Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday (started at The Printed Page and now a traveling meme) is at chaotic compendiums this month and is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks & audio books do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's March and still cold and snowy here but I had to change my blog background to make it more springy and colorful. I did keep the snowy mailbox photo though because that's exactly how it looks. Ugh. I am ready to come out of my winter coma and play in the sunshine! Until then (and it could be months still) I've got my books to keep me warm. I've been cutting back to try to catch up but we all know how that goes! I've been trying to stay away from my library for the same reason, although I do have to stop there today... I have a box of books to give away too. I'm always happy to share I just need to get a giveaway put together. Stay tuned. Anyway, here are the goodies that made their way to my house last week. I hope you had a great (and warm) week at your house!

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Free from Amazon (ebook)

The Taken by Vicki Pettersson
Free from B&N (ebook)

The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
For review from Simon & Schuster (special edition paperback)

Teaser Tuesdays

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by Miz B of Should Be Reading and asks you to :

1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a random page
3 . Share 2 "teaser" sentences also citing the title of the book and the author and in that way people can have great recommendations if they like the "teaser".
4. Please avoid spoilers!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Even as the sirens picked up from the south, even as the red and whites flickered over the lawn soon after, Ash lay still in the grass, letting the rain cascade down around her, hoping her mind would take her some place - any place - other than here on the lawn with a dead girl.

~page 36-37
Wildefire by Karsten Knight (7/26/11)

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday (started at The Printed Page and now a traveling meme) is at Mari Reads this month and is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks & audio books do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

Lots of goodies last week and quite a variety too! It looks like I'll have some rainy days to read inside but hopefully more and more sunny days to read outside. I hope you get plenty of good books and sunshine too!


Barleywater Runs Away by John Boyne
From Random House for review

In Noah Barleywater Runs Away, bestselling author John Boyne explores the world of childhood and the adventures that we can all have there. Noah is running away from his problems, or at least that's what he thinks, the day he takes the untrodden path through the forest. When he comes across a very unusual toyshop and meets the even more unusual toymaker he's not sure what to expect. But the toymaker has a story to tell, a story full of adventure, and wonder and broken promises. And Noah travels with him on a journey that will change his life for ever. A thought-provoking fable for our modern world from the author of the bestselling and critically acclaimed Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.

Graveminder by Melissa Marr
From HarperCollins

The New York Times bestselling author of the Wicked Lovely series delivers her first novel for adults, a story about the living, the dead, and a curse that binds them.

Rebekkah Barrow never forgot the tender attention her grandmother, Maylene, bestowed upon the dead of Claysville, the town where Bek spent her adolescence. There wasn’t a funeral that Maylene didn’t attend, and at each Rebekkah watched as Maylene performed the same unusual ritual: three sips from a small silver flask followed by the words “Sleep well, and stay where I put you.”

Now Maylene is dead and Bek must go back to the place—and the man—she left a decade ago. But what she soon discovers is that Maylene was murdered and that there was good reason for her odd traditions. It turns out that in placid Claysville, the worlds of the living and the dead are dangerously connected. Beneath the town lies a shadowy, lawless land ruled by the enigmatic Charles, aka Mr. D—a place from which the dead will return if their graves are not properly minded. Only the Graveminder, a Barrow woman, and the current Undertaker, Byron, can set things to right once the dead begin to walk.

A Time For Patriots by Dale Brown
From HarperCollins

Welcome to Battlefield America

When murderous bands of militiamen begin roaming the western United States and attacking government agencies, it will take a dedicated group of the nation's finest and toughest civilian airmen to put an end to the homegrown insurgency. U.S. Air Force Lieutenant-General Patrick McLanahan vows to take to the skies to join the fight, but when his son, Bradley, also signs up, they find themselves caught in a deadly game against a shadowy opponent.

When the stock markets crash and the U.S. economy falls into a crippling recession, everything changes for newly elected president Kenneth Phoenix. Politically exhausted from a bruising and divisive election, Phoenix must order a series of massive tax cuts and wipe out entire cabinet-level departments to reduce government spending. With reductions in education and transportation, an incapacitated National Guard, and the loss of public safety budgets, entire communities of armed citizens band together for survival and mutual protection. Against this dismal backdrop, a SWAT team is ambushed and radioactive materials are stolen by a group calling themselves the Knights of the True Republic. Is the battle against the government about to be taken to a new and deadlier level?

