I read Bedtime at the Swamp by Kristyn Crow tonight.  She gave it to me at the Utah Bloggers 2010 Winter Social.

It’s the story of a boy, his younger sister, older brother, and two cousins who think there’s a monster in the swamp.  They all take cover in a tree to hide from this monster as he makes all kinds of scary racket.

I thought Bedtime at the Swamp was really cute and clever.  My favorite thing about the story was that it rhymed and used onomatopoeia.  I love onomatopoeia because it makes the story more real, especially when you’re reading to kids.

The story was illustrated by Macky Pamintuan and I absolutely love the artwork.  The colors are vibrant and the pictures are fun!

I think kids of all ages will enjoy this story, even though it’s intended for three to six year olds.

I finished reading Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant by Darren Shan.  It’s the second book in the Saga of Darren Shan.

When I read the first book, A Living Nightmare, I thought The Vampire’s Assistant movie was an adaptation of the first two books in the series.  Um … I was wrong.  The movie’s actually an adaptation of the first three books, so I didn’t expect what happened in this book at all.

A Living Nightmare was almost exactly like the first half of the movie adaptation with some changes like most movies have.  However, the only thing The Vampire’s Assistant book had in common with its movie adaptation was that Darren and Mr. Crepsley joined the Cirque du Freak.  Everything else was completely different and completely new to me.  Now, that wasn’t a bad thing or anything.  I just wasn’t expecting most of the things that happened in the book.

I liked this book a lot better than the first one.  The first one was slow because it was building up the characters and the layout of the story.  This book was much faster paced and I read it in two days, which is good since it was due back to the library today.  Finished it in the nick of time.

This series is categorized as young adult, but I’d say it’s actually written more for middle readers than teenagers.  In some ways, the books seem very juvenile.  I like the story enough, though, so the books hold my interest.  I look forward to reading the third book and actually catching up with the movie.

Today, I finished reading The Dark Divine by Bree Despain.  It’s her debut novel and I really enjoyed it. In fact, it has made the cut to be placed on my Favorites shelf.

The Dark Divine is about Grace Divine, the daughter of the local pastor.  It’s been three years since she’s seen Daniel Kalbi, her brother’s former best friend.  She’s surprised to see him, but not surprised at her brother’s reaction to him when she tells him about Daniel’s return.  Her brother, Jude, makes her promise not to associate with him because of the circumstances surrounding his disappearance.  But, her growing attraction to Daniel begins to undermine her determination to keep her promise to Jude the instance she makes it.  She must decide to remain loyal to Jude or to help Daniel reintegrate back into his old life.

From the minute I started reading The Dark Divine, I wanted to know more about Daniel.  I wanted to know what happened between Jude and him.  I wanted to keep reading, so I knew everything.  Not a single part of the story was slow for me.  I wanted to keep reading.  The only time I stopped reading was when I had to take the time to finish the aminekos for my nieces for Christmas.

Now that I’ve finished the story, I still want to know more.  Even though I think the ending wrapped up nicely, I still have questions.  Those questions are along the lines of what happens to the characters now or how are they going to deal with that, etc.  At this point, I really hope The Dark Divine becomes a series so it can answer a couple of my questions.

Last night, I finished reading Fire by Kristin Cashore.  It’s a prequel, sort of, to Graceling with only one cross-over character.  You don’t have to read Graceling before you read Fire.  But, once you read Fire, you’ll want to read Graceling.

I really enjoyed Fire and it has earned a spot on my Favorites shelf.  I thought the story was very intriguing and captivating.  There were a lot of elements I enjoyed immensely, such as friendship, betrayal, heartbreak, grief, and love.

Fire takes place in the Dells, a kingdom to the east of the seven kingdoms in Graceling.  In the Dells, there are beautiful creatures called monsters.  Monsters are like normal animals, but the hair, scales, or feathers of the monsters are brilliantly colored, making them alluring to anyone who sees them.  All monsters have the power to control the minds of humans.

Fire is the last human-shaped monster.  She’s gorgeous just like the other monsters, but she has the human appreciation to determine right from wrong.  She’s despised by many because of the legacy her father, Cansrel, left in the Dells.  Cansrel used his power to influence the old king to cause pain, chaos, and mayhem, running the kingdom into ruins and the onset of a civil war.  Because of this, she shies away from using her powers, except in self-defense.  As the new king of the Dells fights to hold his kingdom together, Fire must decide if she can use her powers to help overthrow the king’s enemies without turning into the monster her father was.

