Sunday, March 31, 2013

Hedgie's Must Reads: March 2013


Spring has come, though where I live, you wouldn't be able to tell, with all of the rain and no sunshine. It's no wonder the honey bees never know when winter is over. Even so, there is a freshness to the air, even when it is raining, and the trees are beginning to look green, and my flowerbeds are starting to put on color that isn't damp brown. For books, March has been a lot better than February in terms of good reads versus bad ones. And here are my and Hedgie's favorites of the month.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Review: Scarlet - Marissa Meyer

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #2
Genre: YA, fairytale retelling, science fiction, futuristic
Published on February 5, 2013
Published by Feiwel and Friends
Pages: 454
Read From: 3.21.13 - 3.23.13










SYNOPSIS
Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, is awaiting execution at the hands of the Lunar Queen Levana, so she attempts to break out of prison - even though if she succeeds, she'll be the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive. 

Monday, March 25, 2013

Review: Son - Lois Lowry

Son by Lois Lowry
Series: The Giver Quartet #4
Genre: YA, dystopian
Published on October 2, 2012
Published by HMH Books
Pages: 393
Read From: 3.21.13 - 3.23.13










SYNOPSIS
They called her Water Claire. 
When the young girl washed up on their shore, no one knew she had been a Vessel. That she had carried a Product. That it had been carved from her belly. Stolen. 

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Review: The Kill Order - James Dashner

The Kill Order by James Dashner
Series: The Maze Rummer #4
Genre: YA, post-apocalyptic
Published on August 14, 2012
Published by Delacorte Books
Pages: 327
Read From: 3.18.13 - 3.21.13











SYNOPSIS
Before WICKED was formed, before the Glade was built, before Thomas entered the Maze, sun flares hit the earth and destroyed the world mankind took for granted. 

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Review: Caught - Margaret Peterson Haddix

Caught by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Series: The Missing #5
Genre: Middle Grade, time travel, alternate history
Published on September 4, 2012
Published by Simon & Schuster
Pages: 352
Read From: 3.17.13 - 3.18.13










SYNOPSIS
Jonah and Katherine are sitting in class when time freezes. Everyone, everywhere in the twenty-first century is frozen in time - except for those who have traveled in time before. Something is catastrophically wrong, but what, and how can they fix it? Jonah and Katherine barely have a second to talk to JB before they find themselves hurtling back in time again. They end up in 1903, where a botched job of returning Albert Einstein's secret daughter, Lieserl, has somehow critically damaged time itself. 

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Review: Timekeeper - Alexandra Monir

Timekeeper by Alexandra Monir
Series: Timeless #2
Genre: YA, time travel, romance
Published on January 8, 2013
Published by Delacorte Books
Pages: 288
Read From: 3.14.13 - 3.17.13











SYNOPSIS
When Philip Walker appears as a new student in Michele Windsor's high school class, she is floored. She is the love she thought she lost forever when they said goodbye during her time travels last century. Overjoyed that they can resume the relationship they had a lifetime ago, Michele eagerly approaches him and discovers the unthinkable: he doesn't remember her. In fact, he doesn't seem to remember anything about the Philip Walker of 1910. 

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Review: Babylonne - Catherine Jinks

Babylonne by Catherine Jinks
Series: The Pagan Chronicles #4
Genre: YA, historical fiction
Published on November 11, 2008
Published by Candlewick Press
Pages: 400
Read From: 3.9.13 - 3.14.13










SYNOPSIS
Early thirteenth-century Langeudoc is a place of valor, violence, and persecution. At age sixteen, Babylonne has survived six bloody sieges. She's tough, resourceful, and, now that her strict aunt and abusive grandmother intend to marry her off to a senile old man, desperate. Disguised as a boy,

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Review: The Golden Door - Emily Rodda

The Golden Door by Emily Rodda
Series: Three Doors Trilogy #1
Genre: Middle Grade, fantasy
Published on October 1, 2012
Published by Scholastic Press
Pages: 272
Read From: 3.11.13 - 3.14.13










SYNOPSIS
Three magic Doors you here behold. Time to choose: Wood? Silver? Gold? 

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Review: The Dragon Prophecy - Dugald A. Steer

The Dragon Prophecy by Dugald A. Steer
Series: Dragonology Chronicles #4
Genre: Middle Grade, adventure, historical fantasy
Published on August 28, 2012
Published by Candlewick Press
Pages: 224
Read From: 3.9.13 - 3.10.13










SYNOPSIS
Brother and sister dragonology students Daniel and Beatrice Cook are looking forward to returning to their studies with Dr. Earnest Drake and Erasmus, their dragon tutor. But when they discover that the evil dragonologist Alexandra Gorynytchka is searching for the fearsome

Friday, March 15, 2013

Review: The Wild Queen - Carolyn Meyer

The Wild Queen by Carolyn Meyer
Series: Young Royals #7
Genre: YA, historical fiction
Published on June 19, 2012
Published by Harcourt
Pages: 420
Read From: 3.5.13 - 3.9.13











SYNOPSIS
Mary of Scotland is only six days old when she is crowned after the death of her father, and just five when she is sent to France to be raised alongside her future husband, heir to the French throne. Surrounded by friends and beloved by the royal family, she becomes more French than Scot. But when her frail young husband dies, Mary, now eighteen, is stripped of her title as Queen of France and set adrift in the harsh world, alone. 

