Eagle Strike by Anthony Horowitz (Alex Rider #4)

While on holiday with his friend Sabina Pleasure and her family, an attempt is made on Sabina's father's life. When Alex learns his old foe, Yassen Gregorovich the man who killed his uncle, is behind it, he is determined to find out who would want to kill the journalist. Alex's curiosity leads him to Damian Cray, the ultra-rich philanthropist pop star who has an insane plan to save the world no matter the cost.

Another crazy madman, another crazy adventure. It's par for the course for Alex Rider at this point.  What is it with villains that in these books that they leave Alex alone with some trap? It's like in Austin Powers:

Dr. Evil: Scott, I want you to meet daddy's nemesis, Austin Powers
Scott Evil: What? Are you feeding him? Why don't you just kill him?
Dr. Evil: I have an even better idea. I'm going to place him in an easily escapable situation involving an overly elaborate and exotic death.
Dr. Evil: All right guard, begin the unnecessarily slow-moving dipping mechanism.
[guard starts dipping mechanism]
Dr. Evil: Close the tank!
Scott Evil: Wait, aren't you even going to watch them? They could get away!
Dr. Evil: No no no, I'm going to leave them alone and not actually witness them dying, I'm just gonna assume it all went to plan. What?
Scott Evil: I have a gun, in my room, you give me five seconds, I'll get it, I'll come back down here, BOOM, I'll blow their brains out!
Dr. Evil: Scott, you just don't get it, do ya? You don't.

So a giant video game set and they just leave him alone. So dumb. But it wouldn't be much of a book if they just shot him. But as adventure spy thrillers go, it is a pretty good book. I'll definitely finish the series but I am going to take a break for a couple of books, I think. It's funny because there was a giant reveal at the end of this book that leaves Alex and the reader questioning everything we've known about Alex's father up to this book. So I definitely want to find out about that.

Alex Rider
Stormbreaker
Point Blank
Skeleton Key

Skeleton Key by Anthony Horowitz (Alex Rider #3)

After being sent to Wimbledon to check into a suspicious turn of events, Alex is put out on loan to the U.S. CIA for his protection and to provide cover for two CIA agents. Sent to Cuba to act as the son, Alex soon finds himself embroiled in the plans of a Russian general.

I am enjoying this series. Alex is a good kid and a terrific spy albeit a reluctant one. But he is so good at it that MI6 keeps using him and this time the CIA asks to "borrow" Alex to help get their agents onto an island with a lot of security. There is some contrivence with the Wimbledon tournament to get Alex into the position where he has to leave the country for a while but the main plot involves the Russian general.

I'm noticing that the villians tend to have a second in command that is hard for Alex to beat but eventually he outsmarts them and wins. In this book it is Conrad, an assassin whose been stitched together after being caught in a bomb detonation. I can't say there were any surprises with the ending but there was one surprise with the CIA agents so that made it more interesting. Also interesting is the addition of Alex's new friend, Sabina. She is a great character and I hope she shows up more in the series.

Alex Rider
Stormbreaker
Point Blank

Point Blank by Anthony Horowitz (Alex Rider #2) (audio)

Reluctant teen spy Alex Rider has put himself in a jam. Now endebted to MI6 for rescusing he is once again sent on a mission made for a boy his age.  He is sent to a school for the rich and powerful's troubled sons to find out if there is something sinister going on at the school.

OK. I think the key here is just utter suspension of belief that any of this is in any way rational. I can deal with the teenage spy thing.  Sure sure, this is a thing that can happen. I can deal with the school for troubled wealthy youth. I can deal with the things Alex manages to do before he evens get to the school or the fact that he already seems highly trained and well rounded, something that is attributed to his upbringing by his uncle. But the whole reveal at Point Blanc, the school, is pretty crazy. The whole thing is so James Bond. I honestly at this point don't know if this is criticism or praise. It's a great series and I'll definitely continue on with it but C'MON (SPOILERS highlight) 16 cloned boys who've had plastic surgery and are going to take over the world through their parents and all perpetuated by a crazy mad scientist. I just don't even know. But it's an exciting and action packed series so I'm willing to let these things go for the sake of having something fun to listen to on my way to work.

