The Messenger by Marcus Zusak

Review by high school junior, Aaron Avers, son of Angie



I am at a loss for words to describe the brilliance of this book!


The plot was exciting, heart-warming, funny, and the book keeps you in constant suspense throughout.


Ed, the main character, is funny and easy to relate to. He's a nineteen year old no-life cab driver, who lives for the nights he plays cards with his friends, and is hopelessly in love with his closest friend, Audrey. He has done nothing for his life, and is content in leaving it that way, until one day, he stops a bank robbery.


Forthright and down-to-earth, Ed is a likable character although an unlikely hero. I really enjoyed Ed's friendly, easy-to-talk-to, self-aware voice as well as his detailed descriptions of the character strengths and flaws of his close friends.


The best things about the book were some of the touching scenes and encounters with the people who Ed delivers messages to, and that he forms special friendships with them.

There were also some pretty dark moments, particularly at the beginning of the book, which seemed designed to make the reader think about what they might do if they were in the same situation.

I thought it was a really enjoyable and original book!

Read my review here:
IAmTheMessenger by Marcus Zusak, review by Angie

Ereader sales projections through Christmas 2011

I was curious to know what the latest projections are with regard to the sales of ereaders this coming Christmas season. Here is what I found:

ComputerWorld
ComputerWorld is projecting that sales will continue to increase, with Kindle being the leader.

SocialTimes
SocialTimes is predicting a Kindle price below $50 by Christmas; also projecting free devices by next summer. (Is that a serious projection or tongue-in-cheek?)

Seriously, I do think that free devices are a possibility if the makers of the device can be pretty certain that buyers will fill the devices with books purchased from them. Not so far-fetched when thought of that way. Getting a device into the hands of someone who will then purchase content for it makes a lot of sense.

For myself, I feel that there will be price wars this Christmas season. I do think we'll see both Kindle and Nook below $100. I am guessing around $75; perhaps with a $50 price tag on Black Friday. It will be interesting to see what happens to the prices of the NOOK Color and iPad.


I'd really, really like to see a drop in book prices. I've done my best this year to spend as little money on ebooks as possible. I've been reading a lot of free domain books (very slowly!) and also borrowing ebooks from our library's source. It's been working for me but I can certainly say that I am itching to use some B&N gift cards that I've been saving! I think I will make some purchases for myself sometime after Christmas. For now I am going to continue to work on reading books and ebooks that I already own.

The Search for Delicious by Natalie Babbitt

Ah...the search for delicious...
what a lovely quest to embark upon.

The bulk of this quest is carried out by Vaungaylen. Gaylen, as he is known, was left by is mother, in a basket, at the gates of the castle. He was quickly adopted by Prime Minister DeCree. 


The Prime Minister began work on a dictionary when Gaylen was twelve years old.
The King was quite pleased with the Prime Minister's progress:
A: "He liked 'Affectionate is your dog'."
B: "Bulky is a big bag of boxes."
C: "Calamitous is saying no to the King."
D: "Delicious is fried fish."
But, no, that didn't please the king.


The King thought apples should be declared the most delicious.


It didn't please anyone else either.
The Queen thought Christmas pudding.
The Queen's trouble-maker brother piped up that his vote was for nuts.
The General stated that a mug of beer is delicious.


Gaylen was asked to set out around the kingdom gathering everyone's votes as to the best definition for "delicious".


In a land where "nothing" belongs to the people and the world is filled with mermaids, woldwellers, and dwarves, a minor story is interwoven in the main one.


Our little one (age five) and I have been reading this book for many months. She found it so interesting that she was able to remember very minor details of the story from one reading to the next. Today as I was writing this review she reminded me that someone had clearly affirmed a preference for "beer" as being delicious. Given that, I can say that this book can be used as a read-aloud selection for children as young as probably age four, perhaps a precocious age three. The first time I read this book it was to our two younger boys who were nearing ages seven and eight.

Natalie Babbitt also wrote Tuck Everlasting which I read in August 2007 and again in April 2008. I'm not much of a rereader of books and there isn't a lot of time between those two readings. The prose with which she wrote Tuck Everlasting really satisfied me and so I returned to it very soon. The Disney film adaptation of Tuck Everlasting is also very well done. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My Review of Tuck Everylasting by Natalie Babbitt

Found (The Missing, Book 1) by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Found is the first book in the "Missing" trilogy, published in 2008. 
The book opens to 13 year old Jonah who is perplexed about a letter he received in the mail. He soon finds out that a new friend of his, Chip, has received the same letter. This connection leads to Chip discovering that, like Jonah, he was adopted.

Jonah's sister Katherine soon joins the boys in a quest to find out more about the letters they received. This is just the beginning of the excitement as the FBI soon proves to have a hand in the mix. Before you know it time travel is added to the plot!

Our 10 year old asked for this book for Christmas. He read it eagerly and couldn't wait to finish it! He also couldn't wait for me to read it so that we could discuss it! (I love that!) 

