Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale

Here is yet another book by the amazing Shannon Hale. I really, really love her books and "Midnight in Austenland" didn't disappoint! This is the sequel to "Austenland," which I reviewed here.

"Midnight in Austenland" was similar to it's prequel in that they're both about a girl in her thirties who goes to Austenland looking for something. The first sought to find her own Mr. Darcy while the second desired to have an experience that would change her. Charlotte is a self-described "nice" girl with a successful online landscaping business who is recovering from her recent divorce, due to her husband cheating and falling in love with another woman. She goes to Austenland with the hope of having an experience that will change her and help her learn to feel again.

I enjoyed this book even more than the first. It had a delightful blend of mystery/suspense, romance, and humor. Definitely had a darker twist than the first. I grew to love Charlotte; while I couldn't really identify with her life experiences of divorce and infidelity, I began to feel as though she were my sister. I could feel her heartaches, fears, and joy. I think it's so important for a story to have a main character that you really care about, and I definitely think Shannon Hale accomplished that in this book.

I definitely recommend this one!!

4.5 out of 5 stars

Enchantment by Orson Scott Card

I've always enjoyed Orson Scott Card's books, especially Ender's Game, so I was curious when my sister recommended this spin-off of the classic Sleeping Beauty fairy tale.

The story starts in Russia, where Ivan and his family live. Around the age of 10, Ivan's family decides to leave Russia to move to America, but not before visiting Cousin Marek in Ukraine. In the woods near Cousin Marek's home, Ivan encounters a beautiful sleeping woman guarded by a bear. He runs away but is haunted by this image for years to come.

Years later in America, Ivan is a graduate student, engaged to a girl named Ruth, and goes back to Russia to complete his post grad research. Unable to shake his memory of the sleeping woman, Ivan goes back to those woods near Cousin Marek's and frees her from the bear and wakes her from her sleep. Princess Katerina was put under the sleeping spell by the evil Baba Yaga, the witch who torments her kingdom, and Ivan must agree to marry Katerina in order to defeat the witch and liberate her people.

I really, really enjoyed this book. It took a classic fairy tale and threw in modern Ivan and time travel and lots of other great stuff. It was fun to learn about Jewish Russian history and about the differences between Russian fairy tales and American ones. The character development in this book was fantastic; all of the main characters get to tell their perspectives, which really lets you get in their heads; and the love story between Ivan and Katerina was wonderful. I would definitely recommend Enchantment!

4.5 out of 5 stars

(I'm only not giving a 5 star rating because I can't see myself reading this over and over again, even though it was great.)

Angel (Maximum Ride) by James Patterson

Ok, to be perfectly honest, I'm a little tired of reviewing the Maximum Ride books. The plots are all practically the same; some combination of bad guys out to get the good guys and Max trying to save the world. "Angel" was no different. The story picks up where "Fang" (the previous book) left off--Fang has just left the flock and Max is dealing with her feelings of betrayal at being dumped. There's also this new guy, Dylan, who was created to be her perfect match, but it's hard for Max to give this guy a chance when she's pining for Fang. Amidst all the teenage angst, there is a group that is trying to take over the world. So Fang and Max try to set aside their differences and work together to stop the bad guys.

I've made comparisons of books I read to junk food before, and this one definitely fits the mold. It's a book that you only read because you've read the prequels, and once you're done, you're left not feeling very satisfied. Like eating a big bag of potato chips, you only keep eating out of habit, and upon finishing you feel kind of sick and wish you had spent your time in a more productive manner. Luckily, this book is short and a very quick read, so you don't waste too much time on it.

Overall, it was entertaining enough but not all that fulfilling. Pretty much what I expected.

2.5 out of 5 stars


Here's the link to my review of "Fang,"

http://sninny.blogspot.com/2010/08/fang-maximum-ride-novel-by-james.html

which I just read over and was surprised by how much I said I liked it. I do enjoy the Maximum Ride books, but "Angel" just wasn't as good as the others. And I really am getting a little tired of the same repeated plot in each book. And I'm getting annoyed at how short the chapters are; they're like 2-5 pages each! I heard that the series is ending soon and I think that'll be a good thing.

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

This delightful book came my way from a friend in my ward. We were talking about good books to read and she gave me this one. And I do mean that she gave me this book, which is, in my opinion, quite a gift. There's nothing better than a bookshelf full of good books.

