Okay, so I'm going to cheat a bit with this book and steal some questions from another book club. For reference, I'm borrowing from: http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2007/04/21/a-totally-unauthorized-reading-group-guide-to-the-invention-of-hugo-cabret/
First: Brian Selznick tells Hugo’s story in a unique way. He uses a lot more pictures than you find in most novels. Sometimes he tells Hugo’s story in words and sometimes in pictures. Why do you think he did this? How did you like it? What are some advantages and disadvantages of having so many pictures in a novel?
I felt like the illustrations worked to give an added depth. Too often as a readers, we become absorbed in words and in the world we build inside of our heads. With the structure of drawings, Selznick brings us into the world HE invisions, rather than the one we create for ourselves. In a way, I feel this also hinders our ability to enjoy the book. Personally, I much prefer to create the scenery in my head. The only exceptions to this are graphic novels and picture books. Novels, to me, should leave the reader to ability to create the mindscape of the written word.
If you’ve read any of the Harry Potter books or seen the movies, you may have noticed that the Invention of Hugo Cabret has some things in common with them. What are some of them?
I included this question because I was rather surprised to find it within the group. What do you think? I'm a huge Potter fan, so I can relate almost anything to the Boy Wizard. Did you get a feel of any other novels or movies while you were reading?
And this time, rather than give you a list of movies and books to check out --why don't you reccomend some to me? Get some more discussion opprotunities rolling here!
On Wednesday, we'll begin our discussion of our next novel, Sidekicks by Jack D. Ferraiolo. I read this book last summer and I absolutely LOVED it! I look forward to some slightly more active postings than I've given you guys with the last couple of novels!
Happy Reading!
Samma
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Hey everyone.
I know I've been a bit behind the last few weeks. Hopefully you enjoyed Palace of Laughter. You should now be reading The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick.
Summary from Books-a-Million: Orphan, clock keeper, thief: Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. Combining elements of picture book, graphic novel, and film, Caldecott Honor artist Selznick breaks open the novel form to create an entirely new reading experience in this intricate, tender, and spellbinding mystery.
I know I've been a bit behind the last few weeks. Hopefully you enjoyed Palace of Laughter. You should now be reading The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick.
Summary from Books-a-Million: Orphan, clock keeper, thief: Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. Combining elements of picture book, graphic novel, and film, Caldecott Honor artist Selznick breaks open the novel form to create an entirely new reading experience in this intricate, tender, and spellbinding mystery.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Palace of Laughter Discussion: At the Circus
Here in Wisconsin, we're no stranger to the circus. Especially if you grew up in the town of Baraboo. Baraboo, WI is the home of the Circus World Museum (you can view their homepage here), but the short version is that the Ringling Brother's circus, nearly 100 years ago, had set their winter home in the Baraboo area. Back then, it was called the Ringlingville. The last time they camped there for the winter was in 1918, but the site is now a historical landmark.
The Circus World museum is open all summer long, so I highly encourage you to check it out. I'll admit that I've lived in Wisconsin my entire life, and I've never been to Baraboo. Maybe I'll have to do something about that this year.
Here's a few links for you to check out between your reading:
http://www.pbs.org/opb/circus/interact/big-top-trivia-quizes/
http://huntsville.about.com/library/blcircus.htm
Here's a really cool video I found of some Russian circus perfomers.
How are you guys liking the book so far? What do you think of the Tiger? Have you met Little yet? Share your thoughts and any videos and links.
Happy Reading,
Samma
The Circus World museum is open all summer long, so I highly encourage you to check it out. I'll admit that I've lived in Wisconsin my entire life, and I've never been to Baraboo. Maybe I'll have to do something about that this year.
Here's a few links for you to check out between your reading:
http://www.pbs.org/opb/circus/interact/big-top-trivia-quizes/
http://huntsville.about.com/library/blcircus.htm
Here's a really cool video I found of some Russian circus perfomers.
How are you guys liking the book so far? What do you think of the Tiger? Have you met Little yet? Share your thoughts and any videos and links.
