Book Review: The Specialists: Model Spy by Shannon Greenland

Because Model Spy is the first book in the Specialists series, the first half is mainly concerned with setting up the story, introducing us to the characters, and giving us a bare-bones background of the Specialists concept and history. We get to know Kelly/GiGi first. She’s a computer genius orphan studying at university though she’s only 16. She’s been through the foster care system and isn’t close to anyone, except fellow student David who asks her to hack into a government system to help his father. Of course she gets caught and finds out David was trying to recruit her to the Specialists team. Though she feels betrayed by him, being a Specialist is better than going to jail so she joins the team where she meets fellow newbies Molly/Bruiser (martial arts), Sissy/Beaker (chemistry), Frankie/Wirenut (electronics), Darren/Parrot (linguistics) and Joe/Mystic (clairvoyance) as well as the more experienced team one which includes David.

The second half is pure spy thrills and heart-pumping adventure as Kelly/GiGi is sent on an undercover mission to Ushbania as model Jade January to infiltrate the bad guys modeling school and use her computer skills to save David’s father. David goes as her photographer which gives her ample time to hang out with him. Will klutzy and shy GiGi pull off the model assignment?

I love the concept for this series and mixing modeling and spying sounded so cool to me. Be aware though that the modeling really takes a back seat to the spying – I personally would have liked to see a bit more runway action and interaction between Kelly and the other models at the school.

I liked Kelly’s character arc – from geeky loner to kick-butt spy - but I did find it a bit odd that she has a habit of talking like Yoda when she’s nervous. No matter – this is a breezy, fun read for anyone who likes adventure and spy stories. I look forward to getting to know the characters better during the course of the series.

Author Interview: Shannon Greenland AND The Specialists Series Giveaway!

Every thursday for the next 4 weeks, Shannon Greenland, author of the Specialists series, is going to join us. Today were going to talk about the series with a focus on the first book.

Can you give us a quick pitch for the first Specialists book, Model Spy?

Computer genius, GiGi, hacks into the government’s mainframe. In exchange for jail, she enlists in a spy agency that trains teens to go undercover. After all, what does she have to lose? She has no family or friends. But in just a few short weeks she finds herself thrown into her first mission, undercover as a model. Not so easy for a nerdy klutz like GiGi.

So far 3 books in the 5 book Specialists series are out with a 4th being released at the end of the month. Where are you in the process with book 5? Can you give us any sneak peeks? Unfortunately, I don’t have a pub date for the fifth one, but it features both Mystic, the clairvoyant, and Bruiser, the fighter.

What were the seeds of the series and how did you go about getting it published? I’m a big fan of Alias. So naturally when I dreamed of writing a teen series, I knew it would be about spies. And getting published? Phew. I think any author would agree it’s a tenacious process. Lots of query letters, conferences, meetings with agents and editors. And then finally, one day, someone likes your stuff enough to take it to the next level.

Your main character, Kelly AKA GiGi (Genius Girl), is a coding whiz who hacked into government systems. I know you’re asked this all the time, but what would your specialty be if you were selected for the team? LOL, I love this question. My specialty would be adventurer. Anyone who knows me would tell you I’d try about anything once.

Gigi is very partial to lollipops. What are your favorite candies? I’m a gum freak. I’m really into Dentyne Splash right now.

You are quite the adventure traveler. What was the scariest thing you’ve ever done on your adventures? Hands down, exploring an uncharted cave was the scariest thing I’ve ever done. Just imagine going somewhere no other person has ever been. What an adrenaline rush!

Thanks Shannon for the fun interview! I loved reading Model Spy and my review will go up shortly. I can't wait to start on book 2 - Down to the Wire.

Now for the giveaway! Comment on this post to be entered to win a signed copy of Model Spy. I will announce the winner next thursday. As always, you can get extra entries by blogging about the contest and commenting on my review of the book.

And check this out: By entering this week's Specialists contest, you are also entered to win the grand prize - signed copies of all 4 published books in the series including book 4, Native Tongue which comes out on July 31st! Come back each week and comment to increase your chances of winning this exciting series.

