The History of Love by Nicole Krauss

I'm not sure about this book... I read it really slowly - due to class assignments and the Twilight books, they were a little more compelling. So, it's hard to give a very good read on this book.

This is one of those quiet stories - a bit depressing - about how life is not what you thought it was going to be. Four main characters slowly spin the story of their lives as they come closer and closer to crossing paths. And all of it is tied to the book The History of Love.

There is Alma, the young girl, pining after her died father, her mother who is translating the book from Spanish to English for an unknown man, the brother, Bird, who believes he is some type of Jewish hero and Leo Gursky, the original author of the book.

Each of these people's gripe on reality is tinged with the loss of the love of their lives. A loss from which they really can not recover - instead they are all sleep walking through their lives. It is especially awful for the children.

So, you see this is not the griping book that I needed to read right now - instead I would read a little, put it down and promptly forget.

I always like books that follow separate threads and use different storytellers perspectives, so I think this would be one that I could have really liked at a different time....

Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

image from LibraryThing

This has to be one of my all time favorite books. I just finished reading it out loud to my 4th graders. I have probably read it 15+ times and I never get tired of it!

What a great story!

It has something for everyone - silly dog stories, the action of the hunt, the nasty Pritchard boys and the simple life of a country boy in the hills of the Ozark Mountains.

I get choked up every time I read it. But, it's interesting that different things hit me now. I identify so much more with the Mother - she is always worried and jumping to conclusions about how dangerous everything is. Well, as my daughters have grown - I understand that more and more.

Anyway - I would recommend this to anyone who needs a heartwarming read about the innocent love between a boy and his dogs!!

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

image from LibraryThing

Well - I finished them all.

Of course, now I wish I was still in the midst of Bella's story.

This is the longest of the four books - it is also my least favorite of the books. Odd things happen in here - things that I did not want to happen.

In the end all is well, but I was not happy with the direction Stephanie took some of the characters. Some of it was just too contrived, too neat and tidy even for a vampire. The tension wasn't as real as the other books. I found myself just wanting to finish some parts.

But, as a whole the books hang together very well. I can't imagine reading them over the course of years - I was so immersed I couldn't stop reading!!

I still say that Jacob is my favorite!

Read these!!

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyers

OK - This is just as good!!
Or is it better??
I can't quite decide.

Bella is the center of all again. Her life is is spinning closer and closer to the moment when she will change from human to vampire at her own choosing. Or will she?



I don't want to give anything away!

READ IT!!

New Moon by Stephenie Meyers

The second book - I really liked this one almost more...almost. I think that Jacob Black is my favorite character. He is honest, and real. Unlike Edward - all polished and perfect and poised. Bella is not that way - so what in the world is going on???

This book starts great and spirals out of control very quickly. Edward decides that the way to keep Bella safe is to erase himself from her life.

Bella does not react well - Bella melts down to the core - and Jacob is there to slowly put her back together. He has his own secrets and Bella slowly unravels them as she begins to put herself back together.

There is still danger surrounding her, but Jacob is keeping her safe.

And then - Edward returns...

There is another scary episode with Bella in the middle - of course.

This is another really good one and I flew through it too!!!!

Twilight by Stephenie Meyers

Let's just say I read this book in a flash!!

And the next one...

And the next one...

So we start here. Bella Swan is a new kid at the Forks Washington High School. She has moved from sunny Phoenix to live with her father in dark and rainy Washington. And there she meet... Edward Cullen. A high school boy like no other - really like no other. He is a vegetarian vampire. But that's getting ahead of the story.

Bella is drawn to Edward and against Edward's better judgement he is also drawn to her.

Bella uses her friend Jacob Black, a local native American, to find out about this odd man and his family. Jacob tells her a story about an ancient truce made between some 'bloodsuckers' and his great grandfather's tribe. From there Bella guesses just what Edward is. Instead of scaring her away - the knowledge seems to draw her even closer to Edward.

As their friendship grows to something more - Bella draws bad luck and pain to her from all over.

This is a love story - a romance between two unlikely people. The fact that one is a vampire gives it a twist. But the story flies and draws the reader in.
Stephanie Meyer is quite a storyteller!!!

Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer

image from LibraryThing

Another great adventure with the boy genius, but this time it's two boy geniuses...and both are Artemis.

Artemis's mother is dying of a horrible disease that he himself infected her with by using magic to wipe her memory. If the guilt of that isn't enough - the only cure is brain fluid from an extinct animal that a younger Artemis sold into extinction.

The only solution is for Artemis and Holly Short to go back in time to the moment of the sale and rescue the Lemur.

As in all Artemis books, what sounds clear and easy is anything but. The young Artemis is a devious and conceited thing who is not easily swayed from his path, selling the Lemur to the Extinctionists for bucket loads of money.

Then in typical Colfer fashion there is a huge surprise!

This is a head scratching book, though.
If Artemis hadn't gone back in time, his mother may not have gotten sick, but because his mother was sick, he had to go back in time. Thus the paradox.

So, it got me thinking about time travel. Would I want to be able to go back and change things? Are there things I think I need to change? Hmm...

Artemis had the opportunity to try to alter a wrong - but that alteration created a much bigger wrong. So, how big a wrong would it need to be to justify the costs? I think I'm glad this is only hypothetical!!