Ahem...Important Post!

Dear Former Students and Blog Readers:

As I am no longer a paid teacher I will not be assigning students to post about their forays into various books. I am, however, going to continue posting reviews of YA and other books that I am reading. My goal is to post at least once a week. I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE ANYONE WHO IS INTERESTED BE A CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR. You could post whenever you feel like it. And, you can read whatever you like.

Furthermore, I am willing to take requests on the books I will review. I am more than happy to give you my thoughts on whatever classical novel your English teacher has assigned you. I will not give you answers.

If you are interested in being a contributing author, comment on this post and I will keep/add you to the list of authors.

Thanks and Happy Reading!!

Mrs. Jensen

Misery by Stephen King

Since I'm not obligated to write this book review, this may not seem to be the most professional of all my book reviews, so it will be pretty similar to all my others.

I read this book this Summer because somebody told me that I should watch the movie, Misery, to which I replied; "Not if I don't read the book first!" So I asked my mom if she had the book, and she said yes then got it for me. It's a fairly large book and I finished it in a few days because I liked it so much

*Spoilers* The book is about a writer named Paul Sheldon that had just finished his most recent book, Fast Cars, and was celebrating his finishing the book by drinking champagne and driving really fast. He drove his car off the road, only to be found by a crazy lady named Annie Wilkes. Annie is Paul's number one fan, and a psychopath. Annie takes Paul Sheldon out of his car, (which has been buried by the snow and washed away down a creek, never to be found) breaks both of his legs and keeps him is her house, forcing him to write a sequel to his Misery novels. Whenever Paul does something that makes Annie upset, she punishes him by physically hurting him. At the end of the book. Paul has lost one foot, one thumb, has broken both legs ans has written what is his best Misery novel yet. Obviously, he was able to kill Annie and get away in the end. *End of spoilers*

The book was a rather good one, sometimes it got to be really scary, which was pretty cool. The book was (as always) better than the movie, and if you're into Stephen King, I would definitely read this book. But beware, because Stephen King tends to go on a LOT of tangents in his books, especially this one, so if you have a hard time paying attention to what you're reading, maybe don't read this book. I would give this book a 6.5/10. ☺☻☺☻☺☻☺☻☺

THE RISE OF NINE

     This book is the start of the end where all numbers have been found but five and a number ten has showed up. Numbers 4-10 are alive and the bad dudes are trying to kill the rest of the numbers so that their race can't come back. The numbers are called Loriens and the bad dudes are called mogadorians or mogs for short. They are trying to regroup and then go fight the mog leader Setrakus Ra so they can go back and save the planet the mogs have almost destroyed. 

     This is a great work done by the mysterious author Pittacus Lore. It is very good at emphasizing the saying, "United we stand, divided we fall." I really liked this book for its morals but it also has a great story line and is written amazingly. 

     This is a book I would read any time and it was probably my favorite. I would recommend it to anyone but my dad. I can't wait for the last one to come out and I will definitely be reading it. If anyone finds out who the real author is it would be great to know.

The Brotherband Chronicles : The Outcasts

   This book is based on a group called the skandians. Many of you will not know what a skandian is but some of you might especially if you have read The Ranger Apprentice series. A skandian is one the fiercest warriors in the whole world. Their barbaric ways frighten many people. They go raiding all of the time. it is not uncommon to be raided for all the gold, silver, or/and other precious materials kept in your city. Skandians can fight and defeat any enemy even if they are outnumbered 5 to 1. The skandians mos t treasured weapon is a battle ax. when they go into battle with battle axes their enemy will will cower in fear. Their favorite tactic is to charge into battle screaming and swinging their axes around.
   This book starts with the normal skandian raid. They go and plunder the city and take everything. But in the process one skandian is killed, and another skandian vows to take care of his son and wife. About 16 years later Brotherband Training begins. The brotherband is where 16 year old boys train t become real skandians. Hal and his friends are the underdogs. All of his team mates, including him, are outcasts. On his team he has a thief, a kid that has a really bad temper, a class clown, a regular kid with nothing really special, and other kids with nothing that special to mention. Although they are nothing special Hal is. Hal is a natural born leader and inventor. he takes these kids and turns them into believers. In short they end up winning the Brotherband training course. With the winning Hal and his team are given the chance to watch over the Andomal. The Andomal is skandias most prized treasure. While they are on watch it gets stolen by pirates. Hal and his crew are now hated by all of Skandia. SO, he decides to go after the Andomal.
\    This is a very intereting book with lots of adventure and action in it. It makes the book better if you read at least some of the Ranger Apprentice series just to know what a real skandian is. This is a very exciting, interesting, suspenseful book. I would recommend it to anyone. A.

