico when she was a child with both verbal and physical taunts. The two become good friends and Nico is especially glad that her family is now whole again.

This story is mainly told from Nico's point of view but with some chapters where we learn Sarah's story. I suspected early on what was going on in this story based on what Sarah was telling in her story.

I found the story to be thought-provoking as I wondered if I would make the same choice that Nico makes. Readers will enjoy debating her choices.

Favorite Quote:

Her eyes met mine and I knew. Of course she had noticed the differences, all the strange little things that didn't add up. But Sarah was back now, the black hole in our family had been filled. And that was all that mattered. 

I received this eARC from the publisher through Edelweiss. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: The Stranger Game by Cylin Busby

Happy Friday everybody!!

Book Beginnings on Friday is now hosted by Rose City Reader. The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Beginning:

I knew my sister was dead.

Friday 56:

Gabe leaned against the wall outside the cafeteria. "I heard them fighting all weekend. Talking about Sarah Mucho drama."

This week I am reading The Stranger Game by Cylin Busby. I got this eARC from Edelweiss for review. Here is the description from Amazon:

The Stranger Game is a dark, suspenseful, and twisty novel that is Gone Girl for teens. Perfect for fans of Lauren Oliver and E. Lockhart.

When Nico Morris’s older sister mysteriously disappears, her parents, family, and friends are devastated. But Nico can never admit what she herself feels: relief at finally being free of Sarah’s daily cruelties.

Then the best and worst thing happens: four years later, after dozens of false leads, Sarah is found.

But this girl is much changed from the one Nico knew. She’s thin and drawn, when Sarah had been golden and athletic; timid and unsure, instead of brash and competitive; and strangest of all, sweet and kind, when she had once been mean and abusive. Sarah’s retrograde amnesia has caused her to forget almost everything about her life, from small things like the plots of her favorite books and her tennis game to the more critical—where she’s been the last four years and what happened at the park on the fateful day she vanished. Despite the happy ending, the dark details of that day continue to haunt Nico, and it becomes clear that more than one person knows the true story of what happened to Sarah. . . .

ARC Review: Ryan Quinn and the Rebel's Escape by Ron McGee

Ryan Quinn and the Rebel's Escape
Author: Ron McGee
Series: Ryan Quinn (Book 1)
Publication: HarperCollins (October 25, 2016)

Description: Ryan Quinn and the Rebel’s Escape is the first fast-paced, sensational novel in a trilogy about a New York City teenager who could give James Bond and Jason Bourne a run for their money. Fans of Alex Rider and the Spy School series will be completely enthralled.

Ryan Quinn hopes his traveling days are over. The son of a United Nations worker, he’s grown up in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa—everywhere but home. He’s finally settled at a great school in New York and is making friends when, suddenly, his world is turned upside down.

Ryan is blindsided when his father disappears and his mother is abducted. Left with nothing but questions, he soon discovers his parents have been leading a double life. They actually work with the Emergency Rescue Committee, an underground organization that has performed dangerous rescue missions since World War II, and they’ve been secretly training Ryan to follow in their footsteps.

With his parents’ lives in the balance and more at stake than he knows, Ryan dives into a mission of international intrigue that sends him around the globe. To survive, he must trust his training and perform his own daring rescue mission in a thrilling race for freedom.

Don't miss this first book in Ron McGee’s high-stakes trilogy about Ryan Quinn.

My Thoughts: Ryan Quinn grew up all over the world and he and his mother followed his father from one diplomatic assignment to another. He learned to eat strange foods, adapt strange customs, and make friends wherever he was - until he got to be a teenager. Then it became harder and harder to fit in and he began spending a lot of time alone. His mother convinced his father that they needed to settle down so that Ryan could finally find a place to fit in and make friends.

Now settled in New York and in eighth grade, Ryan is at an international school and making friends. Danny is his best friend and an interesting character. He is a hacker, inventor, and believes himself to be a gift to the ladies. Ryan also has a crush on Kasey but finds himself strangely tongue-tied whenever he is around her.

Ryan's father goes off on an assignment and drops out of contact. Strangers break in and kidnap his mother. They want to know where his father is and where Myat Kaw is. Ryan has never heard of Myat Kaw but he'll do anything to get his mother back. He discovers a hidden room on the first floor of his house that has a variety of forged passports and credit cards. When a young woman whose face is on one of those cards shows up, Ryan is determined to go with her to find his father.

Ryan finds himself in Andakar, a military dictatorship near China, searching for his father and Myat Kaw. With help from Danny who is doing his computer tricks at home, Ryan breaks into a military post to find his first clue. He tracks his father to a hidden temple with soldiers chasing him the whole way. There he meet Myat Kaw and learns that she is a young girl about his own age named Lan.

