If You Want to Be a Hero...

Then you need to check out The Hero's Guide To Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy.  Although this may be more of a "what not to do" guide. 

So it turns out that Prince Charming doesn't like to be called Charming.  None of them do.  They have names, you know.  Gustav, Duncan, Liam, and Frederick are the princes from the stories the troubadours tell - the stories named after the princesses.  They're not happy about being religated to a side note in the stories and they're not quite living happily ever after.  In fact, nothing seems to be going their way.  Which is a pity, since an evil witch has decided to cause a lot of trouble across all the kingdoms.  Even though they don't much like each other initially, the princes are going to have to band together and, well, save the kingdoms. 

This hilarious romp through fairy tales is a fun read.  The princes are flawed, but I couldn't help but like them anyway.  They do some growing up on their wacky adventures, but there's no high-handed moral lectures.  And the princesses are well-written characters in their own right - one is down-right bratty, but the rest are seeking adventure and trying to help those around them.  Also, the villians are fantastic, like the best kind of cartoon villians.  I love the Bandit King.  He's deliciously bad, but not in the ways you expect.  If you like this book, don't forget its sequel:  The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle.  Rumor has it that a third book is on its way as well!

~ Book Ninja

P.S.  Did I mention the fun pictures?  There's fun pictures!

How Afraid Are You To Die?

In a world where vampires have taken control over society, humans are divided into two groups--the Registered and the Unregistered. Registered humans are required to attend a bloodletting once a month in order to feed their vampiric masters. Unregistered humans are free from the obligation to "donate," but the freedom comes with a price; while Registered humans are provided with food cards, Unregistered humans are not, and the penalty for stealing food is death.

This is the world Allison Sekemoto survives in Julie Kagawa's The Immortal Rules. She lives on the edge of the city of New Covington in the slums, scrounging for food and trying to avoid becoming a vampire's prey. She vows that she'll never be anything like the soulless monsters that treat her species like cattle, but when a food raid goes terribly wrong and Allie is left dying in the street, she must make a choice--she can either die for good, or wake up again as the very demon she despises.