Mrs. Spaeth's Book Blog

Believe it or not, I've done a lot of reading over this nice, long winter break and because of that, I have 5 different titles to recommend to you today. They are all very different types of stories, so hopefully, you can pick out one you'd like to try in the near future.

First up, Inhuman, by Kat Falls. If you remember, Kat Falls also wrote the Dark Life series I recommended this past summer. Inhuman is the first in her new Fetch series. Lane lives in a future United States where a deadly disease has caused the need for a 700 foot tall wall that stretches along the Mississippi River from the Canadian to the Mexican border splits the states. Twenty years ago, a corporation mistakenly released a deadly virus that mixed human and animal DNA turning people feral and savage before eventually dying. When the plague hit and the wall was built, people from the east emigrated to the west to try to get beyond the wall and safety, but in doing this, left all their valuables behind. Lane discovers that people are paid well to "fetch" - sneak past the wall to retrieve those valuable items from a dangerous and savage world. A military authority informs Lane that her father is a fetch and that unless Lane finds him and gets him to retrieve an item for her, she'll arrest him and he'll be severely punished. Lane has to find a way across the wall to find her father and save him from certain punishment. This story is unique, but doesn't lack for excitement. I was skeptical of the storyline at first, but once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. I'm already anxiously awaiting the second book in the series due out in September of this year.

Next, I read Sisters Red, by Jackson Pearce. Fairytale retellings are really popular right now & this one is a

unique twist on Little Red Riding Hood. In this retelling, Scarlett and Rosie are sisters who lost their grandmother to a wolf when they were very young. It wasn't just any wolf - it was a werewolf. And Scarlett didn't just lose her grandmother - she also lost her one of her eyes fighting off the werewolf until their neighbor woodsman came and saved them. Scarlett vowed to become the best werewolf hunter around and learned how to do so. Rosie also hunts, but isn't as consumed by it as Scarlett is. When there seem to be an unusually large number of werewolves showing up, Scarlett, Rosie, and their friend Silas realize that there is more going on than they realize and that they have their work cut out for them. And on top of that, Rosie and Silas are falling in love. Will they succeed in stopping the werewolves? You'll have to read it to find out. If you like this story, Jackson Pearce has written 3 other fairytale retellings you can check out as well: Sweetly, Fathomless, & Coldspell.

I also read the newest title from the author of the Maze Runner series - The Eye of Minds, by James Dashner. This is the first book in his new The Mortality Doctrine series. In this story, we follow Michael, who lives for his time on the VirtNet - a virtual gaming world where you don't just play video games, you live them. When Michael is approached by the people in charge of the VirtNet to ask him to find another player, Kaine, who is killing people, Michael is unsure. Eventually, he and his friends, Sarah & Bryson decide to take on Kaine, find him and put a stop to the horrible things he's doing in the virtual world. This story follows their adventure through different games to find the evil mastermind, but Michael makes some terrifying discoveries along the way that will affect his life - if he gets out alive.

One of my favorite books I read over break was called Pivot Point, by Kasie West. I recommended The

Distance Between Us by this same author a few month ago, which is why I wanted to read another book by this author. This book was a completely different type of story, but just as good. In this book, Addie Coleman lives in a world that most people don't know about. She lives in a community of paranormals - people who have learned to use a far larger percentage of their brains than the rest of the population. Due to this, they develop mind abilities - like being able to move objects with their minds, being extremely persuasive, memory erasers, or human lie detectors (as Addie refers to her dad). Addie herself has the ability to see her future when faced with a choice. When Addie's parents tell her they've decided to divorce and that she can choose who she lives with, she's faced with just such a choice: stay with her mom in the paranormal compound that she's familiar with or move with her dad into the world of normal people. The book alternately tells what happens in Addie's "futures" with both parents - and neither are good. When she's done searching, she has to choose between two terrible options. This is the first of a two book series. Book 2 - Split Second comes out on February 11 and I already can't wait to get my hands on it!

Finally, I picked up Etiquette & Espionage, by Gail Carriger. How could you not love the gorgeous cover on this book - so pretty! This is book #1 in her Finishing School series. This book was very different from what I expected, but I really liked it. In this book, we meet Sophronia, who just is not living up to her mother's expectations for a girl in the mid-1800's. Sophronia is always getting herself into trouble and is not even close to being ladylike. Her mother decides to send Sophronia to Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality in order for Sophronia to learn how to be a lady. What Sophronia and her mother did not know that this particular finishing school isn't just about learning fashion, manners, and how to behave in polite society - these young ladies are also learning the skills of being spies and even how to assassinate someone if the situation calls for it. Not only that, the school isn't even on the ground - it's carried around through the sky by dirigibles! I expected this story to be very serious and spy-like, and though there are those parts, it is more a light-hearted adventure. Sophronia meets a lot of interesting characters in her time at the school and has a lot of excitement along the way. There will be 4 books in this series. Book 2, Curtsies & Conspiracies is already out. Book 3, Waistcoats & Weaponry will be out later this year. Book 4, Manners & Mutiny is named, but doesn't have a publication date yet - I'm guessing sometime in 2015. I look forward to seeing what other exciting predicaments Sophronia will find herself in as she continues through finishing school!

I've read a couple of books that I've really enjoyed recently. First up, my favorite of the two, Scarlet, by A.C. Gaughen. This is the first in a series that follows "Will" Scarlet, one of Robin Hood's band of merry men. Scarlet is an expert thief and has superior knife skills, which comes in very handy with defending the poor from the evil Sheriff of Nottingham and robbing those who are rich to give to the poor. What most people don't know is that Scarlet is actually a girl. She's been on the run for the last several years, but now her past has come back to haunt her and she has to figure out how to help Robin and keep herself safe. The question is, can she do both?

In The Thief, by Megan Whalen Turner is the story of Gen, who is the self-proclaimed best thief in the kingdom. What's not so good - bragging on yourself, which causes you to get caught & thrown into the king's prison. The king's magus (scholar) comes to Gen with a deal - if Gen will help the magus steal an ancient treasure for the king, then he'll be released from prison early. Gen decides to take the deal, but encounters a lot of obstacles along the way, including the magus' hidden agenda. But...Gen just might have a hidden agenda of his own.