Talk about Forever...

I finally finished Forever...and it seemed like it took forever.  I'm not a fan of anti-climactic endings and that's what this felt like.  To catch up on what happens in the book, Tom Culpeper, Isabel's dad, arranges a hunt on the wolves.  This prompts Sam, Cole and Grace to try to figure out what to do to save the wolves.  They end up moving them out of Boundary Woods to a peninsula that officer Koenig owns.  To move them Sam has to shift after being 'cured' so Cole figures out how to do that.  Sam leads while Cole gives directions.  Beck dies, Cole kills Shelby and almost dies himself.  It finally ends with Grace fixing to shift for the winter and ready to take the same 'cure' that Sam took at the end of Shiver.

I just wasn't wowed by this one.  I think it could have been better.  Oh well, time to move on.  Reached is next and I'm very excited to get this one started!

Forever and Christmas Break!

Well one of my favorite times of year is coming up, Christmas Break!  It means family, friends, food, Doctor Who Christmas Special and reading to my heart's content!  I have one book that I'm finishing, Forever (which I will write about in the next paragraph or two), one book from the media center at work, Reached and Son the last book in the Giver Saga by Lois Lowry.  Having Son to read means I will need to re-read The Giver, Gathering Blue, and Messenger.  I love those books so it's ok.  If I finish all that then I'm going to venture in to the world of J.K. Rowling's adult book Casual Vacancy.  I hope it's half as good a Harry Potter, if it is it'll be amazing!  So Forever...

It's the third and final book in the Shiver trilogy.  Shiver was good (read previous post), Linger was not bad and Forever is proving to be a good end to the series.  To catch up, in Linger Grace was sick, one of Beck's new warewolves, Cole, is a famous rock star who is an addict and suicidal and the other is killed by Tom Culpeper.  In the end Grace needs to shift to keep from dying and Cole thinks he can find a cure once and for all.  Forever picks up with Sam worrying about Grace and waiting for her to shift back to human for the summer and Cole trying to find the cure.  Shelby is crazy and kills Olivia and tries to kill Grace and Cole respectively.  

It's not a bad series.  It's a good easy distraction from the busy day to day.  I will hopefully finish this weekend so I can move along to my other books...happy reading!

Shiver

I hate when I don't have books to read when I'm on a break from work.  I live for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Spring and Summer Breaks because I get to read, read, read!  Therefore I went to the media specialist at work and she suggested the Shiver Saga by Maggie Stiefvater.  I was wary at first because it's out of my usual distopian kick, but I'm glad I got into it.

Shiver is told in 1st person (which if you've read my other posts you know I love) from the perspective of two different characters, Grace and Sam.  As Grace grows up she is obsessed with the wolves that live in the woods behind her house.  She was attacked by the wolves when she was young but a wolf with yellow eyes (her wolf) saved her from the rest of the pack.  Sam just so happens to be that wolf.  Ever since he saved her he watched her from the woods in the winter.  When a boy from school is 'killed' by the wolves the men of the town go out hunting the wolves.  Sam gets shot as a wolf.  Grace sees her wolf is shot and goes to help him.  When she goes into the house and comes out Sam has phased back into a human.  From that point it's a love story with the added wolfy drama in it.

I like Grace and Sam.  Grace is a strong independent person who seems to be raising her parents more than they are raising her.  Sam is always respectful of Grace and doesn't try to push himself on her.  They do end up having sex which I saw coming from the fifth chapter or so that it was going to happen.  It's a middle school level book and I think they can leave that kind of thing out, but I'm not the author.  All in all it is a very well written book.  A quick and easy read for me as soon as I had a chance to sit and read.  It kept me up until 2am two nights in a row so it must have been good.  I'm pretty excited to move into Linger, which is the second book in the saga.  

Until then, happy reading!

Mark of Athena

It took a week but I finally finished Mark of Athena.  I really enjoyed this book.  It makes me want to buy all the Heroes of Olympus books which would then require me to buy all the Percy Jackson books...it's a cruel, vicious cycle that I'm stuck in.

