Kingdom of the Silver Cat

If Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia had a love child, Kingdom of the Silver Cat would be it! This delightful middle grade fantasy follows a group of children who are mysteriously transported to another world while on their way to school. After the school bus crash lands into a crazy field and their bus driver doesn't return after going to look for help; the fifteen kids on the bus (ranging from ages 8 to 13) realize that they are on their own. They are in a magical place unlike anything they've ever seen; fireballs, ferocious mists, faeries, and other fantastical creatures greet them at every turn. And what's more, the kids discover that they have all inherited some crazy abilities; no two are alike! From fire to super speed to creating music to becoming invisible; the kids are learning more about themselves and their new powers every day. Kingdom of the Silver Cat is an epic coming of age adventure that highlights; friendship, trust, confidence, and the power of belief. While intended for kids; this story appeals to all ages in it's timelessness and readers will be begging for the next book in the series after the climactic ending! Also included are: maps, a glossary of faerie words, and drawing of each of the kids that really help put faces to each of the kids. A wonderful new fantasy adventure with lots of twists, turns, an unforgettable cast of characters and new marvels on every page!

Whammy

Part small town Texas drama part super hero drama; Whammy weaves together two stories to create a humorous, adventure mystery. Klive Anderson is a man of simple pleasures. He likes coffee, good sleep, his easy steady employment working in a Texas oilfield, and writing superhero stories in his journal. His roommate on the other hand is a the complete opposite. Stacey Karlisle owns the town's only coffee shop, but really it's just a front for her dope business. Differences aside they get on real good and can easily waste an evening watching Clint Eastwood movies together. Living in small town there isn't much drama to speak of but when one of Klive's coworkers is killed in a work accident, things begin to go off kilter for for him. He's unsettled and takes to writing more about villains and superheroes in his journal. When Stacey picks up his notebook one day she gets drawn into his story. Little does she know just how drawn in she's about to be. Off the wall, laugh out loud funny, and unique; Whammy is a zany western/comic adventure fantasy that readers won't soon forget about.

Heroes of the Frontier

I had a hard time deciding if I loved this book or was meh. It was definitely funny, sometimes to the point of being absurd and I seesawed from loving the protagonist to being really concerned with her life choices. Josie has fled to Alaska with her two children (ages 5 and 8). Why may you ask? Her children's father is somehow getting married and she doesn't want to be even remotely close to it or let her children attend. Her dental practice was sued and she lost the whole place. One of her favorite patients was killed in Afghanistan. But mostly she has no idea what she wants to do with her life. She's wandering around the beautiful Alaskan frontier with an old RV and two kids who should be in school. She's content to idle away the time while trying to find purpose in her life. The further north they journey, the more reckless choices she makes as she wonders how many misdemeanors they'll have under their belt by the time this "trip" of theirs is over with. It's the most non-traditional adventure I've ever read and although I adored the two kids (laugh out loud funny) I'm not sure why this novel fell a little flat for me.

Traitor to the Throne

A stellar follow up to Rebel of the Sands, not quite better but damn close. Traitor to the Throne picks up right where Rebel of the Sands left off and it's a nonstop action ride the whole way through. Amani never catches a break! When she finds herself captured and taken to the Sultan's palace she is able to spy from the inside. What she learns shakes her to her very core and she's powerless to do anything about it. Her powers have suppressed by the sultan so she must find others ways to get information back to the rebel cause and help some innocents escape from the palace. Lots of twists and turns, and romance, and adventure, and all around badassery. I can't wait to see how the series is wrapped up when the third book comes out later this year. Traitor to the Throne ended crazy and I must know how it all plays out!!

Boston Jane

In middle school I was so enamored with this book that I read the whole book from start to finish EVERY night for a week. It resonated with me, I loved the characters, the plot, the romance, the adventure. I am soo pleased that even reading this book as an adult holds up. It is soo good! At sixteen Jane leaves her father behind in Boston and sails to the wild frontier of California to meet and marry William, a former apprentice of her father. When she arrives to the bay her betrothed is nowhere to be found. And the settlement is only a trading post and a local Indian tribe. With no other options she puts all her etiquette skills to use, mending clothes for the men, trading with the Indians, and trying to figure out cooking. All the while there is a handsome and rugged sailor who has his eye on her if she'd only notice. Lots of action, hilarity, and character development. I can't recommend this enough!

