For the third year in a row, The Writer Mama, Christina Katz, is giving away thirty books in thirty days. All you have to do to participate is answer the question that Christina will pose daily. One lucky winner will win each day. There is no limit to how many times you can enter. The drawing is for U.S. residents. You don’t have to be a mom, but of course, the event is created with moms in mind, so please tell all the writer mamas you know! See you in September at her blog.
Leonard is a kid superhero, so he gets to go to superhero school. But instead of learning to leap tall buildings in a single bound, they are learning... math! Fractions. Multiplication. Division. Math! Leonard starts to wonder if he really wants to be at superhero school after all, if all they are going to study is math. How will math lessons help in the real world?
Then, the ice zombies attack!
This was a cute book combining the fun of superheros with math concepts, showing kids that math matters, without being too heavy-handed with the message.
Kendall Aims is a mid-list author hoping to climb a little higher to get a little more "love" from her editor and publishing house. Instead, she gets dropped by the publisher. But she still has to give them one last book. All of that is crushing enough, but Kendall's husband has a little surprise for her, too - his girlfriend.
Kendall runs to her family hideaway to lick her wounds. Her three best gal-pals, also writers, join her to help get her final book on track so that she can move on from this publisher and find a place where she belongs. The new book is supposed to be about four writers - friends not unlike the friends who surround Kendall. What could it hurt to have each woman write a character? No one would ever figure out how many of the stories are actually true, right?
This was a terrific story! Lots of ups and downs, twists and turns. It's a little painful at times to read about Kendall, stuck in limbo knowing what she should be doing, but powerless to do it in her misery. Her friends are a great source of support even though things don't quite go how they all planned. Check out the author's website here where you can read an excerpt of the book!
I first picked this up because I wanted to see what Wheaton had to say about his years on Star Trek The Next Generation (ST:TNG). I discovered that there is so much more to Wil's story and that he tells it so well. Wil Wheaton is an actor (recently doing guest spots on shows like Criminal Minds and Leverage), a writer, a blogger (watch out for some profanity at times), a speaker (he does panels and readings to HUGE crowds at events like ComicCon), a father, a husband - and each role is reflected in these personal essays. When I first read Just a Geek, I was struck by Wil's honesty as he shares his journey with the reader. If you are a Star Trek fan, check out what Wil has to say about his experience. If you aren't a Star Trek fan, though, there are plenty of other things to enjoy about this book!
Freddie is a plus-sized baker who feels invisible. She rarely stands up for herself and finds herself on the edges of the groups she belongs to. Her own family belittles her. But a friend who believes in her starts Freddie on the road to self-discovery. And I thoroughly enjoyed the journey with Freddie. This is a great Christian "chick-lit" story that is not heavy-handed on the Christian message. Try Miss Invisible and then take a look at some of Walker's other books - Reconstructing Natalie was also amazing (and a tear-jerker).
Winston Breen is a 12 year old boy who loves to solve puzzles. The box he buys his ten year old sister for her birthday was just supposed to be a little keepsake box. But instead, it is home to four strips of wood with words on them. Those strips set Winston, his friends and his sister on a treasure hunt with puzzles for the reader to help solve that will keep everyone guessing.
This was a fun story with a good twist. The puzzles were of varying difficulty, so readers at different levels can enjoy them. There is a sequel, The Potato Chip Puzzles. I haven't read it yet, but I have it in a pile of books to read soon.
Sophie and her family are on the hunt for a new couch. They finally find one at Larry's 24 Hour Rummage. But it comes with a little blue guy with spikey hair attached to it. Will they ever be able to get rid of him? Do they want to?
Cute story! I loved the illustrations of the places the family goes with the little guy in their efforts to inspire him to leave the couch. {Look for hidden couches in the pictures!} Very clever story with a great ending.
[Late addition: Here is some great information about David Slonim from his website!]
Scrapbooker, Kiki Lowenstein is getting ready to kick off a great crop with her boss and coworkers from Time in a Bottle when the nasty Yvonne Graynor snarfs down her snacks and drops dead. The scrapbooking store competition is stirring up the community with slanderous statements. Kiki's boss is getting anti-semetic threats at the shop. If Kiki isn't careful, she's going to lose her precious and fulfilling job. And she needs if if she's going to take care of her daughter (a "delightful" almost-teenager who's pushing all of Kiki's buttons) and rebuild her life.