Let me just say, I LOVE Annabeth!  She is totally the hero in this book.  She's smart and strong and uses her fatal flaw to her advantage.  The whole group of 7 is amazing.  Leo cracks me up and I was sort of not surprised that he's a descendant of Sammy, Hazel's old friend.  I like the fact that Percy and Jason were able to put their egos aside and work together for the greater good.  I don't want to wait a year for the next book....argh. 

:)

I love the media specialist at my school!  The new Heroes of Olympus book, The Mark of Athena, came out on Tuesday and I got a copy delivered to me in class today!  I am soooo excited to have something good to read this weekend!  I will surely be posting as I make my way through this book!

That awkward moment when you've forgotten what you've read...

Well, it's been quite a while since I last wrote...kinda sad when you've forgotten a book you you've read...but anyway.

I started reading Uglies right before the Olympics started and well the Olympics were more interesting to me.  Then I went back to work, since you know I'm a teacher.  So needless to say I've had a hard time finishing this book and I have three more in the series that I still have laying around.  I'm lucky that the media specialist at my school loves me and allows me to keep books as long as I want.  She also counts on me to give feedback on some books, so it's a pretty symbiotic relationship.

So Uglies...this is certainly not the best book I've ever picked up, while at the same time not the worst book either.  That honor I think belongs to Tales of Despereaux...I have tried to figure out what about this book doesn't click with me and the only thing I can think of is the main character is kind of whiny and superficial at first.  Two traits that do not endear me to a person, real or fictional.  To be fair the whole society in the book is superficial, so it's all she knows.  Tally, the main character, eventually sees what true beauty is but it's too late and she unknowingly becomes a traitor to those she's come to love.   I don't have that much left in the book and then I'll be trying to get through the next three before the next Heroes of Olympus comes out later in October.  I guess that's all for now...happy reading. :)

Another Book Bites the Dust

As I was saying in my last post I did indeed finish Legend.  I was right about so many things!  If you haven't read this book there are spoilers coming.  I detest Thomas and Commander Jameson!  I knew Day couldn't have killed Metias, it just isn't in his character.  I'm glad that June knows the truth and that she and Day are working together.  I was sad for Day when he found out his brother John sacrificed himself to save him.

It looks like I'll be waiting anxiously for the next book to come out in January...sigh.

Legend

I finally started  Legend by Marie Lu.  It's set in the future in the LA area.  I wish I knew a bit more about that area so I could follow the setting.  (It's the same when I read Divergent, but that's another post.)  It is written in first person, which I love, between two characters Day and June.  I find it kind of cool because when it's Day narrating the type in in gold and June's type is black.  The story starts with June getting in trouble at school because she went off campus to practice climbing a building because Day, who is a fugitive, can do it so she needs to be able to in order to catch him.  She gets suspended and her brother Metias has to come get her from school.  At the same time day is trying to get plague cure for his brother.  During a break in at the hospital to get the cure Day kills Metias which sends June on a man hunt to find him.  That's the basic plot so far.

Now my thoughts so far...

I don't trust Thomas.  He was just a bit too happy to torture a prisoner.  He's obviously in love with June.  He comes off as a very timid character but you can see a calculatingness (not a real word I know) beneath it all.  I also don't trust Commander Jameson, obviously.  In dystopian books the government officials are never to be trusted.  I tend to think that either Commander Jameson or Thomas may have killed Metias.  If Day did indeed do it, then it was unintentional.  It's not in his character to intentionally kill someone.

Tess is adorable.  I like how Day is protective of her.  She's like a little sister to him.  She's a good little healer too.  She's been able to heal not only Day from his hospital jump out the window but also June from her stab wound.  As much as I like a good love triangle in books I hope the author doesn't put Tess, Day and June in one.  But I can see a Thomas, Day and June one.

At this point Day has been caught because they came to get his family and he tried to save them.  Day's mother was killed by Commander Jameson even though she told June there would be no one hurt in the raid.  I have about half the book left.  I will probably finish it in the next day or so.

New Books!

