Two more

I haven't had time to read much for fun lately, but here are a couple of novels that I liked:

Sabriel, Garth Nix
This is YA fantasy in an imagined world where Death is a place, not an event. The world he created was fascinating and frightening both. The title character is the daughter of a necromancer whose job it is to make sure the dead stay in Death. He disappears and she sets out on a quest to find him - or figure out what happened to him. I really liked the main character and her father. It was a bit too violent for me in a few parts though, especially for a YA novel. It's the beginning of a series, if you end up enjoying it. I haven't read on.

The Changeling Sea, Patricia McKilip
The heroine in this story is an ordinary girl who ends up doing extraordinary things. I always enjoy stories like that! Peri lives in a small town by the coast and has a love/hate relationship with the sea which has taken her fisherman father and left her mother helpless with grief. It read almost like a fairy tale. The writing was beautiful, and the story was well-developed, too.

Two for One Post!

My Man Jeeves, P.G. Wodehouse

This is a collection of short stories (I love short stories, so I'm not tempted to stay up all night reading....) written in the early 20th century. I thought they were HILARIOUS! Wodehouse knows how to turn a phrase. They were so funny. If you're interested in a little break from reality, check him out.

44 Scotland Street, Alexander McCall Smith

This book came from a serialized novel, originally published in The Scotsman. It's a novel, but basically a series of short stories written about the same characters. It is set in Edinburgh and I thought it was fun to get a better look at the city I thought was so beautiful! The nice thing is that if you like it, there are at least 3-4 more books. The novel was so popular, he just kept writing.

The Secret Journal of Brett Colton

"Kathy Colton can't stand her brother Brett.  Her family talks as if he were perfect!  All Kathy knows for sure is that Brett is dead.  He died of leukemia when he was seventeen and she was only two.  But when Kathy turns sixteen, she discovers her brother's hidden journal-a journal written especially for her-and learns about the brother she never know.  At the same time, Kathy is mortified by an assignment to tutor the popular high school quarterback Jason West, a football jock who, even worse, is a Mormon."
          I thought that this book was the perfect girl power book.  It talks a lot about the lessons learned about faith, acceptance, forgiveness, and understanding.  It made me cry...a lot...it still has a happy ending though
ANNA

Mr. Popper's Penguins

by Richard and Florence Atwater

HADYN:  Mr. Popper's was a very good story.  I liked it very much, because there's a husband, named Mr. Popper and he really like the Antarctic, so he asked for a penguin in the mail.  He got a penguin in a box.  He liked it and called it Captain Cook.  The zoo had a penguin that was a girl and they didn't want it, so they sent it to Mr. Popper, and since it was a girl, it laid lots of baby penguins, and they got tons and tons (maybe 10) penguins.  Captain Cook was the father and Greta was the mother and they had a whole lot of penguins and they were great performers so they put them at a stage but at first they were at the wrong auditorium that they had to pay or they had to go to a different theater.  You will like it if you read it.  

REGAN:  We read Mr. Popper's together, and I thought it was a really good book.  It started out as Mrs. Popper and Mr. Popper with their two children.  They got a penguin from Admiral Drake.  They named it Captain Cook.  The zoo gave them another penguin named Greta.  They had a nest in the refrigerator and they got 12 babies.  The penguins liked to walk up stairs and toboggan down.  They became a circus act and they even got sent to jail.  I thought it was a really good book.  That's why I think you should read it.

MARIA:  This was a great book to read.  Not too hard to follow so Hadyn could follow, but funny enough that Regan stayed interested.  It is a Newberry Honors book from 1939.  It's a good get kids ready to go to sleep book, which means I loved it :).

When You Reach Me

By Rebecca Stead

So I went to the National Book Festival a couple of weeks ago and heard a book talk by this author. Since I've been living in a cave the last year or so, I didn't know that she'd written the Newbery winner for this year -- this book. She was fantastic. I loved her talk, so I went straight to the library and checked it out. It was well worth a read. The main character is enjoyable. I liked how well-rounded all the characters are and how I came to like them all. The plot is intriguing, too. Recommended.

(This is when I had the epiphany that we'd named 3 of 4 children after characters in A Wrinkle In Time; if you read the book, you'll see why....)

Nancy Drew and the Bungalow Mystery (Book #3)

We started reading this book about a month ago, and we finished it last night. Nancy was on a boat in a storm and a girl saved them from crashing into a rock and her name was Laura.  Laura had a mystery for Nancy.  Two weeks later, Laura came to Nancy to tell her about her strange guardians.  My favorite part of the book was when Laura gave Nancy the aquamarine ring.  I think you should read this book because it's exciting.  Lisa just gave me a whole bunch of Nancy Drew books, so get ready for a whole bunch of Nancy Drew books on the Luke Ladies Book Nook!

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

I just finished this, again, I've read it many times. It's a young adult book about Sam Westing, master of disguise and game playing, who in his will called 16 heirs to play the "Westing Game" to discover who took his life and figure out the solution, becoming the heir to his money. it's an easy read, and fun. It's fun to try and figure it out. It was made into a movie but I haven't seen it, so I don't know how much it follows the book.