Size 12 and Ready to Rock by Meg Cabot (Heather Wells #4)

Fisher Hall is hosting the Tania Trace Rock Camp after people around the famous pop singer keep getting hurt. So Heather Wells is stuck with her ex-boyfriend's pregnant new wife and a bunch of bratty teenage wannabes in her dorm. But the trouble the girls cause is nothing to what is happening around Tania.

For a generally snappy series, this entry in the Heather Wells series has some serious tones. It touches on domestic abuse and fertility issues. But really it only touches on the latter. The former plays out more explicitly. I wish the character of Tania was fleshed out a bit more, but it was nice to see more from the girl who "stole" Jordan away from Heather. And her story is given more substance which proves that everyone has something behind them.

But this is still a Heather Wells mystery and so it is still a pretty funny book. Heather is so good and sweet to people. And I love her and Cooper together. I'm glad to see their relationship progressing more. That's always nice see in a series (ahem, Stephanie Plum). Hopefully the next one will bring about a wedding. That would be pretty rare in a mystery series of this type. And I hope the next one has Jordan and Cooper's sisters in it because they were pretty hilarious.

Heather Wells Mysteries
Size 12 is Not Fat
Size 14 is Not Fat Either
Big Boned

Blackout and All Clear by Connie Willis (audio) (Oxford Time Travel #3 & #4)

I decided to review both of these together since it basically one long book. They blend together seamlessly and you really can't read All Clear without having read Blackout. It would be confusing. I'm not sure what went into the decision to publish them separately but if you decide to read or listen to them make sure you have All Clear on hand to immediately begin reading after you finish Blackout.

It's Oxford 2060 and three historians are planning on traveling to World War II, each to observe something different. For her first assignment, Merope assumes the name Eileen O'Reilly and is sent to observe some 1940 London evacuees at a country manor house. Polly Churchill arrives in 1940 as well to observe the beginning of the London Blitz. And Michael Davies, who had been prepping to travel to Pearl Habor, has his assignments switch resulting in him going to 1940 to observe the Battle of Dunkirk. Each makes to their assignment and everything starts going wrong quickly after. None can get their drops to reopen and each is afraid that they have somehow started to change history, something that was previously thought impossible.

Blackout follows each historian as they transgress through World War II. They all have the same basic storyline. They arrive at their locations with Polly and Michael having some degree of "slippage," that is not arriving at the temporal location that was set up for them. Things go wrong for all of them at some point and then they discover that they cannot get back to their own time. The book ends with them trying to make their way to each other to hopefully use another's drop.

(SPOILERS) All Clear picks up where Blackout left off. The historians have found each other and try to work out where another historian is to hopefully find a way home that way. Each hopes for a retrieval team from Oxford and they begin leaving clues for Oxford 2060 in local newspapers, hoping for a rescue. They begin to think they are trapped in World War II because they have made horrible alterations to history. But none of them piece together the truth till much later.

If I have any criticisms it's that each book went on a tad too long. Especially the section where Micheal, Polly, and Eileen worry over the retrieval team. That part goes on too long. I also hated how Polly treated Eileen, like she was stupid when Eileen was shown to be more than capable. I guess that came from the fact that Eileen was younger than Polly and Micheal and so a little more naive.

But overall I enjoyed the story. The ending was predictable but still surprising and a bit sad. I learned a lot about the London Blitz and World War II. Eileen was a great character and Polly was too albeit a much more frustrating one since she could never seem to tell the truth about anything that Michael and Eileen might need to know. Once all the pieces came together it was easier to see how brilliant the story was. While this is not my favorite Connie Willis Oxford Time Travel story, it was certainly a wonderful addition to the world she has already built.

Katherine Kellgren is the narrator and she is once again amazing. I can't believe that I didn't like her to the first time I heard her on The Red Pyramid. She is honestly one of the most talented narrators and when I saw she narrated these Connie Willis I was so happy. Two of my favorites! Yes, please. She does a smashing job on both of these books and is a delight to listen to.


Blackout. 18 hours, 48 minutes
All Clear. 23 hours, 46 minues

Weekly Round-Up 2/25

Weekly Round-Up is my wrap-up of last week's activities and includes what I'm reading this week, reviews I've posted, books in the mail and anything else of interest plus From the Library, my weekly listing of what I've checked out from the library.

Last week I reviewed Only the Good Spy Young by Ally Carter. 

I'm reading Size 12 and Ready to Rock by Meg Cabot and listening to All Clear by Connie Willis, ready by Katherine Kellgren.

