Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan

I read this for the Reading Assignment Challenge and it is also a Once Upon a Time read for mythology. It also fits the Prequels and Sequels challenge, the Series Enders challenge, Flights of Fantasy challenge, Full House Challenge for Laugh Out Loud Moments, and Reading Bingo as Read a Middle Grade book. It also works for the purple path on Story Sprites for Tight Male/Male friendship and there are actually several of these in the book, but I think Jason and Leo would be the best example. This will have spoilers for the rest of the series.

Disney-Hyperion

 The 7 demigods are slowly making their way to Athens to face the giants and Gaea where the prophecy that one of them will not make it ways over their heads. While they fly and sail on the Argo 2, Reyna, Coach Hedge, and Nico are shadow traveling the Athena Parthenos back to Half-Blood Hill in the hopes of avoiding a war between the Greek and Roman demigods and to heal the gods. All of the demigods must face their biggest faults and fears if they can even hope to defeat the earth mother and her children. With August 1 looming over their heads, can the crew sacrifice one of their own to save the world and will the world fall to fire or storm?

Perfect ending! I love Riordan's books and even though the final books in his series usually make me cry, they always end with hope. I also loved the humor in this series and the clean and not overly romantic moments. The action is perfect and I loved hearing from 9 different characters. I don't know how Riordan managed to keep them all in character, but it was well done. I really can't decide which character is my favorite, but I am hoping that some of them will return for The Trials of Apollo. I think Annabeth is probably still my favorite, but Leo was also fun. I feel like we saw Percy's flaws more with this series, which I liked and I feel like he became more of a traditional hero with flaws that could have caused a really bad ending. I think the pairings of characters works well and that we will see some of these couples again soon. I recommend this series to tweens all the way to adults and I love how Riordan tackles issues in his series and does so seamlessly with his plot. This is obviously a 5 cups of cocoa read for me and will definitely take the top spot for favorite middle grades read this year and possibly will take the top spot for my favorite read of the year. Keep the books coming Rick!

World Without Princes by Soman Chainani

This was my April TBR list book and also works for Flights of Fantasy, Retelling Challenge, Prequel and Sequel Challenge, Royal Challenge, for Reading Bingo as Author's Sophomore Book, and for Full House challenge as Library Book. It also works for Story Sprites pink path as Competition among characters. It is also a Once Upon a Time Read for fairytales. Wow I did not realize this would fit some many challenges. This review will have spoilers for the first book, because the second book shows the consequences of the characters actions in the first book of the series, so go read the School for Good and Evil first. :)

HarperCollins

Sophie and Agatha are back home, living their happily ever after or at least that is what they think. As Sophie tries to cope with her father getting remarried, Agatha begins thinking about Tedros and what if. When both girls inadvertently wish for a different ending, they are thrown back into the dangers of the School for Good and Evil, now renamed the School for Girls and Boys. The fairytale endings have all changed and the girls are the ones in charge, dumping princes, taking over kingdoms, and bonding in sisterhood, but not everyone is happy with their situation. As Agatha and Sophie try to work through Agatha's wish for Tedros, there are sinister forces trying to change the end of the story. With betrayal comes a cost and the cost could be the world as they know it.

This was a powerful sequel and I am still processing my thoughts on it. The ending is sort of a cliffhanger, but choices are made. I am not so sure how I feel about true love conquers all, even friendship, kind of ending it had, but I think some of this will be ironed out in the third book. I loved revisiting all the secondary characters and I still love Agatha and Sophie and Tedros is still too macho, although less so by the end of the book. I did quickly read this one and I am excited for the next, so 4.5 cups of cocoa and a fun, dark read if you like fairytale twists. Hope everyone enjoyed their TBR reads this month!

On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder

I read this one for the Little House on the Prairie Read-a-long and the Newbery challenge.

Harper and Row

Laura and her family have moved from the wilds of Indian Country to the cooler climate of Minnesota. Pa plans to make a fortune off of wheat crops, but the unpredictable weather and grasshoppers may change his plans. While in Minnesota, Laura is able to go to church and school for the first time and she meets Nellie Oleson, a spoiled child. Through all the changes, the Ingalls family weathers the storm and hope to make a life on the banks of Plum Creek.

