SRC | Weeks 10 thru whatever today is...

Week 10 ------------------------------- August 15 - August 21, 2008

#13 Lessons from the Road by Nigel James: Yes, I was a sheep and followed the herd by buying this book and was not disappointed.

This book goes behind the scenes of life on tour with Third Day and their Road Pastor. (YAY!) The devotions that Nigel has placed in the book are ones that he has shared while on the road with the guys. It allows us to see how a road pastor is able to encourage members of the group. I enjoyed reading the sections from each of the guys about the different things each of them faced and the how they dealt with them and the different aspects of living out their faith in front of the public. It also gave me much more respect for the guys, being devoted to God, their ministry as Third Day, their families, and various ministries throughout the world. And what a great reminder, found early on in the book, that "we are all soldiers for Christ".

I found myself both encouraged and challenged by this book and would recommend it to anyone.

Week 11 ------------------------------- August 22 - August 28, 2008

Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire. Son of a Witch picks up a bit after Wicked ends, after the Wizard of Oz falls from power. As the title tells us, it follows the life of Elphaba's son, Liir, whom we were introduced to in the latter part of Wicked.

I'm only a little ways into it the book, but it unfortunately follows in Wicked's footsteps with not being easy to read. I'm not sure what it is about Maguire and the way he writes his books, but none of them are written in the same way and this "Oz" series just doesn't read well for me. Other than that, it seems to be an okay book, nothing spectacular as of yet.

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Outlander by Diana Gabaldon: I'm only a few chapters into it thus far, but enjoying it much more than I was Son of a Witch

Week 12 ------------------------------- August 29 - September 04, 2008

#14 Outlander by Diana Gabaldon: I picked this book up as a recommendation from several peeps as something that would take the place of the Twilight series that I had just finished. I was told that these books were similar, but written more for an adult audience. Well, I kept reading and reading and finally got to the end, but no signs of a vampire or werewolf...not sure why someone thought that this was similar to Twilight...what can I say, I have weird friends!

This story takes place around 1945 and follows the life of Claire, a war nurse, and Frank, her husband. Claire, while picking flowers at a local henge, is transported to 1743 (okay, yes, that part was a bit wonky) where she meets an ancestor of her husband, Captain Randall, who turns out to be nothing like her husband, other than in looks. Rescued from her captor, she is taken in by the Mackenzie clan where, due to circumstances that endanger her life, she is forced to marry young Jamie. Jamie is very endearing, but being married already...in 1945...for Claire this is not the ideal marriage. Over the coming days, Claire finds herself town between her past and her future.

Pay attention to the beginning of the book, even though it's kinda slow. This information will fit into the book later. Aside from the graphic scenes, both of violence and intimacy, this book draws you in. The characters are very likable...most of the time. The language in the book - some of the conversations written to sound like Scottish talk - is difficult to get used to, but it seems to be keeping my attention much better than my #14 book. I really enjoyed this book and had a hard time putting it down, even at 1:30 in the morning!

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Guess it's back to reading Son of a Witch now. Is the reading club over yet? I don't even know....does anyone know?

Week 13 ------------------------------- September 05 - September 11, 2008

This weekend my husband and I went to a parenting seminar, Shepherding a Child's Heart by Dr. Tedd Tripp. It was an excellent seminar and a great reminder of some things that we may have forgotten or let slide. Anyways, while there, I picked up a book...

#15 "Don't Make Me Count To Three!" by Ginger Plowman. This book is supposed to encourage and equip moms to reach pat the outward behavior of their children and dive deeply into the issues of the heart.

What a refreshing look at how to redirect children to examine the motivations of their hearts. This book teaches about discipline and reproof and how to balance the two. It also works through several situations and the proper way to deal with them. It examines the world's view -vs- a biblical view of spanking and the need for it. While this book might not be for everyone, and what parenting book is, there is much that you can take from this book even if you don't agree with everything. I really enjoyed reading it.

Week 14 ------------------------------- September 12 - September 18, 2008

Still reading Son of a Witch...not really enjoying it too much thus far. I'm just not "getting into it".