Around the World in 80 Days

Jim Dale (narrator of the Harry Potter series) really helped bring to life this classic adventure novel. Admittedly, I've never read the book or seen any of the movie adaptations, so I didn't know what to expect. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that there was no hot air balloon scene?! The most iconic book covers and images have always portrayed Phileas Fogg in a hot air balloon traveling around the world but, spoiler alert, that is not one of the methods used for transportation. While at his gentleman's club Fogg takes a bet that he can go round the world in 80 days. A precise, mathematical, and intelligent man, Fogg has no doubt that it can be done so he bets his life savings. Armed with only a small travel sack and his trusty French manservant, the two of them depart on the biggest adventure of their lives. Exotic adventures await them in China, India, Hong Kong, crossing the oceans, and America. Can Fogg really pull it off? And why is there a British man tailing him on this journey? A fun read for all ages. Admittedly, a little outdated in terms of racism and stereotypes of other religions and cultures, but it must be remembered that Jules Verne was viewing the world the British lens of imperialism at the time.

The Hobbit

I'm glad to say that I enjoyed re-reading this book as much as I enjoyed reading it for the first time when I was in fifth grade (I believe this is the fourth time I've read it).

Personally, I always enjoyed this tale more than the Lord of the Ring's series because it was more straightforward, easier to understand, and much, much shorter.

This story tells the tale of a young hobbit named Bilbo Baggins who is cajoled into going on an adventure with thirteen dwarves and a wizard as they try and reclaim the Lonely Mountain from a treacherous old dragon named Smaug. Along the way they have to battle off goblins, elves, trolls,giant spiders, and suffer through fantastically cruel landscapes just to get to the mountain. Along the way, Bilbo learns a great deal about himself and and the world around him and is drastically changed for the better. This is a fantastic adventure story for the young and old alike, it is a timeless tale, of bravery, hardships, and friendship and is a must read for all.

Braving It

I fell harder for this book than I would have expected. I'm not much of an outdoorsy person, but the thrills that the father and daughter seek in Alaska and the ways that it binds them together and closer to nature, really spoke to me. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it makes me want to go seek adventure of my own. I want to cultivate my own "fernweh"(craving for travel) and create travel memories. Fifteen year old Aiden and her father James go on three separate trips to Alaska and in the process help build a cabin , scare off bears, hunt caribou, journey a dangerous river, and experience beauty like no other. It's wonderfully written and their experiences will charm you and make you want to get working on an adventure of your own.

I received this book for free from Librarything in return for my honest, unbiased opinion.

The Explorer's Guild

The layout of this book is truly beautiful. Its a mixture of comic panels, text, maps, and illustrations. The eye catching quality of it is what prompted me to pick up this book in the first place. That and one of the authors is Kevin Costner. I was intrigued. The book takes place during the great war but it isn't really set in the European Theater, it follows a group of explorers as they travel all over the world, New York, Tibet, India, Asia, and more. Their fearless leader Major Ogden is looking for a "mythical" city in order to save his brother whose only hope at living is to refind this city that he has no memory of. It's full of adventure, british imperialism, swashbuckling fights, Hollywood actresses, and adventure. While it lags in some parts and can be at times confusing, this book was engrossing. It reminded me of an older British Indiana Jones adventure. A must read for adventure fans.

The Coin of the Realm

An action adventure that would do great as a movie, but at points lost me in the book (although, it is possible I read too fast). Dubin's novel is a compelling and gripping quest filled with plot twists, revenge, romance, hidden motives, and a priceless treasure.

Rick Weisman is used to drifting around, he's not sure what he wants out of life. When his Uncle Eli bestows him with the priceless Zevi coin, Rick literally has no idea what to do with it. He feels plagued with too many choices so he retreats to the sea and joins a shipping crew heading across the ocean to Africa. While on the ship his future starts to become more clear and he finds himself fighting to get more answers. When they arrive in North Africa his quest really begins and he must fight for everything he holds dear. What does he truly want most?

Brought to life in vivid detail, this story captures the seafaring life, the exotic atmosphere of North Africa, the slave trade, and many other minor details that lend itself to the larger picture. The rich detail make the story that much more compelling and believable and you find yourself lost in Rick's struggles. In my race to get to the conclusion I may have sped-read over some mildly important details because by the end I had a hard time getting a few of the character's stories and motives straights, but that was easily remedied. Just learn from me and pay better attention :)

I received this book for free from the author in return for my honest, unbiased review.

