Fablehaven: Keys to the Demon Prison

Well, another great series has ended. I have to say that I looovvveeeddd this book! It grabbed me right from the get-go! I love it when that happens. You just know the whole book is going to be good. I don't have one negative thing to say about it, except that I'm sad it's over. What a ride! I liked these books just as much as Harry Potter. They are refreshing in that they are something new and they are all exciting. I kept saying to myself "Oh how are they going to get out of this one?" And I was always satisfied in what happens. Brandon Mull is a really great author and he doesn't make it to unbelievable for me. I think that how they get out of situations could be true to life and not too far fetched. Although I do have to say that if these demons were so powerful then how could two teenagers beat them with ease? But, the more I think about it maybe they were "destined" to be the ones and that's what their mission on earth was. They also were able to get the right "weapons" they needed to defeat these bad guys. Sometimes I like the battles to have a little more stealth to them, but they were still pretty exciting!
You can also tell that he is an LDS author. There are many things in there that could be gospel related, but that's just my opinion. I was glad that the book had a happy ending and I feel he tied up the loose ends nicely but left you thirsting for more only because they are sooooo gooooood! do Bracken and Kendra end up together? What about Seth? Does he figure out what his skills and talents are as a shadow charmer? And Kendra, is there more to her than meets the eye being fairykind? Oh, so many more questions that I would love to have answered...but I think he does a great job at ending the series. He has a few new books coming out within the next year or so and I will definitely be reading them. This is a series that I will go and buy and share with my kids when they are a little older. I love that my 7 yr old daughter is getting better at reading because there are so many books that I want her to read and the Fablehaven series is at the top of my list! I hope they make a movie out of this. I wonder who'll they'll get to play Bracken?? Hopefully somebody better than Rob Pattinson as Edward!
Thanks Brandon Mull! It's been a pleasure reading your books! :)

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Last Olympian

Well, I've finally finished the Percy Jackson series. I loved this series!! I loved the last book just as much as I loved all the others. I felt that it ended pretty well. It left me wanting more though. I think just because I didn't want it to end. I love how Rick Riordan writes. He gives plenty of detail but doesn't take 5 pages to do it. They are action packed and educational. I loved learning about the Greek Gods. I won't spoil it for you but it's a great read. If you haven't started this series already-do it!
So, this book is the last of the Percy Jackson series, but he's got another series with Camp Half-Blood coming out this fall I believe. However, for those of us who are chomping at the bit, he's got another series coming out in May and it's about the Egyptian Gods! I can't wait for this one. I love history and learning about it in fictitous ways makes it more exciting. You can read the first chapter of his new book on his website which is www.rickriordan.com enjoy!

The Screwtape Letters

Wow! It's been a long time since I've posted! Been so busy with life that I haven't had time to really sit down and read. So, this post will have quite a few books that I've read in the last few months.
First up, "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis. I have to admit that this is not my favorite of his. I liked the idea and where it was going, but it was a very difficult book to get into. It's about two devils, Screwtape, who is the "senior" devil, and his nephew Wormwood, who is the "junior". The letters are all written to Wormwood giving him advice and guidance on how to snare "the patient" as we humans are referred as. The interesting part, is that it goes through individual ideas of sin and what may be the devil's logic and thinking on certain aspects of life. It refers to the Savior as the Enemy and Satan as our Father, so that took some getting used to. I liked that it makes Satan a real person to me. I forget that he really is out there and that he has many minions working for him and that they are all really ticked-off that I have a body and they don't. I didn't like that the letters were all one sided. I would have liked to have read what Wormwood wrote to his uncle, it might have made the story easier to follow.
I also started reading his book called "Miracles." This is another one that just didn't grab me. He's trying to prove that miracles happen and that there is a higher power at force here and not everything can be proven with science...or is he? That's how he starts the book out anyway, but as I read on I was confused about what his argument really was and felt that maybe he had switched ideas. Anyway, there are some good quotes in there but confusing. Maybe it was just the state of mind I was in...having just had my baby and all.
So, final verdict...if you are going to read a C.S. Lewis book that is not in the Narnia Chronicles, stick with "Mere Christianity." That's my favorite so far!