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Gest Post: Bookish Habits

Ever bookworm out there has little reading habits, be it a favorite reading spot, preferred book bindings, and other little things that we do when we’re absorbed in books. I know I have many, and I’ve asked my good friend Hazel West to share with us some of her reading habits as well.

Monday, March 11, 2013

Review: Alanna, the First Adventure - Tamora Pierce

Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce
Series: Song of the Lioness Quartet #1
Genre: YA, fantasy
Published on January 1, 2005
Published by Simon Pulse
Pages: 274
Read From: 3.6.13 - 3.8.13










SYNOPSIS
"From now on I'm Alan of Trebond, the younger twin. I'll be a knight." 
And so young Alanna of Trebond begins the journey to knighthood. Though a girl, Alanna has always craved the adventure and daring allowed only for boys; her twin brother, Thom, yearns to learn the art of magic. So one day they decide to switch places: Disguised as a girl, Thom heads for the convent to learn magic; Alanna, pretending to be a boy, is on her way to the castle of King Roald to begin her training as a page. 

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Review: The Runaway King - Jennifer A. Nielsen

The Runaway King by Jennifer A. Nielsen
Series: The Ascendance Trilogy #2
Genre: Middle Grade, adventure
Published on March 1, 2013
Published by Scholastic Press
Pages: 331
Read From: 3.6.13 - 3.8.13











SYNOPSIS
Just weeks after Jaron has taken the throne, an assassination attempt forces him into a deadly situation. Rumors of a coming war are winding their way between the castle walls, and Jaron feels the pressure quietly mounting with Cathya. Soon, it becomes clear that deserting the kingdom may be his only hope of saving it. 

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Review: Allegiance - Cayla Kluver

Allegiance by Cayla Kluver
Series: Legacy Trilogy #2
Genre: YA, fantasy, romance
Published on February 28, 2012
Published by Harlequin Teen
Pages: 494
Read From: 2.28.13 - 3.3.13










SYNOPSIS
Bound to a man she cannot love, Queen Alera of Hytanica must forget Narian, the young man who holds her heart. For Narian is destined to conquer Hytanica at the behest of his master, the powerful magic-user known as the Overlord. Alera doesn't truly believe Narian will fight against Hytanica - until Cokyrian troops attack with Narian commanding the charge. 

Friday, March 8, 2013

Review: The Torn Wing - Kiki Hamilton

The Torn Wing by Kiki Hamilton
Series: Faery Ring #2
Genre: YA, historical fantasy
Published on August 9, 2012
Published by Fair Wind Books
Pages: 318
Read From: 2.24.13 - 2.26.13











SYNOPSIS
As an orphan who stole the Queen's ring - only to find the ring was a reservoir that held a truce between the world of Faerie and the British Court - Tiki's greatest fear suddenly becomes all too real: the fey have

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Seven/Seven Blog Challenge

I've been snagged for another blog challenge! The Seven/Seven Blog Challenge works like this:

  • Take seven sentences from page 7 or 77 of your current writing work.
  • Nominate seven other writers and have them link back to you.
  • Mention and link back the person who nominated you.

~ ~ ~ ~

I was nominated by my good friend Hazel West (see her post here!), and while I am only supposed to do seven sentences, I am, in fact, going to do seven paragraphs, because the section I chose from page 77 of my story is just too good. ;-) So, this is the first seven (complete) paragraphs of page 77 of my work-in-progress, The Birthright. Ivy Eakins, the protagonist, and Murtagh have just been captured by some rather disreputable street youths, and they're in for a rough time:


By the light of a lamp, I now saw that our assailants were no more than youths, the eldest, who sported a blood-soaked bandage about his arm, being hardly twenty-four. However, they all bore a look of cold intent, and I did not wish to test even the youngest.

The eldest youth ordered that I be held prisoner in a chair, though I was not tied. Murtagh they forced to kneel on the floor, refusing to remove the bag. He slumped forward in their grip, worryingly still.

Complete silence reigned while the youth disappeared downstairs, only to return shortly afterwards with what I could have mistaken for a gentleman in his early thirties, for he was dressed plainly, but neatly, touches of ink at the cuffs as if he were a scholar. But his hat, which he set aside immediately upon entering, was worn, and his green eyes lit with a cruel light that spoke only too clearly of his ill breeding, as well as his questionable occupation.

‘Remove the bag,’ he ordered, beginning to roll up his sleeves in a casual, business-like manner.
I suppressed a cry of alarm, for Murtagh’s face was covered in blood, one eye already swelling shut. He looked utterly defeated, save for a determined, rebellious glint in his dark eyes which told me that he was not yet finished fighting.

'The turncoat has returned!’ the man announced jeeringly. ‘Shall we roll out a welcome feast? No, I think not. You wouldn’t enjoy it much anyway, I’m afraid, for you would only have the noose to look forward to afterwards. But don’t worry, Murtagh; I won’t kill you quite yet. Not while the whereabouts of the necklace are still locked up within your head.’

‘I don’t have it,’ Murtagh said, hardly above a whisper.
~ ~ ~ ~
Unfortunately, I do not know any other writers (other than Hazel West) who keep blogs.