The Return of the Key

Imagine Legend and Labyrinth with a pinch civil rights and self acceptance. That's basically the heart of this book. Eliza, a teenager of mixed races, has had a hard go at life. Believed only to be accepted by her family, she flees her small island to seek refuge with her aunt and grandmother while racial tensions fill her home town. The new quiet town she finds herself in may be no safer than her last home, for people keep mysteriously disappearing. Armed with her new friend Gwen, the two discover a hidden realm whose entrance has been mysteriously opened. Together, along with two faeries, they must help save the realm from hidden enemies, return a stolen key, all in order to make it back home. Can Eliza have enough faith in herself to complete the journey?

Filled with lush detail, inventive creatures, scenarios, and schemes. This book is great for young fantasy readers.Themes of identity, self-confidence, and loyalty will resonate with readers. A great fantasy adventure novel for teens grades five and up.

I received this book for free from the author, in return for my honest, unbiased opinion.

First Descent

Wow! I didn't have high expectations for this novel and I'm not really sure why. Maybe the cover art was a little cheesy for my taste or something. I'm not really sure. But regardless of my initial thoughts, I was definitely proven wrong. It was an awesome read! Kids, kayakers, and thrill seekers alike will love this book. It's informative, adventuresome, full of history, South American culture, and sporting knowledge. It's got something for everyone.

This story follows Rex as he chases his grandfather's dream of being the first one to successfully kayak the deadly Furioso river in the wild, dangerous country of Columbia. At seventeen he secures enough sponsors, money, and teammates to attempt the first descent on this wild unmapped river. But Rex soon finds out that political unrest, genocide, and guerrilla's may kill him before he ever makes it to the river. He befriends a local indigenous tribe, the same ones his grandfather met decades before when trying to master the river and soon learns more about himself, his grandfather, and the poor endangered natives then he ever thought possible.

It's an engrossing read and I learned loads about white water rafting and the unrest in Columbia. A must read for adventure fans!

I received this book for free from Librarything in return for my honest, unbiased opinion.

Neverwhere

This was definitely not my favorite Neil Gaiman book. There was a lot of plodding around and not enough character development.

This "fanciful adventure" (not a mystery Molly, not at all!) takes place in London Below. London Below is lurking beneath the streets of London, it's a magical place full of dark lurking tunnels, rat-speakers, moving markets, and interesting underground creatures. Perfectly normal Richard Mayhew (from London Above) finds a young girl hurt in the street, ignoring his fiance's wishes he takes the girl home and helps her. Little does he realize his life is about to turn upside down. Within 24 hours he loses his job, his fiance, his apartment, and ultimately his life. He ceases to exist in London Above and must try to survive in London Below. He goes on a mission with the young girl he rescued, Door (you read that right, that's really her name), the Marqui des Caraba, and a woman named Hunter. Together they try to piece together why Door's family was killed and how to get Richard back home.

Overall, the writing style is nice, Gaiman is always ludicrously descriptive and it's fun to get caught up in his imagination but the overall plot did nothing to steal my attention. It's a merely ho-hum story, not Gaiman's strongest effort.

Adventure - The Spy Who Loved Me

Author: Ian Fleming

Title: The Spy Who Loved Me

Publication Date: 1962

Number of Pages: 142

Geographical Setting: American Backwoods

Time Period: 1960s

Series: 10th in the James Bond/ 007 series

Plot Summary: It's hard to go wrong with a classic like this and Ian Fleming didn't disappoint. It's a fast paced action adventure and the low page count makes it impossibly fast to read.

It is one of the shortest and most sexually explicit of Fleming's novels, as well as a clear departure from previous Bond novels in that the story starts off the the perspective of the "Bond girl." In fact, most of the book is from her perspective and takes place before she ever meets 007!

A young Canadian woman by the of Vivienne Michel finds herself traveling across America on a scooter. She breaks for a bit at a motel and is offered a job watching the place by herself until the end of the season. On her first night alone, two thugs come in to rough her up and do who knows what else. Bond himself does not appear until two thirds of the way through the book, when he waltzes in the motel after suffering a flat.

