Books 28-31 of 2007
28. Dying for Chocolate by Diane Mott Davidson (287 pgs)
These mysteries feature a caterer as the amateur sleuth. I'll definitely read more - recipes are included, plus they are quick reads.
29. Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz (192 pgs)
This week was YA fiction week! This is the first of the Alex Rider mysteries - after his uncle (and guardian)'s death, Alex is asked to do something surprising - with appropriate gadgets!
30. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (128 pgs)
A re-read from my childhood, because I wanted to read it again before seeing the movie. I am still curious to see what these huge fantastical creatures I see in the previews are like, because the way I read the book, the friends are simply pretending, not living in a fantasy world. To me, it's different. But we shall see. I still think this is the only book that has ever made me cry while reading it.
My favorite quotes:
"We need a place... just for us. It would be so secret that we would never tell anyone in the whole world about it. ... It might be a whole secret country."
"This is not an ordinary place... Even the rulers of Terabithia come into it only at times of greatest sorrow or of greatest joy. We must strive to keep it sacred. It would not do to disturb the Spirits."
31. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing. Volume I: The Pox Party by M.T. Anderson (351 pgs)
I have seen this on a lot of friends' reading lists, and it did win the National Book Award. It's part alternate history, part independent youth on an adventure - it's hard to describe, particularly since the last half is presented more as artifacts that come together to tell the story.
A few quotations I liked (no spoilers):
"It boots us nothing to feel rage for things that long ago transpired. We must curb our fury, and allow sadness to diminish, and speak our stories with coolness and deliberation."
"Music hath its land of origin; and yet it is also its own country, its own sovereign power, and all may take refuge there, and all, once settled, may claim it as their own, and all may meet there in amity; and these instruments, as surely as instruments of torture, belong to all of us."
These mysteries feature a caterer as the amateur sleuth. I'll definitely read more - recipes are included, plus they are quick reads.
29. Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz (192 pgs)
This week was YA fiction week! This is the first of the Alex Rider mysteries - after his uncle (and guardian)'s death, Alex is asked to do something surprising - with appropriate gadgets!
30. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (128 pgs)
A re-read from my childhood, because I wanted to read it again before seeing the movie. I am still curious to see what these huge fantastical creatures I see in the previews are like, because the way I read the book, the friends are simply pretending, not living in a fantasy world. To me, it's different. But we shall see. I still think this is the only book that has ever made me cry while reading it.
My favorite quotes:
"We need a place... just for us. It would be so secret that we would never tell anyone in the whole world about it. ... It might be a whole secret country."
"This is not an ordinary place... Even the rulers of Terabithia come into it only at times of greatest sorrow or of greatest joy. We must strive to keep it sacred. It would not do to disturb the Spirits."
31. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing. Volume I: The Pox Party by M.T. Anderson (351 pgs)
I have seen this on a lot of friends' reading lists, and it did win the National Book Award. It's part alternate history, part independent youth on an adventure - it's hard to describe, particularly since the last half is presented more as artifacts that come together to tell the story.
A few quotations I liked (no spoilers):
"It boots us nothing to feel rage for things that long ago transpired. We must curb our fury, and allow sadness to diminish, and speak our stories with coolness and deliberation."
"Music hath its land of origin; and yet it is also its own country, its own sovereign power, and all may take refuge there, and all, once settled, may claim it as their own, and all may meet there in amity; and these instruments, as surely as instruments of torture, belong to all of us."