and the marathon continues...
Shopaholic and Sister - Sophie Kinsella
This one was probably my least favorite of the Shopaholic series mostly because of how quickly Luke changes from a sweet romantic person to a jackass. Becky and Luke have finished their 10 month honeymoon and return to England where Becky finds out that she has a long-lost sister. And even worse, her sister hates to shop! It involves Becky spending lots of money, trying to cover it up, Luke getting mad at her/caught up in his work, and so on. My favorite parts of this one was some of the weird ideas the sister has to save money, like when she goes into a stationary store and collects bags full of used envelopes to reuse.
They Cage the Animals at Night - Jennings Michael Burch
This is a memoir based on Jennings' time in foster homes and orphanages. While he was growing up his mother was unable to care for him and his siblings at several times so she was forced to put him in homes. In this book he tells the stories of the neglect and abuse he received in these homes and the lessons he learned there. This memoir was horrifying at times, I couldn't believe that kids were treated this way in orphanages. It's just awful. But it made me happy that Jennings found an unlikely friend who ended up being his savior. And it made me happier that Jennings adopted a child from the foster care system.
Snail Mail No More - Paula Danziger & Ann M. Martin
The sequel to P.S. Longer Letter Later, and like the first written in a series of letters, and then emails. This continues right where the previous book left off. It follows Tara and Elizabeth's relationship through the summer and then some, with arguments, visits, tragedy, happiness and a baby. It kinda drives me crazy how quickly their relationship goes "south." One person writes some remark and the other takes it the wrong way and the next thing ya know they're having a huge argument. But I guess it just reinforces that it's difficult to tell what someone really means in writing. But still an interesting book.
Gathering Blue - Lois Lowry
The first companion book to The Giver. Like The Giver, it is set sometime in the future except that instead of progressing, the town has regressed to worse times. The people live in mud huts, bathe in the river, and don't have indoor plumbing. They fear a disease, and when people get too old or maimed they take them out to a field and leave them for dead. They fear the monsters in the forest (and yes, I was reminded of The Village when reading it). This is Kira's story, she has a gimp leg but redeems herself with her sewing ability. When her mother dies the villagers try to kill her but she is saved by a councilman. But now she must repair the Singer's robe and of course, in doing so, she uncovers secrets of the village. This book doesn't really have anything to do with The Giver, unless you want it to. They speak of other villages nearby and one of them could be the village Jonas lived in. But I liked how the two books together show contrasting future villages, how easy it is for one village to go forward while another goes back and neither village knowing what they could be.
Messenger - Lois Lowry
The final companion book, this one is really a sequel to Gathering Blue, except it follows Matty, who is Kira's friend. Matty is acting as messenger between the outcasts' Village and Kira's village (and other villages actually). But when the Village decides to stop accepting outcasts Matty must run to warn everyone and to get Kira to bring her to stay before the people build the wall and the forest attacks them. Yeah. This one was a little too out there for me. I understood part of it --with the people closing off their town. But really, the forest attacking them? This was my least favorite of the three. What I disliked the most was that it ruins the ending of The Giver. If you haven't read The Giver, the ending is kinda open, it's left to the reader to decide what exactly happens to Jonas. But in this book it tells you. Although Lowry denies it and says that it could be whoever you want it to be, but I don't see how that works.
Big Fish - Daniel Wallace
I've always enjoyed the movie, so when I saw this at the library I decided to read it. It ended up being pretty interesting. The stories are really good, and I remembered a lot of them from the movie. I liked how the book is actually made up of many stories, each chapter being a story; it reminds me of a father telling his kids a different story every night.
Finding Manana - Mirta Ojito
This is a memoir of a Cuban family waiting to flee Cuba and Castro to the United States. It has a first-hand account of the Mariel boatlift in 1980. I guess I thought this book would be more than what it was. I was hoping for a book about a family fleeing Cuba and then adapting to life in the United States, something to give me a better perspective of how it is to be an immigrant. But almost the entire book took place in Cuba, about the family's life there and how controlled it was and how everyone viewed them as outcasts. It was an okay book, the information was interesting it just wasn't what I expected it to be.
Shopaholic and Baby - Sophie Kinsella
The last of the Shopaholic series and my 2nd favorite, after the first one, of course. Obviously, by the title Becky is now pregnant and can't stop buying things for her baby. Becky and Luke are looking to buy a house and need to buy one quickly cause they've already sold their flat. And it turns out that Becky's posh new doctor is Luke's ex-girlfriend. Funny like always. Jess is back and has plenty of cost-saving ideas for the baby, like making reusable baby wipes out of old rags. Honestly, even though Luis and I aren't planning on having kids for a while I love reading books with babies in them cause part of me is soooooo ready for little kiddies. I don't know if Kinsella has any plans to write any more Shopaholic books, I hope so for I enjoy them.
Captain's Fury - Jim Butcher
The fourth book in the Codex Alera series. Tavi, or Rufus Scipio is now Captain of his legion. Tavi has ideas of how to stop this war with the Canim, but getting his superior to listen is another story. Meanwhile Gaius Sextus is performing a final act on Kalare, in order to try and save people. Tavi also learns a secret about his past and must deal with all this new information. An excellent continuation of the previous book, although it's been a while since I read the last one so it took me a while to remember what was going on. Good book, but I hate it when the book ends with an obvious lead to another. Psh.
Veil of Roses - Laura Fitzgerald
Tamila was born in the USA but when she was young her family returned to Iran. On her 27th birthday Tamila's parents secure a visa and passport for her, she is to go to America to stay with her older sister and find a husband so she won't have to return. Tamila only has 3 months to find and marry a husband which seems to be going smoothly until she meets Ike. At the beginning of this book there was a lot of information about women living in Iran, and it was very interesting. I have no way of knowing if it is true or not, but I was still amazed at how life is for women over there. Overall the book was interesting, I've heard of many immigrants doing something similar to that, but usually there's money involved. I just liked the story and how I've heard real stories of people who have come to the US escaping their home country, and marrying to stay here.
The Sweet Far Thing - Libba Bray
The final book of the Gemma Doyle trilogy. Gemma has now bound the magic from the realms to herself and has promised all the creatures there she will form an alliance. But now she must keep her promise or start a war with the creatures. Meanwhile, in the real world Gemma and her friends are preparing to make their debuts into society. I can't explain this book without confusing you. So don't bother with my review, just go pick up the first book, A Great and Terrible Beauty and read it. It's amazing. This one was a good conclusion, some surprises but overall it was a great book.
When I Crossed No-Bob - Margaret McMullen
No-Bob is a place, not a person. This one's from my mom's library. Addy is an O'Donnell and no one likes the O'Donnell clan. But when her mother leaves her at a wedding and Mr. Frank takes her in Addy does everything to try and prove that she's a good person. But one day she's forced to make a decision whether to remain loyal to her family or do what she thinks is right. A good little story, my favorite parts were when Addy would do something naughty and it was just thrown in like it was perfectly normal. I like this one; "Before we set out, we stop by Mr. Frank's house where Mr. Tempy is still talking a mean streak. I hide red pepper in Mr. Tempy's chewing tobacco. "
That's 100 books this year.
Newberys read/ out of: 50/86
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
i'm bad at coming up with titles
I still have 25 books to review before I'm caught up! what have I been doing? I have no idea! Lately I have noticed my lovely addiction of buying books seems to have worsened. Once upon a time I would buy tons and tons of books and then not read them, but continue to buy more. But then I started reading so much and so fast that I read all those books and continued to only have 3 or 4 books in my "to read" pile. Or even crazier, have NO books to read and randomly pluck a book from the bookshelf to re-read (I'm dying to re-read The Three Musketeers). But lately I've noticed that I'm buying books and letting them pile up again. I'm not sure how it happened, probably a few book sales, the History Book Club deal I couldn't pass up, and well, now I've got like, 25 books on my shelf to read. And last week I bought 2 more! I'm trying real hard to not buy anymore until I read like, half of those books, but it's not working very well. And for some reason I keep checking books out from the library. I'm not a fan of having too many books lying around waiting to be read. It makes me feel bad.
So here it goes:
Igraine the Brave - Cornelia Funke
I wasn't expecting too much from this book. I loved The Thief Lord and Inkheart, but her other books just went downhill from there. I barely even finished Inkspell and I highly doubt I'll bother reading Inkdeath (the conclusion to the trilogy due out this fall). I really only read this cause my mom got a free copy. This is the story of Igraine, who wants to be a knight. Her parents and brother don't think she should be a knight, but a magician like them. But when their castle is threatened and her parents turn themselves into pigs Igraine must step up and try to save them all! It was a cute book, luckily not too long so it wasn't very boring. I liked the little illustrations throughout the book, and it was mostly entertaining. I think kids would enjoy reading it but it falls a little flat for adults.
Confessions of a Shopaholic - Sophie Kinsella
Even I'm surprised that I a) read this book and b) enjoyed it. Becky Bloomwood loves to shop, and her bank account shows it. By day she works for a financial magazine and by night she's overdrawing her bank account and imagining crazy schemes to pay off her bills. Throw in some romance and you have a very funny, entertaining chick lit book. Something I don't read very often, but quite enjoyed it. If you're looking for an easy to read book that's funny, has a dreamy guy in it, and makes you feel a lot better about your own spending then this is the one. I love the little letters from her banks/bills before each chapter. And I love how easily she BSes through giving financial advice. I enjoyed this book so much that I proceeded to read the entire series.
Into the Wild - Jon Krakauer
After graduating college Chris McCandless sells his possessions, jumps into his car and drives away later being found in a van in Alaska. No one really knows what possessed him to do this or what he was looking for. Krakauer tries to reconstruct McCandless' path and find some sort of motivation for the boy to undertake this journey. This book bored me to tears. I thought it would never end. It seems like the amount of information Krakauer was able to gather was NOT enough for a book and he needed to pad the pages out a little, and pad he did. I really felt nothing from this book and came away with no sympathy for this kid (not really a kid, i know). I was just bored. This book has suddenly become popular because of the movie and I hope the movie is more entertaining than the book was.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian - Sherman Alexie
Arnold Spirit is an Indian born with water on the brain, and consequently gets made fun of a lot. He knows that if he stays on the reservation forever he'll end up like everyone else there, stuck. So on the advice from a teacher, he begins to attend school outside the reservation. This book chronicles Arnold's experiences leaving the reservation, dealing with his friends, making new friends, trying to fit in and stay true to his heritage. It was interesting to say the least. I was attracted to the book, wondering how it was possible to be a part-time Indian. And overall, the story was nice and showed a lot of conflicting typical teen emotions. Teens would probably be able to relate to many of Arnold's problems without being Indians. Since the novel was set up as a diary it was populated with many of Arnold's drawings, they were pretty entertaining.
Cave of the Dark Wind - Dave Barry
This is a Neverland book, written by the author who wrote Peter and the Starcatchers. This book is about the Lost Boys, taking place while Peter is off on some adventure. The Lost Boys and 2 girls from the Mollusk tribe are in need of an adventure, after hearing a story about a cave and an annual sacrifice of goats the boys decide to go in. Unfortunately at the same time Capt. Hook and his crew go into the cave on a treasure hunt. What will happen when the two groups meet? And what is eating all the goats? A short little book, I liked that it was about the Lost Boys, leaving Peter out of an adventure. Peter is pretty cocky so it's nice to know that he misses some things. It was an interesting adventure, and I liked what they found in the cave. Although I think there were a few times inside the cave when I got confused with where they had been/where they were going/ and how they got to where they are. But oh well.
Shopaholic Takes Manhattan - Sophie Kinsella
The second book in the Shopaholic series. Becky is now debt free (supposedly) and happily dating the love of her life, Luke. When Luke's business decides to set up an office in New York, it's off to NYC for Becky and Luke. But when faced with NYC and sales and clothes, it's difficult for Becky to stay out of debt. What can I say? The story is pretty similar to the first novel, just in NYC. But I like it. It's funny and entertaining, and a very quick read. Although I did notice more and more in each book that Luke is pretty much a jerk the majority of the time. And yes, there really isn't any character growth in these books. But I don't care.
Small Favor - Jim Butcher
A Dresden Files book. I haven't read about Harry Dresden in so long! I love this series, this is the 10th book and it still hasn't gotten old, the plot lines are still unique and there's so much growth in all the novels. I can't wait for the next one! And there's billy goats in it. hahaha. so good.
Shopaholic Ties the Knot - Sophie Kinsella
Well, obviously by the title, Becky and Luke are getting married! But the problem is, her parents want the wedding in England at their house with Becky in her mother's wedding dress and Luke's mother wants to plan a posh wedding in NYC. And Becky can't seem to make up her mind what she wants but figures everything will work itself out in the end. Another amusing book with Becky getting crazier and crazier.
The Off Season - Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Sequel to Dairy Queen. School has started, DJ is playing football, dating the quarterback from the rival team and helping out on her family's dairy farm. But of course, disaster strikes. There's a revealing article in People magazine, her boyfriend doesn't want to be seen in public with her and several injuries cause people to make life changing decisions. A good sequel, this book goes into more depth than the first one slowly uncovering the Schwenk family's problems. I hope there's a sequel to this one! I feel like there's a lot more going on with DJ and her family.
Zorro Unmasked - Sandra Curtis
Yet another disappointing book. I was expecting a book about the history of how Zorro came to be, if he was based on a real person, where the stories came from and interesting things like that. There was maybe, a chapter on that stuff. The rest of the book was summaries of the books, movies, comics and TV shows of Zorro. It was boring. If I wanted to know the plot of the movies I'd watch them. There was no unmasking Zorro in this book just ruining the plot lines of movies that not everyone has seen. And the worst part about this book, as that it was written by the wife, or co-owner i guess, of the guy who owns the rights to Zorro. *sigh*
A Letter of Mary - Laurie R. King
Another book telling the story of Mary Russell who is now married to Sherlock Holmes. Mary receives a letter from a female archeologist who then comes for a visit and leaves an intricate box containing a letter believed to be written by Mary Magdalene. Soon after her visit the woman is killed. Russell and Holmes set out to find the murderer as well as translate the mysterious letter. I'm enjoying this series of books immensely. I love the mysteries and really enjoy the fact that Mary Russell is the main character. It's like a grown-up Nancy Drew book, only better.
