Going Bovine by Libba Bray

Going Bovine by Libba Bray, is nothing like the Emma Doyle books. Wow. It's funny and thought provoking, it's a good read. If it ever goes to movie format, it will be a cult classic in the steps of Donnie Darko. Now there were some elements I didn't like, pot smoking, stuff like that. I wouldn't want my kids to read it until they are old enough to not be attracted to something like that. The whole book is trippy though....it reminded me of the swiftly tilting planet books. (Weirdly enough I feel as though I understood those books more when I read them as a kid than when I re-read them a few years ago:/ ) Here: Going Bovine book Summary is a pretty concise synopsis of it. I think my husband would like it more than I did. It was worth reading though. I mean, how often are you ever going to read a book where the main character has mad cows disease?

Percy Jackson Books 3-5

I finished the Percy Jackson series a few days ago. They are good books...not sure I'll re-read them or not but they were enjoyable. Here's a quick summary of them so I'll be able to remember:

#3 The Titan's Curse : Annabeth is captured by Luke and tricked into Atlas' job of holding up the sky. Percy and gang must save her. Two children of Hades, Nico and Bianca, appear after being released from the Lotus Hotel.
#4 The Battle of the Labyrinth : Annabeth's quest...Percy, Tyson, and Grover must enter The Labyrinth with her to find Daedalus and stop Luke from destroying the camp. They do so with the help of mortal Elizabeth Dare.
#5 The Last Olympian : Percy and his friends fight a battle to stop the Titan lord Kronos from destroying Olympus and the gods.

I enjoyed these books. I hope that Rick will create another series based on what happens at the very end of book 5...the next major prophecy is revealed....but I guess I will just have to wait and see.

It's been a busy 10 days. My kids fell ill and my 3 year old son had to go to the ER with breathing problems. He has been diagnosed with asthma. Poor guy.
I did manage to finish off the last 3 Percy Jackson books. I'll have to post about them tomorrow. I'm currently reading Inkspell, a book I've read before. I want to read the rest of the ones in that series so I'm rereading it. Luckily it's a book i don't remember that well. Sometimes that makes it much easier to re-read a book...sometimes it's tedious to re-read something for me. I am also starting Going Bovine by Libba Bray.

The Sea of Monsters

The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan.
What a short book! I started this afternoon and read it off and on today while my toddler climbed all over me. In this book, the tree that protects the camp of the demi-gods has been poisoned and Percy's best friend is being help captive by a cyclops. Percy and co. must save the day. LOL I never know how much to write on here about the plot. I don't want to give anything away. What's the blogging etiquette on that, anyways?? I read somewhere that this is the shortest of all the books in the series. I hope so because that was not meaty enough for me!

Now off to start book 3, The Titan's Curse.

Jarvis The Sorcerer's Apprentice

I finished Jarvis The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Jesper Ejsing today. Sometimes when I read books that were originally written in another language (in this case Danish), they seem awkward because the translation isn't perfect but it seemed decently done in this book. This book is about a boy, Jarvis, who is chosen to be an apprentice to a wizard, along with other boys. But only one will become the magician's apprentice in the end.
I think this book would appeal most to a group a little younger than young adult though, maybe middle schoolers would enjoy it the most.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth

I started The Forest of Hands and Teeth yesterday and finished it this morning. It was an interesting book. It kind of put me in the mind of M. Night Shyamalan's 'The Village" meets '28 Days Later". It was interesting. It's about a girl, Mary, who lives in a fenced in village. Outside the village are zombies...infected with some kind of virus, which is spread by biting. When they over-run the town, Mary and some others escape down the secret path. Where it goes and who made it, are questions that are part of the mystery; and there's the romantic tangle that Mary is in that has to be confronted. It leaves some things unfinished, so I hope there will be a sequel.

about time....

Whew! Finally finished The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey. I think this is a series I probably won't be revisiting. I was vaguely interested enough about the story to wonder what happens next: I'll probably look for an online synopsis that gives away the entire plot and ending when the sequel comes out. But I don't really see myself reading the whole thing. This book was about a 12 year old boy, Will Henry, who lives with a doctor of monstrumology after his parents die. In the story, they are battling a creature called the anthropophagi. The story itself was ok, it was just dry and stuffy to me. Probably because it was set in the 1800s (although I did enjoy the Libba Bray books)....oh it had plenty of gore but I lost myself in the language of it and it never was suspenseful for me. I didn't really care about the characters. But lots of people have liked it. So if you have read it, let me know how you liked it.

Two books by Two Rick's

I started The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey Thursday. It's a slow book. Then yesterday I put it down for a bit and picked up The Lightning Thief, the first in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan. I started, and finished it yesterday too. I was told that it was a quick read by a lady that works at the library (Hi, S!!!! :)) Quick, yes, and enjoyable. I really liked that the adventure starts right away. It doesn't tell a long drawn out back story before you get to see anything happen. (Let me explain something right quick. I say things like that...using the verb 'see' when obviously I'm reading, not watching, right?....but for me it's true. Once I read the first few lines, I no longer am even consciously reading the book. I am watching it in my mind, watching the story unfold as if in a movie. I don't know, maybe it happens to everyone when they read novels. But that's why sometimes I slip into saying things like 'I see' when I am talking about something that I read.) Percy Jackson is a likable character and I can't wait to read more, and see the actual movie too.

Now I need to finish The Monstrumologist, if I can!

And because I don't really enjoy coming up with quick plot summaries, here's the publisher comments for The Lightning Thief.

Publisher Comments:

What if the gods of Olympus were alive in the 21st Century? What if they still fell in love with mortals and had children who might become great heroes — like Theseus, Jason and Hercules?

What if you were one of those children?

Such is the discovery that launches twelve-year-old Percy Jackson on the most dangerous quest of his life. With the help of a satyr and a daughter of Athena, Percy must journey across the United States to catch a thief who has stolen the original weapon of mass destruction — Zeus' master bolt. Along the way, he must face a host of mythological enemies determined to stop him. Most of all, he must come to terms with a father he has never known, and an Oracle that has warned him of betrayal by a friend.

Shiver and Lament

Hm, something's not quite right with this new layout. Should have a date on the tab that's reading as 'undefined'. Gotta figure out how to fix that in a bit.

Well first book post is actually about a new favorite author of mine, Maggie Stiefvater. The first book I've read by her was Shiver. It's about a teenage girl named Grace, her wolf, and a boy named Sam. It's a story about werewolves and love. I really liked this book. One interesting thing is that the POV changes with each chapter between Grace and Sam. I loved being in both of their heads. The next book, Linger, comes out in July. Hopefully I am getting an autographed copy for my birthday (July 17th)! A lot of people have wound up with advanced copies and I must say I am uber jealous. LOL A third book is due out in July 2011, and I will be sad because that would be the end of the trilogy.

I just finished her first novel, Lament. This one is about fairies, not werewolves. Dierdre can see fairies, and they want her~ dead. She is also in love with the fairy assassin sent to deal with her. It's really good; great plot, characters, etc....but I didn't like it quite as much as Shiver, because Shiver was truly something special, and I've got a fondness for werewolves (team Jacob all the way). However, it was a good book, and I have the next book after it, Ballad, on hold at the library. Can't wait to see what happens next.