Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Book Blurb:
You can't stop the future.
You can't rewind the past.
The only way to learn the secret... is to press play.

Clay Jensen returns home to find a strange package with his name on it. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker- his class mate and first love- who committed suicide two weeks earlier.

Hannah's voice explains there are thirteen reasons why she killed herself. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out why.

All through the night, Clay keeps listening- and what he discovers changes his life...
Forever.

A lot of students have been eager to read this book so when Peta's shipment of two copies arrived this week I just had to read a chapter to see what it was like. Of course, I couldn't put it down. Thanks again Peta for your generous donation. The books arrived yesterday from bookdepository!

It is a compelling book with an interesting writing style. I liked how the writer, Jay Asher, weaved the story together by having the main character listen to the tapes. Clay's reactions to what Hannah says on the tapes, at times, makes it seem as if the two are conversing. At the very least, it gives Hannah's story perspective and drives the story forward. In one night, Clay listens to the story of the girl he loved and he travels around the town where they live to significant places in Hannah's experiences leading up to her dark decision.

The content of this book is a bit disturbing. After all, the other main character, Hannah, has killed herself. That certainly ups the maturity level of this book but also makes it worth reading.

It doesn't glorify suicide at all. It doesn't make us feel that the character's choice was good and we don't get a feeling of justice when the other characters listen to her story. At times, in fact, I found myself feeling a bit annoyed and frustrated by Hannah and I had to wonder if that was partly by design. I'm not sure. She makes a lot of mistakes too. She isn't perfect. And her decision to end her life is a mistake. Ultimately, she did have friends and family who loved her even if she didn't always see that. The reader, in the end, is left with a feeling of great pity.

The main message in the book is powerful. It reminds us that we must be kind and caring towards others and that even the little things we do that aren't very nice can have a drastic affect on the people around us. By the time you finish reading this book, I guess that's what you take away from it - and that's a good thing.

There is some mature content here but it isn't titillating at all - it is the exact opposite. This is a warning to teen readers though. This book deals with harsh issues of American teenage life and isn't a "fun" read. However, it is very interesting and will appeal to those students who enjoy dramatic narratives.

4/5 stars

We now have 3 copies in the SRR available, but if you just can't wait I think Booker still has a copy (last seen on the top of the fiction bookshelf).

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

Amazon review:
On her way home from school on a snowy December day, 14-year-old Susie Salmon is lured into a cornfield and brutally raped and murdered, the latest victim of a serial killer. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold's haunting and heartbreaking debut novel, unfolds from heaven, where "life is a perpetual yesterday" and where Susie narrates and keeps watch over her grieving family and friends, as well as her brazen killer and the sad detective working on her case.

As Sebold fashions it, everyone has his or her own version of heaven. Susie's resembles the athletic fields and landscape of a suburban high school: a heaven of her "simplest dreams", where "there were no teachers... We never had to go inside except for art class... The boys did not pinch our backsides or tell us we smelled; our textbooks were Seventeen and Glamour and Vogue".

The Lovely Bones works as an odd yet affecting coming-of-age story. Susie struggles to accept her death while still clinging to the lost world of the living, following her family's dramas over the years. Her family disintegrates in their grief: her father becomes determined to find her killer, her mother withdraws, her little brother Buckley attempts to make sense of the new hole in his family and her younger sister Lindsey moves through the milestone events of her teenage and young adult years with Susie riding spiritual shotgun. Random acts and missed opportunities run throughout the book--Susie recalls her sole kiss with a boy on earth as "like an accident--a beautiful gasoline rainbow".

Though sentimental at times, The Lovely Bones is a moving exploration of loss and mourning that ultimately puts its faith in the living and that is made even more powerful by a cast of convincing characters. Sebold orchestrates a big finish and though things tend to wrap up a little too well for everyone in the end, one can only imagine (or hope) that heaven is indeed a place filled with such happy endings. --Brad Thomas Parsons, Amazon.com

This book is exquisitely disturbing. It isn't for most people and, in fact, it isn't the type of book that I would normally pick up except that one of the teachers in the staffroom highly recommended it.

