Feature & Follow and Book Blogger Hop

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This week's question:

What book have you've been meaning
to read forever AND you finally did?

I can answer this because I *JUST* did this!

The first book in the 39 Clues series is one I've been meaning

to check out FOR-EV-ER.

I finally did last week, and I LOVED IT!

Read my review HERE!  

  Next up is Feature and Follow Friday:

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This weeks question:

Have you ever read a book that you thought you would hate — ? Did you end up hating it? Did you end up loving it?

Yes, I was given a book by my neighbor, and when
looked at the synopsis I ABSOLUTELY didn't want to
read the book... but I read it to be a good neighbor...

and I really liked it, way more than I expected!

What was the book?

 Warm Bodies

by Isaac Marion

It was a really pleasant surprise!

Read my review HERE!      

39 Clues: Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan

39 Clues

The Maze of Bones

by Rick Riordan

This book was a lot of fun, and I'm excited to pick up the next one.

Riordan once again incorporates history in a way that will keep children

interested and wanting to learn more.

Amazon Synopsis:

Minutes before she died Grace Cahill changed her will, leaving her descendents an impossible decision: "You have a choice - one million dollars or a clue."

Grace is the last matriarch of the Cahills, the world's most powerful family. Everyone from Napoleon to Houdini is related to the Cahills, yet the source of the family power is lost. 39 clues hidden around the world will reveal the family's secret, but no one has been able to assemble them. Now the clues race is on, and young Amy and Dan must decide what's important: hunting clues or uncovering what REALLY happened to their parents. 

Characters:

Competitors in the contest:

All contest competitors are part of the Cahill family, even if they have different last names. 

Amy Cahill ~ Main character, older sister to Dan. Amy is almost crippled by her fear of groups of people and confrontation. Her severe social anxiety puts them in a tight spot more than once, but she is clever and quick when it counts, making her a likable character... plus it's obvious she genuinely cares for her brother, which is endearing. She also loved Grace dearly.

Dan Cahill ~ Main character, Dan in a collector. He reminds me of so many boys his age I've babysat over the years, where everything that is remotely interesting suddenly becomes something he is interested in. He's good with numbers (really good) and pretty close to fearless... but also obviously loves his sister... even though they torment each other often. A very likable character.

The Holts ~ They're incredibly competitive, and will do anything to win.

Ian and Natalie Kabra ~ Two young, attractive siblings who are sly, well funded, well trained and lethal, they're a huge threat in the competition... to everyone.

Alistair Oh ~ Korean member of the Cahill clan, and an older gentleman who evidently invented the microwave burrito as his claim to fame. His motives (other than winning) are unclear.

Irina Spasky ~ Russian Cahill, she's sly and troublesome with things like poison needles hidden on her body... an ex-secret agent, she's dangerous, even if she is older.

The Starling Triplets ~ Three siblings (2 boys ~ Ned and Ted, 1 girl ~ Sinead) they're caught up early on in trouble and out of commission for the rest of the book.

Jonah Wizard ~ He's world famous... and wants to win just so he can be the most famous person ever. Rude and snobbish to anyone not a Cahill, Jonah is single-minded in his quest for fame.

Everyone Else:

Grace Cahill ~ Dan and Amy's grandmother, she passes away within the first few pages of the book, but is present throughout, in flashbacks and as the orchestrator of the game the Cahill's are partaking in. Her history is very mysterious and I'm looking forward to learning more.

Nellie~ Dan and Amy's Au Pair (not babysitter!), she's a young woman with many hidden talents and an interest in becoming a chef. Dan and Amy convince her to join them on their quest.

William McIntyre ~ Grace's lawyer, he oversees this competition and offers aid secretly to Amy and Dan, telling them repeatedly "Trust No One"

Man in Black ~ Mysterious figure who appears almost everywhere Dan and Amy go.

Aunt Beatrice ~ Grace's sister and Amy and Dan's legal guardian, she's a bit of a stick in the mud and kind of a jerk.