Another great mystery in this series! Slan has her own website where you can sign up for email news and see where Slan will be on book tours. She also has a blog, as does her scrapbooking character, Kiki.
Warning - there is a hilarious passage about "adult toys" that might catch sensitive readers off guard.
As football season approaches, I thought it would be fun to review a book that helped me fill in some of the gaps in my football knowledge.
This is a great conversational read about the basics of football. Peete grew up watching football and she is married to a former NFL quarterback. The book was easy to follow. My husband is a huge football fan (thus his blog), and this book helped me connect with him on one of his favorite topics.
If you are looking for a way to better understand football, check this book out!
(I am reviewing this book for Thomas Nelson as a Thomas Nelson Book Review Blogger. I received a free copy of this book to read and review with no expectation of a positive review.)
Billing themselves as the "two sexiest fat men in America," Rick and Bubba take on the subject of marriage in this book of top 10 lists and family anecdotes and words of wisdom. They cover a variety of topics including marriage vows (what they really mean), the three sides to every story (hers, his and the truth) and money matters. ("No matter who the major breadwinner is, the money belongs to both of you. So do the bills.")
The lists in the chapters were my favorite parts - things like the Rules of Engagement, Top 10 Things NOT to Say on the Way to Your Honeymoon, and Rick and Bubba's Surefire Ways for Guys to Know She's the One (btw, I failed miserably on their scale and had to inform my husband that I was not "the One"). If you are looking for some serious commentary on marriage, this is not the book for you. I didn't walk away from it feeling like I had discovered any new insight into the hard work of marriage. But I don't know that I was their intended audience, either. It's possible that male readers, and the newly engaged and/or married might get more out of this than I did. If you see it and it sounds fun to you, check it out. I'm sure you will find something to chuckle about.
Abby is desperate. If she doesn't pull her grades up and start turning in her homework, she'll have to repeat 6th grade. She will do anything to keep that from happening - even an extra credit pen-pal project.
Sadeed is a 6th grader in Afghanistan. He is the best in his school at reading and writing in English, so he is the best one to respond to Abby's letter. But it would be improper for a boy to write to a girl. Instead, Sadeed is supposed to transcribe letters for his little sister. But Sadeed soon finds there are things he wishes to say to Abby himself.
This was fantastic! Andrew Clements is my all time favorite author for kids and his newest offering will be going right on my son's book shelf to wait until he is old enough to enjoy them.
While I have not generally been a fan of Jan Brett (I prefer a different style of illustrations), Hedgie's journey to space was a big hit in our house. Hedgie is on the clean up crew at the space lab, but he longs to go to space. He gets his chance when the scientists need someone small to go on a mission to save Big Sparkler. The planet usually experiences an explosion of sparkles that makes beautiful flowers grow. But the explosions have stopped. Will Hedgie be able to figure out what is wrong and fix it?
If you have a space-lover at your house, be sure to check out Hedgie's adventures in Hedgie Blasts Off!
Back in June I posted a review of a children's book called Ella Bella Ballerina and the Sleeping Beauty.The author recently posted a comment on the blog which led me to his blogs for Ella Bella and another series he writes. I thought it would be a good time to tell readers that Ella Bella will have a new adventure this fall - Ella Bella Ballerina and Cinderella. (There's even information on the blog with the title of the next book in the series - see if you can find it!)The Ella Bella in our family will be getting this volume for sure!
The Psychology of Harry Potter is part of a great genre of books where cultural icons are analyzed in light of psychological or philosophical standards. This particular book is edited by a PhD who started what he calls "Harry Potter Therapy" which uses Harry Potter images when helping young people with emotional issues. The only down side to the book is that the essays were all written before the final book in the series.
The essays cover things like curiosity, teaching styles/philosophies at Hogwarts, attachment theory, and social dynamics in the magical world. I didn't buy into everything in each essay, but as a Harry fan and a psychologist (at least in my "former life"), I found the essays to be interesting and thought provoking.