I've never found mass murderers to be of much interest and the brutality at the beginning of the story was a bit too much for me. However, I liked the fresh point of view in the book. It was interesting to read the words of a dead narrator. You watch the story unfold from the narrator's perspective (often from heaven) and you get to see into the hearts and minds of all the people connected to her. It's also fascinating to see how the other characters relate to one another as well as the amazing description of Suzie's personal heaven. I'll say it again: it's interesting.

I liked Sebold's writing style and most of the time I felt drawn forward into the story, wanting more and wondering how it would all turn out. As I entered the last 100 pages I was eager to finish it and stayed up until 1 am to do so.

I'm not sure how other readers react to this book, but I found the end to be very sad and I had to fight back tears a few times. It is a rough ride for sure. From beginning to end, this book is a difficult read because of the heavy content. This is not young adult literature. I'm not even sure I can recommend it to you unless you've read other dramatic, tear-jerker type stories and enjoyed them. Can you handle the disturbing "horror movie" type of beginning? Can you handle reading a book about murder and death and mourning?

I was both disturbed and delighted by this one. I will recommend it to others like me who wouldn't normally read this type of story but are ready to try something a bit different and who can handle the heavy content.

4/5 Stars

Peter Jackson: A film-maker's journey by Brian Sibley

Amazon Description:

This work presents an authorised and fully illustrated insight into the life and career of the award-winning director, from his childhood film projects up to "King Kong", together with Jackson's revealing personal account of his six-year quest to film "The Lord of the Rings". Once, Peter Jackson was a name unknown to all but a small band of loyal fans and fellow film-makers.

Now, he is the newest member of Hollywood's elite fellowship, with his name on the most successful movie trilogy of all time. Written with Jackson's full participation, this extensive biography, illustrated with never-before-seen photos from Jackson's personal collection, tells the inside story of how a New Zealander became Hollywood's hottest property - from the early cult classics, through Academy Award -winning success with Kate Winslet's "Heavenly Creatures", the abandoned "King Kong" remake, and the filming of "The Lord of the Rings", a project which was abandoned two years into pre-production, rejected by most of the other studios and then picked up by New Line Cinema in the biggest gamble in film history.

Drawing upon interviews with fifty of Peter Jackson's colleagues and contemporaries, author Brian Sibley paints a portrait of a true auteur, a man gifted with single-minded determination and an artist's vision. Jackson himself is both revealing and insightful about his entire film-making life, from his first childhood steps filming in Super 8 to the grand realisation of his life's dream: "King Kong". Together, these joint narratives provide a truly unique and compelling insight into one of the finest cinematic minds at work today.

I am a big fan of the Lord of the Rings movies. I read the trilogy during a vacation five years ago and I loved the movies directed by Peter Jackson. When I came across this beautiful hardcover biography of Peter, I couldn't resist it. I picked it up and started reading it and before I knew it I had read the entire book from cover to cover.

I guess to begin with I was fascinated that this little-known guy from New Zealand somehow came along and got to do one of the biggest film projects in history. That amazes me. I wanted to know how he did it. The book does a really good job of explaining the whole thing. It describes his humble beginnings and all the challenges he faced making his first movies. Then it gave all the details related to how he managed to get the LOTR movies. Simply fascinating.

I really liked the way the writer, Brian Sibley, managed to keep this biography moving along. I also was very happy with the way that he quoted a lot of what Peter told him. I loved being able to read full page excerpts from conversations he had with him. With authorized biographies like this, you get a lot more real information and it makes you feel good knowing you are getting to the heart of things and not just speculation from a book writer who may just be speculating a lot of the time (I recenly read parts of a Rowling biography that was a complete waste of time because it based a lot on stuff the writer got from newspaper articles and other secondhand sources).

I liked everything about this book and the stories it told. The only thing I felt I missed out on was more about the casting of Kate Winslet in Heavenly Creatures. Peter's film was Winslet's first film and, being a big Winslet fan, I really wanted to know more about her and how Peter felt about her work on his movie. Oh well, you can't have everything.

