Thursday, September 16, 2010

The Titan's Curse (Rick Riordan)

Summary:
In the third Percy Jackson installment, Percy finds himself stuck with Grover and a bunch of chicks on a mission to save a goddess, and his friend Annabeth. This time, the journey is a cross-country trek to San Francisco via Washington, DC. They have to save Artemis and get her to the Council of the Gods by the winter solstice, which is only a week away. Oh, and Annabeth's life hangs in the balance, too. Just another quest for poor Percy.

Thoughts:
Awesome as usual. I loved that this time, they weren't out to save just anyone. It was a goddess herself that was in trouble. And also Annabeth. Percy is just starting to realize he's got a thing for Annabeth, too, which makes life all the more interesting for the Olympian crew. Also, it begs the question, if Zeus is your dad, and Athena is your would-be girlfriend's mom, doesn't that mean that your would-be girlfriend's also your niece? Things to ponder. But yeah, this is awesome, just like the rest of Riordan's work. I'll be hunting down 4 and 5, for sure, and I'll probably be looking up more of Riordan's work when I'm through this series.

Pages: 312
Genre: Fantasy, Greek mythology, teen lit
Grade: A
Would I Recommend?: Absolutely!

40 down, only 10 to go!

Suite Scarlett ( Maureen Johnson)

Summary:
Scarlett is the third child out of four of a pair of hotel owners in New York City. The day she turns sixteen, she is given the responsibility of keeping up one of the rooms in the hotel, and in fact, it's the schmancy-est room in the hotel. But she also is saddled with the burden of the knowledge that the hotel is not doing well at all. The day after her birthday, Scarlett's suite gets booked for the whole summer, and she becomes the personal assistant of the room's occupant, Mrs. Amberson, a crazy former Broadway star who's back in the city for some excitement and to reminisce about days gone by. The excitement comes via Scarlett's brother Spencer and his fledgling theatre group who are trying their damnedest to put on Hamlet, with little success. And so goes Scarlett's summer...

Thoughts:
A lot of plot lines to keep up with, for sure. A character was introduced in the first couple of chapters that I nearly forgot about 100 pages later when she was brought up again. Honestly, getting through this book was like slogging through mud during a typhoon. I really loved Maureen Johnson's book, 13 Little Blue Envelopes, but the can't-put-it-down nature of that book was completely lost when it came to this one. I'm sadly disappointed. There's too many depressing things to make this book as wonderful as Johnson's previous work. There is apparently a sequel, but I'll be skipping it. No thanks.

Pages: 353
Genre: Teen lit
Grade: C-
Would I Recommend?: Probably not. It's not worth the slogging.

39 down, 11 to go!

The Sea of Monsters (Rick Riordan)

Summary:
In the second Percy Jackson book, Percy is sent on a trek to the Bermuda Triangle to help rescue his friend, Grover. Annabeth comes along, plus a new friend from Percy's most recent school. Along the way, he encounters all new and interesting mythical creatures, some that help him, and some that really don't.

Thoughts:
It's a great second step into the Olympian world of today. The series is fun, and the characters are lovable for sure. Even the ones that aren't so nice are written so well that you can't help but appreciate them for their awfulness. I'll be keeping up with this series. (Actually, I've already finished another of these books, I just haven't posted in a while, so I figure I'll go in order, haha!) I definitely suggest these awesome books for anyone, teen or not, because they're just that fun.

Pages: 288
Genre: Fantasy, teen lit, Greek mythology
Grade: A
Would I Recommend?: Absolutely.

38 down, 12 to go!