Book Review: The Titan's Curse

Title: The Titan's Curse
Author: Rick Riordan

Other Relevant Reviews
Book 1: The Lightning Thief
Book 2: The Sea of Monsters
The Film: Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

Plot Synopsis
Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Thalia find two new half-bloods, but before they can get to camp, they are attacked and Annabeth disappears. Now, they have to find her and rescue a goddess in distress, but Kronos and his Kronies (my term) have a different plan.

Just as with the first two books in the series, Percy and friends encounter thrilling, dangerous, and historically awesome monsters throughout their adventure.

My Thoughts
I'm going to keep this short as I don't want to give away anything about the plot.  For a fun YA read without the overly dramatic focus on burning, unrequited, tragic passion, there is nothing better than Percy Jackson.  Fast-paced stories with unique, Greek-god-driven plot lines, this series is my guilty pleasure. I love the mythology present in the book, and I am intrigued by the whole Titans versus Olympians, mysterious prophecies, hero children elements of the stories. While many bemoan the fact these books are written for young adults, I love it.  It makes for quick read for one.  And honestly, I enjoy reading a YA book that actually reads like it was written for young adults.


Other Reviews
If I've missed yours, let me know!

Becky's Book Reviews; Bibliofreakblog; Age 30+; The Zen Leaf;

Question: Are there any other YA series you would recommend that focus more on adventure than love?

Challenges: 100+ Reading Challenge, 101 Fantasy Reading Challenge, YA Reading Challenge, GLBT Challenge, Flashback Challenge, Once Upon a Time, Hogwarts Reading Challenge,

Book Review: The Film Club

Title:  The Film Club
Author: David Gilmour

The premise of this book really got me going: With his son hating and failing school, David makes a deal - drop out of school but watch 3 movies with me per week.  I loved the idea of this unusual education and looked forward to learning about the films they watched, seeing how David turned this into an education, and finding out how Jesse fared in the world after his unschooling.

Unfortunately, the book itself was more about father-son relationships and teenage love/angst.  Not to say the book wasn't good - it read well and the themes are important.  It just wasn't what I was expecting.  Being neither a father, nor a son, a giant chunk of the thematic beauty of this book may have been lost on me. I found myself, from time to time, wanting less "I love my son" and more "I love this movie".

The majority of the book was spent on Jesse's love life - how a father deals with a heartbroken son, how a man can struggle to get over a woman, etc.  Jesse was rather obsessed with two different women through the course of the story, and his anguish over these relationships felt out of place when there seemed to be so much more he should be concerned about: like his drug use and his lack of schooling.  Perhaps I am just too removed from these characters.  A straight-A, school-loving female, I couldn't place myself in Jesse's shoes.

I'm not sure what my ultimate recommendation on this book should be.  If you are looking for a book focused on education through movies, this is not for you.  If you are looking for a father-son relationship book, then I'd say pick it up.

Other Reviews
If I've missed yours, let me know!

Lesa's Book Critiques; Letters on Pages; Lotus Reads;

Question: Are there any good books out there about using movies to educate?
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Challenges: 100+ Reading Challenge, Reading Resolutions, Hogwarts Reading Challenge, Non-Fiction Five,

BEA Books 3: Nonfiction

Time for the second pile of wonderful books I picked up while in NYC for BEA and BBC. The first pile I offered up for your viewing pleasure included all of the signed copies.  These are the non-fiction books I walked away with.

May Movies

While I typically discuss the movies I've watched over the course of a month, this time around I'll be talking about television.  The reason:  I didn't watch a movie all month.  I did, however, watch quite a lot of television.  And really watching television seasons on DVD is much more like watching a movie than it is like watching regular television, especially when you're watching three or four episodes in a row.

Supernatural

In the month of May, I watched the first four seasons of Supernatural, for the first time, thanks to my friends Jess and Jason who kindly lent me their DVDs.  Supernatural chronicles the life of two brothers, Sam and Dean, as they attempt to save the world from paranormal baddies such as ghosts, witches, and demons.  The lead characters are sexy, the soundtrack is awesome, and the plot is exciting with enough depth to keep my interest.  I can't wait for Season 5 to become available on SwapTree.

Entourage

Entourage is a fun, sexy show following the acting career of Vincent Chase as he and his three best friends navigate the waters of Hollywood with help from his agent.  My husband and I have powered through the first four seasons of this show this past month, and both of us love it.  This is unusual.  The hubby is extremely picky about his television.  He likes Lost.  He liked Firefly.  That's all I can think of.  Season 5 is ready and waiting, but we have to finish the final season of Lost first.

Robin Hood

Robin Hood is - surprise, surprise - about Robin Hood.  I'm in the middle of season 3, waiting for the next disc to come from Netflix.  Have I mentioned how much I love Netflix?  I'm enjoying the show; although I don't feel an obsessive need to watch it for hours on end like I do with Supernatural and Entourage.  I will definitely watch the rest of the show though.

Southland

Southland is a unique style of cop drama.  Instead of each episode focusing on one crime/criminal and going through the whole crime-detection-prosecution cycle, the show has a more documentary style feel.  We are observing 8 cops - officers and detectives - going about their business.  I've only seen the first season, but I will be grabbing the second season as soon as possible.

