Hello everyone!

Last week I was out of town, away from all technology, thus being unable to post. But here is Behemoth, the second in the Scott Westerfeld series. Jump in!

Behemoth: Scott Westerfeld
🙂 out of 😀
4/5

The behemoth is the fiercest creature in the British navy. It can swallow enemy battleships with one bite. The Darwinists will need it, now that they are at war with the Clanker Powers.
Deryn is a girl posing as a boy in the British Air Service, and Alek is the heir to an empire posing as a commoner. Finally together aboard the airship Leviathan, they hope to bring the war to a halt. But when disaster strikes the Leviathan’s peacekeeping mission, they find themselves alone and hunted in enemy territory.

Alek and Deryn will need great skill, new allies, and brave hearts to face what’s ahead.

Immediately after Leviathan, our story picks up. The Clankers have revealed a new Shocking weapon, one that will bring the Darwinists to their knees. However, the Darwinists have the Behemoth, their fierce new weapon. But the Ottoman Empire is one who remains neutral, and they WILL be a turning point in the war, if the Darwinists can gain their trust.

I have read a lot of series where the books run right into each other, and most of them have been either bad, or awful. This book, by those standards was amazing, not only in the fact that the two books ran right into each other, but the book itself was amazing. Next week, we have the series finale, Goliath, and then we move on to a new series. Most likely the Bartimaeus series, but if I get any other ideas, we will delve into that.

See you next week,
Your Friend at TBR

Hey, all:

I am a sucker for Steampunk, and I have a Steampunk trilogy for the next couple of weeks. Well, here we go.

Leviathan
By Scott Westerfeld
🙂 out of 😀

Prince Aleksander, would-be heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battletorn war machine and a loyal crew of men.

Deryn Sharp is a commoner, disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She’s a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered.

With World War I brewing, Alek and Deryn’s paths cross in the most unexpected ways, taking them on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure that will change both their lives forever.

Aleksander, heir–Sort of– to the Austro-Hungarian throne wakes up one day and is whisked off away from his palace by two of his teachers. He is unknown to what is happening, and is told to drive a family Stormwalker that he has never driven before. As he flees, he learns that his parents are dead, and war is beginning.

Deryn Sharp –Daryl Sharp– is a midshipman in the British Air Force. He/She is a brilliant airman and a genius at what she does. But when her ship crashes in the Swiss Mountains, all hope seems bleak.
Eventually these two meet, and form an unlikely bond, Clanker and Darwinist, and ally together to stop the war and reseat Alek on the throne.

As a steampunk enthusiast I was quite amazed at how good the book was. I was able to keep with the story really well most of the time. There were a few holes where time went by and some events happened, that I never saw, but it was a good, enthralling read.

The next blog post will be on The Amulet of Samarkand, by Jonathan Stroud. I am under way on reading book two, since the series is absolutely hysterical.

Well, See you guys next week.

Your friend at TBR

Ok, everyone. Sorry it has been so long, but I have just forgot to post, but will have posts more regularly as summer rolls in. Again, sorry. I wrote this post a while ago, but never posted it. So, I bid you best reads.

Well, It’s here.

Department 19, book TWO! The Rising. Amazing. excited. Lets get it before I can’t type.

Department 19: The Rising
😀 out of 😀 (5/5)

91 DAYS TILL ZERO HOUR.

THAT’S 91 DAYS TO RUN.

91 DAYS TO HIDE.

OR 91 DAYS TO PRAY FOR DEPARTMENT 19 TO SAVE YOU…

After the terrifying attack on Lindisfarne at the end of the first book, Jamie, Larissa and Kate are recovering at Department 19 headquarters, waiting for news of Dracula’s stolen ashes.

They won’t be waiting for long.

Vampire forces are gathering. Old enemies are getting too close. And Dracula… is rising.

12 weeks after Lindisfarne, The department has picked itself up and most who went survived. But all who went changed. And Valeri Rusmanov has been working Dracula back to life, and the vampires and becoming bolder, and they are leaving graffiti on all the walls. He Rises 91 days to slay Dracula, because after then, Dracula becomes the world’s dictator and all the humans will be non-existent. Unlikely alliances will form, all to bring down these monsters.

Holy Heck in a handbasket. To make this simple, Department 19 blew almost every other book I have read out of the water. The Rising blew the first one out of the water. Yeah. So, next week, I am trying something new. I am going to give a “Reccommended Reads/Recently Read,” and we’ll see how that goes. After that, I will do the Leviathan Trilogy BY Scott Westerfield, and Then Mortal By Phillip Reeves.

