The Ruins of Gorlan (Number #1 of the Ranger's Apprentice) by John Flanagan

Dear Readers,

So continues the binge. This time I read the first book in the series so I can tell you more about it! I picked this book up while my younger brother was reading and read the first 60 pages. I though hmm... that is pretty good, but never finished. Well now it is finished. It was surprisingly good. Again it was another fantasy, which is just up my alley.
The Ruins of Gorlan starts out with introducing the main character, Will. He is a castle ward, an orphan who was left at the castle after his parents died. Unlike the other wards Will does not know who his parents are. When he was dropped off on the castle doorstep There was a note saying his father was a hero and his mother died. Other than that Will has no information about his family.
At the age of 15 the castle wards are chosen by the craft-masters of the castle to become apprentices. Will longs to go to battle school to become a knight as to make his father, the hero, proud. When the day of choosing comes Will does not get his wish. Instead he becomes the Ranger's Apprentice. The Ranger are a strange group of people who no one knows much about. Each fief has its own ranger, and Will must now study under the ranger in his fief. It is believed by the townsfolk that the Rangers use magic to become invisible and move form one place to another without being seen. During his apprenticeship Will learns the truth about the Rangers.
This book was good. Not one of the best fantasy books I have read, but still entertaining. I did not like the magical creatures in the novels. They were sort of creepy and gave me the willy nillies. I heard from a friend that the series gets better and the books get a little less weird and more realistic. I am looking forward to the rest of the series with eagerness.
As I have said for the last two books, if you want a fantasy book that keeps your mind away from the present, entertains you, and is exciting I recommend getting your hands on a copy of this book. Enjoy!
Dream Big, READ!!!
Lindsey

The Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

Dear Readers,
I told you yesterday that I have started my yearly fantasy binge, and I wasn't lying. After finishing The Serpent's Shadow my mind was to far gone to come back and read meaningful things so I checked out Clockwork Prince. 498 pages in 24 hours of non-continual reading. Apparently I liked this book. Again it is a continuation of one of the series that read. It is part of the Infernal Devices series which is a prequel series to the Mortal Instruments series. They again are really fantasy and very fictitious, which is one of the reasons I love them.
The mortal instruments was written first. It follows the story of young shadowhunters in New York City in modern times. The Infernal Devices series was more of an after thought. It's about shadowhunters in Victorian Era England. It almost has a steam punk feel to it, with clockwork creatures, unknown heritage, and unexpected romance.
Tessa the main character of the main book has special powers that no one understands. After touching an object Tessa can turn into the person who last possessed the object. She takes on their appearance and is able to read their thoughts. On her trip to England from New York to see her brother she is captured by two evil old sisters that force her to use her gift.
Eventually she meets then men of the series. Jem and Will. I believe they rival any other male characters in crappy teen fiction. Jem and Will are two completely different boys. They are both shadowhunters living at the institution in London. Will is dark and mysterious and Jem is open and almost bubbly (oh goodness listen to me explain those boys, I act like I know them personally). They are best friends, and rely on each other constantly.   Both boys made me smile constantly in this book, of course they also made me ask the question 'why don't I know any boys like this?'.
I would highly recommend this book if you want an escapes. Of course it is fantasy, so if you don't like fantasy you may not like it. But trust me girls there is enough steamy romance to get your fill. So enjoy and keep reading!
Lindsey

The Serpent's Shadow by Rick Riordan

Dear Readers,

So since I have graduated and summer has officially started I am indulging my guilty pleasure. Teen Fantasy Books. The binge started with Rick Riordan's Serpent's Shadow. I personally love Rick Riordan's books. Many people do not. They find his writing annoying, but for some reason his books are some of my favorites. He is the writer of the amazing Percy Jackson series and the equally amazing Lost Heroes Series. He also wrote the Kane Chronicles, and the Serpent's Shadow is the third and finally book in this series.
Many of his books center around ancient gods in modern day. The Kane Chronicles is all about Egyptian lore. Before starting these books I knew about Ra the sun god; otherwise all of the names were very unfamiliar. As the series goes on you are not only entertained by the happenings of the Kane family, you learn many of the Egyptian gods.
The books follow the adventures of Sadie and Carter Kane. As teenagers they find that they are magicians and that their family is one of the most important magical families. Quickly after finding out that they're magicians they are forced to help save the world from eminent destruction. The first two books cover the first doomsday, the defeat of the god of evil, the release of Chaos, and the resurrection of the sun god. Of course more happens than that, but that is just a brief over view. The first two books also contain hilarious side comments, love interests, interesting gods, new friends, and action packed battles.
I can't really explain the plot of the third book without giving away the first two books, so just read the whole series! You will not be disappointed! Of course these books are very very very  fictitious. They are definitely fantasy books, so if you don't like that genre don't even try to pick them up. However, if you are looking for an escape from the world you may end up reading the books cover to cover in three days. They are excellent for making you forget what is going on in the real world.
If you want to be entertained, engaged, and enlightened these might be the books for you. So keep reading and enjoying!
Lindsey  

