Bibliosaur
The Lost Heir
This is a wonderfully fun book (as are the rest in the series). An orphan who has lived his life on the streets in Victorian England suddenly comes into some strange powers. He has a wily and honest girl to keep him straight when things start to go crazy. Soon he learns he is the lost heir to a title and a vast fortune that a crazy (but very philanthropic) uncle will do anything to keep.
The book is fast-paced and includes a cast of lovable and unique characters. Every child (or adult) will find a hero to identify with. The series continues to be strong and enjoyable with the next two books.
I've read half of this book and it is quite fun. Nothing too deep, but it is highly original. It is still on sale for $1.99, and at the price, I highly recommend it.
This free kindle book explores the complexities of adoption as a young woman heads to China to find herself and perhaps learn why she was abandoned so many years ago.
The Lord of Opium is still on sale for just $1.99. You have to go get it. It is the second book in Nancy Farmer's Alacran Series, but the first was fantastic.
A boy has an idyllic life with a wonderful woman, but he is forced to stay out of sight all day while she goes to work. When he is caught outside one day he learns that he is a clone of the drug lord of the opium farm. It is in the future and to control the drug trade, the US and Mexico have laid out a five mile strip of legal drug farms between the two countries. Everything seems perfect, but it is not.
I've had this book on my "to read" list for awhile, but just never seemed to get around to it. It came up on sale for the kindle for $1.99 and I could no longer resist. It is fantastic. I was engrossed from the beginning even though I thought I knew how it would turn out. I did figure out a few things, but I missed some pretty major turns at the end. I've got the next three from the library and can't wait to get started on them.
Splendors and Glooms
This book is great. It has all the good characters: the sad, neglected rich girl, the feral orphan boy, the genteel orphan girl, etc. there is magic in the book, but the book isn't about magic. It is about redemption, and finding love in all the wrong (and right) places. The plot, while timeless, is like nothing I've ever read. So many books these a days are copies of other successful formats. This was not.
The Looking Glass Wars #1 - Audio Library Edition
I'm surprised at the number of negative reviews this book received. I have avoided it for awhile, but my little library does not have a large selection of audiobooks and I needed one for a long drive. This was a wonderful narration. I am oftentimes horrified at being forced to listen to every word that an author I love writes, R. A. Salvatore's books come to mind, but I was mostly engrossed in this book. I loved the way it made use of Carroll's work in such a way as to be able to take great liberties with the story, while still showing us how the author was inspired by the original. I will definitely be finishing the series when I travel again.