This contest is open to residents of the US and Canada only.

Book Review: Joy of Spooking: Fiendish Deeds by P.J. Bracegirdle

Just as I suspected it would, The Joy of Spooking: Fiendish Deeds has earned a place on my list of all time favorites. I love the concept, I love the characters and the storyline is engaging and relevant. But most of all I love P.J.’s writing – it’s my exact kind of slightly dark humor and is full of gems like Joy’s brother Byron’s thoughts when the two meet a filthy but surprisingly friendly old “witch” woman at the bog:

“Byron continued to stare at her suspiciously. He’d read the fairy tales, and such chumminess usually meant a kid-size oven was preheating somewhere nearby.”

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Joy, Byron and their parents live in Spooking – “the terrible town on the hideous hill.” They don’t exactly fit in with the cookie-cutter residents of Darlington, the sprawling neighbor city where they have to attend school. Joy’s hobby is researching the legend of the bog fiend and the horror writer E.A. Peugeot and she’d really rather have nothing to do with Darlington at all. She does venture there to accompany Byron to a couple of parties (the precocious 8 year old has a crush on a darling of Darlington), and she is forced to confront some of its citizens in her quest to prevent a water park from being built over her beloved bog.

This is a story about preserving diversity – both in nature and in society. But it is far from being preachy – it is fun and exciting with a liberal portion of spookiness. The villain, major assistant Mr. Phipps, is exactly the kind of well-rounded, conflicted fiendish deed doer that makes a juicy character – we get the sense that he was once quite like Joy before something went terribly wrong. I eagerly await the next two books in the planned trilogy to find out more about Mr. Phipps’ background and follow Joy and Byron’s further adventures. Highly recommended to all readers 8 and up.

This book will be out on August 5th – but if you just can’t wait, be sure to enter my contest to win one of three advanced reader copies (actual hardcovers)! And don't forget to comment on this post for an extra entry.

Library Thing Tuesday (9)

This week's question:

Since we're past the Fourth of July and the summer season has officially started, what are your plans for the summer? Vacations, trips? Trips that involve reading? Reading plans? If you're going somewhere, do you do any reading to prepare? Do you read local literature as part of your trip? Have you thought about using the LT Local feature to help plan your book-buying?

My answer:

I don't have many exotic plans for the summer actually. We'll be attending a wedding in Berlin over Labor Day. Then, in September, my father and stepmother are coming over to Europe and we'll be driving to France together. He has bought the DK Eyewitness Travel books to France and Paris, as well as a Streetwise Paris map. So we've been looking through those in our planning. I do like reading local literature, or books set in the country or place I'm visiting, in preparation for my trips. Here are a few of my favorites:

Before I went to Burma, I read The Glass Palace: A Novel by Amitav Ghosh. It is a historical novel set partly in Burma and it gave a good feel for the history, culture and environment of the area. Plus it is a really great story. I also picked up Twilight Over Burma: My Life as a Shan Princess by Inge Sargent.

In preparation for my trip to the Republic of Georgia (a gorgeous country by the way), I read Journalist Wendell Stevenson's Stories I Stole, a collection of her impressions of the country. I so liked her description of the bizzare Stalin museum in his hometown of Gori, that I had to stop by for a visit myself.

A couple of weeks before I travelled to Iceland, I chanced upon Zane Radcliffe's thriller The Killer's Guide to Iceland. The atmosphere is very authentic. The twisty plot and interesting characters elevate what could have been a more run-of-the-mill cross between a travelogue and mystery novel.

Book Review: Down River by John Hart

As much as I enjoy reading, I always find it hard to concentrate on airplanes. A book has to be pretty exciting to hold my interest when I fly, so I usually bring a couple of thrillers with me. This last trip, I was lucky enough to have one of those seat back video systems with on demand movies, so I watched 4 movies instead of reading on my international flight. On my domestic flight and layover, I read Down River by John Hart all in one big gulp.