See Ya next time,

Your Friend at TBR

Hey everyone,

Today is my recommended reads post. All of these books are really good, so read some!

Artemis Fowl Series- Eoin Colfer
All Books I have reviewed, for the most part
Holes- Louis Sachar
Rick Riordan- I will not read him, but I know he is really good
Margaret Peterson Haddix, Amazing author
I, Q- Roland Smith
Jerry Spinelli
Evil Genius- Catherine Jinks
Alex Rider- Anthony Horowitz
Eragon-
Maximum Ride- James Patterson WARNING!! When Reading a James Patterson Book, look under his name. Patterson Has many people writing under his name!
Eoin Colfer in general
Dan Gutman, Sports
Jack Gantos
HIVE- Mark Walden- LOVE IT!
Rangers Apprentice- Never read it, but have heard nice things about it.
Warriors- Erin Hunter
The Mostly True Story of Jack

Thanks for reading,
Your friend at TBR

Oy. My child.

Yes, Teen Boy IS really my kid. And yes, he was feeling crummy yesterday, so I let him stay home from school, concerned it was the stomach flu that’s going around (it wasn’t). And yes, every time I walked into the family room, he was sitting with his back to the entertainment cabinet, working on the laptop. Almost every time, I’d look at the screen and … he’d be working on a blog post.

So where is it?

Well… I guess it didn’t get done because those few times I was quiet enough to catch him with a game screen open instead of the blog must have been only the tip of the iceberg.

It must have been good medicine because he was raring to go this morning. I even played the role of the kind mom and drove him to the bus stop with his social studies project.

I’m thinking he owes me. And you guys.

If you miss him, leave a note in the comments. I’ll be sure he sees it.

Hey, guys. Sorry I haven’t posted in such a long time, but I just have been sorta busy. Today I have a good book for you. Crater, by HOMER HICKAM as in October Sky, and Rocket Boys. This is the first in a series, and is a great mix of Sci-Fi, Action, adventure, and more.

Lets get in.

Crater, by Homer Hickam
🙂 out of 😀

It’s the 22nd Century. A tough, pioneering people mine the moon for Helium-3 to produce energy for a desperate, war-torn Earth. Sixteen-year old Crater Trueblood loves his job as a Helium-3 miner. But when he finds courage he didn’t know he had and saves a fellow miner, his life changes forever. Impressed by his heroism, the owner of the mine orders Crater to undertake a dangerous mission. Crater doubts himself, but he has no choice. He must go.

With the help of Maria, the mine owner’s frustrating but gorgeous granddaughter, and his gillie—a sentient and sometimes insubordinate clump of slime mold cells—Crater must fight both human and subhuman enemies. He’ll battle his way across a thousand miles of deadly but magnificent lunar terrain before vaulting into the far reaches of space, there to recover an astonishing object that could mean the difference between life and death for every inhabitant on the moon.

Far into the future, the moon has been colonized and helium-3 found on the moon. A few men live on the moon and mine it of it’s Helium-3 to provide to a war-ravaged Earth. One day, when he save his best friend, the mining company owner calls him in and decides to send him on a very dangerous mission.

Crater, having no choice in the matter, is switched to the convoy company and is sent across the moon to retrieve a package for the owner. On the road, he must face everything from traffic delays to the subhuman trying to stop the convoy and, most of all, kill Crater. Crater is no warrior, let alone adult. Crater must wrestle with a budding interest in Maria, the mine owner’s REALLY stubborn granddaughter, who Crater Trueblood, a sixteen-year-old miner truly is, what he really wants to be and CAN be…

Wow. Hickam hit this one out of the ballpark. It has been a while since I read this, but it is amazing. Well, the book was a non-stop kind of book, you know, those books you can’t put down. I enjoyed this book a lot, and was joyed when I was able to check out Department 19, and will be giving you that review next week.

Sorry Again for the lack of reviews these past 2 weeks.

Stay bookworming, (is that a word?) my friends,

Your friend at TBR

Hey everyone,

Next book in the Tripods Trilogy. The name will be explained. Dive in!