Saladin ~ Grace Cahill's Egyptian Mau cat, adopted by Amy and Dan.

Plot:

This book's opening grabbed me right away... the first sentence is:

Five minutes before she died, Grace Cahill changed her will.

From that second on, I was in.  What a catchy opener!

I picked this book up because I'm going through Riordan withdrawal, and I've been meaning to check out this series for quite some time anyways. I was not disappointed.

Action packed, filled with history, geography and intrigue all around, I applaud Riordan for once again incorporating an education into his books. 

Seeing as how this book is filled with little puzzles for the reader to figure out (and I do appreciate that they don't give you the answers right away... so that kids reading it will actually have to either think about it, or keep reading to find out), I won't go into detail on what you'll learn in this book, but I will say that, even for adults, Riordan masterfully incorporates the clues with history to form little puzzles fun for anyone of any age to mull over.

This story follows the siblings Amy and Dan, orphans after their parents died tragically, they spend their weekends with Grace and are hurt and confused when she passes away and leaves this crazy contest behind.

They, as well as all the other Cahill's invited to the Will reading, are offered the opportunity to join the contest or accept a Million dollar buy out, in which they take the money and never look back. Most folks take the money, but a few (the ones listed above) choose to partake. Amy and Dan are sorely tempted by the cash themselves, being poor orphans, until their aunt and legal guardian, Beatrice, threatens them not to join, and then proceeds to tell them how kind she'll be, only taking the interest from their 2 million dollars.

Feeling that Beatrice would slowly rob them, and also wanting to know more about what their beloved Aunt Grace had in store for them, Amy and Dan enter the competition with little to no resources.

Quickly they learn to trust no one, and enlist the aid of their Au Pair, Nellie (who in my opinion is just a bit *too* talented... which makes me suspicious of her). 

They receive cryptic warnings from Grace's lawyer, Mr. McIntyre (things like, "Beware the Madrigals") and get more help from Nellie once she learns what they're up to.

The adventure itself takes the reader on a fun romp through Paris... well, fun for everyone but Dan and Amy, who face near-death experiences around every corner.

The book closes with them unable to return home (Social Services is looking for them) and on their way to the next clue.

Each book in this series is written by a different author, which I am both happy and sad about.

On the one hand, I love Rick Riordan, I know I love Riordan, I want to read more of Riordan and would have loved had he written the whole series... plus I'm also nervous about how cohesive a series by completely different authors will be.

On the other hand, I'm excited to pick up books by authors I'm unfamiliar with. Since I'm already invested in the story, thanks to its power punch of a beginning book, I'm sure I'll read the rest, so hopefully I'll find some wonderful new authors in the process.

Digital Media Aspect:

This book series is also fun and unique in that each book comes with several "clues" hidden in it. 

These clues are literal cards with web codes on them.

You can sign up at the 39 Clues website, get sorted into which faction of the Cahill clan you're most like, and enter your card numbers and get more clues added to your collection... there are also games to be played that are amusing (I played a few of them, and they would keep kids entertained)

The website itself isn't as clear as it could be when it comes to clues and earning them, but overall it's a pretty fun idea.

You also create your own spy identity... I think it's a great idea that kids will have a lot of fun with.

It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

Welcome to another edition of "It's Monday, What Are You Reading?"

Click the image above to join in the linky fun!

Well, seeing as how I just picked this book up this morning, and it's one I've been

saying for quite some time, "I'm going to read!"

This week I'm reading:

39 Clues

Book 1:

The Maze of Bones

by Rick Riordan

Amazon Synopsis:

Minutes before she died Grace Cahill changed her will, leaving her decendants an impossible decision: "You have a choice - one million dollars or a clue."

Grace is the last matriarch of the Cahills, the world's most powerful family. Everyone from Napoleon to Houdini is related to the Cahills, yet the source of the family power is lost. 39 clues hidden around the world will reveal the family's secret, but no one has been able to assemble them. Now the clues race is on, and young Amy and Dan must decide what's important: hunting clues or uncovering what REALLY happened to their parents. 

