Day 5: A book that makes you happy

Bunnicula by James and Deborah Howe.

AH!  I didn't read this book until after I was in my mid-20s.  I bought a little anthology of three of the books for Rick as a fun Christmas present since I knew that he liked to read them when he was younger. 

And, so at 23 (maybe 24?) I read it for the very first time.  What a fun book. As a basic summary to the book, the Monroe family finds a bunny in the movie theater during the film Dracula.  The family adopts the bunny, naming him, "Bunnicula" since they had been watching the vampire movie at the time. 

While the humans of the family aren't completely aware of the true nature of the bunny, the family dog (Harold) and cat (Chester), concoct all sorts of weird theories as to why the bunny doesn't sleep at night, and why he seems to drain the juice out of fruits and vegetables. 

This is really a silly little story, but I love the relationship between the dog and cat.  I really like this book because it is fun, sweet, and innocent.  AND, it is completely age appropriate. 

Day 4: Favorite book of your favorite series

Harry Potter:  Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling:

Book 3 is my favorite.  I like them all, but there is something about Harry finding out so much about his father and knowing that he's not truly alone but has someone in the wizarding world that's an adult (besides teachers and Hagrid) that is watching his back.

The first time I read any of the Harry Potter books was back in 2001, right after my 16th birthday.  My sister Bethany and I went out to DC to see my sister Sarah, who was living there.  And, to see N*Sync in concert...but that's another story.  :)  We went in August, when there was a ton of thunderstorms and heavy rain, and because of the time difference, I had trouble sleeping.  Sarah had all four books (the current 4 that were out at the time) and I spent my nights reading them.  I finished each book in 1 night, and the 4th book in about 2 night's time.

I remember after reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, that I was completely thrown for a loop.  I loved it.  I didn't see any of it coming with Sirius being a good guy, and then Scabbers, the rat, was a nasty guy that betrayed Harry's parents.  Eww... I totally loved the writing style.  I was on the edge of my seat during the entire book.  And although the remaining Harry Potter books in the series are all wonderful, this was the first time that I thought, when I was reading, "Wow.  This is what everyone was talking about."  The first two books didn't do it for me as near as much as this third one.   Loved it. 

Percy Jackson:  The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

What I really liked about this book?  I liked that there were people that died (I know that sounds morbid, but considering that most of Riordan's books are pretty light-hearted amid a emotionally heavy plot, he shows that with war there comes some sacrifice...)  I liked that the past of Luke came to light.  I liked that Percy was a completely awesome hero, with all of his fighting and taking down monsters and titans like it was nothing.  I love how his relationship with Annabeth progressed, and I liked that Riordan tied up a lot of loose ends, with the main examples being Nico and Hades' inclusion in the battle and the reappearance of a living oracle.

What I like most about these books, and especially about this last book in the series, is that you feel the entire time, that the most important person in the books is Percy.  He's the protagonist, and tells the story and for most of the series, it's implied that he will make a huge decision that will either cause evil to go away or to make evil come with Kronos coming alive.  And, that hero, turns out to be someone else.  Percy makes a choice, in the end, but he is not the one that saves everyone.

What I like though, is this:  Even though, at the very end of the series, Percy is not the amazing hero that was implied from the beginning, it is still an example that even the smallest choices can bring about consequences.  In this case, Percy did the right thing.  But, it's a good example in teaching students and children that regardless of how big or small they think the choice is, there will still be consequences for their actions. And, sometimes it's not the big choices that determine who you are as a person, but the small ones as well.  And even though Percy wasn't "the hero" because he didn't personally save the world (even though he kind of inadvertently did), he still had the strength and character of a hero throughout the series.  And one that most boys want to be like (kind of like a Greek Demigod Batman). 

Day 3: Favorite Series (for children)

It's a toss up between a few. That's cheating, right?  Well, if I have to narrow it down!

 I love Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, and Percy Jackson and the Olympians.  Other notable book series that I enjoy(ed) as an adult or child:  Boxcar Children, Series of Unfortunate Events, Enchanted Forest Chronicles (Dealing with Dragons is the first one), and Artemis Fowl.  

But, I am just going to stick to two of my favorites.  While I really love Chronicles of Narnia, I sometimes feel like they are a little deep for kids.  Harry Potter, while being a children's series also tends to do that, especially with the very last book. 

Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan. 
---I already mentioned that Mark of Athena was the best children's book that I read this year.  This series gets criticism for being too juvenile (uh, it's target audience is 5th-8th grade boys), and having the same plot for each book.  I feel like that Riordan is creative enough with using different mythology sources with the plot, that it really doesn't bother me that Percy and his friends always fight a whole bunch of monsters on their quests.  All I care about, is that I enjoy reading them and their highly entertaining.  (And they get kids to read).

Harry Potter
--Ah, I still have to put this on here.  I think that Ms. Rowling really wrote an amazing series of books.  The plot, characters (and their development), and setting in a magical world hidden to the muggle world.  Harry Potter gets mentioned a few more times on this list.  So,  I'll be going into more detail there.  

