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Summer Reading Challenge

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There are 76 days of summer. Since there's no school, I plan to read one book for each of those days. I'll be updating this post regularly to write which book I read every day. How will I choose these books? Well, I made a summer reading list with quite a few titles (I counted how many yesterday, but I don't remember the number anymore), and my sister is making me read ten books of her choosing, so I'm all set. Hopefully I can squeeze a reread of Percy Jackson and the Hunger Games somewhere in there, but who knows? Anyway, let the challenge begin! June 11: One of Us is Next by Karen M. McManus June 12: Escaping the Giant Wave by Peg Kehret June 13: June 14: June 15:  June 16: June 17: June 18: June 19: June 20: June 21: June 22: June 23: June 24: June 25: June 26: June 27: June 28: June 29: June 30: July 1: July 2: July 3: July 4: July 5: July 6: July 7: July 8: July 9: July 10: July 11: July 12: July 13: July 14: July 15: July 16: July 17: July 18: July 19: July 20: Ju...
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Review: A Torch Against the Night

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    A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir is the sequel to An Ember in the Ashes . It picks up right where the first book left off, with Laia and Elias escaping Blackcliff and heading to Kauf to free Laia's brother, Darin-- if he's still alive. Meanwhile, Helene is assigned her first mission as Blood Shrike: hunt down Elias and publicly execute him, with her family's life as a reward for success.     This book is, in my opinion, better than An Ember in the Ashes , mostly because Helene has a few chapters in her point of view. She's such a conflicted character, and her internal struggle had me writhing in sympathy while still enjoying the book. The writing is beautiful--Sabaa Tahir definitely has a way with first person present tense--and all the characters are fully fleshed out. This installment of the series also has some really nice plot twists. Plus the magic and magical creatures... those were really well written. On the downside, I didn't like Laia and Elia...
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Beyond Rick Riordan: Standalones and Series for Mythology Nerds

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Rick Riordan's mythology books revolutionized middle grade and young adult fantasy, and I know I'm not the only one who got hooked on mythology after reading The Lighting Thief.  I can reread a good book over and over without getting tired of it, but that doesn't mean I don't like new material, so I've set it upon myself to find other mythology books to explore. The Blackwell Pages Trilogy by K. L. Armstrong and Melissa Marr The summary: Thirteen-year-olds Matt, Laurie, and Fen live in Blackwell, South Dakota, a town where the majority of the population is descended from either Thor or Loki. But when the Norns foretell that Ragnarok is coming, and that Matt is destined to represent Thor in the final battle, he sets off on a legendary quest to alter the fate of Ragnarok. My take: The Blackwell Pages is a pretty good series. I mean, Fen was kind of a creep, and some of the characters could have been more developed, but I'd definitely recommend it to fans of Norse ...
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The Best Protagonists I've Read About (And the Worst Ones, Too)

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 Yesterday, I was thinking about what makes a good protagonist. I know a lot of people would say that the ideal main character is good, kind, and true, but that's the kind of character I hate, so I decided to present my view on the matter. To clarify, if a character has a point of view in the book, I consider them a protagonist. NOTE: I would say no offense to the authors of the Worst Protagonists, but... it's pretty hard not to mean offense when you're tearing apart people's characters. I'm sure that these authors love their protagonists very much, so if you are an author and one of your protagonists is on the list, let's agree to disagree and leave it at that.  Without further ado, let's take a look at the best protagonists. 3. Amy Anne from Ban This Book Despite being a fourth-grader, Amy Anne is one of the most relatable protagonists I've ever read about. In her head, she's brave enough to say all sorts of things, but on the outside she's ver...
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Dear Authors, Please Stop...

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 I've been reading a lot of YA series recently, and I thought it would be fun to make a list of things I wish authors would stop doing in their books.  1. ...including petty rivalries. I've mostly seen these between two girl characters, and the whole grudge consists of this: Protagonist hates Other Girl because Other Girl is prettier than her, except not really because no one can be better looking than our special snowflake Protagonist, which Other Girl recognizes and hates her for.  What the heck? I mean, you see this all the time . There's Clary and Isabelle in The Mortal Instruments. Ringer and Cassie in The 5th Wave trilogy. Alyssa and Taelor in Splintered. And that's just to name a few. This trope needs to stop. For one thing, it's completely unrealistic. I can't speak for everyone, but if I see someone who's pretty, I don't think, Oh, no! I've been upstaged! I must smolder in jealousy and hate her guts for all eternity! My thought process is mo...
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Series Review: Arc of a Scythe by Neal Shusterman

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  Author: Neal Shusterman Genre: Dystopian Age Group: Young Adult Number of Books: 3     Book #1: Scythe     Book #2: Thunderhead     Book #3: The Toll The Arc of a Scythe series takes place in a world where artificial intelligence rules and humanity has conquered everything--even death. The Thunderhead--the name given to the modern-day cloud when it developed consciousness--had created a perfect utopia. But in order to curb the growing population, people must be ended, hence the creation of scythes, who are basically respected assassins. The first book of this series is hooking once you get into it. Citra, one of the main characters, is strong and smart and awesome without being unlikable. Rowan, the other main character, has one of the best development arcs in all the YA fiction I've read so far. The second book is just as good, although I missed Volta... no comment on what happened to him. Unfortunately, the third book just doesn't meet the same sta...
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Classics I've Read (And What I Thought of Them) -- Mini-Reviews

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Little Women by Louisa May Alcott As far as classics go, this one's pretty good. It's kind of boring, but if you get pass the slow pacing you'll find a heartwarming story of four sisters. Six out of ten stars. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Ugh, no. Don't even get me started. You know how many chapters in this are in here? Nine. Guess how many days it took me to finish this book? Nine. It's not that it's long; it's just so terribly boring that I couldn't bring myself to torture my brain cells for more than one chapter a day. Maybe I'm too young to appreciate the profound metaphorical meaning or whatever, but I strongly dislike this book. The only good thing that came from reading it was being able to brag. Two out of ten stars. Lord of the Flies by William Golding Now HERE is a classic worth its classification. It's dark and disturbing and presents insight on human nature, and it's really well written! If you've pledged to read m...
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