Nightlight, by The Harvard Lampoon

This book is freakin' hilarious! A complete parody of the Twilight Saga, this thin parody will give you a barrel of laughs with every page turn. Seriously, I dare you to try reading it aloud and NOT feel the urge to giggle. XD

The characters are Belle Goose and Edwart Mullen. (Clever names, are they not?) Belle is waaaay crazy and self-absorbed. She doesn't make any sense with her ramblings and thought-processes, but that doesn't stop her from being funny. When she catches sight of pale, handsome, but terribly geeky Edwart, she is positive that he is a vampire. (Is he? You are certainly left guessing until the very end.)

Since this book was little over a hundred pages, I finished it really quickly. Sometimes I read a few choice passages aloud to my brother and sister, and it never failed to make us l.o.l., or laugh out loud, if you prefer.

Yeah, so definitely check this out. It is as good as (if not better than) any of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight books. Trust me. You won't be sorry reading this book. (Unless you die of laughter.)

Short Stories

It appears that what I think are my favorite types of books in the world seems to come in phases to me. In 2007, my Harry Potter phase pretty much ended (because all the books were written), along with my ASOUE (A Series Of Unfortunate Events) phase around that same time. Then in 2008 I started my Pendragon phase, which sadly ended last year ~,~ (but it was an awesome ride all the same! ^_^). By the end of that year, I began blogging and a new collective phase opened up: James Dashner books, the Twilight saga, and popular books recommended on other book blogs in general. Also really big books. I loved big tomes that I could spend more than one day on.

For much of 2009 and 2010, it was clear that I was in my graphic novel phase. Maybe my readers have noticed this? First there was Bone and Flight, and then Cirque Du Freak and Runaways, plus lots of others. I only post about the good ones though. I've probably read many more graphic novels than I've bothered to mention, because I always read them very quickly. So I can be in a bookstore or the library, and if I see a catching graphic novel, I'll read it in one sitting. And then I'll gobble up another, and another if I'm lucky. Yes, graphic novels are truly awesome. I love their quickness. ^_^

And now folks, you will be witness to the birth of another book-loving phase. Now I am in love with *drumroll, please*: The Short Story. Or to be more specific, the Short Story Collection. Here's what happened.

First, I came upon this book in the library. The curious cover caught my eye, and when I saw Diana Wynne Jones on the cover I got even more interested (name recognition). So I took it out. I'm quite glad I did. There's a lot of funny stuff in those 15 short stories + 1 novella. Characters, worlds, styles, situations, mostly different, but all thoroughly entertaining. ^_^ Just like a graphic novel, I read through them all pretty quickly, but I also took my time a little, taking breaks between stories.

The theme for each story was pretty much what the title says: Unexpected Magic. Which meant that in each story, the characters either try to use magic but it doesn't turn out the way they thought it would, or they're normal people who fall victim to strange occurrences. I believe my favorite stories were the couple that were told from a cat's point of view. I loved the way the cats thought and reacted to situations.

The next time I went to the library, I found 2 books entirely by chance. I don't really remember why I took them down from the shelf in the first place. I'd certainly never heard of a guy named Bruce Coville before. But they looked like thin quick reads, and the titles kind of caught my eye. Oddly Enough, and Odder Than Ever. Obviously, these books were part of a series. Then I saw that they were both short story books, just like the one Diana Wynne Jones wrote! Once I looked at the inside flaps of both books, I was sold.

As with Unexpected Magic, the title said it all. These stories, in one way or another, were odd. The characters were odd, or the whole situation was odd. The hero either meets, or becomes, something entirely strange. Mythical creatures like ghosts, vampires, werewolves, monsters, brownies, elves, and angels are covered in this book.

When the stories were supposed funny, I really enjoyed their humor. And when the stories were told in all seriousness, I appreciated the worlds and ideas that Bruce had come up with. Definitely a wonderful book to read. Which is why I was very happy that I had the foresight to take out the next book.

This was kind of more of the same, but the stories were all totally different. I loved them all a lot. ^_^ There's nothing more for me to say.

I didn't see this in the library, but I heard that it was another book in the Odd Story Collection series. I am definitely going to look for it next time I'm there, just because I loved the first 2 books, and because I am now crazy about short stories. ^_^

Really, you've got to read these books. They are all utterly amazing. Those short stories I read gave me lots of ideas, perhaps even inspired me, as a writer. They made me think about how you don't have to tell a story that spans 200 or 300 pages long. The story can be simple and to the point, and it can affect the reader just as much, in a fraction of the reading time.

Jim Henson's The Storyteller, by Anthony Minghella

You can compare this book to J. K. Rowling's fantastic Tales of Beedle the Bard, the small but exciting collection of Wizard fairy tales. The difference is that Rowling's stories were brief, to the point, and completely original. The tales found in Jim Henson's The Storyteller, on the other hand, take quite a few pages to read (maybe half an hour when you're reading out loud), have long and winding (but still exciting and suspenseful!) plot-lines, and were apparently old European folk tales handed down from generations.

