New New New

*SPOILERS*

I have just started a new book called A Great and Terrible Beauty, the first book in the Gemma Doyle series, by Libba Bray. The book is about British girl named Gemma Doyle who lives (at the very beginning) in India with her mother and father in 1895. At the murdur/suicide of Gemma's mother, Gemma is sent to the Spence Academy for Young Ladies, in the countryside not far from London, where Gemma has always wanted to go. Gemma has some trouble fitting in at first (naturally), and has to hide the fact that her mother died from murder. Soon Gemma is part of the "popular" group of girls at Spence. But Gemma isn't like everyone else. Gemma has visions and magic is linked to her strongly.
So far I am really enjoying the book. The book is a little slow-going, but I am still enjoying it. Because I am still at the beginning, I am still getting to know the characters, so I don't have much of an opinion yet. Because of this, I'm excited to keep reading!

Giant Cliffhanger!

*SPOILERS*

I just finished Speaking From Among the Bones by Alan Bradley, which is part of the Flavia de Luce series. This is the newest book in the series that is currently being written about a 12 year old girl who solves the murder mysteries in her town and just so happens to be a chemist. In the end of the book, the killer of the organist, Mr. Collicut, is revealed to be Ms. Tanty one of the choir singers at the same church.
Once again, the killer surprised me and I did not expect Ms. Tanty to be the killer. Even though I did not expect Ms. Tanty to be the killer, it made sense she was the murderer and every thing clicked. Throughout the book, there had been the threat of the de Luce's (Flavia's family) house, Buckshaw, being sold because of financial problems. In the book, the de Luce's are forced to put a "FOR SALE" sign so the threat was even more present than in the other books. At the end of the book, Flavia's father calls the three sisters into the room to talk to them seriously. I thought (as did Flavia) that her father was going to tell them that they would have to sell the house. Instead, he tells them that their mother has been found. Their mother was supposedly dead on an expedition (because she was never found) when Flavia was a little kid. Then the book ends. I freaked out! Not only is that the biggest cliffhanger, but I have to wait a very long time until the next book comes out. This is definitely a giant twist for the series and I can't wait for the next book to come out so I can continue reading! But for now, I guess I will have to wait!

Halfway There

I am about halfway though Speaking From Among the Bones by Alan Bradley that is in the Flavia de Luce. In the beginning Flavia found a dead body in the crypt of the patron saint of their church who was then identified has the organist Mr. Collicut. Currently, Flavia hasn't learned much about who the killer of Mr. Collicut could be, although she has learned a lot of other things- things about her family and other people in the village.
I am so eager to keep reading this book to find out who the killer is! All the new information that Flavia is finding is really interesting. Every time Flavia learns something new I feel like I am learning something new as well! Some of the things that are happening in the story are shocking me and I can't wait to find out more!

Reunited

I have just started the new book in the Flavia de Luce series by Alan Bradley called Speaking From Among the Bones. The book is about twelve year old detective Flavia who lives with her two older sisters and father. The series is set in the past but I am unsure as the year. Flavia continually finds murders in her small English town. Flavia is an avid chemist and at the beginning has found another dead body in the church.
I am really excited to delve even deeper into this book. I haven't read a series in a while and I forgot what it feels like to start reading a new book in a series. The feeling is great- its like picking up right where you left off! It reminds me of visiting people that you don't see often but still know them really well.I'm really interested to see how the relationships between all the characters progress. There is also a threat throughout the book that has existed the entire series that Flavia and her family will lose the castle like estate they live in due to money problems. I can't imagine the family living anywhere else so I am interested to see if they will have to move or if they will find a way to stay. And if they do leave, where will they go?  Alan Bradley, the author, is currently writing the series so this book is new. I love this series and can't wait to read even more!

Not Continuing

*SPOILERS*
I unfortunately do not think I am going to finish the Books of Ember series. The ending was good but also a GIANT cliffhanger to pull you in to the next book. However I didn't like the book enough to finish it. In the end Doon and Lina get to the new land and come to a great hole where the City of Ember is. I found it frustrating that the new beautiful land was just above them and they couldn't see it. I don't often read a book and not like it so i was disappointed that I didn't like it. Maybe the book was written at an age level too young for me, because if I was younger I probably would have liked the book more. However the book was still really good but I just don't think these books are for me.

