Song of the Lioness: Lioness Rampant, by Tamora Pierce

Alanna is now a true knight and her gender has been revealed to
all. She is on a quest to find the Dominion Jewel, a precious gem
which, in the hands of a true ruler, will allow Tortall to flourish.
But as she searches for grains of truth among myths and hear-
say, her old enemy Duke Roger comes back from the dead
determined to stop her.

I enjoyed this rousing end to the Song of the Lioness series.
Bold, realistically-flawed characters, excellent writing and an
intriguing setting make it an awesome read for people who
enjoy fantasy.
5 stars,
Emme

Quidditch Through the Ages, by Kennilworthy Whisp

What Harry Potter reader hasn't wanted to know more about
Quidditch? This handy little book explains the ins and outs of the
game, rules, and teams. It has a section about different
broomsticks and even a nice section on the evolution of Quidditch.
It even talks about a few other popular wizarding sports played on
broomsticks.
5 stars,
Emme

Dealing With Dragons, by Patricia Wrede

Cimorene is not a proper princess. She has bribed or ordered
people in the castle to teach her fencing, magic, philosophy,
cooking, economics and juggling, but just as she gets into a subject
her parents find out and make her stop. Finally she just snaps and
runs away to become a dragons princess. Now she cooks, cleans
and does odd jobs for Kazul, her dragon.

Enjoyable children's book. I LOVED it when I was a tween, it seems
a wee bit flat and simple to me now, but still makes me laugh.

4 stars
Emme

Throne of Jade, by Naomi Novik

When England captured a French ship and took a dragon egg that
turned out to be a rare Chinese breed they though they had gotten
lucky. But now China wants the dragon back and are threatening
war if they don't get him. England quickly agrees to send him back,
but they are about to find out that if a dragon doesn't want to go
somewhere it is very difficult to make him.

Really, really brilliant! I highly recommend this alternate history
series to fans of good writing, great dragons and witty characters.
5 stars

Daughter of the Forest, by Juliet Marillier

: Sorcha lives with her six brothers and widower father. Her father
is too sad and distant to really take care of her, but her brothers
raise her as best they can, teaching her all their skills. Then one
day a their father brings home a strange woman who he says he
is going to marry. The children are frighted by the woman, who
seems to have bewitched their father, causing him to do
whatever she says and ignore her threats and harm to others.
The children try to convince him of the danger so the witch
curses the brothers and Sorcha escapes only by luck.

This lovely and elegant retelling of the Story of the Six Swans
was captivating. I just couldn't put it down! I loved the
characters and beautiful settings. I warn any readers who dislike
crying over a story to avoid this book, I am not a person inclined
to cry very much but I admit to having cried both sad and happy
tears.
5 stars,
emme

The Seer and the Sword, by Victoria Hanley

Princess Torina has always lived the pampered life of royalty. One
day her father brings home the son of one of his enemies to be her
slave. Torina frees him and befriends him. Raised as royalty among
his people, he has no problem talking to Torina as an equal and he
opens her eyes to a larger world then her castle.

Interesting story. Although I found the plot rather simple, even
dull, I liked the writing and the characters. Both villains and heros
are complicated folk. Good teens book.
4 stars

Neuromancer, by William Gibson

Case is living a hard and fast life. He runs drugs, arms and any
other illegal thing. He doesn't care if he gets caught and doesn't
care if he dies. He doesn't care about much. Then one day he
comes home to find a leather-clad, gun-wielding girl with
knives under her nails and glasses permanently attached to her
eyes sitting in his house. Her boss has a mission for him, and
she is here to make sure he can't refuse.

I found this book very interesting, but a wee bit too fast paced. I
would have liked a few more details on many things, rather then
skipping on to the next happening. The writing was great and
the characters were fresh and engaging.
4 stars,
Emme

The Devil Inside, by Jenny Black

Morgan is an exorcist, she removes demons who have taken over
unwilling hosts. She is one of the best, and almost never fails. After
a particularly nasty job, in which the demon almost beat her in the
fight for the host, Morgan heads home. On night she sleepwalks
and writes a note. The note is from a demon that has gotten inside
her. Morgan now has to face her worst fear... sharing her body.

