Bone: Tall Tales by Jeff Smith with Tom Sniegoski (ARC)
In this companion to the Bone saga, Smiley takes a group of scouts camping. While sitting around the campfire, he tells the youngsters tall tales of Boneville’s founder, Big Johnson Bone.
As this is an Advance Reader Copy, the illustrations are not all in color; however, this does not detract from the story. Also, due to the book being an ARC, there is one story missing.
I enjoyed this delightful graphic novel. It’s perfect for all ages of readers. While I am familiar with the Bone series of graphic novels, I haven’t read much of them. The format lends itself to being quick reads, and the illustrations add to the humor and adventure of the stories.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
reading while traveling
I only brought two books with me this trip, knowing that I will be picking up several ARC (advance reader copies) at the conference. Unfortunately, I finished reading both books before acquiring new ones to read! Thankfully that has since been rectified.
The first book I finished was The Battle of the Labyrinth: Percy Jackson and the Olympians #4 by Rick Riordan. Yet again, Riordan has written a masterful tale about
the Greek Gods and Goddesses and their children in modern times. It has been a few months since we left Percy and his friends at the end of book three. Percy breaks a new personal record and manages to be expelled from his new school after a fire breaks out during freshman orientation. After returning to Camp Halfblood for the summer (and to get out of NYC for a while…again), Percy finds that things there are worse than they were in December. Grover is close to losing his Searcher’s license (and he has a girlfriend), Annabeth and Clarisse have been working on a secret project. And Mr. D (Dionysius), the reluctant (and perpetually annoyed) camp director is off dealing with problems with minor gods and goddess.
Annabeth finally gains her quest. She, Percy, Tyson and Grover head into the fabled Labyrinth in hopes to save Camp Halfblood – and the world – from the rise of the ancient Titan ruler, Kronos.
This book offers so much for the reader.
Adventure? Check.
Romance? Check. At least on the upper elementary level. lol
Magic? Check.
A happy ending? Guess you will just have to read it to find out!
The other book I finished was The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd. My nearly 13 year old niece gave this to me to read. It is a current pick for the Youngstown English Festival.
Ted and Kat’s Aunt Gloria and cousin Salim come to visit them before heading off to NYC from England. Salim wants to ride the London Eye – something he has never done before. When he disappears from the ride, the whole family is frantic. Ted and Kat decide to try and solve the mystery. It will take both of them to figure it out just what happened to Salim.
The book is told from Ted’s point of view, which makes it all the more interesting. While it isn’t actually said in the book, Ted appears to have a high functioning form of autism or Aspergser’s syndrome. He is extremely interested in all thing weather related, and hopes to be a meteorologist when he becomes an adult.
While I found it slow going, once I got hooked on the story (basically when Salim actually disappears), I didn’t want to put the book down. This is a great mystery!
I’m now reading the unpublished teen book In a Heartbeat by Loretta Ellsworth.
The copy I have is an uncorrected advance proof/ARC. That is one of the perks of attending library conferences. Lots of free books to obtain!
The first book I finished was The Battle of the Labyrinth: Percy Jackson and the Olympians #4 by Rick Riordan. Yet again, Riordan has written a masterful tale about
the Greek Gods and Goddesses and their children in modern times. It has been a few months since we left Percy and his friends at the end of book three. Percy breaks a new personal record and manages to be expelled from his new school after a fire breaks out during freshman orientation. After returning to Camp Halfblood for the summer (and to get out of NYC for a while…again), Percy finds that things there are worse than they were in December. Grover is close to losing his Searcher’s license (and he has a girlfriend), Annabeth and Clarisse have been working on a secret project. And Mr. D (Dionysius), the reluctant (and perpetually annoyed) camp director is off dealing with problems with minor gods and goddess.Annabeth finally gains her quest. She, Percy, Tyson and Grover head into the fabled Labyrinth in hopes to save Camp Halfblood – and the world – from the rise of the ancient Titan ruler, Kronos.
This book offers so much for the reader.
Adventure? Check.
Romance? Check. At least on the upper elementary level. lol
Magic? Check.
A happy ending? Guess you will just have to read it to find out!
The other book I finished was The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd. My nearly 13 year old niece gave this to me to read. It is a current pick for the Youngstown English Festival.
Ted and Kat’s Aunt Gloria and cousin Salim come to visit them before heading off to NYC from England. Salim wants to ride the London Eye – something he has never done before. When he disappears from the ride, the whole family is frantic. Ted and Kat decide to try and solve the mystery. It will take both of them to figure it out just what happened to Salim.The book is told from Ted’s point of view, which makes it all the more interesting. While it isn’t actually said in the book, Ted appears to have a high functioning form of autism or Aspergser’s syndrome. He is extremely interested in all thing weather related, and hopes to be a meteorologist when he becomes an adult.
