February Books

Well, it's the end of another month. No surprise there. But it is a surprise how many books I managed to read this February, because even though it's a couple days shorter than January, I read 13 books in total. Just 1 less than last month. Of course, you wouldn't know that by looking in my archives. I wrote about the last three Bone books in one post. And I'm not even finished with the last book, The Crown of Horns. So should I even count it in my books read this month? No, I don't think I should. So that takes one off the count. So I'm sorry, but I read 12 books in all this month. Here's all of them:

The Giver I didn't like so much, since it was so short. Plus I'm not a fan of reading books over again. I like reading them once and then that's usually it. The Hunger Games was one of my favorites this month. The Bone series is as funny and exciting as ever. Masterpiece was so-so, I think, a bit childish for my taste. I really liked The Last Invisible Boy. It's a great story about a character I wish I knew. New Moon was absolutely amazing. It makes me wish to finish the saga even more. Erec Rex #2 was good, although when I emailed Kaza to tell her I'd read it, she never wrote back. Oh well. I'm sure you're busy, Kaza. You guys should definitely read Join Me. It's hilarious. And it's a great idea. Fly By Night was alright, though I wouldn't say it was a big favorite of mine. At least, it doesn't compare to the other books I've read so far. The last and most recent book I finished, just today in fact, is Writing Magic, by Gail Carson Levine. If you don't know her, she wrote Ella Enchanted. That's all I've read of her, and even then only because I liked the movie with Anne Hathaway. But her writing book is really good. It's full of fun exercises to try out. I've promised myself that I'd try out every one of them. So far I've written the beginnings of a couple story ideas. I wouldn't show them to anyone now, but I think they've got some potential.

So, that's it for my monthly review. Just so you're up to speed, I've written about 26 books in this entire blog so far. Amazing, and it's only been 2 months! I'll bet you, my regular readers, are surprised because I said in my regular blog that I wouldn't write a blog post for at least a week. Well, I kind of figure my book blog doesn't really count. So there.

I notice that people haven't really been commenting on my book reviews lately. Are you guys bored by my posts? Or is anyone really reading this? Am I just typing for no one's benefit? What kind of book club am I running here?

Browsing Borders... again.

Well, I haven't gone to Borders book store in what feels like ages, and I had a pretty good time roaming the shelves today. I spent most of my time scanning for novels I think I'll be interested in reading in the future (I listed several on a piece of paper so I wouldn't forget) and basically enjoying Bone graphic novels. I'm almost finished with the series, you know. I read number 7 and 8 and was on my way through 9, but we had to go. I remember that I was on page 80, though.
This series is really awesome. Those who haven't heard of Bone should at least look into it. Thank goodness I'm nearly done with it though. You might say that the characters' adventures are getting a bit exhausting. I don't know, that's what I think, even if I'm only reading. But graphic novels sure take you into the action in such a real way. They're almost better than regular books in that respect (again, note the key word almost). I hope they make a movie out of it someday, like the rumor on wikipedia says.

Join Me, by Danny Wallace

Oh my god, this was a funny book! You know the movie Yes Man, my now all time fav Jim Carrey movie? Well, before it became a film, Yes Man was actually a book. I'd wanted to get that at first, but my library didn't seem to have it, and this was by the same author, so I thought why not get this? The story is absolutely as hilarious as Yes Man. I'm serious. Someone should make a movie out of this. BTW, I know that I've already written a book review of Fly by Night today, and you might be a little "wow, how did she read this book so fast!?" See, I started reading this at the beach yesterday because I didn't want to bring Fly by Night. I try not to bring a lot of fiction to the beach. I was almost done with FbN anyway, like a couple of chapters, so it was no big deal.

So here are the facts. This book was published in 2003. It has roughly 340 pages/ 28 chapters + a prologue and epilogue, which = 30. This is a true story. I like these kind of true stories. Join Me reminds me of the guy with the red paper-clip, who was also an internet phenomenon.

Alright, this wild story is about Danny, who lives in London with his Norwegian girlfriend and has somewhat lost his direction in life. One day, a great-uncle he was never close with dies at 90 and at the funeral he learns that his great-uncle had this crazy idea once about gathering 100 people to live with him on a Switzerland farm. Told you he was crazy. People thought he was trying to start a cult or something and was wasting his time, so he got discouraged and quit after a week. He'd only gotten 3 people to join him. His family still laughs at that story, but Danny thinks it sounds like a pretty good idea. Well, it seems he has a penchant for wacky ideas. So on a whim he puts an ad in his local newspaper and prints two words. "Join me." The only thing he asks people to do to make sure they've joined is to send him a passport sized photo of his/herself.