The main character, Adam Chase, is coming back to his hometown after 5 years away. But not many are happy to see him – even though he was acquitted at his trial (where his own stepmother was the key witness for the prosecution), most of the town believes him to be a murderer. Only the cop girlfriend (Robin) he left behind, his father’s best friend Dolf and his young ward Grace seem to support him. And when people start turning up dead, Adam again becomes the prime suspect and must try to clear his name while at the same time trying to reconcile with his family and Robin.

This thriller had an exciting, twisty plot, juicy family secrets and an unexpected killer. It was fast paced and riveting enough to get me through my whole domestic journey. Recommended!

Author Interview: P.J. Bracegirdle AND Joy of Spooking Giveaway!

Let’s give a warm welcome to the incredibly talented PJ Bracegirdle, author of the new YA trilogy Joy of Spooking. The first book comes out August 5th, but we wanted to give you a sneak peek and a chance to win one of 3 advance reader copies before the book even comes out!

Ok, first question PJ: If you were to blurb Joy of Spooking: Fiendish Deeds yourself, what would you say?
“Please buy this book—its author is no longer fit for proper work.” Which I guess is one of the many reasons they usually get someone else to blurb it.

I see the logic in that, yes! So, Joy of Spooking is planned as a trilogy. Why stop there? Why not 13 books?
Much like blurbs, the publisher traditionally makes this call. In fact, I’d originally proposed only two installments before they told me unequivocally that I could not kill off every single character at the end of the second book. “How about in Book Three?” I’d said as a compromise—and voila, a trilogy was born!

Okay, that’s a lie. Actually, I think there’s something really special about trilogies—you get to tell a much broader story and explore more characters without being forced into writing something that feels overly controlled and episodic.

I am a firm believer in the rule of three so I can relate. Can you tell us a bit about the origin of the idea for the book and your road to publication?
I have to admit it felt less like a road and more like a champagne-fueled balloon ride in all honesty. Of course, this kind of statement can only instill anger in my fellow authors, so I’m quick to point out my life’s vast litany of disappointments and failures as a counterbalance.
As far as the origin of the idea, it was a similarly happy instance with the title and premise striking me completely out of the blue. Living up to it proved far less easy however, and luckily I had some help from a kindly children’s book editor to whip the first few chapters into shape. After that, it was just a case of landing a fearsome agent and finding the publisher who shared the story’s macabre sense of humor.

Cool! Nicoletta Ceccoli did the gorgeous cover. What was your reaction when you heard she’d be involved?
The specific exclamation is probably best not repeated here, suffice to say that it simultaneously expressed my sense of delight and disbelief in addition to demonstrating my woeful lack of breeding to anyone within earshot. Nicoletta is quite simply one of the most exciting and talented illustrators out there, and I am still awestruck by how perfectly she captured the story’s characters and atmosphere. I get the chills just imagining what she’ll do for the next book, much of which takes place in an insane asylum.

Your main character, Joy, does look rather spooky. She is also a literary horror fan – does she take after you? What books in the genre can you recommend to teens and younger readers?

While it’s hard to live up to a rabid fan like Joy Wells, I do still love a good creepy story, particularly classic ones from Edgar Allen Poe and H.P. Lovecraft. Younger readers may find their style and language a bit challenging at first, however once accustomed there are many great stories to explore. Otherwise, I remember particularly loving SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES by Ray Bradbury, and becoming forever terrified of those toy cymbal-playing monkeys thanks to a Stephen King short story whose name escapes me.

Great suggestions! The gothic tone of the book might also remind some of the Lemony Snicket books. What do you think Lemony Snicket would say after reading Fiendish Deeds?
Hmm, good question. I hope he would say: “Fiendish Deeds is the most painful book ever to have fallen on my lap, including heavier volumes dropped from a much greater height.” Because the guy can’t pan anything without making it sound like a ringing endorsement.

Regarding any similarities between the two stories, I should point out that while A Series of Unfortunate Events is famously miserable, The Joy of Spooking is substantially more upbeat in its exploration of its dark terrain, as the title might suggest. The two heroes, Joy and her brother Byron, are not desperate orphans but live happy enough lives, although somewhat in the shadow of their overworked parents like so many children these days. With an almost maniacal intensity, Joy revels in the eerie atmosphere of her crumbling hometown Spooking, celebrating the sinister histories she is convinced played out within its limits.

