What I'm Reading Right Now

Still on the road trip with my dad so there has been plenty of time for reading

 What I'm Reading Right Now: I just started reading Panic by Lauren Oliver. 

What It's About: So far (because I just started) I'm not that far into it so I dont't have my own synopsis quite yet. I will copy the synopsis from Good Reads. (Here is the link if you want to check it our for yourself.) Click Here.

"Panic began as so many things do in Carp, a dead-end town of 12,000 people in the middle of nowhere: because it was summer, and there was nothing else to do.

Heather never thought she would compete in Panic, a legendary game played by graduating seniors, where the stakes are high and the payoff is even higher. She’d never thought of herself as fearless, the kind of person who would fight to stand out. But when she finds something, and someone, to fight for, she will discover that she is braver than she ever thought.

Dodge has never been afraid of Panic. His secret will fuel him, and get him all the way through the game, he’s sure of it. But what he doesn't know is that he’s not the only one with a secret. Everyone has something to play for.

For Heather and Dodge, the game will bring new alliances, unexpected revelations, and the possibility of first love for each of them—and the knowledge that sometimes the very things we fear are those we need the most." 

What I Think: Again since I am not that far into it I don't have a formal opinion. I think its good so far and I cannot wait to get even farther into it. Lauren Oliver is a great writer so this ought to be good! 

-Shawnee Smith

What I'm Reading Right Now

So I am currently on a road trip with my dad

 

And I got him to listen to I Am The Messenger by Markus Zusak (the audio book). 

 

What It's About: Ed is a nobody cabdriver with no life goals. After he stops a bank robbery, Ed starts getting Aces in the mail. Each one of the playing cards has four instructions on them. When finished Ed gets the next card. Each task will help Ed find himself while helping other better their own lives. 

 

What I Think: I honestly love this book. I can't remember if I have ever talked about it before on here but if I have OH WELL.

 

 I first read this book probably a year ago and its just as good the second time around. I like that Ed is helping other people and inadvertently helping himself. I also like the use of the playing cards. There also, of course, is the mystery of who is behind everything. Who is giving Ed the playing cards? I guess you will have to read to find out ;) 

-Shawnee Smith

Is America the Only One Left or Something?

So lately I have been wondering something extremely important in the world of Dystopic Fiction....

What happens to countries other than America?

I mean pretty much every single Dystpoic Fiction book I have read has taken place in "future America" or whatever they decide to call it. I mean there is Divergent, The Hunger Games, Delirium, Legend, The Chemical Garden Trilogy, Matched, Uglies, Dualed,  Article 5, The 5th Wave, The Testing, The Birthright Series, Fahrenheit 451 and those are just off the top of my head.

Honestly, where are the other countries? Are they just sitting back laughing at the former United States because they can't seem to get it together? Or were they all completely obliterated during whatever natural disaster caused these societies to form? Or do they mirror the societies that we see in the novels?

These are just questions I wish authors would answer some times when I am in my curious phase. But whatever. I will just sit back and wonder who won the Olympics that year...if there even was one :O

-Shawnee Smith

The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen

I haven't been posting as much as I probably should :( But since its Spring Break (WHOOHOO!) I will try to post more than I normally do. So here is today's review...

The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Published: 2012 by Scholastic Press
Pages: 342
Series: The Ascendance Trilogy #1

Sage is an orphan boy in the far away kingdom of Carthya. One day a nobleman named Connor, buys Sage and three other boys to bring him back to his manor. Once there, Sage and the others are told that they are being groomed to take the place of the missing prince of Carthya. Succeeding will mean ruling the kingdom, and failure will mean death. Who will become The False Prince?

I can't even remember when I first heard about this book but I do believe it was back around its original publication. I have been with the trilogy since the beginning and I have loved every single page of it.

What originally drew me to this novel was that the story was different. I haven't read that many books that have a mid-evil/Renaissance feel to it lately. It was a breath of fresh air from the normal dystopic books I normally read. Princes, and broadswords, and horse drawn carriages, oh-my!

So Sage. Sarcastic Sage. The hero of the story is kind of a pain in the ass. He is from the neighboring kingdom of Avenia and could care less if Carthya falls because it doesn't have a ruler. He does care about not dying however, which is the only reason he actually tries to succeed. He is defiant, yet quite clever. I found myself rooting for Sage even though he's kind of an ass. I just feel like he is one of those people who have had a rough life and should be given a shot.

There are a few other characters that are important to the story such as Mott (Connor's right hand man), Roden and Tobias (Sage's rivals at becoming the Prince), and Imogen (Connor's servant who becomes a friend of Sage). These characters will push Sage to his breaking point and some will help him try to succeed.

I really honestly, and truly love this book. It is a great read for boys if someone you know wants to get into a good book. It gets two thumbs up from me! As a matter of fact, I think I will go re-read it right now! 

Now go read for yourself to see if Sage becomes The False Prince!

-Shawnee Smith

New This Week

Week of March 24th

Hardcover:

Storm: The SYLO Chronicles #2 by D.J. MacHale

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton

The Summer of Letting Go by Gae Polisner

The Winter Horses by Philip Kerr

Paperback:

Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol

Avenger by Heather Burch

The Girl with the Iron Touch (Steampunk Chronicles Series) by Kady Cross

Hidden (House of Night Series #10) by P..C. Cast and Kristin Cast

Hurricane Dancers: The First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck by Margarita Engle

The Other Normals by Ned Vizzini

Period 8 by Chris Crutcher

Soul Screamers Volume Four: With All My Soul/Fearless/Niederwal/Last Request by Rachel Vincent

Skinny by Donna Cooner

Strangelets by Michelle Gagnon

-Shawnee Smith

What I'm Reading

So I FINALLY finished Stealheart by Brandon Sanderson after probably two weeks of putting it off. It was actually a pretty good book and I will read the sequel when it comes out. P.S. There was a good ending that even I didn't guess. Well I guessed 1/3 of it but the other parts I miserably failed at predicting.

In other news however, I am starting a new book entitled

Poison by Bridget Zinn

 

Honestly I have no idea why I put this on my "To Be Read" list but its on there, so I gotta read it. 

 

I'm literally on the first page so I don't k know what it's about or if I will even like it. So here goes nothing. Wish me luck! 

 

-Shawnee Smith