The Willoughbys - Lois Lowry
The Willoughbys think they should be orphans, their parents don't care for them and they think their lives would be much better as orphans. As the children set a plan in place for this to happen, their parents are creating a plan of their own. One that involves leaving on a trip and selling the house while their kids are staying there. A nanny comes to stay with the children and together they have all sorts of adventures. What starts out as a Lemony Snicket kind of book ends up being a happy weird sort of book. There are several very far-fetched plots running here and they all intertwine. It was.....odd. But good.
The Giver - Lois Lowry
Won the Newbery Award in 1994. It's been a while since I read The Giver, and I wanted to read the companion books, so I decided to read all three of them. I love this book, it tells of a society in the future where everything is created equal and the same. When the children turn 12 they get assigned their jobs, Jonas is selected to become the giver and learns the secrets of the past. The message in this book is still as powerful as it was when I read it the first time.
P.S. Longer Letter Later - Paula Danziger & Ann M. Martin
Tara and Elizabeth are best friends, but when Tara's family moves to another state will their relationship be able to last? This book is written in a series of letters chronicling the events of their lives, father's losing their jobs, alcoholism, parents suddenly becoming responsible and so on. What I liked most about this book is how it was written, one author (Danziger) was Tara and Martin was Elizabeth and they wrote the entire book through letters, neither one knowing what the other was going to write, or where the story was going to go. A really cool way to write.
Newberys read/ out of: 49/86
So here it goes:
Igraine the Brave - Cornelia Funke
I wasn't expecting too much from this book. I loved The Thief Lord and Inkheart, but her other books just went downhill from there. I barely even finished Inkspell and I highly doubt I'll bother reading Inkdeath (the conclusion to the trilogy due out this fall). I really only read this cause my mom got a free copy. This is the story of Igraine, who wants to be a knight. Her parents and brother don't think she should be a knight, but a magician like them. But when their castle is threatened and her parents turn themselves into pigs Igraine must step up and try to save them all! It was a cute book, luckily not too long so it wasn't very boring. I liked the little illustrations throughout the book, and it was mostly entertaining. I think kids would enjoy reading it but it falls a little flat for adults.
Confessions of a Shopaholic - Sophie Kinsella
Even I'm surprised that I a) read this book and b) enjoyed it. Becky Bloomwood loves to shop, and her bank account shows it. By day she works for a financial magazine and by night she's overdrawing her bank account and imagining crazy schemes to pay off her bills. Throw in some romance and you have a very funny, entertaining chick lit book. Something I don't read very often, but quite enjoyed it. If you're looking for an easy to read book that's funny, has a dreamy guy in it, and makes you feel a lot better about your own spending then this is the one. I love the little letters from her banks/bills before each chapter. And I love how easily she BSes through giving financial advice. I enjoyed this book so much that I proceeded to read the entire series.
Into the Wild - Jon Krakauer
After graduating college Chris McCandless sells his possessions, jumps into his car and drives away later being found in a van in Alaska. No one really knows what possessed him to do this or what he was looking for. Krakauer tries to reconstruct McCandless' path and find some sort of motivation for the boy to undertake this journey. This book bored me to tears. I thought it would never end. It seems like the amount of information Krakauer was able to gather was NOT enough for a book and he needed to pad the pages out a little, and pad he did. I really felt nothing from this book and came away with no sympathy for this kid (not really a kid, i know). I was just bored. This book has suddenly become popular because of the movie and I hope the movie is more entertaining than the book was.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian - Sherman Alexie
Arnold Spirit is an Indian born with water on the brain, and consequently gets made fun of a lot. He knows that if he stays on the reservation forever he'll end up like everyone else there, stuck. So on the advice from a teacher, he begins to attend school outside the reservation. This book chronicles Arnold's experiences leaving the reservation, dealing with his friends, making new friends, trying to fit in and stay true to his heritage. It was interesting to say the least. I was attracted to the book, wondering how it was possible to be a part-time Indian. And overall, the story was nice and showed a lot of conflicting typical teen emotions. Teens would probably be able to relate to many of Arnold's problems without being Indians. Since the novel was set up as a diary it was populated with many of Arnold's drawings, they were pretty entertaining.
Cave of the Dark Wind - Dave Barry
This is a Neverland book, written by the author who wrote Peter and the Starcatchers. This book is about the Lost Boys, taking place while Peter is off on some adventure. The Lost Boys and 2 girls from the Mollusk tribe are in need of an adventure, after hearing a story about a cave and an annual sacrifice of goats the boys decide to go in. Unfortunately at the same time Capt. Hook and his crew go into the cave on a treasure hunt. What will happen when the two groups meet? And what is eating all the goats? A short little book, I liked that it was about the Lost Boys, leaving Peter out of an adventure. Peter is pretty cocky so it's nice to know that he misses some things. It was an interesting adventure, and I liked what they found in the cave. Although I think there were a few times inside the cave when I got confused with where they had been/where they were going/ and how they got to where they are. But oh well.
Shopaholic Takes Manhattan - Sophie Kinsella
The second book in the Shopaholic series. Becky is now debt free (supposedly) and happily dating the love of her life, Luke. When Luke's business decides to set up an office in New York, it's off to NYC for Becky and Luke. But when faced with NYC and sales and clothes, it's difficult for Becky to stay out of debt. What can I say? The story is pretty similar to the first novel, just in NYC. But I like it. It's funny and entertaining, and a very quick read. Although I did notice more and more in each book that Luke is pretty much a jerk the majority of the time. And yes, there really isn't any character growth in these books. But I don't care.
Small Favor - Jim Butcher
A Dresden Files book. I haven't read about Harry Dresden in so long! I love this series, this is the 10th book and it still hasn't gotten old, the plot lines are still unique and there's so much growth in all the novels. I can't wait for the next one! And there's billy goats in it. hahaha. so good.
Shopaholic Ties the Knot - Sophie Kinsella
Well, obviously by the title, Becky and Luke are getting married! But the problem is, her parents want the wedding in England at their house with Becky in her mother's wedding dress and Luke's mother wants to plan a posh wedding in NYC. And Becky can't seem to make up her mind what she wants but figures everything will work itself out in the end. Another amusing book with Becky getting crazier and crazier.
The Off Season - Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Sequel to Dairy Queen. School has started, DJ is playing football, dating the quarterback from the rival team and helping out on her family's dairy farm. But of course, disaster strikes. There's a revealing article in People magazine, her boyfriend doesn't want to be seen in public with her and several injuries cause people to make life changing decisions. A good sequel, this book goes into more depth than the first one slowly uncovering the Schwenk family's problems. I hope there's a sequel to this one! I feel like there's a lot more going on with DJ and her family.
Zorro Unmasked - Sandra Curtis
Yet another disappointing book. I was expecting a book about the history of how Zorro came to be, if he was based on a real person, where the stories came from and interesting things like that. There was maybe, a chapter on that stuff. The rest of the book was summaries of the books, movies, comics and TV shows of Zorro. It was boring. If I wanted to know the plot of the movies I'd watch them. There was no unmasking Zorro in this book just ruining the plot lines of movies that not everyone has seen. And the worst part about this book, as that it was written by the wife, or co-owner i guess, of the guy who owns the rights to Zorro. *sigh*
A Letter of Mary - Laurie R. King
Another book telling the story of Mary Russell who is now married to Sherlock Holmes. Mary receives a letter from a female archeologist who then comes for a visit and leaves an intricate box containing a letter believed to be written by Mary Magdalene. Soon after her visit the woman is killed. Russell and Holmes set out to find the murderer as well as translate the mysterious letter. I'm enjoying this series of books immensely. I love the mysteries and really enjoy the fact that Mary Russell is the main character. It's like a grown-up Nancy Drew book, only better.
The Willoughbys - Lois Lowry
The Willoughbys think they should be orphans, their parents don't care for them and they think their lives would be much better as orphans. As the children set a plan in place for this to happen, their parents are creating a plan of their own. One that involves leaving on a trip and selling the house while their kids are staying there. A nanny comes to stay with the children and together they have all sorts of adventures. What starts out as a Lemony Snicket kind of book ends up being a happy weird sort of book. There are several very far-fetched plots running here and they all intertwine. It was.....odd. But good.
The Giver - Lois Lowry
Won the Newbery Award in 1994. It's been a while since I read The Giver, and I wanted to read the companion books, so I decided to read all three of them. I love this book, it tells of a society in the future where everything is created equal and the same. When the children turn 12 they get assigned their jobs, Jonas is selected to become the giver and learns the secrets of the past. The message in this book is still as powerful as it was when I read it the first time.
P.S. Longer Letter Later - Paula Danziger & Ann M. Martin
Tara and Elizabeth are best friends, but when Tara's family moves to another state will their relationship be able to last? This book is written in a series of letters chronicling the events of their lives, father's losing their jobs, alcoholism, parents suddenly becoming responsible and so on. What I liked most about this book is how it was written, one author (Danziger) was Tara and Martin was Elizabeth and they wrote the entire book through letters, neither one knowing what the other was going to write, or where the story was going to go. A really cool way to write.
Newberys read/ out of: 49/86
Friday, June 13, 2008
friday the 13th!
I'm going to try and review as many as possible before I get a headache. haha. considering there's like 20 books I've read since then.
It's Okay to Miss the Bed on the First Jump- John O'Hurley
A cute book about life lessons the author has learned from his dogs. Things like, if you're tired take a nap, and the title lesson. It was cute, and kinda short. It was a nice book but didn't have a whole lot of depth to it. I really liked the little stories about the author's dog, they were funny.
The Torrents of Spring - Ernest Hemingway
One of the few Hemingway's I hadn't read yet. A lesser known work it's a parody of the Chicago school of literature. I'm not sure if I got all of the parody or not, I guess I might need to read more 1920s literature, maybe. But I did enjoy it. At a whopping 90 pages it didn't take too long to read. I really enjoyed the parts when Hemingway would talk to the audience directly. They were very funny. All in all I enjoyed the book, but maybe not as much as some of his others.
Sold - Patricia McCormick
National Book Award finalist in 2006. 13 year old Lakshmi lives in Nepal with her mother, injured stepfather and baby brother. She leads a simple life in their hut, thinking of her wedding, and trying to find food everyday until her stepfather sells her into prostitution. In the brothel she is faced with a life completely foreign to her and one which she is not prepared for. But then Lakshmi must make a very hard decision that could change her life forever. An amazing book, written in free verse from Lakshmi's point of view. This book was horrifying and captivating at the same time. I couldn't imagine all the horrors Lakshmi has to go through and how innocent she remains through the whole book. I can see why this was up for an award, it seems that more and more award winners these days are focusing on tough subjects.
Barrel Fever - David Sedaris
Another book of stories and essays by Sedaris. I've read several of his essays and I've enjoyed them, they were always funny. This was the first collection of his I read with stories in them. Honestly I like his essays better than the stories, although there's nothing wrong with the stories. My favorite was definitely Santaland Diaries.
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - Barbara Kingsolver (with some help from her husband and daughters)
Kingsolver and her family moved from New Mexico to their family farm in Virginia. In doing so they decide to live for a year on food they grow on their farm or can buy locally. Which means no bananas, or other foods that are shipped across the country. Kingsolver tells stories about the experiences and difficulties of not being able to eat whatever they want. All in all it's an entertaining book full of valuable information in living local. After many of the chapters there are recipes that the family makes a lot. I liked reading it, it made me sad that we don't live on a huge farm and can grow all our own food but I'll survive. Really, what everyone should take from this book is to be aware of where the food you eat comes from, buy locally if you can. If not, buy as close to local as possible. Right after I read this Luis and I went to our local farmer's market and tried out a recipe from the book. Very fun!
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Oh what a disappointing book. After lying to herself for many years Gilbert finally divorces her husband and basically falls into a rut (which she pretty much created but that's beside the point). Anyway, she decides she needs a sabbatical and takes a YEAR to travel to discover herself. Of course, done with advance money for the book she would later write. She goes to Italy, India and Indonesia for three months each where she eats, prays and loves. I was so disappointed in this book. It's been promoed to death and I was on the waiting list for AGES to get it from the library, so of course it didn't live up to my expectations. I got tired of listening to Gilbert whine about her sorry life as she sits in a cafe in Rome stuffing her face or experiencing things people only dream about until she finally "finds herself" (in another man). I know its her book and she can write whatever she wants, but it felt fake and I don't see why she needed to go halfway around the world to find out who she is. It was just not eye-opening or inspirational at all. I'm not sure why so many people give rave reviews on it, it's not a good memoir and it's not a travel book. It's a whiny piece of poo.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
My mom was reading this to her kids, and then showed them the movie and we were discussing the similarities between the two movies and the book and I realized I really didn't remember the book much so I decided to reread it. Charlie is always a good book, and the movies don't do it justice. Classic.
I'm tired, more later.
Newberys read/ out of: 49/86
It's Okay to Miss the Bed on the First Jump- John O'Hurley
A cute book about life lessons the author has learned from his dogs. Things like, if you're tired take a nap, and the title lesson. It was cute, and kinda short. It was a nice book but didn't have a whole lot of depth to it. I really liked the little stories about the author's dog, they were funny.
The Torrents of Spring - Ernest Hemingway
One of the few Hemingway's I hadn't read yet. A lesser known work it's a parody of the Chicago school of literature. I'm not sure if I got all of the parody or not, I guess I might need to read more 1920s literature, maybe. But I did enjoy it. At a whopping 90 pages it didn't take too long to read. I really enjoyed the parts when Hemingway would talk to the audience directly. They were very funny. All in all I enjoyed the book, but maybe not as much as some of his others.
