Books of Ember

I read all four City of Ember books. They were pretty enjoyable; I'm curious to see the movie that they made out of the first one. Books one two and four all form a continuous narrative. The third book feels very disjointed, mostly due to fact that it is a prequel to the series. However, it does fit nicely into the narrative. I was thrown by it, but I don't think I would have wanted to read them in another order.

They are young adult fiction books. The three are about two teens in the dying city of Ember who want to change things and save the city. (And what happens next...)

The setting is interesting and the society is believable.

Steelheart

By Brandon Sanderson
Hardback; 384 pages
YA fantasy

A page turner! Set in a future or alternate Chicago, this book is about one teen's mission to revenge his father's death.
It's an interesting world, and does have some surprising twists. Also, I love the constant and purposefully bad metaphors sprinkled throughout the book like pepper. Because you sprinkle pepper on things. I can't do bad puns as well as he can.

Ranger's Apprentice

Over the last couple weeks I read this series. (Books 1-5 are already back at the library.) Sam is also reading them, she's on book 9 right now. They are maybe a middle school reading level, probably closer to 6th grade.
Each one is a simple adventure story, although sometimes the books do lead one right into the next without having resolved every detail of the preceding plotline.
Although the majority of the major characters are male, there are two girls who are also main characters, and I like that they are not wimpy stand on the sidelines and let someone else do the fighting characters. They actually do stuff. Important stuff. And they can fight but aren't crazy ninjas or anything. And when one character says something sexist, the others all scold.
Speaking of, a lot of young adult fiction ends up talking about sex in some way. I think mostly it is used in ways that are completely irrelevant to the story itself. This series doesn't do that. Aside from a brief conversation in which an older character lies to another about the profession of women in super short skirts... But it's such a small conversation that I know will go right over my daughter's head.
A good series, not deep or complex, but fun.

Irony...

Are books allowed to tell me that they are about to engage in irony? That seems weird to me...

(Ranger's Apprentice book 9)

Carpet People; Emperor's Soul

Carpet people, about people who live in carpets, was interesting without completely being my cup of tea.

Emperor's Soul I loved, a really fast read.