By Popular Demand!

Or rather one friend made a request, we now have a complete list of all the books we've reviewed and the places we've blogged about on a wiki. Please wander at will over and check it out, there will be a permanent link to it on the right-side of the blog or you can bookmark it: http://doyouhaveaflag.wikispaces.com

I'm guessing eventually it will become better organized, but for now it's just a list.

C.H.E.R.U.B.: The Recruit by Robert Muchamore

CHERUB is an unknown adjunct to M15 - founded during WWII it has successfully ended wars, stopped terrorists, and saved lives. The organization sends its undercover operatives where others cannot go, they have the ability to gain trust and get away when no one else can: CHERUB's operatives are children. Ages ten to seventeen all CHERUB operatives are fluent in several languages, black belts in multiple fighting styles, and have the knowledge to survive in the wildest of environments. The newest recruit is twelve year old James, he has anger management issues and a fear of water. Growing up with no one to trust except for his nine year old sister, James has some troubles trusting his fellow recruits and being molded into a CHERUB spy. Though after one hundred days of brutal basic training, James learns to take his punches and use his talents effectively. It's a good thing too, as James is being sent off to spy on a possible terrorist group with plans to unleash a deadly poison on the public.

The Toymaker by Jeremy de Quidt

Mathias does not know that soon he is going to be running for his life after being tortured and beaten. Mathias has not met the only two people that he can trust in the world. Mathias does not realize that he is going to have the capability of taking down an empire. All Mathias knows is that his grandfather had a secret, and that secret is now his whether he wants it or not.

First off I would like to say that the cover that I have posted is not the one I had. This book was originally published in the UK in 2008, and is finally making its way to America with a different cover. I found the cover that I had a better representation of the book, but I couldn't find a free-standing image. But here's a link to it in case you want to see what it's going to look like for its Aug. 10 release.

On with the actual review:

Raised by Wolves by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Bronwyn Alessia St. Vincent Clare, better known as Bryn, has grown up as part of a werewolf pack after her parents were brutally murdered by something called the Rabid. Bryn grows up feeling like she's always needing to keep herself apart from the pack, after all she's human not Were, and therefore fights against the dominance games, rules, and expectations that seem to follow her everywhere. Her rebellion ends when she meets Chase, the boy who was bit and survived. Soon Bryn is consumed with seeing Chase again and is willing to put herself at the mercy of Pack laws in order to talk to Chase about his attacker, someone he calls Prancer and she knows as the Rabid. Bryn doesn't realize that everything that she worked so hard to stay away from is exactly what she'll be turning into.

I know, I know, not another lame werewolf/vampire romance (except this one doesn't have vampires). But honestly this one was kind of awesome! I wouldn't go so far as to say it was perfection, but highly enjoyable. I think I needed a little break from all the action books I found myself reading recently. The whole romance thing was mostly downplayed which I appreciated, and Bryn herself is pretty dubious of the whole "love at first sight" shenanigans. I think this mostly comes out of the fact that Jennifer Lynn Barnes had a really solid werewolf mythology and well-developed main characters. Nice. It got a little slow and inner-monologuey in the middle, but otherwise it all comes together for a rather lovely, fluffy, fast, summer read.

Thomas and the Dragon Queen by Shutta Crum

Thomas has a little problem. As in he's short, wee, petite; which is unfortunate considering he's a squire of the realm and it's difficult to be taken seriously as a squire let alone a knight when everyone thinks he's seven instead of fourteen. He does have some things going for him though - he's fast, brave, and he has a big heart. Surprisingly Thomas is knighted, and sent off on his first quest to save the princess from the dreaded dragon queen on the Barren Island (everyone taller is fighting in the war). So off 'Sir' Thomas goes with his trusty sword (that he loses), his jerkin (which is stolen), and his donkey Bartholomew (that he gives away). Perhaps Thomas got himself into a predicament in which he won't survive...

AGTO Day Seven: The End

We had the rest of Saturday free, until the farewell dinner in the evening. I did all my Oxford shopping (so many t-shirts with "Oxford University" in some form or the other to buy), and then went over to St. Mary's. I climb the tower (127 steps) to get a lovely aerial view of Oxford. I would suggest, if you ever decided to climb the tower at St. Mary's, that you not do it right after you've done all your Oxford shopping. The tower stairway is very skinny. Actually, I ended up climbing onto a lip by a window so people coming down could get buy. There is no passing possible on the stairs. Here are some overlooking Oxford pictures:

AGTO Day Seven: The Final Seminar

Saturday was the last meeting of my Literature and the Fantastic seminar. The week went really fast. And on this, the last day, we talked about some more modern fantasy books, beginning, of course, with Twilight. And as I expected, people had a lot of things to say about Twilight. Not everyone had read them, but everyone had heard of them. We did some discussion on the passivity of the main female character, and also why the books are so popular.