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Dear Readers,

I finally finished another book! For some reason I have been reading but not finishing books. I will start one and them someone will hand me another book to read. My locker buddy Jacob handed me this book and told me I had to read it. I was up for it so I took and started it that. It took me a little longer then I would have liked, but the book was amazing. If you have not read Ender's Game you must!! This book beats out so many other books I have read. It has a sort of Lord of the Flies fell because it explores the depths of the human mind and what humans are willing to do for their own survival. But it is so much better then Lord of the Flies.
The genre is Science-Fiction. If you have not read a Science-Fiction this is the one you should start with. It is futuristic, but easy to relate to. There are aliens, spaceships, other worlds, and futuristic weapons. But there is so much more to the book. So much more meaning then just defeating an alien race of buggers.
The book starts out by introducing the main character Ender Wiggin. Ender is an unusual little boy. He has had a monitor on the back of his neck from birth. His every move has been monitored since birth. Not only is he monitored is third child in a time when a family is only allowed two children. Ender is continually taunted by the boys at school and by his older brother Peter. All he wants to do is get away. Finally his answer comes in an invitation to come to Battle School.
Battle School is a place where the take the best and brightest kids from earth to train them to fight the Buggers. Buggers are an alien race the 70 years before attacked the earth. The humans are still angry and ready to get back at the buggers. Ender was raised to believe that buggers are evil and they must die. In Battle School Ender learns much more then just how to fight buggers.
I will not tell you more of the plot because I absolutely do not want to spoil to ending for you. It is an amazing ending. I may dare say one of the best I have read.
The other reason I love this book besides the riveting plot I mentioned earlier. Maybe I am reading to much into it, but I found tons of meaning in this book. The book starts when Ender is 6 and follows him to age until about age 11. What Ender does at a such a young age is almost scary. Peter and Valentine his siblings are almost as horrifying. The Wiggin family defies the stereotypical view of age. As children they accomplish much more then some people accomplish in a lifetime. Not everything the accomplish is exactly good. Peter is made out to be the evil sibling, Valentine the kind, sweet, and sensible sibling, and Ender the in between. But as you see the world threw Ender's eyes you wonder if he tips to one side of the scale. The comparison between good evil is very blatant. As Ender is pushed to his extreme, the reader is able to see what a human is capable of at even such a young age.
At the end all I could say was wow. I loved it, and so will you. So just read it. I can not guarantee that I will read the rest of the books that Orson Scott Card has written about Ender, but I am glad that I read this one.
Read On!!
Lindsey

The Winter Girls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Dear Readers,

I have very mixed feelings about this book. Laurie Halse Anderson is a good author. She has written many other book that I love. Fever 1793 was one of my favorite books as a young girl. But this book was not one of her best. Her historical fiction is superb so good that I would read it over and over again. Wintergirls had a different vibe. I would call it a whinny girl vibe.
Wintergirls is about Lia, a teenage girls struggling with anorexia. The book is her struggle to survive while fighting a horrible body image. Anorexia simply put is not fun. And reading about it is not fun either. So this book is not a fun read. It is actually quite depressing. If you want to be thoroughly depressed read this book. There are a few things about this book I do like though. It is hard to relate to because I have never had anorexia, but there are some parts that every teen girl can relate to.
First reason why I like this book, the ending. Through out the book it is whinny. Me Me Me Me Me. That's basically all the book is about. Lia saying I am not pretty. I am not skinny. I am not perfect. I I I I I I I. But in the end Lia sees that she has to live for other people. That life is not all about her. Her actions have reactions. (Sorry here is a spoiler alert.) She permanently scares her little sister, Emma, when she is found in the bathroom trying to kill herself. Emma will never recover from seeing her beloved sister cut open. After she realizes she hurts Emma so bad Lia decides to change the way she is living. She is not hurting only herself by not eating.
Like I said almost every teenage girl can relate to feeling bad about her body. I would be lying big time if I said that I have never looked in the mirror and hated what I saw. We all do it, but most of us have found ways to cope with it. We read, we run, we bake, we find something to pour our hurt into. It is so sad that there are you girls and guys out there that feel so bad about their body that they can not find an outlet. You may not be perfect, but you need to love yourself. Everyone needs to remember that they are made the way they are for a reason. You are the perfect you, and don't change.
Well I did the think the book had an over all good meaning. The end made me so happy I wanted to cry for joy. The fact that this is relatable is sad but so true. But after all of that this book would not be one that I recommend. It is depressing. It is sad. It is just not fun to read. So Laurie You adressed the subject well, but I did not like it.
So read on, just don't be depressed.
Lindsey

The Bride's Farewell by Meg Rosoff

Dear Readers,

      I believe I have mentioned in the past that I am part of a organization at school called The Battle of The Books. This is probably the best extracurricular activity I have been in while at high school. Well, my team this year was super awesome and made it past the first online test onto a second oral test. We got 7th in the state out of about 90 schools that took it. So not to be cocky, but we are awesome. Since we get to take another test we are reading some of the books twice just so we know what happened. One of my friends has already read this one, but we are doubling up. So without any more of my explanation why I read the book I will tell you how I felt about The Bride's Farewell by Meg Rosoff.