Obviously he saves the day and seduces the girl, but in order to learn all the awesome details you'll have to read this classic for yourself.

Subject Headings: (via WorldCat)
Bond, James (Fictitious character) -- Fiction. Intelligence service -- Great Britain -- Fiction.
Spy Thriller -- Espionage -- Fiction
Appeal: Fast paced, dark, and graphic.

Similar Authors & Works:
1. Fiction: (via Goodreads)
The Last Frontier by Alistair MacLean
The Mataresse Countdown by Robert Ludloom
High Time to Kill by Raymond Benson 

2. Non-Fiction: (via subject heading search in WorldCat)
Her Majesty's Secret Service: the making of the British intelligence community by Christopher M. Andrew
MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service by Stephen Dorril
British Security Coordination: The Secret History of British Intelligence in the Americas, 1940-1945 by William Samuel Stpehenson

The Hobbit

I'm glad to say that I enjoyed re-reading this book as much as I enjoyed reading it for the first time when I was in fifth grade. My goal was to have this finished before I saw the Hobbit in the theaters, but alas, I ran out of time. Regardless, I thought the movie was fantastic and now that I've finished the book I am quite pleased with how much it aligned with the film.

Personally, I always enjoyed this tale more than the Lord of the Ring's series because it was more straightforward, easier to understand, and much, much shorter.

This story tells the tale of a young hobbit named Bilbo Baggins who is cajoled into going on an adventure with thirteen dwarves and a wizard as they try and reclaim the Lonely Mountain from a treacherous old dragon named Smaug. Along the way they have to battle off goblins, elves, trolls,giant spiders, and suffer through fantastically cruel landscapes just to get to the mountain. Along the way, Bilbo learns a great deal about himself and and the world around him and is drastically changed for the better.

This is a fantastic adventure story for the young and old alike, it is a timeless tale, of bravery, hardships, and friendship and is a must read for all.

The Epic Conclusion

I just had the pleasure of finishing, The Mule Tamer III: Marta's Quest, the third and final installment in The Mule Tamer Trilogy by John C. Horst and I was not disappointed. In the first two books we are introduced to Arvel Walsh and Chica, a ranger and a feisty but loving Mexican daredevil. They face many battles and trials but through it all discover their love for each other and the wild west and join together to form a family. Enter Rebecca and Marta. Rebecca is Chica and Arvel's only biological child, but they adopted Marta into their family when they rescued her from a gang of bloodthirsty Mexican bandits. Ten years later Marta and Rebecca are inseparable, Rebecca is a thoughtful, loyal, and seemingly quiet girl of nineteen and Marta is quite the opposite. Marta is strong, willed, bawdy, and always looking for a good adventure. They have just finished their schooling in Maryland and are supposed to vacation in Paris for a few months before going to college (did I mention that their grandmother is quite wealthy?) but plans change when Marta wants to check on her estate in Mexico (her Uncle was also quite wealthy). Mexico is going through some troubled times and Marta becomes even more nervous when she discovers that men want to buy her land to strip it for gold and oil. Since the duo is inseparable, Rebecca decides to join Marta on her trip to Mexico and they hope their parents won't realize where they're going.

On the ship from Maryland to Mexico, Rebecca becomes immediately smitten with young engineer, Robert Curtin. They have a whirlwind romance that I at first thought was ridiculously fast (he proposes to her within 48 hours!!) but in comparison to Romeo and Juliet who have a three day relationship (as a 13 year old and a 17 year old!) that results in the death of six people, I realized that Robert and Rebecca's fast road to love wasn't really that far fetched, plus their relationship continues to grow as the story continues. Not to be left behind Marta also starts to swoon for Marine captain, Pedro del Calle but isn't so quick to give her heart (or her virginity away), which is interesting because as a character she is much more of a risk taker and thrill seeker, however when it comes to relationships she is much more reserved. Once they make it to Marta's land they realize that they are in a pretty deep mess. Can their new lovers be trusted or are they just out for their land? I highly recommend reading to see how this adventure ends!

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed getting to see Arvel's daughter's mature into quick-witted adventurous girls just like their mother, Chica. The Walsh family always runs into excitement and it has been interesting to see how each member of the family reacts to adventure and grows in different parts of the trilogy. I'm sad that this exciting saga is over, but I can't wait to see what else John C. Horst has in store!