Simon Prebble is the narrator. I really don't like narrator changes but Simon Prebble is a good narrator and he won me over. It helps that this is only the second in the series and so I haven't associated the previous narrator only with Alex's voice. I wonder if he continues but I can't find the third book on audio so I'll have to read it.

Sequel to Stormbreaker

Virgin Territory by James Lecesne

Dylan is a apathetic teenager working as a golf caddy at one of his town's many golf courses.  But when the Virgin Mary appears on a tree on the golf course turning into a destination for miracles, he finds his life changed after befriending the Virgin Club, a group of teenagers dragged around with their parents.

And yet my mother was able to see something in me that no one else could eve imagine, not even me.  Love gave her second sight, and I don't think science has a name for that.  p. 5 ARC

Did I love this? Well, I'm not in love with it.  It was good, wanted to be quirky and failed a bit.  But I found it to be a very touching story and it brought tears to my eyes a few times.  I felt for Dylan and his father, both dealing with the huge loss of Dylan's mother.  Dylan's father did annoy me.  He didn't seem to have the ability to see what Dylan was feeling.  It was like he wanted to be a good father and he didn't know how.  Dylan came off confused and lonely and sad though he tried to hide it most of the time.

As for the whole Virgin Club thing, it felt forced.  And I really didn't like Angela, the girl of the whole thing.  You know the one that every boy loves and who is so quirky and different that it is amazing.  Yeah, she didn't work for me.  This would have been better without her.  I loved the story of Marie, the grandmother and I liked the other members of the Virgin Club.  All in a all it was good enough to finish, but not great.

Provided by Traveling ARC Tours
Hogwarts: Muggle Studies
YA

Will Grayson, Will Grayson

Provided by Traveling ARC Tours

Meet Will Grayson.  He's a quiet, introverted guy who has two rules: 1. Don't care too much and 2. Shut up.
Meet Will Grayson.  He's a quiet, introverted guy with chronic depression and a secret.
Soon these two Wills will meet in a very odd place and, as their lives begin to intersect, things will change for both of them.

"i want to tell him i should be out killing some people now, not taking a stroll with him.  but he takes a little of the murder off my mind.  it's not like it won't be there later. p.145 ARC

And the following makes me actually love John Green a little

"You're amazing, and I so want to be your boyfriend, because of what you just said, and also because that shirt makes me want to take you home now and do unspeakable things while we watch live-action Sailor Moon videos." p.257 ARC

I could actually quote the whole book, I think it is that good.  I was enthralled and saddened and overjoyed by this book.  I actually laughed out loud many many times.  The phrasing, the situations, Tiny, all very very good to me.  Tiny, you might be asking, who is that?  Well, Tiny is a 6'6" 300 pound gay football player/musical writer, and it is the main catalyst behind the changes to both Will Graysons.  Tiny was so great, both very real and a caricature of himself at the same time.  I've meet guys like Tiny before.  Not as over the top, but still very big personality, very generous heart, very selfish at times.

The Wills were both a little annoying, especially Levithan's Will (2) who was very moody.  But he was dealing with chronic depression so that was an interesting part of his character.  He was also so real.  They both were.  I found myself hoping that when my son is a teenager, we have a better relationship than the Wills do with their moms.  But it was very realistic.

I was little meh on Will's (1) relationship with Jane and didn't care much for Will's (2) problems with Maura.  They both felt in addition to, not reason why.  But I loved Tiny's role.  And it was nice to see them looked beyond themselves because of him.


Hogwarts: Muggle Studies
GLBT
YA
Take Another Chance

The Straight Road to Kylie

Jonathan is living the good life.  He's out and proud with three of the best girlfriends and having a fine time.  But during a drunken night, he accidentally has sex with a girl and now everyone is after him for something and wondering if he is actually straight.  When one of the popular girls in school offers him a bargain: act like her boyfriend and she'll take him to see his favorite pop star, Kylie Minogue.  But the straight road to Kylie leads to much drama.

