Tag: brandon sanderson

Book Review: The Scrivener’s Bones (Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians #2) by Brandon Sanderson

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: MG Fantasy
Length: 340 pages
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Publisher: Starscape
Release Date: November 1st, 2008
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

#1 New York Times bestselling author of the Mistborn series Brandon Sanderson continues the epic adventure he began in Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians

So now you’ve read all about me, Alcatraz Smedry, and how I was swept out of my life in your normal world and into the fight against the Librarians (jerks!). After being all heroic and stuff in that tale, I didn’t expect to charge headlong into enemy territory: the Library of Alexandria, where I—and my grandpa and my grouchy bodyguard Bastille and her even grouchier mother and some weirdly gifted cousins—would face the Curators (ghosts who will gladly help you check out a book as long as you don’t mind giving up your mortal soul) and some new nasty Librarians who hate our guts…and would be happy to rip them out for us.

But none of that comes close to the horror we would have to face if we succeeded in finding what we were searching for…

MY DAD! (DUN DUN DUNNNNNN!)

The Scrivener’s Bones is the second book in this action-packed fantasy series for young readers.

STILL LAUGHING.

Oh my goodness, these books have me busting up and I love it. I love the cheek and sass and the wry humor of how this is narrated.

I liked how the story progressed and getting a fun change of location too. There’s a bit of growth starting to happen in Alcatraz and I love his friendship with Bastille.

A lot of fun here, really is a great for all type of read and I look forward to continuing the series and seeing where these characters go next.

Overall audience notes:

  • Middle Grade Fantasy
  • Language: none
  • Romance: none
  • Violence: low

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Book Review: Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians (Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians #1) by Brandon Sanderson

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Middle Grade Fantasy
Length: 320 pages
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Publisher: Starscape
Release Date: May 3rd, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Experience the action-packed first book in #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson’s laugh-out-loud middle-grade fantasy series like never before― Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians is now in paperback with all new covers!

AN ANCIENT RIVALRY REAWAKENS.

Everything I’d known about the world was a lie.

On my thirteenth birthday, I, Alcatraz Smedry ( yes, I got named after a prison, don’t ask ) received my a bag of sand . And then I accidentally destroyed my foster parents’ kitchen. It’s not my fault, things just break around me, I swear !

I thought the sand was a joke until evil Librarians came to steal it. You’re probably thinking, “Librarians are nice people who recommend good books,” but that’s just what they want you to think! It turns out they’re actually a secret cult keeping the truth from you―a hidden world filled with magical eyeglasses, talking dinosaurs, and knights with crystal swords!

Or so my Grandpa Smedry claimed when he suddenly showed up to rescue me. So now I have to go with him to invade the local library and get that sand back, before it’s used to conquer the world. And Grandpa says how I keep breaking things is actually an amazing talent. There’s no way that can all be true, right?

Will I ever make it back home alive?

LOL.

This book had me snickering. I’ve been wanting to read Sanderson’s full backlist and this series has been on my radar, but I’m generally just not a middle-grade reader. This had me questioning that statement. I thought this was a lot of fun and fit the genre well. I would be able to hand this to a young kid easily.

I loved the concept and narrative. The unreliable and a bit chaotic Alcatraz brought the house down in keeping me on my toes. I enjoyed the side characters and the general concept of evil librarians (and the theme that knowledge should be available for all and not controlled by the ones at the top).

A great book and I look forward to continuing the series.

Overall audience notes:

  • Middle grade dystopian fantasy
  • Language: none
  • Romance: none
  • Violence: low

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Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: December 2024

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How is it the end of the year again? I wrapped it up with a few less books (reading Rhythm of War and Wind and Truth will do that to you). But a good month to end 2024.

Favorites of the month:

  • Rhythm of War (reread)
  • A Monsoon Rising
  • Beg, Borrow, or Steal
  • O Goalie Night
  • Wind and Truth
  • Exes Don’t
  • Holiday Hostilities
  • Is She Really Going Out with Him?
  • All the Missing Pieces
  • In the Wake of the Wicked

Least favorites:

  • The Island House
  • Merry Little Match by Celine Rachelle
  • [Reread] Rhythm of War (The Stormlight Archives #4) by Brandon Sanderson
  • Stranger Skies (Drowned Gods #2) by Pascale Lacelle
  • [ARC/ALC] A Monsoon Rising (The Hurricane Wars #2) by Thea Guanzon
  • Since We’ve No Place to Go
  • Servant of the Earth (The Shards of Magic #1) by Sarah Hawley
  • [ARC] Beg, Borrow, or Steal (When in Rome #3) by Sarah Adams
  • Have Yourself a Married Little Christmas by Claire Cain
  • The Serpent and the Wolf (Dark Inheritance Trilogy #1) by Rebecca Robinson
  • [ARC] Lady Anna’s Favor by Karen Tuft
  • O Goalie Night by K.M. Gillis
  • My December Darling by Lauren Asher
  • One Night Two Holidays by Ali Brady
  • [ARC] A Cruel Thirst by Angela Montoya
  • [ARC] Dating and Dragons (Dungeons and Drama #1) by Kristy Boyce
  • 12 Days of Mistletoe by Jen Atkinson
  • That Time We Kissed Under the Mistletoe (Abieville Love Stories #4) by Julie Christianson
  • Wind and Truth (The Stormlight Archive #5) by Brandon Sanderson
  • Games Untold (The Inheritance Games #4.5) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
  • [ALC] Immortal by Sue Lynn Tan
  • A Kingdom of Shadows (A City of Flames #2) by Rina Vasquez
  • An Honorable Deception (The Imposters #3) by Roseanna M. White
  • We Could Be Villains (The Vigil & Ante Files #1) by Megan McCullough
  • Twenty-Four Seconds from Now… by Jason Reynolds
  • [ALC] Breath of the Dragon (Breathmarked #1) by Fonda Lee and Shannon Lee
  • Exes Don’t (Fall in Love #3) by Leah Dobrinska
  • Holiday Hostilities (Cyclones Christmas #2) by Katie Bailey
  • The Island House (Getaway Bay Romances #1) by Elana Johnson
  • Is She Really Going Out with Him? by Sophie Cousens
  • [ARC] All the Missing Pieces by Catherine Cowles
  • In the Wake of the Wicked by V.B. Lacey
  • The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door by H.G. Parry

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