#17 Dark Lover by JR Ward While on hiatus from reading Son of a Witch I read this book...Yes, another vampire book, seems to be a theme tor me this summer.

This book is the first book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, the story of Wrath, the vampire king. Ward has a little different take on the Vampire world that I really like. They are a different species that can't turn others to be their kind. They exist along side the humans without allowing knowledge of their species. Ward also creates the Lessening Society. This is a brilliant addition to her book because this society's goal is to eliminate the Vampires. So, there are real tensions and threats to the Vampire's existence that gives the story so much depth. The Brothers are...fun, sexy, interesting, and intelligent. I'm ready to read the next book now.

Week 15 ------------------------------- September 19 - September 25, 2008

Still reading Son of a Witch...well, not really, it's just sitting there. I just picked up Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles: A Giant Problem, so I plan on reading it right after I finish the next in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, Lover Eternal. I'll have to get back to Son of a Witch when they're finished.

#17 Lover Eternal by JR Ward: This is the second book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. This is the story of Rhage, a vampire who has been cursed with a "beast" inside of him that makes him keep his temperament in check at all times, and Mary, a human who is struggling with cancer. Rhage falls for Mary very early on in the book and tries for what seems like forever to convince Mary of it...which gets a bit annoying at times, but understandable since she doesn't know what her future holds because of the cancer. This book gives you a bit more info on some of the others in the Brotherhood, as well as setting everything up nicely for the next book...which I'm off to see if they have at the library.

#18 Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles: A Giant Problem by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi: Our story begins where The Nixie's Song left off. Nick and Laurie are learning how to kill the giants before they destroy the entire state. Along the way, they capture an entertaining little creature and find that Taloa has left her pond in search of her sisters by herself. That being the least of their problems right now, Nick and Laurie must figure out how to get rid of the giants first. Without giving anything away, this book has a nice little twist at the end that will have you waiting for the final book in this series...for your kids to read, of course. :)

SRC | Week 9

I just picked up Lessons from the Road by Nigel James from the Post Office...hmmm...sound familiar? Seems everyone that has read it and reviewed it for the SRC has really liked it.

SRC | Week 8

#12 Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer: This is the fourth book in the Twilight Saga. I've read the first three and loved them all. There was a simpleness to them, great character development and an interesting story line to work through.

Breaking Dawn was different from the first three books. The first difference is that this book is broken up into three books. The first book, told from Bella's point of view, contained the wedding and honeymoon. It moved very quickly, which is fine since it was the wedding and all, but annoying because I just couldn't really get into it. The first book does take a surprising turn before it ends though, so be prepared. The second book, written from Jacob's point of view, brought us a bit further into the story (can't say too much here without spoiling things...which apparently some of my reviews/summaries have done...sorry.) The second book slows things back down a bit, which is nice. Gives the story a little time to develop instead of feeling so rushed. The third book is back to Bella's point of view and to me seemed a bit more reminiscent of the previous three books in the series. I do think that Stephenie could have spent a bit more time on the book. I could have used a little less of how beautiful Edward was, how beautiful Bella was...this got annoying in the earlier books too though, so might just be me. Much of the book seemed to be filled with fluff to get us through to the next chapter and earlier books didn't seem that way.

A set of books I will be more than happy to let my daughters read when they are old enough. Would I say rush out and buy this one in particular, probably not, but borrow it from a friend or go to your local library and put your name on the wait list for it for sure.

SRC | Week 7

#11 Mirror, Mirror by Gregory Maguire: Our story is set on a family farm in Tuscany where a seven year old "Snow White" in the form of Bianca and her father Don Vincente de Nevada live. Early on in the book, Vicente has found a mirror in a lake on his estate, but how it got there unknown. Soon after, Cesare and Lucrezia arrive, needing the isolation of the Nevada estate for their own purposes. Cesare also has a use for Vicente, and offers him a choice...he can either join Cesare's army and face certain death, or he can go on a quest for him, a quest to find three apples, but not just any apples, these apples are from the Tree of Knowledge...you know, Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve. Having no choice but to accept the quest, Bianca is left in the care of her father's farm staff and the infamous Lucrezia Borgia, Cesare's sister.