In this time of crisis, a citizen organization rises to the task of protecting their fellow countrymen: the Civil Air Patrol (CAP), the U.S. Air Force auxiliary. The Nevada Wing—led by retired Air Force Lieutenant-General Patrick McLanahan, his son, Bradley, and other volunteers—uses their military skills in the sky and on the ground to hunt down violent terrorists. But how will Patrick respond when extremists launch a catastrophic dirty bomb attack in Reno, spreading radiological fallout for miles? And when Bradley is caught in a deadly double-cross that jeopardizes the CAP, Patrick will have to fight to find out where his friends' loyalties lie: Are they with him and the CAP or with the terrorists?

With A Time for Patriots, the New York Times bestselling master of the modern thriller Dale Brown brings the battle home to explore a terrifying possibility—the collapse of the American Republic.

Wildefire by Karsten Knight
From Simon & Schuster

Ashline Wilde is having a rough sophomore year. She’s struggling to find her place as the only Polynesian girl in school, her boyfriend just cheated on her, and now her runaway sister, Eve, has decided to barge back into her life. When Eve’s violent behavior escalates and she does the unthinkable, Ash transfers to a remote private school nestled in California’s redwoods, hoping to put the tragedy behind her. But her fresh start at Blackwood Academy doesn’t go as planned. Just as Ash is beginning to enjoy the perks of her new school—being captain of the tennis team, a steamy romance with a hot, local park ranger—Ash discovers that a group of gods and goddesses have mysteriously enrolled at Blackwood…and she’s one of them. To make matters worse, Eve has resurfaced to haunt Ash, and she’s got some strange abilities of her own. With a war between the gods looming over campus, Ash must master the new fire smoldering within before she clashes with her sister one more time… And when warm and cold fronts collide, there’s guaranteed to be a storm.

Joy For Beginners by Erica Bauermeister
From Putnam

At an intimate, festive dinner party in Seattle, six women gather to celebrate their friend Kate's recovery from cancer. Wineglass in hand, Kate strikes a bargain with them. To celebrate her new lease on life, she'll do the one thing that's always terrified her: white-water rafting. But if she goes, all of them will also do something they always swore they'd never do-and Kate is going to choose their adventures.

Shimmering with warmth, wit, and insight, Joy for Beginners is a celebration of life: unexpected, lyrical, and deeply satisfying.

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday at The Printed Page (this month at Let Them Read Books) is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks & audio books do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

It's mid-December and I have lots of shopping to do and lots of good books to read (guess which one is more fun!) Was your mailbox full last week?

Wither
by Lauren DeStefano

from Simon & Schuster for review

What if you knew exactly when you would die?

Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out.

When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home.

But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limted time she has left.

Jinx
by Jennifer Estep

Bought (Brand new $1.25!)

Sparks are going to fly in this new superhero romance from the author of Karma Girl and Hot Mama.

Bella would feel better about being born into a family of superheroes if her own superpower was something she could control-or at least use. But static electricity? That's less a power than a jinx. Then she stumbles on two things no supergirl should be without: an ubervillain and a dashing-if shady-stranger named Debonair. Bella's about to learn just how well love and danger mix.

Allison Hewitt is Trapped
by Madeleine Roux

from Goodreads First Reads for review

Allison Hewitt and her five colleagues at the Brooks and Peabody Bookstore are trapped together when the zombie outbreak hits. Allison reaches out for help through her blog, writing on her laptop and utilizing the military's emergency wireless network (SNET). It may also be her only chance to reach her mother. But as the reality of their situation sinks in, Allison’s blog becomes a harrowing account of her edge-of-the-seat adventures (with some witty sarcasm thrown in) as she and her companions fight their way through ravenous zombies and sometimes even more dangerous humans.

Magnus Maximus, a Marvelous Measurer
by Kathleen T. Pelley

autographed from author

Magnus Maximus is a marvelous measurer. He measures wetness and dryness, nearness and farness, and everything in between. When a lion escapes from a traveling circus, Magnus and his trusty measuring tape come to the rescue. Now a hero, all is well until the day Magnus accidentally breaks his glasses, and he sees—for the first time—that he’s been missing out on life’s simple pleasures.

