Cover Love #24 - Medusa the Mean

 

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of the Goddess Girls Series by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams, and I just found the cover for the 8th book in the series, Medusa the Mean (to be released April 3, 2012)

Summary:

All Medusa wants is to be more like her two sisters and the other kids in her class: immortal. As one of the few mortals at Mount Olympus Academy, she is sick and tired of being surrounded by beautiful, powerful, godboys and goddessgirls classmates. It isn't easy making friends, especially when you have snakes for hair and one mean reputation!

I love the covers of these books, I think they are adorable and you can tell they were lovely created by someone who actually read the books. 

Books 1, 2 & 3

Books 4, 5 & 6 (To be released August 9th, 2011)

Book 7 (December 2011) & 8 (April 3, 2012)

I adore this series, and I can't wait to get my hot little paws all over these books!

Love,

Book Review: Athena the Wise by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams

At First Sight: There is a new kid at Mount Olympus Academy and Athena - the principal's daughter and goddess of wisdom - is asked by her dear ol' dad to help him fit in. 

Athena knows all too well how difficult is to be the new kid at school - as she came to MOA just a few months earlier - so she's happy to help Heracles as much as she can. Particularly after she learns that he has to complete 12 Labors in order to stay at the Academy for good. 

Athena has never been particularly adventurous, and generally prefers to spend her time studying, but she quickly realizes that she and Heracles make a good team and become fast friends. 

While helping Heracles with his labors, Athena comes across a challenge of her own.

Second Glance: Athena the Wise is the 5th book in the Goddess Girls series, and its as adorable as ever! I do love this series and it's so cute to see how these goddesses, gods and heroes deal with the challenges they are famous for.

I really liked Heracles, he's very sweet in this story, if a little free with the swinging of his club. And Athena was nice too. They made a good pair and definitely had a bit of the 'opposites attract' vibe going on. 

At first I thought Athena's own challenge was a bit random, but it made sense at the end and it was fun. Heracles labors were more or less what I remembered them to be and they didn't take a huge amount of time; so they helped keep a fast pace with the story. I actually kind of liked the parts where Heracles and Athena were together more than when she was alone.

I also loved seeing the other Goddess Girls, particularly Persephone, who has always been my favorite. On a personal note, I love how Persephone and Hades are, like, the It couple of MOA; and I would love for them to be featured in another book (though the only other myth I can recall that involves them is the one of Orpheus and Eurydice), they are so cute.

Bottom Line:Another great addition to a lovely series, I really liked it and I can't wait for Aphrodite the Diva, where they tackle another of my favorite myths (Pygmalion and Galatea).

At the Movies: Kung Fu Panda 2

After mastering the art of Kung Fu, Po is happy living with the other five masters and hanging out; until his mentor Shifu decides to teach him something new: Inner Peace.

But with this new technique, Po starts to uncover something troubling about his past, just as a new threat begins to shadow China.

Soon, Po is racing with his friends to save China, and the key to it all might lie in the hidden parts of Po's past.

I really, really liked Kung Fu Panda 2. It was a really adorable movie about who and what makes a family. Po was very vulnerable in this movie and I liked him even more, I liked seeing his friends rally at his side to take care of him.

And his relationship with his dad, oh, that made me get teary eyed.

This movie is fun, has heart and it's fast paced -and I really liked it.

My sister Boo and me took our Mom to see it and Mom didn't fall asleep which - trust me - it's the mark of a good movie!

I'll give it an A-

Books Read in June

Okay! Update time!

You can see my running list of books read so far in my Books of 2011 tab in the navigation bar above, so I'll just run a tally here:

Books read this month: 21

Books read so far:109

Out Do Yourself Challenge (2011/2010 ratio by this month): 109/57

Out Do Yourself Challenge so far: 109/121

100+ Challenge: 109/100 - DONE!!!

Aussie YA Challenge: 6/6 - DONE!!!

Contemporary Romance: 10/10 - DONE!!!

Historical Romance Challenge: 8/12

YA Reading Challenge: 51/50- DONE!!!

And that's my month in books!

What say you?

Retro Friday (16): Every Boy Got One by Meg Cabot

Retro Friday is a weekly meme hosted at Angieville and focuses on reviewing books from the past. This can be an old favorite, an under-the-radar book you think deserves more attention, something woefully out of print, etc. Everyone is welcome to join in at any time! 

This week I chose Every Boy Got One by Meg Cabot

At First Sight: Cartoonist Jane Harris was exited to go to Italy for her best friend Holly's elopement, as she's the Maid of Honor... but then she met the Best Man. 

Cal Langdon has spent the last 10 years as an overseas reporter for the journal Jane, Holly and his best friend Mark work for. And much as he likes Holly, he isn't convinced she and Mark should get married - never mind that he's the best man.

Jane is determined to make Holly's wedding as special as can be; and if that means keeping a sharp eye on Cal - much as she doesn't like him - then that's just what she'll do.

Never mind that it turns out that he might have a heart, after all, and that they do have fun together.

Second Glance: Every Boy Got One is the last of the Boy Series, centered around people who work at the New York Journal and told primary through emails, blackberry messages and journal entries.

For some reason, this one is my least favorite of the series. Maybe because of the change of setting and pace. It's more of a road-book, since they are traveling and I somehow like it better when they were working in NY.

It is a fun book and all, but I never really bought the chemistry between Cal and Jane; they were fun and everything but they weren't my favorite couple. But it was a nice book over all and there were little snippets of information about the characters from the previous books, and that was really nice.

Bottom Line: A fun, lighthearted read. Not my favorite Meg Cabot book, but a nice read to spend the time.
1/2