Unfortunately Joy’s happy existence is complicated by the City of Darlington, the soulless suburban sprawl that surrounds Spooking hill where the Wells siblings are forced to go to school. Because in this story, the villain is just as equally an actual place—and even a way of seeing—as it is a living breathing person (which in this case is an embittered ex-punk-rock musician who works for the mayor). And so it happens that Joy and Byron are unable to continually flee in the face of encroaching evil, as in Lemony Snicket’s series, but rather must take a stand against it in order to stop their way of life from being obliterated forever.

Speaking of soulless suburban sprawl (just kidding), you live in Canada so I am going to assume you are Canadian. I had a Canadian boyfriend once who made me learn all the Canadian provinces and capital cities. Can you name all 50 US States and their capitals?

I can only presume that Canadian boyfriend went on to become your Canadian husband since few other nations produce men with quite the same intoxicating combination of qualities—with good manners, faultless hygiene, and a working knowledge of what to do when startled by Grizzly bears being chief among them.

And as such a fellow, I could certainly name every state and a good number of capitals. However this is not a particularly male quality—Canadians of both sexes are equally well-versed in geography. This comes from having spent so many winters gathering around our atlases to marvel at all of the less frigid places we could have been born.

Sorry to disappoint you, but the Canadian didn’t work out – not that I didn’t enjoy the geography lessons and the stories of hapless tourists being stampeded by Moose (or is that Meese?) Thank you so much for stopping by!

Find out more at http://www.pjbracegirdle.com/ and http://www.joyofspooking.com/

And now, on to the CONTEST – YAY! A special thanks to Kate and Sarah at Simon & Schuster who have provided me with 3 extra ARCs to give away to my readers. PJ is throwing in signed book plates as well. Want to enter to win? Here’s what you gotta do:

1. Leave a comment at this post (required)

Each of the following gives you one extra entry:

2. Read the first chapter of Joy of Spooking Fiendish Deeds here (PDF). Then send the answer to the question “What book does Joy inherit?” to lenoreva AT hotmail DOT com with the subject line JOY CONTEST for a second entry. (Make sure you let me know what name you commented with in your e-mail so I can give you credit)

3. Become a fan of PJ Bracegirdle on Facebook. And tell me that you did.

4. Blog about the contest on your blog and leave a link in your comment so I can find it. If you don't have a blog, you can write an e-mail to 5 friends with a link to this post and CC me.

5. Comment on the review of Joy of Spooking: Fiendish Deeds that I will post next week.

Contest is open to residents of US, Canada, Germany and wherever it is that Reviewer X lives and is open until 9 pm CST on July 20th when I will announce the winners. Winners will then have 48 hrs to get back to me with their mailing address or forfeit their prize. Good luck everyone!

Book Review: Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande

I remember the first time I heard about the evolution vs creationism debate, I asked my mother what she thought about it. She said, “Well, if God wanted to use evolution, God certainly could have.” In Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature, Mena’s science teacher would certainly agree. She tells the class that science is the “how of things” while religion is the “why of things” and while it’s not her place to teach religion (the whole separation of church and state idea), she doesn’t see why the two can’t peacefully coexist.

Mena herself is trying to reconcile her faith and what she’s been taught all her life by her parents and church with the science that is being taught in the classroom. Complicating matters slightly: her church has banned her, her parents are angry with her and her friends have abandoned her because she wrote a letter that got her church sued. Meanwhile, she is starting to really respect her science teacher and she has a cute, brainy new lab partner, Casey, who just might be more than just a friend to her. That puts Mena smack dab in the center of controversy involving science, religion and the freedom to think for yourself.