I love how Laura gets back at Nellie with the leeches. Nellie deserved so much worse, but Laura patiently bides her time until she tricks the brat. I also like that Laura has such positive teachers who build her up, both her regular school teacher and the Sunday school teacher. I loved the idea of the Christmas tree using presents as decorations and how the rich people in the East sent wonderful items to those in the West who had less. Again I marvel at how much the Ingalls survive through, floods, insect plagues, and blizzards! I wish she had talked a bit more about the quilt making, that is what I missed in this one, the details about how they made things that were in the first three books.

As far as being a Newbery honor, it was well deserved. There were so many memorable scenes and you really feel like you can understand what life was like for people back then. I remember this was one of my favorites in the series, because of the secondary characters Laura really brought to life. I can also see why these were the characters chosen for the TV show, like Reverend Alden and Nellie and her family.

I love revisiting Plum Creek and this one is a 5 cups of cocoa read for me!

Spring Into Horror Read-a-thon Wrapup

This is hosted by Michelle @ Seasons of Reading and True Book Addict, Castle Macabre and The Christmas Spirit blog. I listened to 5 CDs of Blood of Olympus, read 60 pages in Frankenstein, and read 360 pages in World Without Princes and finished it! So not too bad on the reading end, but I did not socialize at all. I planned to not have to work as much as I did this week and it really cut into both socializing and reading. Hope everyone had fun and thanks again to Michelle for hosting!

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

This was another book club book and works for the New Authors challenge. It also works for Book Club worthy book for the Full House Challenge and a Book the Made you cry for the Reading Bingo challenge. It also works for the Story Sprite challenge, purple path, Story with a Strong Family Bond.

Gallery Books

Dr. Alice Howland has always worked with language and is shocked when her linguistic skills betray her. As she begins struggling to find words and getting lost in familiar places, she goes to a neurologist and learns the worst news possibly, she has early onset Alzheimer's. As she begins planning for her lack of future, her family is devastated. Her husband cannot deal and denies the truth for as long as he can, but her children step up, particularly her daughter, Lydia, who moves her life around to be with her mother. As Alice loses herself, she gains love, love for her actress daughter and her grandchildren. Even without her remarkable mind, she is still Alice.

I am tearing up just writing this review, but this is a scary and mind-blowing read. Mental illness is never treated as well as physical diseases and those who suffer from them are ostracized by others, even well meaning others. Alice mentions that if she had cancer, she would have a support group, but since she has Alzheimer's, people scatter. I think it makes us all rethink how we treat those with mental illness and that there are worse things than dying. Living is hard, particularly with a diagnosis like Alice's, but underneath it all, she is still the mother her children love and she can still feel love. This is a powerful, but extremely challenging read and it will break your heart. 5 cups of cocoa and a book every one should read! 

Spring into Horror Read-a-thon Midweek Checkin

This is hosted by Michelle @ Seasons of Reading and True Book Addict, Castle Macabre and The Christmas Spirit blog. So far I have listened to 3 CDs of Blood of Olympus and read 16 pages in Changeless. I hope to start Frankenstein tonight, to get in a little of the horror element. I am enjoying the Facebook page, even though I haven't participated on it yet. Thanks again to Michelle for hosting!

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

This was another book club book and counts for Reading Bingo as a book with a number in the title. It also counts as a New Author and Debut Novel on Full House.

Atrium Books

When Vida Winters, the best selling novelist, contacts Margaret Lea to write her biography, Margaret is surprised. True, she writes biographies of dead authors, but to write a living author's biography, Margaret is not sure, however she reads one of Winters' books, The Thirteen Tales, with only twelve tales, and she is intrigued. Mrs. Winters promises to tell Margaret the truth and to reveal the elusive thirteenth tale and that begins a story, part ghost story, part Gothic novel about twins. Both Mrs. Winters and Margaret are drawn to the idea of twins, both through tragedy, and as Mrs. Winters tells the story of Adeline and Emmeline March, her story, the truth of both Margaret's life and Mrs. Winters' life are finally told, but it may be too much for either of them to bare. How does one go on without the other half?

Wow, this was a twisting, turning, wonderful read! You do feel like you are reading Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, and several classics rolled into one and you will not guess all the ends of the plot. Once a huge twist is revealed, you have to go through and rethink the whole book and like Margaret at the end of the Thirteenth Tales, you are going to feel like the story should go on. This book was awesome for discussion and every single person in our book club loved it. 5 cups of cocoa and I will be hunting down her next book soon!