As the years tick by Lucrezia becomes less and less enthused about Bianca and eventually hires a hunter to kill her. But the hunter doesn’t kill her, bless his tender heart, he takes her deep into the woods instead and then he kills a deer and takes the heart back to Lucrezia as proof that the girl is dead. Meanwhile, Bianca falls into a deep sleep in the woods and is taken in by six unusual characters, who as you’ve undoubtedly guessed by now, are dwarves. But where is the seventh dwarf? The missing dwarf was the strange creature that had observed Vincente's discovery of the mirror (that he and the other dwarves had created) and had followed Vicente ever since. Eventually Bianca wakes up and slowly starts to see and comprehend the dwarves and the strange house in which she’s been staying. Saying much more about the plot might reveal too much of the ending. Let me just say that what happens in the last part of the book is similar to the Disney movie.

Overall I’d say this book is okay. I was disappointed because I wanted a new perspective on a familiar story but I felt like all I got was the same story dropped into a different time with a few different names. I thought there were some clever ideas such as the poisoned apple was actually from the Garden of Eden and the mirror being created by the dwarves. The characters bored me...I never learned anything about any of the characters that made me care about them or even dislike them and when it all ended I just felt like I hadn’t learned anything. Maybe I just missed what Maguire was getting at. If viewed as pure entertainment, the book's not bad. I didn't regret reading it, but compared to Maguire’s other works I’d say it’s way below Wicked.

SRC | Week 6

This week I've been reading Mirror, Mirror by Gregory Maguire. I've had tons of work to do too, so I haven't gotten very far on it. Mirror, Mirror is Maguire's take on Snow White. In the same style as Wicked and Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, Maguire tells us about Snow White's life before the tale of Snow White that we all know and love. More to come next week...I'm hoping!

I'm also very excited because I get to pick up Breaking Dawn, Stephenie Meyer's new book, at the end of this week!!!! I might have to put Mirror, Mirror on hold for that one!

SRC | Week 5

#10 Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire: In the style of Wicked, Maguire is sharing his take on the classic fairytale, Cinderella, from one of the stepsister's point of view.He shows us what could have really happened and where the fairytale could have come from, after centuries of retelling and altering the "real" story.

The book starts out with a widow, Margarethe, and her two daughters, Ruth ~ a large, simple-minded girl, and Iris ~ a smart girl with plain looks, who are fleeing from their English country village after her husband's violent murder. They return to the town that Margarethe grew up in only to find that they have no relatives or home left there. In search of a place to stay, they find shelter in the home of a painter, Master Schoonmaker. The mother takes a job in his household doing chores and mixing paints, Ruth is asked to pick wild flowers for the him to paint and Iris is only to pose for him to paint in his paintings. After several months of living and working in the Master's home, Margarethe is offered a job in the home of a very wealthy man. Master doesn't want her to go and proposes to her, but she won't marry him because he is too poor and can offer nothing to her and her daughters (a glimpse into her scheming ways).

This new house is that of a prosperous merchant, Van den Meer, his wife, Henrika, and beautiful daughter, Clara, who is not allowed to leave the house for reasons we will only know at the end of the book. The Master is asked to paint a portrait of Clara with tulips, a beautiful flower with a beautiful red color that the father is trying to import, and he creates a masterpiece that he is afraid won't be able to repeat. The mother, pregnant, dies before giving birth (the reason for this will also be revealed later), and Margarethe soon manages to convince Van den Meer that the town will start talking if they don't get married, so they do. Clara is not happy about this situation at all. Margarethe does not wish to replace her mother, but does want the respect that goes along with being the wife and running the household. Clara, not being used to having to do anything and used to having everything given to her, refuses and thus Margarethe starts behaving with Clara as the stepmother we have grown to know and love in the fairytale, commanding Clara to clean and do other household chores. Clara has never had to do any of this and Iris takes pity on her, helps her, and teaches her how to do things. For her, Clara is now her sister and she finds her duty to take care of her as she takes care of Ruth.