Sold - Patricia McCormick
National Book Award finalist in 2006. 13 year old Lakshmi lives in Nepal with her mother, injured stepfather and baby brother. She leads a simple life in their hut, thinking of her wedding, and trying to find food everyday until her stepfather sells her into prostitution. In the brothel she is faced with a life completely foreign to her and one which she is not prepared for. But then Lakshmi must make a very hard decision that could change her life forever. An amazing book, written in free verse from Lakshmi's point of view. This book was horrifying and captivating at the same time. I couldn't imagine all the horrors Lakshmi has to go through and how innocent she remains through the whole book. I can see why this was up for an award, it seems that more and more award winners these days are focusing on tough subjects.
Barrel Fever - David Sedaris
Another book of stories and essays by Sedaris. I've read several of his essays and I've enjoyed them, they were always funny. This was the first collection of his I read with stories in them. Honestly I like his essays better than the stories, although there's nothing wrong with the stories. My favorite was definitely Santaland Diaries.
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - Barbara Kingsolver (with some help from her husband and daughters)
Kingsolver and her family moved from New Mexico to their family farm in Virginia. In doing so they decide to live for a year on food they grow on their farm or can buy locally. Which means no bananas, or other foods that are shipped across the country. Kingsolver tells stories about the experiences and difficulties of not being able to eat whatever they want. All in all it's an entertaining book full of valuable information in living local. After many of the chapters there are recipes that the family makes a lot. I liked reading it, it made me sad that we don't live on a huge farm and can grow all our own food but I'll survive. Really, what everyone should take from this book is to be aware of where the food you eat comes from, buy locally if you can. If not, buy as close to local as possible. Right after I read this Luis and I went to our local farmer's market and tried out a recipe from the book. Very fun!
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Oh what a disappointing book. After lying to herself for many years Gilbert finally divorces her husband and basically falls into a rut (which she pretty much created but that's beside the point). Anyway, she decides she needs a sabbatical and takes a YEAR to travel to discover herself. Of course, done with advance money for the book she would later write. She goes to Italy, India and Indonesia for three months each where she eats, prays and loves. I was so disappointed in this book. It's been promoed to death and I was on the waiting list for AGES to get it from the library, so of course it didn't live up to my expectations. I got tired of listening to Gilbert whine about her sorry life as she sits in a cafe in Rome stuffing her face or experiencing things people only dream about until she finally "finds herself" (in another man). I know its her book and she can write whatever she wants, but it felt fake and I don't see why she needed to go halfway around the world to find out who she is. It was just not eye-opening or inspirational at all. I'm not sure why so many people give rave reviews on it, it's not a good memoir and it's not a travel book. It's a whiny piece of poo.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
My mom was reading this to her kids, and then showed them the movie and we were discussing the similarities between the two movies and the book and I realized I really didn't remember the book much so I decided to reread it. Charlie is always a good book, and the movies don't do it justice. Classic.
I'm tired, more later.
Newberys read/ out of: 49/86
Friday, May 2, 2008
6 books, 2 Newberys
Peony in Love by Lisa See
Author of the wonderful Snow Flower and the Secret Fan which I loved so I had to read this one too. This is about Peony who is 16, lives in China and is preparing to marry someone she's never met. When her father has an opera perform at their home, The Peony Pavilion, Peony secretly meets a man and falls in love with him. She is so eaten up with her love for this man that she can not bear to meet her fiance. This is a heartbreaking tale where Peony does a lot of maturing and seeing the world clearly, but only after it is too late. It was frustrating to read this, knowing how women were treated back then and seeing what Peony could not see. It was even depressing seeing how women were treated. From the start Peony was a disappointment to her family, she was their only child and a girl. It shocked me how quickly the family was willing to change Peony's name when it turned out her mother-in-law had the same name. And to put so little thought into a new name, calling her "Same." Horrible. All in all, it was a haunting tale but kept me it reading into the night.
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing: Traitor to the Nation, Vol. 1 The Pox Party by MT Anderson
Won the National Book Award in 2006. Printz Honor book in 2007. First of a 2 book set this follows the life of Octavian, an African who was born in America. Octavian lives a life of luxury, he learns the violin, sings, reads Latin, learns history and math, and dresses in silks and wigs. His life is carefully monitored, he does not leave the house, and everything about him is recorded including the weight of his excrement. Soon Octavian finds out that his life is not what it seems when he breaks into the one room he is not allowed in. I don't want to give too much away in case someone wants to read this, but this book was weird. I'm still not sure what I feel about this book but I am leaning towards not liking it. I think the College of Lucidity where Octavian and his mother live is just too weird to be true, and the experiments they do there are absurd. I didn't really like how quickly Octavian seemed to adjust to his new life. For one so pampered it would be weird to be able to change that easily. I don't think I'm going to check out the second volume when it comes out. Overall I found the book boring and strange.
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz
The 2008 Newbery winner. At a whopping 80 pages I read this one while hanging out in Joseph-Beth Booksellers. This is a book of monologues (and a couple of duets) set during the Medieval Ages. The speakers are all kids between the ages of 10-15, and they all live in the same village. There are plenty of illustrations and informative pages on topics such as the Crusades. What I find interesting about this book is that it was written by a librarian. The students at her school were studying Medieval times and were doing plays, none of the kids wanted a small part so Schlitz decided to write these monologues so that for 3 minutes every kid could be a star. Overall, the monologues are nice, the illustrations are gorgeous, and the informative pages are excellent, as are the side notes explaining words or ideas expressed in the monologues. I do think, however, that some of the dialogue is a little too advanced for elementary kids. It seemed like there were a lot of bad things happening (especially the one kid talking about how the village drowned his grandfather in the lake).
A Man Named Dave by Dave Pelzer
The conclusion to Pelzer's trilogy. This one covers the time period from when he left his foster home and joined the Air Force until he married his current wife. More inspirational I would say, Pelzer really shows how hard he tries to reach his goals, and he's constantly told he can't do something and he works hard enough to make it happen. He still struggles with the pain of what his mother did to him, still tries to find an answer to why she did it. I'd say it is a happy conclusion to his story, overall. While he struggles to not become his mother and to be a so-called "normal" person things look bleak. But in the end, he makes everything work out.
Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
DJ lives on a dairy farm, her two older brothers are away at college and don't come home, her younger brother doesn't talk to anyone and her dad has a bad hip. So DJ does all the work on the farm herself until one day an old friend sends over Brian, a stuck-up lousy quarterback to help. Through a summer of working the farm, training with Brian and realizing that there are a lot of things her family doesn't say but should DJ realizes that she's got a lot to say, and says it. I immensely enjoyed this book. I was looking for a little bit of light, fun reading when I spotted this. It was funny and moving. But mostly funny. I enjoyed reading about DJ's life and her relationships and how she decided to do something no one expected and turned out to be really good at it. I'm looking forward to reading the next one, The Off Season.
...and Now Miguel by Joseph Krumgold
Won the Newbery Award in 1954. Krumgold was the first person to win the Newbery Award twice, first for this book and again in 1959 for Onion John. Miguel's family are sheep herders. Every summer they take the sheep up into the mountains for three months so they can graze and Miguel's biggest dream is to go with them. Miguel believes that he won't know who he is until he can go to the mountain with the other men, and he sets up a plan to prove that he is ready to go. A charming story, Miguel is stuck in the middle, not quite a man but no longer a child and has difficulties being either one. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this, how easy it was to read and how, even though there aren't too many sheep herders anymore, one would still be able to relate to Miguel's feelings. A lot of the older winners are boring and dry, but this one wasn't. I liked reading about how the sheep are taken care of and sheared; i found it interesting and engaging.
Newbery books read/out of: 49/86
Author of the wonderful Snow Flower and the Secret Fan which I loved so I had to read this one too. This is about Peony who is 16, lives in China and is preparing to marry someone she's never met. When her father has an opera perform at their home, The Peony Pavilion, Peony secretly meets a man and falls in love with him. She is so eaten up with her love for this man that she can not bear to meet her fiance. This is a heartbreaking tale where Peony does a lot of maturing and seeing the world clearly, but only after it is too late. It was frustrating to read this, knowing how women were treated back then and seeing what Peony could not see. It was even depressing seeing how women were treated. From the start Peony was a disappointment to her family, she was their only child and a girl. It shocked me how quickly the family was willing to change Peony's name when it turned out her mother-in-law had the same name. And to put so little thought into a new name, calling her "Same." Horrible. All in all, it was a haunting tale but kept me it reading into the night.
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing: Traitor to the Nation, Vol. 1 The Pox Party by MT Anderson
Won the National Book Award in 2006. Printz Honor book in 2007. First of a 2 book set this follows the life of Octavian, an African who was born in America. Octavian lives a life of luxury, he learns the violin, sings, reads Latin, learns history and math, and dresses in silks and wigs. His life is carefully monitored, he does not leave the house, and everything about him is recorded including the weight of his excrement. Soon Octavian finds out that his life is not what it seems when he breaks into the one room he is not allowed in. I don't want to give too much away in case someone wants to read this, but this book was weird. I'm still not sure what I feel about this book but I am leaning towards not liking it. I think the College of Lucidity where Octavian and his mother live is just too weird to be true, and the experiments they do there are absurd. I didn't really like how quickly Octavian seemed to adjust to his new life. For one so pampered it would be weird to be able to change that easily. I don't think I'm going to check out the second volume when it comes out. Overall I found the book boring and strange.
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz
The 2008 Newbery winner. At a whopping 80 pages I read this one while hanging out in Joseph-Beth Booksellers. This is a book of monologues (and a couple of duets) set during the Medieval Ages. The speakers are all kids between the ages of 10-15, and they all live in the same village. There are plenty of illustrations and informative pages on topics such as the Crusades. What I find interesting about this book is that it was written by a librarian. The students at her school were studying Medieval times and were doing plays, none of the kids wanted a small part so Schlitz decided to write these monologues so that for 3 minutes every kid could be a star. Overall, the monologues are nice, the illustrations are gorgeous, and the informative pages are excellent, as are the side notes explaining words or ideas expressed in the monologues. I do think, however, that some of the dialogue is a little too advanced for elementary kids. It seemed like there were a lot of bad things happening (especially the one kid talking about how the village drowned his grandfather in the lake).
A Man Named Dave by Dave Pelzer
The conclusion to Pelzer's trilogy. This one covers the time period from when he left his foster home and joined the Air Force until he married his current wife. More inspirational I would say, Pelzer really shows how hard he tries to reach his goals, and he's constantly told he can't do something and he works hard enough to make it happen. He still struggles with the pain of what his mother did to him, still tries to find an answer to why she did it. I'd say it is a happy conclusion to his story, overall. While he struggles to not become his mother and to be a so-called "normal" person things look bleak. But in the end, he makes everything work out.
Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
DJ lives on a dairy farm, her two older brothers are away at college and don't come home, her younger brother doesn't talk to anyone and her dad has a bad hip. So DJ does all the work on the farm herself until one day an old friend sends over Brian, a stuck-up lousy quarterback to help. Through a summer of working the farm, training with Brian and realizing that there are a lot of things her family doesn't say but should DJ realizes that she's got a lot to say, and says it. I immensely enjoyed this book. I was looking for a little bit of light, fun reading when I spotted this. It was funny and moving. But mostly funny. I enjoyed reading about DJ's life and her relationships and how she decided to do something no one expected and turned out to be really good at it. I'm looking forward to reading the next one, The Off Season.
...and Now Miguel by Joseph Krumgold
Won the Newbery Award in 1954. Krumgold was the first person to win the Newbery Award twice, first for this book and again in 1959 for Onion John. Miguel's family are sheep herders. Every summer they take the sheep up into the mountains for three months so they can graze and Miguel's biggest dream is to go with them. Miguel believes that he won't know who he is until he can go to the mountain with the other men, and he sets up a plan to prove that he is ready to go. A charming story, Miguel is stuck in the middle, not quite a man but no longer a child and has difficulties being either one. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this, how easy it was to read and how, even though there aren't too many sheep herders anymore, one would still be able to relate to Miguel's feelings. A lot of the older winners are boring and dry, but this one wasn't. I liked reading about how the sheep are taken care of and sheared; i found it interesting and engaging.
Newbery books read/out of: 49/86
Thursday, April 24, 2008
9 books
A Child Called It by David Pelzer
Another book full of controversy. I've been meaning to read this book forever but never got around to it and it was always out at the library. And I didn't really want to be depressed. Well, it was very depressing. A Child Called It is the first book by Pelzer in a trilogy of his childhood. This book covers ages 4 to 12 while Pelzer was suffering abuse from his mother. For some reason Pelzer's mother (who drinks heavily) began hating David, and would beat him, starve him, make him sleep in the basement and wear the same clothes every day. She began calling him "the boy" or "it," eventually she began to discard him as part of the family anymore. After coming to school for years covered in bruises finally someone intervenes and David is taken from his family and placed in foster care. Now, this book will break your heart, it's sad and horrible and I can't believe NO ONE did anything to help this kid until he was 12. And of course, thank you James Frey this book is questioned constantly over the truth in it. And I'll admit there were a few things I was skeptical about (being forced to drink bleach is one of them). But that's not the issue for me. The issue is that this book is poorly written. I found myself confused with the timeline presented, the writing was sometimes childish and sometimes over educated for the perspective. I find it hard to believe that an 8 year old is having the thoughts he was presented to have. I think "grown-up" David is thinking them and pretending like he had them at age 8. But that's not real important. This book is labeled as an "inspirational story." How? What in this book is inspirational? That the kid lived? That it took the school a good 6 years before they stepped in and did anything? That people looked the other way so much they didn't want to see what was in front of them? I didn't see any inspiration in it. It's a survival story, Pelzer was able to survive by thinking one day at a time, and he was damn lucky (lucky the wound didn't get infected, etc). Since reading this one I've read the second book and I have the third in the trilogy, I'm sure the third is where the inspiration comes in but for now, it's a story of survival.
