44. Ranger's Apprentice: The Ruins of Gorlan, John Flanagan
I read this on a lark, because I run into the Ranger's Apprentice books a lot when I'm shelving at the library. The first one was fun, a fairly standard fantasy kingdom-type tale about a couple of adolescents learning how to be heroes. The Rangers are the covert operation in the kingdom, and Will, our main character, gets personally selected to train under one of the more notorious Rangers in the kingdom. I appreciated that his story, about stealth and subtlety and learning how to be effective with cunning rather than strength, is intercut with that of Horace, a boy who goes to Battleschool to learn how to be a knight. Both boys end up being preternaturally skilled at their assigned tasks (surprise), but they do still have to work at it - there are no shortcuts or easy solutions in this book.
45. Messy, Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan
The long awaited follow-up to the effervescently clever Spoiled did not disappoint. Heather and Jessica bring the same biting wit to their dialogue that they deploy on their website gofugyourself.com, and it hits just the right notes coming out of the mouths of sarcastic oddball Max and her nemesis-turned-business-partner, the beautiful and savvy Brooke Berlin. Even when elements of the plot feel predictable, the Fug Ladies bring a refreshing perspective to their critique of the Hollywood Machine through blog entries ghost written by Max (as Brooke, providing the main conflict later in the book). Plus, they managed to work in a turban AND a reference to the episode of One Tree Hill where a dog eats a guy's heart. Perfection.
I read this on a lark, because I run into the Ranger's Apprentice books a lot when I'm shelving at the library. The first one was fun, a fairly standard fantasy kingdom-type tale about a couple of adolescents learning how to be heroes. The Rangers are the covert operation in the kingdom, and Will, our main character, gets personally selected to train under one of the more notorious Rangers in the kingdom. I appreciated that his story, about stealth and subtlety and learning how to be effective with cunning rather than strength, is intercut with that of Horace, a boy who goes to Battleschool to learn how to be a knight. Both boys end up being preternaturally skilled at their assigned tasks (surprise), but they do still have to work at it - there are no shortcuts or easy solutions in this book.
45. Messy, Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan
The long awaited follow-up to the effervescently clever Spoiled did not disappoint. Heather and Jessica bring the same biting wit to their dialogue that they deploy on their website gofugyourself.com, and it hits just the right notes coming out of the mouths of sarcastic oddball Max and her nemesis-turned-business-partner, the beautiful and savvy Brooke Berlin. Even when elements of the plot feel predictable, the Fug Ladies bring a refreshing perspective to their critique of the Hollywood Machine through blog entries ghost written by Max (as Brooke, providing the main conflict later in the book). Plus, they managed to work in a turban AND a reference to the episode of One Tree Hill where a dog eats a guy's heart. Perfection.
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