4: Change of Heart

Shari Maurer's Change of Heart spoke to my heart. The novel relates the progress of main character Emmi, a sixteen-year-old athlete, who learns she must have a heart transplant.

Having lived the role of Emmi's mom (doctors once told me that my daughter Holly would have to have a heart/lung transplant), I could so empathize and now more appreciate our NOT having to ride that part of the roller coaster that families with such special children often experience.

This novel is a great example of a rite of passage, for Emmi, as one can imagine,  makes choices and learns much about herself, her friends, and her family...therein lies the layers of the meaning of the title.

The author, through the pages of this novel, brings to life issues (loyalty, BFF's, betrayal, annoying parents and younger siblings and the eternal of love of those very same family members, the true meaning of life), with which many young adults face...a good read for all young adults, both male and female, a read with a detailed pace that keeps one caught up many emotions...all the while wondering:  will a heart arrive in time to save Emmi?

I added this author's blog to my Google Reader and very much look forward to reading her next young adult novel.  :)

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Page Count:  290 Pages
Stars:  5
Book Challenge:  What's in a Name (#4...maybe?)

3: The Magician

I completed a quick read of Michael Scott's second novel of the The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series by completing The Magician in two days.  I really am enjoying this series.

Part of the hook continues to be Scott's explanation for all the wonders of the world and other justifications.  They make me smile!  :)  His use of unanswered questions also continues to appeal to me. As much as I want the answers, I am going to wait, hold off on novel three.  Why?  These novels are jam-packed with action.  After fighting the enemy for two days, one just needs a mind-break!  Plus, there are just so many novels in this series, and I do not want to complete them too soon!  Yes, it's much like dangling a carrot before my very own literary nose!

Again, I encourage you to begin this series and meet the characters:  Josh, Sophie, Flamel, Perenelle, Joan of Arc (yes, you read that correctly!), and many others.  Very interesting!  In glancing at novel three, I saw Shakespeare's name mentioned much...so this one will not wait long on me to read!

Read...yes, please read this series!

2. The Alchemyst

Michael Scott's series The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, thus far, is wonderful!  I just completed the first of six in this series, The Alchemyst, and immediately picked up the next one (and purchased the third one last night...see book purchase #6 in my book buys at the right.)

Here are my thoughts that I posted at Treasure Chest of Thoughts midway through the novel:

My advice for today: listen to your students when they recommend novels. I try to do this…especially when a boy student recommends one. Maybe that sounds stereotypical, but, for the most part, females appreciate reading more than males…have you found this to be true?

So when William repeatedly stopped by my desk to recommend and to see if I had purchased the novels in the Nicholas Flamel series, I visited Half.com and bought the first two novels in what will be a series of six novels. Then, I let them set on my shelves for a few weeks, waiting on me…until yesterday, I picked up the first one, The Alchemyst, and now I, too, am hooked!

Interesting tidbits about this series:

1. The characters are based on real historical figures. Josh, one of the main characters, realized this before I, and googled one of the characters names. Then last night when I was recommending this series to a family friend, she asked, “Where have I have I heard the name Nicholas Flamel before?” THEN, I googled the name. True! Michael Scott did base the characters on historical figures.
2. Based on the theory behind this series, Scott has interesting rationales for decisions made by Shakespeare, Mary Shelley, and historical time periods. The first two are explanations for character creations…and those actually made me smile. :) Now, I am truly hooked, turning page after page watching for another such explanation! NOTE: Please know I do not agree with the monkey rationale.
3. Interested in learning more? I was, so I visited this link to the Michael Scott’s websit for all things Nicholas Flamel.

Please consider reading this series. I have not felt this same sort of excitement about a series since I read the Harry Potter series.

ANOTHER NOTE about series: While I enjoyed the Twilight series, the City of Bones is truly my favorite between the two series, and book four in this series is being released in the spring.

Today, we receive the gift of Snow Day #2. While I will enjoy time with the family, I do feel compelled to help Nicholas Flamel save the world. Wish me luck!

NOTE THREE: Yes, I will be purchasing the next two novels in this series and sharing novel four with William, so he, too, can read all the latest in the world of Nicholas Flamel. I want that boy to continue reading and recommending good reads to others!

I do enjoy reading a good series, watching the writer develop, witnessing the growth of the characters. Do you enjoy reading series? Which one is your favorite?

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369 pages

1: Salting Roses

Salting Roses, my first read for 2011, was an enjoyable read...for two main reasons:

1. I really liked author Lorelle Marinello's characters...all of them:  Gracie, Art, Ben, Sam, Claire.  All different, all bonded together because of main character Gracie, who discovers that she was abandoned as a baby on Ben's porch, who later discovers that she is the missing heiress to the family fortune, a fortune to which she desperately does NOT want.
2. Loved the title...and its meaning.  Very interesting!

Marinello's debut novel was a quick read, one that I enjoyed.  Yes, I will watch for more southern fiction from this author! Of course, I cannot share much about this as it would give too much away.  This is part of the appeal of the novel, for I continued reading searching for the meaning of that very unique title.

336 pages
Challenge:  Gillmore - More Reads in 2011

Reflecting on 2010

First let me say...I read more than this blog reflects!  I just did not do a good job updating here...that will change next year...as in tomorrow!

I have excuses as to why I got behind...and they are just that, excuses.  At the time, those excuses seemed justified.  Stress filled my mind too much. 

So, selfishly, I am resolving that 2011 will be more about me, which means more family time, more reading time, more writing time.

Here's a list of some of the novels that I read this fall...in no certain order...

1. Beastly
2. Mockingjay
3. The House of Thunder
4. The Dark Tide
5. Love Letters from Ladybug Farm
6. Forever Odd
7. Dead Until Dark
8. Frankenstein
9. My Antonia
10. The Forgotten Garden
11. The Girl Who Played with Fire

This Christmas, I read...

1. Finding Noel
2. Holiday Magic
3. 5 of the 9 short stories in A Prairie Christmas Collection

With 17 books about which I previously posted, this brings my total to 29+...a bit more than one book every two weeks.  Hummmm...not the best, but better than having read only 26.  Yes, my glass is half full!

Before I Fall

Lauren Oliver's Before I Fall intrigued me. From page one, the main character announces she will die. Therefore, you assume that you will spend one day with her. And you do, or do you?

For most of this read, I wanted to close the cover and not pick it back up, for I did not like the main character, nor her friends. If they are typical high school girls, then, well...oh, my.

So why did I keep reading it? Two reasons: 1) Peer Lisa Huff had loaned me the novel, and I was reading it based on her recommendation. 2) I am reading along with my students, and I had a novel due last Tuesday! Had to keep reading!

This novel reminded me of Jay Asher's Th1rteen R3asons Why and Khaled Housseni's A Thousand Splendid Suns, two of my favorite novels. Not because I liked them, for the content was harsh, but because of the impact of the novel on who I am...or was. Novels such as these change the reader. You close the back cover thinking I grew as a person; my awareness grew of the conditions surrounding these three main characters. I am not the person I was before I began the novel.

Therein, lies the success of the novel. Read Before I Fall, knowing that you will fall with the main character several times but that in the end, you will stand a stronger character for having read the pages of the journey.

Also posted at English 11 Cafe.

Summer 2010

Here are some of the novels I read this summer:

1. The Outlander
2. Odd Thomas
3. Fern Michael's The Sisterhood Series, books 1-6...so far.

Will add to this list...