I promise you, these stories are absolutely fantastic! Each one is like a mixture of the fairy tales I'm familiar with, like Beauty and the Beast, Hansel and Gretel, Rumpelstiltskin, etc. There's magic, clever characters, evil witches and giants, and good triumphing over evil, but hearing them told, they feel somewhat different from the ordinary tales I know. The characters are always portrayed as strong-willed, masters of their own destinies. They aren't stupid like Jack, who climbed the Beanstalk, or helpless damsels in distress like Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty. Interestingly enough though, the expression "3rd time's the charm" seems to apply very heavily in each story.

I loved reading these stories. The writing style is extremely entertaining. What alliteration! The book is written just as if you were hearing someone tell the tales to you, in the oral tradition. Each story is simply amazing. The best part about it is that you can truly see these tales come to life, by viewing them on YouTube! Jim Henson transformed these amazing tales into mini-movies for television, making fantastic creatures come alive by way of the skilled puppetry (or "muppetry") he was famous for. I can't possibly pick a favorite. Perhaps you'll have better luck? I'll attach a link to each story's respective YouTube video clips, so you can see them for yourself. (Well, it at least shows the first part of them. Seeing the rest is up to you.)

The Three Ravens

Hans My Hedgehog

The Soldier and Death

The Luck Child

The True Bride

Fearnot

The Heartless Giant

Sapsorrow

Unfortunately, I can't find the YouTube link to the tale "A Story Short", which is quite a shame, because that's a story that actually has the storyteller himself in it. Oh well. Enjoy the stories anyway. And please, check out the book too. It's so much fun to read these stories aloud! ^_^

Rapunzel's Revenge, by Shannon Hale

I seem to be reading a lot of graphic novels lately. I don't know what it is about 2010 that is making me read so many G.N.s, but I'm glad I'm reading some good stuff here. When the story is good and the art style is appealing, they are quick and easy reading. I think that's what I love about them. I can go to a book store or a library and leave having enjoyed another wild adventure.

Anyway, after just a couple visits to the library (once a few days ago and once yesterday), I finished my first book by Shannon Hale. How cool that it was a graphic novel. I've heard that my friend Q is quite the fan of Shannon Hale. Well, she has pretty good taste. Rapunzel's Revenge was a wonderful take on an old fairy tale, with a few certain changes. For example, Rapunzel escapes from her own tower (a taaaall tree hollowed out at the top) with her extremely long hair, which she braids and uses as a couple of lassos. (Go girl power!) Then she befriends a guy named Jack (who seems to be Jack from the Beanstalk story) and together they journey across the land so Rapunzel can settle the score with her "mother", the witch.

Quite action packed and well worth looking into. In fact, I've learned that this book actually has a sequel that was published at the beginning of the year. It's called Calamity Jack. I suppose it focuses more on Jack this time, but Rapunzel still follows him. From the cover alone, it looks great. Since I liked the first book so much, I've already reserved it from the library. I hope it comes in soon.

While at the library, I also had time to finish another graphic novel, though this one was really short. Wallace and Gromit are such a funny claymation duo. It's a very quick mystery about dogs going missing and since Wallace and Gromit are amateur sleuths, they get to solve it. Well, Gromit the dog does, anyway. Wallace just runs into dead ends, but ends up taking the credit anyway. Very sweet, anyway.

Recent books

I'll probably be ready to post a couple new reviews very soon, but I thought I'd let you know what I've been reading these days.

On July 11th, the day I met Julie Andrews in person (see full story here ^_~), I read and finished a couple books while waiting in the bookstore. One was the children's book that Julie had written with her daughter Emma, The Very Fairy Princess. (We actually have Julie Andrew's autograph on the front page!) Of course, being a children's book it was very easy to read in one sitting. The pictures were pretty cute, and it's definitely a nice book to read to one's own little princess. Who knows? Might become one of those classics or something...

The other one I read was another Runaways novel, though this one was much, much thinner. Apparently the huge one was a compilation of 3 volumes, and I think this one was Volume 4, True Believers. The story that continues was as good as before, with some new friends and new villains to fight. The ending was, once again, very cliffhanger-ly and totally unexpected. It's really cool, having a book series that can surprise you like that.

The next time I went to Borders, I read Runaways Volume 5, Escape to New York, only I wasn't quite able to finish that one. I wanted to, but there was just no time. I think I got a third of the way in, perhaps half. For some reason, the art style had noticeably changed, but I don't think it made the story any less enjoyable. Some really strange twists in it, though, especially concerning Karolina, the girl from another planet. 0,o

A book my sister took out from the library recently that I've tried to finish, but I guess I've lost interest in it, is called The Back of the Napkin. It's a very informational book about solving problems easier by putting them into simple picture form. Basically there are 4 simple principles to follow: Look, See, Imagine, and Show. In drawing your pictures, you ask yourself 6 questions: Who/what, How many/ much, Where, When, How, and Why. Very easy stuff to understand. I just got half-way through and didn't bother with finishing the rest.