I've been curious about this series for a while, and *really* wanted to start reading it when I learned that Rick Riordan wrote the first one... so, here goes nothing!

What did I finish last week?

Scent of Magic

Book 2 in the Healer series

by Maria V. Snyder

Amazon Synopsis:
As the last Healer in the Fifteen Realms, Avry of Kazan is in a unique position: in the minds of friends and foes alike, she no longer exists. Despite her need to prevent the megalomaniacal King Tohon from winning control of the Realms, Avry is also determined to find her sister and repair their estrangement. And she must do it alone, as Kerrick, her partner and sole confidant, returns to Alga to summon his country into battle.

Though she should be in hiding, Avry will do whatever she can to support Tohon's opponents. Including infiltrating a holy army, evading magic sniffers, teaching forest skills to soldiers and figuring out how to stop Tohon's most horrible creations yet: an army of the walking dead—human and animal alike and nearly impossible to defeat.
War is coming and Avry is alone. Unless she figures out how to do the impossible…again.

Read my review HERE.

Waiting On Wednesday

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 The Mark of Athena

by Rick Riordan
Release Date: October 2nd, 2012

Book 3 in the Heroes of Olympus series.

The only thing I can really say about this is... if you haven't read these books, READ THEM.

Amazon Synopsis:

In The Son of Neptune, Percy, Hazel, and Frank met in Camp Jupiter, the Roman equivalent of Camp Halfblood, and traveled to the land beyond the gods to complete a dangerous quest. The third book in the Heroes of Olympus series will unite them with Jason, Piper, and Leo. But they number only six--who will complete the Prophecy of Seven?

The Greek and Roman demigods will have to cooperate in order to defeat the giants released by the Earth Mother, Gaea. Then they will have to sail together to the ancient land to find the Doors of Death. What exactly are the Doors of Death? Much of the prophecy remains a mystery. . . .

With old friends and new friends joining forces, a marvelous ship, fearsome foes, and an exotic setting, The Mark of Athena promises to be another unforgettable adventure by master storyteller Rick Riordan.

*JUST A NOTE* I've added an audiobook clip to the Wake review I did, for anyone who is interested:
http://littlesqueed.blogspot.com/2012/09/wake-by-amanda-hocking.html

Shadow of the Serpent: Kane Chronicles

The Serpent's Shadow

by Rick Riordan

Synopsis:
(from Amazon):

He's b-a-a-ack! Despite their best efforts, Carter and Sadie Kane can't seem to keep Apophis, the chaos snake, down. Now Apophis is threatening to plunge the world into eternal darkness, and the Kanes are faced with the impossible task of having to destroy him once and for all. Unfortunately, the magicians of the House of Life are on the brink of civil war, the gods are divided, and the young initiates of Brooklyn House stand almost alone against the forces of chaos. The Kanes' only hope is an ancient spell that might turn the serpent's own shadow into a weapon, but the magic has been lost for a millennia. To find the answer they need, the Kanes must rely on the murderous ghost of a powerful magician who might be able to lead them to the serpent's shadow . . . or might lead them to their deaths in the depths of the underworld.

Nothing less than the mortal world is at stake when the Kane family fulfills its destiny in this thrilling conclusion to the Kane Chronicles.

Characters:
Sadie: The spunky, attitude-filled little sister has softened some from the beginning of this series... we find her in love and with more obvious affection towards her brother... she has become quite the likable character... not that she wasn't before, but now we see more of her loyalty shining through. She's not just an angry kid anymore.
Carter: Carter has really matured over this series, to the point where even his sister begrudgingly admits that he's quite the leader figure. He's a likable character, although I find him most interesting when he's hemming and hawing over teenage boy issues (aka, girls).
Walt: Sadie's love interest is as mysterious as ever, you know that Walt is a man with a plan through most of the book, and it's not that hard to guess what it might be, but you still wonder at the logistics of it.