Beyonders Chasing the Prophecy

 

By: Lincoln Robbins

          This book is the third book in the series the Beyonders. This fiction book takes place in a different world called Lyrian. A beyonder is a person from a different world like the two main characters Jason and  Rachel. Jason enters Lyrian through the mouth of hippopotamus that swallowed him. Rachel entered Lyrian by walking under an arch on a family vacation with her parents. This book wraps up the adventures Rachel and Jason have in Lyrian. One of the main ideas in this book I believe is that 

         

           At the end of the last book they received a prophecy from one of the few prophesiers in the land Rachel and Jason find out that they have to part ways on separate quests. Rachel has to go to one of the big towns with the heir to throne and raise an army, while Jason has to find a prophecy of his own. Jason has to fight the Maumet one of the most feared creatures in all of Lyrian. Rachel has to muster enough Edomic power to be able to defeat Maldor the most powerful Edomic wizard in all of Lyrian. Will they be able to complete this challenging quest?

         

          This book is very, very entertaining. I enjoyed it the entire time. Heck, I even enjoyed the whole series as much as I liked this book. It kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. Its one of those underdog stories and everyone likes an underdog. I don’t know what it is about Brandon Mull that gets me thinking so hard after everyone of his books. There’s just something about all of them that I just love. Candy Shop War 2 kept me thinking and so did Fablehaven and Beyonders 3 was no different. It gets me thinking that like I could be just like Jason and get sent to another world and be critical there. It’s also super creative. Most people wouldn’t think of getting swallowed by a hippo and being sent to another universe but Brandon Mull is different. Also the characters and races he makes up in that book are amazing! There are these things called displacers and they have body parts that when they are cut off or taken off they can just be put right back on. Although most of the displacers work for Maldor they are still pretty cool. There are also these things called the Amar Kabal or seed people. They have these seeds in the back of their neck and when they die someone just has to plant the seed in the ground and the person grows back.

                  

          Overall, I would give this book an A. As I mentioned I loved everything about it and it kept me entertained the whole time I would seriously consider reading it.

Killing Lincoln

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      History is one of my favorite subjects. If you are like me, then this book will keep you interested. Even if you don’t, there is no way this book wont catch our attention. This book is a historical novel that goes into detail about the shocking assassination that changed America forever. Written by Bill O' Reilly, and Martin Dugard. It starts off being in the middle of the civil war, and goes day by day till the day that one of our most amazing Presidents; John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln. It tells about his life, his wife, the war, the country, and the way he did things.

     The way that this book is written is so good. Their choice of wording, and the way they tell it keeps you on your toes. It seems like it would be like reading a history book, but its not at all. Its like you are actually there. In the head of the crazy person and the President. I loved that I learned so much more beyond just the assassination too. But in a way that kept me interested in actually learning them. 

      This book opens your eyes to a lot of things that has happened in history and possibly happens today. We all know that not everyone likes our current president. How on earth can we be sure something like this won't happen again? Luckily we are not going through the same things that they were back then such as the civil war. The main idea of this book was obviously Lincoln’s assassination. But it goes far beyond that and into more depth. I loved this book and highly suggest that people read it. It is one that is constant suspense, and action, and yes it does include a lot of things to learn from. But I LOVED it. A

Stormbreaker.... By: Anthony Horowitz

     What a great book! I have now learned why they say you can't judge a book by it's cover. When I first picked this book up I thought, nah this is going to be some weird space alien book.... Um, totally not a space alien book! I am so excited to read all the other books in this series! Anthony Horowitz is an amazing author. He really knows how to pull in his readers and keep the suspense going!
      This book is about a boy named Alex Rider. He lives with his Uncle... Well, did live with his uncle. Due to a tragedy that occurred, his uncle died. From what Alex had always known, his uncle was a bank manager. After his uncle dies, Alex finds that he is nothing close to a bank manager. The next thing Alex knows, he is at a training camp for spies. He is supposed to go out and deal with a man named Herod Sayle. He has decided to be a "great man" and donate new computers known as the Stormbreakers to every schoolhouse. Whether this turns out to be a good or bad thing, Alex puts himself in danger and Sayle thinks it's all just a game and that he will win because Alex is just a boy. What will happen? Find out! Sit down, relax and open the pages of this wonderful book!!
     This book has a really good moral in it. I got out of it that even though kids may be less mature and not as smart as adults, they still can do just as much! For the most part, when kids set their minds to things, it will happen and they will achieve it! Us kids have just as much potential to do something and achieve it as adults do!
   In the end, this book was really good! I enjoyed it and at some points it was really hard to put down! I would highly recommend it to everybody! If you are interested in a great suspenseful read, then this is the book for you!