Van den Meer is gone from the house often, either due to business or due to the fact that he doesn't want to be around Margarethe. Clara, upset by her mother's death and her father's outings, refuses leave the kitchen. She says she finds the silence and the work comforting, and she will soon ask people to call her Cinderella, or Cinder girl. Try as she might, Iris can't make her leave the house and behave like a normal child. (Thus making it just as much her fault for her "maid" situation, not completely the wicked step-mother's fault in the way we think it is.)

Van den Meer makes a huge business mistake and his work fails miserably and he falls into a depression so deep that he is not able to get out of bed. The family has basically lost everything and Margarethe is left to try to straighten out the situation. So Margarethe, who has become more cunning and more wicked than before, decides that she wants Clara to get married to a disgusting, but wealthy, merchant and will try to get Iris married to a prince who travels the country with his Aunt, the Queen, in search of a wife. Clara is forbidden by Margarethe to go to the ball, which is fine with her because she doesn't want to be seen out of the house. Iris does not give up though and finally convinces her that she should go. Clara agrees as long as she can keep her face covered with a veil.

The prince, upon meeting Iris, finds her enchanting and gives her his whole attention...until Clara arrives. As we all know, he falls immediately in love with Clara, but it is not the clock striking twelve that makes her leave as much as a fire that destroys the beautiful painting of her with the tulips the Master had borrowed to show the Queen. The shoe the prince brings to the house the following day is only an excuse to find the culprit of the fire, and that he does; he also discovers Clara. They finally get married and Clara is careful to send money and help for Iris and Ruth, her beloved sisters, who love her as much as she loves them. As for Margarethe, she is another story, but she's done enough damage not to deserve much respect. Clara has left it to Iris and Ruth to decide how to care for their mother.

Don't skip the prologue and the epilogue...many things are brought to light. Between Wicked and this book, Maguire has definitely been able to capture the "gray" areas of otherwise black and white children's stories.

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Sunday, July 13th - Eeek! I'm so excited! I just pre-ordered Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer while we were at Borders...you better believe I'll be there on August 1st at midnight to pick it up...I'll probably start reading it too! I'm so excited I could just pee!...okay, maybe not quite that excited, but quite happy. ;0p

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#9 Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney: This is one of my favorite kids books (I won't be sharing too many of these since I'd have about 20 a day to write, but we just read this one again and I wanted to share). I bought this book after having our first daughter and we read it almost every night to her at bedtime. Although she's getting a bit too old to enjoy it like she used to, she still picks it out for her bedtime book now and then. Little Nutbrown Hare is telling his father, Big Nutbrown Hare, how much he loves him in a form of comparing it to the measure of actual things. Of course, being a typical male, daddy has to one-up his son and go one measure up from anything that Little Nutbrown Hare says. (LOL...just kidding about the typical male jab). Just before falling asleep, Little Nutbrown Hare amazes his Dad with the statement "I love you right up to the moon." Of course, Dad does one-up this too, but only after his son is sound asleep. Anita Jeram's illustrations for this book are beautiful and the colors are perfect for capturing the sleepy-time feel of this bedtime book. I give this book as a baby gift quite often and I highly recommend it to any parent.

SRC | The Last 90 Days

In lieu of the holiday weekend, Mark has asked us a couple questions about The Last 90 Days:

1) IN THE LAST 90 DAYS, what is the one book that has impacted you the most?

2) IN THE LAST 90 DAYS, what is the one artist and/or album that has impacted you the most?

Eeekkk! - nothing like starting off the week with a tough set of questions! Hmmm...in the past 90 days, gotta think...