While I found it slow going, once I got hooked on the story (basically when Salim actually disappears), I didn’t want to put the book down. This is a great mystery!
I’m now reading the unpublished teen book In a Heartbeat by Loretta Ellsworth.
The copy I have is an uncorrected advance proof/ARC. That is one of the perks of attending library conferences. Lots of free books to obtain!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Picture Book Pizzazz
Last night six children and four parents attended my library's Picture Book Pizzazz/Mock Caldecott. Of the ten books reviewed, the top picks were the same for both parents and children…just in different order.
Books reviewed:
The children chose Kiki’s Blankie as their winner. The parents chose Duck! Rabbit!
Books reviewed:
- Chicken Little
- The Mouse and the Lion
- All God’s Critters
- Duck! Rabbit!
- Birds
- Pelé, King of Soccer / Pelé, el rey del fútbol
- Tsunami!
- All the World
- Otis
- Kiki’s Blankie
The children chose Kiki’s Blankie as their winner. The parents chose Duck! Rabbit!
Monday, January 11, 2010
The curse of series fiction...
The books that I've recently finished are all part of series. It seems like most books are like that anymore. This can be a blessing when the series is well written from start to finish. Unfortunately, that doesn't always happen.
The Titan's curse : #3 by Rick Riordan
Book three in Riordan’s compelling Percy Jackson series was as action packed and full of adventure as the previous two stories. Percy sneaks his way on a quest to rescue his friend Annabeth and the goddess Artemis. Along the way they will battle more mythical creatures, talk to a few gods and goddesses, and even experience help from the long lost god Pan.
After finishing this book, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the next in the series – to the point that I almost purchased it while shopping at Sam’s Club, even though I knew it would be waiting for me at work the next day (I ended up waiting and saving a few dollars). This series is definitely one of my favorite. I love how Riordan intermixes modern times with the lives and myths of the Greek gods and goddesses.
Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr
This is also the third book in its series, which began with Wicked Lovely. As with the first book, this one focuses on Aislinn and her boyfriend, Seth. Aislinn is now the Summer Queen – an
immortal faerie. Seth is still a mortal. Tired of not being able to help his girlfriend when she is in trouble, of being babysat by the faeries from both the Summer and Dark Courts, and the growing closeness between Aislinn and Keenen (the Summer King), Seth seeks out a way to become immortal and spend eternity with Aislinn.
As I noted before, I liked the second book in this series (Ink Exchange) better than I did the first. This holds true with the third. I did finish the book, but there was a time or two that I contemplated not reading until the end. I was not as interested in the characters as I was with those in Ink Exchange. My overall feeling of the book was “ho hum”.
My sister G read the books, but I forget which she said was her favorite and why. I do recall that she read them out of order, so that may have influenced her feelings of the series. Guess I need to give her a call to talk about the books!
The fourth book, Radiant Shadows is due out on April 20. I’m not sure yet if I will place it on hold. Once I read a review or few I’ll decide.
Fallen by Lauren Kate
I started reading this
book, a first novel of a new teen series, and made it about 1/3 of the way through before deciding to return it. Firstly, I couldn’t renew it as there was a hold on the title. Secondly, I just wasn’t getting in to the story.I do love the cover, though. The first few pages were fairly interesting, but after that I was bored. The writing wasn’t thrilling. I’ve too many books to read to waste time on something that bores me.
So…on to the next novel…
The Titan's curse : #3 by Rick Riordan
Book three in Riordan’s compelling Percy Jackson series was as action packed and full of adventure as the previous two stories. Percy sneaks his way on a quest to rescue his friend Annabeth and the goddess Artemis. Along the way they will battle more mythical creatures, talk to a few gods and goddesses, and even experience help from the long lost god Pan.After finishing this book, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the next in the series – to the point that I almost purchased it while shopping at Sam’s Club, even though I knew it would be waiting for me at work the next day (I ended up waiting and saving a few dollars). This series is definitely one of my favorite. I love how Riordan intermixes modern times with the lives and myths of the Greek gods and goddesses.
Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr
This is also the third book in its series, which began with Wicked Lovely. As with the first book, this one focuses on Aislinn and her boyfriend, Seth. Aislinn is now the Summer Queen – an
immortal faerie. Seth is still a mortal. Tired of not being able to help his girlfriend when she is in trouble, of being babysat by the faeries from both the Summer and Dark Courts, and the growing closeness between Aislinn and Keenen (the Summer King), Seth seeks out a way to become immortal and spend eternity with Aislinn.As I noted before, I liked the second book in this series (Ink Exchange) better than I did the first. This holds true with the third. I did finish the book, but there was a time or two that I contemplated not reading until the end. I was not as interested in the characters as I was with those in Ink Exchange. My overall feeling of the book was “ho hum”.
My sister G read the books, but I forget which she said was her favorite and why. I do recall that she read them out of order, so that may have influenced her feelings of the series. Guess I need to give her a call to talk about the books!
The fourth book, Radiant Shadows is due out on April 20. I’m not sure yet if I will place it on hold. Once I read a review or few I’ll decide.
Fallen by Lauren Kate
I started reading this
book, a first novel of a new teen series, and made it about 1/3 of the way through before deciding to return it. Firstly, I couldn’t renew it as there was a hold on the title. Secondly, I just wasn’t getting in to the story.I do love the cover, though. The first few pages were fairly interesting, but after that I was bored. The writing wasn’t thrilling. I’ve too many books to read to waste time on something that bores me.So…on to the next novel…
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
Waiting on Wednesday
It’s been some time since I’ve done a Waiting on Wednesday. When I saw this book advertised while looking through a catalog a few days ago, I knew that I would do a WoW this week.
The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan is a companion novel to The Forest of Hands and Teeth (an excellent YA horror novel).
The product description (taken from Amazon.com):
“Gabry lives a quiet life. As safe a life as is possible in a town trapped between a forest and the ocean, in a world teeming with the dead, who constantly hunger for those still living. She’s content on her side of the Barrier, happy to let her friends dream of the Dark City up the coast while she watches from the top of her lighthouse. But there are threats the Barrier cannot hold back. Threats like the secrets Gabry’s mother thought she left behind when she escaped from the Sisterhood and the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Like the cult of religious zealots who worship the dead. Like the stranger from the forest who seems to know Gabry. And suddenly, everything is changing. One reckless moment, and half of Gabry’s generation is dead, the other half imprisoned. Now Gabry only knows one thing: she must face the forest of her mother’s past in order to save herself and the one she loves.”
I loved The Forest of Hands and Teeth and can’t wait to get my hands on and sink my teeth in to The Dead-Tossed Waves. Is it March yet?
The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan is a companion novel to The Forest of Hands and Teeth (an excellent YA horror novel).
The product description (taken from Amazon.com):
“Gabry lives a quiet life. As safe a life as is possible in a town trapped between a forest and the ocean, in a world teeming with the dead, who constantly hunger for those still living. She’s content on her side of the Barrier, happy to let her friends dream of the Dark City up the coast while she watches from the top of her lighthouse. But there are threats the Barrier cannot hold back. Threats like the secrets Gabry’s mother thought she left behind when she escaped from the Sisterhood and the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Like the cult of religious zealots who worship the dead. Like the stranger from the forest who seems to know Gabry. And suddenly, everything is changing. One reckless moment, and half of Gabry’s generation is dead, the other half imprisoned. Now Gabry only knows one thing: she must face the forest of her mother’s past in order to save herself and the one she loves.”I loved The Forest of Hands and Teeth and can’t wait to get my hands on and sink my teeth in to The Dead-Tossed Waves. Is it March yet?
Monday, January 04, 2010
Best Reads from 2009
As you know from this blog, I read. A lot. In fact, from my records I read over 80 novels last year. Here is my list of the best of those. The books are not listed in any particular order.
While not my favorite books from my reading adventures this past year, the following titles receive an honorable mention:
- If I Stay by Gayle Forman
- The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly
- Fablehaven by Brandon Mull (series)
- When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
- The Nation by Terry Pratchett
- Bad Girls Don't Die by Katie Alender
- The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
- Ghost Medicine by Andrew Smith
- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
- Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (sequel to The Hunger Games)
- Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan (series. I just finished reading the third book in the series.)
While not my favorite books from my reading adventures this past year, the following titles receive an honorable mention:
- Pride and prejudice and zombies : the classic Regency romance -- now with ultraviolent zombie mayhem! by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
- The journey that saved Curious George : the true wartime escape of Margret and H.A. Rey by Louise Borden
- The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick
- Owly: Flying Lessons by Andy Runton
- Jellaby by Kean Soo
- Shield of Stars by Hilari Bel land Sword of Waters by Hilari Bell (series)
- The Year of Living Biblically by A. J. Jacobs
- Ten Cents a Dance by Christine Fletcher
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)