What I'm Reading 11/22/11

src="http://toyxplosion.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Dork-Diaries-3-Tales-from-a-Not-So-Talented-Pop-Star.jpg" border="0" alt="" /> I finally got my hands on the third book in this series. I love the first two books and I know I'll love this one too.

A Sudden Wild Magic by Diana Wynne Jones is actually one of her adult novels. I started it a few days ago and I like it so far. It is different than her other books though, but I'm sure I'll like it.

Disappointing Reads

Lately there have been three books that have been disappointing reads for me. All three books were ones I have been looking forward to reading and when I finally got my hands on them, excited to read them, they were all rather disappointing.

The first book was Dreamland Lake by Richard Peck. It sounded like a wonderful mystery book. I found it over the summer through my library's website and I finally borrowed it a few weeks ago. I couldn't wait to read it. It sounded so good, so much like my type of book. But when I got it and finally it, it was just kind of boring. I couldn't get into the story or relate to the characters and it wasn't a great mystery like I'd thought it would be.

The next book was Among The Ghosts by Amber Benson. I love ghost books and this one caught my eye. It wasn't a bad book. It was definitely interesting at parts, good at parts, and not so good at other parts, if that makes sense. It just wasn't as good as I thought it would be.

And the last one, the one I finished earlier this morning was House Made of Dawn N. Scott Momday. The author is a American Indian and I've been making it a point to read books about American Indians and books written by Native authors. I'm Cherokee myself and I've been trying to learn what I can from books and trying to find some new authors to read that are Native. Anyway, this is a book I've been wanting to read for awhile, another that I have been very excited to read. I've heard and read many good things about this book.
I do not think this is a bad book. In fact, I think N. Scott Momaday is a wonderful writer. The way he describes things is quite beautiful, but I had a problem getting into the story. I'm not sure what it was. It seems to be written in the same way that Love Medicine was (Another book by a Native author). And while the writing in both books is beautiful and very well-written, it is sort of off putting. Sometimes it is even confusing and that is what made it hard for me to get into either of those books. But perhaps, at a later time, I will try to re-read House Made of Dawn.

Recent Buys

The other day I went to the library and my library has a small bookstore. They sell used books, but all the books are in very good condition and most of the time look brand new. The books are always very, very good prices. I think the most I ever paid for a book there is $4. Anyway, on my most recent trip to the library I just had to visit their bookstore, and as always, I found at least a few books to buy.

I'm not into really romance books. In fact, I've only ever read one and it was many years ago. But the reason I bought Mrs. Miracle is because I saw the commercial on TV for the movie and I've really been wanting to watch the movie. So I thought I would give the book a chance and see if I like it. I also figured it would be a great book to read for Christmas.

I bought this just because I love the movie and the book by Cornelia Funke. I'm not expecting it to be as good as Inkheart by Cornelia Funke. I know it won't be, but I just wanted it basically because I like Inkheart the movie, the actors in the movie and the really wonderful book that it's based on it.

What I'm Reading 11/17/11

Yesterday I started reading The Dollhouse Murders by Betty Ren Wright. It is about a 12 year old named Amy who goes to stay with her aunt for awhile. She finds a dollhouse in the attic and is fascintated by it. It is exactly like the house she is staying in with her aunt.
But strange things begin to happen in the dollhouse that Amy can't explain. Doors open and close, sometimes there is even a strange light. Amy feels the dollhouse is trying to tell her something. . .

This is book is really good. I've read 100 pages already. It's a page turner and I'm loving it.

What I'm Reading 11/15/11

I finished Cirque Du Freak: Vampire Mountain yesterday and started reading Cirque Du Freak: Trials of Death.

In Trials of Death Darren must undergo five trials to prove himself as a vampire. If he fails, it could mean death.

Vampire Mountain was really good, but I'll wait to write a review until I finish the whole series. But I will say the series is addictive. I always get hooked right away when I begin reading one of these books and I end up reading them very quickly. They are definitely pages turners.

What I'm Reading 11/12/11

What I'm reading right now is Cirque Du Freak: Vampire Mountain by Darren Shan. It is the fourth book in the series.

I'm not too far in yet, only about 4 chapters in. But I'm hooked already and it always happens with these books. I've read that some people think that the writing is too simple, but simple or not, these books are good!

The fourth book deals with Darren having to journey to Vampire Mountain to have meeting with the vampire princes.