Kathleen T. Pelley’s marvelous tale and S. D. Schindler's inspired illustrations remind us that the best things in life are not meant to be measured, but treasured.

Review: Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick

Patch and Nora's

story continues...

Nora should have known her life was far from perfect. Despite starting a relationship with her guardian angel, Patch (who, title aside, can be described as anything but angelic), and surviving an attempt on her life, things are not looking up. Patch is starting to pull away, and Nora can't figure out if it's for her best interest or if his interest has shifted to her arch-enemy Marcie Millar. Not to mention that Nora is haunted by images of her father and she becomes obsessed with finding out what really happened to him that night he left for Portland and never came home. The farther Nora delves into the mystery of her father's death, the more she comes to question if her Nephilim blood line has something to do with it as well as why she seems to be in danger more than the average girl. Since Patch isn't answering her questions and seems to be standing in her way, she has to start finding the answers on her own. Relying too heavily on the fact that she has a guardian angel puts Nora at risk again and again. But can she really count on Patch, or is he hiding secrets darker than she can even imagine?

The first book in this series Hush, Hush was interesting and had mystery but some of characters actions made me crazy. Strange occurrences in a new house and the teen daughter stays there alone... repeatedly! Those kinds of things were frustrating but I was curious about the rest of the story and I kept reading.

I did like this book better than the first one. The story was more developed and the writing more mature. It was good to get some answers to the mysteries of Patch and Nora's past. I think I've been more interested in that than their present relationship. I'm sure part of that has to do with the fact that I'm not a teenager and I don't relate as well (although I do remember!) to some of the behavior. There was so much drama that kept things on edge but was so unnecessary. Of course Nora would be jealous if Patch seemed interested in Marcie but there were many times that I wondered why she didn't just ask him herself. And when they know there are life and death decisions involved it seems like they would try to have much better communication to avoid misunderstandings. Teen love is already hard but they were making it so much harder. It was an interesting storyline, it just felt drawn out to me.

The characters are becoming more developed and interesting now that we are learning their backgrounds. New characters were introduced including the villain with the unknown identity, the Black Hand. The mysteries are more complex and as we peel back the layers we start to get some answers, but only some. Nora is learning more about her Nephilim (that word was used way too much) bloodline and she knows there is more to the death of her father. She feels she may be responsible in some way and has no idea who she can trust anymore, even Patch. Of course, there is another cliff hanger ending so be prepared! I look forward to the next installment in the series Tempest coming in 2011.

These covers have always grabbed my attention and I think they are very striking. There is interesting information on the author's blog about how they were made and outtakes from the photo shoots. The first cover came from a photo of a model jumping on a trampoline - clever!

Thank you to Teen Simon & Schuster for an arc to review.

Hush, Hush (book 1) available now
Tempest (book 3) is due out Fall 2011.

Author - beccafitzpatrick.com

Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release date: 10/19/10
Pages: 427
Price/format: $18.99/hardcover
Type: teen fiction

Review: White Cat by Holly Black

Marks forget than whenever
something's too good to be true,
that's because it's a con.

Cassel comes from a family of curse workers -- people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they're all mobsters, or con artists. Except for Cassel. He hasn't got the magic touch, so he's an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. You just have to ignore one small detail -- he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.

Ever since, Cassel has carefully built up a façade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his façade starts crumbling when he starts sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat that wants to tell him something. He's noticing other disturbing things, too, including the strange behavior of his two brothers. They are keeping secrets from him, caught up in a mysterious plot. As Cassel begins to suspect he's part of a huge con game, he also wonders what really happened to Lila. Could she still be alive? To find that out, Cassel will have to out-con the conmen.

Holly Black has created a gripping tale of mobsters and dark magic where a single touch can bring love -- or death -- and your dreams might be more real than your memories.

After reading this author's middle grade series The Spiderwick Chronicles I was curious to see what this book would be about. She came up with another unique and interesting twist on a different reality. There are current cultural and pop references that let you know this is set in the present day but there's a magical, fairy tale twist. Wearing gloves is the norm to protect you from the dangerous touch of oily con men. They are classic bad guys, bullies who take advantage of the weak. Cassel is a teenage boy living a lonely, nonmagical life among a family of these bullies. His older brothers have many secrets and he suspects they've involved him and taken his memories.