So, this brings my Harry Potter series to a close. Next Monday we will be back to our regularly scheduled book blogs. See you then!
Our Harry Potter weeks are coming to a close with two final entries of non-fiction books about the series. There are many more books out there, but my TBR (to be read) pile is growing and I am ready to move on! So, here is the next to the last book in my series - Repotting Harry Potter.
The subtitle of this book is "A Professor's Book-by-Book Guide for the Serious Re-Reader." That sounds like me! So I had to pick this one up. The idea is to draw the reader's attention to details you may have missed during your first read through the series. As a HP fan, I generally enjoy any discussion of the books and this book is enjoyable. Since I have read the books multiple times already, though, there weren't a lot of new tidbits that I hadn't already noticed myself.
To his credit, Thomas does raise some issues with inconsistencies and unanswered questions that I enjoyed reading. He also looks at each book a few chapters at a time rather than just one book at a time like some of the other commentaries I have reviewed. Thomas' break down gives the reader a lot more detail. I have also enjoyed some of his asides that send the reader off to do his/her own Google searches for more background information for the symbols and allusions in the books.
If you have never read the series and plan to, or if you have only gone through it once, you may find a lot to enjoy in Repotting.
This is the latest incarnation of the book that started it all for me - Looking for God in Harry Potter. Now it has a new name, a new cover and references the entire series.
This is a fairly intense book. It talks about literature, alchemy, symbolism and Christianity. I found it fascinating and I was very happy to see that he lists reading recommendations if you want to find out more. The author has an active blog that I plan to check out at length once school starts and our family schedule slows back down. He also has some other Harry books that I plan to read.
If you are a Christian who has read the Harry Potter books but you wonder about your brothers and sisters in Christ who think they are satanic, this book might be helpful for you. If you haven't read them and are concerned that they are "evil" in some way, I encourage you to read this book. There are some "spoilers" as you move through the book, so, if you haven't read them, stick with the early chapters (like the Introduction and chapter 1) that address the controversy.
For the rest of this week, I will be looking at some of the commentary books written about the series. Harry Potter Should Have Died is one written by the people who run MuggleNet - a HUGE Harry Potter fan site with movie news and essays about the books.
In this book, the authors pose various questions about the books and two to four arguments are given for each question and then they give their opinion. For example, one question is "Is the Epilogue a letdown?" One person wrote about why it was a let down ( not enough information about the things fans wanted to know - about jobs for the main characters and for more information on other "lesser" characters.) and another said it was just right the way it was. Other questions include "What is the most shocking moment in the series?" and "Who helps Harry more on his quest, Ron or Hermoine?"
This book is a great discussion starter if you are sitting around with other fans of the series. I didn't agree with everything they said in their essays (and a couple of the questions were just not interesting), but it was a fun and different take on the series that I enjoyed.
[For a little more Potter stuff, check out my other blog, Just Me Jaymie to see a card I made for a Harry fan on his 11th birthday.
Harry is making a stop at the Burrow for a Weasley wedding before striking out on his own to finish things with Voldemort, or die trying. Hermoine and Ron point out that they are better together than any one of them is alone, so they journey together. But the world has become a dark and dangerous place in the years since Voldemort returned. The trio isn't sure whom they can trust. Friends and enemies are found in surprising places, and every interaction is leading to the ultimate showdown of good vs. evil.
This is an immensely satisfying book! I think this is my favorite book in the series. I love the way all the pieces fit together. The story is emotionally charged. There are no guarantees about who will live through the end of the story - not every one does. A completely satisfying end to the series.
(Warner Bros. has chosen to cut this book into two parts for movies to be released in November 2010 and May 2011.)
Harry survived the events of Order of the Phoenix and now Dumbledore has promised Harry private lessons. They will be looking into Voldemort's past in order to help them defeat him in the future. But Harry has become suspicious of Draco Malfoy - well, more suspicious than usual. And more dark things are happening at Hogwarts, putting lives in danger. Can Harry figure out what Draco is up to, proving to everyone that he was right about Malfoy all along?