Anubis: Sadie's other love interest, the poor girl... how does one choose between hot mortal guy and hot god guy?
Zia: Still coming to terms with the fact that another version of herself met and fell in love with Carter, Zia is also kind of losing her mind in this book. She's given the job of caring for the aged form of Ra, and it's having quite the effect on her.

Amos: Now Chief Lector, Amos is dealing with trying to keep a lot of very  nervous magicians under control, while still fighting off Apophis and his underlings. Due to events in previous books (aka, being possessed by Set), Amos is not the most trusted person around.

Setne: The guy you love to hate... he's bound to help Sadie and Carter, but he's tricksy, and causes them no end of trouble.

Everyone Else: To not at least mention other characters like Jet, Felix, Freak and Bes... would be criminal. These books are filled to the brim with an enjoyable supporting cast.

 
Writing:

As per usual, Rick Riordan is a master. These books go by waaaay too quickly.

Ending:
A wonderful ending in which you see satisfying conclusions to quite a few of the story archs that have been present through the series. Not only that, but there's quite the hint that this is not the last we'll see of the Carter siblings when it comes to Rick Riordan books. It looks like he's building up to something quite epic.

Plot:

This is a plot that's been building up through two other books. It concludes quite a few of the mysteries that were left hanging, and promises more. 

Believability of World:
I believe I've said it before, but I love that these books are set in "our" world, just kind of behind the scenes.


Overall Grade: A

REVIEW: The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

  The Lost Hero
by Rick Riordan

**NOTE: I WOULD NOT recommend reading this series without having read the Percy Jackson series first... 1. You just won't care as much about certain characters as you should (such as Rachel) and 2. The fact that Percy Jackson is missing won't be quite as big a deal to you as it should be... not to mention you'll be missing out on so much backstory that it will really detract from the experience**

Synopsis:
Jason wakes up on a bus, not remembering who he is or how he got there, but he's surrounded by people claiming to be his girlfriend and his best friend. He suspects that isn't right, though... he suspects he doesn't actually know these people at all. Then, when the bus arrives at its destination, a class trip to the Grand Canyon, Jason finds out that his suspicions were right, and that he is destined to partake in a deadly prophecy.

Character Likability:
Jason: The victim of severe memory loss, you travel through this story watching odd bits of information come to him without him knowing why. Based on his knowledge, the things he says and how he acts, it's not to hard to figure out things about his parents and his circumstances... but you still like Jason and feel a bit sorry for him. He wasn't my favorite of the main characters, but seeing as how he doesn't know himself, it's a little hard for the reader to really know him either. I honestly find myself wondering how much I will like him when he gets his full memory back.

Piper: Piper is a half Cherokee/ half God... which has real potential to make for interesting stories later on... in fact, I think she could have her own spin off series involving Native American gods, since, with the background you do get concerning her and her father, you learn there are a lot of issues there with being a Native American. She starts the story off kind of weak, and really evolves as a character, finding her own strength and learning to believe in herself. By the end of the story I'm quite fond of her... although I do think it will be interesting to see how the author handles her and Jason. Piper is the girl on the bus who thinks she's Jason's girlfriend, and thoughts like that just don't go away, for her and for Jason... but as Jason remembers more, he remembers that there might be a girl where he came from who meant something to him. It will be interesting to see if the author makes this other girl likable, and to see what happens for Piper.
Another thing I found interesting about Piper was her issue with going to a camp called Camp Half Blood... and it makes me wonder if someone pointed out to Rick Riordan that this was used as a negative term by some peoples, or if he knew it all along.
Leo: My favorite of the main characters, Leo, felt the most real. Possibly because he doesn't have such a fantastical family history. He's just a kid who got the short end of the stick... even if the short end has gods attached to it. He's got a tragic past, and when he gets to Camp Half Blood, he really questions his future... seeing as how he believes he's bad luck for his cabin mates. He has a fun little sense of humor though, quirky without being over the top or forced, and the way he's always creating things is really entertaining. He's bright without being unbelievably brilliant... he still feels like the kid he is... and he appropriately is upset when bad things happen.  I enjoyed his honesty with himself as well. There's one point where he's forced to tell Jason the worst things he thinks about him, and Leo is able to admit to himself that those were his thoughts, not ones he was forced to think (think "Harry/Ron" syndrome)... and I was really glad to see that one of the "side" characters (because it's obvious that Jason is the Percy character from the last series) is given a lot of really cool powers and personality.