I loved the concept of monsters and their powers just as much as I loved the concept of Gracelings and their Graces.  It was interesting to see mind powers from so many different points of view.  I loved watching Fire grow into herself and becoming the woman she wanted to be.

I also loved the delicate weaving of the cross-over character into the plot.  Even though he didn’t have a huge part to play in this book, I think the effect he had on the inhabitants of the Dells could be used in future books like Bitterblue.  (Bitterblue is a sequel-ish book to Graceling that Kristin Cashore’s currently working on.)  However, even if she doesn’t tie all three books together through the cross-over character, I still thought his role in Fire was interesting.

Happy birthday, Corey and Cameron!

Last night, I finished reading Cirque Du Freak: A Living Nightmare by Darren Shan.  It’s the first book in the Saga of Darren Shan.

Corey and I saw Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant a few weeks ago.  I really enjoyed the movie, so I thought I’d give the books a try.  The movie is actually based on the first two books in the series, so having just finished the first book, I’m about halfway through the movie.

(My synopsis contains a few spoilers, but honestly, it isn’t anything you couldn’t guess while reading the story or from the synopsis on the back of the book.)  A Living Nightmare is about a boy, Darren Shan, who goes to see the Cirque Du Freak with his best friend, Steve Leonard.  Darren has always been mesmerized by spiders (at which point I had a hard time forcing myself to keep reading the story) and sees the beautiful and talented Madam Octa, a unique and very poisonous tarantula, perform at the show with Larten Crespley, who’s actually a vampire.

Darren becomes so obsessed with Madam Octa that he steals her from Mr. Crepsley.  While Madam Octa is in Darren’s care, she bites Steve and sends him into a coma.  In order to save his friend, Darren makes a deal with Mr. Crepsley to become his assistant, a half-vampire.

I have to admit that the book seemed a little slow at first, but I think that’s because I was waiting for certain things to happen having just watched the movie a few weeks ago.  There were a few parts that were hard for me to read but that’s only because of the author’s vivid detail about the spiders Darren is so mesmerized with; it just gave me the creepy crawlies.  I did enjoy the story and I look forward to the second book because I think it’ll be faster paced now that most of the background to the story’s out of the way.

Happy birthday, Nate!

Last night, I finished reading All That Remains by Patricia Cornwell.  This is the third book in the Dr. Kay Scarpetta series.

I really enjoy the forensics and details of Patricia Cornwell’s stories and All That Remains was no different.  The story was very gripping and I didn’t want to put the book down.  I didn’t suspect who the killer was until near the end and the journey to get to the knowledge of who the killer was didn’t seem far-fetched, which is something I like because it helps make the story more believable.  My only complaint about her books is the profanity.  Thankfully, however, there aren’t a ton of f-bombs, only one in this book and I think it’s the first I’ve encountered in her stories.

In All That Remains, Kay gets involved with a serial killer targeting young couples.  At the start of the book, four couples have already disappeared and been found murdered months later.   Each couple is found in a remote area of the woods missing their shoes socks.  After months of exposure, the only thing that remains of the victims is their bones.  And unfortunately, with all that remains of the victims, Kay has had no way to determine the cause of death for any of the victims.  When another couple disappears, Kay must race against time and use all her resources to find clues from someone who’s good at not leaving any.

This morning, I finished reading River Secrets by Shannon Hale.  It’s the third book in the Books of Bayern series.

Just like with The Goose Girl and Enna Burning, it took me a couple of chapters to get into River Secrets.  Once I got into the story, I thought it was very entertaining.  I really enjoyed exploring the water-speaking element of the story and seeing more of the wind- and fire-speaking elements explored in The Goose Girl and Enna Burning.  It was interesting to see how all three languages worked together.

I loved that the story was from Razo’s point-of-view and I’m glad Enna was still a major part of the story.  Razo first appears in The Goose Girl and you get to know him a little better in Enna Burning, but obviously, not nearly as well as you do in River Secrets.  He’s a great character and seeing things through his perspective was not only enlightening but entertaining as well.

I’m looking forward to reading Forest Born, the fourth book in the Books of Bayern series, especially since the main character is basically a brand new one.  I’m also looking forward to how earth-speaking (if that’s what it’s called) will come into play since Shannon introduces a new speaking ability in each book.