A Monstrous Regiment of Women by Laurie R. King
Sequel to The Beekeeper's Apprentice. This one is the second book telling the story of Mary Russell, in it she has finished her schooling and is only a few days away from turning 21 and inheriting her fortune. On a trip to London she runs into an old friend, they get together and Russell is introduced to a church service and Margery Childe. And of course, problems and mysteries ensue. I am beginning to love this series and can not wait to get my hands on the next one! This book is full of mystery and excitement, it kept me reading and curious long into the night. Women does not feature Holmes as much as the previous one, which is a shame, but through the lack of Holmes we are able to see Russell come into her own as a detective. A wonderful read!
The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan
This is the third book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. In Titan's Curse Percy and his friends are on their way to help rescue some half-bloods when Annabeth and Artemis are lost. Now Percy, Thalia and the Hunters must take on a quest to rescue them encountering some old and new enemies along the way. Another great book from Riordan, I always look forward to the next Percy Jackson book knowing that it will hold some dangerous quest and funny antics as the band of half-man/half-gods try to find their place in the world. This one didn't fail my expectations. I was worried about Annabeth, surprised to see Artemis, humored to meet Apollo, not so surprised to meet Luke (again) and shocked by what happened at the end! This book really helps move the series along and the ending will bring into light a new twist, leaving you yearning for more. But not to worry, book 4 will be released in May.
Crispin: At the Edge of the World by Avi
This is the second book in a planned trilogy after Crispin which won the Newbery Award in 2003. This book picks up after the last one, with Crispin and Bear on the run. After they encounter someone who thinks they are a traitor they must go into hiding again. Crispin and Bear are joined by Troth, who has a cleft lip. The trio journey down to the sea, then on to Brittany where Crispin and Troth must come together and show their bravery. I had read Crispin so long ago I had forgotten the plot, which I found out wasn't too important. This book is able to be read on it's own, although I wouldn't recommend it. I didn't find it too compelling, the plot seemed a little slow to me and there was too much wandering around and changing minds (much like the middle of the 7th Harry Potter book). I think it falls into the middle-book-trilogy slump I see so often. But I am curious to see what happens next. I did, however, enjoy reading about Crispin and Troth's reactions to seeing the sea before, neither one had ever heard of it. I thought that was refreshing and an important piece of the story.
Rules by Cynthia Lord
A Newbery Honor book in 2007. "No toys in the fish tank!" Catherine's brother David is autistic and Catherine helps him out by making lists of rules for him to remember. While Catherine loves her brother, she also is embarrassed by him. When Kristi moves in next door Catherine thinks they will be best friends, but will her feelings towards David change that? Through the summer Catherine meets many people, and learns something from an unlikely source. This book is funny. I loved the lists of rules, each chapter title was one and many were mentioned throughout the book. I have conflicting feelings toward Catherine, she hates it when people stare at her brother but she has a tendency to set David apart from everyone else. Overall, it was a good book, well written and funny, but it had an insight into what it could be like to have an autistic sibling, and shows that even though you are trying to do the best for someone you may not know what that is. My favorite part was whenever David would come into Catherine's room, and her guinea pigs would start squealing. David doesn't like loud noises so he would yell "Quiet pigs!" I also found it very moving how David wouldn't know how to express his feelings so he would quote from Frog and Toad, sometimes Frog and Toad can say it all. Also, I just remembered that the author has an autistic son.
The Lost Boy by Dave Pelzer
The sequel to A Child Called It, this book follows Dave from 12 to 18, and focuses on his experiences in foster care. Dave has been saved from his abusive mother and is now placed in his first foster home. There he realizes that he is free and can whatever he wants, then proceeds to take advantage of that all while struggling with the realization that his mother doesn't love him. He creates problems and ends up getting bounced between different foster homes. This book is maybe slightly more inspirational, but not really. I mean, it's happier than the first in that there is no more abuse, the foster families really try to help him, and most care about him. I don't have a whole lot to say about this book except that it's sad that Dave has a hard time finding his place, and it's good when he finally does find a place. I think it starts to get inspirational so I'm hoping the next one really shows that.
Spud by John van de Ruit
Spud is set at a South African boys boarding school following the life of John "Spud" Milton during his first year at school, age 13. I saw this book at JB and on the cover there was a quote saying it is "South Africa's Catcher in the Rye" so I knew I had to read it. After reading Spud I can honestly say, it was a great book, but Catcher in the Rye it's not. About the only similarity it had was it was set at a boarding school. Now, it was a great book it was funny, I chuckled my way through it. It was emotional, there were a few really moving, sad moments but mostly it was funny. There were a lot of elements missing to make it Catcher in the Rye, it was more funny than insightful. Also, the writing is not as elegant as Catcher. If I had to compare it to anything I would say either The Dead Poet's Society or A Separate Peace. There is a teacher who really touches Spud and gets him into writing and reading different novels. This book is written as a diary, so you really get a lot of that thought-line and sometimes wonder "where are you going with this?" It was done as a diary very well with Spud updating throughout the day as new things happened. There were only a few times where it was annoying, when Spud wrote "dear diary" in places, it seemed unlikely that a thirteen year old boy would write that. ever. And since it is a boys' boarding school there was a lot of talk aimed towards sex, thoughts about it and such, Spud's nickname came from the fact that his balls hadn't dropped yet. So to me, being a girl there was a little more than I would've liked. All in all, it's a good laugh and a fun read just don't expect to come away moved like in Catcher. I'm looking forward to Spud: the Madness Continues.
A Brother's Journey:Surviving a Childhood of Abuse by Richard Pelzer
Noticing a theme? This book was written by David Pelzer's younger brother, Richard. When David was taken away Pelzer's mother turned all her anger and abuse towards Richard. Richard is one of the many kids who don't get saved by social services. While Richard did not suffer the same strength of abuse that David did, it still is a heartbreaking tale. Richard still had some freedom in that he was able to go outside and eat. I think it's good that one of David's brother was able to come forward and tell his tale. And it's horrible how quickly one could go from being "the little Nazi" who always told on David, to the one receiving all the abuse and wondering why no one would come save him. More present in this book was the guilt Richard felt over what happened to his brother, what he was responsible for. Unfortunately this book ends all of a sudden, with no indication that there is anything promising in the future. I believe he wrote a sequel but I feel like he's drawing it out a little too much. More than anything it angers me that social services would remove one child from the home and leave the other four.
Roller Skates by Ruth Sawyer
Won the Newbery Award in 1937. One of the more interesting older Newbery winners. Lucinda's parents are going to Italy for a year and are leaving her in the care of a teacher at her school. Lucinda welcomes becoming an "orphan" for a year and spends her time roller-skating to school and making friends wherever she goes. I thought this was a cute book, full of adventure and friendship. I can imagine really enjoying it in 1937 where many girls were expected to act like perfect young ladies. Lucinda shows that it is possible to balance having fun and still be a proper young lady. A nice read, probably enjoyed by girls who like Little House on the Prairie, Little Women, the American Girls series or any other book with a headstrong girl.
Newbery books read/out of: 47/86
Another book full of controversy. I've been meaning to read this book forever but never got around to it and it was always out at the library. And I didn't really want to be depressed. Well, it was very depressing. A Child Called It is the first book by Pelzer in a trilogy of his childhood. This book covers ages 4 to 12 while Pelzer was suffering abuse from his mother. For some reason Pelzer's mother (who drinks heavily) began hating David, and would beat him, starve him, make him sleep in the basement and wear the same clothes every day. She began calling him "the boy" or "it," eventually she began to discard him as part of the family anymore. After coming to school for years covered in bruises finally someone intervenes and David is taken from his family and placed in foster care. Now, this book will break your heart, it's sad and horrible and I can't believe NO ONE did anything to help this kid until he was 12. And of course, thank you James Frey this book is questioned constantly over the truth in it. And I'll admit there were a few things I was skeptical about (being forced to drink bleach is one of them). But that's not the issue for me. The issue is that this book is poorly written. I found myself confused with the timeline presented, the writing was sometimes childish and sometimes over educated for the perspective. I find it hard to believe that an 8 year old is having the thoughts he was presented to have. I think "grown-up" David is thinking them and pretending like he had them at age 8. But that's not real important. This book is labeled as an "inspirational story." How? What in this book is inspirational? That the kid lived? That it took the school a good 6 years before they stepped in and did anything? That people looked the other way so much they didn't want to see what was in front of them? I didn't see any inspiration in it. It's a survival story, Pelzer was able to survive by thinking one day at a time, and he was damn lucky (lucky the wound didn't get infected, etc). Since reading this one I've read the second book and I have the third in the trilogy, I'm sure the third is where the inspiration comes in but for now, it's a story of survival.
A Monstrous Regiment of Women by Laurie R. King
Sequel to The Beekeeper's Apprentice. This one is the second book telling the story of Mary Russell, in it she has finished her schooling and is only a few days away from turning 21 and inheriting her fortune. On a trip to London she runs into an old friend, they get together and Russell is introduced to a church service and Margery Childe. And of course, problems and mysteries ensue. I am beginning to love this series and can not wait to get my hands on the next one! This book is full of mystery and excitement, it kept me reading and curious long into the night. Women does not feature Holmes as much as the previous one, which is a shame, but through the lack of Holmes we are able to see Russell come into her own as a detective. A wonderful read!
The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan
This is the third book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. In Titan's Curse Percy and his friends are on their way to help rescue some half-bloods when Annabeth and Artemis are lost. Now Percy, Thalia and the Hunters must take on a quest to rescue them encountering some old and new enemies along the way. Another great book from Riordan, I always look forward to the next Percy Jackson book knowing that it will hold some dangerous quest and funny antics as the band of half-man/half-gods try to find their place in the world. This one didn't fail my expectations. I was worried about Annabeth, surprised to see Artemis, humored to meet Apollo, not so surprised to meet Luke (again) and shocked by what happened at the end! This book really helps move the series along and the ending will bring into light a new twist, leaving you yearning for more. But not to worry, book 4 will be released in May.
Crispin: At the Edge of the World by Avi
This is the second book in a planned trilogy after Crispin which won the Newbery Award in 2003. This book picks up after the last one, with Crispin and Bear on the run. After they encounter someone who thinks they are a traitor they must go into hiding again. Crispin and Bear are joined by Troth, who has a cleft lip. The trio journey down to the sea, then on to Brittany where Crispin and Troth must come together and show their bravery. I had read Crispin so long ago I had forgotten the plot, which I found out wasn't too important. This book is able to be read on it's own, although I wouldn't recommend it. I didn't find it too compelling, the plot seemed a little slow to me and there was too much wandering around and changing minds (much like the middle of the 7th Harry Potter book). I think it falls into the middle-book-trilogy slump I see so often. But I am curious to see what happens next. I did, however, enjoy reading about Crispin and Troth's reactions to seeing the sea before, neither one had ever heard of it. I thought that was refreshing and an important piece of the story.
Rules by Cynthia Lord
A Newbery Honor book in 2007. "No toys in the fish tank!" Catherine's brother David is autistic and Catherine helps him out by making lists of rules for him to remember. While Catherine loves her brother, she also is embarrassed by him. When Kristi moves in next door Catherine thinks they will be best friends, but will her feelings towards David change that? Through the summer Catherine meets many people, and learns something from an unlikely source. This book is funny. I loved the lists of rules, each chapter title was one and many were mentioned throughout the book. I have conflicting feelings toward Catherine, she hates it when people stare at her brother but she has a tendency to set David apart from everyone else. Overall, it was a good book, well written and funny, but it had an insight into what it could be like to have an autistic sibling, and shows that even though you are trying to do the best for someone you may not know what that is. My favorite part was whenever David would come into Catherine's room, and her guinea pigs would start squealing. David doesn't like loud noises so he would yell "Quiet pigs!" I also found it very moving how David wouldn't know how to express his feelings so he would quote from Frog and Toad, sometimes Frog and Toad can say it all. Also, I just remembered that the author has an autistic son.
The Lost Boy by Dave Pelzer
The sequel to A Child Called It, this book follows Dave from 12 to 18, and focuses on his experiences in foster care. Dave has been saved from his abusive mother and is now placed in his first foster home. There he realizes that he is free and can whatever he wants, then proceeds to take advantage of that all while struggling with the realization that his mother doesn't love him. He creates problems and ends up getting bounced between different foster homes. This book is maybe slightly more inspirational, but not really. I mean, it's happier than the first in that there is no more abuse, the foster families really try to help him, and most care about him. I don't have a whole lot to say about this book except that it's sad that Dave has a hard time finding his place, and it's good when he finally does find a place. I think it starts to get inspirational so I'm hoping the next one really shows that.
Spud by John van de Ruit
Spud is set at a South African boys boarding school following the life of John "Spud" Milton during his first year at school, age 13. I saw this book at JB and on the cover there was a quote saying it is "South Africa's Catcher in the Rye" so I knew I had to read it. After reading Spud I can honestly say, it was a great book, but Catcher in the Rye it's not. About the only similarity it had was it was set at a boarding school. Now, it was a great book it was funny, I chuckled my way through it. It was emotional, there were a few really moving, sad moments but mostly it was funny. There were a lot of elements missing to make it Catcher in the Rye, it was more funny than insightful. Also, the writing is not as elegant as Catcher. If I had to compare it to anything I would say either The Dead Poet's Society or A Separate Peace. There is a teacher who really touches Spud and gets him into writing and reading different novels. This book is written as a diary, so you really get a lot of that thought-line and sometimes wonder "where are you going with this?" It was done as a diary very well with Spud updating throughout the day as new things happened. There were only a few times where it was annoying, when Spud wrote "dear diary" in places, it seemed unlikely that a thirteen year old boy would write that. ever. And since it is a boys' boarding school there was a lot of talk aimed towards sex, thoughts about it and such, Spud's nickname came from the fact that his balls hadn't dropped yet. So to me, being a girl there was a little more than I would've liked. All in all, it's a good laugh and a fun read just don't expect to come away moved like in Catcher. I'm looking forward to Spud: the Madness Continues.
