Books of 2013 - Part One

Hello, faithful followers. It's Trinity. All of 2013 I kept a log of every book I read, and I'm here to present it to you with a brief thought on each book, and a rating between one and five stars. Because I have so many (A hundred sixty five), I'm going to split it up. Here's the first forty-four.
Also, I have that creative writing I've been swearing to write forever ready. I just need to type it up.

On to the list:

1. Hunter Brown and the Secret of the Shadow – By The Miller Brothers (A Christian book, for a lower reading level, maybe 9-12. It was entertaining enough for me to read the next one, but not particularly well-written. Three stars.)
2. Hunter Brown and the Consuming Fire – By The Miller Brothers (See previous)
3. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh – By Robert C. O'Brien (I really really enjoyed this. It reminded me
   vaguely of Redwall, and the Owls of Ga'hoole, mostly because of the talking animals. But it was well-written and entertaining. Five stars.)
4. Racso and the Rats of Nimh – By Jane Leslie Conly (Not as good as the first book, probably because it's a different author, but it was nice to find out what happened to the characters. Kind of like an extended epilogue. Three stars.)
   
5. The Supernaturalist – By Eoin Colfer (A sci-fi type novel from Eoin Colfer, whose books I almost always enjoy. Except for The Wishlist, which I refused to read. This was the kind of book that I only wanted to put down long enough to reach for the next one. My joy was only marred by the fact that there isn't a next one yet. Five stars.)
6. Ruins – By Orson Scott Card (It's... very difficult to put together a time travel and space travel story that's logical, and doesn't confuse me completely. This one failed in. It was bewildering, and the characters all seemed slightly off somehow. I never quite connected with any of them, and it wasn't clear who was evil and who was good. One star.)
7. The False Prince – By Jennifer A. Nielson (I expected this to basically be "The Thief" by Megan Whaler Turner, which I liked, and it was. But not as good. I didn't like it nearly as much. Two stars.)
8. The Hunters – By John Flanagan (Good grief... Anything by John Flanagan is amazing and cracks me up every time. The Brotherband series delivers. I still like Rangers better, but this was great. Five stars.)
9. Divergent – By Veronica Roth (/sigh... This was a good book, well-written, gripping story that sticks with you, and it's popular. BUT. It had some moments in it that were rather mature, and for that reason, I decided not to continue reading the series, or let my siblings read it. Two stars.)
10. Bloodline – By Katy Moran (This book was merely okay. I had actually forgotten what it was about and had to go look it up. That doesn't bode well. Two stars.)
11. The Way of the Warrior – By Chris Bradford (Fair book. It delves a lot into the culture of Japan and the Samurai way. Kind of slow moving, but I did want to read the next one. Unfortunately, out library only has the first and third. Three stars.)
12. Beyond The Deepwoods – By Chris Riddell (This was steampunk-fantasy? Kind of? It had a kind of Alice in Wonderland quality. A weirdness. I'm not sure why I read the next one. Two stars to both.)
13. Storm Chaser – By Chris Riddell
14. Halt's Peril – By John Flanagan (The most emotional of the Ranger's Apprentice books. Again, John Flanagan, excellent author. Five stars.)
15. The Mysterious Benedict Society – By Trenton Lee Stewart (Interesting, not fantastic. Kind of odd. An entertaining read, I suppose. Three stars.)
16. The Kneebone Boy – By Ellen Potter (THIS was an odd book, but a good one. I was kind of caught off-guard by the ending, and thought it could've been happier, but still pretty good. I liked the characters; They were colorful. Four stars.)
17. Princess of the Midnight Ball – By Jessica Day George (Aggh!! Jessica Day George is an amazing fairytale author. Everything I've read by her has been clean, fun, entertaining, with moments that make me laugh out loud. That doesn't happen often. This is basically the Twelve Dancing Princesses. It does have magic in it. Good magic and bad magic. The good magic wins. Five stars.)
18. Princess of Glass – By Jessica Day George (She takes one of the twelve princesses from Midnight Ball a few years in the future and retells the Cinderella story beautifully. Most excellent. Five Stars.)
19. The Last Olympian – By Rick Riordan (ALMOST everything I've read by Rick Riordan has been most entertaining. This one is excellent, though the whole time I was looking forward to the reunion that happens several books later. Another book series that makes me laugh aloud.)
20. Merlin: The Lost Years – By T.A. Barron (Once more, I don't know why I read the sequel. It's no fantastic book. Probably because I grabbed book one and two and I didn't have anything else to read. Fairly interesting, but not fantastic. Three stars.)
21. The Seven Songs of Merlin – By T.A. Barron (Three stars.)
22. Islands of the Blessed – By Nancy Farmer (Great characters, iffy subjects. These subjects were magic/trolls/curses versus God/religion. And God was generally kind of looked down on as something people cling to, it makes them nice so leave them alone, but he's not real. Entertaining, though. Three stars.)