A few days later, Danny gets his first Joinee. He's thrilled by the fact and pretty much immediately goes to meet him. The Joinee is nice and all, but he asks Danny what exactly he's joined him for. Danny hadn't even thought about it when he'd printed the ad, so that's a tricky question. The answer is delayed for a bit and in the meantime he puts a formal website for Join Me. All he knows is that Join Me is not a cult. It's a collective. Though he plays mysterious, he gains a few more followers who soon, for some reason unknown to himself, start calling him their Leader. Also, Danny doesn't think his girlfriend would aprove of this silly and pointless endeavor, so he keeps it a secret from her.

Slowly but surely, by spreading the word through leaflets, stickers, the internet and other mediums of advertising, Danny is soon Leader to 100 Joinees, just like his uncle would have wanted. But then his friend goes and tells him that that's hardly a big accomplishment and unofficially bets that he can't get 1000 Joinees. Danny accepts this bet.

It's a thrilling and funny story, with many unexpected twists. As his group of Joinees swells, he finds it harder to keep his Join Me dealings secret from his girlfriend. He appears in various newspapers as front page news and gets interviewed by morning talk shows. He finally figures out a purpose for Join Me, which is to be more friendly to people and make them happier. He starts a tradition called Good Friday, in which a Joinee must do at least one good deed every Friday. He becomes international, gaining Joinees from Belgium, Asia and more, and he even has a theme song made up for Join Me.

Trust me, this is a super wild adventure that you won't forget. Plus it's true. I had to keep reminding myself that because it was all so unbelievable and I kept thinking the plot sounded pretty fictitious. Danny Wallace's writing style is really good. It's almost as if it's a blog about his life. All the time he spends on the internet reminds me of myself on Blogger and all the friends I've made. Even if you don't end up Joining him yourself (I don't think I will), I'm sure you'll at the very least crack a smile. Go ahead. Look for the book and join him. In your mind, that is.

Fly by Night, by Frances Hardinge

I forget now whether I started on the 18th, right after Erec Rex 2, or the 19th. Either way, this book took me a while to read, because it's now the 22nd. I don't usually take 4 or 5 days on a book. Anyway, it was published in 2005, had 485 pages (pretty hefty) and the chapters were pretty interesting. There's a prologue, and then the chapters are marked with letters of the alphabet. "A is for Arson," "B is for Blackmail," etc. It goes all the way to "V is for Verdict," for some reason. I don't know why it stopped at V. Why not Z? I guess X and Z might've been tough to think up words for. So that makes...*counts alphabet on fingers (just kidding!)* 22 letters, plus prologue, makes 23 chapters.

So the story was okay. It takes place in a fictitious land that sounds a lot like 18th century England or something. There are poor villages and bustling cities, fancy talkers, highway men (old-fashioned robbers), wigs, horses and carriages, poor literacy except for scholars and others, basically the works. The book follows a 12 year old girl Mosca Mye (funny name. Everyone is named a bit weirdly) whose father (now dead) taught her to read and she escapes her home village to follow a man named Eponymous Clent, a man who has such a way with words. For some reason she brings with her a goose named Saracen, who is quite fierce. I guess he was handy for scaring the right people off. The book is so long that it was a little hard to keep up with the whole plot. There are these guild wars, rumors of an illegal printing press, the Duke is a bit mad, there's a murder, and all the people worship these numerous gods, which I find confusing, but it seems the multi-god worshipping is normal for Mosca. Everyone does it.

Anyway, I'm not sure I'd say I liked it very much, but I don't think it was that bad. I liked the language people used in that kind of time. It's as if the author went in a time machine and wrote the dialogue as the people then would say it. The whole book was written like one of those classics, I think, but not in the boring way. Plus, I liked how the ending went. Like, Mosca at first is offered a chance at living normally and in safety, but she wants to continue following Clent, no matter where they end up. She says something along the lines of, "Books aren't enough anymore. I don't want a happy ending, I want more story." That's a pretty good ending line, I think. It's not exactly the very last line, but it's close to there. I don't know who else would be interested in this book, but it would be good if you gave it a try.

Erec Rex: The Monsters of Otherness, by Kaza Kingsley

I have finished the 2nd Erec Rex book. I should remember to tell Kaza later. It had 345 pages and, if you count the prologue and the epilogue, 27 chapters. Not much bigger than the first book, I believe. It was published very recently, in 2008. That probably means it'll take a while for the next book to come out. It took me 2 days to read. The 16th and the 17th. I finished it last night. Okay, here's what I have to say about it.