Having read this book, I'm very interested in seeing all of Jackson's movies. As well, it has made me even more curious about visiting New Zealand and it has further convinced me that Kiwis are amazing people.

Stay tuned for the new movie The Lovely Bones based on the popular novel by Alice Sebold which is being produced my Peter Jackson and should be released soon. The Lovely Bones is available in the SRR and I'm hoping to get a hardcover before January as it is going to be an even bigger hit once it makes it to the theater in December.

Note: I'm reading a lot of different stuff these days. I just thought I'd post this review to keep you all up to date. There are so many amazing books in the world. Just pick one up! Pick up something you wouldn't usually read. Read something totally "different" today! Take a chance on a different genre or a different writer. You never know.

4/5 Stars

Cell by Stephen King

Amazon.com Review
Witness Stephen King's triumphant, blood-spattered return to the genre that made him famous. Cell, the king of horror's homage to zombie films (the book is dedicated in part to George A. Romero) is his goriest, most horrific novel in years, not to mention the most intensely paced. Casting aside his love of elaborate character and town histories and penchant for delayed gratification, King yanks readers off their feet within the first few pages; dragging them into the fray and offering no chance catch their breath until the very last page.

In Cell King taps into readers fears of technological warfare and terrorism. Mobile phones deliver the apocalypse to millions of unsuspecting humans by wiping their brains of any humanity, leaving only aggressive and destructive impulses behind. Those without cell phones, like illustrator Clayton Riddell and his small band of "normies," must fight for survival, and their journey to find Clayton's estranged wife and young son rockets the book toward resolution.

Fans that have followed King from the beginning will recognize and appreciate Cell as a departure--King's writing has not been so pure of heart and free of hang-ups in years (wrapping up his phenomenal Dark Tower series and receiving a medal from the National Book Foundation doesn't hurt either). "Retirement" clearly suits King, and lucky for us, having nothing left to prove frees him up to write frenzied, juiced-up horror-thrillers like Cell. --Daphne Durham

I have a confession to make. I love zombie movies. I don't know why, but I do. Zombies are really awesome. Dawn of the Dead is the best, of course. The idea that human survivors would hide in a shopping mall and fight off zombies is beyond cool.

I guess I'm fascinated by the human response to tragedy or extreme circumstances. It's the same reason I'm crazy about Titanic and why I enjoyed books like The Lord of the Flies. I always wonder what people would do if we stripped away all the technology and all the comforts of home that we enjoy. How would people react? How would I react? Would I have been one of the fine gentlemen on the Titanic sipping on a drink and vowing to go down with the ship or would I have snuck onto a lifeboat?

Anyway, I was pretty excited when I got a book shipment and inside there was a big, beautiful hardcover copy of this book. Thanks to Ann in the USA for sending it to us! I've never actually read a Stephen King book and after reading On Writing I really wanted to see him in action.

The first chapter will blow your mind. It is disgusting, frightening, and disturbing. If you are into horror, it will knock your socks off. King's story grabs you by the throat and never let's go. I really enjoyed the three main characters and the story was very interesting.

I had never read a zombie book but now I'm convinced there is a lot of room for fun here. I'd like to read more books in this genre. I'm certain if you like horror stories or zombie movies, you will like this book as much as I did.

4/5 Stars

Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick

Amazon.com:
*Starred Review* Gr. 5-8. Steven Alper is a typical eighth-grader--smarter than some, a better drummer than most, but with the usual girl problems and family trials. Then, on October 7, his five-year-old brother, Jeffrey, falls, has a nosebleed that doesn't stop, and is diagnosed with leukemia. All hell breaks loose. Mrs. Alper's days and nights revolve around getting Jeffrey to his chemotherapy treatments, and Mr. Alper retreats into a shell, coming out only occasionally to weep over the mounting medical bills.

Steven becomes the forgotten son, who throws himself into drumming, even as he quits doing his homework and tries to keep his friends from finding out about Jeffrey's illness. A story that could have morphed into melodrama is saved by reality, rawness, and the wit Sonnenblick infuses into Steven's first-person voice.