The City of Gold and Lead- John Christopher
😐 out of 😀

Long ago, the Tripods–huge, three-legged machines–descended upon Earth and took control. Now people unquestioningly accept the Tripods’ power. They have no control over their thoughts or their lives. But for a brief time in each person’s life–in childhood–he is not a slave. For Will, his time of freedom is about to end–unless he can escape to the White Mountains, where the possibility of freedom still exists. The Tripods trilogy follows the adventures of Will and his cohorts, as they try to evade the Tripods and maintain their freedom and ultimately do battle against them. The prequel, When the Tripods Came, explains how the Tripods first invaded and gained control of the planet.

After Will, Beanpole, and Henry made it to the White Mountains, they were taken in by a society of uncapped men. These men havea plan to get Will, Beanpole, and their best athletes in to one of the Tripods’ Cities by having them win an athletics competition, but will our three friends all make in in and out alive?

The book was good, but it was a lot of talk, and not much happened, although it did go fast, so that made up for it a little bit. Another good point was that the evil dudes were oddly human in a way. The reason the book is called such is because the aliens need heavier gravity, hence LEAD and the GOLD comes from the sheen of the walls, gold. Well, the final book in the trilogy is next week. See you then!

Happy Reading,

Your Friend at TBR

Hey Readers,

I recently read The White Mountains by John Christopher. It isn’t the newest book, but it was still phenomenal. So, without further ado, I will launch in. Also, please don’t rage on me because I did not do the prequel first.

The White Mountains-John Christopher
🙂 out of 😀

Long ago, the Tripods–huge, three-legged machines–descended upon Earth and took control. Now people unquestioningly accept the Tripods’ power. They have no control over their thoughts or their lives. But for a brief time in each person’s life–in childhood–he is not a slave. For Will, his time of freedom is about to end–unless he can escape to the White Mountains, where the possibility of freedom still exists. The Tripods trilogy follows the adventures of Will and his cohorts, as they try to evade the Tripods and maintian their freedom and ultimately do battle against them. The prequel, When the Tripods Came, explains how the Tripods first invaded and gained control of the planet.

Many years on the future, an alien race known only to mankind as the tripods, has invaded, destroyed, and turned the Earth back in time. Everyone lives in a permanent pre-industrial revolution era. There is no war, and at age 14, everyone is given a “cap,” a metal mesh that goes over the head and is infused into the flesh. Will, who is soon to be capped, soon meets a man known only as Ozymandias who is posing to be a Vargrant, someone whose mind was destroyed during the capping process. Ozymandias tells him to go south, to the White Mountains where he will live free for the rest of his life, or so he is told.

The book was quite good, especially since I have read a few pretty bad Sci-Fi novels. However, my librarian said that before he had read the book, he HATED Sci-Fi. But, all in all, it was a good book, fusing technology with adventure, escape, and fun. More of the trilogy coming your way!

See you later,
Your Friend at TBR

Well, I have another book for you today. Beware, this book is VERY mature and NOT geared for small children. DO NOT TAKE THIS LIGHTLY!

Department 19
Will Hill
😀 out of 😀

Jamie Carpenter’s life will never be the same. His father is dead, his mother is missing, and he was just rescued by an enormous man named Frankenstein. Jamie is brought to Department 19, where he is pulled into a secret organization responsible for policing the supernatural, founded more than a century ago by Abraham Van Helsing and the other survivors of Dracula. Aided by Frankenstein’s monster, a beautiful vampire girl with her own agenda, and the members of the agency, Jamie must attempt to save his mother from a terrifyingly powerful vampire.

Department 19 takes us through history, across Europe, and beyond – from the cobbled streets of Victorian London to prohibition-era New York, from the icy wastes of Arctic Russia to the treacherous mountains of Transylvania. Part modern thriller, part classic horror, it’s packed with mystery, mayhem, and a level of suspense that makes a Darren Shan novel look like a romantic comedy.

After Jamie Carpenter’s father died, his life changed. And it is not for the better. He has been moving around ever since that day. And now, his mom has gone missing. After being whisked away to top-secret wing of the British Government and given a military-level fight-and-weapons training, he learns that his mother has been captured by vampires. The second oldest, and the second most ruthless vampire, Alexandru, to be exact. This puts Jamie, a TEENAGER, on the hunt for one of the world’s most dangerous creatures, ever.
OMG! I could never stop raving about this book! It was the best thing that I have read in a long time, and that is really saying something. I won’t actually describe the book since I would go on and on and on about it, but I will say that it is a LOT more mature than all of the other books I have reviewed so far, so take caution. If this book was a video game, it is rated M, and as a movie, it would be rated R. Just saying. Young children, take caution. But it is a great book, despite all the blood and vampires exploding. Check the book’s website out at department19exists.com

Saddened by our parting again,

Your friend at TBR

Welcome back loyal readers!