      Let me start out with a brief overview of the plot. The Bride's Farewell is the story of Pell. A young woman who lives in England. She was promised to be married to a boy she had known all her life, Birdie. The night before her wedding she ran off to find something different from life then a dull, boring marriage. Pell from a very young age had been able to work almost magic with horses. She runs off with her horse Jack and her younger brother Bean, in search of an exciting life. On this search her life repeatedly changes. Once she feels comfortable and fine in her surroundings something happens and she has to move again. The book is just the twist and turns of her life, from losing everything to finding an almost happy ending.
      The plot of this book made it a very quick read. Pell's story was very intriguing. It was hard to put the book down. Although the plot turns made it interesting, they were not my favorite. The story never seemed to stay the same for more then twenty pages. Also Pell to seemed changed every twenty pages. She only ever had to goals in mind. Find her brother and find her horse. Everything else that came her way on the journey didn't seem to phase her. At the beginning of the book it seems that she felt no remorse for leaving her family and fiance on the night before her wedding. It also seems that she feels no remorse for any of the people she hurts on her journey. She enconters so many new faces that the book is just a parade of new people.
      These new people, though somehow connnect. It's almost like a big game of Dutch Bingo across the English country side. This was the thing I liked most about the book. It was fun to see in which ways all of the characters were connected. There were some many under stories of the people that Pell met. She would meet one person who would tell her about a relative in another village that may be able to help her. Once there she would stay for a while, then leave then come across something or someone else. The relationships of the characters are what made this book so interesting.
       Overall I liked the book. I did not like some of the things the main character did, and I did not like some of the things the author decided to put in the book. But it wasn't awful. I was just another book, another story. Not the most memorable, but not completely forgetable. I would recomend this book if you like interesting plots, or horses, or a quick read.
 I would like to thank Meg Rosoff for taking me to the English countryside for a few afternoons.
Lindsey

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Dear Readers,

Hooray! I recently started a book club at my school. A couple of friends of mine, a wonderful English teach, and I are included in the group. Our first book to read was The Great Gatsby. I really can't tell you why we chose this book. I pushed it because I bought a copy of it at a used book store and I wanted an opportunity to stop everything and read it. And reading it for a book club was the perfect excuse.
Going in this book I really didn't have a clue what it was about. I had a vague idea. I knew that it was about the 1920's, but beyond the time period I had no idea. Let me just say I was pleasantly surprised with this book. Actually I was more than pleasantly surprised, I was on the verge of love.
I could not put this book down. It was almost impossible to stop reading and go to work today. You are sucked into the story right from the beginning. The narrator of the story Nick Carraway sort of confused me at the beginning, but as you read you develop a relationship with him. His eyes are the ones through which you get the experience the man Gatsby.
Gatsby is a very devoted character. He seems to go whole-heartily into whatever he is doing. On top of his devotion Gatsby is very hospitable. He throws parties every weekend and just about everyone is invited. I am not going to lie though. I thought that Gatsby would be older and more wise, which would makes sense with his title Great. But really he is just a youngun' at the age of 30. And he definitely not without his flaws.
Gatsby is living in the past. He fills his time worrying about what he didn't get that he cannot see what he has. By writing about Gatsby Mr. Fitzgerald was trying to show us what living in the past can do to a person.
One thing I realized about this book is that you really can't like any of the characters. They all have one thing that just turns you off. Even that narrator, Nick, isn't very likable. Nick just goes long with whatever. He allows these people to get him involved in their lives, but he's really not there. It hard to describe, but when you read it you will understand. Nick doesn't really care about any of the people he calls friends. He knew Gatsby for all of three months and only ever gave him one complement. I hardly call that friendship. When he learns about Tom Buchanan's cheating he doesn't feel the need to tell Tom's wife, Daisy, and Daisy is related to Nick. Nick has a facade of caring but underneath he is just observing these people living without really caring about what happens to them in the end.
Tom and Daisy are both characters after what makes them feel best and what is easiest at the time. Tom has an affair because he wants to. Daisy marries Tom because he is rich and available, and she doesn't want to wait for Gatsby to come back. They both just sort of irritate me.
I love the book, but somehow I hate everyone in it. Weird... But somehow it works. Read it and you will understand.
Lindsey