I think I liked this book just as much as the 1st one. You told me I wouldn't catch any H.P. similarities, Kaza? Well, I think I did, but maybe only because I was looking for them. Like, all the angry mobs saying that both Erec and King Piter aren't fit to be their rulers and that the Stain brothers and Baskania are? That reminds me of the Order of the Pheonix, when no one believes Harry or Dumbledore when they say Voldemort has returned. Also, Balthazar Ugry still reminds me of Severus Snape. I really can't tell if he's a good guy or a bad guy. He does good things, but he hates Erec. I think in the epilogue it appears that he likes Erec's mom or something?...

Anyway, my favorite part of this story was the new character Tina. Of course, because my name is Bettina. If I hadn't known that you'd published this book long ago, I would've thought you'd added me in on purpose. But I only "met" you about a month ago, so it's just a normal coincidence. So moving on, Tina is cool. After the first note, I looked forward to Erec reading her letters because she sounded so sweet. See, Tina has a crush on Erec and she writes him fan-mail, because where she comes from he's a hero. Erec has no idea who this girl is, but he humors her by writing back replies. Her crush elevates. She even writes a good song for him. Then near the end, Erec finally meets Tina and she is not how he expected her to look, especially since she never supplied a picture of herself. She is, in fact, the creature standing behind them on the cover. I was pretty taken aback when I realized that with Erec. All along, I thought that monster was another character that was described as a green, reptile-like thing, Rocso Kroc. Hey, it might have been.

I thought that part of the book was the most interesting. I think I used to have a crush named Eric, but I never would've been brave enough to write him letters, even if I knew his mailing address. It also reminds me of certain correspondences I share with my Blogger friends, except I know from their pictures that they are certainly no Hydras. And everyone knows that I'm not one either! You can see my picture quite plainly! Um, but not here, that is. On my regular blog you can. For some reason my profile doesn't show anymore.

New Moon, by Stephenie Meyer

Man, oh man. What a follow-up to Twilight this book was! 565 pages, long, or 25 chapters. It took me 4 whole days to get through it. This time there wasn't a preview of the next book, so that was good. When I started this book on the 12th, I skipped the 1st chapter completely, since I remembered it perfectly from when I read it after finishing Twilight. But now, whenever I get Eclipse, I'm glad the whole thing will be a surprise. This was published 2006.

I absolutely loved it! It was just as awesome, maybe even more so, than it's predecessor. I'm sorry to have to disagree with Brian, but I thought this book was really good. I now understand why in the movie Twilight Victoria is shown in such a foreshadowing position, because she is quite a dangerous presence in the plot. She's never "shown" in the story, but she's a big threat to Bella anyway.

Anyway, like the first book, I found myself irresistibly, emotionally attached to the story somehow. It was again as if I were playing Bella, and whenever I put the book down I kept thinking about it, still feeling everything she told me she was feeling. When Edward dumped her, I thought her feeble existence in the following months was a bit pathetic, but I sympathized with her anyway. Still, it was cool when the plot picked up and she found a reason to live again. I loved getting to know Jacob Black. He's a really good character. Especially since his name is one letter away from someone I know ^,^ . Even him being a werewolf doesn't make me like him any less. I thought it was a little funny when Bella steps back and wonders why she finds herself so attracted to mythical monsters.

I think the last part was the best though. When Bella and Alice rush over to save Edward from killing himself. That was as exciting as when Bella was being hunted by James in the first book. Of course, as the story ends, I'm very curious about how things turn out. I mean, Bella likes Jacob, but she absolutely loves Edward. It seems inevitable that she's going to turn into a vampire herself sometime soon in the series, since she can't stand the idea of Edward looking forever young while she ages. I'm just so psyched about this series I can't stand waiting for the next part.

I'm sorry for giving away so many spoilers, and for making this a long review. I hope soon I'll get the chance to discuss this book with someone who's read it and shares my high approval. I also hope I won't be the only one reviewing books for much longer. Huh, now I wonder what I'm going to read next. How is it ever going to compare to this reading experience? I hope I don't set myself up for disappointment. Not everyone can write like Ms. Meyer.

