The Last Olympian

4 cookies
By Rick Riordan. This was a great series of books. This is the last one, and it really wrapped everything up well. At the end of the book, it sounded as though the writer was leaving things open to another, similar series. I hope he does, because I really enjoyed this one!

Long Title

3 cookies
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane: A Novel by Katherine Howe. Kind of a weird book. I read about this book in People magazine, and the reviewer raved about how great and intense it was, but it wasn't. I kept waiting for it to get really great, and to really get interested in it, but I never really did. It is about a modern day woman who discovers she has a link to the Salem Witch Trials, and I did learn some interesting things about the Trials, but the story wasn't too gripping. Aw well.

Knock Out

3 cookies
Today was a nice quiet day at home, and I found some time to read while the kids played "fort" with all the couch cushions. Knock Out is the latest in a series by Catherine Coulter. I think they are called the FBI Thrillers. Anyway, Knock Out is very much like the other books in this series, entertaining if not educational - interesting if not plausible. I like her characters.

Austenland

4 cookies
Austenland by Shannon Hale. I am really liking Shannon Hale. This is a cute book about a single woman who is obsessed with Mr. Darcy and is gifted a vacation to Austenland, a place where everyone dresses, speaks and acts like they are in a Jane Austen novel. Cute little book.

Just Take My Heart

3 cookies
So any of you who know books probably guessed this is by Mary Higgins Clark. It is fluff, but I like reading her stuff and seeing if I can figure out "who did it". Ms. Clark must be running out of ideas, because I knew the villain from the time he entered the book. Ah well. Just Take My Heart was typical MHC, she is always good for a quick read.

I am the Messenger

3 cookies
By Markus Zusak. I am the Messenger was pretty good. A really interesting story, but for a young adult book there was quite a bit of bad language. I am fascinated with the way that Markus Zusak writes, he seems to come at everything from a totally different prospective than anything else I have read. The story is about a young man who is chosen to help others by an unknown source. Slightly confusing at times. This is same author as The Book Thief, which was one of my recent favorites.

The Battle of the Labyrinth

4 cookies
Book 4 in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series is The Battle of the Labyrinth. Like the others, this is a great little book, and like I said before, these are quick reads and entertaining. One I thing I really like about these books is the way the author - Rick Riordan - takes the Greek myths and inserts them into today's world, very interesting.

The Titan's Curse

4 cookies
The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan is book book 3 in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. All the books so far in the series are funny, but this one made me laugh out loud! I think I said this before, but these books are quick reads from the Young Adult section, but I am really enjoying them.

Elisha's Bones

1 1/2 cookies
I have a real problem, and that is that I can't not finish a book once I've started it. A couple of chapters into this book I knew that I wouldn't like it, but I went along with my sick compulsion to finish it. I can only think of 2 times in the last few years that I have started a book, and then not finished it. This book was Elisha's Bones by Don Hoesel, and I don't recommend it. It was just dumb. Most everyone dies, and the whole premise is way too far-fetched. Silly.

City of Bones

5 Cookies
I am in love with the characters in this book! City of Bones is by Cassandra Clare, and heard about these books reading an interview (or something) with Stephenie Meyers. She was talking about how excited she was that the final book in this series was finally coming out, so I put it on my list of "what to read". Loved it. Not even sure how to give a description about this book, but it is a young adult novel, and it is Fantasy genre. About special people who kill demons. I don't remember any bad language or scenes. Can hardly wait for books 2 and 3 to become available from the library!

Sea of Monsters

A few weeks ago a read a book recommended by my friend Hilary called The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. I really liked it a lot, and immediately requested the next books in the series from the library. Sea of Monsters is book 2, and I am really enjoying the series. It is about a boy who finds out that he is the son of Poseidon, and that monsters are trying to kill him. Sounds kind of dumb, but they are funny and a quick read. It is a young adult fantasy book. Hilary has asked that I start rating the books on here, so am stealing from Bean's Book Bag once again, and will rate from 1 - 5. I won't use beans though - how about cookies? I will give Sea of Monsters 4 cookies, as well as 4 cookies for The Lightning Thief. On to books 3 and 4!

Lisa's Books

My friend Lisa gave me a couple of books to read. One was The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. You have probably heard of this one, Randy Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon who got pancreatic cancer, and gave a final lecture about childhood dreams and living your life to its fullest. This book was definitely a reminder about how fragile life is, and how we should really focus on the important things - like not fighting with your spouse and loving every minute of your kids. I recently read an article about Randy's wife Jai, and how she is coping with Randy's death. I guess she is handling it as well as she can. The other book that Lisa lent me is The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski. It is a huge book, and it took me a while to get through it, although not because it wasn't good. It was very well written, and had a very interesting cast of characters. I loved this book all the way up to the last couple of chapters, and when I finished the book I hated it. Now that it has been a few weeks, I don't hate it anymore, and I would probably read it again. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle is not for people who like everything tied up with a ribbon at the end, but I did enjoy it.

Into Thin Air

I first read this book right after I got home from my mission. I really liked it then, and when I came across it at DI, I bought it and it has been sitting on my shelf, waiting for me to read it. It is by Jon Krakauer, and I like the way he writes. I haven't read anything else by him, although Into The Wild is now on my list of "what to read". Into Thin Air is a personal account of the Mt. Everest disaster in 1996. I didn't hear anything about it when it happened, but that is because I was on my mission. It is a very interesting book, and I am sure that I will read it again in a few years.

Dark Places

This book was written by one of my favorite new authors, Gillian Flynn. She has only written 2 books, and this one just came out, but I will certainly be looking for her next one! Her first book is Sharp Objects, and then of course Dark Places. She is an intense, dark writer, but she just sucks you in with her stories and characters. I read the whole things yesterday, I couldn't put it down. Obviously, we didn't go far from the house yesterday. A warning -she is graphic and intense, both with words and imagery. Still, a fabulously written book by a great storyteller.