A Few So-So Books Not To Read

I was asked recently if I write about books I don't like and to be truthful I don't usually but I will today. I have read a few this past month that I simply didn't like for a variety of reasons. However, I do realize that everyone is different and please let me know if you like them.

First up "The Underneath" by K. Appelt. This was even a Newberry Honor book and I saw it on another Teacher-Librarians list and it was a "must have" at Vancouver Kidsbooks. With great anticipation I began this book about a group of kittens, their mother and a bloodhound who live underneath the house of a sadistic man to escape his abuse. Also brought into the equation is a snake imprisoned for a thousand years in a jar. Enough said. While I recognize the beauty of the language, some images were too vivid, events too disturbing for me with the storyline distracting as it jumps around. I skipped through to know the ending but could not dwell on the passages in between.

Another I thought was too..... was "The Unknowns; A Mystery" by Benedict Carey. Geometry was the key to solving the mystery of the disappearing people on this tiny island that housed a power plant. While solving mathematical equations is interesting there was not enough action to keep me going. I limped to the finish just because I wanted to find out the end but even that was not as satifying as I thought it could be.

And a third, "A Hidden Magic" by Vivian Vande Velde. This is an author whom I have come to really like. Her books such as "Heir Apparent", "Three Good Deeds", "Never Trust a Dead Man" are all good. I was excited to pick up this book to read over the weekend. Nope - I didn't get it. Oh I know it is a play on fairy tales etc. but just found it to be so so-so. When there are so many good ones I did not want to waste anyone's time on so so ones so into the recycling it went.

What are you reading today?

Thanks for letting me know you are reading "The 39 Clues" - It is hugely popular in my school and I have read part of the first book and would like to get back to the series - maybe this summer! Is the story good or just all the cards and gimmicks?