The Last Invisible Boy, by Evan Kuhlman

This book has a ton of illustrations, all done by a guy named J. P. Coovert. It was published in 2008 and is 235 pages long, but has 89 (Oh, let's just call it 90) chapters. That makes the chapters very short, roughly averaging under 3 pages. I started it on Feb. 9 and then finished it just now on the 11th. I've gotta say, after having read the juvenile Masterpiece, I thought this book would be one for the young 'uns too, but it actually was really good, even when I finally learned that the main character, Finn Garrett, was only 12.

By the title, you'd probably think it was about a kid who has an invisible family and he has all kinds of fun, but that's not quite it. It's more of a picture journal of random stuff in a boy's life who's just lost his father and is for some unearthly reason turning very pale and ghost-like, as if he's about to be erased from existence. It's not like he got bitten by a radioactive spider or got attacked by a ghost or anything, so it's a bit weird. You just have to suspend belief, pretend that boys start turning morbidly invisible after their dad dies.

Anyway, I really liked it. It's not like the stupid Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. It's almost like Finn is writing a blog of his life, and he has such a cool writing style that I wish I was able to follow him. He has a funny little quirk too, which is finding out the meanings of people's names and seeing if they fit their owners. Those kind of quirks are fun, and really make you feel like you know a person. For example, I love making up names of characters out of words hardly anyone uses and making them a play on words, so that someday I'll be able to write about a book about them and their funny adventures. Like this. Ever hear of altruism? I think it means putting others first, and being self-sacrificing. So I made up a character named Altru, who is a brave young knight in training, kind of like the Denduron knight, Alder, from the Pendragon universe. I also know someone who has a funny quirk of writing down fascinating ideas for chapter titles. ^,^

So I think you should look out for this book. All the pictures in it make it a nice, non-difficult read, which should be good news to the people who usually resist reading. It might take awhile to discover what actually happened to Finn's dad and why he's turning invisible, but that's only because it's a touchy subject for Finn. By the way he writes, I think there's going to be a couple sequels. Just like someone waiting for the next great blog post, I'll be waiting.

Masterpiece, by Elise Broach

This book was published in 2008. It had 290 pages and 38 chapters, so the chapters were pretty short, roughly 7 pages per. I read the whole thing in one day, on February 8. I like it when I read a book in a day. There are many pictures in it, drawn by Kelly Murphy. Interesting. With the last book I read by Broach, Shakespeare's Secret, she let Brett Helquist do the cover art. Anyway, the story is basically about a little raisin-sized beetle named Marvin (I wish I knew why) and a young boy named James. Marvin lives in James's house with his whole family of beetles. When Jame's turns 11, he gets a pen and ink set from his dad, and Marvin draws a picture with it as a present for James, not really thinking about the consequences. I won't reveal the rest of the story, but Marvin's writing style is said to mirror the style of the late Albrecht Durer, and there's art forgery involved.

I'm not sure how I liked this book, since it's about young characters. I shouldn't be reading these kind of books anymore. But I would definitely recommend this to beginning readers. It reminds me of that old Beverly Cleary classic, what was it, the Mouse and the Motorcycle? Also the Pixar movie Ratatouille. Like, it's an animal doing something that everyone else thinks the human is doing. Basically I would give Masterpiece a B minus, if I was to be handing out grades. Maybe someone like my 11 year old brother Adam would enjoy this more.

Here's the link to Elise Broach's website, though I personally think it looks a bit childish.

Bone #6: Old Man's Cave, by Jeff Smith

I'm beginning to think I don't care for my strict book review form anymore. I'm the only one who really cares for statistics (probably because I'm a Virgo), and you're probably as tired of them as I am. You probably just skip the numbers to get to the real descriptions anyway. So I'm just going to tell you the facts straight up.

You know the book's title and the author's name because they're in the post title, so we don't need to worry about that. Also, in case you're curious when this book was published (I always am, because usually I find I like more recently published books than old, dusty classics) the graphic novel itself is from 2007, but since these used to be old comics they were originally published about 10 years ago. I also like mentioning how long a book is, because then you would know if you might enjoy such a book length. This Bone book has 118 pages of comic pictures, compiled into 5 chapters. So roughly 24 pages for each chapter. This was so easy to read that I tackled it in one day, easy-peasy. Today, actually, February 8, in one morning, one sitting. I find I can read the Bone books very quickly. Anway, this one was good. Bone is such a cute character. I'm not sure how to describe the story, since I haven't bothered to describe all the other novels, but I seriously reccomend the series if you haven't taken it up yet. It's kind of like, high fantasy, with dragons and a princess and talking animals and stuff. I think there are nine books in the series. I love graphic novels like these.

