Lisa

This was pretty good. The action in it kind of felt serialized though, like Todd, the protagonist got into trouble three pages from the end of every chapter. Tune in next chapter to see Todd elude baddies once more, same Bat time, same Bat channel.


Also, jhc, if you as a fictional character were given a plot laden journal explaining a bunch of mysterious crap, I don't care, you'd read it. Post haste. Not wait for 400 pages and then plop down and read only the first entry. That was infuriating.


All that being said, I really did like this book. I loved the dog so much. Will definitely read the sequel to this one.

This was a great read for middle school / jr high kids.

It is not schmaltzy at all and really emphasizes the incredible hard work homesteaders went through.

one of my favorite books as a tween.

Neat little mystery taking place in Egypt during the reign of the pharoahs.

Not particularly amazing.

This was pretty wicked. I cannot wait for the movie.

Loved it. Can't believe I never read this in middle school.

Really liked this one. A review would be too spoilery. Suffice to say, it's barely a YA novel. More of an Asimov novella? Great quick read.

Liked this a lot! Fun, quick read, I loved the African mythology.

Ultimately, 1q84 reminded me of LOST as a whole. I had great hopes, it was beautifully described, completely enigmatic, and absolutely less complicated than it seemed. There's about a bajillion reviews since the book was so hyped. So in the interest of being short and sweet (unlike the book, jeez) I will say: the characterization was damn good, the storyline, for all it's initial weirdness, was actually pretty pedestrian? I definitely had a, “that's all?” moment toward the end there. I loved certain elements. Tengo's dad, his mistress (what happened to her, that's my great mystery). I loved the stuff about Chekov. There's a lot to like really. It could have been at least 200 pages shorter. I'm going to have to read six or so kids books as palette cleanser, but I'm glad I read it.

Really good.

I didn't necessarily enjoy this book as an adult. Considered giving it 2 stars. That said, I probably would have enjoyed it quite a bit at 10 or 11.

I remember this book being wildly popular when I was in grade school, but for some reason the cover turned me off and I never read it. Surprising, considering it won the Newbery and that was how I picked out many of the books I read around that time.

I fail to believe that the son of a high ranking officer in the SS would not know that his country was at war, that the 3rd reich hated Jews, have such glaring problems pronouncing words in his own language. I could go on. The story was moving, this I cannot deny.

There is an absolute wealth of good WW2 lit for kids, this is not it. Why was this adapted for film?

This was a great, quick read about the yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia in 1793. Thr historical aspects are spot-on. The story itself is lukewarm. We know she likes the boy because we are told she does. Everything is told, nothing is demonstrated.

Very good. Brings new meaning to the oft mentioned “first world” problems we all have. I enjoyed learning more about Afghanistan.

I give up. I love Connie Willis, but this book is not where it's at. Generations have come and gone since I started this book. I'd read two pages, get bored, play sporcle. Read two more pages wherein the three identical main characters blather about what? Navy colored skirts and not finding an automobile? Then my child would wake up from a nap and Blackout would sit forgotten until I ‘d fire up iBooks again and groan inwardly.

I gave her the benefit of the doubt for 400 pages because I dearly love her, but no more.

The two stars I give this book are for the description of inflatable tanks used by the British army as a decoy for German planes. I'd never heard of that and found that totally awesome.

A terrific, profanity laden introduction to the battle of Crecy. Warren Ellis can write the swears like no one else.

I'd never heard of this book until my niece told me she was reading it for school. I decided to read it as well. I was a bit of an Egypt nut when I was younger, so the fascination with Egypt here was terrific. Really liked the overall story as well. Can see why this was a banned book, but let's face it, scary things happen and that doesn't make this book any less worth reading.

Beautiful. I couldn't stop reading.

Second book about opera I've read this month. A great, if slow read. Beautiful words meant to be picked apart rather than devoured. I kept thinking this would make a hell of a movie, but it would surely be done all wrong.

Loved it! Can't believe I never read this one as a kid.

Bad. Cashing on dystopia-mania in YA lit.
Felt nothing for the characters, kept wondering when the action would start and finally just gave up.

Life is short, there are far better books to read.

Loved this one, though it was not a fast read.

Tales of magical London bear inevitable comparison to Potterdom, but this was so much more...snarky? Malevolent?

Imagine Griphook the goblin was the fearless narrator and not Harry and you'd be on track to the tone of this book.

I love books that describe a time period so well. All the flash language stuff was terrific. I haven't read a bad book by Cornwell yet.

Loved it! I can't help but compare it to the hatchet because I read that first, but this predates it by decades. Both great in their own way.