I decided to go work in my classroom for a bit today and it so happened that the media specialist was there too, which meant more books to bring home!!!!!  I am stoked because I have been without a book for almost a week and it's killin' me!  So the next book I am going to read is Legend.  I will be starting that tomorrow so stay tuned...

Maximum Ride: Angel Part 2

I stayed up and finished Angel the other night when I should have gone to bed.  Especially since I had 4 hours at the dentist I could have used a book there.  I am currently out of books to read, which is killing me! I need to learn to stretch books out instead of rushing through them.  I'm glad that I don't have to wait very long for the final book to come out.  Not much more to say at this point...

Maximum Ride: Angel Part 1

I do not suggest reading while running on a treadmill or on a stepping machine, although I have mastered the reading while on the elliptical...anywho.

I started Angel last night.  I will say that Angel the character has redeemed herself somewhat since Fang.  I was bummed that Fang left at the end of Fang.  Dylan has grown on me.  I am torn between Fang and Dylan for Max, but I love Iggy and Ella before she done gone crazy.  I want to believe that Dr. Martinez and Jeb for that matter are good guys but it doesn't seem that way.

I am completely exhausted and running on like five hours of sleep so this is all I can think of for now...I will probably finish Angel tomorrow so I will have more to say then.  I am very happy that I won't have to wait very long before the last book comes out.

Maximum Ride

I'm currently reading the Maximum Ride series by James Patterson.  I've read most of his Alex Cross series and the Witch and Wizard series.  Witch and Wizard was really weird but I got through it.  I like the fact that his books have really short chapters and are written in 1st person for the most part.  I don't know why but I like 1st person.

I am on the 6th book in the series Fang.  The first three books I flew through.  In fact when I was on vacation I only took books one and two and finished reading them like five days before I was supposed to come home so my mom bought me the third book.  For those unfamiliar with the series, it's about six kids ranging from 14 to six years of age, that have 2% avian DNA graphed into their human DNA.  The gist of the whole series is that Max, the main character has to save the world.  It got kind of weird with global warming and stuff being said to cause the end coming.  I scoff at the idea of global warming so it turned me off that particular book, I think it was the 4th one.

One of my students from my first year at CMS begged me to read this series so I decided that summer was the best time to do so.  I am glad she suggested it.  Patterson's writing is good and the speed of the story telling is good, constant action!

So my thoughts on this book...if you haven't read it there this is a spoiler alert, don't say I didn't warn you.  I'm glad Max and Fang are together but I get the sick feeling that Angel's prediction at the beginning of the book that Fang is going to die is going to come to pass by the end of the book.  Angel is one little bird kid that I'd like to punch sometimes.  She's sweet sometimes but I think she is on the wrong side of the saving the world situation.  She basically forces Max out of the flock so she can take over, and she's only 7 at this point.  I don't know what to think about Dylan.  I feel bad for Iggy.  I love Nudge and Gazzy...those are my thoughts so far.  I have two more books after this one to finish the series, but I don't think the last book is out yet even though in the back of this book it said Feb. 2012 was the release date.

Why I'm Blogging...

"Bibliophilia or bibliophilism is the love of books. Accordingly a bibliophile is an individual who loves books. A bookworm is someone who loves books for their content, or who otherwise loves reading. The -ia-suffixed form "bibliophilia" is sometimes considered to be an incorrect usage; the older "bibliophilism" is considered more correct. The adjective form of the term is bibliophilic. A bibliophile may be, but is not necessarily, a book collector." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibliophilia)


That is a great description of me.  I LOVE books and reading.  I spend most of my free time with a book in my hands losing myself in the story.  Being a teacher, I don't often get a chance to read during the school year so I try to read as much as I can when we have breaks. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Spring and Summer breaks are the best time for me because I get to read and a lot.  

I have been teaching 6th grade for three years.  This means that my first group of 6th graders are moving into high school, which is sad for me because they have given me some of the best book suggestions over the last three years.  I prefer YA fiction to regular adult fiction because it's less predictable and better story telling.  I decided to start this blog so that I can have a place to discuss books with other bibliophiles.  Feel free to leave me comments and book suggestions.  Please keep it PG.  I will work on a list of the books that I have read also.