Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy

Skulduggery Pleasant is the first book in the Skulduggery Pleasant series. Confusingly enough, Skulduggery Pleasant is also the name of one of the main characters in this book. Skulduggery Pleasant is a live skeleton; he has died but his bones and life still remains. When Stephanie Edgley's uncle dies, she attends the reading of the will. Every member of the family shows up - and one mystery person that no one knows anything about - Skulduggery Pleasant. When she meets him and realizes that he is a living skeleton she receives a big surprise. However, when she finds out about what he does for a living she is flabbergasted. Skulduggery Pleasant teaches her magic so that they can destroy the evil magicians.

I really enjoyed this book because I found the idea of an "undead" hero quite funny. It is an enjoyable read; it's fun to read about the adventures of Stephanie and Skulduggery as they fight the evil to bring peace back. People who enjoy science fiction will enjoy this!

Age Group: Teens

Star Rating: 8/10

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Synopsis: Bilbo Baggins, an ordinary hobbit, is dragged onto an adventure with the mysterious wizard Gandalf and a number of dwarfs to regain treasures taken by an evil dragon.
On the way, he encounters Gollum, whom he defeats (through the use of a ring of invisibility) and navigates his way through a number of obstacles in the forest, finally arriving at Lake Town, where Smarg the dragon is guarding his stolen treasures.

Suitable for: Fantasy Lovers

Age Group: Kids and Teens

Star Rating: 8/10

Verdict: I am not a huge fan of fantasy, but this is a great, funny, interesting book. A good rea; there is a reason why it is a classic. Readers may also be interested in The Lord of the Rings, the sequel to Bilbo's adventures. The Lord of the Rings review will be completed soon.

Paw Tracks at Owl Cottage by Denis O'Connor

Paw Tracks at Owl Cottage is the sequel to Paw Tracks in the Moonlight which i have not read. From a view of reading from the 2nd book my point of view would be different to if i had read both so please keep in mind that this review was written without basic knowledge of the previous book hence a different perspective.

Paw Tracks at Owl Cottage is probably a book that the author wrote about himself and his cats as he is the person speaking in the text. It is basically written in the style of a diary except in more detail. The author and his wife decide to move back into a cottage they sold some time ago, but it would not be a proper without a cat to accompany them, as they had lived here previously with a cat. So, the decide to go out and buy a Maine Coon kitten. At the end of the story they have bought 4 Main Coon cats in total.

I think this book is okay if you like reading about cats or if you want to know how life would be like with a cat. It doesn't really have a particular plot as it just just goes on and on about the author's life with his cats and all the ups and downs with his large cat family. If you are looking for an action book then this is not the right book for you. Every now and then something will happen to their cats, which is the only time you'll meet any "complication" part of the book.

Age Group: Kids, roughly 9+ (it does contain some sadder bits so be aware of this)

Star Rating: 4/10 (If you like cats you might like it more)

Again, I haven't read the first book so my judgement could be changed if I had read it first. If you do want me to read the first book and re-review this then please ask!

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

Synopsis: My Sister's Keeper is a story about a girl who is diagnosed with APL, a rare form of leukaemia, at a young age. Her parents are willing to do anything to save her, to the point where they create a 'spare parts child', first to donate cord blood at birth, then blood and bone marrow.
This is where things are complicated, when Kate is diagnosed with end-stage renal disease (kidney failure). Her parents want Anna, the 'spare parts child' to donate a kidney, and Anna, who apparently has had enough of being her sister's lifesaver, decides to file a lawsuit, suing her parents to the rights of her own body.

Suitable for: Anyone who has Time for a Book that Drags on and is Filled with Flimsy Junk
Age Group: Teens and Adults (or older children capable of handling a more mature topic)
Star Rating: 2/10