23. The Red Pyramid – By Rick Riordan (The Egyptian version of the Percy Jackson series. Not as good, but still. Great humor, entertaining story. And they're both set together, so it's kind of cool to see parallels and references. Five stars.)
24. Ella Enchanted – By Gail Carson Levine (A tad strong on the romance for my taste, but still a well told version of the Cinderella story. Four stars.)
25. Princess Academy: Palace of Stone – By Shannon Hale (I read the first Princess Academy several years ago, and my mom read it aloud to us, so it was kind of special to me. I was so excited for the sequel when we found it. I don't know if it was because she kind of took the characters out of their home context, or because I wasn't ready for them to mature like that, I don't know, but the likelihood of my re-reading this is slim. Three stars.)
26. Daniel X: Armageddon – By James Patterson (I don't recommend James Patterson as an author. But his Daniel X series is really pretty cool. This is the last one, I believe. I didn't like the ending. The rest of the series was good though, and the parts that weren't the end were okay. Four stars.)
27. Igraine the Brave – By Cornelia Funke (Kind of a lower reading level, but I think clean because of that. Well written. I heartily enjoyed it! Four stars.)
28. Fly By Night – By Frances Hardinge (This was weird, because I wasn't particularly impressed as I read it, but it stuck with me. A lot of intrigue, a lot of action. The naming according to the saints thing confused me, but overall I liked it. And the war-mongering goose Saracen. Five Stars.)
29. Fly Trap – By Frances Hardinge (Strangely enough, it was just as good as the first book. Maybe better. Five stars again.)
30. The Tiger Rising – By Kate DiCamillo (Weird, and unsettling. Didn't enjoy it, don't remember a ton about it, don't want to. One star.)
31. The Red Pyramid – By Orpheus Collar (Graphic Novel) (Same story. The Illustrations were good, but not like I had seen the characters in my head. Three stars, I guess.)
32. Summer of the Wolves – By Polly Carlson-Voiles (I really liked this book because I really like wolves, and I've researched a lot about them. This was a very accurate and realistic representation of how wolves are raised and developed. I wouldn't normally have been interested in the kind of journey the characters went through, but because of the wolf aspect, it was more interesting. It was also clean when it could have been trashier, so extra points for that. Four stars.)
33. The Fires of Merlin – By T.A. Barron (Man, I don't know why I kept reading this series. It wasn't anything spectacular. Three stars.)
34. The Two Princesses of Bamarre – By Gail Carson Levine (This is the book that Gail Carson Levine goes lightest on in terms of romance, and I think it's my favorite. Great plot, great characters and character development. A wonderful fairytale where everything wraps up satisfactorily, if maybe not in the way you had hoped. Five stars.) 
35. Once Upon A Marigold – By Jean Ferris (This is a bit below my reading level, but it was surprising great! Clean, amusing, adorable little romance and adventure, and a touch of magic, if I recall correctly. Really great book. Five stars.)
36. Point Blank (Alex Rider Series) – By Anthony Horowitz (Alex Rider. This is a rough, gritty series. Unexpected, somewhat violent deaths are common, but it's a great adventure. I usually enjoy Alex Rider. Four stars.)
37. The Atlantis Complex (Artemis Fowl Series) – By Eoin Colfer (ARTEMIS FOWL, PEOPLE!!! Read this series. Seriously. It's amazing. It's genius. It's amusing. Five stars.)
38. Daniel X – James Patterson (Graphic Novel) ( I don't remember reading this... But apparently I did. I give it three stars since the original book was good.)
39. Twice Upon A Marigold – By Jean Ferris (One of those rare sequels that are just as good as the first one. And you'll probably want to read it after you finish the first one. Five stars.)
40. Scarlet – By Marissa Meyer (Hmm. Well written, but the romance in it was too... edgy, I suppose. I read it, but ultimately my mother vetoed it for my siblings. It did have some wolf mentality type stuff in it that I found interesting, but ultimately, I would have to refrain from recommending it. Two stars.)
41. The Runaway King – By Jennifer A. Nielsen (This is the sequel to the False Prince. I think this was actually better than the first one. More adventure, less ambiguous political intrigue. The name of the villain is one of my friend's names, so it was a bit of a jolt to read it every time and think of my friend instead of the villain, but eventually he became his own character in my head. Three stars.)
42. The Clockwork Three – By Matthew J. Kirby (I only vaguely remember reading this. Entertaining enough, I guess, but not fantastic. Three stars.)
43. Levin Thumps and the Whispered Secret – Obert Skye (The Levin Thumps series is really quite good. It's got the oddness of Alice In Wonderland (which I never liked much by the way), but without the insanity/drug-type-hallucination quality. It's amusing, and whimsical and fun. Five stars.)
44. Princess of the Silver Woods – Jessica Day George (This is not my favorite of the Princess trilogy by Jessica Day George, but it was still pretty good. This one is a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. Four stars.)

(TO BE CONTINUED...)

That's it for now. But I have more coming. And I haven't forgotten the excerpt of Aouthentica. I'll make sure and get that up pretty soon.

Sé onr sverdar sitja hvass!
-Trinity