The recriminations, cares, and nightmares that come with a cancer diagnosis are all here, underscored by vomiting, white blood cell counts, and chemotherapy ports. Yet, this is also about regrouping, solidarity, love, and hope. Most important for a middle-grade audience, Sonneblick shows that even in the midst of tragedy, life goes on, love can flower, and the one thing you can always change is yourself.

Now, you might wonder why anybody would want to read a book about a teenage boy who has a little brother with cancer. However, this book was #5 on the 2005 Teens' Top Ten list so obviously a lot of teenagers read and enjoyed it. I usually only read books that I think will be fun to read, so I was skeptical about this one but I wanted to give it a try.

Actually, I'm glad I did. Sonnenblick's writing is very interesting and easy to read. I felt for Steven, the main character and I found his experiences to be fascinating. I could empathize with him and all the things he was going through. I think it is quite authentic - Steven probably reacts like any teenager would in times of a family crisis.

Steven is just trying to get on with his life. He enjoys playing drums and he's worried about girls and school and all that stuff. At the same time, he has to struggle with the fact that his brother has cancer. He has to face his relationship with his parents and deal with his own selfish feelings.

This book was different and because of that I really enjoyed it. It made me laugh and cry. I highly recommend it to students who want to read something more serious then the usual YA fair. The writer wrote this for one of his students who was going through a similar situation. If you've ever gone through a family crisis like a sick sibling, you might find this book a comfort as well.

4/5 Stars

Ramona the Brave by Beverly Cleary

Do you remember how it felt to be a young child? Do you remember your first day in Grade One?

When asked about good books that we should get for the SRR, one of the other teachers suggested the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary.

Now, Beverly Cleary was a popular writer of children's books when I was a boy. Of course that means her stuff is pretty old, so I was skeptical. I wasn't sure if anybody would read them.

Okay, confession time. When I was younger, I was a bit of a reluctant reader. I know, it's hard to believe, but it's true. I didn't read many books for fun.

As a child, I loved Dr Seuss books. I remember visiting a friend's house and leafing through her entire collection and I remember being hypnotized by them all. After that, I got into books about kids who had horses and went on adventures. Later, in high school, I read a number of books that qualified as "literature" and I was pretty keen on all the ideas that the books gave me.

However, I rarely read stories just for the pure fun. Looking back now, I think it is because I was never really introduced to all the great books that were out there so I didn't know what to read. And, as I've said before, I think the writers of books for young people are much better these days than they were when I was a kid.

Anyway, I DO remember one book that I read and enjoyed as a boy and it was "Henry and the Paper Route" by Beverly Cleary. I can't even remember why I enjoyed it. I just remember thinking that Beverly Cleary was awesome and that she was going to be my "favourite author" - not that anybody knew, or cared to ask.

Yesterday I thought I'd give Ramona the Brave a few pages and see what it was like. Well, I read it from cover to cover and then went on to read a second book. Ramona the Brave is pretty fascinating. I was so impressed by Cleary's ability to get into the heads and hearts of young children. Her story captures how it felt to be in first grade. All the feelings and thoughts and anxieties of childhood came rushing back to me yesterday. It was so amazing to remember what that was like.

The main character, Ramona, is interesting because she tries so hard to be good, but things happen and she just keeps getting into trouble. I like her older sister too. She gives her little sister a hard time and doesn't enjoy being around her that much, but just when Ramona is at the end of her rope, her big sister will say something that turns everything around and makes it okay again. I thought that was so cool and heartwarming. The mother, also, surprises Ramona with her kindness. She feels like her mother prefers her older sister and there are times when she gets shocked by her mother's reactions to things that are developing.

I can't wait to read "Ramona and Her Father". In the two books I've read, the father seems like a really nice guy (kinda cool) and everybody says Ramona is "her father's daughter" like she and her father have a magical connection or something. I'm eager to read more about their relationship and to see more of how the father and daughter interact.

