Book list

Don't judge.
Just sayin'.
After reviewing the list of dismal books I read this week, you may want to.
I don't know why I read stuff I don't want to read. I seriously have this insane NEED to read stuff. Like ALL.THE.TIME  (I'm picturing my sister Ashlee getting out her DSM-IV and flipping pages about now).   I usually have a couple of books in line to read but sometimes, like this week, I haven't had time to get to the library.  I find myself wandering through the house... reading cereal boxes... re-reading magazines (I've had the same issue of "PEOPLE" magazine in my bathroom for MONTHS.  I read it anyway.  It does help that it's the Eclipse special edition issue).  I even read cookbooks (yes... it's true. Although I did find a great recipe for french dip sandwiches that we tried yesterday). 
This week I picked up extra books the kids had lying around.  Usually I find great stuff in their book bags.  This week... not so much.

You've been warned.

1) The Edge on the Sword by Rebecca Tingle / YA / ***
In ninth-century Britain, the life of fifteen-year-old Princess Aethelflaed changes when she is betrothed to Ethelred of Mercia in order to strengthen a strategic alliance against the Danes.  She learns to fight in order to defend herself against those who would disrupt the alliance.  I did some research and this book is based on a true story.  The princess was a famed military leader and helped unite England.  It was an interesting story.  And I have to say that this is one I picked out :)
2) The Secret Journal of Brett Colton by Kay Lynn Mangum / YA / *1/2
Some books are just not meant to be read by me. This is one of them. I admit that LDS fiction is just not my thing.   I didn't realize it was an LDS book until I was farther into it.
It was the stereotypical story of the nerdy unpopular girl who is assigned to tutor the star of the football team.  Of course she soon realizes he has a softer side.... and we find out this softer side is his LDS faith.   For her 16th birthday she is given a journal her older brother (also a football star) wrote for her when he was 16 and she was two as he was dying from leukemia.  Over the course of the rest of the story, she reads the journal and finds out (Gasp! Amazing!) that her brother wanted to be Mormon, too!
I can't even begin to express how books like this annoy me.  I planned to go on and on about why it annoyed me but then realized it is just better in some cases to move on.
3) Secondhand Charm by Julie Berry  / YA / ***
Evie is a simple village girl with dreams of studying to be a healer at the University in the city.
On the way she discovers she has supernatural powers.  She ends up saving the kingdom and finding true love.
The story was imaginative, but not really well fleshed out.  It was basically a modern day teen romance with a thin veneer of medieval time and place put over it.