Average book. Not too boring, but not fascinating either.
Characters felt a bit stereotyped. Plot, not overly engaging.
3 stars
Emme

The Girls Take Over, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Eddie is the first girl to try out for the baseball team, something
which was always Jake's "thing." Caroline is determined to
become class spelling champion, while Wally struggles to beat
her. Irritated with the girls for doing things they are good at, the
Hatford boys challenge the girls to a bottle race. Whoever's
bottle goes the farthest wins, and gets to be king or queen for a
day.

An entertaining book for children, but I think I am quite too old
for it anymore. I found it highly fun when I was a little girl, but it
seems simplistic and flat to me now. I would recommend it to
the tween group.
4 stars,
emme

The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak

Asking me why I like this book is crazy, because the answer would be WAY to long. There are so many likable things about it.
The Book Thief is about a girl living around the time of the holocaust, but as oppose to other books about that time period, it isn't completely centered on the hard time everyone is having. Instead, it is about her, her foster parents, and her best friend Rudy. You see glimpses of the sad world around her when they home a Jew in their basement and the whole family has to keep a giant secret. Through it all, the mother is just as mean but funny, the father is just as loving, and Rudy is just as amazing.
The Book Thief made me laugh, made me think, and made me cry so much I couldn't see the page, . It has the best Voice a book could ever have, and is written from a surprising viewpoint.
Markus Zusak is a complete genius, and anyone who has read this book would agree.
5 stars

Claimed by Shadow, by Karen Chance

Cassandra Palmer is heir to title of Pythia, the world's strongest
clairvoyant. Normally the heir would be trained from birth, but
Cassie isn't exactly normal. Being raised by vampires and living
on the run have turned Cassie into someone on the fringes of
every kind of society, not to mention that the whole being
clairvoyant and seeing ghosts isn't exactly helpful if you want to
blend in. Even worse she discovers that a powerful vampire put a
spell on her to warn off any would be suiters and that a rouge
wanna-be Pythia is trying to kill her. She has to try and take out
the girl who is after her, while carefully avoiding any contact
with men that the spell thinks may be a threat.

Karen Chance's first book was quite good, with only minor
problems; this one is much better. Chance keeps the fab
characters and interesting, high speed plot but fixes her pacing
problems and her writing flows much more smoothly. I was
delighted that I was correct and the author just needed to work
through the kinks to write a brilliant story.

5 stas,
Emme

The Lady Grace Mysteries: Assassin, by Patricia Finney

ady Grace is one of Queen Elizabeth's Maids of Honor. She is a
bit of a wild child for this time period; she runs down stairs, is
often scolded for being overly loud, and her best friends are a
tumbler and laundry maid. But when Sir Gerald, one of her
suiters, is stabbed to death after a ball where she announces her
intention to marry Sir Robert fingers begin to point. And most of
them are pointed at her husband to be. Grace decides to try and
solve the murder so that he can go free.

This book is written as Grace's Daybook (diary.) The author is
clearly comfortable with this format which is very nice, and
although I found the writing a bit more simple then I like, it is
probably because this is a children's book. I recommend this
book to historical fiction fans.

4 stars,
Emme

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, by Alan Bradley

Eleven year old Flavia de Luce is a beginning chemist with a
particular fondness for poisons. Her family seems pretty normal:
two older sisters, one book obsessed and other obsessed with
herself, one dead mother and a kind if absent-minded father.
But when a dead bird turns up on their doorstep with a postage
stamp attached to its beak and shortly later Flavia discovers a
dead man in her garden, it becomes clear that her family has
dark secrets Flavia had no idea existed.

This mystery completely sucked me in. The protagonist is clever
and yet still seems like a child, not an adult in a child's body
which is what seems to happen a lot in mystery's where the
investigator is a young person. I liked the writing style and the
voice of Flavia rang very true to a intelligent child's way of
seeing the world as neither an adult sees it or a child who
doesn't pay as close attention to their world.
5 stars,
Emme

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, by Gregory Maguire

We are all familiar with the story of Cinderella. We know what
happened, or so we think. But what about the stepsisters? Who
were they and what did they think about Cinderella? How did
they end up as Cinderella's stepsisters? Were they really evil?
This book attempts to show the story from a different light.

I thought this book would be very good. It has many excellent
reviews and sounds like a fascinating plot. I was sorely
disappointed. The writing dragged and was not very interesting.
The characters were underdeveloped and flat. I was having to
force myself to finish it. I don't recommend this book.
1 star