Fablehaven:Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary

I have really enjoyed all of the Fablehaven books so far. This one kind of surprised me. My sister in-law said that she felt betrayed. I already knew part of the secret but have to admit that I was shocked about the rest of it. It's hard not to discuss the details because I'm sure that a lot of you haven't read it. But, I'm also sure that most people don't read this blog so I'll just talk about it anyway.
So, Seth becomes a shadow charmer and I kept wondering if he was going to pull an Anakin Skywalker on me. He has the "dark" powers and Kendra (who is fairykind) has the "light" powers. I felt like the author was trying to do a Dumbledor/Lord of the Rings thing with his advice. Seth was worried that he was going to turn evil since he had these powers and people would say things like "it's up to you to choose how you use those powers" and things like that. Anyway, I hope he doesn't go to the dark side in the last book.
The big secret is that Gavin is really a dragon. I figured that out from the last book. I mean, how could he not be with all of his special talents? A dragon brother? Ya, like any mortal is going to be "adopted" by dragons. So, when he changes into a dragon I was not surprised at all. The shocker for me was that he is the dragon Navarog who is also the evil demon prince. That one I did not see coming. So, I kind of felt betrayed as well because I really liked Gavin. The good news is that he gets defeated by something you wouldn't expect.
One problem that I do have reading these books is that you do not know who is "good" and who is "bad." You learn to just distrust everybody and I don't like that. I don't mind the occasional shocker- like with Gavin- but it just seems like everyone in this book is working for the wrong team. To be honest with you, I wouldn't be surprised if this new character Trask is working for the Society. He seems a little shady to me.
Anyway, despite the twists and turns, I really enjoyed this book and look forward to the 5th and final book. I can't wait to see how it ends.

Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man

Ok, so this is not going to be a very good book review. This was written by Fannie Flagg. She also wrote "Fried Green Tomatoes." I haven't read that book but I have seen the movie. Not my favorite but I know a lot of women like it. Well, this book is just horrible!!! It's the diary of a young girl named Daisy Fay who is 11 when the book starts. She has a rough childhood and EVERYBODY in the book is always drunk. Then it skips to her high school years and that's when the book gets even worse. I was about ready to gouge my eyes out and because I was reading this for a book club I decided to skip to the last few pages to see if it redeems itself. I read the last two entries and thought- "Ok. It's going to get better. Things turn around for her. You discover a secret that I totally did not see coming and it ends mildly happy." NO!!!!! The last part of the book is the WORST part of the book. It says the F-word several times and there's so much swearing and lying and deceiving and the "redeeming" part I thought was going to happen was actually the worst part of the whole book. There's swearing throughout the whole book and I just had enough of everybody being drunk and all the sex talk and I am really disappointed in this book. I can't believe I read the whole thing! I kept saying to myself, "this book is horrible, put it down, don't finish it and just be honest about it at book club." Well, anyway I don't know if I'm at a time in my life when things like this bother me because I am a mom or because I'm trying to be a better person or what, but this is not a "make you feel good-this was a really good book I'd like to read it again" kind of book.
It's set in the late 50's so it's a troubling time when if you got pregnant out of wedlock you were shunned and you could secretly get an abortion and not think twice about it. Drinking was the fashion and everybody and I mean EVERYBODY drank and smoked. It's also set in Mississippi so there's the whole KKK thing as well as all the social classes like white trash and red necks and that sort of thing.
Trust me, you are not missing out on anything and your life will be better if you DO NOT READ THIS BOOK!!!!

The Sea of Monsters

This is the second book in the "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" series. I really liked it and it even had some humorous things in it. It's very adventure packed and just leaves you wanting more and more. I'm really liking this series almost as much as I like the Harry Potter books. I will definitely be collecting these to read to my kids!

Peter Pan in Scarlet

I just finished reading my book for one of the book clubs I belong to. "Peter Pan in Scarlet" by Geraldine McCaughrean. This is the only authorized sequel to the original Peter Pan book. The Children's hospital that Barrie donated all of his royalties to held a contest awhile ago to write a sequel and this was the winner. One of the ladies at book club suggested it for this month and said that she liked it better than the "Peter and the Star Catchers" series. I do not agree with her on that. I liked this book...and I didn't like it. I felt that the writing was a little choppy and it took a long time to get to things. I like books that just grab you right from the beginning and I guess this just didn't do it for me. I haven't ever read the original story and so I don't know if the author patterned her writing style after his. She had great details but she was very wordy in her details.
I like the messages she portrays. She talks a lot about Mothers. How sometimes you feel betrayed or unloved by your mother, but in the end she would do anything and everything for you. I think she portrays that you should always be a kid at heart but you have to be responsible and progress in life as well. You forget what it's like to imagine and have adventures like a child. Sometimes we get caught up in the world and all the grown-up things that we don't look at things in a simpler way and have fun anymore.
The message is awesome...the story is a bit dry for me. I would still recommend reading it though. You might like it better than I did and like I said, it made me want to be a better mother to my children and reminded me that it's ok to be a little childlike sometimes.