A Brother's Journey:Surviving a Childhood of Abuse by Richard Pelzer
Noticing a theme? This book was written by David Pelzer's younger brother, Richard. When David was taken away Pelzer's mother turned all her anger and abuse towards Richard. Richard is one of the many kids who don't get saved by social services. While Richard did not suffer the same strength of abuse that David did, it still is a heartbreaking tale. Richard still had some freedom in that he was able to go outside and eat. I think it's good that one of David's brother was able to come forward and tell his tale. And it's horrible how quickly one could go from being "the little Nazi" who always told on David, to the one receiving all the abuse and wondering why no one would come save him. More present in this book was the guilt Richard felt over what happened to his brother, what he was responsible for. Unfortunately this book ends all of a sudden, with no indication that there is anything promising in the future. I believe he wrote a sequel but I feel like he's drawing it out a little too much. More than anything it angers me that social services would remove one child from the home and leave the other four.
Roller Skates by Ruth Sawyer
Won the Newbery Award in 1937. One of the more interesting older Newbery winners. Lucinda's parents are going to Italy for a year and are leaving her in the care of a teacher at her school. Lucinda welcomes becoming an "orphan" for a year and spends her time roller-skating to school and making friends wherever she goes. I thought this was a cute book, full of adventure and friendship. I can imagine really enjoying it in 1937 where many girls were expected to act like perfect young ladies. Lucinda shows that it is possible to balance having fun and still be a proper young lady. A nice read, probably enjoyed by girls who like Little House on the Prairie, Little Women, the American Girls series or any other book with a headstrong girl.
Newbery books read/out of: 47/86
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
1001 books you MUST read
So a while ago I stumbled upon this book, 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die by Peter Boxall. Seeing as how I always enjoy lists of books I looked into it more, to see what was on the list. And what constituted books to NEED to be read. And why anyone would buy a book telling them what they NEED to read when you can do what I did and google it and find the list for free! According to amazon.com this list was put together by a team of researchers and the books were chosen because they followed the development of the novel. And "Each work of literature featured here is a seminal work key to understanding and appreciating the written word." And then it goes on to tell you that the list is not intended to be exhaustive, more of a starting point as to what to read first. Although, with 1001 books in it you'll find few people who want to tackle this project and continue reading after that. The book itself includes a critical essay on why each book was chosen and a lovely photo of the cover! Like any list this one has generated a lot of interest, groups or clubs who want to read every book on the list, like this one in goodreads.
I understand the appeal, setting out to accomplish something, checking off the books one by one until soon you are done. And you have a list to prove it! I've tried it myself. Technically I am still trying it cause I am trying to read the Newbery award winners, but I want to do that cause 1) I love children's literature and 2) I think it will help my career. Anyway, I've discovered that these lists don't work well for me. Until recently I was trying to read all the books on the 100 Best Books Rival List put out by Modern Library, I've read over half of them. A few months ago while reading The Age of Innocence I realized that I was behind in my plan (oh no!) and that I really had no desire to finish reading the books on the list. My other books were getting piled up and I felt I didn't have enough time to read them cause I was busy finishing the books on my list, books that I didn't really want to read anyway other than they were on the list! So I decided it would be in my best interest to stop reading them. If, in the future I am at a standstill of what to read, then maybe I will pick the list up again. Maybe.
As far as this new list goes, I personally don't like being told what I MUST read. Must is a pretty strong word. How does anyone know what must be read? And I'm still upset that the Bible doesn't make an appearance, honestly. When I looked at the list, I found a lot of problems with it, I haven't heard of a lot of the books, a lot of them are very recent, there were way too many books by certain authors and not any by others, all in all it's an odd list. But there are several on my "to-read" list and a few others I always meant to read but forgot about. Overall, I don't think this list is full of must reads, if you really want a list of books to read look to the Modern Library lists, both the rival and the original. They are much more manageable. And really don't let a book tell you what you should read. Isn't the important thing that people read? Interesting story, as we all know I personally love to read and do anything I can to encourage other people to read be it buying them books or recommending them. Well, earlier I was talking to an old friend, someone I haven't talked to much since I was 10. When we were younger she absolutely hated to read, wouldn't pick up a book ever. My mom got her a gift card to the bookstore for her birthday once and she spent it on toys there. Yea. And today she tells me she's started to read in the past year, and enjoys it. And it makes me happy.
And so of course, I'm curious to know what my lovely readers (all both of you) think and how many books you've read. The complete list can be found here. And there was a lovely spreadsheet someone made where you could put a mark by the ones you've read and it calculates what percent you've read and how many books you should read per year to finish the list before you "die." But whenever I tried to access this list tonight it pretty much crashed my computer. So I won't post the link. But if you do want it, I have it saved on my computer and can email it to you.
And in case you're wondering (and I'm sure you are) I've read 108 books, almost 11%.
I understand the appeal, setting out to accomplish something, checking off the books one by one until soon you are done. And you have a list to prove it! I've tried it myself. Technically I am still trying it cause I am trying to read the Newbery award winners, but I want to do that cause 1) I love children's literature and 2) I think it will help my career. Anyway, I've discovered that these lists don't work well for me. Until recently I was trying to read all the books on the 100 Best Books Rival List put out by Modern Library, I've read over half of them. A few months ago while reading The Age of Innocence I realized that I was behind in my plan (oh no!) and that I really had no desire to finish reading the books on the list. My other books were getting piled up and I felt I didn't have enough time to read them cause I was busy finishing the books on my list, books that I didn't really want to read anyway other than they were on the list! So I decided it would be in my best interest to stop reading them. If, in the future I am at a standstill of what to read, then maybe I will pick the list up again. Maybe.
As far as this new list goes, I personally don't like being told what I MUST read. Must is a pretty strong word. How does anyone know what must be read? And I'm still upset that the Bible doesn't make an appearance, honestly. When I looked at the list, I found a lot of problems with it, I haven't heard of a lot of the books, a lot of them are very recent, there were way too many books by certain authors and not any by others, all in all it's an odd list. But there are several on my "to-read" list and a few others I always meant to read but forgot about. Overall, I don't think this list is full of must reads, if you really want a list of books to read look to the Modern Library lists, both the rival and the original. They are much more manageable. And really don't let a book tell you what you should read. Isn't the important thing that people read? Interesting story, as we all know I personally love to read and do anything I can to encourage other people to read be it buying them books or recommending them. Well, earlier I was talking to an old friend, someone I haven't talked to much since I was 10. When we were younger she absolutely hated to read, wouldn't pick up a book ever. My mom got her a gift card to the bookstore for her birthday once and she spent it on toys there. Yea. And today she tells me she's started to read in the past year, and enjoys it. And it makes me happy.
And so of course, I'm curious to know what my lovely readers (all both of you) think and how many books you've read. The complete list can be found here. And there was a lovely spreadsheet someone made where you could put a mark by the ones you've read and it calculates what percent you've read and how many books you should read per year to finish the list before you "die." But whenever I tried to access this list tonight it pretty much crashed my computer. So I won't post the link. But if you do want it, I have it saved on my computer and can email it to you.
And in case you're wondering (and I'm sure you are) I've read 108 books, almost 11%.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
7 books
I haven't been reading much lately, which is pure sadness, because I've been busy being unemployed, you wouldn't believe how time consuming it is. Mainly whenever I want to read during the day I end up feeling really bad/guilty thinking that I should be looking for a job even though I already did that all morning and end up reading a chapter and giving up and watch bad TV and mess around on the Internet (because for some reason that doesn't make me feel guilty). Anyway.
Subterranean by James Rollins
Recommended to me by Adam. In Antarctica a land is discovered beneath the ice, in caves. A team of experts is sent down into the caves to discover what is down there. Unknowingly to them another team had gone down a while ago and was never seen again. In a combination rescue/ exploration mission the team discovers they are not alone. Wow. If you're in the mood for a thriller that will keep you up all night (to finish it), make you forget about dinner and make you jump at loud noises then you should read this book. I was surprised at how much I loved it but once I picked it up I couldn't put it down. I'm definitely looking forward to reading more by him.
No Talking by Andrew Clements
One my mom lent me, author of the wonderful book Frindle. At school one day Dave and Lindsey, two 5th graders in a class dubbed "The Unshushables" get into a debate over who talks more, girls or boys. In order to prove their case they decide to conduct an experiment. No talking for 24 hours(with a few exceptions). How will the teachers react when the "Unshushables" are shushed? Another amusing book by Clements. I love the way it's written and how funny it is. Clements always manages to come up with the most interesting "projects" in a school setting. And in this case, it teaches a lesson, maybe a project we should all try.
New Book of Herbs by Jekka McVicar
Another book of more than you ever need to know information about herbs, how to grow them, harvest them, cook and clean with them and preserve them. Also lists 100 herbs and their uses and where to grow them. SO much information in this book. It's very interesting, similar to A Handful of Herbs but goes into more detail.
The Doll in the Garden by Mary Downing Hahn
A much loved book by me when I was in 5th grade, saw it at Half-Price Books and had to buy it. Ashley and her mother move into a new home in a new town and find their landlady is incredibly crabby. When Ashley follows a white cat through the bushes and discovers a doll buried in the dirt a whole new world is discovered. This book is labeled as a ghost story, and yes there is a ghost in it, but it's not scary. But I loved it when I was a kid and it holds a special place in my heart. I definitely prefer Time for Andrew or Wait Til Helen Comes more.
The Subterraneans by Jack Kerouac
Written over the course of three days and three nights, The Subterraneans was generated out of the same ecstatic flash of inspiration that produced another one of Kerouac's early classic, On The Road. Centering on the tempestuous breakup of Leo Percepied and Mardou Fox--two denizens of the 1950s San Francisco underground--The Subterraneans is a tale of dark alleys and dark rooms,of artists, of visionaries. I copied this from amazon.com cause I really didn't know how to describe it. All I know is that it wasn't one of my favorite Kerouac novels. It felt too all over the place and I got very confused. At a whopping 111 pages it took me forever to read it.
Warriors: Into the Wild by Erin Hunter
Another one my mom lent me, very popular with kids these days. My mom recently got the series for her library. Rusty is a house cat who ventures into the woods one day to catch a mouse. He encounters wild cats who, instead of attacking him invite him to join their Clan. So he does. In the woods there are 4 different clans with their own territory and live mostly in peace. But recently the ShadowClan has become restless and invading other territories and ThunderClan must fight for their rights, as well as Rusty (now Firepaw) must fight to fit in. When I picked up this book I was expecting it to be a fantasy novel, but it wasn't. I was glad there wasn't a lot of fantasy in the book, who says cats can't talk to each other? And many animals are territorial so it's not hard to believe. There was a lot of interaction with different characters and a lot of adventure. The plot was pretty intense, I can see why this series is so popular. If I have a chance, I might read the rest.
Within Reach: My Everest Story by Mark Pfetzer
Following my recent interest in books about mountain climbing. The title is a little misleading, this book is not only about Pfetzer climbing Mt. Everest. It is mostly about him training and how he got interested in mountain climbing. It is very inspirational and shows that anyone can do anything if they set their mind to it. It is written in a voice that will appeal to younger kids which makes sense. I found it interesting following Mark as he climbed his first mountain, the first time he experienced defeat and every time he summited. And yes, he was on Everest when the tragedy occurred as told in Into Thin Air but he was not climbing with that group so there's not much written about it. All in all it is a pretty interesting book, a little childish but still good. I keep meaning to Google this guy and find out if he ever summited Everest (he tried twice in the book and never made it, the first due to a broken rib, the second due to the deaths of the other climbers) but I keep forgetting.
* the most recent information I could find was from 2000 and he had not been back to Everest then. Oh well.
Newbery books read/out of: 46/86
Subterranean by James Rollins
Recommended to me by Adam. In Antarctica a land is discovered beneath the ice, in caves. A team of experts is sent down into the caves to discover what is down there. Unknowingly to them another team had gone down a while ago and was never seen again. In a combination rescue/ exploration mission the team discovers they are not alone. Wow. If you're in the mood for a thriller that will keep you up all night (to finish it), make you forget about dinner and make you jump at loud noises then you should read this book. I was surprised at how much I loved it but once I picked it up I couldn't put it down. I'm definitely looking forward to reading more by him.
No Talking by Andrew Clements
One my mom lent me, author of the wonderful book Frindle. At school one day Dave and Lindsey, two 5th graders in a class dubbed "The Unshushables" get into a debate over who talks more, girls or boys. In order to prove their case they decide to conduct an experiment. No talking for 24 hours(with a few exceptions). How will the teachers react when the "Unshushables" are shushed? Another amusing book by Clements. I love the way it's written and how funny it is. Clements always manages to come up with the most interesting "projects" in a school setting. And in this case, it teaches a lesson, maybe a project we should all try.
New Book of Herbs by Jekka McVicar
Another book of more than you ever need to know information about herbs, how to grow them, harvest them, cook and clean with them and preserve them. Also lists 100 herbs and their uses and where to grow them. SO much information in this book. It's very interesting, similar to A Handful of Herbs but goes into more detail.
The Doll in the Garden by Mary Downing Hahn
A much loved book by me when I was in 5th grade, saw it at Half-Price Books and had to buy it. Ashley and her mother move into a new home in a new town and find their landlady is incredibly crabby. When Ashley follows a white cat through the bushes and discovers a doll buried in the dirt a whole new world is discovered. This book is labeled as a ghost story, and yes there is a ghost in it, but it's not scary. But I loved it when I was a kid and it holds a special place in my heart. I definitely prefer Time for Andrew or Wait Til Helen Comes more.
The Subterraneans by Jack Kerouac
Written over the course of three days and three nights, The Subterraneans was generated out of the same ecstatic flash of inspiration that produced another one of Kerouac's early classic, On The Road. Centering on the tempestuous breakup of Leo Percepied and Mardou Fox--two denizens of the 1950s San Francisco underground--The Subterraneans is a tale of dark alleys and dark rooms,of artists, of visionaries. I copied this from amazon.com cause I really didn't know how to describe it. All I know is that it wasn't one of my favorite Kerouac novels. It felt too all over the place and I got very confused. At a whopping 111 pages it took me forever to read it.