This book is the foundation for the newest Harry Potter movie that came out this summer. (A decent movie on its own - I gave it as 7 out of 10 - but it's nothing compared to the quality of the book.) The movie emphasized the romantic relationships from the book (I think they did that to provide balance to the darker moments in the story). And those are interesting, but not as much of the story as the movie might make it seem. This is not an action-filled book. There is a lot of Voldemort's backstory and a lot of moments between Harry and Dumbledore. Now that all of the books are out, this is one that you want to read back to back with book 7 to pull all the pieces together.
Dark times are at hand for Harry in his fifth year. Voldemort has returned, but no one outside his closest friends believes Harry. He even has to fight for the truth at Hogwarts as the Ministry of Magic begins interfering at the school in an effort to keep Harry quiet. Harry starts to win over his peers and Hermoine convinces him to train the students to defend themselves - their own Defense Against the Dark Arts club! And those lessons are going to come in handy when Harry finds himself face to face with Voldemort's Death Eaters!
Things are starting to unravel for Harry in this book. The events at the end of Goblet of Fire rocked his world and now he feels like every one is shutting him out. His rage is growing (poorly portrayed in the movie) and he is taking it out on his friends. There is a lot of angst in this book. Also, as the kids get older, relationship issues are starting to creep into the interactions between the students. This is a dark book and the series gets darker from this point forward, but the intricacies of the larger mysteries of the series are fascinating.
Harry joins the Weasleys for the Quidditch World Cup which ends in disaster - Death Eaters and Voldemort's Dark Mark in the sky. And that is only the beginning of the dark matters happening in Harry's fourth year at Hogwarts. The school is hosting a wizard tournament and Harry mysteriously becomes a competitor, even though he is too young and didn't even enter. This is the sort of competition that tests wizards to the limits and Harry is a lot younger and less experienced than the other competitors. The question becomes less about whether Harry will win and more if he will even survive.
This book has grown on me over time. There is a lot of tension at the beginning between Ron and Harry because Ron thinks Harry got himself in the competition without telling Ron. This book really explores Ron's growing frustration with being the one with hand-me-downs, overshadowed by his older brothers...and famous best friend. Since Ron is my favorite, I find it stressful that the boys are on the outs. Ron is also fighting with Hermoine (which isn't unusual). Ron isn't at his best in this volume! The final scenes of the book are both disturbing and enlightening, making the long read all worthwhile.
The notorious Sirius Black has escaped from the wizard prison, Azkaban, and seems to be hunting down Harry. But all Harry wants to think about is getting through his courses, enjoying some Quidditch and staying away from the Dementors (the Azkaban guards who make Harry pass out when they get near). With help from the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Harry will learn to protect himself from the Dementors and may learn more about what happened to his parents the night that they died.
This is probably my favorite book in the series. I love the back story about Harry's parents and their time at Hogwarts, and this book doles out the first of that information. There are some great moments, like when Hermoine takes on Draco Malfoy, Harry's nemesis. And Harry and Hermoine have an adventure together, like Harry and Ron have in Chamber of Secrets. You also start to see in this book that, while Harry isn't always very good at his school work, he is very talented and capable when it comes to applying what he is learning.
Harry can't wait to get back to wizarding school, but the summer is dragging by with no word from any of his friends. His aunt and uncle have locked up his pet owl and all of his spell books, and even have him locked in his room pretending "not to exist" while his uncle has an important dinner party. A strange little creature appears in Harry's room telling him not to go back to Hogwarts and ruining the dinner party when Harry refuses. The creature believes Harry will be in danger back at school.
The creature isn't wrong. Something is definitely going on at Hogwarts. Students are being attacked by a monster and some people think Harry is to blame. He and Ron and Hermione will have to use all of their wits and gifts in order to solve the mystery and save the school.
This is probably my least favorite book of the series. The book contains important set-up information for the larger story, but it is a transitional book. The wonder of the first book has passed, and the later books provide more back story, character development and clues for the larger mystery. This one is moving you from point A to point C. There are some great moments, however. I am noticing as I re-read the series this summer that my favorite character, Ron Weasley, show some delightful insight into people and situations. And he brings wizarding-world knowledge that the other two main characters don't have. The movies can make Ron out to be a dolt sometimes; the books give a better picture of what Ron brings to the trio.