The brothers and mobsters and characters you love to hate and I do admit that I didn't like them at all. Their behavior is selfish and dangerous and Cassel has been forced to do their bidding. Much of his past is a blur and we learn pieces of it as he does. He lives with enormous guilt from the murder and an overwhelming sense that there is much more to the story. His unusual roommate and crazy grandfather seem to be the only people he can turn to and they provide some entertaining moments.

The story is an interesting crime drama as well as a mystery. It felt slow as the beginning but the suspense increases and wraps up in a satisfying ending although the story is left open for more to be told. Cassel has only begun to learn about his past and the family's secrets. Book 2: Red Glove is due next spring and will carry on this dark tale. I will be looking for the next installment in the series.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for an ARC to review.

Red Glove (Book 2 of The Curse Workers series)

Coming 4/5/2011

Trilogy -thecurseworkers.com

Author - blackholly.com

Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release date: 5/4/10
Price/format: $17.99/hardcover
Pages: 310
Type: teen fiction

Review: Spaceheadz by Jon Scieszka and Francesco Sedita

Meet SPHDZ.
Be SPCHDZ.
Save the world.

The perfect combination of the age old experience of holding and pouring over a physical book with newest media technology that kids love!

Michael K. just started fifth grade at a new school. As if that wasn't hard enough, the kids he seems to have made friends with apparently aren't kids at all. They are aliens. Real aliens who have invaded our planet in the form of school children and a hamster. They have a mission to complete: to convince 3,400,001 kids to BE SPHDZ. But with a hamster as their leader, "kids" who talk like walking advertisements, and Michael K as their first convert, will the SPHDZ be able to keep their cover and pull off their assignment?

This was a quirky, goofy story tailored to young children, especially boys. The cover grabs your attention with it's bright colors, whimsical text and clever illustrations that are also carried throughout the book. The artwork was not finalized in the ARC so there are even more illustrations in the finished edition.

Michael K. is the new kid, a sympathetic character who's having a rough first day at school. Add in the other new kids and the class hamster, who just happen to be aliens, and it can't get any worse, can it? No one would ever believe his classmates were aliens and they never stop repeating the commercials they've learned from us. (Think outside the bun!, Stronger than dirt! - Even if the kids don't recognize these products and jingles the parents probably will.) Special Agent Umber is suspicious of alien activity and he may be ambitious but he's also a bit inept. Who can we really trust to save the world? Since this is the first of the series we'll have time to figure it out and each book will also have it's own interactive website. I look forward to following along!

Author Jon Scieszka has several hilarious children's books. The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and The Stinky Cheese Man was a favorite at our house.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for an ARC to review.

www.sphdz.com

www.kids.simonandschuster.com

Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release date: 6/22/10
Pages: 144
Price/format: $14.99/hardcover
Type: middle grade fiction
Ages: 7-10, grades 2-5

Review: Benjamin Pratt & The Keepers of the School by Andrew Clements

One secret mission.
One secret society.
One chance to save their
school from total destruction.

Benjamin Pratt’s school is about to become the site of a new amusement park. It sounds like a dream come true! But lately, Ben has been wonder if he’s going to like an amusement park in the middle of his town—with all the buses and traffic and eight dollar slices of pizza. It’s going to change everything. And, Ben is not so big on all the new changes in his life, like how his dad has moved out and started living in the marina on what used to be the "family” sailboat. Maybe it would be nice if the school just stayed as it is. He likes the school. Loves it, actually. It’s over 200 years old and sits right on the harbor. The playground has ocean breezes and the classrooms have million dollar views…MILLION DOLLAR views. And after a chance—and final—run-in with the school janitor, Ben starts to discover that these MILLION DOLLAR views have a lot to do with the deal to sell the school property. But, as much as the town wants to believe it, the school does not belong to the local government. It belongs to the CHILDREN and these children have the right to defend it! Don’t think Ben, his friend Jill (and the tag-along Robert) can ruin a multimillion dollar real estate deal? Then you don’t know the history and the power of the Keepers of the School. A suspenseful six book series, book one, We the Children, starts the battle on land and on sea. It’s a race to keep the school from turning into a ticket booth and these kids are about to discover just how threatening a little knowledge can be.

I was thrilled to discover a new series by the author of Frindle (a favorite at our house) and was lucky enough to receive an ARC. Chapter One does dive into the drama and immediately grabs your attention. Benjamin is a very likable, smart young man who is already struggling with his own personal problems and now he must fight to save his school from demolition. Although this was a task thrust upon him he realizes the importance and the urgency and uses old fashioned detective work to begin deciphering clues left by a secret group sworn to protect it.