The book that has impacted me the most over the past 90 days..., other than the devotional that I'm going through,Time to Get Serious by Tony Evans - it's awesome, I'm going to say it was The Complete Guide to Getting and Staying Organized by Karen Ehman. I heard Karen speak at the Hearts at Home Conference this past spring. (It's a conference for stay-at-home moms and this book has really motivated me to get my house and life more organized, thus making a huge impact on my and my family's life. Karen teaches you step-by-step how to create a system that will work for your specific family. She teaches you how to manage your time, unclutter/organize your home, get your kids interested in helping you and, most importantly, how to not over commit to things. A must read for anyone who needs help in any or all of those areas, which was definitely me!

The one artist or album that has impacted my life the most over the past 90 days...I don't know that I can narrow it down because I usually listen to the local Christian station or just a mix of music on my computer. I will say that I honestly listen to Third Day probably the most and between listening to your music and keeping involved with you guys on your site and the blogs, plus this reading club, I really think I would have to answer Third Day (yes, I know, I'm a brown-noser!) Sometimes it feels like I personally know you guys and you'll never know what an awesome thing it is that you take time out of your busy schedule to do things like personally post on your blogs or respond to posts on facebook. Most people, if they bothered to do it at all, would hire someone to take care of those type of things for them. You guys genuinely seem to care about your fans...it all brings a smile to my heart and soul as well as my face. Thanks!

Whew, that's a novel of a post...sorry!

...now back to our regularly scheduled SRC!

SRC | Week 3

#7 Before I Wake by Dee Henderson: Before I Wake is twisting story that follows the intertwined lives of three main characters: Sheriff Justice, his friend and private investigator Bruce Chapel and Bruce's former girlfriend, now business parter Rae Gabriella.

Rae left the FBI after years of dedicated service when a case went ugly. She accepts a position as a private detective at Chapel Detective Agency, headed by her former Fed partner Bruce Chapel in Justice, Illinois.

Justice County Sheriff Nathan Justice has his hands full with a strike that could turn violent and his grandfather. However, he soon has more to deal with when Peggy Worth is found dead in her hotel room, five rooms away from where Rae is staying; a woman she met earlier in the day. Peggy's parents hire Rae to investigate what seemed likely a natural death in her sleep of a twenty-eight years old healthy female. Soon Bruce, Rae and Nathan know that a serial killer murders women in their hotel room without a whisper or a hint of a struggle, but never takes their money or jewelry so no motive has surfaced. Whereas she seeks justice, he fears she could be next.

Have you ever had a book that when it finished you sat back and thought oh my? Well, this is one. Dee Henderson, as always, does a fabulous job of pulling the reader into the work and getting them to be part of the story. There is a bit of a triangle developing between Bruce, Nathan and Rae. Bruce is a man she once almost married and Nathan is quickly becoming more than just a friend. The twists and turns the plot takes are great and keep the reader always on their toes. Each word becomes something you focus on so you don’t miss anything. The characters are real and deep as they deal with various situations.

The "oh my" part comes though in that everything isn’t solved by the end. As readers we get very used to everything being wrapped up in a neat little bow by the end of the story. This book is obviously going to be a series with more great installments to come. Now don’t get me wrong, if Before I Wake is the only one you ever read, you aren’t left hanging out in left field. However, it sure leaves you ready for the next book. I know I can’t wait!

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#8 The Marriage Wish by Dee Henderson: A short and sweet review for this little book. Our main character, Jennifer, has lost a husband and child and she's afraid to love again. Since I have two daughters, I look at conflicts involving children differently now. I've never lost a child, but I do know that it would be hard for me to get over losing either of my girls because they mean the world to me! Even with God's grace, getting over the death of a child is would be an extremely hard thing to do. As in most romance novels, there is a happy ending and Jennifer does find the courage to have children. Not as good as some of Dee's other work, but still a good read.

As a sidenote: If you haven't read any of Dee Henderson's other books (The O'Malley Series and Uncommon Hereos Series) you definitely should.

SRC | Week 2

Hmmm...at this rate I'm going to have to look up some more books to last...to August...through August??? When does this thing end?