Okay that should cover me.  All in all, it was a very enjoyable month despite the fact that I was sick for about 2 1/2 weeks - hey, how do you think I got so many seasons done in one month?

Book Review: Trickster

Challenges: 100+ Reading Challenge, Reading Resolutions, World Religions, Graphic Novels Challenge, Once Upon a Time, Hogwarts Reading Challenge, Non-Fiction Five,

A Quick Overview
A graphic collection of 21 Native American Tales, Trickster includes the written and illustrative talents of a large number of contributors.  Okay, now to the really important part... Three of those contributors signed my copy at the oh-so-wonderful BEA. INSERT PICTURE OF SIGNED PAGE HERE

Amy of Amy Reads is the one who turned me on to this book signing, and we both ended up with a copy.  Since the book encompasses 21 tales, we thought we would split the stories for our review.  So for a review of the first 10 stories in the collection, head on over to her blog.

My Thoughts on Tales 11-21


Trickster Around the WebIf I've missed yours, let me know!

Trickster's very own blog; Graphic Novel Reporter article including images from the book;

Question:  Should books like this be classified as fiction or non-fiction? (think it through)

BEA Books 2: Specially Signed

Time for some more of the many wonderful books I picked up while in NYC for BEA and BBC. I've already discussed one very special book I received, but now we are moving on to the piles...

The first pile includes all of the signed copies.  Some of these books I actively pursued, some were more or less thrust upon me, and some had short lines so I jumped in.  In order, bottom to top, right to left (because I can)...

Pope Annalisa by Peter Canova: An African nun is elected the first female pope, but symbols of the demonic sort start popping up when she takes her place at the Vatican.

The Map of True Places by Brunonia Barry: When Zee Finch returns to her hometown after her patient commits suicide, she finds herself confronting her past and questioning her future.

Aberrations by Penelope Przekop: Angel Duet seeks the truth behind her mother's life and death while struggling with narcolepsy.

Of All the Stupid Things by Alexandra Diaz: Tara, Whitney, and Pinkie, three friends, each take a turn narrating this story of friendship, questioning what happens when one girl falls in love with a new girl in town.

Vampires and Werewolves by Konstantinos: These two books investigate the myths and legends behind these supernatural creatures.

Blue Skies, Red Soil by

Book Review: Matched

Title:  Matched
Author:  Ally Condie
Release Date: November 30, 2010

Challenges: 100+ Reading Challenge, 42 Challenge, Women UnBound,  Sci-Fi Challenge, YA Reading Challenge, Once Upon a Time, Hogwarts Reading Challenge,

Plot Synopsis
In Cassia's world, the Society determines everything: what you eat, what you wear, where you work, who you marry, how many kids you have, when you die...you get the picture.  Her story begins with her Matching Ceremony, the moment in time she will learn who she is to marry. Typically, Matched couples are from different cities, but Cassia's match is her best friend, Xander.  When Cassia uploads the microcard which will give her Xander's information, she is pleased to see his face.  But then for one brief moment, another boy's face flashes across the screen. Another boy she knows. Cassia now wonders who is her real Match?  And who does she love?

My Thoughts
Dystopian literature revs me up. Excessively controlled, socially repressive society captivates my imagination with its focus on individual freedom versus community success.  Few can argue that the world in dystopian literature, Matched included, has its benefits.  Comfort, health, safety, a sense of purpose and place, these are positive additions to life.  It is always, however, at the expense of choice; life is controlled by a select group of people who are more concerned with logic than emotion.  And despite efforts and ego, humans are primarily emotional beings.

Specific to this book, I felt the story well-crafted if a bit lacking in depth.  For example, I would have enjoyed more backstory on the origins of the Society and more details on their level and methods of control.  Also, the relationship between Ky and Cassia felt a bit random.  It was sort of like love-at-first-sight except the two had known each other for some time. It's not until Cassia sees Ky's face as her Match that she begins to have romantic feelings for him.  I needed a bit more explanation for that.  First thought says Cassia was just too indoctrinated to harbor feelings for someone, but the book makes it pretty clear that teenagers still engage in flirtations with at least some kissing.  So why hasn't Cassia crushed on Ky before this?

Overall though, I really enjoyed the book.  I could read it for long stretches of time without getting bored, a giant plus in my opinion, and my appetite has been whetted for the remaining two books in the trilogy.  At least, I'm pretty sure it's a trilogy...it better be.

The Filmic Connection
If they were to film this book, I would like to see Logan Lerman play Ky.  Lerman, for those who don't know, played Percy Jackson in the film version of Rick Riordan's The Lightning Thief.

For Cassia I chose Emma Roberts:

And for Xander, David Kross:

I'd like to stress that this is based almost entirely on looks; I know very little of their acting abilities.  How superficial is that?

Matched Around the Web
If I've missed your review, let me know!

Ally Condie's website; at Goodreads;

Check out Amy's review at Amy Reads and Alix's review at ????

Question: Why in the world does Blogger spell check not recognize the word "dystopian"? I mean really????