With his father injured, it is up to Ryan to get Lan to safety. They have all sorts of adventures as they travel. Meanwhile, Danny and Kasey are back home in New York trying to track down Ryan's mother. They also have all sorts of adventures.

This story was action-packed an exciting with Ryan playing the James Bond role with Danny serving as his Q. Kasey isn't a Bond girl but is a smart, competent character who becomes one of the team. This is the first book in a trilogy and I can't wait to read the rest.

Favorite Quote:

"Mom and I wanted you to have a normal life. We've been training you practically since you were born. But you needed to be old enough to make your own decisions before you chose whether to get involved or not."

"I don't want to be involved. And I don't want you to be, either. I just want to go back to our regular lives and forget all this." Ryan could see the disappointment in his father's eyes, but he didn't care. He'd believed if he could just find his dad, then everything would be all right. John Quinn would figure out what to do. He always had.

I received this eARC from the publisher through Edelweiss. You can buy your copy here.

WoW: Rose & Thorn by Sarah Prineas

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. She has a linky widget at her site each week for your post and to make it easy to find posts by other people.

The purpose of the meme is to spotlight books that we are eagerly anticipating. It is fun to take a look at what others are waiting for. I have noticed that it has expanded my wishlist though. Be warned!

Rose & Thorn

Author: Sarah Prineas

Series: Ash & Bramble (Book 2)

Publication: HarperTeen (October 18, 2016)

Description: This beauty isn’t sleeping! Discover the true story of Sleeping Beauty in Sarah Prineas’s bold YA fairy-tale retelling filled with thrilling adventure and romance, perfect for fans of the Lunar Chronicles and the Girl of Fire and Thorns trilogy.

After the spell protecting her is destroyed, Rose seeks safety in the world outside the valley she had called home. She’s been kept hidden all her life to delay the three curses she was born with—curses that will put her into her own fairy tale and a century-long slumber. Accompanied by Griff, the handsome and mysterious Watcher, and Quirk, his witty and warmhearted partner, Rose tries to escape from the ties that bind her to her story. But will the path they take lead them to freedom, or will it bring them straight into the fairy tale they are trying to avoid?

Set in the world of Sarah Prineas’s Ash & Bramble fifty years later, Rose & Thorn is a powerful retelling of the classic “Sleeping Beauty” tale where the characters fight to find their own happy ever after.

Teaser Tuesday: Ryan Quinn and the Rebel's Escape by Ron McGee

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Books and a Beat. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Teaser:

Ryan took out his phone and held it up, thumbs moving over the keys as though he was texting somebody. He held the phone awkwardly, raising it slightly over his shoulder so the camera had a good vantage point behind him.

This week I am reading Ryan Quinn and the Rebel's Escape by Ron McGee. I got this eARC from Edelweiss. Here is the description from Amazon:

Ryan Quinn and the Rebel’s Escape is the first fast-paced, sensational novel in a trilogy about a New York City teenager who could give James Bond and Jason Bourne a run for their money. Fans of Alex Rider and the Spy School series will be completely enthralled.

Ryan Quinn hopes his traveling days are over. The son of a United Nations worker, he’s grown up in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa—everywhere but home. He’s finally settled at a great school in New York and is making friends when, suddenly, his world is turned upside down.

Ryan is blindsided when his father disappears and his mother is abducted. Left with nothing but questions, he soon discovers his parents have been leading a double life. They actually work with the Emergency Rescue Committee, an underground organization that has performed dangerous rescue missions since World War II, and they’ve been secretly training Ryan to follow in their footsteps.

With his parents’ lives in the balance and more at stake than he knows, Ryan dives into a mission of international intrigue that sends him around the globe. To survive, he must trust his training and perform his own daring rescue mission in a thrilling race for freedom.

Don't miss this first book in Ron McGee’s high-stakes trilogy about Ryan Quinn.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (Oct. 17, 2016)

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is a meme begun by Sheila at Book Journey. Kellee at Unleashing Readers and Jen at Teach Mentor Texts have given it a kidlit focus.

It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading, is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

Other Than Reading...

Now that Homecoming is over, we are gearing up for Parent/Teacher/Student conferences. They are taking place Monday and Tuesday evening and all day Wednesday. We have Thursday and Friday off for the annual MEA Conference. Since I am part-time this year, I am not required to be at the Wednesday conferences.

I will be driving up to Duluth as soon as I get up Wednesday morning to get ready for our move. The moving van will be coming on Friday to bring all the big stuff. I know there will be a lot of packing and sorting to do as my brother and I decided what we want to move and what we want to sell.

I have some books listed but don't know if I'll have any time to read them. I think I'll be kept pretty busy packing, unpacking, and organizing the new house.

Read Last Week

I finished Truthwitch by Susan Dennard this week. It had a slow start for me but picked up the pace when I was about half-way through. My review will be posted on October 29.