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#5 Betrayed (Book 2) by PC and Kristin Cast: In this follow-up to the book Marked, Zoey has begun to settle into her life at the House of Night. She is now the leader of the Dark Daughters & Sons and High Priestess in training, but something still feels wrong. Zoey wonders if it has anything to do with the ghosts she's been seeing, or if it's all just her imagination...but when a couple of her old acquaintances go missing and then later turn up dead, Zoey is inclined to start listening to her instincts. Her instincts are telling her that perhaps the strange feelings and dreams she's been having might just be some sort of vision. For someone she trusts is definitely not what they appear, and betrayal can lie in the most unlikely of places.

I really enjoyed this book. Although annoying at times (probably only because I have already read Marked), it works well for readers who may have missed the first book as the authors brings up any important points from the previous novel that you might need to know. Okay, now on to Chosen, which I just so happen to have sitting right here. :0)

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#6 Chosen (Book 3) by PC and Kristin Cast: In this third book of the House of Night series, Zoey's adventures at the vampyre school have taken a turn. Her best friend, Stevie Rae, who has become a very scary version of a vampyre, is struggling to maintain her hold on humanity, while Zoey tries to figure out what she can do to restore her friend to her former self. Zoey also finds herself juggling not two, but three boyfriends...And all these secrets she's having to keep from her best friends. For some strange reason, the only person Zoey seems to be trusting is the furthest person from her friend, Aphrodite. Now, while Zoey is juggling all that is going on, things are getting worse because Vampyre professors are being murdered and all leads point to the People of Faith, Zoey's own stepfather's religious group, as the most likely suspects! Yikes!

Best part about the book (I'm being sarcastic here) is that it leaves you hagning...um...what happens next!!! In any case, I enjoyed this book as much as the first two, if not more because I'm beginning to really like the characters. Okay, I guess I need to Google to see when the next book, Untamed, comes out now!

SRC | Week 1

3. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire: Did you ever want to know how the Wicked Witch of the West became wicked? Maguire tells us the story behind how Elphaba (the Wicked Witch), her sister Nessarose, and her school roommate Galinda deal with the conflicts that we all face...good and evil, God and religion, racism, prejudice, sibling rivalry, status, politics, lust and love. Elphaba was born with green skin, shark’s teeth and an aversion to water. She is not wicked just insecure and she eventually commits her life to overthrowing the controlling Wizard.

The Wizard of Oz story with which we are all familiar with, either from the L. Frank Baum book or the movie, doesn’t even appear until the final section of the book There are references throughout the book to characters that appear in the later Baum books, such as TicTok and Ozma. We get an inside scoop on the winged monkeys, the Yellow Brick Road, the house that kills Elphaba's sister and the Ruby Slippers that cause so much drama. We also find out that Glinda (formerly known as Galinda), the good Witch of the North, isn't really all that good unless it benefits her in some way and the Wizard of Oz will stop an nothing to remain in control of Oz.

Maguire has told Elphaba's story in great detail...maybe a bit too much detail at times, especially for younger readers (which is where I found this book). Wicked was a very hard read, but worth it...probably even worth a second read, just because of all the details that I probably missed in the first read. Overall, I recommend the book and cannot wait to go see the musical!

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#4 Marked (Book 1) by PC and Kristin Cast: First off, I have to admit that I'm a sucker for vampire books, so I might be a bit biased.

Unlike most vampire novels, Cast's vampyres are not created in the usual manner such as being bitten by another. Instead, after being "marked" by a tracker - with a dark blue outline of a crescent moon on the forehead, a fledgling vampyre is created simply by biological changes going on in their body. The change occurs over a period of four years, during which time the vampyre leaves their family and friends and into the House of Night. There they will learn everything they need to know to prepare for their new life as a vampyre or their bodies will reject the change and they will die.

Zoey was at school, dealing with teenager issues when she was marked. Her mother and WAY over-the-top, legalistic, Christian-like stepfather freaked out about this and she ran away to the home of her Cherokee Grandma, looking for comfort and acceptance. While looking for her grandma, she had a vision of the Vampyre Goddess Nyx speaking to her and telling her she had a special purpose - she was to be Nyx's eyes and ears. When she awoke from that, the Mark on her forehead was completely filled in, as it is usually only on adult vampyres. There is much about Zoey, the friends and family that she left behind, the friends and enemies that she makes, and the happenings at the House of Night to read about, but I won't share so that I don't ruin the book for any of you who want to read it.

