The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

This was an awesome book. It begins in a prison in the kingdom of Sounis. The main character is Gen--a thief, imprisoned indefinitely because he bragged too loudly about stealing from the King. One night he is dragged from his cell and brought before the King. He's told he's going on a secret mission, and his skills are needed. His task will be to steal the legendary Hamiathe's Gift, a stone that confers the authority of a royal ruler to whomever receives it. Gen isn't sure which is worse--going on the quest or rotting in prison. But he's not given a choice. He's dragged along with the king's magus, his two apprentices, and a no-nonsense professional soldier on a quest through two countries where every ounce of his cunning is needed. This book will surprise you regularly and it does not end anywhere close to how you think it will. The characters are impressive and distinct from other fantasy. The setting is reminiscent of ancient Greece--olive trees and a pantheon of gods and goddesses, but it is unique and enthralling. Definitely recommended.

Impossible by Nancy Werlin

This is the story of Lucy, a practical seventeen year old who refuses to believe all the strange things happening in her life are signs that she is part of a line of women who are the victims of an ancient curse. For generations, the Scarborough women--Lucy, her mother, her grandmother, and so on--have all had the same fate. They become pregnant at age seventeen then go insane--abandoning their newborn daughters to whoever will take them in and the cycle repeats. The key to freeing herself from this curse is in a song passed down from mother to daughter since the time of the curse--a peculiar alternative set of lyrics to the song "Scarborough Fair" that spells out three strange and seemingly impossible tasks. When Lucy becomes pregnant and starts to see her life heading in the same direction as her mother's she finally starts to believe that this could really be happening to her. But can she solve the riddle of the song before it's too late? Can she save her unborn daughter, and maybe even herself?

I thought that this book was pretty good, but not great. I listened to the audio book and I have to admit that I was not a huge fan of the reader's voice. I think that this reader was a poor match for Lucy and my consciousness of this was jarring and prevented me from enjoying the book as much as I could have. I liked the premise, but I felt that the plot was a little weak and the characters didn't pull me in. The tasks that Lucy has to solve are barely riddles and seem relatively meaningless besides from their strange old-timey-ness. Plowing a field with a goat's horn? I thought it was going to turn out to be some sort of symbol or riddle, but Lucy literally makes a plow with a goat's horn purchased on ebay and plows a field. It seemed kind of odd and not really something that held my interest.

Eighth Grade Bites: The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod Book 1 by Heather Brewer

Vlad Tod is trying to survive eighth grade. It's hard enough that his parents died a few years ago and he's still not over it, but now weird things are happening. The girl he likes seems to be in love with his best friend, and the school bullies are worse than ever. But it's more serious than that. His favorite teacher has gone missing without a trace and he finds a mysterious book that belonged to his father that only he can open. Also, Vlad is a vampire--half-vampire to be exact. Vlad hates the taste of cooked meat, but can stomach it to keep up appearances. He much prefers the blood sandwiches and blood slushies that his guardian, Nellie, provides for him from the bloodbank at the hospital.

All these strange things happening are pointing to the fact that Vlad may not be the only vampire in the world, as he thought. And these other vampires seem to be a lot different from him. They've never had a blood-slushie, for one. They seem to prefer their meals hot. Could these vampires have something to do with his teacher disappearing? Or even his parents?

I enjoyed this book for what it was. It was a quick read with an entertaining voice. I enjoyed the world that the book set up and I'm looking forward to discovering more about it in the next book in the series.

Read-alikes: Artemis Fowl, The Hunger Games

The History of Love by Nicole Krauss

A lot has been written and said about this book and it came very highly recommended to me from several different people whose taste I like and respect very much. I thought this book was great, but it wasn't the show-stopper, can't put down read that I was expecting. I liked it, but I didn't love it--not even a little.

I thought that the sections of the book from Leo Gursky's perspective were quite good. But it was a let down for me whenever it switched to someone else's point of view. I was never interested enough in the plot to be worried about how the tangle of characters would eventually unravel itself into something that made sense. I read to the end, but I wasn't really that interested in solving the puzzle behind this book.

All in all, a great book, but sometimes things just don't live up after so much hype for me. meh.

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Another book from the perspective of a dead girl. Sam is the second most popular senior girl at Thomas Jefferson High. She has been happy to be best friends with mean, defiant, alpha-queen Lindsay--as their group of four girls dominate the school. Sometimes they're mean and horrible, but they always have the most fun. That is until one night when driving home from a party, Lindsay--generally invincible--loses control of the car and in a flash of light and fire Sam finds herself fading into death.

But she doesn't die. She wakes up and it's the morning of her last day alive. She relives this day seven times, growing from confusion to anger to understanding. This was a great book. It has all the draw of reading about the uber-popular, but the book definitely has a heart. The characters are excellent and it's a step above other books of it's kind.

read-alikes: anything by Sarah Dessen