Amy 
Lynnie 
young adult, action/suspense, fantasy
Sky Key is the second novel in the Endgame series by James Frey. These novels tell the story of a secret game for which the original human tribes (or "lines") of humanity have been preparing for thousands of years. Each line has a Player prepared at all times in anticipation of the future game and now it has finally begun. The current Players from each line are in a battle to win the game and save their line from the coming destruction. The first novel, Endgame: The Calling, (see our review here) described the beginning of the game and the search for the Earth Key. This novel details the continuing battles while the players search for the Sky Key.
Amy's Review
This book met my expectations. I figured this continuing saga, which started in Endgame: The Calling, would involve a lot of player movement, fighting, violence, technology, trickery, and death. In that, I was not disappointed. James Frey is a master at creating convoluted, intertwined storylines and describing the action scenes clearly. Unfortunately, this book grew tedious with all the jumping around from character to character and the obligatory duels and battles. I felt like I was being turned one way to watch an investigation/battle play out and then turned another way to watch yet another investigation/battle play out, etc. It was all interesting but it got a little exhausting, like being forced to watch TV with someone who changes channels too frequently. However, it was still exciting enough to keep me interested and I’ll read the next one when it is released.
Again, there is a game to be played with this novel in real life and lots of clues provided at the end of every chapter. And, again, I did not bother with this stuff. I will say that some of the illustrations in these clues were childish-looking which corrupted the integrity of the story. I mean, I wasn't necessarily thinking about the story as a YA novel while reading it until these illustrations popped up to remind me that this novel was geared toward the younger crowd.
Lynnie's Review
Here's a tip- don't read this book & any book in the Lorien series (also by Frey) in close proximity to each other. I read this within weeks of reading the latest Lorien book (The Fate of Ten) & at times it felt like I was reading the same book- the two have similar pacing, similar end-of-the-world-thanks-to-aliens scenarios, & super teenagers who have to save the world... I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had left more space between reading the two books.
That said, I was happy to continue the story of Endgame. Just as vicious as the first book, the teens battle to save their family lines and no one is spared from the brutality of Endgame. Fans of action will not be disappointed as the story moves forward quickly & violently as the players try to retrieve the second piece of Endgame's puzzle, the Sky Key.
I had my favorite players as well as players that I hoped would fail at every turn. I was as happy with the outcome as I was disappointed, but I enjoyed the fact that things in this book are not always predictable or straight forward. I like a book that keeps me guessing about what will happen next.
Thankfully Sky Key doesn't suffer from what I call "middle book syndrome" (Is this a trilogy? Please don't be longer than a trilogy.) where nothing of consequence happens in the 2nd book and it feels more like a place keeper than an actual story. There's plenty going on in Sky Key so if you enjoyed Endgame: The Calling, you'll find yourself wrapped up in this book as well. I'm eager for the 3rd book and to see how it all ends.
Amy 
historical fiction
Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum is told alternatingly from WWII Germany and 1997 Minnesota. It is the story of Anna and her daughter Trudy--their situation during the war and their life several decades later as Trudy tries to figure out the story of her past.
I read this for book club. Thankfully, the second half was better than the first half and I ended up enjoying the story. But, I wasn’t so sure when both Anna and Trudy were so cold and unlikeable. Frankly, I always hesitate to read a book set during WWII. I just know it’s going to be depressing and I prefer to not be depressed. This met my expectations. Depressing, check. “Good” persisting despite being surrounded by “evil”, check. Survival despite near desolation, check. Troubled relationships, check. Death, check. To this one, you can add the moral of how not facing the truth of your past can prevent you from enjoying your future.
Amy
young adult, romance
In The Sky is Everwhere, Lennie's sister recently died unexpectedly and life is suddenly very different. After Lennie returns to school, she starts looking at the world differently and begins to figure out who she is now that she is no longer Bailey's sister.
This audiobook has a fantastic narrator. I have never before felt that a narrator completely covered the novel perfectly in an audiobook. That is, except for Neil Gaiman. But, he doesn't count because he narrates his own books so it isn't a stretch for him to interpret his characters correctly. Anyway, this was a job very well done by Julia Whelan.
As for the book, it's a well-written teenage romance full of drama. I don't typically like realistic teenage dramas because, well, I'm quite happy to be far away from teenage drama. But, I adored Jandy Nelson's other novel, I'll Give You the Sun, and I wanted to give this one a try. This one was written first and is not as amazing as I'll Give You the Sun but was still enjoyable. These characters are also quirky and creative and full of delicious exaggerations and wit. The story covers the loss of a loved one and dealing with grief very capably. I found it to be touching, fun, and extremely colorful.
I plan to read anything Jandy Nelson writes. What fun she must be!
Amy 
Lynnie
young adult, fantasy, sci-fi
Having enjoyed the first book in this series, Cinder, more than I did, Amy read this sequel back in May. She finally convinced me that I should continue the series because she was enjoying it so much. Like Cinder, which was a futuristic retelling of the Cinderella story, Scarlet is a futuristic spin on Little Red Riding Hood while continuing the story of Cinder as well.
Amy's Review
I
really enjoyed this second novel in The Lunar Chronicles series. New
characters (Scarlet—aka Little Red Riding Hood, her grandmother, and
Wolf) were added to the Cinder storyline already in progress although,
of course, the new characters had their pre-defined storyline too. I
loved both storylines and the way Meyer wove them together. There was
fun adventure, humor, and a little romance. Before I read this, I also
read Meyer’s novella called The Queen’s Army which was Wolf’s back
story. I was glad to have read that before starting Scarlet. As a
reader, I felt closer to Wolf’s motivations than if I had not read the
novella.