These is My Words

I had a rough start with this book, but once I got past the first part it turned out to be an excellent book!! It's a story based on the life of a pioneer woman named Sarah Agnes Prine from Arizona. Keep in mind that this is not a story about a Mormon Pioneer. It's a little strange when those are the stories that you are used to and this is not one of them. She lives a hard life yet has such strength and courage. I just loved her whole attitude through out the book of when things would go wrong she would just deal with it and move on and not sit there and have PMS (which in this case is referred to the Poor Me Syndrome-so named by my dad) and just takes care of business the best she can. It's a very inspiring book and you fall in love with the character. You fight with her, cry with her, love with her and go through her life. You can identify with Sarah on so many different levels and you feel like you really know her. It's a great book to read as a mom, and even if you're not to prepare you for things, and gain a change of attitude and a change of heart about the way you look at things. I read this for May's book club discussion and all the ladies just loved it. We got talking about "simpler times" and we wondered if any of us would have survived back then. Of course, we know the conveniences that we would be missing. We then talked about how spoiled we are now. ALL of us there were not rich, in fact, several of the husbands were out of a job and there was one lady there is recently going through a divorce. We are all in the same boat financially and the struggle of every day. This book made us realize that while we don't have a lot, we have more than they did in the pioneer days. Furniture, toys, books, clothes, shoes and what not. THEY built their houses and grew all of their food and hand washed everything and MADE all of their clothes and the list goes on and on. I think you get the point. It's a very humbling book. One lady at book club made such a valid point. If we got rid of all our crap that just seems to clutter up the home we would probably be happier. If we only had the bare minimum in clothes, toys, shoes, furniture, etc. we'd be able to live in a simpler time of sorts. I feel like I already have the bare minimum in somethings, but it defintely inspired me to come home and clean out all my crap! We talked about how a lot of us hold on to things that have sentimental value. Truthfully, everything you own is attached to some memory right? But we said that if you just throw it in a box, take that box to a charity or DI and drive away, you'll probably think about it the rest of the day and then wake-up completely forgetting about it right? I'm putting myself to that challenge because I am a MAJOR pack rat! Anyway, it's a really good book and I think you will all enjoy it. If any of you have read it I'd love to hear what you thought about it. Oh, and there is a sequel to this book it's called "Sarah's Quilt" I believe. Has anyone read it?

Mr. Darcy's Diary

I loved this book so much that I finished it in one day! I stayed up until about 3 am and finished it. It's Pride and Prejudice but from Mr. Darcy's perspective. It is an easy read and by that I mean that the language is easy. It's not as wordy as Jane Austen can be sometimes.
I know that I've read Pride and Prejudice before, but I think it was back in High School and then I've seen a few different versions of the movie. So, I really didn't remember what happened. I thought about reading Pride and Prejudice first, but I just didn't have the time. I'm working on 3 other books besides this one. Anyway, it's ok if you've never read the book Pride and Prejudice because this book is just fabulous and it made me want to read Pride and Prejudice all the more. As I read this book things started coming back to me.
I love the Victorian age and so I enjoy books set in that time. I don't, however, agree with how they viewed women and how the society was set-up. You start thinking "do people really think of themselves and others in that way?" Your worth was based upon your salary, your "accomplishments" (such as your talents-like music, art, writing-basically just things that you learned and did well), who your family was and what you did for a living. I was so glad that by the end of the book Mr. Darcy had learned what was really important and proved the point that "love conquers all."
This is a really romantic story and I recommend this to anyone and everyone! What a great way to spend my day...reading this amazing book. I'm definitely going to buy it and read it over and over again. I know that Stephenie Meyer was inspired by the book Pride and Prejudice when she wrote the Twilight series and it's easy to understand why.
Anyway I give this book a gazillion stars and I want you to read it!!!

Percy Jackson and the Olympians

This is a really great series. Well, Ive actually only read the first book and I'm starting the second right now...but I really loved the first book. It's a great substitute for Harry Potter. It's about a boy who is living a really hard life and finds out that his father is an Greek God. It's full of Greek Mythology which I love! He has a special power and "magical" friends. I was hooked right from the get-go. I think there are 5 or 6 books and the last one just came out. I'm really excited to read all of them. It's by Rick Riordan and you should go check it out!