Size 12 and Ready to Rock by Meg Cabot (e-book)

Summer break . . . and the livin' ain't easy!

Just because the students at New York College have flown the coop doesn't mean assistant residence hall director Heather Wells can relax. Fischer Hall is busier than ever, filled with squealing thirteen- and fourteen-year-old girls attending the first ever Tania Trace Teen Rock Camp, hosted by pop sensation Tania Trace herself--who just happens to be newly married to Heather's ex-boyfriend, heartthrob Jordan Cartwright. But the real headache begins when the producer of a reality TV show starring Tania winds up dead . . . and it's clear that the star was the intended victim.

Grant Cartwright, head of Cartwright Records, wants to keep his daughter-in-law (and his highest-earning performer) alive. So he hires his oldest son, black sheep of the family and private investigator Cooper Cartwright--who just happens to be Heather's new fiance. Heather should leave the detecting to Cooper. But with a dorm full of hysterical mini-divas-in-training, she can't help but get involved. And after Tania shares a really shocking secret with her, this reality suddenly becomes more dangerously real than anyone ever anticipated.

 
Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage, read by Michael Friedman

A hilarious Southern debut with the kind of characters you meet once in a lifetime

Rising sixth grader Miss Moses LoBeau lives in the small town of Tupelo Landing, NC, where everyone's business is fair game and no secret is sacred. She washed ashore in a hurricane eleven years ago, and she's been making waves ever since. Although Mo hopes someday to find her "upstream mother," she's found a home with the Colonel--a café owner with a forgotten past of his own--and Miss Lana, the fabulous café hostess. She will protect those she loves with every bit of her strong will and tough attitude. So when a lawman comes to town asking about a murder, Mo and her best friend, Dale Earnhardt Johnson III, set out to uncover the truth in hopes of saving the only family Mo has ever known.

Full of wisdom, humor, and grit, this timeless yarn will melt the heart of even the sternest Yankee.

The Fox Inheritance by  Mary E. Pearson, read by Matthew Brown

Once there were three. Three friends who loved each other—Jenna, Locke, and Kara. And after a terrible accident destroyed their bodies, their three minds were kept alive, spinning in a digital netherworld. Even in that disembodied nightmare, they were still together. At least at first. When Jenna disappeared, Locke and Kara had to go on without her. Decades passed, and then centuries.

Two-hundred-and-sixty years later, they have been released at last. Given new, perfect bodies, Locke and Kara awaken to a world they know nothing about, where everyone they once knew and loved is long dead.

Everyone except Jenna Fox.

Pre-ordered (Publish date February 26, 2013)
The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson 

After her near-fatal run-in with the Jack the Ripper copycat, Rory Devereaux has been living in Bristol under the close watch of her parents. So when her therapist suddenly suggests she return to Wexford, Rory jumps at the chance to get back to her friends. But Rory's brush with the Ripper touched her more than she thought possible: she's become a human terminus, with the power to eliminate ghosts on contact. She soon finds out that the Shades--the city's secret ghost-fighting police--are responsible for her return. The Ripper may be gone, but now there is a string of new inexplicable deaths threatening London. Rory has evidence that the deaths are no coincidence. Something much more sinister is going on, and now she must convince the squad to listen to her before it's too late.
In this follow-up to the Edgar Award-nominated THE NAME OF THE STAR, Maureen Johnson adds another layer of spectacularly gruesome details to the streets of London that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end.

**descriptions from Goodreads**

Only the Good Spy Young by Ally Carter (Gallagher Girls #4)

Cammie is the target by the mysterious Circle of Cavan, an terriost organization of spies. After her former teacher, Joe Solomon, risks his life to give her a coded message, she goes a mission to find out why the Circle wants her and what her father and Mr. Solomon have to do with the organization. With the help of her super spy friends and her sort of love interest, Zach, Cammie sets out to find the truth. But the truth is harder to find than she thinks.

It's been a while since I got into this series. The third book didn't do it for me but I enjoyed this one. I think the time off (and the fact that it wasn't following up a fantastic book) helped. Cammie and her friends really step up their game in this book which is good because the ending is drawing closer (it's a 6 book series) and all the players are being set up for the finale. We learn a little more about the Circle and who is in it and that makes for some surprising moments. We don't learn why they want Cammie and not too much more about Cammie's father though it is implied that he is still alive. But the story moves forward at fun pace and I'm anxious to read the next one to see what happens next.

Gallagher Girls series
I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You
Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy
Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover