Matched Trilogy

In class the other day someone made their final project as a book trailer for The Giver.  I have read that book before but I have never read The Messenger.  It did remind me of yet another book that I have bought off my wishlist but haven’t had a chance to read it yet, Crossed which is the second book in The Matched Trilogy.

Matched was released in November 2010.  When I read it I immediately thought of The Giver.  In this society people are not only provided with their jobs but they are “matched” to their future spouse.  When Cassia goes to her Match Banquet someone else’s picture pops up for just a second before her best friend Xander’s picture comes up.  They assure Cassia it was a glitch and that Xander is her match but what if Cassia really was supposed to be matched with this other guy?  Slowly we see Cassia and Ky (the other guy) falling in love.  At the end Ky disappears and Cassia takes off to find him.

Since book 2, Crossed, has been sitting around the house since it’s release in early November I think it is time to start it!  Hopefully, during Christmas break I can catch up on my wishlist.  It has been very neglected.  I am very glad that next semester I only have two English classes!  Maybe next semester I can keep with the books I want to read!  Unfortunately, the third book will not be released until November 2012.

Check out Ally Condie’s website for more info!

The Son of Neptune

Finally!  After waiting for a year for this book I have finally finished it, The Son of Neptune!

Of course if I wasn’t taking 5 classes I could have finished it a lot sooner. I do have to say that I loved it.

At the end of The Lost Hero Percy shows up at Camp Jupiter with no memory.  Surprisingly to Percy and the Roman demigods, Percy is selected to go on a quest with two who are believed to be the weakest demigods (Hazel & Frank) to stop a war.  Juno (who is Hera in Greek) has erased Percy’s memory so that he would help bring together the Greek and Roman demigods so they can fight against the giants.  Percy and his new friends are sent to Alaska on their quest.  They make new friends and encounter new enemies.  Read The Son of Neptune to find out what happens on Percy’s newest quest.  I’ll be waiting for the next book The Mark of Athena to be released Fall 2012.  Hopefully Percy and Annabeth will be reunited and we will find out more about this prophecy that includes seven demigods.

Check out Rick Riodan’s Heroes of Olympus website for more info about Percy, Jason and the other Greek and Roman demigods.

The Hunger Games Trilogy

If you haven’t read The Hunger Games or the sequels yet you should.  I would definitely say they are a must read.  The trilogy was released in 2008 and have been popular ever since.  The Hunger Games was a GA Peach Award winner for the 2009-2010 school year and is a current GA Children’s Book Award nominee (the winner is announced at the end of the school year).

The Hunger Games, the first book of the series, takes place in the future.  Katniss Everdeen lives in a country that is called Panem and is where the United States used to be.  Panem is divided into 12 districts.  Each district has it’s own job like mining, etc.  Every year the Capitol host the Hunger Games.  Each district has one boy and one girl go to the capitol and compete in a game of survival.  There is only one winner.

I can’t share what happens in Catching Fire or Mockinjay or it will give everything away.  Just know that you should read it!  I will be honest it took me several times to get into The Hunger Games but once I did I read it in a few days.  I read the other two books in less than three days.

If you haven’t seen it yet, here is a trailer for The Hunger Games movie which will be released in March, 2012.

Are You a Repeat Reader?

Some may ask what is a repeat reader.  A repeat reader is someone who reads a book several times.  So I ask again are you a repeat reader?

I am!  I have several novels and books that I have read more than once.  I also have a list of books that I want to read again.

Here are some books that I have lost count of how many times I have read them.

The first is ALL of the Harry Potter books.  I reread each book before the next book came out or before the movies came out.  I know I have read them at least 6 or 7 times.  They never bore me!

Another series I have read at least twice is The Chronicles of Narnia.  I have read them in publication order and chronological order.  I personally like them better in publication order.  If you have read them which do you prefer?

Most people have seen the movies but how many have actually read the Twilight Saga.  I have read them all at three or four times.  I have read New Moon the least though.  I have read it one less time than the others.  I’m not sure why but I love these books but not as much as I love Harry Potter.

Six Million Paper Clips is another I have read several times.  It is one that I want my kids to read and will encourage all of my future students to read as well.

I also have a wishlist of series to read again.

The first one is the Percy Jackson series.  I love the adventures he goes on and am currently enjoying reading about Percy in The Son of Neptune.

After that is The Mortal Instruments Series.  The next book comes out soon.  I am looking forward to it!  I also enjoy the prequel series The Infernal Devices.

Then there are those times that you have to read a book more than once because it’s required by different teachers or professors.  That book for me is The Scarlet Letter.  While I like that book I don’t know that it is one that I would have read several times if I had the choice.

Veteran’s Day

Veteran’s day is coming soon.  I am very thankful for those who have, are and will serve for our country.  My son has to fill out 3 stars with family or friends that have served or are serving in a branch of the military.  I had to request more stars just for our family.  Including grandparents, uncles and cousins there are at least 10 that are still living except for one that passed from cancer that have or are serving in the military.  My father-in-law was drafted for Vietnam.  He was told by a fellow soldier that when he got his orders he would be sent to Vietnam and he would die over there.  A higher up heard this and he switched their orders after he found out my father-in-law could type.  He was sent to Germany while the other man was sent to Vietnam, where he died in combat.  War is a very real thing and I thank everyone who fights for our freedom.  My son, who is 7, says that he wants to be in the army one day.  If he does decide to join I will support him 100% and will be very proud of him.

Thinking of Veteran’s day makes me think of a couple of books that I have read in the past.  The first one I thought of is Left for Dead: A Young Man’s Search for Justice for the USS Indianapolis.  Originally I read this book because I grew up 20 minutes from Indianapolis.  I didn’t know much about USS Indianapolis or what happened.

In 1945, USS Indianapolis was sunk by a Japanese submarine.  The men were left in shark infested waters and the Navy did not know what had happened.  To cover up their mistake the Navy blamed Captain Charles Butler McVay III.  He was court-martialed and found to be guilty even though many men who survived stood by him saying he was not to blame.  Many years later a young boy did a history project on the USS Indianapolis.  The Captain was posthumously exonerated.  This book is definitely something that I will suggest to my future students.

Another book I thought about is When the Wall Came Down: The Berlin Wall and the Fall of Soviet Communism.

Although this book is not necessarily about our military it makes me think of World War II and what our soldiers did for us.  Like the previous book, I read this book several years ago.  It is another book that I think is important for younger audiences.  They were not born to see the wall or see it come down.  I remember when they starting taking down the wall but I was young and didn’t see really what it meant until I was older.  This book is written by a journalist who was in Berlin when the wall started coming down.  It has the history of why the wall was built and images of when it started coming down.  It is a must read as well.

 

What’s on Your Wishlist?

I am currently working on building my classroom library.  I have about 50 books so far but know I need a lot more than that to have a decent library for my students.  I definitely need some books that the guys will like and some manga books because they are always popular. I need to catch up on reading as well.  I want to have read everything in my library so that I am able to tell the students what I think about the book.

Here are a few books on my wishlist on Amazon.

• Kill You Last by Todd Strasser (his Boot Camp book is excellent!)

• Supernaturally by Kiersten White (sequel to Paranormalcy)

• Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins (Hex Hall series)

• Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare (Infernal Devices series)

• City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare (Mortal Instruments series)

  Look for the cover in January 2012

• The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

• Breathe: A Ghost Story by Cliff McNish (awesome ghost story!)

• Hate List by Jennifer Brown

These are just a few of the books I have in my wishlist.  I have over 50 books listed in my wishlist at Amazon but have many more in a mental list.

What was She Thinking? Notes on a Scandal

For my 20th Century Brit Lit class we finally read a book that isn’t completely boring and it wasn’t written in the early 1900′s.  This one is actually a modern novel, printed in 1998!  This book actually touched close to home for me.  It is about an older female teacher (Sheba) that has an affair with a 15-16 year old student.  While the boy did the chasing it bothered me so much that she consented to it to begin with.

I say this book touched close to home because I am an English Ed major and could NEVER imagine doing anything like that with a student.  Teachers are there to be the students role-models and to look out for them.  Obviously, this is not the case in this book.  Although the part of having a relationship with a teenager disturbs me, the book was still very good.  It is written from Sheba’s friend Barbara POV.  Over the year that Sheba has a relationship with this boy, Barbara kept a diary of the events.  While I do not want to give too much away about the book I do have to say that it is good read.