This book was a very easy read and I really liked it. So much so that I was very happy to have the sequel, Betrayed, which I'm starting tonight.

Mark Lee's Summer Reading Club | Week 0

These are the last two books that I've read that we are being allowed to cheat and post as our "freebies". My two freebies that I just finished reading are:

1. The Spiderwick Chronicles (Books 1-5) by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi: (Yes, I realize this is 5 books, not 1, but those of you who have read them will understand...they're kinda short books.)

In the first book we are introduced to the Grace children, the twins, Jared and Simon and their older sister, Mallory. They have moved with their newly divorced mother to the old, run-down, house that used to belong to their Uncle who was missing and their Aunt who is now in an institution. As they try to adjust to their new accommodations they discover a secret world populated by brownies, goblins, griffins, elves, and more. In the first book they meet Thimbletack, the family’s house brownie, who is mighty unhappy with the new occupants of his home, especially when Jared finds Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide. The Field Guide contains all of Arthur ’s observations on magical creatures, which could endanger all of the faerie world if it fell into the wrong hands.

Over the course of the rest of the books, the children learn the family secrets and how to make their way among the faeries through a series of adventures ending with a quest to save not only themselves and all of the good creatures of the faerie world, but all of the non-magical world as well.

For a set of Young Adult books, they were entertaining. The illustrations of the fairy-tale creatures and characters were very well done and really brought the characters to life...nothing like helping your imagination along. It was definitely written in a simple enough form for kids to read, so you don't need a dictionary to help you out with any words. Not too scary for pre-teen readers, but probably a bit much for younger ages. I really enjoyed reading them and cannot wait for my girls to be old enough to enjoy them as well.

Sidenote: The books are SO much better than the movie. I thought the movie was good, but it was annoying because the changed from the books way too much!

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2. Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles: The Nixie's Song (Book 1) by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi: A great follow-up to the original Chronicles, The Nixie's Song takes readers...beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles. :0)

This first book introduces us to Nick Vargas and his family. Nick's father develops subdivisions, so they move around a lot. It's been a calm life for Nick and his older brother, until dad goes and does the unthinkable, he remarries. Now Nick has to give up his room to his new stepsister, Laurie. Laurie's a bit odd. She collects books and drawings about faeries. She knows they exist, because she's read The Spiderwick Chronicles, and she even has her own copy of The Field Guide. She knows how to see faeries, but hasn't been fortunate enough to actually have it happen.

All that is about to change when Nick finds a four-leaf clover, which, unknown to him, gives him the "Sight" to see things no one else can see, not even Laurie, who is so jealous. Thankfully they can share the clover which allows them to share the sight. What they end up seeing is an injured nixie, a water faerie, who has been cut off from the river she shared with her sisters and must now reside in the neighborhood's man-made lake.

The nixie, Taloa, binds Nick and Laurie into an agreement to find out what happened to her sisters. What Nick and Laurie find instead is a giant that has more danger to it than just its size. Soon, Nick and Laurie find themselves in need of help from somebody who's had a lot more experience with faeries than they have, which leads to some amusing and surprising encounters with some familiar characters.

This book is enjoyable, not only for those who have read the Chronicles, but for newcomers as well. Not quite as good as the original Chronicles, but still worth reading. I'm hoping that the plot develops into something a bit better as this new series continues. I'm looking forward to the second book coming out in September so I can continue on with the story...I hate being left hanging!

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All posts related to Mark Lee's Summer Reading Club will be found here. Books that I haven't read yet, but am hoping to can be found in the right hand column of this blog.

My summer reading list is in the right hand column on the blog. I'm sure it will grow and change, but that's it for right now. :0) By the way, thanks Mark for putting this all together!