Charlotte's Library

Long Live the Queen written by Ellen Emerson White Ellen Emerson White wastes no time getting back into the swing of things in Long Live the Queen , the third installment of her series about Meg Powers, the President's daughter. Meg's back and enchanting as ever--she's always stuck out for me as being a non-annoying main character. As a person stuck in her situation, she had the potential to be a totally arrogant, ungrateful character, but thanks to White's great characterization, she's far from any of that. I was glad that the predicament that befalls Meg in this book didn't span throughout the whole book, allowing room for some fallout. The panic Meg goes through is portrayed very well through fragmented, frantic writing. I was very glad to read a girl survival story, as it is usually a boy character that is put through something like this in fiction. Meg's subsequent interactions with her friends and family, particularly brother Neal, are heartbrea...

Full Tilt written by Neal Shusterman This book starts off fast , wasting no time with detailed introductions. This does result in a bit of confusion at the beginning, but not to worry, it's all cleared up through the rest of the book. It's a real roller coaster ride (pun not really intended ;P) of a book, suspenseful and thrillingly spooky in all the right places. In terms of characters, some of them are really compelling, while others are left slightly flat. Unfortunately, one of those flat ones, in my opinion, was the main character, which made it a less interesting read. I was very glad to see two brothers so close in age as the main characters, I don't think we see enough brothers in contemporary YA fiction, and I'm glad someone out there is writing YA that is appealing to boys. Shusterman has quite the imagination, and he makes up in imagination what he sometimes lacks in the writing itself. The ending was a bit predictable and felt a bit like one of those...

Scarlett Fever written by Maureen Johnson The Martins are back in full force in this sequel to Maureen Johnson's 2008 release, Suite Scarlett! Scarlett Martin and her spectacularly quirky family are up to their usual funny business, snarky and sharply witty as ever. You thought Maureen Johnson was done with characterization? You were very, very wrong indeed. Characters that seemed to be developed to death got even more complex in their new storylines. I was especially glad to see more of Marlene, even though I found her "big reveal" to be underwhelming, but she was the most fascinating of the Martin siblings to me. There was an even more expanded focus on each sibling, but at the same time, the sibling dynamic is retained, and each character could be looked at as simultaneously an individual unit and a group. It's a rather complex plot, but it all really just comes down to this one heartwarmingly crazy family in the end. Johnson has quite the talent of making...

You may have noticed–the Winter Olympics are going on. Is that affecting your reading time? Have you read any Olympics-themed books? What do you think about the Olympics in general? Here’s your chance to discuss! I am a proud Olympaholic. I love the games, I live for them for these few weeks. I have read Apolo Anton Ohno's autobiography , but I think that's the only Olympic themed book I have read. YES, they are impacting my reading time--I don't think I've read a single book since they've started =O

The Glass House People written by Kathryn Reiss I don't know what it is about Reiss that I found so appealing when I was younger, but that appeal level has gone significantly down. I still do find some of her books to be positively fascinating, but really? She calls this a book ? It begins slow and continues to be slow throughout the sequence of events. In comparison to Reiss's more supernatural books, this is a complete bore. It contains an obnoxiously simple and linear plot in which pretty much nothing happens . The entire book continues to basically be a broken record, with no real resolution, twists, anything much. It's unnecessarily melodramatic, and at multiple times I found myself uncontrollably laughing at the absurdity of it all, especially at what were supposed to be the more tense parts. The only well-developed truly round character in the story is Grandad, and he doesn't play much of a role at all until the unsatisfying end. This is not a book worth...

City of Ashes written by Cassandra Clare I was not very satisfied by this volume of the Mortal Instruments series. I think it was summed up well by a friend of mine as just being a very weird book. The writing is unnecessarily melodramatic while the plot moves along quite slowly, except during the important parts, where it seems to zoom by too fast. For the most part, the characters are kept realistic, although they all do go through their brief moments of flatness. The cultural references are a fun addition, adding a bit of extra enjoyment throughout the book. Like I had said in my review of City of Bones , the love triangle is overdone, like so many other books. The additional drama with Simon's character seems ridiculously overdone to me, particularly the supposed vampire vs. werewolf drama, as if we needed more of that. The cliffhanger was crazy awesome, and I can't wait to read more, but by God, I hope we are done with the disgustingness that is Jace/Clary. I don...

Ten Things I Hate About Me written by Randa Abdel-Fattah Ten Things I Hate About Me has plenty of positive aspects which outweigh the few faults it does have. It's a little predictable with Timothy's subplot, as well as the overall big deal of Jamilah/Jamie's identity. It's a little preachy at times, but the moments of preachyness do fit in with the plot. The characters are pretty well-rounded, and I particularly enjoyed the characterization of Jamilah's father. It's conversational and relaxed storytelling, and while the writing's not the greatest, it's still a good book. I know it's one I and many other girls, Muslim and non, can relate to, maybe on different levels, but relate nonetheless. The environment Jamilah has been brought up in is captured really well and again, is something people can identify with. It is pretty unique to read a young adult book about Muslim cultural identity, and I applaud Abdel-Fattah for writing the way she does...