Fire by Kristin Cashore #20

Fire is a "companion" to Kristin Cashore's other book, Graceling, that I also read this year. It is not a sequel or prequel, it takes place in the same world, but a whole different part. There is one character that makes a crossover appearance and although he deeply impacts both stories he is not seen or heard of a whole lot, other than the very beginning of Fire. I would love to read a book based on this character though, it could be very interesting.

I loved Fire. I think I like Graceling a little more, but I would be interested to hear what people think if they have read Fire first and then Graceling if they felt different about which was their favorite. I like the main character in Fire more which is probably why I like the book more. I would definitely recommend either of these books if you are looking for a good read.

I give Fire 4 out of 5 stars.

Next up-The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Sweet Little Lies by Lauren Conrad #19

This is one of those books that I feel a little embarrassed to admit that I have read. For those that may not know, Lauren Conrad is the star of the MTV show, The Hills. I will admit that I am a fan of The Hills, more when Lauren was on than I am now though. This is a sequel to L.A. Candy, her first book. I read L.A. Candy last year mostly to see if she could write at all. When you take into account that her target audience is teenagers, it wasn't all that bad.

Both L.A. Candy and Sweet Little Lies have enough similarities to her life on The Hills that it makes you think none of it is made up, just changed here and there to make it a little different than her real life. It was an entertaining read and does show you how real "reality tv" really is. This book isn't anything that will change your life or make you think at all, but it was an entertaining read which was all I was really expecting.

Sweet Little Lies gets 3 out of 5 stars.

Next up-Fire by Kristin Cashore

Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins #18

Suzanne Collins is the author that wrote the Hunger Games series, and I was told that her Gregor the Overlander series was good as well. The second I opened the book I could tell it was a kids book not really adult. I flipped it to the back cover and sure enough there was a "RL5" written on it. It kind of turned me off but I decided to give it a try anyway.

It was actually good. Suzanne Collins is a good author that does a good job of getting you interested in the characters so it wasn't that surprising to me that I liked it. I thought it was a book that boys would like more than girls, but if you are looking for a book for your kids and they are at or near a reading level of 5 it might be worth giving it a shot. It is very clean, no swearing or anything like that. It is about a boy that falls into an underground world that had huge cockroaches and rats that talk and things like that so it might be a little scary or strange for young kids.

Overall I liked it and if I had kids that could read on that level I would let them read it, and I think it does a great job of keeping the interest of the reader. There are 3 or 4 more books in the series, I am not running out to read them, but I would consider it if there weren't any other books on my list.

I give Gregor the Overlander 4 out of 5 stars.

Next up-Sweet Little Lies by Lauren Conrad

Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom #17

I have read 2 other Mitch Albom books and liked them so I knew that this would be a good one. I needed a short book that I knew I could finish in a day or two. The few books before this one were either longer or took me a while to finish and I just wanted a quick easy read. Have a Little Faith was a very interesting book. It is about a man who is asked by his childhood rabbi to give the eulogy at the rabbi's funeral. The rabbi is old, but not terminally ill or anything like that.

It was a good book, nothing that I found to be super special, but it was uplifting and a nice good read. Was it worth reading? Yes. Was it my favorite book ever? No. I wouldn't even say that it was my favorite Mitch Albom book (Five People you Meet in Heaven probably was though if you are wondering).

I give Have a Little Faith 3 out of 5 stars.

Next up-Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins

Graceling by Kristin Cashore # 16

Graceling was recommended to me by someone I don't even know. I was in the church library one night making copies and started up a conversation with librarian that was there. She had just finished reading it and told me how much she enjoyed it. She also shared with me her tip to finding good books to read. She goes to amazon.com and looks up a book that she liked and then looks at the "Customers who bought this item also bought" list. Then she will only consider it if it has 4 or more stars for the rating with a lot of reviews. I will be using this tip in the near future. So I got Graceling at the library not really knowing what to expect. I don't even know this girl that recommended it to me but thought I would trust her after she gave me that good amazon tip.

I really liked Graceling. It is another one of those books about someone who lives in a time/place that is not like where we live today and who is trying to revolt from the ways of their world. It was harder for me to put down this book than it was for some of the other books I had read before it, which is a good sign. All in all I was impressed with how well I liked it considering I didn't even know the person who suggested it to me.

I give Graceling 4 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Next up-Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom

Picture Perfect by Jodi Picoult # 15

Picture Perfect by Jodi Picoult is one of her older books. I think I have discovered that I like Jodi Picoult's newer books better. The reason I like the newer books better is because they are usually a little more controversial and make me look at different situations in a new light. The older books are somewhat controversial but not in the same way. I don't know how to explain it better than that.

This book was okay. It started out looking like it would be a pretty intriguing story but the story quickly changed into a different topic than I thought I would be reading about. The newer topic wasn't one that I was as interested in, but it still turned out to be pretty good.

All in all Picture Perfect was just okay. If you want a good Jodi Picoult book to read there are others I would recommend before I would recommend this one.

Picture Perfect gets 3 out of 5 stars.

Next up-Graceling by Kristin Cashore

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows #14

I'm going to call this book The Potato Peel Society just because it is a little shorter. I actually heard about this book from Stephenie Meyer's website (the author of the Twilight series). She recommended it so I thought I would give it a try.

It was a little strange for me at first because the whole book is written in letters to and from the different characters in the book. It took me a little while to get used to that and to figure out who they were talking about in the letters, but once I got into it a little more I grew used to it and kind of enjoyed it. It is a different way of reading a book and I ended up liking it that way, especially as I figured out everyone's relationship to each other and how they tend to interact with each other.

Overall I would say it is a good book, but you have to make sure to give it a honest effort in the beginning. I thought it was a little predictable but a good fun read. I read some of it while on vacation with my sisters and mom and think it is a good "vacation book" if that makes sense to you. A vacation book is something light and fun and a good easy read.

I give The Potato Peel Pie Society 4 out of 5 stars.

Next up-Picture Perfect by Jodi Picoult