Day 2---A book that you've read more than 3 times

Picture from amazon.com

If I was doing this for adult/older people books, then I would probably have The Lord of the Rings on here.  But, since I am doing the "children's edition", I decided to go with Matilda by Roald Dahl.

This was by far my favorite book when I was younger.  I loved the tale of the girl that loses herself in books.  And is supernaturally gifted.  I guess my love for sci-fi really started early.  There's also the humor that Roald Dahl writes with.  Very over-the-top, but children appreciate it. 

Day 1: Best Book You Read Last Year

Is this in the past year OR in the past 12 months?  Like, 2012 only or can I include the few books I've read at the beginning of the year. 

I think the winner for this one goes, hands down, to this book. 

The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan.  I bought this book on the kindle so my husband could read it while he was gone during his training and I bought a hard copy for myself, so that I could read it that day.  And I am pretty sure that I ignored my kids most of the day that I read this book.

I am such a sucker for Percy Jackson and the books that he stars in.  I'll have you know, that Percy Jackson has to be one of my favorite characters.  He's such a believable character to me, especially with the smart aleck routine, cocky attitude and having the desire to be normal. 

And, I've always appreciated that Rick Riordan has the ability to make an upbeat and humorous book that could easily be overshadowed by darker events and tones of the plot.  Of course, that's not to say that Rick Riordan wraps everything up for all the characters nice and easy.  I appreciated that he was able to kill off characters in The Titan's Curse and The Last Olympian and not just fuddy duddy red shirts, but people that we had seen since the first book that Percy liked.  And the cliffhanger in this book... WOW.  I just really love that Riordan is able to create a book with believable characters and relationships with a mythological twist. Some people think that he is too repetitive with his plots, but I think they need to remember that the targeted age group for these books is upper elementary to middle school.  And a lot of adults enjoy them too.  I'll have a more in depth review of the book up on this blog probably after the fourth book in the series has come out, and I'll take a look at each of them. 

One year later...

It's been a whole year since I've updated this thing, and I thought that I would!  This has been a whirlwind of a year.  I had a baby (okay, maybe I had a baby in March of 2012...), moved twice, separated from my husband for 3 months due to military training and I have been dealing with the public school districts in trying to get my 3 year old speech therapy or preschool or something that will help him with this speech delay.

I was going to just stop with this blog and leave it up as a resource as is because I was running out of steam keeping up with posts.  And it was fine, until I started getting several comments on my post on "The Highwayman", asking for the printable that is no longer on the shareable downloading site that I had it on. 

Now that things have settled down slightly, I think I'll begin making posts again.  They will be book oriented and I will hopefully have compiled a master list of books based on genre and age.  And I will do more book reviews.  To start out, I  am going to do a 30 days of books blog challenge (the teen/children's book edition).  

Book Review---"The Maze Runner"

I just read this awesome book that I really enjoyed called The Maze Runner.

Written by James Dashner, this is a great middle school novel, especially for boys.  I am just going to put it out there---this book is EXCELLENT for those 7th, 8th, 9th grade boys that aren't big fans of reading.

The book starts off when the reader meets a young man named Thomas.  He is in an elevator, on his way up somewhere, and all he can remember is his name.  He ends up in an area called the glade, that is full of young men anywhere from 12 to 18 years old.  The glade is the living area of these young men.  Thomas hears their story:  One day a large group of the boys ended up in the glade area, with no memory of anything except their names.  Each month, from there on out, one boy is sent up at a time. 

Thomas learns of the maze that encloses the glade--- and how for the past two years, maze runners have been going through the maze, trying to solve the maze.  Thomas ends up learning about the creatures called 'grievers' that attack at night in the maze.  Each night, the doors close that lead to the maze so the boys are protected.

I don't want to give too much away because it's a thrilling book with surprises and twists throughout.  Needless to say, Thomas coming to the glade is followed by a girl named Teresa, the only girl that has ever come to the glade and a girl that Thomas feels a connection to.  Teresa and Thomas coming into the maze sets off a trigger, a signal to the boys that their time in the maze is coming to an end.  But will the end of their time be on their own terms or on the terms of the maze maker? 

I really, really liked this book.  I can't emphasize that enough.  No lie though---the first 20-50 pages took me about 3 days to read and then the rest of the book only took me three hours.  I was quite bored at the beginning, because I didn't really understand what was going on.  But the genuis of the writer is that neither does Thomas.  So, the reader basically feels how Thomas is feeling at the beginning.  There is a lot of made up jargon that the boys have come up with in the book, and that takes getting used to.  Thomas feels the same way, so when he adjusts to the jargon, it seems like the reader does also.

The biggest twist comes at the very end.  I found the ending of the book so very creepy, but not in a scary or gross way.  Just more of an "OH MY GOSH", that is so strange and upsetting and could that happen to us sometime?  The premise of the book is creative, suspenseful, and I don't think I've read anything quite like it before---especially when you get into book 2.  It's definitely a page turner that, while I read, I had no idea what was going to happen on the next page. 

This book is recommended for ages 13 and up.  There is quite a bit of violence and gore, and the suspenseful intensity might be a little much for even 13 year olds (like the sheltered ones).  Enjoy reading The Maze Runner (and it's two sequels as well).