Yes, I think this is a much better way to do book reviews. For one thing, the cover picture is a lot bigger. For another, it makes it a lot easier for someone else to contribute to this blog. That's right. I'm not going to be the only one writing book reviews for long. At least, I don't think so. My friend, Jacoby, of Ditto's Pad and Picture Perfect, has expressed interest in being Team Members with me, which means more than one person can write a blog together. From here on out, you're gonna see which books the two of us enjoy. This is going to be fun, sharing a blog with someone on the oppisite side of the country! See you, Jacoby.

BTW, here is the link to the Boneville website. And I'm not very sure, but in the Bone Wikipedia article, it says there might be a movie about the series in the future, but it was only announced last year, so they're probably nowhere close to finishing. No preview of it yet. But keep your eyes peeled.

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins

Title: The Hunger Games

Author: Suzanne Collins

Published: 2008

Pages: 375

Chapters: 27

Pages per Chapter (on average): 13+

Date Started: Feb. 5-----Date Finished: Feb. 7

My Reading Speed:125 pages a day, or 9 chapters a day

The Main Characters: Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, two teens from District 12 competing in the Hunger Games.

My Brief Synopsis: Another kind of alternate future, except it's clear that there used to be an America. There is now this country called Panem, and it's divided into 13 sections. I don't now whether to call them states or something, but there are 12 Districts, numbered 1 through 12 (quite unoriginal) and the Capitol in the center. Kind of like Emerald City being in the center of Oz. The Capitol controls the districts somehow, and they make the poor Districts compete in these terrible games every year that are all televised and about survival. One boy and one girl from each district, aged between 12 and 18, that makes 24 kids, must battle to the death in the wilderness, with very few supplies, to be the last one standing. Now, the story follows Katniss, a girl who hunts to keep food on the table for her family. Her father's dead. She lives in District 12, the poorest and worst reputed district in the country. District 12 players rarely ever win the Hunger Games. Katniss volunteers for the games instead of her little sister, who was initially chosen.

The Conflicts: The boy from District 12, a boy named Peeta, is secretly in love with Katniss, even though she barely knows him. So there's a little romance. But that's a problem, because only one person can survive the Hunger Games. It's a very serious competition, kind of like those survivor game shows (I never watch them) except you actually have to kill your opponents. I didn't see any real bad guys except for Katniss' opposition.

My General Comments: Well, I really liked it. The story is much more exciting than I've described it, trust me. I don't think I did it justice. It's just hard to describe. I think the story reminded me a lot of the 7th Pendragon book's plotline. You know, The Quillan Games? The Hunger Games? Very deadly contests? If you liked that, I believe you'll enjoy this story.

My Favorite Part: I liked the part a little before the Hunger Game begins, like when Katniss and Peeta enjoy more food than they're used to, and they go in a parade and get interviewed, and Katniss' stylist, a kind man named Cinna, turns her very beautiful with wild costumes, and she scores an 11 out of 10 for her training score because she surprised the judges or something. I also like the part where the game is almost over and Katniss and Peeta make an alliance and try surviving together. I won't give too much away though.

My Favorite Things About the Book: I like how the characters seemed so believable. Like, you can believe that people like them could really exist. Even the funny ones, like this lady named Effie, who's a bit fussy and annoying, and Haymitch, the last living District 12 victor, who is a bit of a drunk at first but then really helps Katniss and Peeta becuase he believes they can survive, they seem very real. One of my favorite characters was definitely Cinna. He's very skilled at being a stylist, and he brought out the best in Katniss' looks.

A Personal Shout Out to Suzanne Collins: I don't when you plan on unveiling the 2nd book, or what's going to happen next (in the end, the Hunger Games are over and it's very open-ended. I won't say who won though), but I think your series is one worth following. Keep up the good work!

Here's the link to the Hunger Games's Wikipedia Article.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunger_Games

Below is the Suzanne Collins's website:

http://www.suzannecollinsbooks.com/

What is your favorite part? If you haven't read this book, sorry for all the spoilers, but you can comment and say if this book review was helpful. If you have read this book, please give me a comment or email me so we can discuss it. This would be the closest I've ever gotten to a book club, you know.

The Giver, by Lois Lowry

Title: The Giver

Author: Lois Lowry

Published: 1993

Pages: 180

Chapters: 23

Pages per Chapter (on average): 7+

Date Started: Feb. 5 -----Date Finished: Feb. 5

My Reading Speed: 180 pages a day, or 23 chapters a day

The Main Characters: A 12 year old boy named Jonas and an old man known as the Giver.

