Switched by Amanda Hocking

When your mother tries to kill you at the age of 6 you know your life won't be easy. Wendy knows that 11 years later something is different about her and she is determined to figure it out. When a new boy shows up at school she is sure that Finn knows something as well. Wendy soon discovers she was switched at birth and isn't even a human but a trylle. Her life is turned upside down when she is taken to her true "mother" and finds out all about her life and how she is expected to live.

I am excited about this trilogy and can't wait to read the next book!

Book Review from Goodreads

Jump by Ginger Rue

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This was a book I received from the giveaways on this site (Goodreads). I had intended to read it sooner but became bogged down in my other reading that needed to get done. I wish I had read it sooner.



Brinkley is the meanest girl in school and has bullied several students out of school. This puts her into counseling to be able to stay in school. She soon starts learning that life may not be easy when she finds herself in the shoes of other students. She tries to understand how she keeps jumping into these other people and finds out that their life is not always what she thinks it is like. Will Brinkley learn to not judge or will she be trapped forever in this world of jumping?



View all my reviews

Baskeball Belles

I found it only appropriate that while the NBA finals were in their halftime I read a book about the beginnings of women's basketball.

Basketball Belles: How Two Teams and One Scrappy Player Put Women's Hoops on the Map
Written by Sue Macy
Illustrated by Matt Collins

This book tells the story of how the first intercollegiate basketball game to happen and the history that it made. The story focuses on Agnes Moreley a girl from a ranch in New Mexico who has never been a girly girl who liked to be dressed up but would rather be out working with the cattle. When her parents sent her to Stanford their hope was that she would become a lady. Little did they know that she would soon be a member of the schools first female basketball team that would play against Berkley.

The story is told in a pacing that will keep the reader interested in finding out what is happening in the game much like you would with any basketball game. The information provided at the end of the boo was the best part to me. Finding out about the history of this particular game as well as that of all of women's basketball is something I had never seen before which makes this book much more original.

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars and would definitely encourage girls to read if interested in basketball. Boys will like the book too but I think it will mean more to girls.

More TLA books...

These are 3 books I read during the 48 Hour Book Challenge that I had picked up at TLA. The first two were freebies from the Capstone booth and the last was a purchased book (I think for $3) that was autographed.

This book is part of the "Claudia" series that I had heard about at our library review meeting but had not read yet. I think this book will be excellent for upper elementary and middle school readers.

The book begins by giving a rundown of the characters to help keep everyone straight.
Claudia has had a crush on a classmate for the longest time and he is finally talking to her, even if it is just for help on a class assignment. Then a new boy moves to town and asks Claudia on a date. What should she do? Does she wait around for Brad, her longtime crush, or go for Rusty the new boy?

A very cute story that will be loved by the girls in school.
I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars.

This book is by same author as the "Claudia" series. This is another series for girls that has some of the same characters as the Claudia books.

Monica loves to ride horses and is excited for the overnight trail ride. Everything is looking good until her horse throws a shoe and can't go on the trail ride. She is given the choice of missing the trail ride or riding another horse called Joker. Monica finally chooses to ride Joker but isn't happy that everyone makes fun of the horse and he isn't as nice as everyone's horses. Monica soon learns that having the "prettiest" horse may not be the best thing when her horse is the only one on the trail ride able to do certain things.

I found the format for this book to be cute and creative. The characters are talking to each other on "Friend Book" and texting each other throughout the story. I think students will relate to this part of the story especially.

I gave this book 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Kate is happy that summer is here and she is enjoying her life in Utah when she comes home one day to find her mother packing and announcing that they would be going to Cape Cod for the remainder of the summer. Suddenly Kate finds herself giving up everything to go with her mother. After arriving in Cape Cod, she finds her childhood friend is not as friendly as she remembers and that her best friend from back home has suddenly got a boyfriend. Soon Kate meets a boy who she is very attracted to named Adam. She thinks he is great and is excited to have a boy to spend her time with. Kate soon has to decide if it is just a carefree friendship she and Adam have or is it truly more.

This book is a great summer time read since it is set in the summer at the beach. Readers in middle and high school will enjoy reading about Kate and her trip to the Cape.

I gave this book 4.5 out of 5 stars.


My goal for the summer is to be adding reviews every few days so be sure to check back since I have a TON of books to read and review!

Wrap up posting

I have completed my 48 hour reading challenge!! It was great fun to lie around reading for most of the weekend (even though I tend to do that a lot anyway). I had set a goal of 20 hours of reading knowing that I would be out of the house for several hours but managed to surpass my goal. I will blog my reviews of the last 3 books I finished later tonight or early tomorrow.

Total time reading: 22 1/2 hours
Total time blogging/networking: 3 hours

Grand total time: 25 1/2 hours!!!

Total books completed: 6 books

I am excited about participating again next year and know better how to plan my time.

This year I will be making a donation to my library aid's family. Her son was in an accident recently and the medical expenses will be huge. The total I plan to donate is twice the amount of hours I read so I will be donating $51 dollars to assist the family.

Midday update

Well I didn't get as much reading done as I wanted because of an extra nap that I snuck in. I did finish another book and have started two others in that time. I started Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy but have decided to put it aside for now and then started Boy Trouble: The Complicated Life of Claudia Cristina Cortez.

This was an ARC that I picked up at TLA in April. It was also published in April so it can be seen with the color pictures in the book while the ARC did not have the color pictures and was even missing a few of the sketches.

Louise Lambert has always loved vintage clothing and when she gets an invitation to attend the Traveling Fashionista Vintage Sale she is excited and ready to find a dress for her 7th grade dance. Little does she know that her life will soon be drastically changed. Louise finds a pink vintage dress that she loves and tries on to be transported back to 1912 on a ship. She is in shock that this has happened but the worst shock is yet to com....she is on board the Titanic. She soon tries to change history and save the passengers only to be told she is crazy. Will Louise make it back to her regular life? Will she save the passengers of the Titanic? Read the story to find out more about Louise's adventure.

This is the first book by this author and the first of this series. The next book won't be out until April 2012 but should make for an interesting follow up to this story. The author found an interesting way of mixing history in with fiction in order to find the right mix.

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars.


Reading time total: 15 hours 30 minutes
Blogging time: 1 hour 45 minutes

My next update will include any other books I read today and my final time total.

End of the first 24 hours of reading...

During the first 24 hours I have managed to read 2 whole books and part of 2 other books. Not as much as I hoped for but that's okay.

My second complete book read was The Calder Game.

For this book I chose to listen to the book as an audio book since I was traveling in the car and at a graduation party for most of the day. The travel time allowed me to listen to over half the book and the other half was done between visiting with family and friends.

In this third book of the series, Calder and his father travel to England. While there Calder is allowed to roam and visit places on his own. He soon finds that Alexander Calder the sculptor he was named after has a piece on display in the town. The town's people don't appreciate it and wish it were gone but Calder is fascinated by it. One day he visits the maze of town and doesn't return that evening. His father panics the next day and calls for reinforcements to help look for Calder: Calder's friends Petra and Tommy. More than one mystery will have to be solved in order to get all of the answers in this story that keeps the reader on the edge of the seat.

I gave this book 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Great choice for upper elementary and middle school students. Even though it is part of a series it can be read as a stand alone but is better if read after the others.

Total reading time: 10 hours 19 minutes
Blogging time: 40 minutes

I have already started my next books and am having a hard time deciding which to finish. More to come later!!