Monday, May 31, 2010

The Hiding Spot Giveaway!


You guys should really give this blog a lookie, it has a pretty amazing giveaway!!!!

Black, Holly & DiTerlizzi, Tony : The Spiderwick Chronicles 1&2

The first book in a beautifully produced series of five, The Field Guide sets up the story of the Grace children--13-year-old Mallory and 9-year-old twins Jared and Simon--who with their mother move into the dilapidated Spiderwick Estate only to quickly find themselves sucked into a dark and fascinating world of faeries.

Superficially, the Spiderwick Chronicles smack of Lemony Snicket, with its "true story" setup and breathless warnings ("Go away/close the book/put it down/do not look"). By the authors combining their ample skill with thoughtful art direction and demanding production values, the duo has succeeded in creating a series with irresistible appeal. Each book promises a quick read, snappy plot progression, and dozens of DiTerlizzi's imaginative pen-and-ink drawings. So if you're drawn to The Field Guide at all, you might as well save yourself the trouble and make sure you have the second book (The Seeing Stone) handy. Any age group can enjoy this book whether they are 6 to 106, they can still get some fun and learn some good lessons from this series.

Books so far: 2
Pages so far: 503
Rating: five out of five stars
Length: 128 pages
Source: Library
Challenges: The 2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge
Similar Books: I can't seem to think of anything. Any ideas?
Other books I've read by this author: none



In the Spiderwick Chronicles' second book, things get even more exciting--and kind of scary--for the Grace kids, as the strange faerie world hinted at in The Field Guide blooms to full life around them.

**Spoiler Alert Maybe**

After making tentative peace with Thimbletack (a coveralled house brownie who's "the size of a pencil"), Jared chooses to ignore the creature's pleas that he destroy his great-great-uncle's mysterious tome, Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You. Thimbletack warns, "You kept the book despite my advice./Sooner or later there'll be a price." Sure enough, the brownie soon sniffs out a "fowl smell in the air," and the disappearance of Simon's new cat starts to make sense. And if the chapter titled "IN WHICH Mallory Finally Gets to Put Her Rapier to Good Use" doesn't get your heart racing as fast as the kids', just wait till you get a load of the troll. ("Cooome baaack. I haaave something for youuu.")

The series' already-fast pace picks up quickly in the second installment, and we can begin to imagine what other sorts of trouble these three will turn up as they learn the rules to this odd (and dangerous) new world--while, of course, trying to explain away the strange goings-on to their mother. Next up, book three, Lucinda's Secret. (What's her secret? I want to know. Now!

Books so far: 3
Pages so far: 631
Rating: five out of five stars
Length: 128 pages
Source: Library
Challenges: The 2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge
Similar Books: I can't seem to think of anything. Any ideas?
Other books I've read by this author: none
Currently Reading: Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr (any thoughts on this book: no spoilers please!!! =[])

Riordan, Rick : Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief


Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school...again. And that's the least of his troubles. Lately, mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy's Greek mythology textbook and into his life. And worse, he's angered a few of them. Zeus's master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect.
**Spoiler Alert Maybe**
Now Percy and his friends have just ten days to find and return Zeus's stolen property and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. But to succeed on his quest, Percy will have to do more than catch the true thief: he must come to terms with the father who abandoned him; solve the riddle of the Oracle, which warns him of betrayal by a friend; and unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves.

The Lightening Thief is the first in a book book epic fantasy series by Rick Riordan. This book has recently became a movie. I watched the movie before I read the book and that was a bad idea for me at least. The movie completely sucked compared to the book as it always seems to happen. By watching the movie before reading the book I didnt get to imagine the characters how I wanted to imagine them. I had already had the picture of them from the movie in my mind. In my opinion the characters in the movie didnt resemble the characters in the book at all.
Once I got used to how dramatically different this book was from movie, I found that I enjoyed it. It was sorta like harry Potter meets Wizard of Oz without the wands or munchkins. You had Grover the Goat/Satyr, Annabeth daughter of Athena, and Percy daughter of Posiedan. They were on a quest and then he meet with the gods at the end. There was a lot of fighting and running and screaming. I also didnt like how they believed the only way to get to heaven is by doing good deeds. I know that is most certatinly not true. All in all Riordan did an excellent job with description and action. This book may not be suitable for kids under 13 due to the graphic details of the underworld. I cant say that I didnt enjoy the book because I honestly did. Lets just say that I probably wont be reading the second book until a little ways down the line. It started out in full force of action instead of slowly adding it in.

Length: 375 pages
Source: Wal-Mart
Similar Books: The set up is similar to Harry Potter?
Other books I've read by this author: none

Monday, May 10, 2010

Hi and Welcome!

I am starting this blog for all the books that I intend to read and review! I am currently taking part in the 2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge and will post the books that I have read. Feel free to comment or add your reviews also stop by Home Girl's Book Blog in order to participate in this worldwide event.

Hope you enjoy and happy reading!
- Ashley