Books

So, as summer draws to a close (I go back to school in less than a week) I have decided to critique my mandatory summer reading: The Hobbit.  Considering my previous list of assigned reading (Dracula, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn) I was rather surprised and not altogether delighted to hear of this turn of events.

To my shock, I enjoyed it.  The Hobbit is a prequel to The Lord of the Rings books, and focuses on Bilbo Baggins, who turns out to be Frodo’s uncle, I think.  I’ve never read any other books by Tolkien, so I was able to enjoy The Hobbit without any taints from the other books or movies.  Frankly, I was always a bit disdainful of The Lord of the Rings, but now I am considering reading them.

Tolkien’s writing style is droll and rather stuffy, like an English professor who thinks himself quite funny, and who sometimes is.  The descriptions of Bilbo are charming; for example, the constant reminder that all Bilbo wants to do is sit by his fire in his cozy armchair and have a glass of tea.

The adventure in the book is not especially exciting, nor are the action sequences breathtaking and exhilarating.  Bilbo prefers to sit out the adventures, so the reader is compelled to sit them out with him.  I really didn’t mind this.  Many of my classmates complain to me about how boring this book is, and one of my friends has remarked that it has a sonorous effect on her.  While it is true that The Hobbit is not an action-packed novel like, for instance, Jurassic Park is, the real compelling part of the book, for me, is in the character descriptions.

Tolkien paints each character with such vivid colors that I could easily imagine any of the characters, from Fili and Kili to Beorn and Gandalf.  The characters easily propel the story along (though propel is not quite the word I want to use…I am imagining a book propped along a zipline that moves rather slowly through thick branches but is still enjoyable because of the funny monkeys that keep throwing mangoes at the zipline rider) through the many adventures of Bilbo and Company.

Of course, all Bilbo really wants is a cup of tea.

Here’s a book for all of those fantasy readers out there like me.  

Book Four - Dragon’s Song by Sara Stern

This book starts out like all good fantasy should - with a prologue. Here we meet the small version of the main character, Selah, her brothers, and the man who would become her adoptive father.

By the second chapter (although technically the first), Selah is 12 or 13 years old and living in the fief of Domar (which makes her name Selah of Domar). As safe as she is in Domar, Selah feels that there’s always been something missing from her life. A hole in her heart, if you will. So when a Dragon and his rider show up and offer her a place at the Dragonhold fief, she accepts because she felt whole when she stood next to the dragon.

She spends a year as the only girl pallon (in this case, a child without a dragon) in the fief, and she learns to deal with critsim from her peers and failure in front of others. After a year, however, there is the Choosing that all of the pallons have to go through. This Choosing is where they will either gain a dragonet (a young dragon) or have to go home. A scary enough prospect, it becomes even more frightening for Selah when she has a terrible accident trying to protect her dragonet, Windchaser, from walking through a wall of fire. Selah only survives because of a well-timed save by a god.

Unfortunantely for her, this isn’t the last time she nearly dies. As training goes on, she becomes a target of the Dragonhunters, a group of people bent on ridding the world of dragons. Most Dragonriders are too afraid of the Dragonhunters to ever face them alone, but for more than half of the story, Selah has to go up against them without any support but the support of her dragonet.

Of course, other things happen in the book, but it’s really hard to tell you anymore without giving anything away, so I’ll just rate the book.

Over all, this gets a 9 1/2. I know it’s a really high score, but it’s an amazing book. I’d give it an 8 1/2 by its self, but the fact that it was written by a girl who was 15 when it was published? I give it another point for that. The story is well thought out, with many turns that I didn’t see coming, and believeable characters. This is the kind of book that you have to read slowly, even though it feels like you need to read it all at once. It’s like a rich dessert that you want to wolf down but you can’t because it’s so good. Obviously, I’d reccommend that you read this book. However, you may only enjoy it if you like books such as Eragon and other pure fantasy books. I don’t know. I just know that I’ll never forget reading this book. Have fun.