Anyway, I would describe this read as a great follow-up to Harry Potter, or A Series of Unfortunate Events, or The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, or the Percy Jackson books. It's about 4 orphans who are discovered by a *mysterious* man named Mr. Benedict through a series of tests. These children all have special abilities--nothing supernatural, just special. Reynie is extremely smart and has a gift of solving complex puzzles. Sticky has a photographic memory. Kate is exceptionally resourceful and always carries around a bucket full of useful supplies, like a slingshot and a mini telescope. Constance has the gift of stubbornness, which may not seem like much, but it turns out to be lifesaving where these kids are sent. Their mission is to go undercover at a school that is training children to send subliminal messages that will brainwash society. It is incredibly dangerous and the kids must pull together to defeat Ledroptha Curtain, the evil mastermind who wants to take over the world.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story! It had good humor, an intelligent plot, and fun characters. I'm planning on reading the sequels as soon as I can get them from the library. Good read!

4.5 out of 5 stars

Something Borrowed by Catherine Hapka

Several weeks ago I was bored on a Friday morning during Sadie's nap. I was just in one of those extremely lazy moods when just the thought of doing something productive seems overwhelming. I had just checked out this book, Something Borrowed by Catherine Hapka, from the library, per my sister's recommendation. I should note that this is not the same "Something Borrowed" as the recent movie that came out with Kate Hudson and Ginnifer Goodwin.

The story revolves around a girl (I can't actually remember her name...like I said, it's been a few weeks since I read this) who breaks up with her boyfriend just a couple weeks before her sister's wedding. Horrified at the thought of going to the wedding without a date, she is determined to find someone to accompany her. She scores multiple dates, but one by one something happens that prevents them from being her wedding date. She eventually asks her best friend Teresa if she can borrow her boyfriend for the event. (Teresa was spending the summer in Europe on an internship.) She goes to the wedding with her friend's boyfriend and *surprise* finds herself falling for him.

I can't say this was a great book, but I really did enjoy it. It was very silly, very easy, and a very quick read---just what I wanted on a lazy Friday! I was able to finish it during Sadie's 3 naps that day. I would definitely recommend this one if you need something not too serious, maybe a break from other serious literature. Overall silly and fun and an indulgent read!

3 out of 5 stars

The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus

I saw this movie a few years ago when it came out and I remember liking it but not enough to buy or even really watch again. A few weeks ago I was wandering the aisles of my library without any idea of what to read next. I stumbled upon "The Nanny Diaries" and thought it could be a fun read. I must say I really enjoyed this book. It was funny, real, and definitely made me grateful to have never been a nanny before (though I'm sure not all nanny gigs are like those portrayed in the book). I love kids and have had many jobs working with them, but have never been in any working situation even remotely related to what Nanny (oddly enough the name of the nanny in the story) had to put up with.

Nanny is a graduate student at NYU who seeks a part-time nanny position and finds the X family, a very rich and dysfunctional family with a cheating dad who works too much and a non-working mom who somehow doesn't have enough time in the day to pay any attention to her 4-year old son. Nanny puts up with being treated like scum and works way more hours than originally agreed to and takes amazingly good care of Grayer, despite the stressful working environment and mistreatment by her employers.

I think I liked this book because the heroine was a girl I could relate to: someone who was working to put herself through school, loved working with kids, had a great, supportive family, had a life outside of work but genuinely cared about her job, even when she probably shouldn't. Nanny's narrative of her life was very funny and so enjoyable to read. Since I had seen the movie I knew the ending wasn't good, meaning the X's don't suddenly become wonderful and apologize for being losers and give her a huge bonus, but I wanted to keep reading anyway. [Side note: when I know a story is stressful or has a bad ending, I usually can't stand watching/reading it. For example, the movie Mrs. Doubtfire is one of my least favorite of all time because the whole thing is stressful. I refuse to watch it because I can't stand watching all these bad things happen.] Despite my aversion to "bad endings" I really was ok with the Nanny Diaries ending, even though it doesn't all get wrapped up in a beautiful fairytale package. It was real, and I liked that.

Overall I definitely would recommend The Nanny Diaries to anyone. Fun read!

4 out of 5 stars

The Book of Tomorrow by Cecelia Ahern

I read this book last month and decided I needed to blog about it before I forgot what it was about and whether or not I even liked it.

The Book of Tomorrow, yet another book by Cecelia Ahern, is about a very wealthy girl whose dad commits suicide and has to move to the country with her mom to live with her eccentric aunt and uncle. She discovers a journal in which she finds entries dated from the next day. As she learns the events for the following day, she tries to see if she can change the future, and if she can, see if she should.

I think I would have enjoyed the story more if I had read it more quickly. I read the first half over a few weeks, only picking it up sporadically; but the second half I read in about 2-3 days. I kind of felt the story took an odd turn toward the end, straying from the general feel of the book. At any rate, I did enjoy the read and I would recommend this to others. Not my favorite Cecelia Ahern book, but not my least favorite either. As always, she has the cleverest ideas for her stories. Not always the best execution (in my opinion) but always interesting and entertaining.

3 out of 5 stars