Starting ANOTHER Series

I started the book, The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau which is the first book in the City of Ember book series. In the book the City of Ember they used to have a unlimited supply of everything but they recently have been running out of items. One of those items is light bulbs so the blackouts are becoming more common and the lights for bed go out at 9:00. In this world a kid goes to school until they are 12 and then they are assigned a job. Lina Mayfleet wants the job of messenger but instead gets the job of Pipeworks worker. Doon Harrow gets job of messenger but wants Pipeworks worker- so they switch.
Since I just started the book I am not very far in and so far I don't know if I like the book. It is moving really slowly and so far not much as happened since around the first chapter when Lina and Doon switch jobs. I don't know if this world is in the past or the future because they don't have trees or grass or the technology we have now but it doesn't seem like it was in the past because it is a different world. I haven't read much but will definitely finish it.

Finally Done!

*SPOILERS*
I am finally done with the last book in the His Dark Materials series, The Amber Spyglass by Phillip Pullman. The book continues the story of Lyra and Will as the travel throughout worlds and adventure on together. It starts with Ms. Coulter with Lyra in a cave, with Lyra in a deep drugged sleep. Then of course Will comes and rescues her and they continue to the world of the dead and so on.
This book series was amazing! Every single book in the series connected perfectly and smoothly and there wasn't a single book in the series that wasn't interesting. One thing I was confused about was the good vs. bad theme in the story. Usually in stories like this there is a bigger good vs. evil but the only good is Lyra and Will and the bad seems to be Ms. Coulter and Lord Asriel who seem evil but then sacrifice themselves for Lyra's safety. I know I wrote about this before and I hoped that the good vs. evil would come to light but it never really did. In that way it was like the real world. When Lyra and Will were being torn out of their love and apart I was so sad but it made the story good and even more like the real world. I conclusion, I loved these books!!!

Starting the End

I am part way through the last book in the His Dark Materials series, The Amber Spyglass, by Phillip Pullman. In the book so far, Lyra is in a deep sleep from a potion that her mother Ms. Coutler is giving her and Will has to find her. The story line with Mary Malone also continues as she lives with the strange creatures described as people but not humans, the mulefa. Lord Asriel is still compiling his army but when the giant battle will happen is still unknown. Two branches of the Church are also now involved in the story as they track Lyra.
These books have been full of twists and turns so far and I am really excited to finish this one. I still do not know if there is a good or a bad side in the fight that is yet to come. I feel that Ms. Coutler is definitely bad, but I thought that way about Lord Asriel as well but now I don't know. Now everyone (including the angels) are joining Lord Asriels side so he might be good but he is still in love with the evil Ms. Coutler because of their marriage so I don't trust him. There are so many twist and turns and good versus evil (even thought I can barely sort out who is good or evil) in this book that I can't wait to read more!

Second Down, One More to Go

I just finished the second book in the His Dark Materials series, The Subtle Knife. In the book Lyra and Will have to go into another world, full of Specters which are soul eating apparitions, and find Wills father. This of course brings other challenges for Lyra and Will, like some former evil characters coming back, and the alethiometer being stolen.
I really liked that they added Will as a new main(ish) character. I say main(ish) because you know that Lyra is still the main character but Will is a huge part of the story. One part of the story that I liked was that Will also got his own thing- since Lyra has the alethiometer (or the golden compass) Will gets the subtle knife. I have seen this before though- the main character having something special and then meeting someone with something equally or less special. But when I think of Will not having something like the subtle knife it seems unfair that he does not have a special power or anything. This is one part of the book that I liked, but did not like at the same time because I read about it a lot in books so it seems over done sometimes. I also really liked the end of the book. Compared to the end of the Golden Compass, this ending was a lot better. In the end of the Golden Compass you wanted to read more but it wasn't really a cliff hanger. This was not the case with the Subtle Knife. The end was a cliff hanger and I basically ran to get the next book because the end sucked me into the next book even before I started it. Altogether though, I loved the book and am about to start the next one!

