"The Red Pyramid" (Kane Chronicles, Book 1) by Rick Riordan

Judge a book by its cover
I very much enjoyed Percy Jackson, and I really like Egyptian history/mythology, so I figured I would like this book.

Synopsis

Since their mother’s death, siblings Carter and Sadie have become near strangers, only seeing each other on Christmas. While Sadie has lived with her grandparents in London, her brother, Carter, has traveled the world with their father, the brilliant Egyptologist, Dr. Julius Kane.

During their annual family reunion, Dr. Kane takes Sadie and Carter to the British Museum, where he hopes to "set things right". Instead, he unleashes the Egyptian god Set, who banishes him to oblivion and forces the children to flee for their lives.

Soon, Sadie and Carter discover that the gods of Egypt are waking, and the worst of them, Set, has his sights on the Kanes and wants to destroy the world.  In order to stop him, the siblings embark on a dangerous journey across the globe.  But along the way, they discover the truth about their family, their links to a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs, and that Set isn't the only God that made it out of the Rosetta Stone that night.

Humble Opinion
Rick Riordan doesn't disappoint.  His books are filled with so much action, they are hard to put down!  I love it!

Unlike with the Percy Jackson books and the Greek gods, I don't have much knowledge on Egyptian mythology.  I've always been fascinated by Egyptian gods, but all I knew was: Ra is the sun god, Anubis has something to do with the underworld, Osiris has something to do with the underworld, Isis is a female god, and Horus is a god with a falcon head.  That's about it.  LOL

I felt like after reading The Red Pyramid, I know a little more about Egyptian mythology, but there is still so much more I want to learn!  I feel like I would have gotten more out of the book had I known more about Egyptian mythology, but I still very much enjoyed the book and look forward to reading the next two!

I only had two qualms about the book: 1) Sadie's age and 2) the end.
1) Riordan is trying to establish a possible love interest between Anubis and Sadie, which is interesting, but she's only TWELVE!!  I can't... I know that twelve year olds have crushes and, now-a-days do a lot more... but she's twelve!!  I can't root for a twelve year old and "sixteen year old looking" god!  It feels gross!
2) *SPOILER ALERT*  Carter and Sadie spent the WHOLE BOOK trying to defeat Set, but then at the end they decide to make him an ally instead of banishing/killing him.  WHAT!?!?  I'm sure this had to be done for plot purposes for the next two books, but COME ON!  All the sudden the two protagonists "trust and befriend" the evil God?!  Seriously??

Final say

Totally enjoyed it.  I would re-read it again in heartbeat.  Super quick read because I didn't want to put it down!  I look forward to continuing the series!

"The Boogie Trapp" by Kerry Copeland Smith

Judge a book by its cover
The cover is kinda plain/boring.  I chose to read it because it was described as a "thriller" and it was getting positive reviews.

Synopsis

After Kerry Copeland Smith's childhood best friend, Trapper, dies of cancer at an old age, Kerry must keep his promise to "confess" and tell the world their story that they kept secret for fifty years.

Thirteen year olds Boogie (aka Kerry Smith) and Trapper planned on just killing time on Saturday, April 9, 1949 in Black Creek, Alabama before heading to Sarah's party later than evening and playing "kissing games" with their girlfriends.  But their day take an unexpected turn when Bill "Donkey" Brady pulls up and offers the boys five dollars and a carton of smokes, if they will help him get his truck out by Big Rock out of the mud.  Boogie and Trapper, having nothing better to do and wanting smokes and money, decide to hop in "Bill's friend's car" and help him.  After a few minutes inside the car, Boogie starts to second guess their decision to help Bill, and both Boogie and Trapper soon discover that all the "rumors" about Bill being a "homosexual pervert" aren't just rumors... 

Humble Opinion
The Boogie Trapp could have been half as long.  There was SO MUCH EXPOSITION!  I understand that Kerry Copeland Smith wanted to give the reader a feel for the time and the place that story took place, but Jesus!  For instance,  I didn't need to know on page 226, paragraph 3:

The first bend in the road is to the right towards the northeast, then after about 100 yards, the road snakes back to the general direction that it's now heading.  The slope of the creek valley off to the right is extremely steep and heavily covered with trees and large boulders.  The opposite side of the road is thinly covered with a growth of small pines and baby oaks along with heavy growth of bushes.  At some time in the past, it has been cleared and farmed...

That paragraph didn't add to the story in the SLIGHTEST, and there were plenty more just like it all throughout the book.  There was so much unnecessary description that it got in the way of the actual story.  I actually put the book down several times out of the frustration because I was so bored, I couldn't focus on what I was reading anymore because my mind started to wonder.  The story doesn't really get going until page 184, which is over halfway into the book!

Also, the author kept getting sidetracked with telling other stories, that didn't actually contribute to the main story he was telling.  This happened several times in the book.  If felt like filler - like a kid who has to write a paper and make it 10 pages long, so they tell a 4 page antidote that has a very thin connection to the real assignment, just to fluff it up.  But none of the stories were needed!

But my BIGGEST pet peeve - the person who was supposed to edit/proof read the manuscript.  They didn't do their fucking job!!  One of biggest annoyances, when reading, is when quotation marks are missing.  Like, you know the character is still speaking, but they forgot to put the quotation mark back in after "he said".  This book was FULL of them!  There were SO MANY missing quotation marks and correctly spaced speech patterns.  For instance, as I randomly flip through and pick page 253:

"He's up on the hill behind us!  I scream to Trapper, as I throw myself face down to the rock.

It drove me freaking NUTS!  Whoever was supposed to proof read The Boogie Trapp didn't do it and I want to send them back the book with all the corrections in red marker and tell them that they suck. 

Final say

There is so much potential for this story, but the first time writer needed someone to edit out the fluff and unnecessary detail and keep him on track.  If this book would have actually only be a short story, maybe 50-100 pages total, and stuck to the actual story that Kerry Copeland Smith was trying to tell, it would have been an amazing tale that I wouldn't have been able to put down!  Unfortunately, it runs 250 pages too long.