The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy

This was my Random Read for September and it was very funny.

The story revolves around the Princes Charming, the nameless heroes or not so heroic princes in the stories of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, and Snow White. Frederica, Cinderella's prince, is a pampered, protected prince who wants nothing more than to live his life with Ella, enjoying quiet picnics and doing nothing dangerous. Ella, however, is a free spirit and now that she is no longer under the control of her stepmother and stepsisters, she wants to travel the world having adventures. Ella, although she cares about Frederic, leaves to have an adventure, and Frederic follows to try to convince her to come back. Along the way he meets Gustav, Rapunzel's prince, who has had a fight with Rapunzel. Gustav agrees to help Frederic and the two travel on, learning that Ella has been captured by Zaubera, the witch from the Rapunzel story. Zaubera has kidnapped all the bards, the ones who basically made the princes into the generic Prince Charming. Her plan is to take over all the kingdoms by destroying the armies who come to save the bards. Ella manages to escape, but Gustav and Frederic still think they need to save her. They team up with Liam, who is on the run from the mean Briar Rose aka Sleeping Beauty, and Duncan, Snow White's prince. Along the way the four princes learn what it is like to be despised, adored, and ignored. Even though the four dislike the bards they join forces to try to save the day and make themselves into the League of Princes. Can they save the day or will they prove they are only worthy of the title Prince Charming?

This was a humorous look at the fairy tales and it was interesting to see the flaws of each of the princes and princesses. Healy has a ten year old villian who flicks spitballs at his enemy, a giant who knows his manners, and a Prince scared of everything. This is a great first book in the series and this will be a series I want to keep reading.

Favorite Character: I think Frederic and Ella were my favorites, although I am not for sure if they will stay together by the end of the series. Ella is brave and loving. Frederic knows his limitations and despite his flaws, he becomes brave.

Favorite Quote: "Some of you may not even realize that there's more than one Prince Charming. And that none of them are actually named Charming. No one is. Charming isn't a name; it's an adjective."

Reading a junior fiction book was a nice change of pace from all of the young adult books. The story was light and funny. 4.5 bars of chocolate for this one and I will definitely want to read the other books when they are released.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

I have put this review off long enough.

Charlie has lost a friend to suicide and really seems to have no other friends. He decides to write letters to an anonymous person sharing what happens to him and his memories about events in his life. Charlie feels lost until he becomes friends with Patrick and Sam, two seniors, while he is just a freshman. Patrick and Sam introduce him to their friends and they spend the year partying, performing Rocky Horror Picture Show, and falling in and out of love. Charlie falls hard for Sam, who tells him to not fall in love with her, and ends up staying in love with her even past the end of the book. Patrick, Sam, and all their friends have major issues, like sexual abuse, being gay and having a partner who is not openly gay, being addicted to drugs, and having abusive relationships. Despite all the problems, the teens feel infinite in the way you do when you are young and have a life to look forward to living. In the end that is what Charlie's friends teach him, to live his life.

The book is like a mix of Catcher in the Rye and The Bell Jar, but something about it just did not appeal to me. Possibly it is the fact that it is written in letter form or that I spent most of the book trying to figure out what was really wrong with Charlie and did not get as involved in the actual story. It was not all bad, I think there are several parts with which teens will identify, like listening to a song that makes you feel alive and bickering families.

I did not really have a favorite character in the book. I thought his parents seemed pretty realistic, not bad parents, but not all there for Charlie either.

Favorite Quote: "And in that moment, I swear we were infinite."

It took me awhile to decide on the rating, but I think 2.5 bars of chocolate is about right. I thought the book was ok, just not for me. I can see why some people love the book and others not so much. For me it was ok.

Enchanted by Alethea Kontis

I picked up this book based on its cover, which I am including with a link to Goodreads. Hopefully this is ok to do, because I could not find anything about the legality of this.


However it took me just a page or two to get into the story. Sunday is the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, so she knows she will have an interesting life and because of her name she is expected to have a happy life. Each of the sisters is gifted in some way, because of their fae blood. Sunday is cursed by the fact that anything she writes will come true, so she limits herself to writing down what has already happened, believing her life is not interesting. One day as she is writing in her journal, a frog comes along and speaks to her. She shares her story with him and eventually falls in love with him. After her fae brother Twix, sells their cow for a handful of beans, Grumble the frog gives her a gold ball to make up for the cow's loss. Sunday kisses Grumble and leaves, not realizing he turns into Rumbold, the prince her family hates and blames for her brother's death. Complications ensue as the two fall in love again as humans and as her family realizes they have an important destiny to play.

Favorite Character: I loved each of the sisters and their unique powers. Friday is kind and a wonderful seamstress, Monday is a princess trapped in her marriage, but still strong, Thursday is a pirate queen, Saturday is strong and fearless, Wednesday knows the future and hides herself because of her power, and Sunday is Sunday. She has powers, but still doubts herself. She loves her family and Rumbold and is willing to forsake her own happiness for other. However she does know she will have a happy ending, because of her curse, yet she seems to fear it.