Warriors: Into the Wild by Erin Hunter
Another one my mom lent me, very popular with kids these days. My mom recently got the series for her library. Rusty is a house cat who ventures into the woods one day to catch a mouse. He encounters wild cats who, instead of attacking him invite him to join their Clan. So he does. In the woods there are 4 different clans with their own territory and live mostly in peace. But recently the ShadowClan has become restless and invading other territories and ThunderClan must fight for their rights, as well as Rusty (now Firepaw) must fight to fit in. When I picked up this book I was expecting it to be a fantasy novel, but it wasn't. I was glad there wasn't a lot of fantasy in the book, who says cats can't talk to each other? And many animals are territorial so it's not hard to believe. There was a lot of interaction with different characters and a lot of adventure. The plot was pretty intense, I can see why this series is so popular. If I have a chance, I might read the rest.
Within Reach: My Everest Story by Mark Pfetzer
Following my recent interest in books about mountain climbing. The title is a little misleading, this book is not only about Pfetzer climbing Mt. Everest. It is mostly about him training and how he got interested in mountain climbing. It is very inspirational and shows that anyone can do anything if they set their mind to it. It is written in a voice that will appeal to younger kids which makes sense. I found it interesting following Mark as he climbed his first mountain, the first time he experienced defeat and every time he summited. And yes, he was on Everest when the tragedy occurred as told in Into Thin Air but he was not climbing with that group so there's not much written about it. All in all it is a pretty interesting book, a little childish but still good. I keep meaning to Google this guy and find out if he ever summited Everest (he tried twice in the book and never made it, the first due to a broken rib, the second due to the deaths of the other climbers) but I keep forgetting.
* the most recent information I could find was from 2000 and he had not been back to Everest then. Oh well.
Newbery books read/out of: 46/86
Sunday, March 23, 2008
4 books
The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King
A friend of mine recommended I read this book ages ago but I either could never find it or kept forgetting who wrote it. This is about Sherlock Holmes and his partner Mary Russell. This book is about them meeting and Mary becoming his apprentice and eventually his partner. It focuses on Mary and her relationships. I'm sad that I waited this long to read this book! It was awesome. I was happy to read something exciting and fast-paced. It was definitely one of those books where you want to curl up on the couch and spend the entire night reading. It was a nice break after reading Bryson's Shakespeare book. I can't wait to read the rest of the series.
Physik by Angie Sage
This is the third book in the Septimus Heap series following Magyk and Flyte. The series follows Septimus Heap, the seventh son of a seventh son and his training as the Apprentice to the ExtraOrdinary wizard. In this book Septimus discovers alchemie and gets tricked into traveling back in time to assist an alchemist. But now he must figure out how to get back to his Time. Yes, this series is for kids, but it's very interesting. Each book gets better and better. The story is very well told and each one leaves you anticipating the next one. There is a lot of depth in the stories even though they are for kids.
M.C. Higgins, the Great by Virginia Hamilton
Won the Newbery in 1975. There is a lot more depth to this story than the simple plot. I'm not going to try and explain all the deeper meanings to it. It tells the story of M.C. who's family lives on a mountain and M.C. dreams about leaving and having a better life off of the mountain. Two visitors arrive at the mountain and through them we discover M.C.s thoughts and feelings. There was a lot more to this book than I expected, and it was written wonderfully. The reader is really able to feel what M.C. goes through, his loneliness, his desire for a better life and his anger towards his father. An excellent book.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
Christopher discovers his neighbor's dog in the backyard, and everyone believes he is the culprit. Christopher decides to become a detective and try to find out who really killed the dog. In the course of his investigation he uncovers more mysteries then he planned for. The book is read as written by Christopher, a fifteen year old who has "development disorders," which is never actually stated what he has but the signs point to autism or Asperger's. I really liked the way the book was written, everything was blunt and to the point, stated as a fact. He really likes prime numbers so the chapters were all prime numbers (which confused me at first cause I really wondered where chapter 1 was). It was a really quick read, and an interesting story.
Newbery books read/out of: 46/86
A friend of mine recommended I read this book ages ago but I either could never find it or kept forgetting who wrote it. This is about Sherlock Holmes and his partner Mary Russell. This book is about them meeting and Mary becoming his apprentice and eventually his partner. It focuses on Mary and her relationships. I'm sad that I waited this long to read this book! It was awesome. I was happy to read something exciting and fast-paced. It was definitely one of those books where you want to curl up on the couch and spend the entire night reading. It was a nice break after reading Bryson's Shakespeare book. I can't wait to read the rest of the series.
Physik by Angie Sage
This is the third book in the Septimus Heap series following Magyk and Flyte. The series follows Septimus Heap, the seventh son of a seventh son and his training as the Apprentice to the ExtraOrdinary wizard. In this book Septimus discovers alchemie and gets tricked into traveling back in time to assist an alchemist. But now he must figure out how to get back to his Time. Yes, this series is for kids, but it's very interesting. Each book gets better and better. The story is very well told and each one leaves you anticipating the next one. There is a lot of depth in the stories even though they are for kids.
M.C. Higgins, the Great by Virginia Hamilton
Won the Newbery in 1975. There is a lot more depth to this story than the simple plot. I'm not going to try and explain all the deeper meanings to it. It tells the story of M.C. who's family lives on a mountain and M.C. dreams about leaving and having a better life off of the mountain. Two visitors arrive at the mountain and through them we discover M.C.s thoughts and feelings. There was a lot more to this book than I expected, and it was written wonderfully. The reader is really able to feel what M.C. goes through, his loneliness, his desire for a better life and his anger towards his father. An excellent book.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
Christopher discovers his neighbor's dog in the backyard, and everyone believes he is the culprit. Christopher decides to become a detective and try to find out who really killed the dog. In the course of his investigation he uncovers more mysteries then he planned for. The book is read as written by Christopher, a fifteen year old who has "development disorders," which is never actually stated what he has but the signs point to autism or Asperger's. I really liked the way the book was written, everything was blunt and to the point, stated as a fact. He really likes prime numbers so the chapters were all prime numbers (which confused me at first cause I really wondered where chapter 1 was). It was a really quick read, and an interesting story.
Newbery books read/out of: 46/86
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
reviews, reviews
Whoa, it's been forever, of course I have tons of books I've read in the past couple of weeks, so away we go!
The Mark of Zorro- Johnston McCulley
Ah, the original Zorro book, and what a great book it is! This is the story of Zorro and his first adventures and how he fell in love. I really enjoyed the swashbuckling parts, although the way the book was written, there was no way to have sequel after sequel since Zorro reveals who he is at the end. If you were unfamiliar with the story of Zorro then this book would amaze you, it really keeps you guessing as to who Zorro really is and if you were reading this book when it was first released then it would be suspenseful. But still, it was a great book. Although, I read Zorro by Allende first and that may have been a mistake because I had a picture of Zorro in my mind and I have to admit the two do not fit together very well. But of course, Allende's work was written WAY after McCulley's so she was in the wrong I suppose. If you're in the mood for an adventure read this!
Prep- Curtis Sittenfeld
This is the story of Lee, a teenager from Indiana who secures a scholarship to the prestigious boarding school, Ault. It follows her through her 4 years at school, focusing only on school life and mostly explores her emotions dealing with the fact that she is poor and almost everyone else is rich. I liked the beginning of this book, I thought it was interesting. When I was younger I dreamt of going to boarding school, it always sounded so exclusive and neat so I thought it would be like my dreams realized, or something like that. But alas, I quickly grew tired of how incredibly annoying Lee was. She really didn't try to make any friends there, and acted like she despised the school the entire time she was there. She really made me mad with the way she acted. The book itself was pretty interesting, but the main character annoyed me. This book recently caused some controversy in the news after a 12 year old brought it home from school. Now I thought it was an interesting book, but it has no place in a school, not even a high school. This is an adult book and the sex scenes in it are very graphic. What were they thinking?
The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread by Kate DiCamillo
Won the Newbery in 2004. Like the title says this is a story about a mouse. This is about a mouse who doesn't act like a mouse, he gets banned from his pack and sent to survive in the dungeons, where the rats are. While in the dungeons he discovers a plot to kill the princess and he decides he must save her (cause he's in love with her). A very cute story. It was divided into 3 different points of view so you end up with a similar story from different points of view and eventually they meet up. I was really worried this would be like Redwall which I loathe with a passion. But the story was very interesting and I can see how kids enjoy it.
The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd
14 year old Lily lives with her father on a farm with just her nanny to keep her company. She longs for her mother and a happy life. All she has to remember her mother is a black Madonna with Tiburon, SC written on the back. So she sets off to find out more of her past. She and her nanny end up at a beekeeper's house living with 3 sisters trying to learn more about her mother. I enjoyed this book and the relationships in it. I loved reading the interactions between the three sisters. I also liked how Lily didn't seem to see color when she looked at people and didn't really understand why it mattered so much to other people.
The Panama Hat Trail - Tom Miller
I discovered this book through National Geographic, and since I like travel writing, bought it. The author decides to follow the production of panama hats. He believes that writing a travel writing book is more interesting if you have a particular topic to focus on (plus a little weird writing an entire book about hats). And yes, Panama hats are made in Ecuador, not Panama. Anyway, I thought it was a good look at the culture of Ecuador and I learned way more than I ever wanted to know about Panama hats.
The Age of Innocence - Edith Wharton
#42 on the ML Rival List. Set in NY in the 1870s this is high-society at its best. Basically it's about Newland Archer, set to marry his sweetheart May, but falls in love with her cousin Ellen and must decide whether to follow his heart or live up to everyone's expectations. I think I thought I would like this book more than I actually did. I've always enjoyed Austen's books and the Bronte's so I figured this would be similar in style. The story was kind of interesting, but it seemed really slow even for this kind of novel. I just felt like nothing really happened. It was pretty frustrating getting through it.
Falling Leaves - Adeline Yen Mah
I read Chinese Cinderella, which tells mainly of Mah's childhood, a while ago and enjoyed it so I thought I would read the whole story of Mah's life. This is a memoir of Mah's life. Her mother died giving birth to her, her father later remarried and had 2 more children. Pretty much everyone in the family disliked her. While growing up Mah was treated different from her siblings, especially her half-siblings. This provides a good look into what a horrible life Mah led and all the trials she endured while growing up. Then when she was an adult, thinking all the problems had gone away they appeared again with the death of her father. You can't help but feel sorry for Mah when you read the book, especially as an adult when she continually tries to please her father and step-mother. A good book, but I liked all the little stories from her childhood in Chinese Cinderella that didn't make the cut in this one.
A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal, 1830-1832 by Joan W. Blos
Won the Newbery in 1980. Another journal style Newbery winner, this one about Catherine Cabot Hall living with her father and sister in New Hampshire on their farm. During the novel Catherine encounters death, runaway slaves and the remarriage of her father. I think it was written well, it read like a child wrote it. And like a child, she picked random things to write about that most adults wouldn't think were important, so it was "realistic" as a journal. Not the best Newbery winner, it was kind of a slow read. I'm noticing a lot of historical fiction books winning the Newbery.
American Born Chinese - Gene Luen Yang
Won the Printz Award in 2007. It created a controversy when it won cause it's *gasp* a comic book (graphic novel, whatev.)! It's good to see that awards aren't being restricted so much anymore. By the way, the Printz Award is the award for best literature written for young adults. It's also fairly recent, the first award being given out in 2000. American Born Chinese is 3 stories that at first seem to have nothing in common but at the end they tie together. There's 3 plots, the story of the Monkey King in Chinese folklore, the story of Jin Wang a the only Chinese American in his class, and the story of Danny and his Chinese cousin Chin-Kee who comes to visit once a year and ruins Danny's life. It's a very interesting book and the illustrations are awesome. I think I was surprised how much I enjoyed it, I don't usually go for comic books but I just love controversy.
Shakespeare: The World as Stage by Bill Bryson
I wanted to read this mainly because it's written by Bryson, whom I love. I figured it would be different from most of his books being as it is a biography but I thought I would still be able to find a lot of his humor in it that I love. The bio was interesting, there's not a lot of known facts about Shakespeare but it was interesting finding out things I didn't know previously. But overall it wasn't very Bryson-y, not much of his humor and wit present. But it was informative so it's all good.
A Handful of Herbs by Barbara Segall
A book all about herbs and herb gardens. It covers some popular herbs, where to plant them and what they are most used for, how to plant herbs and what you can use herbs for. It also has some recipes at the end. This book has made me incredibly excited to plant my herb garden this spring. It also makes me want to be "homely" than I really am and make sachets and oils and creams using herbs. Yea. That's going to happen.
Whew!
I need to update this more often, that was long!
Newbery books read/out of: 45/86
The Mark of Zorro- Johnston McCulley
Ah, the original Zorro book, and what a great book it is! This is the story of Zorro and his first adventures and how he fell in love. I really enjoyed the swashbuckling parts, although the way the book was written, there was no way to have sequel after sequel since Zorro reveals who he is at the end. If you were unfamiliar with the story of Zorro then this book would amaze you, it really keeps you guessing as to who Zorro really is and if you were reading this book when it was first released then it would be suspenseful. But still, it was a great book. Although, I read Zorro by Allende first and that may have been a mistake because I had a picture of Zorro in my mind and I have to admit the two do not fit together very well. But of course, Allende's work was written WAY after McCulley's so she was in the wrong I suppose. If you're in the mood for an adventure read this!
Prep- Curtis Sittenfeld
This is the story of Lee, a teenager from Indiana who secures a scholarship to the prestigious boarding school, Ault. It follows her through her 4 years at school, focusing only on school life and mostly explores her emotions dealing with the fact that she is poor and almost everyone else is rich. I liked the beginning of this book, I thought it was interesting. When I was younger I dreamt of going to boarding school, it always sounded so exclusive and neat so I thought it would be like my dreams realized, or something like that. But alas, I quickly grew tired of how incredibly annoying Lee was. She really didn't try to make any friends there, and acted like she despised the school the entire time she was there. She really made me mad with the way she acted. The book itself was pretty interesting, but the main character annoyed me. This book recently caused some controversy in the news after a 12 year old brought it home from school. Now I thought it was an interesting book, but it has no place in a school, not even a high school. This is an adult book and the sex scenes in it are very graphic. What were they thinking?
