Melissa

This was a great picture of what the Civil War looked/felt like for a young boy growing up in the 1860s. I can't think of a better way for my son to know what this war was truly like than by experiencing it through Jethro Creighton's eyes. (I read this aloud to him.)

I usually don't like it when an author goes back and tells me more of the story ‘before-hand'. But in this case, I really enjoyed it.
The author's take on how the world ends in this book is different from any other storyline I've read, and I think this one is totally plausible!
Talk about the creepiest evil ever! I can cut off Zombie's heads, I can try to shelter myself from natural disaster type world-endings, but where can you run to get away from something that's invisible to the human eye!?!? How's that for a dilemma?
Anyways, I think it's safe to say Hugh Howey is now one of my favorite authors, and I am going to try to wait until spring to get the next 2 books in the series so I can save a little money. Keyword: try.

I love that I'm never disappointed when I pick up a Haddix book. :) Loved the story line in this one, and I can't wait to read through the rest of the series! A great read!

Cute book!

Gah, I hate it when books get me all choked up when I'm trying to read them aloud to my kiddos. Then they make a big deal about it. I think I covered it up pretty well with this one.
This is a great view of what life was like for those early settlers in what is now Oregon:the hardship of the journey out there, the work it took to set up a homestead, the run-ins with Native Americans, who the settlers didn't understand, and vice-versa.
Jim, with his constant internal struggle with figuring out who he was, added much needed understanding of both sides of the settlers taking over the West.
Such a great book. Another one I'll be happy to read again when the younger two get old enough to hear it.

Completely addictive. There's no way Hugh Howey is going to be able to write fast enough. Haha!

I really enjoyed finding out more about William Wilberforce. I think many of his character qualities are something I would want to strive for in my own life. What an inspiration and a hero!

So, I'm going to attempt to give my thoughts on this book, but I honestly am still processing all I read, so I probably won't do it justice...

This book affected me deeply, and I couldn't put it down. There are some books that instantly take you in. Instead of reading and turning pages, you are living with the characters, taking in the world with them, thinking like them, being them. And then that book becomes a part of you, and when you are finished, it remains. This was one of those books for me.

I learned so much about the Chinese culture of this time period from this book, and I found it completely fascinating, even though a lot of it was appalling. Let's just say, I am very grateful I didn't grow up a Chinese women during this time! This has definitely spurred an interest in learning more about the Chinese way of life, thinking, history, culture, etc.

But the picture this book painted of what true friendship is, how different levels of friendship are affected by the different stages of life, and the unique friendships women need to feel complete and fulfilled was probably the thing that stuck with me the most. It gave me much to contemplate in my own life.

And isn't that what the very best stories do?

More, please!!!

Meh.

Yeah. I devoured this book. I'm going to need to read the rest of these immediately!

Such a great book! It was so well researched, Haddix is very quickly becoming one of my favorite authors!
It's refreshing to find a series that keeps getting better with each book rather than worse!

This was a great book, I picked it up because it was the #1 seller at a store in the London airport, and it certainly did not disappoint! At first, I didn't like Saba, but she and I bonded when she 1st entered the Cage, and I was attached to her from there on out. The style of writing threw me at first too, but I'm so glad I stuck it out.
I truly look forward to reading the sequel.

Such a surprisingly wonderful book. I think it takes some serious talent to make a hard criminal into an endearing and deeply rich character. The transformation of all the characters was inspiring. I can't seem to make up my mind about which ending I like better. The original ending fits, but who can't help but enjoy the happier one he ended up putting in its place?
I'm very glad I took the time to read this book. :)

A great sampling of poetry. The explanations of the poems that would have been too difficult for my son to understand made all of the poems more relevant. And the added audio CD was excellent.

This was a cute book, a nice twist on the old classic. :)

A very short read, we read this as a read aloud together, but my kiddos truly could have read it themselves. It was an ok story, I think it makes a better reader than read aloud, in my opinion.

I am not usually an “audible book” kind of gal, but I really loved listening to this audio edition of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Such a great narrator, he made the story really come alive!
And how could you not love the story? It's a classic. My kids and I listened to this together, and enjoyed it very much!

This one was funny, but not as funny as
the first one.

This was a pretty funny book! Made me laugh out loud several times. I don't know why I've waited so long to read them!

A good supplement for the Super Size Me documentary. Reading this was a great reminder of why I want to stay away from fast food! And although there are a lot of facts, numbers, and stastics in this book, sometimes I think he taints his credibility a bit when he presents some of his facts with his own sarcastic, denigrative opinion.
But the main points of his book ring true enough that I would recommend others to read it. Sometimes a little bit of knowledge of where your food comes from goes a long way!

Now, this was the book I was hoping for when I read the third book, “Prophet of Yonwood.” I enjoyed this book very much, it was nice to see what happened to Doon and Lina. I'm satisfied with the ending, which is nice, because I hate it when an author leaves a series with a bad ending. Such a great series, I would recommend all of them to anyone!

Loved, this book! I'm a learner myself, so reading of someone else's adventure to learn as much as possible is definitely good entertainment in my book. :) Some parts were so humorous they made me laugh out loud, regardless of where I was, or if it was appropriate to be laughing out loud or not.

This is a great boy book. I bet it would be a great book for a reluctant reader!

Not a bad story, but I would have much rather had it deal with events a little bit closer to the time of the City of Ember story rather than many many years before.