Happy Reading,
Samma
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Final Discussion: The Sea of Trolls
Hey guys. Hopefully by now you've finished The Sea of Trolls. I'll admit, I haven't. But Les basically told me what happened...
So, first, discussion questions. (Insert obligatory Spoiler warning here)
1. If you had to choose between being a Northman/Berserker or a Saxon, which would you choose and why?
2. How would you like being a bard's apprentice? Do you think it's a good career choice?
(Side fact: speaking of 'bards', I happened to be looking through a 20,001 Baby Names book, and stumbled upon the name Riordan (which made me think of Rick Riordan, of course) --and it means bard, or poet.)
3. How did you feel about Olaf's death? Was it neccesary? Could it have been different? Do you think Olaf went to Valhalla or one of the other after-lives mentioned in the book?
4. Which after-life do you think you'd prefer?
5. How did you feel about Lucy as a character? How about her relationship with her father, verses the relationship with Jack or her mother? Do you think it was right (or perhaps kind?) of her father to allow her to live in her fantasy world?
6. The Bard advises Jack, "You should look intelligent even when you aren't." How does this advice serve Jack as he travels on his quest? And how can you apply this to your own life; do you think the statement has real-world merit?
7. If you had the chance to visit Mimir's Well; what do you think you'd have to give up in order to drink from it?
Over all, I enjoyed the book. It was rather hard for me to get through while I was busy doing other things. I liked the tie to Beowulf. When I was in high school and had to suffer through it for what seemed like months (it's 96 pages! Why did we spend nearly an entire semester on it?!), I had little-to-no-patience for it. We watched a couple different movie adaptations, including a really horrible (and kind of creepy) claymation movie. While the story of Beowulf itself is interesting, reading it in edited old english is not exactly what I would call a good time. Especially when you can find modern, novel-length retellings that are about fifty times better... But hey, personal opinion.
Per the characters...I got a little exasperated with Lucy. Jack obviously had a lot of patience. Much more than I would have had. The instance they started talking about her being a "lost princess", I just KNEW that something wasn't going to bode well. Half-way to Ivar the Boneless and Frith's castle, I wanted to toss Lucy overboard...
I didn't like Thorgil at first, but she kind of grew on me. I wasn't sure how I felt about her change in mood after drinking from the well however... I kind of wanted to just feed her to the dragon.
As usual, I've got a few reccomendations for you.
Movies:
How to Train Your Dragon
Thor --and not just the recent movie version. Marvel has done a few animated films as well (old school style, which is just awesome!). I also highly reccomend the Ultimate Avengers movies, Doctor Strange, and Iron Man.
Eragon
Books:
The How to Train Your Dragon Series (Cressida Cowell)
Underworlds: The Battle Begins (Tony Abbott)
Raven Speak (Diane Lee Wilson)
The Coming of the Dragon (Rebecca Barnhouse) *Note: This is another Beowulf tie!*
Also, keep in mind that this is actually part of a trilogy. The other books in this series are The Land of the Silver Apples and The Island of the Blessed --both of which are available, of course, on MORE.
Graphic Novels:
Asterix Comics; there are several titles, and I'm not 100% sure which is "first". You may want to try an Omnibus (a large collection of many volumes), or just select one at random to see if you like it.
The Life Eaters (David Brin) --I haven't read this, but the cover looks interesting. It might be a little advanced for the younger spectrum here
Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword (Barry Deutsch)
As always, if you've got any reccomendations or final thoughts on the book, share! Otherwise, get prepped for our first official Summer Reading Program book!
The Palace of Laughter by Jon Berkeley. Place your holds now!
