Favorites and Recommendations (READ THE FIRST POST!)

[penandpaper67]

As you may have noticed, I have decided to create a single thread for all favorites and recommendations as opposed to a bunch of little threads. (Oh and thanks to Miss-Mishi for the suggestion xd ) This thread is very specific, so you really need to read these rules before doing anything else.
Your post should contain 3 things in this order:
1. Title of the book
2. Author of the book
3. A short review
The review should be something similar to whatever's on the back of the book, though in your own words and possibly more condensed. It should not contain any spoilers, though it can contain some plot detail. If you do feel that you would have to put a spoiler warning into your post, please make a thread for it in the correct subforum. If you see the title of a book you want to discuss, please do not do so here. Once again, make a thread for the book in the correct subforum. There should be only one review per post. You must make a separate post for each book. You should not write anything other than those three things in your posts. This makes it easier for people to find what they are looking for. I will do an example/template in the next post. If you follow that, you should be fine.

EDIT: I am kind of cleaning up the guild at the moment and decided to unstickyfy (yes, that is a word, because I said so) this thread. I'm going to try and keep the stickies less book related and more about guild business and such.  

[penandpaper67]

Book: The Amulet of Samarkand

Author: Jonathon Stroud

Review: In this enthralling beginning to a magnificent trilogy, the reader enters a world of magicians and demons. After being publicly humiliated, the young magician Nathaniel longs for revenge. He attempts and succeeds in summoning the cunning djinni, Bartimaeus, a great feat for one so young. Nathaniel charges Bartimaeus with the responsibility of stealing the Amulet of Samarkand from Nathaniel's powerful adversary, Simon Lovelace. But in the process, everything spins out of control. This is really an amazing book. Jonathon Stroud manages to create a complex tale and Bartimaeus is unforgettable. It is the first in a trilogy and its sequels, The Golem's Eye and Ptolemy's Gate, are equally phenomenal.  

[Dragonfanatic24]

Title: Peter and the Starcatchers

Authors: Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson

Review: An orphan boy named Peter and his myterious new freind Molly overcome hoards of pirates and theives in their quest to keep a fantastical secret safeand save the world. (of course) This book weaves a tale that answers questions of how Peter Pan came to be on Neverland, how can he fly, and were did he find Tinker Bell. And several more questions like this are answered. Pick up this enchanting book today. There are 2 more books that come after this one.  

[Nathan Galvan]

Title: The Warrior Heir

Author: Cinda Williams Chima

This book tells the story of a young Jack Swift who lives a normal life up until his upper high school years, when he finds he possesses strange, supernatural abilities. Jack finds himself in the middle of a magical war, more or less a target, that has been fought since the War of the Roses in Europe.

This is an action-packed sci-fi type fantasy with thrills around every corner. It was very difficult for me to put down lol. If you liked this book, I highly reccomend the Wizard Heir, and come August, the Dragon Heir.  

[penandpaper67]

Book: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

Author: Mark Haddon

Review: This is definitely the best book I have ever had to read for school. It is told from the unique point of view of an autistic teenager, named Christopher Boone. He is a mathematical savante living with his dad. When he finds his neighbor's dog dead, he decides to investigate. But along the way, he discovers certain secrets that his dad has been hiding from him. This extremely insightful tale causes readers to take a second look at everyday things around them and allows the average person to see through the world through very different eyes. I recommend this book to absolutely anyone. It is a very touching story and will ring true with almost anyone who reads it.  

[StrawberryFlavoredDisease]

Speak
by Lauren Halse Anderson

This is a book about a girl's first year of high school.
Sounds girly so far, right?
Well, everyone hates her because of something that happened at a party over the summer and she's too afraid of telling anyone what really happened.
This kind of book usually doesn't usually interest me but the way this book was written was amazing and made me look at my writing in a totally new way. Speak has proven that it is possible to express more in your writing and is so radically different than any book I've ever read...
READ IT and tell me what you think!  