The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread by Kate DiCamillo
Won the Newbery in 2004. Like the title says this is a story about a mouse. This is about a mouse who doesn't act like a mouse, he gets banned from his pack and sent to survive in the dungeons, where the rats are. While in the dungeons he discovers a plot to kill the princess and he decides he must save her (cause he's in love with her). A very cute story. It was divided into 3 different points of view so you end up with a similar story from different points of view and eventually they meet up. I was really worried this would be like Redwall which I loathe with a passion. But the story was very interesting and I can see how kids enjoy it.
The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd
14 year old Lily lives with her father on a farm with just her nanny to keep her company. She longs for her mother and a happy life. All she has to remember her mother is a black Madonna with Tiburon, SC written on the back. So she sets off to find out more of her past. She and her nanny end up at a beekeeper's house living with 3 sisters trying to learn more about her mother. I enjoyed this book and the relationships in it. I loved reading the interactions between the three sisters. I also liked how Lily didn't seem to see color when she looked at people and didn't really understand why it mattered so much to other people.
The Panama Hat Trail - Tom Miller
I discovered this book through National Geographic, and since I like travel writing, bought it. The author decides to follow the production of panama hats. He believes that writing a travel writing book is more interesting if you have a particular topic to focus on (plus a little weird writing an entire book about hats). And yes, Panama hats are made in Ecuador, not Panama. Anyway, I thought it was a good look at the culture of Ecuador and I learned way more than I ever wanted to know about Panama hats.
The Age of Innocence - Edith Wharton
#42 on the ML Rival List. Set in NY in the 1870s this is high-society at its best. Basically it's about Newland Archer, set to marry his sweetheart May, but falls in love with her cousin Ellen and must decide whether to follow his heart or live up to everyone's expectations. I think I thought I would like this book more than I actually did. I've always enjoyed Austen's books and the Bronte's so I figured this would be similar in style. The story was kind of interesting, but it seemed really slow even for this kind of novel. I just felt like nothing really happened. It was pretty frustrating getting through it.
Falling Leaves - Adeline Yen Mah
I read Chinese Cinderella, which tells mainly of Mah's childhood, a while ago and enjoyed it so I thought I would read the whole story of Mah's life. This is a memoir of Mah's life. Her mother died giving birth to her, her father later remarried and had 2 more children. Pretty much everyone in the family disliked her. While growing up Mah was treated different from her siblings, especially her half-siblings. This provides a good look into what a horrible life Mah led and all the trials she endured while growing up. Then when she was an adult, thinking all the problems had gone away they appeared again with the death of her father. You can't help but feel sorry for Mah when you read the book, especially as an adult when she continually tries to please her father and step-mother. A good book, but I liked all the little stories from her childhood in Chinese Cinderella that didn't make the cut in this one.
A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal, 1830-1832 by Joan W. Blos
Won the Newbery in 1980. Another journal style Newbery winner, this one about Catherine Cabot Hall living with her father and sister in New Hampshire on their farm. During the novel Catherine encounters death, runaway slaves and the remarriage of her father. I think it was written well, it read like a child wrote it. And like a child, she picked random things to write about that most adults wouldn't think were important, so it was "realistic" as a journal. Not the best Newbery winner, it was kind of a slow read. I'm noticing a lot of historical fiction books winning the Newbery.
American Born Chinese - Gene Luen Yang
Won the Printz Award in 2007. It created a controversy when it won cause it's *gasp* a comic book (graphic novel, whatev.)! It's good to see that awards aren't being restricted so much anymore. By the way, the Printz Award is the award for best literature written for young adults. It's also fairly recent, the first award being given out in 2000. American Born Chinese is 3 stories that at first seem to have nothing in common but at the end they tie together. There's 3 plots, the story of the Monkey King in Chinese folklore, the story of Jin Wang a the only Chinese American in his class, and the story of Danny and his Chinese cousin Chin-Kee who comes to visit once a year and ruins Danny's life. It's a very interesting book and the illustrations are awesome. I think I was surprised how much I enjoyed it, I don't usually go for comic books but I just love controversy.
Shakespeare: The World as Stage by Bill Bryson
I wanted to read this mainly because it's written by Bryson, whom I love. I figured it would be different from most of his books being as it is a biography but I thought I would still be able to find a lot of his humor in it that I love. The bio was interesting, there's not a lot of known facts about Shakespeare but it was interesting finding out things I didn't know previously. But overall it wasn't very Bryson-y, not much of his humor and wit present. But it was informative so it's all good.
A Handful of Herbs by Barbara Segall
A book all about herbs and herb gardens. It covers some popular herbs, where to plant them and what they are most used for, how to plant herbs and what you can use herbs for. It also has some recipes at the end. This book has made me incredibly excited to plant my herb garden this spring. It also makes me want to be "homely" than I really am and make sachets and oils and creams using herbs. Yea. That's going to happen.
Whew!
I need to update this more often, that was long!
Newbery books read/out of: 45/86
Sunday, February 17, 2008
it took me a while to get this up
First, I have a question.... last week I read Into Thin Air, about a group climbing Mt. Everest and the tragedy that occurred there (19 people were stranded when a freak storm blew in). And I was wondering if anyone knew of other books about mountain climbing/ rock climbing out there? They don't have to be about that particular event (although I know there are a lot out there about then) and actually, they don't even have to be non-fiction, I recently read another book called Peak about climbing Everest. And I'm interested in reading more climbing type books.
Anyway, on to my reviews.
Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
#62 on Radcliffe's 100 Best Rival List.
This is the story of The Divers, Dick and Nicole and Rosemary, an actress on vacation in France who meets and falls in love with Dick. This book deals a lot with Dick and Nicole's relationship and the problems Nicole has. This is definitely my least favorite Fitzgerald so far. I thought at the beginning it was pretty interesting, but soon I got bored and confused. It seemed to jump around a lot, and it just wasn't horribly interesting. Maybe I was expecting too much from all the other reviews I've heard. I do have to admit that the actual language and descriptions were written well, like in other Fitzgerald books. Just not my favorite.
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer
Like I said above this is the account of the 1996 disaster on Everest when 8 people died on the summit. Krakauer had been sent there to do an article for Outside magazine and happened to be in the group that lost both of its guides. There was also an IMAX crew on the mountain and the events are also in the IMAX movie about Everest. I've read other books about Everest and seen several documentaries, enough so I never want to climb the mountain myself, but this book was horrifying. I couldn't imagine going through what these people went through. It was as amazing book.
The High King by Lloyd Alexander
The last book of The Chronicles of Prydain, also won the Newbery Medal in 1969 (although I'm not sure how). After suffering through The Book of Three and The Black Cauldron I decided I couldn't take anymore and skipped to the last book in the series. This one tells the final story of Taran and his friends as they try to defeat Arawn for the last time. What bothered me most in this series of novels was how incredibly annoying Taran was. But I have to admit he wasn't near as annoying in this one, but still, I wanted him to die. It was a boring and fairly predictable book and I would not recommend this series to anyone.
Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman
Won the Newbery Medal in 1989. This is a book of poems designed to be read by two people at the same time. They are all about insects. It's actually a very cute book. I enjoyed reading the poems myself, but I can imagine it would be a lot of fun reading them with someone else. It seems like a nice thing to do in a classroom. And it has a lot of interesting information about insects.
Newbery books read/out of: 43/86
Anyway, on to my reviews.
Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
#62 on Radcliffe's 100 Best Rival List.
This is the story of The Divers, Dick and Nicole and Rosemary, an actress on vacation in France who meets and falls in love with Dick. This book deals a lot with Dick and Nicole's relationship and the problems Nicole has. This is definitely my least favorite Fitzgerald so far. I thought at the beginning it was pretty interesting, but soon I got bored and confused. It seemed to jump around a lot, and it just wasn't horribly interesting. Maybe I was expecting too much from all the other reviews I've heard. I do have to admit that the actual language and descriptions were written well, like in other Fitzgerald books. Just not my favorite.
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer
Like I said above this is the account of the 1996 disaster on Everest when 8 people died on the summit. Krakauer had been sent there to do an article for Outside magazine and happened to be in the group that lost both of its guides. There was also an IMAX crew on the mountain and the events are also in the IMAX movie about Everest. I've read other books about Everest and seen several documentaries, enough so I never want to climb the mountain myself, but this book was horrifying. I couldn't imagine going through what these people went through. It was as amazing book.
The High King by Lloyd Alexander
The last book of The Chronicles of Prydain, also won the Newbery Medal in 1969 (although I'm not sure how). After suffering through The Book of Three and The Black Cauldron I decided I couldn't take anymore and skipped to the last book in the series. This one tells the final story of Taran and his friends as they try to defeat Arawn for the last time. What bothered me most in this series of novels was how incredibly annoying Taran was. But I have to admit he wasn't near as annoying in this one, but still, I wanted him to die. It was a boring and fairly predictable book and I would not recommend this series to anyone.
Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman
Won the Newbery Medal in 1989. This is a book of poems designed to be read by two people at the same time. They are all about insects. It's actually a very cute book. I enjoyed reading the poems myself, but I can imagine it would be a lot of fun reading them with someone else. It seems like a nice thing to do in a classroom. And it has a lot of interesting information about insects.
Newbery books read/out of: 43/86
Saturday, February 9, 2008
so many books
Geez, I've read like 10 books since last updating, so I'll keep it kinda short.
A Great and Terrible Beauty & Rebel Angels by Libba Bray
These are the first two books in the Gemma Doyle trilogy. The second one I am still reading, but they are both AMAZING. They tell the story of Gemma Doyle, who after her mother is killed is enrolled in an English boarding school where she learns more about who she is, who her mother was and discovers the magic of "the order" all while learning how to be a proper woman. I bought the first one because it was described as a shivering curl up under the covers kind of book. While I may not go so far as to agree with that, it was definitely worth reading and I look forward to the third book!
Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston
Another book on my 100 best list. This book tells teh story of Janie Crawford and her life in Florida and follows her through 3 marriages. It was an interesting book, I've never read it before but I am glad that I did. I know it's really known for the way the dialogue was written, but it drove me crazy. I felt like I spent the majority of the time trying to figure out what everyone was saying. Usually when I read a book written in different kind of dialect after a while I get used to it, but that never did happen. But still, it was interesting overall.
Out of the Dust- Karen Hesse
Won the Newbery Medal in 1998. This is the story of Billie Joe and her family living in Oklahoma during the Depression. Tragedy strikes and Billie Joe must find a way to pull through. The main thing that stands out in this book was that it reads as if it is Billie Joe's diary, all her thoughts and feelings no matter how small are told here. And it is written in verse. So it reads pretty quickly. It's a sad story, told in an interesting way.
Confessions of a Prep School Mommy Handler - Wade Rouse
This is a memior from Rouse's time working at a private school in public relations and the crazy mothers he has to deal with. I thought it would be really funny, but it was only somewhat amusing. It deals with no matter how bad morals the mothers have and how against them Rouse is he is still able to fall into their club. He is tempted by what they have to offer. It was decent.
A Visit to William Blake's Inn - Nancy Willard
Won the Newbery Medal in 1982, Caldecott Honor in 1982. This is a book of poems inspired by William Blake. It basically tells the story of visiting Blake's inn full of animals and other odd things. It is fairly interesting but I think I much more enjoyed the illustrations. They were pretty cool.
Life of Pi - Yann Martel
The story of Pi, a zookeeper's son who on the way to Canda from India his family's ship sinks and he ends up stranded in a lifeboat with a tiger, a wounded zebra, a hyena and an orangutan. What an interesting book! I loved the story and the could not put it down! I don't have much more to say on it, except that it is very enjoyable and everyone should read it.
The Hero and the Crown- Robin McKinley
Won the Newbery Medal in 1985. This is a fantasy novel about Aerin who longs to be a dragon slayer. It really is a typical fantasy novel in which the daughter of the king lacks some sort of "gift" that she should have, her mother is dead and she is trying to find a place where she can fit in. Even though it is a commonly found story, the book was interesting enough. It wasn't amazing but it was decent. There were some odd parts though. And the Lexington Public Library really needs to get a new copy with a decent cover. Honestly I don't know how anyone checks it out with that horrible 80s cover.
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan- Lisa See
The story of Lily and Snow Flower, daughters in China who become laotong, same sisters. They basically become friends for life, cause typically in Chinese culture when a daughter marrys out she stops talking to her old friends and makes new ones. This tells of their relationship from when they were children with the feet newly bound until their falling out at old age. It was an amazing book. I recommend it for everyone. It seems that books involving Chinese fiction is popular these days (Memoirs of a Geisha and the like), but this one is a definite must read. I still cringe with pain thinking of the descriptions of the foot binding.
Notes from a Small Island - Bill Bryson
Talking with Jill about Bryson's books made me want to re-read some of his and seeing as how I didn't own this one I decided I should get it. Bryson and his family are preparing to move from England back to the US, and before they go Bryson wants one last tour of England. It just makes me laugh. I've always had an obbession with England and British things so it makes it even more interesting for me. There was one part I was reading at home, about Bryson asking for directions from someone and the man kept responding "it's a boose you need" and I was cracking up. Luis finally asked what I was laughing at, so I started reading it aloud to him but I never could get all the way through I was laughing so hard. Ah, good times.
And there, that's all of them, until tomorrow at least.
Newbery books read/out of: 41/86
A Great and Terrible Beauty & Rebel Angels by Libba Bray
These are the first two books in the Gemma Doyle trilogy. The second one I am still reading, but they are both AMAZING. They tell the story of Gemma Doyle, who after her mother is killed is enrolled in an English boarding school where she learns more about who she is, who her mother was and discovers the magic of "the order" all while learning how to be a proper woman. I bought the first one because it was described as a shivering curl up under the covers kind of book. While I may not go so far as to agree with that, it was definitely worth reading and I look forward to the third book!
Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston
Another book on my 100 best list. This book tells teh story of Janie Crawford and her life in Florida and follows her through 3 marriages. It was an interesting book, I've never read it before but I am glad that I did. I know it's really known for the way the dialogue was written, but it drove me crazy. I felt like I spent the majority of the time trying to figure out what everyone was saying. Usually when I read a book written in different kind of dialect after a while I get used to it, but that never did happen. But still, it was interesting overall.
Out of the Dust- Karen Hesse
Won the Newbery Medal in 1998. This is the story of Billie Joe and her family living in Oklahoma during the Depression. Tragedy strikes and Billie Joe must find a way to pull through. The main thing that stands out in this book was that it reads as if it is Billie Joe's diary, all her thoughts and feelings no matter how small are told here. And it is written in verse. So it reads pretty quickly. It's a sad story, told in an interesting way.
Confessions of a Prep School Mommy Handler - Wade Rouse
This is a memior from Rouse's time working at a private school in public relations and the crazy mothers he has to deal with. I thought it would be really funny, but it was only somewhat amusing. It deals with no matter how bad morals the mothers have and how against them Rouse is he is still able to fall into their club. He is tempted by what they have to offer. It was decent.
A Visit to William Blake's Inn - Nancy Willard
Won the Newbery Medal in 1982, Caldecott Honor in 1982. This is a book of poems inspired by William Blake. It basically tells the story of visiting Blake's inn full of animals and other odd things. It is fairly interesting but I think I much more enjoyed the illustrations. They were pretty cool.
Life of Pi - Yann Martel
The story of Pi, a zookeeper's son who on the way to Canda from India his family's ship sinks and he ends up stranded in a lifeboat with a tiger, a wounded zebra, a hyena and an orangutan. What an interesting book! I loved the story and the could not put it down! I don't have much more to say on it, except that it is very enjoyable and everyone should read it.
The Hero and the Crown- Robin McKinley
Won the Newbery Medal in 1985. This is a fantasy novel about Aerin who longs to be a dragon slayer. It really is a typical fantasy novel in which the daughter of the king lacks some sort of "gift" that she should have, her mother is dead and she is trying to find a place where she can fit in. Even though it is a commonly found story, the book was interesting enough. It wasn't amazing but it was decent. There were some odd parts though. And the Lexington Public Library really needs to get a new copy with a decent cover. Honestly I don't know how anyone checks it out with that horrible 80s cover.
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan- Lisa See
The story of Lily and Snow Flower, daughters in China who become laotong, same sisters. They basically become friends for life, cause typically in Chinese culture when a daughter marrys out she stops talking to her old friends and makes new ones. This tells of their relationship from when they were children with the feet newly bound until their falling out at old age. It was an amazing book. I recommend it for everyone. It seems that books involving Chinese fiction is popular these days (Memoirs of a Geisha and the like), but this one is a definite must read. I still cringe with pain thinking of the descriptions of the foot binding.
Notes from a Small Island - Bill Bryson
Talking with Jill about Bryson's books made me want to re-read some of his and seeing as how I didn't own this one I decided I should get it. Bryson and his family are preparing to move from England back to the US, and before they go Bryson wants one last tour of England. It just makes me laugh. I've always had an obbession with England and British things so it makes it even more interesting for me. There was one part I was reading at home, about Bryson asking for directions from someone and the man kept responding "it's a boose you need" and I was cracking up. Luis finally asked what I was laughing at, so I started reading it aloud to him but I never could get all the way through I was laughing so hard. Ah, good times.
And there, that's all of them, until tomorrow at least.
Newbery books read/out of: 41/86
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
paperbackswap
So last night I joined www.paperbackswap.com in another attempt to try and save some money (the library and used book stores and amazon being the other attempts). Basically with paperbackswap you list books that you own that are in good condition that you don't want anymore. When other members find a book that they want that you posted they request it. You send it to them, and pay for postage. But for every book you send you get one credit. Also, when you post 10 books (the first time) you get 2 credits to start. One credit buys you a book from someone else. And the person you receive your book from pays for shipping the book. All you end up paying for is to ship books you send out. Pretty neat, huh? Well I scoured my bookshelves and found about 20 books that I dislike and don't really need to keep around. So last night I listed them and today I am shipping THREE books out and I just checked my email and found FOUR more requests for my books. Wow. My plan was to be a member until I get rid of the books I don't want, but that may not last too long. We'll see. Anyway, I'm really excited to get my books I ordered and soon I'll be able to get SEVEN more!
Saturday, January 26, 2008
yay!
So, I'm a little late on this, but the title and release date of the next book in the Inheritance series has been released. Brisingr follows Eragon and Eldest written by Christopher Paolini, and will be released on September 20th! Yay! At Amazon there is a little video from the author which, while riddled with jump cuts tells how originially this was set to be a trilogy with Brisingr being the last book. But in writing the book he decided it was too long and decided to split it into two. So now it will be a "cycle." I'm not sure how I feel about this, on one hand it's kinda exciting cause I really like these books. But on the other, I don't want the book to just end in the middle of something. I don't want it to be a huge cliffhanger. But I'm excited for the book to come out anyway, except I'm going to need to re-read the other 2.
Bud, Not Buddy/ The Black Cauldron
Someone at work commented on how recently the majority of the books I've been reading have been kids books. Sadly I realized that this is true, mainly because the "adult" books I really want to read I want to buy, and I'm trying to save some money by reading library books. So I've basically been reading Newbery winners and such. Although, considering the last "adult" book I read was Beloved and I read it last weekend, in perspective to how much normal people read, that's pretty good. Anyway, the past few days I read another Newbery winner and a Newbery Honor Medal (only because it was the next in the series leading up to a Newbery Medal).
Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis. Won the Newbery Medal in 2000.
This is about Bud who, after his mother dies is placed in an orphanage. Bud never knew who his father was but he always had a suspicion that he was a musician after seeing his mother react to fliers advertising this jazz band. After Bud gets into trouble in a foster home he decides its time to go and find his real father. This book was so good. It was very entertaining. It takes place during the Depression and you can tell that while Bud has an idea of the Depression (he knows there's not enough food and beds for everyone) but he doesn't have a good idea of how bad everything really is. During the book he encounters a Hooverville, he tries to hop on a train and decides to walk from Flint, MI to Grand Rapids. It was interesting to read about the Depression, but it wasn't boring with Bud's crazy ideas. I also liked how 2 of the main characters were based on the authors grandparents. Definitely a good book to read. Also to note, in addition to his Medal winner in 2000, Curtis received an Honor Medal in 2008 for Elijah of Buxton and in 1996 for The Watsons Go to Birmingham: 1963.
The Black Cauldron by Lloyd Alexander Newbery Honor Medal in 1966.
The Black Cauldron is the 2nd book in The Chronicles of Prydain. This one continues the adventures of Taran and his friends while they are searching for the black cauldron so they can destroy it before Arawn gets it. I'll spare you the details though. Man, was this book painful to read. At the end of The Book of Three I thought for sure that Taran had grown some, that he wouldn't be so annoying and try to keep all the glory for himself. I was wrong. Two chapters into this book I hated him once again. I really wanted him to crawl into the cauldron to destroy it. The main reason I started reading this series was to read The High King, which won the Newbery Medal. I've heard from other people that you can read just the last book and it will still make sense, I may not be able to make it through the next 2 books, especially Taran Wanderer. I may have to just skip to the last one.
Newbery Books Read/Out Of: 38/86
Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis. Won the Newbery Medal in 2000.
This is about Bud who, after his mother dies is placed in an orphanage. Bud never knew who his father was but he always had a suspicion that he was a musician after seeing his mother react to fliers advertising this jazz band. After Bud gets into trouble in a foster home he decides its time to go and find his real father. This book was so good. It was very entertaining. It takes place during the Depression and you can tell that while Bud has an idea of the Depression (he knows there's not enough food and beds for everyone) but he doesn't have a good idea of how bad everything really is. During the book he encounters a Hooverville, he tries to hop on a train and decides to walk from Flint, MI to Grand Rapids. It was interesting to read about the Depression, but it wasn't boring with Bud's crazy ideas. I also liked how 2 of the main characters were based on the authors grandparents. Definitely a good book to read. Also to note, in addition to his Medal winner in 2000, Curtis received an Honor Medal in 2008 for Elijah of Buxton and in 1996 for The Watsons Go to Birmingham: 1963.
The Black Cauldron by Lloyd Alexander Newbery Honor Medal in 1966.
The Black Cauldron is the 2nd book in The Chronicles of Prydain. This one continues the adventures of Taran and his friends while they are searching for the black cauldron so they can destroy it before Arawn gets it. I'll spare you the details though. Man, was this book painful to read. At the end of The Book of Three I thought for sure that Taran had grown some, that he wouldn't be so annoying and try to keep all the glory for himself. I was wrong. Two chapters into this book I hated him once again. I really wanted him to crawl into the cauldron to destroy it. The main reason I started reading this series was to read The High King, which won the Newbery Medal. I've heard from other people that you can read just the last book and it will still make sense, I may not be able to make it through the next 2 books, especially Taran Wanderer. I may have to just skip to the last one.
Newbery Books Read/Out Of: 38/86
Sunday, January 20, 2008
gotta love the weekend
You gotta love doing nothing at work, as it is the weekend I have nothing to do (cause Ignite now does my job) so I've been reading like crazy. Today I read 2 more books, The Book of Three and Young Zorro: The Iron Brand.
The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander
So this is the first book in The Chronicles of Prydain, and seeing as how the last book in the series, The High King is a Newbery winner I figured I'd read the whole series, and seeing as how I usually like fantasy-quest type books, it was probably a good decision. Anyway, this book is the story of Taran, the Assistant Pig Keeper who, when the famous pig gets out tries to chase it down, runs into Prince Gwydion and joins him on his quest (which more or less is the same as Taran's). Overall, it was a pretty interesting book. Taran is obsessed with being a hero and that often gets him into trouble, but over the course of the book he becomes better at thinking before he acts and not trying to take credit for everything (but he is still kinda annoying). Overall, I think it is a good start to a series, but I'm curious as to what will happen next.
Young Zorro: The Iron Brand by Diego Vega (but really by Jan Adkins)
So I've been in love with Zorro since I was a kid watching the tv show late at nights on Disney Channel (ah the Disney vault). And then recently I stumbled upon the book Zorro by Isabel Allende which is mostly about how Zorro became Zorro, and all the movies are in my Netflix cue. So of course I'm looking for more books on Zorro (including possibly graphic novels, crazy). Anyway, I saw this book at Joseph-Beth and decided to check it out, it being based on the novel by Allende. This tells the story of Diego and Bernardo (his milk brother) living on the de la Vega ranch and learning to become vaqueros. Many of their cattle have mysteriously disappeared as well as many talented craftsmen, so Diego and Bernardo set to try and solve the mystery as to what happened to them (the main clue in this being an iron brand, hence the title). Overall, it was a pretty simple story, and somewhat interesting. It didn't really have any of the antics that a normal Zorro story would have, but he is a teen in this book. I probably would've liked it more it I were a ten year old boy. Maybe. There wasn't a whole lot of action/swordfighting and such in it, but there were several pratical jokes that were mildly amusing. But one part I really didn't like was when Diego is preparing for a huge ball and he learns that Bernardo will not be permitted to attend the ball, instead will wait outside with the servants (as that is technically what he is). Bernardo finds Diego crying by the pool. Now, I'm no 15 year old vaquero preparing to inherit a ranch but I do know that seeing one cry is a very rare event. I just don't believe he would be sitting by the pool crying. I would say, if you're a ten year old boy, read this, if not you're better off reading Allende's novel to get a good idea of what Zorro was like before he became Zorro.
Newbery books read/ out of: 37/86
The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander
So this is the first book in The Chronicles of Prydain, and seeing as how the last book in the series, The High King is a Newbery winner I figured I'd read the whole series, and seeing as how I usually like fantasy-quest type books, it was probably a good decision. Anyway, this book is the story of Taran, the Assistant Pig Keeper who, when the famous pig gets out tries to chase it down, runs into Prince Gwydion and joins him on his quest (which more or less is the same as Taran's). Overall, it was a pretty interesting book. Taran is obsessed with being a hero and that often gets him into trouble, but over the course of the book he becomes better at thinking before he acts and not trying to take credit for everything (but he is still kinda annoying). Overall, I think it is a good start to a series, but I'm curious as to what will happen next.
Young Zorro: The Iron Brand by Diego Vega (but really by Jan Adkins)
So I've been in love with Zorro since I was a kid watching the tv show late at nights on Disney Channel (ah the Disney vault). And then recently I stumbled upon the book Zorro by Isabel Allende which is mostly about how Zorro became Zorro, and all the movies are in my Netflix cue. So of course I'm looking for more books on Zorro (including possibly graphic novels, crazy). Anyway, I saw this book at Joseph-Beth and decided to check it out, it being based on the novel by Allende. This tells the story of Diego and Bernardo (his milk brother) living on the de la Vega ranch and learning to become vaqueros. Many of their cattle have mysteriously disappeared as well as many talented craftsmen, so Diego and Bernardo set to try and solve the mystery as to what happened to them (the main clue in this being an iron brand, hence the title). Overall, it was a pretty simple story, and somewhat interesting. It didn't really have any of the antics that a normal Zorro story would have, but he is a teen in this book. I probably would've liked it more it I were a ten year old boy. Maybe. There wasn't a whole lot of action/swordfighting and such in it, but there were several pratical jokes that were mildly amusing. But one part I really didn't like was when Diego is preparing for a huge ball and he learns that Bernardo will not be permitted to attend the ball, instead will wait outside with the servants (as that is technically what he is). Bernardo finds Diego crying by the pool. Now, I'm no 15 year old vaquero preparing to inherit a ranch but I do know that seeing one cry is a very rare event. I just don't believe he would be sitting by the pool crying. I would say, if you're a ten year old boy, read this, if not you're better off reading Allende's novel to get a good idea of what Zorro was like before he became Zorro.
Newbery books read/ out of: 37/86
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