An interesting mystery starts in this first book but isn't resolved by the end and will carry over to the rest of the series. I enjoyed following the clues along with the characters although many of the sailing references were lost on me. Fortunately that doesn't matter! This is a story that adults will enjoy too. I look forward to following the adventure.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for providing an ARC of this book.

Author's website

Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release date: 4/6/10
Price/format: $14.99/hardcover
Type: Middle grade fiction
Age: 7-10, grades 2-5

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday at The Printed Page is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks & audio books do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

I've got two weeks to catch up on and have lots of goodies! I hope you had a wonderful week too!

Private
by James Patterson

For review from Hatchette

Former Marine and CIA agent Jack Morgan inherits his father's renowned security and detective business--along with a case load that tests him to the breaking point. Getting to the bottom of an NFL gambling scandal and an unsolved LAPD investigation into 18 school girl slayings would be enough. On top of all that, Morgan takes on solving the horrific murder of his best friend's wife. As Morgan fights the urge to exact brutal revenge on that killer, he has to navigate a workplace imbroglio that could blow the roof off his elite agency. And it's an especially explosive situation . . . because the love affair is his own.

Think of a Number
by John Verdon

For review from Crown Publishing Group

Arriving in the mail over a period of weeks are taunting letters that end with a simple declaration, “Think of any number…picture it…now see how well I know your secrets.” Amazingly, those who comply find that the letter writer has predicted their random choice exactly. For Dave Gurney, just retired as the NYPD’s top homicide investigator and forging a new life with his wife, Madeleine, in upstate New York, the letters are oddities that begin as a diverting puzzle but quickly ignite a massive serial murder investigation.

What police are confronted with is a completely baffling killer, one who is fond of rhymes filled with threats and warnings, whose attention to detail is unprecedented, and who has an uncanny knack for disappearing into thin air. Even more disturbing, the scale of his ambition seems to widen as events unfold.

Brought in as an investigative consultant, Dave Gurney soon accomplishes deductive breakthroughs that leave local police in awe. Yet, even as he matches wits with his seemingly clairvoyant opponent, Gurney’s tragedy-marred past rises up to haunt him, his marriage approaches a dangerous precipice, and finally, a dark, cold fear builds that he’s met an adversary who can’t be stopped.

In the end, fighting to keep his bearings amid a whirlwind of menace and destruction, Gurney sees the truth of what he’s become – what we all become when guilty memories fester – and how his wife Madeleine’s clear-eyed advice may be the only answer that makes sense.

A work that defies easy labels -- at once a propulsive masterpiece of suspense and an absorbing immersion in the lives of characters so real we seem to hear their heartbeats – Think of a Number is a novel you’ll not soon forget.

Crescendo
by Becca Fitzpatrick
For review from Simon & Schuster

The sequel to the New York Times Best selling phenomenon, Hush, Hush!

Nora should have know her life was far from perfect. Despite starting a relationship with her guardian angel, Patch (who, title aside, can be described anything but angelic), and surviving an attempt on her life, things are not looking up. Patch is starting to pull away and Nora can't figure out if it's for her best interest or if his interest has shifted to her arch-enemy Marcie Millar. Not to mention that Nora is haunted by images of her father and she becomes obsessed with finding out what really happened to him that night he left for Portland and never came home.

The farther Nora delves into the mystery of her father's death, the more she comes to question if her Nephilim blood line has something to do with it as well as why she seems to be in danger more than the average girl. Since Patch isn't answering her questions and seems to be standing in her way, she has to start finding the answers on her own. Relying too heavily on the fact that she has a guardian angel puts Nora at risk again and again. But can she really count on Patch or is he hiding secrets darker than she can even imagine?

Lobsterland
by Susan Carlton

Win from the author - autographed, plus extra goodies!

Tourists may think life on an island off the coast of Maine is quaint, but Charlotte knows better. She’s tired of her island prison (it has a real name, but she calls it “Bleak”), and she’s sure that a life in the great anywhere-else is heaps better than one that revolves around catching a ferry to the mainland. She even has the perfect solution: boarding school. But who will take care of the siblets? Will clinically crazy Mom or organic-obsessed Dad be able to hold things together without her there? And is Charlotte ready to leave love-of-her-life Noah behind? Susan Carlton has created a remarkably vivid, strong character in Charlotte; her intelligence, charm, and bitingly sarcastic wit are sure to win over anyone who has ever wanted more than Bleak.