When the mysterious Circus Oscuro arrives in the dead of night, Miles Wednesday, a runaway orphan living in a barrel, is the only person in the town of Larde to witness the event. Later that same night, he is approached by a tiger who claims he can smell the circus in Miles. Thus begins a chain of events that introduces the boy to a winged waif named Little, a captive of the circus's sinister ringmaster. Upon Little's escape, the two set out to rescue her friend from the Palace of Laughter, which seems to be far more dangerous and horrible than the name implies. –Christi Voth, Parker Library, CO
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Happy Reading,
Samma
So, first, discussion questions. (Insert obligatory Spoiler warning here)
1. If you had to choose between being a Northman/Berserker or a Saxon, which would you choose and why?
2. How would you like being a bard's apprentice? Do you think it's a good career choice?
(Side fact: speaking of 'bards', I happened to be looking through a 20,001 Baby Names book, and stumbled upon the name Riordan (which made me think of Rick Riordan, of course) --and it means bard, or poet.)
3. How did you feel about Olaf's death? Was it neccesary? Could it have been different? Do you think Olaf went to Valhalla or one of the other after-lives mentioned in the book?
4. Which after-life do you think you'd prefer?
5. How did you feel about Lucy as a character? How about her relationship with her father, verses the relationship with Jack or her mother? Do you think it was right (or perhaps kind?) of her father to allow her to live in her fantasy world?
6. The Bard advises Jack, "You should look intelligent even when you aren't." How does this advice serve Jack as he travels on his quest? And how can you apply this to your own life; do you think the statement has real-world merit?
7. If you had the chance to visit Mimir's Well; what do you think you'd have to give up in order to drink from it?
Over all, I enjoyed the book. It was rather hard for me to get through while I was busy doing other things. I liked the tie to Beowulf. When I was in high school and had to suffer through it for what seemed like months (it's 96 pages! Why did we spend nearly an entire semester on it?!), I had little-to-no-patience for it. We watched a couple different movie adaptations, including a really horrible (and kind of creepy) claymation movie. While the story of Beowulf itself is interesting, reading it in edited old english is not exactly what I would call a good time. Especially when you can find modern, novel-length retellings that are about fifty times better... But hey, personal opinion.
Per the characters...I got a little exasperated with Lucy. Jack obviously had a lot of patience. Much more than I would have had. The instance they started talking about her being a "lost princess", I just KNEW that something wasn't going to bode well. Half-way to Ivar the Boneless and Frith's castle, I wanted to toss Lucy overboard...
I didn't like Thorgil at first, but she kind of grew on me. I wasn't sure how I felt about her change in mood after drinking from the well however... I kind of wanted to just feed her to the dragon.
As usual, I've got a few reccomendations for you.
Movies:
How to Train Your Dragon
Thor --and not just the recent movie version. Marvel has done a few animated films as well (old school style, which is just awesome!). I also highly reccomend the Ultimate Avengers movies, Doctor Strange, and Iron Man.
Eragon
Books:
The How to Train Your Dragon Series (Cressida Cowell)
Underworlds: The Battle Begins (Tony Abbott)
Raven Speak (Diane Lee Wilson)
The Coming of the Dragon (Rebecca Barnhouse) *Note: This is another Beowulf tie!*
Also, keep in mind that this is actually part of a trilogy. The other books in this series are The Land of the Silver Apples and The Island of the Blessed --both of which are available, of course, on MORE.
Graphic Novels:
Asterix Comics; there are several titles, and I'm not 100% sure which is "first". You may want to try an Omnibus (a large collection of many volumes), or just select one at random to see if you like it.
The Life Eaters (David Brin) --I haven't read this, but the cover looks interesting. It might be a little advanced for the younger spectrum here
Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword (Barry Deutsch)
As always, if you've got any reccomendations or final thoughts on the book, share! Otherwise, get prepped for our first official Summer Reading Program book!
The Palace of Laughter by Jon Berkeley. Place your holds now!