Author Robin Brande, who has served as a Sunday school teacher at church, knows her science and her religion and presents the case for a "biblically sanctioned" view of evolution well. Less convincing were her one-sided portrayals of the church group kids. I have a hard time believing that kids who are so sheltered that they know nothing about The Lord of the Rings would be allowed out of the house with sexy t-shirts two sizes too small (shapeless dresses or culottes being more the norm) or even be allowed to attend public school for that matter. I can accept that they may be narrow minded and be easily swayed into collective actions like turning their desks backwards to protest the teaching of evolution, but I find it more difficult to believe that they would be such bullies – using physical intimidation and cussing in public – when it is my experience that fundamentalist church kids are more like “Turn the other cheek” and “The meek will inherit the earth”. Granted, Mena does defend the pastor’s “misguided” daughter by saying she has pure intentions, but on the whole, I was slightly bothered by the over-the-top villainy of the church kids and Pastor Wells (his sermon at church was so unbelievably mean-spirited, it was campy).

What I really do love about this novel is that it is respectful to both science and religion and encourages discussion. Not only that, Mena has a great voice that will especially appeal to those of us from strict households. Plus, it’s just fun to read (AND it has 12 cute puppies in it – what more do you NEED?). Head over to http://www.biblegrrrl.com/ for a great interview with the author.

Contest Winners & More Contests!

I kind of went overboard buying Euro treats... So in addition to my official winner who gets a big box of Euro treats, I chose a runner-up who will receive a mini-box of Euro treats. Since Emmy is sleeping, I decided to use Random.org and the official winner is:



koolaidmom!



My runner up is:



Melissa Walker!



Claim your prizes by sending me your snail mail details to lenoreva AT hotmail DOT com - and congrats!!



Didn't win? Never fear - I will be giving away AT LEAST 16 books on my blog this month so stay tuned!



And I also banded together with Shooting Stars Mag and tons of other YA bloggers to bring you the Stephanie Kuehnert's I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone Gift Card Giveaway!



I fully expect this book to be awesome and plan to get it when it comes out next week on July 8. Check out these rave reviews:

Teen Book Review

Teens Read Too

The Book Muncher



We want you to pre-order the book now or go and get it when it's officially released. To help motivate you to do this...we enlisted the help of fellow book reviewers to give away an awesome prize!



What you must do: Get the book and either copy the receipt or take a picture with the book.



Send your proof to Lauren at: Lauren51990@aol.com by July 30, 2008 and you're entered to win A WHOLE BUNCH of $10 gift cards for various bookstores and Itunes, since the book is very music-oriented.



These are my fellow Book Reviewers who will each be giving away a $10 gift card to the winner.



Click on each name to check out their blog!

And Another Book Read: Tasha (Barnes N Noble)

Shooting Stars Mag: Lauren

Reading Mania (Elaina Reads): Elaina

The Compulsive Reader

Bookloverreviews:Chelsie

The Story Siren: Kristi

B is for Books: Breanna

Teen Troves: Mollie and Ariel (Amazon)

From the Corner of Megan's Mind: Megan

Presenting Lenore

Writer's Block Reviews: Holly

In Bed with Books

Reader Rabbit

If you're counting, that's 13 book sites giving away a $10 card...that means the winner will get 130 bucks in gift cards just by buying ONE book and showing us that you did! Not bad, right? MORE might be added as well in the next few days, so keep checking back to this post to see if the amount goes up! So what are you waiting for?


**** Other contests ******


There are still more chances to win that box of 14 books from Hachette over at Trish's blog.


Hope's Bookshelf is giving away a copy of The Latent Powers of Dylan Fontaine by April Lurie - enter by July 9th at her blog.


The Tome Traveller is having her first book giveaway: The Rest of her Life by Laura Moriarty - enter on her blog by July 14th.

Keri Mikulski is giving away two fun summer books: Bev Katz Rosembaum's I Was a Teenage Popsicle and Heather McElhatton's Pretty Little Mistakes: A Do Over Novel. Both sound like really great reads so enter over at her blog by July 31st!

Love to Read is giving away an ARC of The God of Animals by Aryn Kyle. Enter at her blog by July 14th.

Even more book contests are listed at these great sites:
Up For Grabs
West of Mars

Library Thing Tuesday (8)

Here are the books of interest to me in the Top 100 Most Popular Books on LibraryThing. If I have it listed here, I have either read it, or plan to read it (TBR). In bold is what I actually have on my shelf which you could borrow. I've starred what I liked (giving 5 stars to those I really liked).

7. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (23,266)
10. 1984 by George Orwell (19,735) *****
11. Pride and Prejudice (Bantam Classics) by Jane Austen (19,583)*****
12. The catcher in the rye by J.D. Salinger (19,082)*
13. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (17,586) *
14. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (16,210)*
15. The lord of the rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (15,483)*
16. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (14,566) TBR
17. Jane Eyre (Penguin Classics) by Charlotte Bronte (14,449) TBR
18. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (13,946)
19. Life of Pi by Yann Martel (13,272) *****
20. Animal Farm by George Orwell (13,091)*
21. Angels & demons by Dan Brown (13,089)*
22. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (13,005)*
23. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (12,777)*
24. One Hundred Years of Solitude (Oprah's Book Club) by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (12,634) TBR
26. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden (12,147)*
27. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (11,976)*
29. The Odyssey by Homer (11,483)*
32. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (11,257) TBR
35. American Gods: A Novel by Neil Gaiman (10,823)*
36. The chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis (10,603)*****
37. The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy by Douglas Adams (10,537) *
38. Lord of the Flies by William Golding (10,435) *
39. The lovely bones : a novel by Alice Sebold (10,125)
41. The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, Book 1) by Philip Pullman (9,827) TBR
44. Emma by Jane Austen (9,610) *
45. Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (9,598) TBR
46. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Bantam Classics) by Mark Twain (9,593)*
47. Anna Karenina (Oprah's Book Club) by Leo Tolstoy (9,433) TBR
48. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke (9,413) TBR
49. Middlesex: A Novel by Jeffrey Eugenides (9,343)*
50. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire (9,336) TBR
51. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (9,274) *
53. The Iliad by Homer (9,153)*
54. The Stranger by Albert Camus (9,084)*****
55. Sense and Sensibility (Penguin Classics) by Jane Austen (9,080) *****
56. Great Expectations (Penguin Classics) by Charles Dickens (9,027) *
57. The Handmaid's Tale: A Novel by Margaret Atwood (8,960) ******
58. On the Road by Jack Kerouac (8,904)
60. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery - (8,764)
61. The lion, the witch and the wardrobe by C. S. Lewis (8,421) *****
62. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (8,417) *****
63. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman (8,368) TBR
65. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (8,214)*
69. The complete works by William Shakespeare (8,096) Read most of
71. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris (7,834) TBR
72. The Poisonwood Bible: A Novel (Perennial Classics) by Barbara Kingsolver (7,829)*****
73. Hamlet (Folger Shakespeare Library) by William Shakespeare (7,808) *
74. Of Mice and Men (Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century) by John Steinbeck (7,807)*
77. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (7,648)*
78. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (7,598)*
79. The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition by William Strunk (7,569) *
80. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (7,557) ******
82. Atonement: A Novel by Ian McEwan (7,530) *****
83. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (7,512)*
84. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (7,436) TBR
85. Dracula by Bram Stoker (7,238) TBR
86. Heart of Darkness (Dover Thrift Editions) by Joseph Conrad (7,153)*****
87. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (7,055)*
88. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (7,052)
91. The Unbearable Lightness of Being: A Novel by Milan Kundera (6,901)*****
94. The Canterbury Tales (Penguin Classics) by Geoffrey Chaucer (6,868)
95. Persuasion (Penguin Classics) by Jane Austen (6,862) TBR
97. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (6,794)
99. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers (6,708)

For the full list, please see Marie's post.

July Book Blowout Challenge

I am joining Blue Archipelago's summer reading challenge for the month of July!

I am going to set my realistic goal at 12 books read. My fantasy goal is 18 books read.

Let's get reading!

Here are my answers to the first mini-challenge:

1. Describe yourself in one sentence. I plead the 5th.
2. What book will you start the challenge with? Evolution, me, and other freaks of nature.
3. Where is your favourite place to read? I prefer quiet places.
4. What is your favourite book of all time? I can't choose just one!
5. Remind us all of your challenge target. 12-18