Passing Strange
by Daniel Waters

For review from Non-Fiction Books

Karen DeSonne always passed as a normal (if pale) teenager; with her friends, with her family, and at school. Passing cost her the love of her life. And now that Karen’s dead, she’s still passing—this time, as alive. Karen DeSonne just happens to be an extremely human-like zombie. Meanwhile, Karen’s dead friends have been fingered in a high-profile murder, causing a new round of antizombie regulations that have forced them into hiding. Karen soon learns that the “murder” that destroyed their non-life was a hoax, staged by Pete Martinsburg and his bioist zealots. Obtaining enough evidence to expose the fraud and prove her friends’ innocence means doing the unthinkable: becoming Pete’s girlfriend. Karen’s only hope is that the enemy never realizes who she really is—because the consequences would be worse than death.

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday at The Printed Page is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks & audio books do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

I'm late but only a few goodies to report. Hope you all had a wonderful week!

Spaceheadz
by Jon Scieszka and Francsco Sedita

From Simon & Schuster

The perfect combination of the age old experience of holding and pouring over a physical book with newest media technology that kids love! Michael K. just started fifth grade at a new school. As if that wasn't hard enough, the kids he seems to have made friends with apparently aren't kids at all. They are aliens. Real aliens who have invaded our planet in the form of school children and a hamster. They have a mission to complete: to convince 3,400,001 kids to BE SPHDZ. But with a hamster as their leader, "kids" who talk like walking advertisements, and Michael K as their first convert, will the SPHDZ be able to keep their cover and pull off their assignment?

Water For Elephants
by Sara Gruen

From a used book sale sponsored by the local hospital (I loved this book so I had to get a copy but I think I will share with my sister-in-law)

"Though he may not speak of them, the memories still dwell inside Jacob Jankowski's ninety-something-year-old mind. Memories of himself as a young man, tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. Memories of a world filled with freaks and clowns, with wonder and pain and anger and passion; a world with its own narrow, irrational rules, its own way of life, and its own way of death. The world of the circus: to Jacob it was both salvation and a living hell." Jacob was there because his luck had run out - orphaned and penniless, he had no direction until he landed on this locomotive "ship of fools." It was the early part of the Great Depression, and everyone in this third-rate circus was lucky to have any job at all. Marlena, the star of the equestrian act, was there because she fell in love with the wrong man, a handsome circus boss with a wide mean streak. And Rosie the elephant was there because she was the great gray hope, the new act that was going to be the salvation of the circus; the only problem was, Rosie didn't have an act - in fact, she couldn't even follow instructions. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of love and trust, and ultimately, it was their only hope for survival.

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday at The Printed Page is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks & audio books do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

Only a few books this week but that was plenty and they look so good! This might be the week the hammock comes out of storage too. I have plenty to read and that's the first place I'm going!

Keeper
by Kathi Appelt

From Simon & Schuster

Keeper is a breathtaking, magical novel from National Book Award finalist and Newbery Honoree Kathi Appelt.

To ten-year-old Keeper the moon is her chance to fix all that has gone wrong ... and so much has gone wrong.

But she knows who can make things right again: Maggie Marie, her mermaid mother, who swam away when Keeper was just three. A blue moon calls the mermaids to gather at the sandbar, and that's exactly where Keeper is headed - in a small boat. In the middle of the night, with only her dog, BD (Best Dog), and seagull named Captain. When the riptide pulls at the boat, tugging her away from the shore and deep into the rough waters of the Gulf of mexico, panic sets in and the fairy tales that lured her out there go tumbling into the waves. Maybe the blue moon won't sparkle with mermaids and maybe - Oh, no ... "Maybe" is just to difficult to bear.