Cleary was born in 1916 and just died a few years ago (in 2004). That means she lived through WWII and was writing during the 1950's and 60's in America a time that the modern notion of the "traditional family in America" comes from. Dads went to work and Moms stayed at home and baked apple pies. You get the idea. Anyway, Cleary's narrative captures that innocent time. Interestingly though, Ramona's mother starts working in Ramona the Brave and her father is out of work and has gone back to university in Ramona Forever. I guess Cleary's work was heralding a change in American society at the time.

Anyway, Cleary is a master storyteller. I love the way she uses language and I'm amazed at how well she captured the thoughts and feelings of her main character. I really enjoyed the trip she took me on - back to those first days of school when I was just a little blonde-haired, freckle-faced boy walking three blocks from my home to elementary school. Cleary's work is sweet, funny, and heart-warming. I'm going to order a few more and I hope some of you will read and enjoy them as much as I did.

BTW, two years ago HarperCollins published a new set of Cleary's books. They've modernized the cover art and even made a nice collection box for the set. I'm so glad to see publishers breathing new life into great books like these. Good job HarperCollins!

4/5 stars - well worth reading if you'd like to relive your childhood!

The Iron Man by Ted Hughes

Amazon Product Description: Mankind must put a stop to the dreadful destruction caused by the Iron Man. A trap is set for him, but he cannot be kept down. Then, when a terrible monster from outer space threatens to lay waste to the planet, it is the Iron Man who finds a way to save the world.

A few years ago I was at a teacher's workshop where we read the first few pages of this story. I was hypnotized. Ever since, I've had my eyes out for it and even planned to order it from Amazon. As luck would have it, I was at ISB last week and noticed this little gem at a book sale in the library.

This short 63-page book is magical. I especially loved the first chapter. Hughes writes poetically and brings the Iron Man alive for us. It sounds like poetry. It sounds like a fairy tale. Most of all, it sounds like an iron man - simple and strong, ambling forward step by step, too enormous to live comfortably on our small world.

Hear is a very short excerpt from the first two pages of the book:

The Iron Man came to the top of the cliff.

How far had he walked? Nobody knows. Where had he come from? Nobody knows. How was he made? Nobody knows.

Taller than a house, the Iron Man stood at the top of the cliff, on the very brink, in the darkness.

The wind sang through his iron fingers. His great iron head, shaped like a dustbin but as big as a bedroom, slowly turned to the right, slowly turned to the left. His iron ears turned this way, that way. He was hearing the sea. His eyes, like headlamps, glowed white, then red, then infra-red, searching the sea. Never before had the Iron Man seen the sea.

Isn't that amazing? It is really fun to read out loud. It sounds so neat. It sounds like the iron man the way the sentences kind of awkwardly lurch forward one after another. I love it.

You'll be amazed by this story. If you have a little brother to read to, he'll be fascinated too.

I'll give this one 4/5 stars. It is well worth reading.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

Amazon Product Description:

Greg Heffley finds himself thrust into a new year and a new school where undersize weaklings share the corridors with kids who are taller, meaner and already shaving. Desperate to prove his new found maturity, which only going up a grade can bring, Greg is happy to have his not-quite-so-cool sidekick, Rowley, along for the ride. But when Rowley's star starts to rise, Greg tries to use his best friend's popularity to his own advantage. Recorded in his diary with comic pictures and his very own words, this test of Greg and Rowley's friendship unfolds with hilarious results.


Diary of a Wimpy Kid is a lot of fun. I pounced on it when I saw it on the shelf of a local bookstore and rushed off to the nearest coffee shop to read the first sixty pages. I'm sure the other customers thought I was a bit strange as I kept trying to stifle my laughter, but at times I just couldn't stop chuckling out loud. I was afraid to turn a page and sip my coffee at the same time just in case my coffee drinking and laughing came together in a page-splattering explosion.

Needless to say, I didn't put it down until I finished reading it. I found the comic art / diary style to be an interesting gimmick. The artwork is funny in its simplicity and it drives home a lot of the humour in the stories. The book is really just a collection of interesting thoughts and little stories about life in middle school. In fact, the book is fairly random that way. However, it is still a lot of fun and well worth reading.