When the mysterious Circus Oscuro arrives in the dead of night, Miles Wednesday, a runaway orphan living in a barrel, is the only person in the town of Larde to witness the event. Later that same night, he is approached by a tiger who claims he can smell the circus in Miles. Thus begins a chain of events that introduces the boy to a winged waif named Little, a captive of the circus's sinister ringmaster. Upon Little's escape, the two set out to rescue her friend from the Palace of Laughter, which seems to be far more dangerous and horrible than the name implies. –Christi Voth, Parker Library, CO
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Happy Reading,
Samma
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Discussion: The Sea of Trolls. Valhalla, Valkyries, and Norse Mythology
So, I was sitting in the library today, thinking... "Wow, I really haven't gotten any further in the book than last week when I posted...what on earth am I going to talk about?" And then it hit me.
Valhalla, only the coolest place in all of Asgard. And the most awesome part about Valhalla? You have to die in battle in order to go there, as an honorable warrior. Also totally worth chatting about (although I don't think they've mentioned them in the book thus far), the Valkyries. Odin's female angels of death who select the best battle-dead warriors to go to Valhalla where they'll spend their days drinking, feasting, and fighting (and really, if you're a warrior: what else would you want to spend your days doing?).
So, Valhalla. My first forage to Valhalla actually occured when I was playing Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. Asgard is one of the cool places you can go in the game, and and you play as Thor, meet Loki, Odin, Valkyrie, among others in the Norse mythological universe. If you really like Norse myths, Marvel Comics have done a really awesome job of bringing some of their characters forward, not only with the Thor comics, but also in relation to some of the other Marvel characters.
Did you know that Mjolnir (MOYL-n(ee)r), Thor's hammer according to Marvel, is enscribed with the phrase: "Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor." Which basically means (and if you saw the Thor movie, you're familiar) that almost NO ONE can lift Thor's hammer unless they are deemed worthy by the standards of Odin. However (and this bit is cool), there are some mortals that have been able to lift it! Included here at Beta Ray Bill, Captain America, Eric Materson, and (my favorite) Rogue from the X-Men --after she absorbed Thor's life-force, but still. And outside of Marvel, it was also lifted by Superman (with some stipulations, according to the Wiki article), and Wonder Woman.
But, I'm getting sidetracked by Thor.
We're talking about Valhalla.
I found a kind of cool series of videos from Hot Facts Girls. I haven't watched ALL of their videos, so tred further with caution, but Erin seems to know her stuff. And I like her (albiet historically inaccurate) viking helmet in the second video. There is a series of six, and if I did everything correctly, the playlist should continue below.
If you don't have the patience to sit through six videos, there's some trivia here as well:
Norse Cosmology Part 1
As usual, be sure to share any links or information you have, and you're thoughts so far on the book.
Happy Reading,
Samma
Valhalla, only the coolest place in all of Asgard. And the most awesome part about Valhalla? You have to die in battle in order to go there, as an honorable warrior. Also totally worth chatting about (although I don't think they've mentioned them in the book thus far), the Valkyries. Odin's female angels of death who select the best battle-dead warriors to go to Valhalla where they'll spend their days drinking, feasting, and fighting (and really, if you're a warrior: what else would you want to spend your days doing?).
So, Valhalla. My first forage to Valhalla actually occured when I was playing Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. Asgard is one of the cool places you can go in the game, and and you play as Thor, meet Loki, Odin, Valkyrie, among others in the Norse mythological universe. If you really like Norse myths, Marvel Comics have done a really awesome job of bringing some of their characters forward, not only with the Thor comics, but also in relation to some of the other Marvel characters.
Did you know that Mjolnir (MOYL-n(ee)r), Thor's hammer according to Marvel, is enscribed with the phrase: "Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor." Which basically means (and if you saw the Thor movie, you're familiar) that almost NO ONE can lift Thor's hammer unless they are deemed worthy by the standards of Odin. However (and this bit is cool), there are some mortals that have been able to lift it! Included here at Beta Ray Bill, Captain America, Eric Materson, and (my favorite) Rogue from the X-Men --after she absorbed Thor's life-force, but still. And outside of Marvel, it was also lifted by Superman (with some stipulations, according to the Wiki article), and Wonder Woman.
But, I'm getting sidetracked by Thor.
We're talking about Valhalla.
