Maximum Ride:School's Out--Forever

By James Patterson

The Fugitives, Book 2

After a battle with a new type of Erasers--these ones have wings, for crying out loud-- Fang is seriously hurt, and a passing human (as in, no wings or fangs) calls the hospital. This results in them being discovered to be mutants. The FBI gets wind of it, and now the flock must face their worst nightmare--school. Regular school, not an evil science lab, where you learn nothing about how to survive as a winged mutant with killers after you. SO not helpful. The flock is also searching for their parents. Ari is back, and something sinister is going on. Really though, in Max's life, when is there not something sinister going on?  Find the latest plots, fights, and explosions in this great book. And, of course, flying. Love this series, love this book, love the flock. Do not love the School or the Erasers.  Read The Angel Experiment. Then read this book. Do it now, or else.

Thief of Time

By Terry Pratchett

A novel of Discworld

What's going wrong in Discworld now? It's quite simple really. Some idiot has been commissioned to build the perfect clock. If this clock  is started, Time will stop. This is bad. Therefore, the Monks of History have sent the famous Lu-Tze and his new apprentice Lobsang Ludd to stop it. Death (yes, Death, you know, tall, skeletal, wears black, carries a scyth, shows up when you die? Ring any bells?) has also taken an interest in the clock and it's effect on Time. He has asked his granddaughter, Miss Susan, to investigate and see what she can do. She is most definitely Miss Susan, not Susan, or Sue, or anything else, and is a schoolteacher. This is a very good book and is very funny. Read it, enjoy it, and above all always remember Rule One. Heheheh.

Beautiful Creatures

By Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

In the small Southern town of Gatlin, there are no secrets and no surprises. Or at least that's what sixteen year old Ethan Wate has always thought. He's about to find out just how wrong he is when Lena Duchannes moves to Gatlin to live with the town eccentric, her uncle Macon Ravenwood. Lena's family are Casters: witches. And they're cursed. When they turn sixteen they are Claimed and become either Dark or Light. Lena's sixteenth birthday is soon, and as she and Ethan try to unravel the curse, they begin to discover exactly how many secrets Gatlin is hiding. This book took me longer than usual to read, and at first I wasn't sure I liked it, but by the time I finished it I was glad I'd stuck it out. Dark and haunting, Beautiful Creatures teeters at the edge of being a horror story, which I wouldn't usually read, but the story captured me and wouldn't let go. Well written, hypnotic, and quite creepy. Even though the story isn't as fast-paced as some, I was at the edge of my seat during the whole book. Very good.

The Reformed Vampire Support Group

By Catherine Jinks

For Nina Harrison, who was bitten at fifteen, vampirism isn't how most books and movies make it seem. For her and the rest of the Reformed Vampire Support Group vampirism is cramps, nausea, not being able to go out in the daytime, dizziness, being pretty much dead during the day, surviving on guinea pigs and vitamin supplements, having most of the world both know how and want to kill you if you reveal yourself, a Tuesday night support group, and, in Nina's opinion worst of all, hanging out with the same bunch of losers for ever and ever. And thats it. No turning into a bat, no giant mansions, no elegant predator, no superpowers. They can see in the dark, and they have small fangs, but that's about it. Nina has described being a vampire as "being stuck indoors with the flu watching daytime television, forever and ever." Then one of the group is killed, and suddenly any of them could be next. Now they need to find out who the killer is, and fast, before anyone else is turned to dust. This book is great. It has an interesting new take on vampires, and I loved Nina. It is a little gross at times, but the writing and plot are very good. READ IT!

The Beekeeper's Apprentice

By Laurie R. King

A Mary Russel Mystery

Walking the Sussex Downs and reading, fifteen year old Mary Russell litterally trips over the famous detective Sherlock Holmes. Holmes is now retired, keeps bees, and takes a few particularly interesting cases now and then. The ageing, eccentric detective and the smart, half American teenager become friends and  Holmes teaches Russell the art of detection. She assists him with a few cases, his "apprentice". When an unknown enemy of Holmes' decides to kill both Holmes and Russell, they soon find themselves in a fight for their lives. I love this book and this series, and don't have much hope of really capturing it here. I've done my best but because of that, this review will probably be revised more than once. I love stories about Holmes, and this series is one of the best that I've read. The author really captured Holmes wonderfully. Muy bien. Very good.