Barnaby Grime: Return of the Emerald Skull

Title: Barnaby Grimes: Return of the Emerald Skull (Barnaby Grimes bk. 2)

Author(s): Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell

Genre: Horror/Mystery

Reading Level: 11 and up

Summary: Barnaby Grimes is a tick-tock lad, running errands in his city, day and night, and high-stacking around the rooftops in search of new mysteries to solve. This is a fantastic romp through a Dickensian-style city, with a wonderful new hero in the guise of Barnaby.

After collecting a strange parcel from a deserted ship in the fog of the docks, and delivering it to the local schoolmaster, Barnaby thinks he’s earned a moment to sit on the rooftops and eat his favorite pastry. But soon he realizes that all is not well at the school—but is the problem quite as he expects it? A gruesome tale of a school overrun by a terrible curse—who will survive?

My Review: I've never understood why this book is called the Return of the emerald skull since this is it's first appearance. Anyway, as to my review, I've read the first book in this series Curse of the Night Wolf and thought it was a nice creepy adventurous fare. I've always thought Mr. Stewart and Riddell always knew how to pile on the suspense and action. This one however was a bit of a disappointment. I didn't think it had as much action as it could have, in fact it lagged a bit in the middle. The horror element also was not very scary, but it did remind me a bit of Lord of the Flies one of my favorite books. Most of the character are interesting and likable(well not the bad guys) but they couldn't save the book for me.
Content: bloody violence, and scary situations
Rating: 2 stars out of 5
Recommend: no

Same Book Different Language Different Cover

I love looking at the different covers some of my favorite books have depending on what language their in. I've seen a lot of other blogs do this for books they also like. Sometimes I think foreign editions have better covers then our editions? what do you think? Do you have a book you like but you wish it had the cover of a foreign language edition? Here are some different covers of the first book in the Enola Holmes mystery series The Case of the Missing Marquess by Nancy Springer. Which one do you like the best? The first one is the Spanish Edition, second one French, third American. I like the French one best personally but I think they all capture the spirit of the book.

The Sea of Monsters: A Book Review

Title: The Sea of Monsters

Author: Rick Riordan

Genre: Fantasy Adventure

Reading Level: 11 and up

Summary:When Thalia’s tree is mysteriously poisoned, the magical borders of Camp Half-Blood begin to fail. Now Percy and his friends have just days to find the only magic item powerful to save the camp before it is overrun by monsters. The catch: they must sail into the Sea of Monsters to find it. Along the way, Percy must stage a daring rescue operation to save his old friend Grover, and he learns a terrible secret about his own family, which makes him question whether being the son of Poseidon is an honor or a curse.

My Review: I was really excited to get back to Percy and his crazy demi-god friends. I heard that this one was a little slow, but I am here to tell you this is just not so. This adventure was just as fun as the first, I particularly liked it because it made so many references to the Odyssey which I read (abridged of course) in the 8th grade. I love looking up the real stories to all the creatures and gods mentioned in this series. It's really becoming a favorite of mine. I think even though the characters are demi-gods and have special powers you can still relate to them. Percy's feelings of isolation from his father, and learning to cope with a new younger brother named Tyson a cyclopes, Annabeth's longings to bring her parents back together, and Clarisse evergiong quest to make her temperamental father Ares proud of her. The writing is funny, and clever, there's a lot of action with a couple touching moments in between. Just like the first. So if you did read The Lightning Thief don't hesitate to pick up The Sea of Monsters next.
Content: Violence and some scary situations
Rating: 4 big star out of 5
Recommend: Of course!

Upcoming Reviews: Barnaby Grimes: The Return of the Emerald Skull by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• 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 & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser.
  

Riding the Hippocampus was even easier than riding a Pegasus. We zipped along with the wind in our faces, speeding through the waves so smooth and steady I hardly needed to hold on.
--The Sea of Monster by Rick Riordan

Gideon The Cutpurse: A Book Review

Title: Gideon The Cut-purse(Book one in the Gideon trilogy)

Author: Linda Buckley-Archer

Genre: Science Fiction/Historical Adventure

Reading Level: 11 and up

Summary: Gideon Seymour, thief and gentleman, hides from the villainous Tar Man. Suddenly the sky peels away like fabric and from the gaping hole fall two curious-looking children. Peter Schock and Kate Dyer have fallen straight from the twenty-first century, thanks to an experiment with an anti-gravity machine. Before Gideon and the children have a chance to gather their wits, the Tar Man takes off with the machine -- and Peter and Kate's only chance of getting home. Soon Gideon, Peter, and Kate are swept into a journey through eighteenth-century London and form a bond that, they hope, will stand strong in the face of unfathomable treachery.

My Review: This was another book I took out of the library on a whim. Fortunately I ended up really liking this book. It's a quick easy read, and even though it started out slow, as I continued through it I really started to like the characters(even the villains) and plot line. As a historical fiction novel I really enjoyed it because this book really tells it like it was back in 1763 there was no sugar coating and I really enjoyed it and learned a lot of new stuff like what king's evil is and what footpads were. I also liked how she switched viewpoints from 1763 to modern times, so you got to see what was happening with everyone in the book. As a side note I think I should tell you that here in the America at bookstores this book goes under the title "The Time Travelers" and it has a different cover.
Content: Some disturbing situations, and a little language
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5
Recommend: Definitely for people who like historical fiction, and a good time travel adventure

Upcoming Review: The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• 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 & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"Imagine a carriage moving on its own without horses, only much, much faster," Peter said to Gideon. "And then imagine roads that are smooth and hard and never get muddy. When we drove up from London to Derbyshire it took less than three hours-and it was in the middle of winter."
--Gideon The Cutpurse by Linda Buckley-Archer

Prophecy of the Sisters: A Book Review

Title: Prophecy of the Sisters (bk. 1 in the Prophecy of the Sisters trilogy)

Author: Michelle Zink

Genre: Supernatural Fantasy

Reading Level: 13 and up

Summary: An ancient prophecy divides two sisters-

One good...

One evil...

Who will prevail?

Twin sisters Lia and Alice Milthorpe have just become orphans. They have also become enemies. As they discover their roles in a prophecy that has turned generations of sisters against each other, the girls find themselves entangled in a mystery that involves a tattoo-like mark, their parents' deaths, a boy, a book, and a lifetime of secrets.

Lia and Alice don't know whom they can trust.

They just know they can't trust each other.

My Review: Well I picked this book up at the library on a whim so I guess I can't say I was disappointed in it as I hadn't any expectations for it. So I'll keep this short. I didn't think it was all that great, there were moments were I enjoyed it but these moments didn't show up until near the end, and they were far too short. The overall plot is good, the writing was descriptive and lyrical, but the pace dragged terribly. The story was also predictable with the things it was trying to keep a "mystery". I didn't really care for the characters, they seemed to lack personality in my opinion. I started to kind of like Lia but again, not until the book was almost finished. This is a series, but unfortunately the 1st book didn't catch my attention enough to warrant my reading the further installments. Oh and this book made me realize I don't like Gothic books, I like black comedy.
Content: Some scary moments
Rating: 2 stars out of 5
Recommend: not really.

Upcoming Review: Gideon the Cut-purse by Linda Buckley-Archer