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Brief synopsis (no spoilers) Mae got a job at the Circle through her friend Annie, who is in the Gang of 40- the brain trust of the company. The Circle, as a whole, tasks itself with collecting all of the world's information into one place, and making it all public. Mae is hired into the Customer Experience team, and grows into a more integral part of the company. Category Fiction, bordering on Sci-Fi Why I chose this book Recommended by the library My personal opinion (the review) Terrible book. It has a fun plot, and led me through a great many deep internal monologues about privacy and information. But the language was terrible, the adult content was terrible, and the relationships between the characters was just painful. Not a single character was believable- they were all extremely something. Extreme Luddite, totalitarian, extreme capitalist, completely transparent, etc. Because the characters weren't believable, my gut reaction was, "this author has an agend...

Brief synopsis (no spoilers) In 2061, a young scientist invents a time machine to fix a tragedy in his past. But his good intentions turn catastrophic when an early test reveals something unexpected: the end of the world. (From Amazon) Category Sci-Fi Why I chose this book Kindle First My personal opinion (the review) The premise is compelling- time travel, combined with a "second chance" aspect (no spoilers). But the language was awful! I quit after the second chapter, because it was just unbearable. This could have been a great novel, but wading through the filth was just too much. Also, it's a cliffhanger- totally sets itself up for the next book in the series (which I will not be reading). I do NOT recommend this book- save your money. Warnings Language: Profuse, frequent, horrible Violence: Frequent "Adult" situations: Yes Death: Yes Movie rating equivalent R, or worse Protagonist description Don't know- didn't get in far enough to g...

Brief synopsis (no spoilers) : A group of 12-17 year old girls from a remote mountain village are sent to attend a Princess academy to be trained for the prince to pick a wife from among the group. Miri, the main character, learns to feel comfortable with herself and the contributions she can make to her family/village.  Category : Middle graders Why I chose this book: Recommended by several of my Sister-in-laws My personal opinion (the review): This was a short any easy read. As was said in the previous review, I like that this book focused on family and education. The author did a great job weaving the lessons the girls were learning at the academy into their everyday lives. What they were learning not only prepared them to meet the prince, but improved their lives on the mountain. Miri also learns that she doesn't need or want to move her family to a nice house near the palace, but that her family can be happy where they are. Overall very good.  Warnings Language: No...

Brief synopsis (no spoilers): The city of Wormwood is the only place Vega Jane, her brother John, and fellow Wugmorts (villagers) have every known. When Vega's mentor at work suddenly disappears leaving Vega a map of the Quog (area that surrounds Wormwood), her entire world view comes crashing down when she finds out that most of what she thinks she knows is built on lies. Category: YA Why I chose this book: Sounded interesting as I was looking for audio book to listen to My personal opinion (the review): I have mixed feelings about this book. Vega Jane is an interesting enough character and most of the story line works fine, but there were also so many unanswered questions that I just felt frustrated. The how and why of all of her after hour trips to Stax never get explained and the way that she discovers her "powers (I'm not even sure what that is supposed to mean) and her special tools just don't work right. I liked the characters of Delph and Duff but almost e...

Brief synopsis (no spoilers) Lib wakes up in a desert, outside a wall, with no memories. She later remembers her name, but that's all. She knows she's different from the Rogues (normal humans, choosing to live outside the wall), and the Glitches (former residents inside the wall, banished for some malfunction), but she's not sure what she really is. She has one driving purpose, though: find the Glitches. Category YA, Dystopian Why I chose this book Recommended by Amazon, on sale My personal opinion (the review) The story was engaging, the characters were credible, the plot was very interesting, the back story was lacking, but I think that was intended to build intrigue. In my opinion, this isn't the first book in a series. This is one huge book that was split into 3 parts. This book cannot stand on its own two feet- it completely leads into the next book, and is obviously dependent on the story continuing. Thankfully, the series is inexpensive, so I will probably ...

Brief synopsis (no spoilers) Yarvi is the son of a king that is killed by an enemy. His brother, the heir, is also killed, so Yarvi becomes the new king. He's missing one of his hands (birth defect), so his people don't respect him as their king, and one of them plots to kill him. He then spends the rest of the story trying to reach revenge. Category YA Why I chose this book Kindle First, maybe? Don't remember My personal opinion (the review) This story was great! I enjoyed the narrative style, the characters were credible, and the plot was fun. And there were a couple twists in there as well, so it kept me guessing right until the end. I definitely recommend it, and plan to purchase the rest of the series. Warnings Language: none that I recall Violence: fairly frequent, but not usually graphic "Adult" situations: none Death: yes, and of major character(s) Movie rating equivalent PG-13, for the violence Protagonist description Yarvi has many weaknesses, but he o...

Brief synopsis (no spoilers) Michael and his two best friends are teenagers, and they spend a great deal of time together in a virtual reality world called the VirtNet. They have a special knack for programming and use that to hack the game. There is a terrorist in the world named Kaine, and Michael and his friends are recruited by the VirtNet security group to help track down the terrorist. As they try to track him, the path gets harder and more perilous. Category YA, Sci-Fi Why I chose this book Listed on sale on Amazon, so I borrowed it from the library to see if it's worth the cost My personal opinion (the review) Beware: the ending is a total cliffhanger. Lots of things get worked out just fine, but it clearly sets up for the next book. The story is moderately interesting, the characters are plausible, and the ending is a nice twist. But I didn't really enjoy the story-telling method. Many details were spelled out explicitly, instead of allowing imagination to ...