I'm curious to see what you will think of it. The thing is, it represents a boy's North American school experience. I'm not sure if the humour will translate. Will it be just as funny for you as it was for me? It's funny to me because I can recognize a lot of what happens in this book as being similar to experiences I had when I was growing up. Please let me know what you think of it.

At the very least, you should read this book because it was in third place on the 2008 ALA chart just behind Eclipse and Harry Potter. It is worth checking it out just to see what all the fuss was about. You be the judge.

Have a look at the first few pages here at Amazon. By the way, Best Eastern just got a shipment in and the cost is $15.80. You can also get on the wait list for this one if you like by adding a comment or leaving a message on the shoutmix. Icklebooks is waiting for their copies and I asked Reader's Haven to order it. BTW, I enjoyed this book and I will probably read it again someday. Therefore, I probably won't be donating it to the reading room. Sorry, waitlisted students are the only ones who will get to read it (unless you buy a copy yourself).

4/5 Stars

The Host by Stephanie Meyer

stepheniemeyer.com:

Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy. Humans become hosts for these invaders, their minds taken over while their bodies remain intact and continue their lives apparently unchanged. Most of humanity has succumbed.

When Melanie, one of the few remaining "wild" humans is captured, she is certain it is her end. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, was warned about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the glut of senses, the too vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

Wanderer probes Melanie's thoughts, hoping to discover the whereabouts of the remaining human resistance. Instead, Melanie fills Wanderer's mind with visions of the man Melanie loves—Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body's desires, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she has been tasked with exposing. When outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off on a dangerous and uncertain search for the man they both love.

Meyer likes writing love stories. It didn't matter that in Twilight the lovers were humans, vampires, and werewolves. We still enjoyed it and the supernatural forces just added a new twist to it all.

The same goes for The Host. What, you don't like stories about aliens? Don't worry about it. Although this book will be found on the Science Fiction shelf in the bookstore, it is still a love story. In fact, it is a very compelling one. If, like me, you make it past the first 150 pages, you will really enjoy it.

Imagine if the world were taken over by aliens. Beautiful little worms insert themselves into the backs of people's necks and then take over the human bodies. In spite of the fact that they've taken over the entire planet, the aliens are nice. Unlike their former human selves, the aliens are very passive and sweet. They don't even use money to buy things. They take care of each other.

Something strange happens, though. Wanderer, that's our narrator and the hero of our story, takes over the body of a very strong-willed woman and even after taking over her body, she can still hear the human in the back of her mind. Melanie, that's the human consciousness locked inside Wanderer's mind, is driven by her love for a man and an adopted son. Her love for them pushes her to fight back against Wanderer. Interestingly, Wanderer becomes haunted by Melanie's love. She sets out with the help of Melanie to find the man and boy.

I'm giving this one 4 out of 5 stars. There were times that I couldn't put it down and at one time my eyes even got a little misty (so I guess I did grow to really like and care about the characters).

If you thought you'd hate books about vampires but learned to like them, you may also find yourself discovering that science fiction love stories are pretty cool too.

4/5 Stars

Wild Magic by Tamora Pierce

tamorapierce.com:

All the orphaned Daine wants when she comes to Tortall is a job. What she finds is magic in many forms, an ongoing war with creatures from legends and nightmares, a new home and, eventually, her unknown father. Hired by the Queen's Riders to help with their horses, she learns her knack with animals is a rare magic which helps her to communicate with the animal kingdom.

With that discovery she becomes the student--then friend and sometimes protector--of the great mage Numair. He also helps her to develop her second magical skill, the ability to sense the presence of the immortals, fabled creatures who have come to mortal lands after a long imprisonment.

All these changes in Daine's life bring her new human friends as well as animal ones: Tortall's rulers, Alanna the Lioness, the heir to the throne of imperial Carthak, a pygmy marmoset, and the badger god. Often she comes into contact--and sometimes conflict--with Stormwings--half human, half steel birds; dragons; spidrens--giant furred spiders with human heads and an appetite for human flesh; griffins; and the clawed, winged horses called hurroks. Daine is kept on the move as she grows into adulthood and her power, coming to terms with her world and her strange, mixed parentage.

