The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

Summary
After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.

Now, it's the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth's last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie's only hope for rescuing her brother--or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up.

ReviewI was hesitant to like this book. I had heard reviews all summer about how awesome this book was. The new "it" book. I find it hard to trust other peoples book opinions. I finally got around to reading the book for our schools book club and could not put it down. There were a few points in the book I found confusing but eventually everything was cleared up. The author provided a fresh perspective on an alien invasion and how we as people would react and respond. I thought the book was great and can't wait to discuss it tomorrow with the book club.

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick

I loved this book. Simply could not put it down from the first page to the last. Every once in a while you come across a book that you just want to sit and finish from front to back. This was that book for me. I had to apologize to my colleagues at the lunch table because I rudely read during lunch instead of engaging in conversations. I highly recommend this book for all. I want to read everything by Matthew Quick now.



Amazon Summary

In addition to the P-38, there are four gifts, one for each of my friends. I want to say good-bye to them properly. I want to give them each something to remember me by. To let them know I really cared about them and I'm sorry I couldn't be more than I was--that I couldn't stick around--and that what's going to happen today isn't their fault.

Today is Leonard Peacock's birthday. It is also the day he hides a gun in his backpack. Because today is the day he will kill his former best friend, and then himself, with his grandfather's P-38 pistol.

But first he must say good-bye to the four people who matter most to him: his Humphrey Bogart--obsessed next-door neighbor, Walt; his classmate Baback, a violin virtuoso; Lauren, the Christian homeschooler he has a crush on; and Herr Silverman, who teaches the high school's class on the Holocaust. Speaking to each in turn, Leonard slowly reveals his secrets as the hours tick by and the moment of truth approaches.

In this riveting book, acclaimed author Matthew Quick unflinchingly examines the impossible choices that must be made--and the light in us all that never goes out.

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

I loved this book. From the first page I was engrossed and fell in love with both Eleanor and Park. For the romantics in all of us who want to see young love flourish.

Publisher Summary
Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love—and just how hard it pulled you under.

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo ( Abe Book)

Amazon.com Review

Amazon Best Books of the Month, June 2012: Alina Starkov has never been anything more than yet another orphan of her country’s on-going wars...until she channels magic not seen in centuries to protect her best friend, Mal. Her new-found powers attract the attention of the Darkling, the most powerful of the country’s magic-wielders. He tells Alina that her magic could heal the Shadow Fold, if she can only learn to control it--and if she agrees to trust the Darkling despite the mystery that surrounds his very existence. Leigh Bardugo brings a cast of well-defined characters and a unique magic system to her lavishly imagined world, where light doesn’t always conquer dark and deception runs so deep that it becomes truth. And yet, against all expectations, the bonds of sacrifice and friendship remain too strong to be severed in this thrilling debut. --Malissa Kent

Ms. Mangurtens Review
I had a hard time getting into this book. It wasn't until 100 pages that I LOVED this book and couldn't put it down. As a fantasy book it took me a few pages to get the language down of this fictional country. I recommend this one for everyone, especially if you were a fan of Graceling.

Once We Were Brothers by Ronald Balson

From the Publisher:

The gripping tale about two boys, once as close as brothers, who find themselves on opposite sides of the Holocaust.
Elliot Rosenzweig, a respected civic leader and wealthy philanthropist, is attending a fundraiser when he is suddenly accosted and accused of being a former Nazi SS officer named Otto Piatek, "the butcher of Zamosc." Although the charges are denounced as preposterous, his accuser, Ben Solomon, is convinced he is right. Solomon persuades attorney Catherine Lockhart to take his case, revealing that the true Piatek was abandoned as a child and raised by Solomon's family only to betray them during the Nazi occupation. But has he accused the right man?

Once We Were Brothers is Ronald H. Balson's compelling tale of two boys and a family who struggle to survive in war-torn Poland and a young love that incredibly endures through the unspeakable cruelty of the Holocaust. Two lives, two worlds, and sixty years converge in an explosive race to redemption that makes for an enthralling tale of love, survival, and ultimately the triumph of the human spirit.

Ms. Mangurtens thoughts
I LOVED this book. It took me a few pages to get hooked by Ben Solomons story but once I was I couldn't put the book down. I have read many Holocaust books over the years and this was certainly one of my favorites. What an interesting premise to have someone so close to you and have them turn on you because of the war and circumastances. I highly recommend this book to everyone.

Purple Heart by Patricia McCormick (Abe Book)

From the Publisher: When Private Matt Duffy wakes up in an army hospital, he's haunted by an image of a young Iraqi boy as a bullet hits his chest. Matt can't shake the feeling that he is somehow involved in the boy's death, but because of his own head injury, he struggles to put all the pieces together.'

Ms. Mangurtens thoughts
I gave this book a 3 out of 5. I liked it but it was not one of my favorite books. The topic is very interesting covering war and an injured soldier struggling to remember how he ended up in the hospital. His friends told him what happened, his sergeant told him what happened, but he seems to recall something else. What really happened the day that put him in the hospital and who is telling the truth?

Stupid fast by Geoff Herbach (Abe Book)

It took me a while to get invested in this story. Once I got into the story I couldn't put it down and wanted to see what was going to happen with Felton, Andrew and Jerri. Felton is 15 and having a big growth spurt. All of a sudden he is over 6ft tall, hairy, smelly and STARVING. His mom, Jerri, is acting weird ( weirder than normal) and his one and only friend Gus is off to Venezuela for the summer.