My Brief Synopsis: Well, in this alternate future, there's a community with loads of rules and everything is very orderly and painless and all the same. There are very rigid traditions, like what happens when children reach certain ages, and the family units. Everything is just too perfect. No one feels anything, they just do their assigned job and live their lives. But there is a special old man, the Reciever, who holds all of humanity's old memories of what life used to be like, before the Sameness. All the good memories and the bad ones. Since he's getting too old, a new Reciever must be chosen to bear the burden of memories, so at the ceremony of Twelves, Jonas is selected to become the next Reciever and get training from the old man. So the man becomes the Giver. The story is all told from Jonas's point of view.

The Conflicts: There aren's any villains, necessarily, but the bad memories Jonas has to bear, like war, hunger, pain and loss, are very difficult. He learns how people who are "Released" from the community are actually killed by getting a special shot from a syringe.

My General Comments: I've actually read this book before, years ago. After reading the Ember series, I thought I would enjoy this, but I find that it's not the same thing. I think the city of Ember, though underground, was a much more fascinating and active place than this dull Community. Also, I have no idea how the Giver is able to pass the memories on to Jonas. It's a bit like magic. It doesn't make much sense. It's sad how no one is able to have real feelings like the Recievers do. They can't even see in color, for some reason. Somehow, they've done away with that. What do they have, grey? No, that's a color too. So how can you imagine something that's colorless?

My Favorite Part: I'm not sure I have a favorite part here. It's an okay book. Fascinating concepts to think about. But you can only understand it when you read about it. It's very hard to convey to someone who doesn't know. It's hard to imagine how a life like that could be real, but it exercises the imagination and makes you think, "Well, okay, so what if it could happen?"

My Reaction to the Book: I suppose overall I got a funny feeling from this story. I'm not sure I liked it. Plus it was too short. I read it much too quickly. But that's funny, because Lowry's other book I've read this year, The Willoughbys, was short and finished quickly too. I liked that better, I think, because it was much better story. It was more satisfying, so I didn't mind that it was short. I believe there are companion books to The Giver, which make it a trilogy. The other 2 are Gathering Blue and The Messanger, but I don't feel any curiosity in pursuing them.

A Personal Shout Out to Lois Lowry: Sorry Lois, but I liked The Willoughbys a loooad better.

Here's the link to the Giver's Wikipedia Article.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Giver

Below is the Lois Lowry's website:

http://www.loislowry.com/

What is your favorite part? If you haven't read this book, sorry for all the spoilers, but you can comment and say if this book review was helpful. If you have read this book, please give me a comment or email me so we can discuss it. This would be the closest I've ever gotten to a book club, you know.

January Books

Sorry. I wanted to write this yesterday, but you know, the Superbowl. I stayed up too late.

Anyway, what a month of reading for me, huh? 9 official books I've reviewed here, but I believe I should have counted a few other books on my list. On my trips to Borders I've continued to read the Bone graphic novels by Jeff Smith, and now I'm up to #6. They're really fun. Also I read a piece of non-fiction cover to cover, If you Want to Write, which, obviously, gives you advice on how to write good stuff. The picture below isn't the same cover as the one I read, but it sure looks better. (Thanks for recommending it, Jacoby!) It's a good book even for people who don't want to write, because it addresses on any creative outlet. If you're an artist, a musician, a chef, or anything else, you can read this book and gain from it. Good, so anyway, *say it like Leslie* I suppose that, technically, this means I've read 14 books this month. Whew!

The Books of Ember series was awesome. I'll never forget it. The movie of The City of Ember was really good, very accurate in the plot details. I hope there's a sequel soon. I look forward to continuing the Twilight Saga. I'm so glad that I saw the movie, because it was so amazingly close to the book. I didn't like the book Coraline so much, as you already know, but the movie will come out in theaters very soon, and I think I will enjoy it a lot better (it's in 3D!) Erec Rex I liked, and The Titan's Curse, so I'll probably read more of them this month. I absolutely loved The Host. It would be too complex to make into a movie, but it would be really cool if someone did. I hope someday to add The Willoughbys to my future personal library. Fone Bone is so cute, and he and his cousins have really awesome adventures. I think the writing book was pretty helpful. I'll get to put it's advice to good use this month. I have 13 Writing Days to look forward to in February! (Check my regular blog.)

Ah, it's so nice to see all the covers of the books I've read all lined up like that. I'm not sure what the first book I'm going to read this month is, since I've got nothing now, but I hope it'll be good. If you guys want to comment, tell me which book review of mine you liked the most.