Today I have yet another book that you should check out. In the final installment in the existing Guys Read series, I bring you: The Sports Pages!

Guys Read: Sports Pages
Edited By Jon Scieszka
😐 out of 😀 (3/5)

Ten stories guaranteed to put you in the ring, under the basket, and right behind home plate, from the following perennial all-stars: Dustin Brown, James Brown, Joseph Bruchac, Chris Crutcher, Tim Green, Dan Gutman, Gordon Korman, Chris Rylander, Anne Ursu, and Jacqueline Woodson

Guys Read is back, again. We will never stay down for the count. This time, we have brought you some of the finest sports writers, in between these covers! So turn the baseball game on, and curl up on a nice lounger with this book.

I am no sports fan. I will play the sports, to some degree, and find watching them slightly unappealing. But this book was pretty good, to me at least. The stories had an element of funniness to them, but others were more confusing than anything. All in all, it was a good book, but it had its ups and downs.
With more blog posts coming your way,

Your friend at TBR

Hey, everyone.

Got another book for you in the series of books designed exactly for teenage guys to read. Well, dive in!

Guys Read: Thriller
Edited by Jon Scieszka
😐 out of 😀 (3/5)

Volume 2 of the Guys Read Library of Great Reading has been described as “chock-full of mystery, intrigue, and nefarious activity.” Also “a pulse-pounding collection of brand-new short stories, each one guaranteed to keep you riveted until the final page.” Who are we to argue? But we will say it’s all that and more.

Guys Read is BACK!! This thrilling collection contains all the Thriller short stories you could ever need! If you did not realize that, reread the title. Edited by Jon Scieszka, we have some of the greatest Thriller novel authors all piled into one!
Well, I can truthfully say that thrillers are not my favorite kind of book. However, this was MUCH better than Revolver, the last book I read. This, being the second of three existing Guys Read books, will be the second in this review trilogy. The next is Guys Read: Sports Pages.
Well, the book was good, but like I said, I don’t really like thrillers. But albeit the fact that it was a whole collection of thrillers, the book WAS good. Not really all that much more that I can say, but I CAN say that I liked the book.

Keep reading, my friends,

Your friend at TBR

Hi Readers!
This week I have done another great book. The book is actually made for Teen Boys. This is the first of three reviews I will do.
Guys Read: Funny Business
Edited By Jon Scieszka
😉 out of 😀 (4.5/5)

Here it is! Volume 1 of our newest Guys Read undertaking A lot of something funny for everyone. 10 original short stories by Mac Barnett, Eoin Colfer, Christopher Paul Curtis, Kate DiCamillo & Jon Scieszka, Paul Feig, Jack Gantos, Jeff Kinney, David Lubar, Adam Rex, and David Yoo. Wow.

Well, if you need a description, go read the title again. This IS what it sounds like. 10 short stories by some awesome authors, and a whole lot of laughs.
This book was REALLY good, but was not totally funny. I can’t really say much about the book, seeing as the title really says everything. Eoin Colfer’s name is actually pronounced ‘Owen’. Jeff Kinney made ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’. Hey, I’m grasping at straws here. Just know that some stories are funnier than others.

Well, that brings us to the end of our review. Thanks for stopping by, and goodbye.

See you later,

Your friend at TBR

Welcome Back!

Today, we have a review on a book that I did not really like.

Well, let’s get going.

Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick
D: out of 😀 (1/5)
A LOADED GUN. STOLEN GOLD. And a menacing stranger. A taut frontier survivor story, set at the time of the Alaska gold rush.

In an isolated cabin, fourteen-year-old Sig is alone with a corpse: his father, who has fallen through the ice and frozen to death only hours earlier. Then comes a stranger claiming that Sig’s father owes him a share of a horde of stolen gold. Sig’s only protection is a loaded Colt revolver hidden in the cabin’s storeroom. The question is, will Sig use the gun, and why?

