Over Sea, Under Stone
by Susan Cooper
This is definitely not a good book for reading aloud. We struggled through about a third of it, where Wayne kept complaining that "nothing was happening." He was right, of course, but I decided to finish the rest of it by myself, so I could skim. There was just too much...detail...and not enough character development or plot development. read more »
Eragon (pronounced EHR-uh-gahn) is your average dragon/fantasy tale which follows after the J.R.R. Tolkien legacy. I have avoided this book because of the huge negative press around the relationship between this novel and the Lord of the Rings and Star Wars series. People have claimed the book is cliched and derivative.
And I have to say, it's all true. read more »
Ever wonder how to teach children that they won't be happy getting everything they want? This story would definitely scare that lesson into them.
Coraline is a short book by Neil Gaiman about a little girl and the nightmare world she falls into, and how she tries to escape. A great story about overcoming fears, nerves, what it means to be brave and ultimately that getting what you want can be a very scary thing. read more »
I stayed up really late last night finishing this book and so I'm really tired while writing this review. It is a short read, approximately 4-5 hours; and it definitely is not for children.
I've been trying to pick up some Neil Gaiman books lately and see if I do or don't like his writing. His style and flow is a bit choppy for me (just different, not bad) and so it was a bit hard to get the cadence of this book until after the first chapter... but then, I was unfortunately hooked. read more »
East
by Edith Pattou
During the holidays, we spent much of our time reading books, catching up on my one-book-a-month goal. Although I spent most of my break digesting some books on postmodern theory and archiving (non-related), this book, I mostly devoured on the flight back from Michigan; Rebecca had read it before me during the flight to Michigan. read more »
The Chronicles of Prydain
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The Book of Three
The Black Cauldron
The Castle of Llyr
Taran Wanderer
The High King
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Warning: Spoilers read more »
We liked Shannon Hale's The Princess Academy, so on Melissa's recommendation we picked up The Goose Girl to read to each other on our trip to Oregon.
The book was good. I was really worried it was going to turn out to be a "coming of age story" (bleech), but I was actually quite captivated the whole book through. Moreso because Rebecca was reading it to me and that always makes a book better. read more »
I was recommended this book by some friends and after the first chapter I was terrified. And captivated. But by the middle of book, I was tired and honestly stopped reading.
Let's just say, I got the point early on: people who have children and have two incomes are in trouble for no fault of their own. Well, sort-of not their own. But a fascinating study nonetheless. Here's a break down of their analysis. read more »
I was really excited to pick up P.D. James' novel after I saw the trailer for the upcoming film based on the book. The concept behind the plot captivated my interest from the start. read more »