I found a kind of cool series of videos from Hot Facts Girls. I haven't watched ALL of their videos, so tred further with caution, but Erin seems to know her stuff. And I like her (albiet historically inaccurate) viking helmet in the second video. There is a series of six, and if I did everything correctly, the playlist should continue below.
If you don't have the patience to sit through six videos, there's some trivia here as well:
Norse Cosmology Part 1
As usual, be sure to share any links or information you have, and you're thoughts so far on the book.
Happy Reading,
Samma
Monday, May 21, 2012
Discussion: The Sea of Trolls
Hey everyone.
So, I've been lucky enough that my summer officially started about two weeks ago. Which might explain why I've been so lazy with the blog... Oh well! Hopefully you're all looking forward to summer as well --though you've got a bit more left than us in the college crowd!
If you haven't even started THINKING about reading Sea of Trolls yet, don't worry about it. For once, I haven't really gotten all that far into it myself. I opened it, hoping it would get me psyched up for Rick Riordan's newest series (which we still have quite a while to wait for) --based on Norse Mythology, but...it hasn't really had that effect yet.
It HAS gotten me thinking about one of my other favorite, kind of goofy, series though -How To Train Your Dragon. Its one of those few instances where, I like both the book and the movie --because they're different! I don't think I would have enjoyed the movie nearly as much if it had been exactly like the book.
So far, I think one of the most interesting characters is the Bard himself. If you haven't gotten into it yet, WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!
The Bard's story may be vaguely familiar; if it isn't --trust me, it will be! The Bard, once upon a time, went to a kingdom that was ravaged by a beast called Grendel. The short-of-the-short (the epic poem is less than 100 pages) of it is, Grendel was slain by the great Warrior Beowulf. Sound familiar? There's only been about a dozen cartoons, songs, poems, re-tellings, and movies made about the guy. Well, after slaying Grendel, he found out that Grendel had a mother...who wasn't too thrilled that Beowulf had off'd her son. So, Beowulf had to do something about her too. ...Now, where Nancy Farmer get's creative is: Grendel's Mother had a SISTER, who is now seeking revenge on those responsible for killing her sister --namely: the Bard.
A "bard" is another word for what we might call a storyteller. He sings, he tells tales, epic poems, and so forth. They traveled the word with very few belongings, gathering stories to share and spread across the world. Many of the fairy tale stories we still today, like those you might recognize from the Brother's Grimm were actually passed along this way, until the authors collected them all for print.
So, back in the day, Bards actually had a really important job. Without them, we wouldn't know the awesome stories of Snow White and Rose Red, Cinderella, Beowulf, or any of the Canturbury Tales.
While looking for some good storytelling/bard examples for you guys to check out, I stumbled across this TOTALLY ADORABLE little storyteller from Hong Kong, China. She partook in a story telling competition, telling the story of Little Red Riding Hood --and don't worry, it's in english, which makes her even more adorable and impressive. And, goes to prove that you can be an ace story teller --no matter what age you are!
Also, to get you into the Norse swing of things, I found a link to the Norse Origin story of Odin and Ymir. This is a creation story, or the myth of how the world began. Creation stories are different from culture to culture. There are many different ideas of how the earth began, that have been passed along throughout time. Did you know storytelling is a world-wide past time? Almost every culture has used story telling as a way of passing along native history. What are some of the creation or other cultural stories you may know?
Be sure to share your thoughts on Sea of Trolls as well as any links and videos you may come across.
Happy reading!
Samma
So, I've been lucky enough that my summer officially started about two weeks ago. Which might explain why I've been so lazy with the blog... Oh well! Hopefully you're all looking forward to summer as well --though you've got a bit more left than us in the college crowd!
If you haven't even started THINKING about reading Sea of Trolls yet, don't worry about it. For once, I haven't really gotten all that far into it myself. I opened it, hoping it would get me psyched up for Rick Riordan's newest series (which we still have quite a while to wait for) --based on Norse Mythology, but...it hasn't really had that effect yet.
