The Borrowers – Mary Norton *Reading Challenge Recap*

Challenge – Ultimate Book Guide #3/672

Series – The Borrowers (I read the series back in 2013 – If you click on the links it will take you back to my original reviews)

• The Borrowers
• The Borrowers Afield
• The Borrowers Afloat
• The Borrowers Aloft
• The Borrowers Avenged

Synopsis – The Borrowers live in the secret places of quiet old houses; behind the mantelpiece, inside the harpsichord, under the kitchen clock. They own nothing, borrow everything, and think that human beings were invented just to do the dirty work. Arrietty’s father, Pod, was an expert Borrower. He could scale curtains using a hatpin, and bring back a doll’s teacup without breaking it. Girls weren’t supposed to go borrowing but as Arrietty was an only child her father broke the rule, and then something happened which changed their lives. She made friends with the human boy living in the house…

My Thoughts – I won’t post my thoughts again as the links are above – so if your interested to what I thought at the time then feel free to check out my reviews!

Rating – On average I rated the series 4/5

Recommendations – The Borrowers is the only title listed in the book so the rest of the series is recommended, The Piemakers – Helen Cresswell (Challenge Book), Charlottes Web – E.B. White (Challenge Book)

Asterix Series – Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo *Reading Challenge Recap*

Challenge – Ultimate Book Guide #2/672

Books in the Series – There are 37 books in this series so I’m not going to list them all but I found them all on Wikipedia.

Synopsis – The series follows the exploits of a village of ancient Gauls as they resist Roman occupation. They do so by means of a magic potion, brewed by their druid, which gives the recipient superhuman strength. The protagonist, the titular character, Asterix, along with his friend Obelix have various adventures.

My Thoughts – I read a few of this when I was growing up – my dad had a few of these on the shelf and I can also recall borrowing a few out of the library. It has probably been about 15-20 years since I read these so my memory is a little hazy but I wanted to log this for the challenge as read but I do remember the books being very funny in places with really good illustrations. I think it was probably one of the first comic books that I read properly. If I came across these books I’d definitely read them again!

Rating – I’m not going to rate them as it was so long ago but I definitely enjoyed them!

Recommendations – Tintin Series – Herge (Challenge book), Nicholas series – Rene Goscinny and Jean-Jacques Sempe (Challenge book), My Mums Going to Explode – Jeremy Strong (Challenge Book), Horrible Histories Series – Terry Deary (Challenge Book)

Alex Rider Series -Anthony Horowitz * Reading Challenge Recap*

Challenges

1/672 Ultimate Book Guide

1/691 Ultimate Teen Book Guide

1/782 Ultimate Teen Book Guide 2nd Edition

Books in the Series

• Stormbreaker
• Point Blanc
• Skeleton Key
• Eagle Strike
• Scorpia
• Ark Angel
• Snake Head
• Crocodile Tears
• Scorpia Rising
• Russian Roulette
• Never Say Die

Synopsis – In the number one bestselling series by Anthony Horowitz, fourteen-year-old Alex Rider is forcibly recruited into the deadly world of espionage and sent on his first mission. But the teenage spy soon finds himself in mortal danger, and in demand again by MI6. The ever popular Alex Rider series has action, adrenaline and adventure at every turn.

My Thoughts on this series – I read the first three books in this series last year however they didn’t capture my imagination as much as I’d hoped they would. I found them quite samey which was quite unfortunate as I really wanted to enjoy this series. I think that I’d probably try to read them again in the future but I think my kids would probably enjoy them once they get old enough!

Rating – 2.5/5

Recommendations from the Challenges

Ultimate Book Guide – The Power of Five – Anthony Horowitz (Challenge Book), Cherub series – Robert Muchamore (Challenge Book), The Joshua Files: invisible City – M. G. Harris (Challenge Book)

Ultimate Teen Book Guide – The Power of Five – Anthony Horowitz (Challenge book), The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp

Ultimate Teen Book Guide 2nd Edition – The Power of Five – Anthony Horowitz (Challenge Book), Empty Quarter – Julia Golding, The Devil’s Breath – David Gilman (Challenge Book)

 

Requiem – Lauren Oliver * Book Review *

Format – Paperback book

Series – Delirium #3 Thoughts on Delirium #1 and Delirium #2

Synopsis – An all-out uprising has been ignited and Lena Haloway is right at its centre.

But things have changed. The Wilds are no longer a safe haven for the rebels and pockets of resistance have opened throughout the country.

And when a face from her past reappears, Lena is faced with a devastating choice that could tear her and the revolution apart.

My Thoughts – I’ve absolutely adored this series over the last couple of weeks and as this was the last book in the trilogy I was really looking forward to some of the questions being answered.  This book flits between Lena who is in the wilds and Hana who is still in Portland and has had the cure and the differences in their lives.

Then there is the triangle between Lena, Julian and Alex and how that is resolved and so much more – I was really hoping for answers in this book. unfortunately there is a lot of loose ends that don’t get tied up in this book and for that I’m quite disappointed. I wish there was another book to the series so that some of these ends were tied up.

It was still a good book and I did enjoy the conclusion to the series – I’ve just started the short stories book so I’m hoping that it will be just as good and I’m definitely going to be reading more books by this author!

Rating – 3/5

 

 

Pandemonium – Lauren Oliver Book Review

Series – Delirium Trilogy #2

Format – Paperback

Synopsis – Lena Haloway’s been to the very edge. She’s questioned everything she’s ever been taught and fought for love and the life-changing and agonising emotions that come with it.

But now, while she may have escaped the tyranny of the government, she is headng into the heart of something that could be just as dangerous – a growing resistance movement where the sparks of a revolution are about to ignite…

Lena made her decision. But can she survive the consequences?

My thoughts on Delirium can her found here.

My Thoughts – I picked this up straight away after I had read the first in the Trilogy – Delirium as it ended on such a cliffhanger! This book is a bit different from the last, it jumps from the end of the last book to the present time where a while has passed and this enables the reader to really get a feel for what happened after the events of the last book.

It was very well written and really hooked me in again – I think I read 3/4 of the book in one sitting as it was just so good. It has themes of death, love, family, lies, truth all running through the pages which has made it a really good story.

This book also ended on a massive cliffhanger so I’ve already picked Requim (The final book in the trilogy) as my next read!

Rating – 4.5/5