I hated this book so much, I won’t be writing my own description

This book was HORRENDOUS! I would not recommend reading this unless you like books where nothing happens! Revolver was all exposition, and the end rushed up in you. The best part was the end, because the stand-off FINALLY ends! So I was relieved to get the book away. And this is VERY unusual with me. Some like the book, but I didn’t, and Revolver bored me to death. So I do NOT recommend this book.

Well, Until I have another, better book, (which will be next week), I’ll be signing off.

Your friend at TBR

Hey everyone:

I have a pretty good not-so-new book that I read a while back.

Lets get into my review.

Montmorency by Eleanor Updale
:/ out of 😀 (3/5)
When a petty thief falls through a glass roof trying to escape from the police, what should have been the death of him marks the beginning of a whole new life. He soon becomes the most elusive burglar in Victorian London, adopting a dual existence as both a respectable, wealthy gentleman named Montmorency, and his degenerate servant Scarper.

When a unknown thief botches up a job badly, he falls through a glass roof and is unrecognizable until a young Doctor takes it as a personal challenge to fix the man, named Montmorency by the prison guards.

When Montmorency is finally let out, he is forced to lead a double life, as to avoid being caught. There is Montmorency, the gentleman; and Scarper, is low-life, thieving, lying manservant. Together, many an adventure is had, until a friend poses Scarper with his biggest challenge yet.

Montmorency was an OK book. The story sort of dwindled, as though the author lost interest, and so the book ended without an ending. It was sort of pathetic. Although, the idea was good, and the dual-life storyline great, but,the book still crashed and burned. This is the first in a series, with the full title of this book being Montmorency: Thief, Liar, Gentleman?

SO, I hereby decree that this review has been sufficiently looked into, and I now pronounce this review CLOSED!

See you next time,

Your friend at TBR

Hey everyone! First blog post, more coming your way. So let’s get started.

Wildwood
Colin Meloy
:)(4) out of 😀 (5)

Prue McKeel’s life is ordinary. At least until her brother is abducted by a murder of crows and taken to the Impassable Wilderness, a dense, tangled forest on the edge of Portland. No one’s ever gone in—or at least returned to tell of it.
So begins an adventure that will take Prue and her friend Curtis deep into the Impassable Wilderness. There they uncover a secret world in the midst of violent upheaval—a world full of warring creatures, peaceable mystics, and powerful figures with the darkest intentions. And what begins as a rescue mission becomes something much greater, as the two friends find themselves entwined in a struggle for the very freedom of this wilderness. A wilderness the locals call Wildwood.

After Prue McKeel’s baby brother Mac is abducted by a murder of crows, Prue decides to follow them into what she knows as the impassable wilderness, and she was warned NEVER to go there. After her friend Curtis tails her in, while narrowly missing a train, they are quickly split up and taken into towns with two opposing parties. After many a startling discovery is made, Prue realizes Mac and Curtis are both in a predicament that will pose a problem for them to all make it out alive.

I personally liked this book, having read it three times. The book has a great and captivating storyline, with many different twists and turns, making it necessary to read many parts again to fully grasp the depth. There are pictures in the book, but they mostly look like a pro artist just doodled whatever he thought would go well with the content. The book is suitable for all ages, but can be slightly dark at times. The sequel is out and my thoughts on that will be out soon. See you next time!

-Your Friend at TBR

Proving once again that West of Mars is about more than just a simple author’s site, I’m introducing a new blogger here at the Meet and Greet. You guys are going to LOVE him, I know.

But, then, I’m biased. Our new blogging voice belongs to my one and only son, The Boy Band, as I’ve called him around here since I began blogging. He’s renamed himself, though, and while I’ll still call him The Boy Band, when he’s in blogger mode, he’s got a new persona: Teen Boy.

That’s because when he’s in the spotlight, his feature will be called Teen Boy Reads.

It was a simple thing, really: the kid reads more than I do. He devours books. And when I saw a call, be it on Twitter, Facebook, or a blog, for people who were curious to know what teen boys are reading, I asked if he wanted to blog. He could be a voice for teen boys.

Starting next week, and hopefully running every Tuesday, the Teen Boy will drop in to tell us all about what he’s reading. We’ll be working up a book review policy and all that fun stuff, but for now, he’s said he prefers not to be solicited to write reviews. He wants to read what he wants to read, when he wants to read it.

He’s a teen boy. I don’t blame him.

If you’ve got a book that you think will appeal to him, please keep that in mind. You’re better off to contact me, Susan, for a Featured New Book spotlight and get your exposure at West of Mars that way.