The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma by Trenton Lee Stewart

So, I actually finished this a month ago, at least. I immediately handed it over to my mom, though, and forgot to blog about it. Oops!

*source*

I love The Mysterious Benedict Society series. This, the third book, felt like an ending, but it made a nice little trilogy. The reading level is low, so kids can enjoy the story (these are actually marketed as children's books) but the story is delightful for an adult who just wants to escape life for a little while. This was a fun adventure, piloted by four brilliant kids. I won't say much other than that, at least for now, since I don't actually have the book in front of me. I WILL, however, highly recommend this series. It's sort of Harry Potter-esque, but without magic. Just brains and exceptional talents that are, for the most part, plausible (however rare). Pick 'em up sometime, either at a bookstore or the library! I sincerely doubt you'll regret it.

retail therapy :-D

I've been oh-so-homesick lately, but I won't be able to make it home until after Christmas. So today, I went to Barnes & Noble and engaged in some retail therapy. Here's what I bought:

Love, Rosie by Cecelia Ahern - one of my favorite authors!

What difference do it make? by Ron Hall, Denver Moore, and Lynn Vincent - a sequel, of sorts, to The Same Kind of Different as Me by Hall & Moore, which was an incredibly touching book written by the unlikeliest of friendships.

Heat Wave by Richard Castle - a fictional author, haha! Fans of ABC's hit show, Castle, will recognize it, though, and fans of Nathan Fillion will appreciate the author's picture on the back of the book! I read the first eleven chapters online before ABC took all but the first ten down, and I just couldn't leave it unfinished! I bought what I believe was the last copy at the Barnes & Noble in Jonesboro, after seeing on Twitter that the books were sold out. I was quite happy to see this copy on the shelf!

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma by Trenton Lee Stewart - This is the third installment in the MBS series. I loved the first two, and heard a while back that there was a third. It came out this month!

The Best of Mystery: 63 Short Stories Chosen by the Master of Suspense by Alfred Hitchcock - Anyone who knows me knows that I positively adore Alfred Hitchcock. This compilation of stories from his Mystery Magazine was all of ten dollars and, according to the back flap, "is not recommended for late night reading. These masterful tales are guaranteed to unnerve." Sounds wonderful to me!