I've purchased the second in the series so that the two of us can enjoy reading it at the pool this summer!

I think the book was a good diversion for me as I was reading it while also deep in the depths of A Tale of Two Cities. For adults it certainly isn't heavy although the topics of adoption, and time travel are heavy ones. I think this book was just about perfect for a ten year old boy. (It has our son's stamp of approval, for sure!)
______________________________________________________________________
My review of Sent (Book 2 in the Missing trilogy) by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Life is So Good by George Dawson

I read this in December 2004 and again in May 2008.


This book is a true winner if you love autobiographies or memoirs!
George was born January 1898 and died at age 103 years old in July 2001.


Talk about seeing change in the world! George was born to grandparents who were slaves. He was affected by racism to a true and great degree. He once saw a man lynched and that, of course, changed the course of his life.


He married and fathered seven children.


George couldn't read but it was a lifelong ambition of his. When someone knocked on his door to inspire interest in local adult education courses George determined that it just might be time for him to learn to read. He was 98 years old when he learned to read and write.


His book is written in a conversational tone. I'd have loved to spend some time with George. 

Time to check in for the Jane Austen Reading Challenge

Are you reading Jane Austen titles this year or reading Jane Austen-related titles?

Have you joined the Jane Austen Reading Challenge?

I read Pride and Prejudice in February of 2010. Living in England convinced me I'd probably love her writing; and I do!

I finished reading Emma in March 2011.

I am reading/listening to Northanger Abbey right now.

I would like to read at least one more Jane Austen title during 2011.

Have you read any of Jane Austen's books? Do you have plans to?

A Faithful Journey

JaneAustenProse.com

The Life (and Lies)...

BoundTogetherForGoodAustenChallenge

The film adaptation of The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Saturday I took our 15 year old daughter, Miss M, to see the film finally! 

We needed some girl-time and this was just the film to include in our afternoon/evening of fun!


I read the book in October 2010. I loved the book.


In my opinion, this is a good case of a film adaptation following true to the book and the author's vision. Stockett's descriptions of the settings throughout the book and the adherence to that by the producer and director means that the film adaptation was very similar to my the way I imagined as I read the book. I was quite pleased.


One can't help but love the cast. I was unfamiliar with most of them and that can be a good thing; no preconceived ideas, you know.


Emma Stone as beloved Skeeter.
Viola Davis as Aibileen.
Bryce Dallas Howard as the spiteful Hilly.
Octavia Spencer as the lovable Minny Jackson.
Jessica Chastain as the unaware but lovable Celia Foote.
Ahna O'Reilly as Elizabeth.
Mary Steenburgen was believable as the liberated Elain Stein.
Allison Janney as Skeeter's momma. (I loved her as Peach in Finding Nemo!)
I loved Cicely Tyson as Constantine Jefferson.
Sissy Spacek as Missus Walters had the entire cinema in stitches! (More than once!)
IMDB.com


This film was a winner, just as the book was. We loved it. It is one that I will purchase when it hits the stores on blu-ray.

The only cautions before seeing the film with children are:
The film carries a PG13 rating for thematic material. All of it is real-life stuff; nothing stunning or unimaginable in real life. One such scene is the portrayal of an extreme miscarriage. It's a bloody scene, as one might expect. It might mean some explanations would be necessary depending on the child. There is some language; none that startled me given the subject matter. There is a scene in the book that involves the appearance of a naked man; that is left out of the film since it wasn't an absolutely necessary scene. Good choice I think...although it was a very funny portion of the book!


I can't wait to see this film again soon!

~~~~
My former review of the book:
The Help by Kathryn Stockett on BoundTogetherForGood.blogspot

Ereaders for students

If you are considering the purchase of an ereader specifically for a student in your life (or for your own studies) I suggest reading the post on this site:


GoodEReader


The site gives reasons behind each of their recommendations.

Something for the young ones...Complete Farmyard Tales Book & CD (Farmyard Tales)

We came across this Usborne book at the AWBS Christmas Craft and Gift Fayre in 2008. Of course a mom who homeschools and loves to read can't pass up an Usborne book table, or any other book table!


We loved this book of books. It is a compilation of all the titles illustrated by now-deceased illustrator Stephen Cartwright. I read the whole book to our little daughter. We finished reading it in February 2010. Cartwright added a little yellow ducky to every scene he created for his Usborne series. Gigi found every little ducky!


The genius of this book is that it is written in such a way that a beginning reader can read half of the pages and still get the main idea of the stories and then later can learn to read the entire story! I love that! This version also came with an audio CD.


It is truly a treasure of our daughter and will carry happy memories with it through the years.

More Free classics for NOOK users! Hurry while the offer is available!

A friend pointed me to this today.
Twenty classics with introductions, etc can be downloaded for free during this offer.


EbookReaderBlog~Free B&N Classics


Enjoy!
I'm downloading mine now!
One of them is a title I wanted to read along with our daughter who will be reading it in her literature class this year!