As much as I enjoyed the other three books, I'm sure I'll enjoy this one just as much and I'll be finished reading it in no time.

Snow Already?

It snowed here yesterday. It has never snowed in October before. Here, in Pennsylvania, the earliest it snows is in November and it's usually in late November and we don't get much snow.
So I wasn't too happy yesterday when I saw the snow falling. I was supposed to go on a ghost tour to a haunted library, but it was cancelled due to the snow. I was really looking forward to it, too. But at least today the snow is melting.

Anyway, I went to the library on Thursday to pick up some books I had on hold. I'm currently reading The Ghosts of Mercy Manor by Betty Ren Wright.
I love it so far; I was hooked from the first page. Which makes me happy because the book I just finished reading before starting this one, was quite disappointing.

November 1st Middletown library is having another book sale and I will most definitely be going. Hopefully I'll find some good books.

Just wanted to write a quick entry. I'll try to blog some more when I have the time.

Read-A-Thon: Second and Final Update

I was able to read two more books for the Read-A-Thon. Here they are:

Nancy Drew #1: The Demon of River Heights by Stefan Petrucha - Nancy Drew is acting in a monster movie. One of the film students says that the monster is real. Nancy, of course, doesn't believe that, but when the film students go missing, it does make her wonder. . . .

I thought this was a pretty good graphic novel. I liked the storyline and the artwork.

Casebusters 1: The Statue Walks at Night by Joan Lowery Nixon - Sean and Brian are brothers. Their dad is a private investigator and when he is hired by the museum to find missing sketches, Sean and Brian decide to do some of their own investigating.

This book is for younger readers, but as always, Joan Lowery Nixon does a wonderful job. This book is the start of a series and I'm sure children would enjoy this. I liked it, it is a good mystery for younger readers. Afterall, everyone needs a good mystery and if you're reading Joan Lowery Nixon, you've found one of the best mystery writers there is.

For the Read-A-Thon, I was also able to do a few of the challenges. I did the creep me out challenge, Read in Pictures challenge and the Zombie Apocalypse challenge. This was my first Read-A-Thon and I've had fun.

Read-A-Thon Challenge: Read in Pictures

This is a challenge for the Read-A-Thon. The challenge is to post pictures that describe something you've read in a book or books that you have read for the Read-A-Thon. I'll list three books, as I couldn't find good pictures for all the books I've read.



Ghosthunters and the Totally Moldy Baroness! by Cornelia Funke
In book number 3 of the Ghosthunters series, the ghosthuners are called to rid a haunted castle of a ghost.




It's Halloween by Jack Prelutsky
Although this is a poetry book, the poems and illustrations tell a story of children who dress up and go out trick or treating on Halloween.



Scary, Scary Halloween by Eve Bunting
The story of this book is about a mother cat and her kittens hiding on Halloween waitng for the monsters (children in costumes) to be done roaming for the night.

Read-A-Thon Update #1

So, this is what I've read so far:

Zen Ghost by Jon J. Muth - This is about three kids who are going trick or treating, but their friend Stillwater tells them afterwards to meet him at the stone wall because he is taking them to a storyteller.

This was a wonderful book. Not scary, but a good read with a story that leaves you wondering. The illustrations are also beautiful.

Ghosts of Hershey and Vinicity by Christopher E. Wolf - This is true ghost stories of Hershey Pennsylvania and nearby cities/towns. It was a good book and has some interesting stories. I enjoyed it.

Scary, Scary Halloween by Eve Bunting - This is a really fun book. I don't care if it's a picture book. I liked it a lot.

It's Halloween by Jack Prelutsky - A fun book of Halloween poems. This was great. Jack Prelutsky is a wonderful poet.

Halloween Program Sourcebook - this book has a chapter on the history of Halloween and many stories, poems, plays and more for Halloween. I liked it, but it wasn't as great as I had hoped. I did enjoy quite a few of the poems though.

Ghosthunters and the Totally Moldy Baroness! by Cornelia Funke - Let me just say, I love this series. The first two books are great and so is this one. The books have to do with an odd group of ghosthunters. In this book they are called to Gloomsburg Castle to get rid of a terrible ghost. Once they get there, the ghosthunters find out just out terrible the ghost is. This one was so much fun like the others. I love it.

That's all I've read for now, but I'll have to figure out what else to read. Hopefully I'll have another update soon.