Incarceron
by Catherine Fisher

Won from Frenetic Reader

Incarceron -- a futuristic prison, sealed from view, where the descendants of the original prisoners live in a dark world torn by rivalry and savagery. It is a terrifying mix of high technology -- a living building which pervades the novel as an ever-watchful, ever-vengeful character, and a typical medieval torture chamber -- chains, great halls, dungeons. A young prisoner, Finn, has haunting visions of an earlier life, and cannot believe he was born here and has always been here. In the outer world, Claudia, daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, is trapped in her own form of prison -- a futuristic world constructed beautifully to look like a past era, an imminent marriage she dreads. She knows nothing of Incarceron, except that it exists. But there comes a moment when Finn, inside Incarceron, and Claudia, outside, simultaneously find a device -- a crystal key, through which they can talk to each other. And so the plan for Finn's escape is born ...

The Time Pirate
by Ted Bell

From Simon & Schuster

Here at a last is a new novel in the great tradition of grand adventure tales, the likes of which have seldom been seen since the works of Robert Louis Stevenson. This epic adventure is the story Nick McIver, a lad who sets out to become 'the hero of his own life'.

The setting is England, 1939, on the eve of war. Nick and his sister Kate live in a lighthouse on the smallest of the Channel Islands. Nick, Kate and their father are engaged in a desperate war of espionage with the German U-boat fleets that are circling the islands prior to invasion. The information they provide daily to Winston Churchill is vital as he tries to warn England of the imminent Nazi invasion.

In a surprising twist, Nick discovers an old seachest sent to him by his ancestor, Captain Nicholas McIver of the Royal Navy. Nick returns to the year 1805 via a time machine and help save Captain McIver and, indeed, Admiral Nelson's entire fleet from the treachery of the French and the mutinous Captain Billy Blood.

In the climactic sea battle with Captain Blood, Nick's love of the sea, and his feats of derring-do, indisputably prove his courage and heroism.

His sister Kate, meanwhile, has enlisted the aid of two of England's most brilliant detectives, Lord Hawke, and Commander Hobbes, to thwart the Nazis. They prove themselves more than a match for England's underwater enemies, when they discover the existence of Germany's super-secret experimental submarine.

In the end, Nick and Kate prove themselves heroes in the eyes of two of England's greatest warriors: Admiral Nelson and Winston Churchill.

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday at The Printed Page is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks & audio books do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

Another busy week but it sure doesn't feel like I accomplished much! It was great for books though and I have quite a variety of new goodies to enjoy. I hope you also had a bountiful week and a wonderful Easter!

The Passage
by Justin Cronin

From Random House

"It happened fast. Thirty-two minutes for one world to die, another to be born."

First, the unthinkable: a security breach at a secret U.S. government facility unleashes the monstrous product of a chilling military experiment. Then, the unspeakable: a night of chaos and carnage gives way to sunrise on a nation, and ultimately a world, forever altered. All that remains for the stunned survivors is the long fight ahead and a future ruled by fear—of darkness, of death, of a fate far worse.

As civilization swiftly crumbles into a primal landscape of predators and prey, two people flee in search of sanctuary. FBI agent Brad Wolgast is a good man haunted by what he's done in the line of duty. Six-year-old orphan Amy Harper Bellafonte is a refugee from the doomed scientific project that has triggered apocalypse. He is determined to protect her from the horror set loose by her captors. But for Amy, escaping the bloody fallout is only the beginning of a much longer odyssey—spanning miles and decades—towards the time and place where she must finish what should never have begun.

With The Passage, award-winning author Justin Cronin has written both a relentlessly suspenseful adventure and an epic chronicle of human endurance in the face of unprecedented catastrophe and unimaginable danger. Its inventive storytelling, masterful prose, and depth of human insight mark it as a crucial and transcendent work of modern fiction.

A Field Guide to Aliens
by Johan Olander

From Marshall Cavandish Children's Books

Concluding after years of reports and direct observations that approximately 45 percent of the world's monsters are actually aliens, Olander, author of A Field Guide to Monsters (2007), offers illustrated notes on 28 types of interstellar interloper-from the harmless Intergalactic Worrywarts of Planet Insecura and sewage-eating Sliver-Slurpers to more ominous False Santas, robotic onesie-clad Bebies and, scariest of all, Boogie-doods (aka Discos) from Planet Funk. On pages designed to look like well-thumbed scrapbook leaves, each entry includes extensive comments on diet, distinguishing features and details of Close Encounters, all sandwiched between a carefully drawn full-"body" portrait and a set of quicker "eyewitness" sketches and supposed snapshots. Though no replacement for Andrew Donkins's Alien Encyclopedia: The Ultimate Alien A-Z (1999), this makes a worthy addition to our too-thin store of space-alien lore and will leave younger readers on the alert for glimpses of Clustors, Liverpudlins and other nonhuman visitors. (Fiction? 10-12)

She's So Dead To Us
by Kieran Scott

From Simon & Schuster

When having money is all that matters, what happens when you lose it all?