It HAS gotten me thinking about one of my other favorite, kind of goofy, series though -How To Train Your Dragon. Its one of those few instances where, I like both the book and the movie --because they're different! I don't think I would have enjoyed the movie nearly as much if it had been exactly like the book.
So far, I think one of the most interesting characters is the Bard himself. If you haven't gotten into it yet, WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!
The Bard's story may be vaguely familiar; if it isn't --trust me, it will be! The Bard, once upon a time, went to a kingdom that was ravaged by a beast called Grendel. The short-of-the-short (the epic poem is less than 100 pages) of it is, Grendel was slain by the great Warrior Beowulf. Sound familiar? There's only been about a dozen cartoons, songs, poems, re-tellings, and movies made about the guy. Well, after slaying Grendel, he found out that Grendel had a mother...who wasn't too thrilled that Beowulf had off'd her son. So, Beowulf had to do something about her too. ...Now, where Nancy Farmer get's creative is: Grendel's Mother had a SISTER, who is now seeking revenge on those responsible for killing her sister --namely: the Bard.
A "bard" is another word for what we might call a storyteller. He sings, he tells tales, epic poems, and so forth. They traveled the word with very few belongings, gathering stories to share and spread across the world. Many of the fairy tale stories we still today, like those you might recognize from the Brother's Grimm were actually passed along this way, until the authors collected them all for print.
So, back in the day, Bards actually had a really important job. Without them, we wouldn't know the awesome stories of Snow White and Rose Red, Cinderella, Beowulf, or any of the Canturbury Tales.
While looking for some good storytelling/bard examples for you guys to check out, I stumbled across this TOTALLY ADORABLE little storyteller from Hong Kong, China. She partook in a story telling competition, telling the story of Little Red Riding Hood --and don't worry, it's in english, which makes her even more adorable and impressive. And, goes to prove that you can be an ace story teller --no matter what age you are!
Also, to get you into the Norse swing of things, I found a link to the Norse Origin story of Odin and Ymir. This is a creation story, or the myth of how the world began. Creation stories are different from culture to culture. There are many different ideas of how the earth began, that have been passed along throughout time. Did you know storytelling is a world-wide past time? Almost every culture has used story telling as a way of passing along native history. What are some of the creation or other cultural stories you may know?
Be sure to share your thoughts on Sea of Trolls as well as any links and videos you may come across.
Happy reading!
Samma
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer
Hey! Long time, no see! Mostly my fault, but! It's almost summer, which means we'll all have LOTS more time for books!
We're going to kick off our summer with Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer:
(From Booklist, American Library Association) In Farmer's latest, a battle-ax-size fantasy-adventure, rampaging Northmen (the polite term for Vikings) pass through a Saxon village and enslave two of its residents: an 11-year-old apprentice mage and his 5-year-old sister. When Jack offends the Northmen's touchy queen, she threatens to kill his sister unless he reverses a misfired spell--a task that requires a journey deep into icy troll country. The subsequent bouts with troll-bears, giant spiders, and dragons are thrilling, and boys in particular will delight in Farmer's portrayal of the initially terrifying Northmen as tellers of fart jokes and singers of rowdy songs. Lighthearted moments notwithstanding, Jack's archetypal quest is a dense one, heavily draped in Norse mythology, Old English lore, and ponderings about the differences between Christian and pagan cosmologies. In addition, many readers may find it difficult to accept Jack's deepening affection for his frequently barbaric kidnappers, not to mention the oft-repeated message, "All beautiful things attract destruction"--a worldview that comes to Jack straight from the bloody saga of Beowulf. Readers captivated by slash-'em-up Viking culture will happily plunge into this celebrated author's sixth novel, but many members of Farmer's traditional audience will emerge from the experience feeling alternately dazzled and dazed.
Copies are available through MORE.