Favorite quote: "She's even turning her back on me via Chick-fil-A! I'm gonna de-friend her on MySpace."  Carrie and Juan gasped.


I wasn't quite sure what I was getting into before I picked up this book.  The description sounded fun.  And this was, hands-down, a fun book.  It was very pink and frilly and frantic.  It was also just a tad too long.  I really felt sorry for Jonathan.  He just starts digging a hole after he sleeps with this girl and just digs and digs and digs.  And every time he tries to get out, he falls right back in.  All he wants to do is go see Kylie Minogue, his pop hero, but he makes a deal with the devil and drags all his friends along with him.  I saw a couple of his problems coming before he did with a couple of his friends.  Also he yells a lot.  I knew that is strange, but he was yelling or screaming on like every page.  I don't think the author knew how to convey excitement without making someone yell.  So that was weird.

Jonathan's friends were pretty awesome too and very well defined.  I've had friends like these in the my life especially the Carrie character.  They were well written and the drama was so very high school.  I will mention that there is a lot of cursing, sex (nothing explicit though), talk about sex, drinking and drugs.  Normally I don't mention stuff like that, but I feel like I have to on this one.  It's not quite adult, but it's a little more than YA.  I would say about on par with the Gossip Girl series.  So if you don't want your kid reading those, then this isn't going to work for them either.

Something that wasn't really touched on or said explicitly, but I think Jonathan had to use his "straight" self to figure out his gay self.  He knew he was gay, but had never kissed a boy or dated one really.  So in the course of pretending to be straight, he found what he was looking for, the life he was looking for as a gay male.  I don't really recommend this route, but it made for an good book.

An Abundance of Katherines (Audio)

Colin Singleton has dated 19 Katherines and been dumped by them all. After his latest dumping by K19, he heads out on a road trip with his best (and only) friend Hassan. They end up in Gutshot, Tennessee where they meet Lindsey Lee Wells, whose family owns the local tampon string making factory. Here Colin learns that people are unpredictable and that not everything revolves around a Katherine.

It took me a long time to get through this book. Not because it wasn't good but because I was listening to it at work and didn't have a lot of opportunities to listen to it recently. I only mention this because, since it took me so long, this felt like a long book and it's not. If I had just read it, I would have had it done in a couple of days, a week max.

For the most part, I enjoyed this book. I liked the concept. Colin was not my favorite character though. He was really whiny and self-absorbed which was the point of his character, I know, but still. I liked Hasson and Lindsey Lee Wells a lot and I like how they called her boyfriend TOC (The Other Colin). That was funny. Jeff Woodman was the narrator and he did a fairly good job, but I would still recommend reading this instead of listening to it.

Boy Meets Boy

Paul lives in a town where being gay or a drag-queen quarterback is not given a second thought. He has a core group of friends some of whom are really outrageous (see aforementioned drag-queen quarterback). One night he meets Noah and he just knows that this is the right boy for him. But ex-boyfriends and best friends get in his way and Paul has to figure out how to make all his relationships work.

This is one of those books I've meaning to read for a long time, but the GLBT challenge made it the perfect time to pick it up. In a way this book reads like wish fulfillment. It is a simplified world that Paul lives in. He announced when he was 5 that he was gay after seeing it on his kindergarten teacher's report and he knew it to be true. His parents seem to have adjusted to it well and his life is not challenged in anyway. His whole town is accepting of the GLBT lifestyle. The school quarterback is a drag-queen. On the other hand, Paul's friend Tony lives in a different town with very religious families who don't approve of his lifestyle and won't let him hang out unless there are girls there. It's an interesting contrast between the two guys and provides Paul with some insight later in the book.

I liked the relationship between Noah and Paul. It was sweet and a typical "chic lit" plot except with two boys. Boy finds boy, boy likes boy, something comes between boys, well you know the rest. But the relationship I liked best was Paul and Tony's. It was so real and so right. That is probably what I'll remember most. Well, that and Infinite Darlene cause who can forget her.