It's Monday, What are you reading?

 

So, I meant to get to this yesterday and never found the time.  Here is what I finished last week, along with a book that I never recorded from last month by Nora Roberts.  Two books were audio books.  All the finished books were checked out of the library.

Finished reading:
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
Beautiful Redemption by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katharine Boo
The Last Boyfriend by Nora Roberts
The Star Runner by S.E. Hinton

Still Reading:
Courting Carolina by Janet Chapman
Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg
The Twelve by William Gladstone
Dream Dark by Kami Garci and Margaret Stohl
Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg

The Prophet of Yonwood (Books of Ember Series #3) by Jeanne DuPrau

Overview from Barnes and Noble:

It’s 50 years before the settlement of the city of Ember, and the world is in crisis. War looms on the horizon as 11-year-old Nickie and her aunt travel to the small town of Yonwood, North Carolina. There, one of the town’s respected citizens has had a terrible vision of fire and destruction. Her garbled words are taken as prophetic instruction on how to avoid the coming disaster. If only they can be interpreted correctly. . . .

As the people of Yonwood scramble to make sense of the woman’s mysterious utterances, Nickie explores the oddities she finds around town—her great-grandfather’s peculiar journals and papers, a reclusive neighbor who studies the heavens, a strange boy who is fascinated with snakes—all while keeping an eye out for ways to help the world. Is this vision her chance? Or is it already too late to avoid a devastating war?

In this prequel to the acclaimed The City of Ember and The People of Sparks, Jeanne DuPrau investigates how, in a world that seems out of control, hope and comfort can be found in the strangest of places.

My thoughts:
While reading The City of Ember and The People of Sparks I wondered how the world got to point where they needed to build an underground city to preserve humanity.  This book had a interesting story embedded in the framework of how our world let things escalate to the point that weapons of mass destruction were unleashed upon countries, causing civilization to lose so much.

Nickie and her aunt go to clean out the home of Nickie's great-grandfather.  Everyone is wary of strangers and thinks anyone could be a terrorist.  After a woman has a vision while taking her wash off the line, the citizens try to interpret her sketchy proclamations to save themselves.  In the small town, things after thing is outlawed in the effort to save the town from the coming destruction.  They get rid of music and dancing, lights and dogs, all following the prophets rants.  At first Nickie wants to help the woman who is trying to rid the town of evil to protect them all, but then she begins to question how God could want all these things done in his name.

A lot of questions about how the world reached the point it has when we see it for the first time in The People of Sparks are answered here.  Through the forward and the afterward some of the missing pieces are filled in.  This book opened up a lot of discussion points for having faith, using your own common sense, following the crowd and believing in yourself, and the importance of working things out and using your words.  It offered a very bleak picture of what can happen if we allow our pride to get too wrapped up in our dealings with others.

Product Details

• ISBN-13: 9780739331095
• Publisher: Random House Audio Publishing Group
• Publication date: 5/9/2006
• Series: Books of Ember Series , #3
• Format: CD
• Edition description: Unabridged, 5 CDs, 6 hrs
• Age range: 9 - 12 Years

Meet the Author

Jeanne DuPrau has been a teacher, an editor, and a technical writer. The People of Sparks is the sequel to The City of Ember and her second novel. She lives in Menlo Park, CA, where she keeps a big garden and a small dog.

Tales from the Hood (Sisters Grimm Series #6) by Michael Buckley

Overview from Barnes and Noble:

Funny, suspenseful, and fast-paced, The Sisters Grimm continues to charm readers with its outrageous take on familiar fairy tales.

In Ferryport Landing everyone gets a day in court—even the Big Bad Wolf, a.k.a. Mr. Canis. When Canis is put on trial for past crimes, Mayor Heart’s kangaroo court is determined to find him guilty. It’s up to the Grimms to uncover evidence to save their friend, though Sabrina starts to wonder whether they would all be safer with the Wolf in jail. Despite her misgivings, Sabrina and her sister, Daphne, investigate what actually happened in the Big Bad Wolf’s most famous tale—and the real story is full of surprises!

My thoughts:
Daphne and Sabrina engage in research through the records their family has been keeping for hundreds of years to find out what really happened the night that Red Riding Hood's grandmother was killed.  They search for the woodcutter and interview Red herself to try to get to the bottom of the story.  Meanwhile, the Mad Hatter is presiding as judge over the case and Robin Hood is trying his best to defend Mr. Canis.  The robed jury seems to be against the family and Mr. Canis and Mr. Canis seems to have given up on himself.  Sabrina breaks Daphne's trust and this puts a rift between the girls.  What they discover through interviews is much different than they had thought, but will they be able to present any of their evidence in court with an erratic judge who never gives the defense a chance to cross examine or question any of the witnesses?

Product Details

• ISBN-13: 9780810989252
• Publisher: Abrams, Harry N., Inc.
• Publication date: 3/4/2009
• Series: Sisters Grimm Series , #6
• Pages: 304

Saturday Snapshot- Cave Adventures!

 We took a day trip to a local cave this week.  It was a very informative tour and our whole family seemed to enjoy it.

This picture is sideways, but if you look from the side you can see a formation that they say looks like an eagle.

We learned about stalactites and stalagmites and saw many different formations.

This one reminded me of snow!

This is a very large rock that fell over at one point and we had a chance to view it from both sides and see how it divided the cave when it fell.

Exiting the cave peoples glasses were fogging and so did my camera lens!

