The Mark of the Golden Dragon (Bloody Jack Adventures)

The Mark of the Golden Dragon: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber, Jewel of the East, Vexation of the West, and Pearl of the South China Sea (Bloody Jack Adventures) (Hardcover)  

by L. A. Meyer

I never get tired of these books and in this recent installment on the life of the cunning and now beautiful Jacky Faber, soldier, sailor, spy, and Pirate Extraordinaire we follow Jacky into a world of danger and high adventure in the South China Sea!!!!

The Mark of the Golden Dragon: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber, Jewel of the East, Vexation of the West, and Pearl of the South China Sea (Bloody Jack Adventures) doesn't disappoint - on her return trip to London to find the man she loves a typhoon turns the ship, and the lives of the crew, around!

I have to share a moment with you - I love these books for the gripping adventures and world travel - but I never realized just how much is based in history and how much of the drama and events that unfold are based in reality. I was watching Jeopardy one night and was able to answer an entire column of questions on the founding of the Australian Colonies due to the last book in this series The Wake of the Lorelei Lee: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber, On Her Way to Botany Bay (Bloody Jack Adventures). BRAVO L.A. Meyer - who knew history could be so much fun!

Recommended for boys & girls alike (my opinion - 10 and up) - girls will love the strong willed Jacky and boys will be in awe!  This book was provided to me through the Amazon Vine Program.

Summer Reading...

When I was younger my favorite summer activity was to put on my bikini (where did that body go? ;-p) grab a book and my towel and head to the beach....then, with age came menopause and skin cancer warnings!

Today - I find myself happiest when I can curl up in my favorite chair in front of the AC (hot flashes are a _itch!) with a great YA or Historical Novel.

But I have found that in the summer we tend to accept some lighter faire...maybe it is the heat and our attention span shrinks...but for some reason I like a sweet, light book or a great horror, paranormal fiction read in the summer.

I have been catching up on books that have been on my To-Be-Read stack forever and trying to get through the stack of ARCs that are towering to the point they are about to fall over!

So these are some of the coming reviews you can look forward to seeing here...

From my TBR Stack:

ARC MADNESS...

...and the latest from one of my faves...the Bloody Jack series from L.A. Meyer!

What are you reading this summer?

Rachel Vincent in Chicago with new Soul Screamers!

For all you Rachel Vincent fans...a quick reminder:

Rachel's young adult series, Soul Screamers, debuted on August 1, 2009. My SOUL TO TAKE is the first in the series, about a teenage bean sidhe (banshee) trying to balance a normal high school experience with the terrifying, hidden world she's just discovered. Soul Screamers Book 3, MY SOUL TO KEEP, is now available!!!

Rachel Vincent Event Schedule Friday, June 25th: 10am-12pm Meijer Highland, IN 10138 Indianapolis Blvd Highland, IN 46322 2pm-4pm Kmart Tinley Park, IL 16300 Harlem Tinley Park, IL 60477 6pm-8pm Walmart Joliet, IL 2424 W. Jefferson St, Joliet, IL, 60436 Saturday, June 26th: 10am-12pm Kmart Naperville, IL 1199 E. Ogden Ave. Naperville, IL 60563 2pm-4pm Kmart Bloomingdale, IL 156 South Gary Ave Bloomingdale, IL 60108 6pm-8pm Walmart Gurnee, IL 6590 Grand Ave Gurnee, IL 60031 Sunday, June 27th: 10am-12pm Kmart Racine, WI 2211 South Green Bay Racine, WI 53406 2pm-4pm Kmart Brookfield, WI 18200 W Bluemound Rd Brookfield, WI 53045

Interesting Reader Society - There Should Be One At Every Library!!!

A Colorado Library System with a great idea to keep teens involved in reading...

The Interesting Reader Society (IRS) is a group of teenage volunteers representing many of Larimer County’s junior and senior high schools. They hold meetings once a month to review books for their newsletter and to plan special teen activities. They also help the librarians in the Teen section at the Main and Harmony libraries.

You may qualify if you are:

• In 6th grade through 12th grade
• Male or female
• Tall enough to reach standard book shelves
• Of undetermined weight, but generally considered to be a "heavy reader"
• Known to frequent libraries, bookstores, and paperback racks of local emporiums
• Suffering from a reading addiction, and usually have one or two books with you at all times
• Guilty of ever reading by flashlight under the covers at night when you are supposed to be asleep

Fill out an application for membership (PDF format/191K) and return to the adult information desks at the Main Library, 201 Peterson St., or the Harmony Library, 4616 South Shields.

Check out the latest from the IRS on the School Library Journal's website.

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

The Only Thing Missing is The White Rabbit!, March 14, 2010

By	"Reading It All - Robyn" (Orange County, CA USA)

The Iron King (Harlequin Teen) by Julie Kagawa is a fantastical mashup of Alice in Wonderland meets the Fairy Kingdom of Shakespeare's Midsummer Nights Dream...it has the energy and a cast of characters that you would expect from a ride at Disneyland!

Things have been "off" in Meghan Chase's life since the disappearance of her father and now, 24 hours away from her 16th Birthday her brother has been kidnapped and she finds that her only true friend in the world isn't Robbie Goodfellow but the fairie Puck! Why hadn't she believed her little brothers pleas and warnings about the monsters in his closet? What really happened to her father? This is an edge of the seat, thrill-a-minute tumble through the rabbit hole - or in Meghan's case the hole in the closet of her little brother Ethan's room...and Kagawa manages to keep up the pace while giving each character ample time to reveal themselves. It is peppered with enough action to keep the attention of a teen boy and teen girls will love the touch of romance and it is beautifully pulled together by the skillful wordcraft of Julie Kagawa. The Iron King (Harlequin Teen) is book one of the Iron Fey from Harlequin Teen - can't wait for more...The Iron Daughter in August 2010!!!!

2010 Debut Author Challenge Information

I don't know about you but some of the best books I have read in 2009 have been Debut books by really talented new authors. So when I read on Twitter (do you tweet? follow me: @ReadingItAll) that @TheStorySiren will be holding the 2010 Debut Author Challenge!

For more info about the Challenge go to The Story Siren blog and subscribe to stay updated!!! or follow this link to the sign up page!

I will be adding my book list to the side column - so stay tuned and look for my list soon!

Over 11,000 Teens Choose 2009 Teen's Top Ten!

2009 Teens' Top Ten

More than 11,000 teen voters chose Paper Towns as their favorite book in the 2009 Teens' Top Ten! The online poll took place from Aug. 24 through Sept. 18, with the winners announced during Teen Read Week by WWE Divas Brie Bella and Nikki Bella, with a special appearance by John Green. See the video.

• Paper Towns by John Green (Penguin/Dutton)
• Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
• City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare (Simon & Schuster/Margaret K. McElderry)
• Identical by Ellen Hopkins (Simon & Schuster/Margaret K. McElderry)
• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins)
• Wake by Lisa McMann (Simon & Schuster/Simon Pulse)
• Untamed by P.C. and Kristin Cast (St. Martin's Griffin)
• The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart (Disney-Hyperion)
• Graceling by Kristin Cashore (Harcourt/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

Promote the Teens' Top Ten at your library with free downloadable bookmarks (PDF) from YALSA! The bookmarks are customizable, so you can add each book's location in your library, plus your library logo and contact information.