Favorite Quote: "It can't be "true" love without the truth, Rumbold." "Child, no one is ever ready for anything. I would never doom you to that. What sort of adventureless life would that be?"

I enjoyed her twists on all of the fairy tales. Even though she includes almost every common fairy tale, it does not become confusing or over the top. I love twists on fairy tales and this is one of the best. The characters are wonderful and well-developed. I hope she does a sequel or sequels with the other sisters, because they were very interesting. Definitely a five bars of chocolate book!

Progress Post

So I was having trouble actually finishing a book, but I did finally finish one this month. I read The Perks of Being a Wallflower and now I am having trouble reviewing it. I have mixed feelings on it. Parts of it I thought were great, like the "we are infinite," scene, but for the most part I did not enjoy it. I don't know if it was because I was told this was the best book ever by several people and so I had extremely high expectations or what my problem was. I will review it soon, but I am going to think about it a little more before I decide a rating. I am starting to get into a few books now. Doing the challenges helps! I am halfway through my Random Read, The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom and it is pretty funny at times. I have started Enshadowed, Caught, and City of Lost Souls for the sequels challenge and I am enjoying those. I love the secondary romances in CoLS,  but not so much Jace and Clary right now, but I am not quite halfway through it. I have read a few pages in the Unwanteds sequel and it is interesting so far. I am also reading off stack with Enchanted by Alethea Kontis and I love the way she twists several fairy tales into one. Hopefully one of these will grab my full attention soon!

September is for Sequels Challenge

I saw this on Jessi at Auntie Spinelli Reads blog and thought it looked like fun. It is hosted by Lisa at Lisa Loves Literature. The goal is to read at least 4 sequel book from the beginning of September to the end of September. For a complete list of rules see Lisa's blog here. I think I know the four I am going to try to tackle.
1. Enshadowed by Kelly Creagh (#2 in the Nevermore series)
2. Unwanteds: Island of Silence by Lisa McMann (#2 in the Unwanteds series)
3. Caught by Margaret Peterson Haddix (#5 in the Missing series)
4. City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare (#5 in the Mortal Instruments series)

There are so many more I would love to add, but I am not reading very quickly right now. So far nothing I have tried to read this month has been able to keep my attention for more than a couple of pages. Hopefully revisiting some of these series will help!

Princess Academy Palace of Stone by Shannon Hale

I received this as an e-galley from Netgalley. I received no other compensation other than the free e-galley.

I love twists on fairy tales or stories that read like fairy tales and Shannon Hale's stories are some of my favorites. Princess Academy: Palace of Stone is as good if not better than the first one. This story takes place after Britta is chosen as princess and some of the other girls are on their way to Asland to visit her and take part in the wedding. Miri will also be going to the Queen's Castle to study to become a teacher for Mount Eskel and Peder will be going to learn more about stone cutting. Miri is still waiting for Peder to ask her to be his betrothed, but so far nothing. When the group arrives in Asland, things are not as great as they believed. Miri's beloved Mount Eskel faces horrible tributes that will take away all that she won from the traders and Steffan is very distant to poor Britta. The royal family does not seem as impressive to Miri and the girls. Also many in the lowlands are upset with their king, because of the high tributes and revolution is on many lips. Miri does enjoy Queen's Castle and meets Timon who introduces her to the salons, where revolution and new ideas are discussed. Events escalate and Miri must decide if she is Mountain or Lowland and if friendship or change is more important. Can she triumph and be both?

Shannon Hale brings back the charming cast of characters from the first book and you can't help cheering for Miri and the Mount Eskel girls.

Favorite Character: Miri is one of my favorite characters of all time. She is loyal, stubborn, opinionated, and forthright. She always speaks her mind for better or for worse. She is small in stature but huge in heart.

Favorite Quote: "We choose who we are... You are your own person...You can be who you will."

"Words were slippery and alive, words wrestled out of her grip and became something new. Words were dangerous."

 "We study, Miss Miri, we read and ponder and examine every side, so when it comes time to make a choice we have hop of a good one."

I loved this book! This is definitely one of my favorites for the year. Miri is a great and strong heroine as are most of the girls in this story. Definitely 5 bars of chocolate!

Random Read-September

I was able to finish Tiger Lily for my August read and have already recommended it to someone else to read! This is a meme hosted by Sarah at www.imlovingbooks.com. You can create a list or use your Goodreads To Be Read feature to choose a book. After deciding on your list, then go to random.org and type in the number of books on your list and see what you get for the month. My Random Read this month is The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy, which was number 18 on my list. I love the idea of what happens next in fairytales and I also think it will be funny to see the Princes Charming give their sides of the story. We never really hear about the Princes Charming, so it will be good to see their personalities and to give them names rather than their exaggerated surnames. Let me know what you are reading and hope you enjoy!