Verdict: Put very bluntly, My Sister's Keeper is a book with a good storyline which is ultimately wasted by the quality of the writing. Picoult drops metaphors in every chapter which were clearly intended to be deep and meaningful. Which I, as a normal person, has no brain capacity to absorb (a lot of junk about a house being bulldozed and rebuilt-literally-and then the narrator, in this case the mother, ends by saying 'but you know what? They rebuilt.) I mean come on. It is being over-dramatised far, far, far too much and it ends up becoming a load of cheesy junk. How does a house being rebuilt have any relationship to a kid with leukaemia?
Enough of that. Apart from too many failed metaphors supposedly containing the Meaning of Life, the characters personalities are completely cliche; there's the Teenager who Rebels, the Kid with her Own Opinions, and the Saint. Oh please. Added to that heap of failure there is also an amazingly stupid and completely irrelevant sub-plot about Anna ('spare parts child')'s lawyer, and the counsellor/social worker being in love. This is meant to be a book which questions ethics and morals and the basis of human society and the legal system, not a love story. Even Twilight would be a better choice than this if I wanted to read a love story (and considering how much I dislike Twilight, that's saying something).
Spoilers Below
The ending was an epic fail. It was too predictable, and far too unrealistic. Leukaemia Kid is miraculously cured. Dad gets over Spare Parts's death. Mum mourns but gets over it. Teenager who Rebels becomes good.
I personally know a cancer survivor, and someone who died from cancer. And either way, that's not the way it works.

Raven's Gate by Anthony Horowitz

Raven's Gate is the first of the five books in The Power Of Five series written by Anthony Horowitz. It is about some people who are trying to protect the world from evil spirits, which somehow Matt, the main character, is involved in. Raven's Gate is the gate that can bring the evil ones back into the world, and Matt must find out how to stop it from happening!

I think this book was very interesting, it was pretty fast action paced which kept me flicking through the pages without putting the book down. Younger readers might get nightmares if they read before sleep as there are parts that are a bit spooky.

Age Group: Teens

Star Rating: 8.5/10

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Katniss Everdeen, a 16 year old girl is about to go to reaping for Hunger Games, a cruel game that the Capitol organised which 2 children aged 12-17 in each district has to kill each other. The motto is To kill or be killed. On the day of reaping the two children was chosen and it turned out to be her dear sister. On the verge of fainting, Katniss volunteers to step forward instead of her sister and to risk her life.

When the hunger games begin, Katniss will be in great danger. Will she succeed? Will she make enemies and allies?

Rating: 9/10

Warning: contains violence

I really enjoyed this book because it was one of the books that you had to read until the very end. The page turning book was well structured and was full of twists and turns.

Mao's Last Dancer by Li Cunxin

A moving tale of love and hardship, Li captures the essence of living in the time of the Cultural Revolution. The story moves seamlessly from his childhood, to the Ballet Academy in Beijing, to his life abroad, and although the back cover contains a full synopsis of the story, it really isn't the plot that makes this book special, it's the way he portrays Mao's China and the little incidents that made up the big picture of his lifetime. Competing with rats for food, witnessing the execution of counterrevolutionaries, and finally defecting from his motherland, this is a captivating autobiography by a truly amazing dancer--a must-read.

Suitable for: Weekends and Holidays

Age Group: Young Children (picture book), Kids (kids' version), Teens, and Adults

Star Rating: 9/10


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Air Head by Meg Cabot

My friend introduced to this book a while ago, but I never took it really seriously. I read it today and it was about a tomboy called Emerson. During an accident at Stark's mega grand opening (a company for models) Emerson is suddenly slipped into supermodel Nikky Howard's shoes, leaving her old self and troubles behind and starting a new struggle with the life of a supermodel.

Ranking 6/10

Although the plot is well structured, I have to say that it was mostly a really long and included lots of unnecessary detail and I didn't really have a link to the main character.

by grace

Kitchen Chinese by Ann Mah

So I bought a new book last year for Christmas but never got around to reading it. It was a first edition paperback of Kitchen Chinese by Ann Mah. I finally finished the 368-page novel yesterday and decided to try out one of the recipes one of these days.

Kitchen Chinese is a story about a young woman who is fired ('I used the handy term "laid off",' says Isabelle in the book) and decides to move to China to find a new job and get a fresh start. With all of the usual features of mainstream fiction written by young women (lots of romance, smooching, and details on Isabelle's love life), it is a lighthearted story filled with juicy details and plenty of mouth-watering descriptions of Chinese food. It's a nice, quick read, but doesn't really have that much of a plot, and is a tad too predictable. The main character doesn't really undergo a major change in the end and I guess a personality or characteristic change is something I like to see in characters.

Suitable for: Quick Reads

Age Group: Teens and Adults

Star Rating: 6/10

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