Again, like with Cinder, this novel leaves us in a
cliffhanger. I’m
looking forward to reading the next in the series!
Lynnie's Review
I
read the first book in this series, Cinder, about a year and a half
ago with no ambition to continue the story. While I enjoyed many aspects
of the book, there were many that I found entirely predictable because
after all- it's essentially the story of Cinderella. My sister convinced
me that the books improve with each one so I finally decided to tackle
Scarlet when it became available at the library. Amy's right, this book
is better than Cinder, but still had many of the same issues that
bothered me last time.
In this book we have Scarlet (now, Little
Red Riding Hood) who is secretly stalked, followed and coveted by (Big Bad) Wolf. Her grandmother has gone missing so Scarlet sets out
to find her grandmother and whatever secrets the woman may be hiding,
with Wolf in tow.
Interwoven with Scarlet's journey is the
continuation of Cinder(ella)'s tale- as she is joined by Captain Thorne
(the hunter?). Cinder and Thorne are also looking for Scarlet's
grandmother because really, what else are they going to do that might
bring these two storylines together?
The two stories do work well
together and really complement each other, making this book much more
fun to read than the first. There's action, humor, and romance and
even though some of the characters annoyed me endlessly (Scarlet, I'm
looking at you), most of the time I was eager to find out what would
happen next.
I will read the next book in the series, but once again I'm in no hurry.
Amy
young adult
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is for the younger young-adult crowd. It appears to be geared for 8th grade boys. However, it always appears on the Banned Books list which got my attention. It is the story of Arnold Spirit, aka Junior, who lives in poverty on a Spokane reservation and decides to help improve his future by attending a nearby white school instead of his school on the reservation.
It’s a short novel but it has a lot of heart and truth in its pages. It’s well-written by Sherman Alexie and the story and its characters are very engaging. What I can’t figure out is why it is banned so frequently. Sure, it touches on alcoholism, child abuse, masturbation, racism, murder, and lots of icky boy humor. But, I don’t think it covers these topics in any worse way than other novels. So, I just looked it up and those are mostly the reasons why it’s been banned. I truly don’t understand the close-minded people who feel that novels should be banned. Freedom of speech, people. We live in the USA! These ridiculous critics are ignoring the wonderful points of the novel—that it's important to follow your dreams, that people can pull themselves out of whatever difficulties they face with enough hard work and the right attitude, and that humans need to just learn to get along and help their fellow man. To me, those are wonderful morals to the story with which no one should find issue.
Amy 
fantasy, action-suspense, young adult, romance
A Court of Thorns and Roses tells the story of how a human teenager named Feyre kills a faery in her hunting efforts to keep her family fed. In retribution for taking that life, Feyre must go across the wall to live the rest of her days in the faerie lands with Tamlin the beast and she, eventually, changes her opinions of the faeries. She then finds herself having to save them all.
Lynnie started this book but decided not to finish it. This novel was frustrating at times. The pacing was awkward. The story never seemed to suck me in and wasn’t believable. Sarah J. Maas forced us to read through long-winded, repetitive, circular thinking by Feyre. It started out so reminiscent of another book I recently read called Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard which had started out so reminiscent of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Thankfully, it did veer into its own story. Oh, but, it wasn’t really its own story. It was a retelling of Beauty and the Beast.
Thankfully, I do like the story of Beauty and the Beast or I probably wouldn’t have finished the novel. But the truth is that, as far as fairy tale retellings go, Marissa Meyer’s The Lunar Chronicles series is far superior to this attempt. So, I doubt I’ll continue with this series.
Amy
Lynnie
cookbook
Amy's Review:
This
has some really yummy-looking recipes. I already prepare many of the Skinnytaste.com recipes and I'm sure these will be delicious. However,
the best thing about the website recipes is that they have Weight Watchers point values listed for each recipe. Gina has left those out in
this cookbook, presumably because Weight Watchers wouldn't give their
blessing for her to publish or because Gina did not want this cookbook
to focus on that. Of course, I can calculate the points based on the
other nutritional facts which were provided for each recipe, but I am
disappointed that they weren't provided for convenience.
Lynnie's Review:
Lots
of great recipes to be found in this book, though you can find all of
this on Gina Homolka's Skinnytaste website as well. The nice thing about a cookbook
though is that it narrows your focus rather than sifting through
seemingly endless options online.
The book is definitely a bit preachy at
times but I suppose that's to be expected in a book that focuses on
eating low calorie, healthy foods.
I've definitely found some new recipes to try in the coming weeks- what more can you want from a cookbook?
Lynnie
young-adult, adventure, fantasty
I
ADORED the first book in this series by Ransom Riggs (Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children), & I thought the second book in the series
(Hollow City) was okay, but not fantastic. I'm happy to say that I
enjoyed this book almost as much as the first.
I really liked
that this book narrowed its focus to a few main characters for most of
the story- it really made the action flow and it was a joy when the other
characters from the previous books finally appeared. I enjoyed the action and
adventure along with the vivid descriptions of Devil's Acre but like the
Hollow City, I thought the photos included in this book were
afterthoughts- as if they found a picture, wrote a small paragraph about
it & then stuck that into the novel when they thought they needed
another picture. In many ways the photos and their descriptions often
took me out of the story. The photos were used most effectively in the
original Miss Peregrine novel and in subsequent books I don't think
anything would have been missed if they'd been left out entirely.
Library
of Souls brought the story of the Peculiar Children to a satisfying end
or at least a place where continuing the story isn't necessary. It was
great to spend some time in the Peculiar world again for a few days.
