Midnighters: The Secret Hour

Most of you out there have probably read the Uglies series by Scott Westerfield.  Midnighters is another series that I grabbed to read.  I have extremely mixed feelings about this book.  When I started it I didn't want to like it (because I had a strange, slightly negative experience with the Uglies series), but then the story grabbed me and I got interested.  It's an interesting fantasy tale of what happens during a secret, hidden, twenty fifth hour of the day.  Only a select few people "midnighters" are awake and aware during this time while the rest of the world is frozen.

The book is mysterious and kind of intriguing.  The story has the potential to be awesome, but I really can't decide if I'm going to read the other books or if I'll just read the summaries on Wikipedia.  I love books, but I just struggle with Westerfield's second and third books in a trilogy.  Long story.  

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief

I'll admit it, I caved.  I've heard so much about Percy Jackson (and been outraged when it was compared to Harry Potter) and I finally picked one up to read.  Steph loaned me the book and I used it as a nighttime read-aloud with my seven year old niece Destiny while she visited with me.  

So, The Lightning Thief, I liked it.  But, HELLO WORLD STOP COMPARING THIS TO HARRY POTTER.  This is not Harry Potter, it doesn't even have anything to do with a wizard kid.  Percy is a kid in middle school who suddenly starts facing monsters in the most unexpected of places.  When he discovers his best friend is a satyr and he himself is a demi-god (the son of Poseidon in fact) his life changes.  He attends a summer camp for other "half-bloods" (the slang term for demi-gods used in the book) and is given a quest to recover a stolen item.  He faces real gods and even visits the underworld.  I love the unique modern twist put on Greek mythology (one of my favorite subjects even as a kid) and the unexpected visits from monsters.  It was an overall good book and I'll probably read the others, but I'm not near as attached as I was to Harry (am to Harry). 

Toads and Diamonds

It's hard for me to think of something I could or should write about Toads and Diamonds.  I just really didn't like it.  It was SO slow that I just couldn't get into it and it took me almost two weeks to read.  At times the story was incoherent and just jumped around.  I really think the story idea has potential, but I really didn't like this book even a little.

The story is set in a fictional place based on India.  When their father dies sisters Tana and Diribani aren't sure how they're going to survive, until their both blessed with a gift from a goddess.  One speaks gems and flowers while the other speaks toads, frogs, and snakes.  The story follows the sisters as they try to find purpose in their gifts and help their family and friends.

See?  It sounds like a good story with great potential and a rich cultural setting and it was just...boring.  If you care to try it or did and liked it, please feel free to share your thoughts.  I'd love to hear them.

Catching up...

Okay, so I apologize that I have not blogged about any of the books I have been reading lately. Teaching has taken a lot of my time this summer. But I just wanted to let you know about some of the books I have read lately.

The Girl Who Could Fly, LOVED it! It was such a cute story. It was slower at first, but once it picked up I could not put it down.

Speak, did not like. I thought it was very slow throughout the entire book. The end you finally get some answers and then it just ends.

Lock and Key, I stayed up reading until 3am with this one. Loved the beginning, the different time perspectives, but I lost my enthusiasm at the end. I have heard great things about this author, so I am interested in trying her other novels.

Midnight in Austenland, it does not come out until January 2012, but because I worked with shannon hale this summer, I got to read it. I loved it! The twist in this book different from the first book made it unique and new. It was great, get ready for an awesome book.

Harry potter 7, do I need to say anything else.

Considering reading the Alchemist next, any opinions on that?

Life As We Knew It

I know, you know, and pretty much everyone else knows that I love distopian novels (do I spell that differently every time I type it?).  This isn't one, it's more post-apocalyptic.  In truth I could be making up the distinction in my head but I'll explain what I see as the difference.  Distopian (dystopian? I think that's how I usually spell it) novels for me mean a story where the government took control (maybe forcefully and all of a sudden, maybe slowly over time) and tried to make things "better" but really it's all just much worse and messed up.  Post-apocalyptic is more there was a natural disaster or giant apocalypse of some kind and now people are just trying to survive.  To me, The Hunger Games is probably a little of both.  Ok, moving on to this actual book.  

I had absolutely no idea what Life As We Knew It was about before I started it.  Sarah's aunt recommended it to me so I tried it.  On page three I decided I'd never read any of the sequels and thought I'd figured out what the book was about.  I was completely and totally wrong and now I'm on hold for one of the others in the trilogy at the library.  Basic story is an asteroid hits the moon and moves it closer to the earth and all hell breaks loose.  Tide changes cause floods all over the nation (and world) and that's just the beginning.  Miranda and her family do what they can to survive the changes to their small Pennsylvania town.

Listen, I'm not here to just tell you a summary of a book.  If you want that you can get on Wikipedia or any number of other places.  I'm just here to tell you that this is a good book and you should give it a try.  Two parting thoughts.  One: I'm not sure if I'll like the other books in the series since the main character changes and I hate when that happens.  Two: If you read a lot of this book while sleeping (or not sleeping) on the street all night with cops driving by frequently and thousands of other people camped out then you get a really bizarre feeling that maybe the world really is ending and it's very confusing and hard to come back to reality.

The Help

Sarah recommended The Help to me and I thought I'd give it a try.  For the first time I processed this book in a combination of audio book and reading.  It was weird and not necessarily something I'll do again.  That being said, this was a great book.  

The Help is the story of domestic help in Mississippi in the 1960s.  Two black maids and one white woman alternate telling their stories that all become intertwined when Miss Skeeter (the white woman) decides to write a book about the maids' true experiences working for white families.  The story is heartbreaking at times and hilarious at others and just overall an awesome book.  Normally I hate when books switch perspectives back and forth because I don't feel like I'm getting a good solid voice from the narrator, but it worked here.  The chapters are kind of long and there isn't overlapping events, meaning that the reader doesn't get the same scene told from more than one perspective which I really appreciate.  I don't know what else I can say except this is an awesome (and not overly heavy, though it is serious at times) book that addresses a lot of social issues with a unique and fresh view.