Other Characters: You see a return of beloved characters from the Percy Jackson series here... Annabelle, Thalia, the kids from the houses, Chiron... notably missing... Grover and Percy. A new character that was introduced was their teacher, Gleeson Hedge from the school they met at (another faun) who is a funny little guy, and is refrained from being annoying by not being involved TOO much in the story. He was a nice, cute little touch. Also added was Piper's father, Tristan, who is haunted by both his heritage and Piper's mother leaving him. One final character I adored from this series was Festus, the Bronze Dragon (as seen on the cover of the book). I truly enjoyed Festus and thought he was the cutest dragon ever. Of course there were the gods... but they stuck pretty much to how you'd expect them to be. There were some villians that were interesting as well, but half the fun of a Rick Riordan book is trying to figure out what nasty you're about to meet, so no names mentioned for fear of spoiling the fun!

Quality of Writing:
Riordan dives right in with mystery and action. Jason wakes up not knowing who he is, and pages later, they're fighting for their lives. The action and adventure keep up, with practically no lulls... and I was a bit appreciative of the fact that Riordan wrote in them catching sleep whenever they could... because you seriously wondered how these characters had the energy to keep going! Ahh, the benefits of being half god. Seriously though, a dynamic, engaging read.

Ending:
You saw the end of this one coming, but that didn't make it any less interesting. I LOVE Riordan's explanation of things, and I can't wait to hear more of it. I think it's creative and downright believable. I'd love to go into detail about it... but that would be serious spoiler territory.
I also really enjoy the wrap-up on Piper's Dad... using characters from earlier in the story, you can't help but feel satisfied with the outcome. It also really pulls together the title of the book, and promises a lot more fun adventure to come.

Plot:
The plot in this one, as far as I'm concerned, is amazing. I absolutely LOVE Riordan's ability to bring all of these ancient myths into a book for kids and make them 100% intense and exciting. It's really paying tribute to all of these old, classic, amazing stories that are often presented so dryly that children take no interest. In this particular book, the way Riordan is dealing with the different aspects of the gods is ingenious. It calls into question things you took for granted in the former books (The Percy Jackson Series) and it also makes you seriously think about the gods themselves, and how different cultures viewed the same thing from different angles. Honestly, the plot in this series has me even more interested than the plot in the Percy Jackson books ever did. I think Riordan is doing something really creative and fun here.

Believability of World:
Believable. This is a book that's like the Harry Potter ones... it's set in our own world, just with this amazing, mysterious world existing along side it. And I still am amused that this is Riordan's explanation of ADD and ADHD. I think that's a wonderfully imaginative solution to what I think is an over-diagnosed problem.



Overall Grade: A+ (Seriously. This books ability to be both interesting and educational is phenomenal. Would I have my children read this? YES. Would I tout this book and try to get as many other people to read it as possible? YES. Will I sing its praises far and wide? YES. I *really* love these books... and if you're avoiding the Riordan books for any of the following reasons:
1. You avoid books that are over-hyped, on principal
2. You saw the movie and it was silly (which it was, ESPECIALLY the end, grr)
3. Mythology is boring... *yawn*
Then CUT IT OUT. These books deserve to be read. They are wonderful stories... all of what I've read by Riordan so far, which includes the entire Percy Jackson series, The Red Pyramid and The Lost Hero. Read them, or, if you have no interest, then at least let your kids read them. They'll learn something.

And check out Rick Riordan's blog here: http://rickriordan.blogspot.com/