We're going to kick off our summer with Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer:
(From Booklist, American Library Association) In Farmer's latest, a battle-ax-size fantasy-adventure, rampaging Northmen (the polite term for Vikings) pass through a Saxon village and enslave two of its residents: an 11-year-old apprentice mage and his 5-year-old sister. When Jack offends the Northmen's touchy queen, she threatens to kill his sister unless he reverses a misfired spell--a task that requires a journey deep into icy troll country. The subsequent bouts with troll-bears, giant spiders, and dragons are thrilling, and boys in particular will delight in Farmer's portrayal of the initially terrifying Northmen as tellers of fart jokes and singers of rowdy songs. Lighthearted moments notwithstanding, Jack's archetypal quest is a dense one, heavily draped in Norse mythology, Old English lore, and ponderings about the differences between Christian and pagan cosmologies. In addition, many readers may find it difficult to accept Jack's deepening affection for his frequently barbaric kidnappers, not to mention the oft-repeated message, "All beautiful things attract destruction"--a worldview that comes to Jack straight from the bloody saga of Beowulf. Readers captivated by slash-'em-up Viking culture will happily plunge into this celebrated author's sixth novel, but many members of Farmer's traditional audience will emerge from the experience feeling alternately dazzled and dazed.
Copies are available through MORE.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Discussion: Radier's Ransom
So, today I get to talk about another of my absolute favorite subjects and hobbies. Video Games. It's been awhile since my last post, so hopefully you're finished or almost finished reading, so I'm not giving away any spoilers. Next week I'll post up real discussion questions (wow, we haven't done that in awhile!), and then my usual set of recommendations.
First, I have a link from a PBS special on the History of Video games. Unfortunately, I didn't get to test it out before I posted this, but it says it's interactive. PBS: The Video Game Revolution
I also found this pretty awesome list of Top 10 Video Game Consoles of All Time
I thought this video-game referencing love song was really cute too. Major props to anyone who gets all of the puns.
I think having Lucy's "video game" would be a lot cooler than some of the technology we've got. We can hope for an AI intellegence system, right? What are some of your favorite video games and systems?
Personally, I love my PS2 and Wii as well as my Nintendo DS . Some of my favorite games are Kingdom Hearts, Fable II/III, and Pokemon (which, believe it or not, I didn't even get into until college). Do you like games you can play by yourself or do you like Multiplayer games? Do you play any online games like Maple Story?
Happy Reading!
Samma
First, I have a link from a PBS special on the History of Video games. Unfortunately, I didn't get to test it out before I posted this, but it says it's interactive. PBS: The Video Game Revolution
I also found this pretty awesome list of Top 10 Video Game Consoles of All Time
I thought this video-game referencing love song was really cute too. Major props to anyone who gets all of the puns.
I think having Lucy's "video game" would be a lot cooler than some of the technology we've got. We can hope for an AI intellegence system, right? What are some of your favorite video games and systems?
Personally, I love my PS2 and Wii as well as my Nintendo DS . Some of my favorite games are Kingdom Hearts, Fable II/III, and Pokemon (which, believe it or not, I didn't even get into until college). Do you like games you can play by yourself or do you like Multiplayer games? Do you play any online games like Maple Story?
Happy Reading!
Samma
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Discussion: Raider's Ransom
Hey all, it's a regular blog post! That hasn't happened in awhile, huh?
Hopefully you've picked up a copy of Raider's Ransom by Emily Diamand. If you haven't, get on it! I'm almost finished with it myself (but don't despair; I'm a fast reader!), and I'm absolutely loving it. I'm glad to hear it's part of a continuing series, but I have no idea how this going to end, but I'm excited to see where it's going.
We're going to start this discussion off with Cats. If you remember, I did a post back over the summer about dogs, so it's only fitting that we start out this discussion immoratlizing Cat, the seatcat.
Unforutately, seacats aren't a real thing. Or, at least not that I can find. Although, Google tells me that there is a band called Seacats (I haven't previewed them yet, so...search at your own risk!), and that the Sea Cat was the name of a British air missile. Totally not what I was looking for.
