The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore

This book has more fighting and less plot than the first two in the series. All of the Lorics meet one another eventually except for 5, who has not yet been introduced. We follow Nine a lot who travels with Four. Six, Marina, and Ella meet Eight. They all fight Mogs, and try to destroy Setrakus Ra. There is a lot of action but a lot of loose ends that the next books in the series will need to address.

UnWholly by Neal Shusterman

This is book 2 in the Unwind series. The book follows the stories of Conner, Risa, and Lev and introduces Starkey, a storked boy, and Miracolina who is saved from being tithed. We also meet and follow the story of Cam, a boy who is entirely rewound. Made of parts of many unwinds,is he a person, or a monster? Does he have a soul? We learn some of the history and business and politics behind unwinding. Can it be stopped? Great book!

The Quarter-Acre Farm: How I Kept the Patio, Lost the Lawn, and Fed My Family for A Year by Spring Warren

We are planning a vegetable garden and have been reading quite a few gardening books. This book is written more like a memoir than a how-to book, but it contains a lot of good how-to information about gardening. I enjoyed the how-to information and found quite a bit of it useful. I was not as excited about the memoir parts and I would have liked to see photos of the garden and animals. It sounds like her garden is not very photogenic, but I like photos in gardening books. I did get some really good ideas from the book - like looking for free mulch and other gardening supplies on craigslist and freecycle. There is a wealth of other good info. about how to grow and cook a variety of vegetables and fruits and some nice recipes.

The Cabinet of Wonders by Marie Rutkoski

This is an enchanting story about 12 year old Petra Kronos, whose father's eyes have been taken by the prince for whom he built a magical clock.  The clock has the ability to control the weather, but it is not finished.  Petra decides to go to Prague and steal back her father's eyes and stop the prince from completing the clock.  Filled with magic and mystery, a mechanical spider and a brave little girl, this is a very good read.

Kisses from Katie by Katie Davis with Beth Clark

This is an inspiring story about Katie, who moved to Uganda at age 18 after high school to volunteer as a missionary at an orphanage. The experience changed her life and she wound up adopting 14 daughteres and creating Amazima Ministries to support children and help them go to school. http://www.amazima.org/
Katie took God's words about feeding the hungry and caring for orphans to heart and now her ministry serves the entire community helping to provide food, clothing, education, health care and jobs to people who would not otherwise have them.
I am touched and awed by this book and highly recommend it to others.(