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Stone Barrington in Treason is still Stone.  No surprise in the series.  And that is why I love Stone.  This one I didn't enjoy as much, but still, worth the read for what we get from Stone the Stud!

Back to School

Let me just be honest.  Spy School Goes South is a great book.  It is the sixth in the series and I love Gibbs.  But this probably would have been a 4 for me, just because I am not into the international stuff, but then Gibbs's author's note at the end made this a 5 star book for sure.  

I was saddned to hear the dedication, however as I learned that Gibbs's wife, a very talented television executive died in March of this year.  Take a moment to read about her if you didn't know, if you are like me and still live in the 1950s.  She was very accomplished but I am sure even more importantly, she was beloved by Mr. Gibbs and her family and friends.  Many prayers and thoughts are with him.  

Oh Joe

I do like the Joe Gunther series.  I do.  I just don't like KGB stuff and international spy jazz and that was ALL Disposable Man was! 

#ReadSomeKimberlyReid!

#Prettyboy Must Die is by Kimberly Reid who also wrote this series which I LOVED LOVED LOVED!  This is what I hope, a great start to a new series! 

Spy vs. Spy

Spy School Secret Service is the fifth in the Spy School series and I feel like the pacing was JUST right for me as far as my weird tastes are concerned.  If you are the kind person who enjoys stories in which the hero is falsely accused for there is a case of mistaken identity and the majority of the book or movie is all about the person proving innocence, then we are not a like.  This stuff just drives me crazy!  I feel so bad for the person.  I can like the book or movie, but I have to skip to the end to make sure it all turns out okay!  But basically, I don't enjoy the experience at all.  I thought this was going to go down that way.  But I love Erica Hale and I love Stuart Gibbs and I love this series!  So all was okay! 

Fourth and Waiting

I have caught up on the Spy School series with Spy Ski School and enjoyed it very much.  It is neat to see the family dynamics changing among the Hales.  I really don't like the old man at all, by the way.  Liking this series as I do and the Moon Base Alpha one, I really wish that first book in the Fun Jungle series was available on audio!  Great series!

I Noticed

that I gave four stars to Spy School and five stars to both Spy Camp and Evil Spy School.  I think it might be because I was impressed by the way that the story was easy to pick up, without the first books being over rehashed and also the story still stayed fresh and interesting!  In any case, I am looking forward to Spy Ski School! 

Swears

There is one "swear word" in Spy School that I know would cause trouble if my place of work were to choose this as a book for one of our programs.  It's the a_s word.  Why didn't Gibbs just use "butt!"  I mean I wasn't offended by it, but I know that some caregivers don't want their kids to use a_s in regular conversation.  Granted, no one is calling anyone an a_s in here, it is just used to say were Ben landed when he fell!  So it would have been all the same to just say "butt" but it probably isn't as bad as if Ben had called someone an a_s. That said, I liked Spy School and was glad to finally get the audio, having already enjoyed the Moon Base Alpha series.   I will read more in the Spy series and I hope I can get a hold of an audio of the first Fun Jungle book, but there doesn't seem to be one in existence.  Oh well.  Spy School is great fun!

Not a Bomb

Bomb:  the race to build- and steal- the world's most dangerous weapon, was not a bomb of a book.  It was quite interesting to me, of limited and specific attention span!  It was a recommended read for teens on our county's summer reading list and so I was glad to see it available in eaudio.  I played it at double speed so it sounded even more exciting!  A reads-like-fiction nonfiction book about the race to make the atomic bomb before Hitler or the Soviets did. 

The Year Ends on a High Note

Also Know As was my last book of 2012 and what a great book it was!  Super-fun!  I loved every page of this eARC from netgalley.com.  Never read anything from Robin Benway, but will now look for her name, for sure.  I do hope that this is a series, because I know teens will love this.  Maggie and her parents are parents are spies for the Collective, an international group of do-gooders.  Maggie's expertise is safe-cracking.  She hasn't ever lived a normal life, as you can imagine, but now she has her first solo assignment.  She must pose as an ordinary teenager at a private school in Manhattan.   She has to make friends and gain the trust of the son of a man who may be writing an article that will expose the Collective and ruin the fate of the free world!  Yes, the book is over the top and so is Maggie.  She is great fun, very likable, as all of the characters are.  There is a bit of romance as Maggie starts to fall for the young man she is spying on, the son of the writer.  Loved the book, the setting, the characters, the pacing.  Great book!  Great fun!