Cats have been regarded as amazing animals for eons. Most well known was the respect that the Egyptains showed for the furry little critter. If you've ever read the Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan, you're probably familiar with the god Bast, who is quite amusing.
Do you have a cat? Which do you prefer; cats or dogs? (I'll confess: I'm a dog person).
Share your thoughts so far on Lilly and Cat's adventure, and I'll try to get back next week for another blogpost about "Jewels".
Happy reading,
Samma
Hopefully you've picked up a copy of Raider's Ransom by Emily Diamand. If you haven't, get on it! I'm almost finished with it myself (but don't despair; I'm a fast reader!), and I'm absolutely loving it. I'm glad to hear it's part of a continuing series, but I have no idea how this going to end, but I'm excited to see where it's going.
We're going to start this discussion off with Cats. If you remember, I did a post back over the summer about dogs, so it's only fitting that we start out this discussion immoratlizing Cat, the seatcat.
Unforutately, seacats aren't a real thing. Or, at least not that I can find. Although, Google tells me that there is a band called Seacats (I haven't previewed them yet, so...search at your own risk!), and that the Sea Cat was the name of a British air missile. Totally not what I was looking for.
Cats have been regarded as amazing animals for eons. Most well known was the respect that the Egyptains showed for the furry little critter. If you've ever read the Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan, you're probably familiar with the god Bast, who is quite amusing.
Do you have a cat? Which do you prefer; cats or dogs? (I'll confess: I'm a dog person).
Share your thoughts so far on Lilly and Cat's adventure, and I'll try to get back next week for another blogpost about "Jewels".
Happy reading,
Samma
Friday, January 13, 2012
Next Up: Raider's Ransom by Emily Diamand
Off she sails in secret. And with a ransom: a mysterious talking jewel.
If she saves the Prime Minster's daughter, she might just stop a war
Little does Lilly know that it will take more than grit to outwit the tricky, trecherous pirate tribes!
Discussion: Into the Woods by Lyn Gardner
Well, let me first start by admitting: I didn't actually finish reading the book. Maybe I will later. But there are SO MANY books coming in to the library (and that I keep discovering on MORE), that I've been distracted...I had an armful of books come in on our last topic, greek mythology, that Into the Woods was kind of shelved...
But I think I got far enough into it to decide that this book's topic is obviously: sisters.
You thought I was going to do another post about fairy tales, didn't you? Well, that might come into play too, but later.
Reading as much as I did into the book, I could relate a lot to both Aurora and Storm. I'm a middle sister, meaning that I've got the overbearing, bossy sister --like Aurora, always telling me what to do (even when I don't want her to), as well as the younger sister, always getting into trouble (like Storm), and dragging me along with her...
Doing a little research for this post has reminded me that, Disney has the answers to everything.
Books are a little harder though... but here are a few suggestions.
Amelia's Notebook, Marissa Moss (series)
Sisters 8: Annie's Adventures, lauren Barat-Logsted
Beezus and Ramona, Beverly Cleary (also a movie now!)
So, share your sister stories (or your bother stories of you don't have a sister). Other book suggestions, videos, links, etc.
Happy Reading,
Samma
But I think I got far enough into it to decide that this book's topic is obviously: sisters.
You thought I was going to do another post about fairy tales, didn't you? Well, that might come into play too, but later.
Reading as much as I did into the book, I could relate a lot to both Aurora and Storm. I'm a middle sister, meaning that I've got the overbearing, bossy sister --like Aurora, always telling me what to do (even when I don't want her to), as well as the younger sister, always getting into trouble (like Storm), and dragging me along with her...
Doing a little research for this post has reminded me that, Disney has the answers to everything.
Books are a little harder though... but here are a few suggestions.
Amelia's Notebook, Marissa Moss (series)
Sisters 8: Annie's Adventures, lauren Barat-Logsted
Beezus and Ramona, Beverly Cleary (also a movie now!)
So, share your sister stories (or your bother stories of you don't have a sister). Other book suggestions, videos, links, etc.
Happy Reading,
Samma
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