Read this! Nation by Terry Pratchett

What would you do if your home suddenly washed away? If everyone you knew and loved was gone?

What would you do if you were stranded in a strange place far away from everyone you know and you didn't even know how to make scones?

Mau, the last survivor of The Nation, a tribal people living on a south seas island has to face the first question. He leaves his home island for the boy island as part of the ceremony to become a man. He expects to return home triumphant; to join the ranks of men. Instead he returns home no longer a boy, but not a man and must answer questions no one in his village has ever thought to ask.

Ermintrude is travelling from England to the South Seas to join her father, the Govenor of one of England's many colonial outposts. Her ship is caught in the tsunami that devestates Mau's island. Ermintrude is the solve survivor of the shipwreck. Ermintrude has been taught how to be a proper lady, how to pour tea, how to curtsey, and she has been taught that a lady does not to ask questions. Ermintrude was never any good at being a lady though, which is a good thing because she has to start asking questions, not the least of which is how to make proper beer.

Terry Pratchett's humor shines through the character of Ermintrude. Her mater of fact aplomb in facing situations that would have most young victorian women fainting is admirable. I was in awe of her beer making abilities by the end of the book.

Read this! Never Trust a Dead Man by Vivian VandeVelde

"Carefully now." The old woman raised a warning finger to demand his attention. "Ask something foolish and I will have to smack you on the side of the head." She emphasized this, as though they'd already discussed it.

His voice creaking with dryness, Selwyn asked, "Do you warn me beforehand what questions are foolish?"

Apparently not. And apparently that was one of them. She smacked him on the side of the head.



Selwyn hasn't had the greatest of weeks. First, the love of his life, Anora, decided to marry Farold, then, adding injury to insult, Farold beats him up in front of the whole village. But before Selwyn can wallow too long in self pity, Farold turns up dead. Due to the unfortunate events of the week past, the blame falls on Selwyn. Selwyn ends the week shut up in a burial cave with Farold's lifeless body, wrongfully sentenced to die for Farold's murder. There is one tiny bright spot in all of this, fortunately it turns out to be the light of a witch come to collect a lock of hair from a murdered man and she just might be willing to help Selwyn out of his predicament. Unfortunately though, she tends to answer most questions with a smack to the side of the head.

This mystery novel is full of humor and great dialogue. I am not a big mystery fan but the characters and the comedy kept me reading to the end. It possibly also helped that one of the characters is named Kendra. Gotta love that!

Read This! Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson

I learned something new about authors while reading this book. I thought authors wrote books because they are brimming over with creativity and want to share their stories with the world. I found out I was WRONG! Authors actually like to torture people, but they don't want to get their hands messy so they write books. How is this torture you ask? Simple, they create loveable characters and then they make terrible things happen to them. As Alcatraz Smedry says, "If this weren't the case, all novels woud be filled completely with cute bunnies having birthday parties." This book is definitely not about cute bunnies and there is not a single birthday party in the book. Although, there is a birthday and the present is a bag of sand. There is also a birthday dinner of ramen noodles that ends up with a torched kitchen and a visit from child welfare --again. The book is full of loveable chracters like Alcatraz, Bastille and Grandpa Smedry and lots of horrible things do happen to them, like tripping and getting tied to an alter made from outdated encyclopedias by a cult of evil Librarians. This book will keep you up way past your bedtime!

And if that is not enough (and trust me, it won't be), you can read the second book in the series, Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener's Bones. Fortunately for you, there are bunnies having birthday parties in this book, but unfortunately, lots of bad things happen to the loveable Alcatraz and his crew.

Read this! - Wildwood Dancing by Julilet Marillier

I absolutely loved, loved, loved this book! After reading some books, I immediately wish I hadn’t read them so I could read them all over again for the first time. Wildwood Dancing was like that for me.

Jena is the second oldest of five sisters. They live in a castle called Piscul Draculi on the edge of the wildwood in Transylvania. Their father is a merchant and most of their days are spent helping their father run his business and helping out around the castle. Their days are filled with the boring, mundane chores that we all have to do. But the five sisters share a secret, one shining night a month, on the night of the full moon; they are able to magically open a passage into the fairy realm of the wildwood. On that night, the girls take special care to dress in their finest dresses and they spend the night dancing with the fair folk of the wildwood. The trip is not without peril though, and the girls have strict rules to make sure that all the sisters return home safe and sound to the familiar everyday world. Life is good for the sisters until one fateful winter. Their father must travel to a warmer climate for health reasons and the girls take over running his business and the household. The two eldest sisters, Tati and Jena must fight to keep control of the family business from falling in the hands of their bullying cousin Ceasar. This becomes increasingly difficult over the long winter months. The task is not made easier for Jena when Tati breaks their dancing rules and falls in love with one of the fair folk. Jena struggles to hold her family together and must learn how to be strong in a daytime world dominated by men, and the nighttime world of the wildwood run by capricious and sometimes dangerous fairies.

My daughter and friends enjoyed the book as well. It inspired us to have our own fairy ball.