Perfect, picturesque Orchard Hill. It was the last thing Ally Ryan saw in the rear-view mirror as her mother drove them out of town and away from the shame of the scandal her father caused when his hedge fund went south and practically bankrupted all their friends — friends that liked having trust funds and new cars, and that didn't like constant reminders that they had been swindled. So it was adios, Orchard Hill. Thanks for nothing.

Now, two years later, Ally's mother has landed a job back at the site of their downfall. So instead of Ally's new low-key, happy life, it'll be back into the snake pit with the likes of Shannen Moore and Hammond Ross.

But then there's Jake Graydon. Handsome, wealthy, bored Jake Graydon. He moved to town after Ally left and knows nothing of her scandal, but does know that he likes her. And she likes him. So off into the sunset they can go, right? Too bad Jake's friends have a problem with his new crush since it would make Ally happy. And if anyone deserves to be unhappy, it's Ally Ryan.

Ally was hoping to have left all the drama in the past, but some things just can't be forgotten. Isn't there more to life than money?

Bitten
by Kelley Armstrong

From PaperBack Swap

I've got to get out of here - I don't have a lot of time left. Philip doesn't stir when I slip from the bed. There's a pile of clothing tucked underneath my dresser so I won't have to risk the squeaks and groans of opening drawers and closets. I pick up my keys, clasping my fist around them so they don't jangle, ease open the door and creep into the hallway. My legs now itch as well as hurt and I curl my toes to see if the itching stops. It doesn't. It's too late to drive to a safe place now-the itching has crystallized into a sharp burn. I stride out onto the streets, looking for a quiet place to Change. Young, beautiful, and successful, Elena Michaels seems to have it all. Her happy, organized life follows a predictable pattern: filing stories for her job as a journalist, working out at the gym, living with her architect boyfriend, and lunching with her girlfriends from the office. And once a week, in the dead of night, she streaks through a downtown ravine, naked and furred, tearing at the throats of her animal prey. Elena Michaels is a werewolf. The man who made her one has been left behind, but his dark legacy has not. And though Elena struggles to maintain the normal life she's worked so hard to create, she cannot resist the call of the elite pack of werewolves from her past. Her feral instincts will lead her back to them and into a desperate war for survival that will test her own understanding of who, and what, she is.

Numbers
by Rachel Ward

From Secret Dreamworld of a Bookaholic

Ever since she was child, Jem has kept a secret: Whenever she meets someone new, no matter who, as soon as she looks into their eyes, a number pops into her head. That number is a date: the date they will die. Burdened with such awful awareness, Jem avoids relationships. Until she meets Spider, another outsider, and takes a chance. The two plan a trip to the city. But while waiting to ride the Eye ferris wheel, Jem is terrified to see that all the other tourists in line flash the same number. Today's number. Today's date. Terrorists are going to attack London. Jem's world is about to explode!

Speak
by Laurie Halse Anderson

From Secret Dreamworld of a Bookaholic

Since the beginning of the school year, high school freshman Melinda has found that it's been getting harder and harder for her to speak out loud: "My throat is always sore, my lips raw.... Every time I try to talk to my parents or a teacher, I sputter or freeze.... It's like I have some kind of spastic laryngitis." What could have caused Melinda to suddenly fall mute? Could it be due to the fact that no one at school is speaking to her because she called the cops and got everyone busted at the seniors' big end-of-summer party? Or maybe it's because her parents' only form of communication is Post-It notes written on their way out the door to their nine-to-whenever jobs. While Melinda is bothered by these things, deep down she knows the real reason why she's been struck mute... Laurie Halse Anderson's first novel is a stunning and sympathetic tribute to the teenage outcast. The triumphant ending, in which Melinda finds her voice, is cause for cheering (while many readers might also shed a tear or two). After reading Speak, it will be hard for any teen to look at the class scapegoat again without a measure of compassion and understanding for that person--who may be screaming beneath the silence. (Ages 13 and older)