Currently

• Undertow by Michael Buckley

Next Week

• Flashfall by Jenny Moyer
• The Whizbang Machine by Danielle A. Vann

Reviews Posted

• Afterglow by Karsten Knight
• The Emerald Tablet by Dan Jolley
• The Rains by Gregg Hurwitz

Want to See What I Added to My Stack Last Week?

Nothing new this week.

You can check Inside of a Dog (my other blog) to see what adult books I read, reviewed, and plan to read. 

ARC Review: The Rains by Gregg Hurwitz

The Rains
Author: Gregg Hurwitz
Publication: Tor Teen (October 18, 2016)

Description: The first YA page-turner from New York Times bestselling author Gregg Hurwitz. In one terrifying night, the peaceful community of Creek's Cause turns into a war zone. No one under the age of eighteen is safe. Chance Rain and his older brother, Patrick, have already fended off multiple attacks from infected adults by the time they arrive at the school where other young survivors are hiding.

Most of the kids they know have been dragged away by once-trusted adults who are now ferocious, inhuman beings. The parasite that transformed them takes hold after people turn eighteen--and Patrick's birthday is only a few days away.

Determined to save Patrick's life and the lives of the remaining kids, the brothers embark on a mission to uncover the truth about the parasites--and what they find is horrifying. Battling an enemy not of this earth, Chance and Patrick become humanity's only hope for salvation.

My Thoughts: I thought THE RAINS was an excellent, fast-paced and engaging science fiction thriller. Told through the journal kept by Chance Rains, we learn about what happened after an alien invasion.

Chance and his older brother Patrick are orphaned and living with their aunt and uncle in an isolated rural community.Even at fifteen, Chance is doing a man's work on their farm and raising Rhodesian Ridgebacks for sale. One evening a meteor crashes near their home. Then strange plants grow in a fallow field and, when ripe, expel spores into the air. A neighbor inhales the spores and soon something is growing in him. When it becomes ripe, the man climbs to the top of a local water tower and explodes expelling new spores which cause all the adults to change. The adults begin to gather up all the children for some unknown purpose.

Chance, his brother Patrick and Patrick's girlfriend Alex make it to the high school which has become a refuge for the surviving children. The only adult there is their former family doctor who became a  science teacher when his multiple sclerosis made him unable to practice medicine. Even though the adults have cut all the power in the town, the kids soon learn that the problem is apparently local since the old TV with rabbit ears lets them see what is happening in neighboring towns.

They learn that eighteen is the magical age when the airborne spores chance people into the Hosts -- and Patrick is just days away from his eighteenth birthday. Chance is determined to find a way to save his brother from being taken over by the aliens. The three of them - Chance, Patrick, and Alex - decide to try to get out of the valley to get help. Their attempt is filled with danger and ultimately unsuccessful when they witness more asteroids hitting the nearby towns.

Now they need another plan...

With strong, well-developed characters, this is an action-packed rather violent science fiction story that reminded me a lot of 1950s science fiction movies. It is clearly the first of a series but well worth reading if you enjoy science fiction.

Favorite Quote: 

"Those adults out there" -- Chatterjee pointed a trembling finger through the doorway of the nearest classroom to the windows and beyond -- "have been infected." He shook the detector, the words blinking out at us again: UNIDENTIFIED PARTICULATE. "This parasite attacked their white matter."

"So why didn't it attack ours?" Alex asked.

"You're teenagers", he said. "You have less."

Patrick drew back his head. "We do?"

"Of course, kids have a lesser-developed frontal cortex."

I received this review book from the publisher. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: The Rains by Gregg Hurwitz

Happy Friday everybody!!

Book Beginnings on Friday is now hosted by Rose City Reader. The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Beginning:

It was past midnight. I was still working in the barn when I heard the rolling door lurch open.

Friday 56:

"So, Big Rain," she'd said, "what would you do to prove your love for me?"

Their old game. I'd seen them play it more times than I could count.

This week I am reading The Rains by Gregg Hurwitz. I got this book for review from the publisher. Here is the description from Amazon:

The first YA page-turner from New York Times bestselling author Gregg Hurwitz. In one terrifying night, the peaceful community of Creek's Cause turns into a war zone. No one under the age of eighteen is safe. Chance Rain and his older brother, Patrick, have already fended off multiple attacks from infected adults by the time they arrive at the school where other young survivors are hiding.

Most of the kids they know have been dragged away by once-trusted adults who are now ferocious, inhuman beings. The parasite that transformed them takes hold after people turn eighteen--and Patrick's birthday is only a few days away.

Determined to save Patrick's life and the lives of the remaining kids, the brothers embark on a mission to uncover the truth about the parasites--and what they find is horrifying. Battling an enemy not of this earth, Chance and Patrick become humanity's only hope for salvation.