Magic and Other Misdemeanors (Sisters Grimm Series #5) by Michael Buckley

Overview from Barnes and Noble:

 

When the past and future start mixing with the present, Sabrina and Daphne have their first case to tackle solo—with a little help from the troublemaker Puck. The girls suspect that a rash of magical thefts may be at the root of the problem, but with Mayor Heart’s outrageous taxes to pay and Mr. Canis’s continuing transformation into the Big Bad Wolf, the Grimms have a lot to worry about and not a lot of time to waste. Can Sabrina and Daphne solve the crime and change the future for the better?

My thoughts:
I think it is always fun when time travel gets involved, and there are always so many questions about ripple effects and what happens if you change something in the present to course of events in the future.  Holes in time are opening all over Ferryport Landing.  Strange people from the past or the future show up on the streets and Sabrina and Daphne are taken into the future where they meet themselves and find a very grim reality in their town.  Some of what they see is funny, you won't believe who Sabrina is married too, most of if is upsetting.  The Scarlett Hand has taken over and the Grimm family are outlaws.  Their parents are still under the sleeping spell, some friends are now enemies and some important people are dead.  The girls are determined, with the help of Prince Charming, to change the course of events to avoid the future they have seen.  In keeping secrets from a friend they cause a rift in a friendship and Mayor Heart and Sheriff Nottingham continue to force all the non-Everafters from the town.  Can their friends and their town be saved?

Product Details

• ISBN-13: 9780810972636
• Publisher: Abrams, Harry N., Inc.
• Publication date: 7/23/2008
• Series: Sisters Grimm Series , #5
• Pages: 304

Meet the Author

More by this Author

• The Council of Mirrors (Sisters Grimm Series #9)
• The Inside Story (Sisters Grimm Series #8)
• The Unusual Suspects (Sisters Grimm Series #2)
• Tales from the Hood (Sisters Grimm Series #6)
• The Fairy Tale Detectives (Sisters Grimm Series #1)

Michael Buckley’s previous books include a New York Times bestseller, a Kirkus Reviews Best Fantasy Book, and two Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award winners. He has written and developed television shows for several networks. He lives with his wife, Alison, and their son, Finn, in Brooklyn, New York. Peter Ferguson is a comic book and editorial artist living in Argentina.

Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan

Overview from Barnes and Noble:

In Dad is Fat, stand-up comedian Jim Gaffigan, who’s best known for his legendary riffs on Hot Pockets, bacon, manatees, and McDonald's, expresses all the joys and horrors of life with five young children—everything from cousins ("celebrities for little kids") to toddlers’ communication skills (“they always sound like they have traveled by horseback for hours to deliver important news”), to the eating habits of four year olds (“there is no difference between a four year old eating a taco and throwing a taco on the floor”). Reminiscent of Bill Cosby’s Fatherhood, Dad is Fat is sharply observed, explosively funny, and a cry for help from a man who has realized he and his wife are outnumbered in their own home.

My thoughts:
I listened to this book last week and really enjoyed it.  For part of the time I was out and about around town for a long run and every time an essay would strike me as really funny I would laugh out loud and then wonder what people passing me thought.  Maybe something along the lines of how running had driven me crazy or that I must be delirious.  It did make me feel a tad crazy to be laughing while running, but the book got me through a long run.

I cannot picture living in a two bedroom apartment with five kids, nor do I want picture living in a two bedroom place with my own four children.  I could relate to some of his essays, not from the living in New York standpoint, or the comedian standpoint, but from the being out numbered by your children standpoint.  Whenever he talked about how long it takes to put on sunscreen I remembered how long it took me pre spray sunscreen.  That stuff has been a lifesaver because I am religious about sun protection and being able to spray arms and legs is such a time saver.  (I remember the first time I took my two-this was quite a few years ago- children out in the snow.  We had recently moved to a place where it snowed and I felt the need to dress a one and two year old in layers, with snow pants and boot and sunscreen on their faces.  I was a sweaty mess by the time we made it outside and then we only stayed out for maybe 20 minutes.  It took me longer to get them ready than the time we spent out there.)

You can tell Gaffigan loves his children and his wife and eating, he talks an awful lot about eating.  I will be hoping that he and his family find an apartment that they love that is slightly bigger than the one they are living in now, because I truly think they may be driven insane if they have to share such a small space for many more years to come!

Product Details

• ISBN-13: 9780385349055
• Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
• Publication date: 5/7/2013
• Pages: 288

Meet the Author

JIM GAFFIGAN is a stand-up comedian and actor with numerous film, television, and stage credits. He lives in Manhattan with his wife, Jeannie, and their five children in a two-bedroom apartment.

It's Monday! What are you reading?

So really it is Tuesday already and the summer is flying by.  In less than a month my children go back to school.  It seems like it has been flying by since the last day of school.  I remember being a kid and thinking how long summer was, but it sure doesn't seem like that anymore.  Here is what I finished since last weeks post:

Finished Reading:
The Diamond of Darkhold by Jeanne DuPrau
Tales from the Hood (The Sisters Grim #6) by Michael Buckley
Beautiful Chaos by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
How To Run a Marathon:  The Complete Beginner's Training Guide by Katrina Abiasi
Dad Is Fat by Jim Gaffigan

Still reading:
Courting Carolina by Janet Chapman
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
Beautiful Redemption by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg
Behind the Beautiful Forevers