Halfway Through

 I am halfway through the book The Subtle Knife by Phillip Pullman and so far it's great. I was so excited to return to Lyra because she is a character that I really connect to. So far in I really like the way that the two worlds, the regular world that we live in and the new world that Lyra and Will both discovered. Will is a boy from our world that discovers the world that Lyra entered through the bridge her father built, but Will discovers it through a sort of window in the air that is mostly invisible. Lyra and Will feed off each other well and I can see them becoming close in the future of the book. I also really like the reactions of the characters off other characters from the different worlds. For example, when Lyra first met Will she assumed that his daemon was inside him after discovering he did not have a daemon. The children from the new world also reacted well towards Lyra and Will after discovering they were also from different worlds. I really liked that because the children from the new world are not big characters at all but Phillip Pullman still makes them have a reaction and fills them out as if they were big characters even though they aren't. So far I really like this book and can't wait to finish it and then read the next one!

Great Start

I just finished the first book in the His Dark Materials series (the Golden Compass series) which is The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman and I really liked it. The book is about Lyra Belacque and her journey with gyptians, politicians, scholars and many more. In the book every human has a daemon, an shape shifting (though it chooses one form when you become an adult) animal who is with you at all times, that you cannot part, that is connected to you and is your soul.
I thought the book was amazing. Since Lyra is my age (only a little younger) it was easy to connect to her and her journey. The book was  fast paced which I liked but it didn't feel rushed. I really liked the concept of worlds in the book as well. Lyra was living in our world but since all humans had daemons it was not  really our world. I think that made the book easy to connect to as well because it was different but the same. I also  thought that the book brought some really great connections to the real world. The Gobblers snatched children and "cut" a child and their daemon apart. In the real world rebel leaders take kids away from their families and make them child soldiers, or in the girls cases make them into sex slaves. I thought the book was great and connected really well to the real world

Not So Great

I just finished the book Marked by P.C. and Kristen Cast, which is the first in the House of Night series. Zooey is "marked" by the Tracker to become a fledgling vampyre. Once she is marked she goes to the House of Night, where she learns lessons related to vampyres and all of the classes are at night. Once a fledgling is "marked" they get a mark on their forehead, which is filled in with color once they go through the "change." The "change" is the process that a fledgling goes through to become an adult vampyre, and then their mark expands. However, Zooey is different and her mark is colored in already and she is a special fledgling from the start.
I really felt like I have read this kind of book before. The ideas are good but all books are about how the main character is special and meant for something more, and vampires are written about a lot in much the same way. This was the kind of book that I liked well enough and is fun to read but is clearly not great quality writing or anything like that. However, it was a fun read so if you are looking for something light to read over the summer by the pool, this could be the book for you.

Blast From the Past

!WARNING!
IF YOU HAVE NOT READ HARRY POTTER THIS HAS A SPOILER
     I am re-reading Harry Potter and The Sorcerers Stone which is number 1 in the series. If you have not read the series, it is about a boy named Harry Potter who discovers his destiny Harrys parents died when he young by the evil wizard Voldemort, who tried to kill Harry as well but miraculously survived and now everyone in the wizarding world knows about Harry. Harry thought he was just a normal boy but finds out that he is a wizard part of a magical, wonderful world. Harry goes to the wizard school Hogwarts where he learns the game of Quidditch but that he must study hard to succeed.
     I love the Harry Potter series and read them a while ago but had nothing to read so I decided to re read the first one. I didn't realize how good the writing is. J.K. Rowling really describes what is happening really well, so that you feel like you are there adventuring with Hermione, Ron, and Harry. I can connect to the writing with the lessons that we learn in ELA. I also can connect because although Harry is a wizard he is my age in the first book so you can connect to what he is feeling. Altogether I love the series, Harry Potter, and recommend the book to kids of all ages!