The 52nd by Dela

- April

Not one of the sacrifices chosen over the long history had survived--until now.

On the tip of the Yucatan peninsula, the immortal Castillo family gathers in Tulum. Weary and haunted, they receive the names of fifty-two human sacrifices chosen once every fifty-two years for the Underworld, a tradition thought to have disappeared with the fall of the Aztec and Mayan empires.

Driving home one night, college freshman Zara Moss swerves to avoid hitting a ghastly figure in the road. Lucas Castillo witnesses the car crash, but when it comes time to supervise her abduction from the wreckage, he intervenes. Something is different about Zara: Lucas has been having dreams of her arrival for five hundred years.

As Lucas and Zara come together to put an end to the bloody sacrifices, they discover that the ancient tradition isn't so easily broken. The gods are angry, and they have until the Winter Solstice to drag Zara to the Underworld. (taken from Amazon description)

I really enjoyed this book.  I found myself mesmerized with the characters and watching the plot unfold.  The more interaction that Zara has with Lucas and his family, the more I was drawn in.  The historical site with the Mayans and Inca was intriguing in and of itself.  Sometimes I got a little confused when the thoughts would switch between characters and I would have to read the same passage over again.  It was easy to relate to the struggle that Zara and Lucas went through emotionally.  The farther I read, the more sucked in, I found myself wishing that I had no other responsibilities than reading the book.  When I finished, I was sad and longing for the next one, but ready to get back to my life.  I am still soo ready for the next book!

The History Major by Michael Phillip Cash

- Carrie Anne

After a vicious fight with her boyfriend followed by a night of heavy partying, college freshman Amanda Greene wakes up in her dorm room to find things are not the same as they were yesterday.  She can't quite put her finger on it.  She's sharing her room with a peculiar stranger.  Amanda discovers she's registered for classes she would never choose with people that are oddly familiar.  An ominous shadow is stalking her.  Uncomfortable memories are bubbling dangerously close to her fracturing world, propelling her to an inevitable collision between fantasy and reality.  Is this the mother of all hangovers or is something bigger happening?  (taken from Amazon description)

This book started off great.  We're just as intrigued as Amanda is, wondering what has happened to her.  She only remembers part of the fight with her boyfriend; did something happen after that?  Where is her boyfriend now?  Where's her regular roommate?  And why on earth is she registered for History 101?

Amanda decides she'd better attend class, whether she wants to or not.  From there, things only get stranger.  Is that Aristotle teaching the class?  Why is the dark shadow following her?  Most importantly, why can't she leave?

Unfortunately, at that point, I wanted to leave, too.  We all know the quote "those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it,"  and that's the key point of the novel.  Aristotle tells the stories of Joan of Arc and Lucrezia Borgia and we know Amanda needs to learn from them.  Amanda has trouble understanding why, though, and I did, too.  Eventually, memories fall into place and things begin to make sense to her, but I still felt a little lost.  The surreal nature of her day, mixed with the flashbacks of Joan and Lucrezia, mixed with a touch of the supernatural, all left me feeling unsettled and anxious to reach the end, in the hope everything would finally make sense to me, too.  It did, in a way, but mostly through the use of the author's note at the end.

All in all, I love Cash's books, but this one just didn't do much for me.  I typically read to be entertained, and if the book warrants an explanation, that means reading the book was more like work.

Monsterland by Michael Phillip Cash

-Carrie Anne

For a group of teenagers who regularly argue who would win the battle in a fight between werewolves, zombies, and vampires, having tickets for the grand opening of Monsterland is a dream come true.  For Monsterland is a theme park where you can run with the wolves, walk with the zombies, and party with the vampires, all in a safe environment.  What could possibly go wrong?

I loved Cash's descriptions of the teens in their day to day lives and eagerly read about the park, its founder, and all of its features.  Inevitably, it started to fall apart, though, (rather abruptly)  and my interest in the book waned.  Even though we were introduced to a few of the monsters, I didn't really care what happened to them; I don't think they were fleshed out nearly as well as the teenagers.  The scenes were action packed, but I didn't always understand the motivations of those involved.  Maybe it's simply because they were monsters?

Cash excels at having very approachable, believable characters.  There's always a little humor, and a few surprises.  This book is no exception.  The idea of a Monsterland is a clever one and I wish we would have seen more of it, but instead we rush right into its destruction.  Still, I would recommend any Monster fan give the story a try and imagine what could have been.

Harvest of a Black Earth by Patrick Crabb

-April

It is 1994 in a newly independent country of Ukraine and Dmitry Petrenko is prepared to exact his own form of justice against Alexander Orenchenko, the man whose actions ruined his and many other lives decades before.  During Dmitry's youth, the Ukranian Soviet Socialist Republic was a place of famine, war, totalitarian repression, and revolt.  Some say over half the population died as a result of oppression and war between 1930 and 1950.  How did Dmitry and Alexander survive under these circumstances, only to lead Dmitry inches away from cold-blooded murder? (taken from Amazon description)

I found that I enjoyed reading this book. Although the Ukranian population suffered great atrocities during this time, I found hope, love and patriotism. Even though the subject matter was depressing, seeing things from Dmitry's point of view gave it a more inspirational feel.

There's a lot of detail so that you can actually see the landscape and atmosphere, but it doesn't bog you down.  The atrocities aren't very detailed.  They're graphic enough to make you realize what it was like in the POW camps and when they filled the mass graves.

 Dmitry is a very strong-willed and strong-hearted person.  The more I read of Alexander, the more I disliked him.  In this case, like so many others, greed and power make you do horrible things that not only effect you, but loved ones as well.

The only issue I had with the book was pronouncing the names of the people and places.  Considering it takes place in the Ukraine, that wasn't surprising.  I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book.

If You Were Me and Lived in Peru by Carole P. Roman

-April

I found the pictures in this book to be dark, but the brighter colors of some objects seemed to lighten the whole scene.  It was easy to read and understand.  The pronunciation key was easy to understand and made the words easy to read.  I enjoyed learning some things about Peru.

If You Were Me and Lived in Hungary by Carole P. Roman

-April

I found this book informative and interesting.  However, the majority of the pictures were really dark.  Reading this book, I discovered that one of the toys I played with as a child was created by a Hungarian man.  The pronunciation of the words was easy to figure out.

If You Were Me and Lived in China by Carole P. Roman

-April

I found this book to be a little more advanced than the rest of the series.  It was very wordy and even with all the pronunciation breakdowns, some of the letter combinations are difficult to figure out.  There are some pictures that are rather dark compared to others, making them difficult to look at.  This book was very informative.