[TheWindySea]

The Looking Glass Wars
By: Frank Beddor

"Fantasy just declared war on reality." This is a new take on the Alice in Wonderland tale. It's a fun adventure. Alyss Heart the Princess of Wonderland, finds herself in a strange world after her evil Aunt Redd murders her parents. A world where her powerful White Imagination doesn't work. 13 years later, she's suddenly whisked back to Wonderland to battle her Aunt and take back what is rightfully hers.  

[Collote]

Book: The Boy in The Striped Pajamas

Author: John Boyne

Review: This some-what short story takes place during World War II... more specifically, the Holocaust. A young boy's father is a Nazi who moved his family to a house around a concentration camp. The boy is curious about the people in the "striped pajamas." He meets a Jewish boy by the fence and the two quickly become friends. The Jewish boy's father disapears one day, causing the Nazi's son to cross the fence to help his friend find his lost parent... I don't want to ruin it. This book is defiantly powerful and I highly recommend it to anyone looking f or a quick, but great, read.  

[XGamerRichy]

Book: Inkheart

Author: Cornelia Funke

Review: I adore this book now, it is very factual when it looks at the book binding process and it also sucks you in immediately. Following the story of Meggie Folchart, a man name Dustfinger appears at her doorstep. Her father, Mo, shrouds the man in secrecy(sp?), but Dustfinger changes her world forever.

I just cannot describe how good this book is! Just get it already!  

[Colonel T-Bone]

Title: THE CYBERIAD
Author: Stanislaw Lem
Description: In a time when all the stars werre lined up in neat little rows so one could count them, all in their proper place, with all of the big blue ones set aside from the yellow ones and what have you, Constructors would sally forth to spread their undisputed omnipitence throughout the universe. THE CYBERIAD recounts the seven (or so) sallies of the two Grand and Illustrious constructors Trurl and Klapaucius in theri endeavors to spread their scientific genius to such far reaches as Eenica, Meenica, Mynamoica, and the mysterious square planet of the HPLD's (Highest Possible Level of Development).  

[Bandele]

Title: Just Listen
Author: Sarah Dessen

Annabel has everything on the outside, a modeling career the "perfect family", but is being torn apart on the inside by a deep secret. Her relationship with her best friend ended horribly, and her older sister has an eating disorder that is weighing everyone in the family to breaking points. She isolated and without anyone to turn to. When she meets Owen, who is equally isolated, he teaches her the importance of stopping and listening to what your heart is trying to tell you.  

[x - - - Cyan Cecilia]

Slawter by Darren Shan (yes 'w' not 'ugh')

This is the third book in the Demonata series. I would highly recommend that series, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing, and his other book for teens/young adults, Cirque Du Freak. This book is gory and wild, with a hint of comedy. It is very discriptive, and takes the boy and main character, "Grubbs'" thoughts and point of view and discribes it very well. All the trouble in Slawter starts when they get a call from a famous movie producer, 'David A. Haymes (sp?)' later to be known as Davida, and she asks Dervish and Grubbs (who are 'demon experts') to come help her with her next horror film, Slawter (Hence the title of the book). They decide to go, and something seems fishy about the 'demons', and unfortunately, he was right...

rofl Suspense! rofl  

[Ginjar420]

The Shadow Children Series
Margaret Peterson Haddix
A seven book series about a "overpopulated" world controlled by the Population Police. You're only allowed to have two children, a third child is illegal and dubbed a Shadow Child forced to live hidden from the world. The series is through the eyes of the shadow children, and it's a very interesting concept.  

[Meanerz]

Night World series
L.J. Smith
This book is about super natural creatures, such as werewolves, vampires, witches, etc. They live side by side us, and we dont even know it. Their secret society is called Night World. The Night World has very strict laws, one of them is never falling in love. The books have three stories each, and about the second book, they all tie together.