Artemis Fowl: Time Paradox

I just finished reading the latest installment of Artemis Fowl. I enjoyed this one and it makes you think about the things you would like to go back and change. But, I'm always in a stupor about some of these time travel things. At least in Back to the Future when he travels back and alters the past his "present" life changed, but why didn't he? In the book Artemis' present life doesn't change like it does in Back to the Future. He just happens to bring back an evil genius pixie with him. So I thought that was wierd.
Artemis's mother has contracted a fairy disease because Artemis used magic on her...or so he thinks. The only cure is brain fluid extracted from an extinct Lemur, which he was responsible for. 8 years prior he kidnapped the last lemur and sold it to the Extinctionists. In order to save his mother he has to go back in time and undo what he has already done and go against himself. Of course, when he comes back he finds out that Opal had taken over his mother's body and had staged the whole thing because she wanted the Lemur's brain fluid so that she could be all powerful and invincible...as all maniacal geniuses want. Artemis discovers that because he went back in time to change all of this he allowed Opal to come to the future and arrange all of this and make it so that Artemis would bring the Lemur to her. He discovers that if he would have left things the way they had happened, things in the present wouldn't have gotten so out of hand. His mother was not in any real danger. I didn't quite understand this whole part...but ok!
The author left it wide open for another book which is great because I really like these books. I wonder what Opal Koboi will do next? What if she releases her present self from confinement? What kind of havoc will this evil pixie wreak on the fairy world? Or the human world for that matter.
Anyway, it was a good book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I love books that only take me a few days to read instead of a few weeks!

Agatha Christie's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

Another great mystery by Agatha Christie! I really liked this one. For those of you who don't know much about her novels (like myself) I guess she has several different mysteries categorized by Ms. Marple and Hercules Poirot. I have now read the first one of each series and I like them both. I like Ms. Marple in the fact that she is older, a woman, and not in everybody's face about things. She just sits back and "watches." Hercules Poirot is an actual detective. In this novel he was "retired" and had come to live in this town to live a peaceful, retired life. But of course, there is a case for him to solve. I have to admit that I was very shocked at the end of this book. I had suspected this person at the beginning, but immediately dismissed him, as all the other characters did as well. Unfortunately I cannot give anything away about this book because it would spoil the entire story. But, it was very good. With Poirot you get to walk in the detective's footsteps and follow along with him on the case. The story is not written from his perspective, but the person whose perspective it is-follows him on the case every step of the way. Although Poirot is French and hard to understand sometimes, you like him and try to think like him. I kept going back to my original suspicions about this particular person, but could never find any real evidence to support that it was him. Read this and then we can chat. I hate reading these types of books and then trying to give a review because the whole review could be a spoiler alert...but this was very good and I thoroughly enjoy reading Agatha Christie. She is my new favorite author!

The Trapp Family Singers

I read the book about the Von Trapp Family-the Sound of Music. I was surprised to find that the movie only comprised about 100 pages or so of the book. The rest of the book was about what happened after the went up into the hills. I really enjoyed it but have to say that I don't if Maria was a real person. I mean she never complained about anything and always found the positive in everything. Don't get me wrong, I think it's great that she can be so positive, but I was getting kind of sick of her cheery disposition about everything. I mean throw a fit already! Things did not go so well for all the time and nobody is really that positive are they?
Anyway, enough of that. I liked it and it was nice to know what happens after the movie. I've always wondered if they escaped and what happened to the family after the war, where they went and what they did. And now I know. If you like the movie you'll like the book. I only say that because if you don't care about the hills being alive with the sound of music, then you won't care about what happens to the family. I have to warn you though, this is not an easy read. I like to read at night in bed when it's nice and quiet and I could not get through more than a few pages without falling asleep. I don't know why it's so hard to get through, but it is. Enjoy!

Agatha Christie's Murder at the Vicarage

So, I'm not a huge mystery fan because I can usually guess the culprit before the end. Sometimes it's so obvious that it's not even fun. Plus, I'm kind of a paranoid person and then I start thinking that these things can really happen and I start dreaming about them in my sleep and they are happening to my family. So, I just try to avoid them altogether. However, for bookclub next month we are reading an Agatha Christie book called Murder at the Vicarage. I've heard a lot about Ms. Marple and so I was actually interested in reading this book. I thought that this one was the first of Ms. Marple but I am not sure on that. I expected it to be written from Ms. Marple's perspective, but it wasn't. It's from the Vicar's perspective. Anyway, I won't give any of the details away because, after all, it is a mystery, but it is very good! My dad wrote a Murder Mystery for a dinner party and he wrote it so well that only one or two people have actually figured it out. In fact, I don't think anybody has actually figured out the whole thing but they have guessed either the "weapon" or the murderer, but I don't think they've guessed both. Anyway, this story was written in kind of the same fashion. There were a few minor details that played a big role in solving the mystery. It's very good. I'm sorry that I can't do any better than that in details but I don't want to give anything away. My only complaint is that I did get a little lost in the language of the Vicar. He doesn't say "thee's and thou's" but it is British and I felt that some things ran together and I had to go back and reread what I had just read because it didn't make any sense. But other than that, no complaints here! My husband and I like to watch Perry Mason at night and try and figure it out. This was very much a Perry Mason kind of thing. I'm going to try and see if they made a movie of this particular book because I know that there are several made-for-tv movies of Agatha Christie's books. This is a great read even if you don't like mysteries!!