Ponderings of a Bibliophile

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...

    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...