Wouldn't it be fun if you could talk to animals? What would you say? What would they say? Better yet, what if you could become an animal? How would it feel if you had the body of a hawk, but you still had your mind? That would be cool. You'd have the keen eyesight of the bird and the ability to fly. What if you could be a wolf? You'd have such a strong sense of smell. What instincts would you feel pulling on you? What would it feel like?

I have loved animals my whole life and I feel a strong connection with them. Animals have always kind of liked me and even generally mean animals will be quite gentle around me. I like to think that animals are a good judge of character and that they know when you are a good person (though they can also smell fear and weakness). Maybe I'm just crazy. I talk to animals as if they were people. My favourite horse out in Jerudong likes that a lot. She is always excited to see me and she'll even nuzzle her face up against my chest as I pet her - it's like she's asking for a hug. It's so weird. Her neck is so soft, but she likes it best when I scratch behind her ears. Horses are amazing! I wish I'd appreciated them more when I had them. My cat, Cha-cha is a lot like a person. He does NOT like to be ignored. When I go out every morning I have to remove him from the hood of my car because he is determined to get at least 30 seconds of my time before I head to work. It's hard to ignore a cat when he is staring in the windshield at you. He's one cool cat with personality plus and a wicked attitude if you do something that annoys him. He's great.

Anyway, last year I came across Tamora Pierce's Immortals Series. If you enjoy the myth-science fiction stuff like Narnia (or the more sophisticated Lord of the Rings), then you should be able to get something out of Wild Magic. Even if you aren't into that type of book, but you like animals, you will still really enjoy it. When I read the book jacket, the idea that a thirteen-year-old girl would discover the magical ability to become animals really caught my attention.

Pierce creates an interesting world and it is fun to join Daine's journey as she discovers her magical abilities. I highly recommend Wild Magic. Read the set in order, though. You'll enjoy them more that way. I donated the entire set to the Reading Room and there are also some older copies in there so you should have a good chance of getting a hold of one. Look under "P" for Pierce.

BTW, I really like the cover art. Isn't it great? It looks so much nicer than the older versions.

4/5 Stars

New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

Back cover blurb:

For Bella Swan, there is one thing more important than life itself: Edward Cullen. But being in love with a vampire is even more dangerous than Bella could ever have imagined. Edward has already rescued Bella from the clutches of one evil vampire, but now, as their daring relationship threatens all that is near and dear to them, they realize their troubles may be just beginning…





I've just finished New Moon! I know, I know, it took me long enough.

If you love the first book, then you will enjoy the second one. It is pretty good. I really enjoyed the first chapter and the last third of the book. However, there are times when this one was a bit slow.

*Spoiler alert* If you have not read New Moon, then do not read this part of my post. I felt that Meyer could have done a better job with this story. I was all excited about the possibility of Bella becoming a vampire. I didn't expect Bella to spend four hundred pages sitting around with Jacob and lamenting the fact that Edward left. Then, the bad vampires came along I expected things to get exciting, but that didn't last long. Thank goodness the book ended really well. I enjoyed the trip to Italy. In fact, I wish she had spent a bit more time with that part of the plot. A hundred pages less with Jacob and a hundred more in Italy would have been great. That's not to say I don't like Jacob. I found his character interesting and I get the feeling that he could play an important role in the next two books. Oh, and did you react the same as me? I assumed Jacob would become a werewolf way back in book one so having to wait for Bella to figure it out was excruciating. I was yelling in my head, "He is a vampire already! Come on! Let's get on with it!" By the way, did you notice the missing words? About four or five times I noticed missing words from the text. For an international bestseller, it could have been edited better. Anyway, the book ended really well, didn't it? Weren't you excited about reading the third book? I'm nervous, though. Will I get to the good stuff right away or will Meyer keep me hanging on at the beginning? We'll see.

4/5 Stars