Don’t call them vampires.
This is a series of immortal beings who protect the world from Damions. There is alot to the series. The dark hunters are created by Artemis. She offers them an act of vengance and then they must protect the humans. They have a lot rules, but they are paid VERY well.
The catch is they can’t come out in the daytime. SOOOO they have squires. There are different types of squires but they all have the same job. Whatever a Dark Hunter wants, they get (squires tend to be a little sarcastic).
Now the bad guys. Damions. They are Appololites who were cursed by Appolo (who created them) to die on their 27th birthday. A very slow and painfull death. But if they take a human soul they live. Once they do that they are Damions nad they have to hunt for souls to stay alive.
In addition to all of this there are Were-hunters, Dream-hunters, and of course demons.
This is a romance series, so there are a lot of love scenes. The first technical book is Fantasy Lover, but it has nothing to do about Dark Hunters. That starts with Night Pleasures. It is a very good series. And there is alot to do with Greek Mythology in it, so if you like that, you should try it.

Welcome all to the BOOK BLOG.

I know. Such a catching way to start off a new blog. *Waits for applause* Okay, okay, never mind. Anyway. Let’s get this started with something on topic.

This blog obviously has a purpose. I plan on updating you each week (or so) on the books that I’ve read. This way, all of you lovely readers out there will know which books to pick up. Now, without further ado, let’s get started.

Book one: Twilight by Stephanie Myers

Though this is a book that needs little explanation, it would feel wrong starting this blog without bringing it up.

Isabella (Bella) Swan is a 17 year old girl who has an issue staying upright. When we’re introduced, she’s in the process of moving from sunny Arizona where she’s lived with her mother and her mother’s boyfriend Phil, to rainy Forks, Washington (A hurrah for the home state!). Even though she made the decision to move herself, she’s not too happy about going.

Once Bella starts school, she’s bombarded by the residents of Forks because she’s the newest thing they’ve seen in a long time. Amidst all the chaos, she meets a beautiful boy. And we’re talking a run-into-walls, drop-dead gorgeous kind of beautiful. His name is Edward Cullen.

Edward, however, hardly ever talks to anyone other than his siblings, for reasons yet unknown to Bella and to us readers. We get the feeling that there’s something strange going on when Edward (who just happens to be Bella’s lab partner in science) won’t talk to Bella and gives her hateful looks throughout the period. Bella, being kind of insecure, takes this to mean that she’s done something wrong. This feeling heightens when we find that Edward has mysteriously left school.

Now, unfortunately, Bella can’t stop thinking about Edward. And when he comes back and starts to speak to her again, she really can’t stop thinking about him. (Crush time!) It gets to the point where she even starts to dream about him. But Bella isn’t the only one who’s infatuated. Edward has taken to her as well, though she can’t quite figure out why.

If you haven’t read this book (though I don’t know what reason you would have for not reading it), you may think that it’s the same old “girl meets boy, boy meets girl, love at first sight, and they ride off into the sunset”. It’s not. Mostly because Edward is not your average kind of boy.

He’s a vampire.

DUN DUN DUN. How’s that for a catchy cliff-hanger? Of course, it’s really easy to figure this out, especially if you’ve ever read the back of Twilight, but that’s okay.

Out of ten, I’d give this book an honest 8 ½. It’s not that the story isn’t amazing, because it is. Twilight goes on my lists of “Favorite books ever” and “Books to reread”. The issue I have with it is that after reading the story five or six times, there’s no reason to pick it up again. And it’s not just because of the drool marks have made it impossible to read, but it just gets old. Sorry for all of you diehard fans out there (I am too, by the way), but it’s kind of true.

But other than that small fact, it’s one of the best books in the world. If you’ve read it already, good for you. Go read it again. If you haven’t, run out (and I do mean run) to your nearest bookstore or library, and pick up a copy. Or if you’re too lazy to do that, I suppose you could just wait until the movie comes out (December 12th, 2008!!), but you know that they’re going to ruin it. I mean, Cedric as Edward!? Please!

Okay, rant over.

That’s all for now people. Peace out.