Currently, I'm juggling 2 books at a time that are holding my interest very well, a novel and a biography. I started reading Standard Hero Behavior I believe weeks ago in a different, less familiar library branch. It's a very charming, funny, kind of medieval story, along the lines of Once/ Twice Upon a Marigold, or How to Train your Dragon. I only finished the first chapter before we had to leave that time, but now I've taken it out from our regular library and am currently enjoying it.

As recent as a couple days ago, Annette and I were on YouTube and we watched a Muppet tribute to Jim Henson's death. It was very sweet, and I even cried. I had no idea that he had died in 1990. Reminiscing about my favorite Muppet films, I've begun to realize exactly how much HARD work must have been put into making these fantastic creatures come to life. I reserved 3 or 4 books about Jim Henson from the library, but my sister happened to find this book on the shelf. It's very big, but there's lots of pictures, and a lot of info about his accomplishments and his friends and his life that I never knew about before.

Look forward to reviews for these two fantastic books. Believe it or not, I'm a couple of chapters away from finishing the both of them. ^_^

A couple graphic novels

Finally, my first book review in ages! This review is actually for two books, two graphic novels. One I liked very much (^_^), and the other one... not so much (0,o).

The one I read first was recommended to me by a new random blog friend. On first sight, I thought "Nuh-uh, I don't think it's for me." I don't know, something about the art-style, and the kind of genre... But I judge books by their covers way too often, so finally I read through it and gave it a try.

Harry Dresden, the wizard/detective and hero of this story, slightly reminded me of an Indiana Jones type, but with less of a sense of humor, in my opinion. I wasn't exactly thrilled with the story itself, but since it was a graphic novel I flew through the pages easily enough. I can kind of see why other people would like it, such as my friend, but sorry. Not my particular style.

Now this was a random graphic novel that I started paging through in the library. It's a superhero series about 6 kids who discover that their parents are actually super-villains. The teens band together, run away from home, discover powers of their own, and try to figure out a way to stop their evil parents from destroying the world. The story and the art-style seemed to come from the same Marvel universe of super-heroes such as Captain America or Spiderman, which was really neat.

I tell you, this book was HUGE! I later found out that it's because it was a collection of 18 of these Runaways comic magazines wrapped in one book. Because of it's size (and weight! *,*) I debated whether or not I should borrow it. The story seemed worth it though, and I didn't want to wait until our next library visit, so I took it out. I'm definitely glad I did. It was awesome! ^_^

My favorite thing about it, I believe, was the character development. I really think that by the end, all the characters had become slightly different people, in a good way. Oh, and what a surprising ending... I didn't see it coming at all! I thought I knew who would be the traitor, but I was dead wrong! It was the very person I never even suspected!!!

My final word: Definitely check out Runaways. And if it so happens to be your style, maybe try out the Dresden Files. I wouldn't, but no one's stopping you, right?

The Tao of Pooh, by Benjamin Hoff

I love Winnie the Pooh. I never read the classic children's books, but I saw the Disney's "Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" when I was little. What a special character. Though he's a bear of very little brain, he is the most lovable creature in the Hundred Acre Wood. Plus, as revealed in this book, he displays characteristics and practices many of the principles of a Taoist (pronounced DOW-ist).

The Tao of Pooh compares the different characters in Pooh's world - Rabbit, Owl, Tigger, Eeyore, Piglet, you remember them, Don't you? - to the simple, peaceful wiseness of Pooh's personality. While Rabbit is clever, Owl pompous, Tigger impatient, Eeyore depressed and Piglet hesitant, Winnie the Pooh simply... is. He's always in the Now, enjoying a beautiful day with a jar of honey and Christopher Robin by his side.

What I loved about this book is that it included several passages from the classic stories. What a brilliant children's author A. A. Milne was. ^_^ It makes me want to actually read the Pooh books. Maybe I'll find them online somewhere. But even if you're not familiar with the characters of the Hundred Acre Wood, I think just about anyone will like this book.

Recent books I've finished

I've been reading a lot of books in the last few days and I don't want to go through the trouble of giving each their own separate review, so here's all of them in one go.

Home, by Julie Andrews ~ I find it pretty interesting how I'm starting to get as attracted to reading biographies as I am to fiction. It's extremely educational, because you get to find out who the person behind all the fame is, what their family life was like and their whole outlook on life. Although this book doesn't cover her entire life, just from when she was born to when Walt Disney asked her to play Mary Poppins, it was written very well (apparently her daughter helped her write it ^_^) and I liked it very much.

The Calvin and Hobbes Lazy Sunday Book, by Bill Watterson ~ An adorable collection of Calvin and Hobbes comic strips. I've seen these characters in the funny pages from time to time, but reading a whole book of them, I've got a much better idea of them. It's about a 6-year-old boy with the craziest imagination (Calvin), whose beloved stuffed tiger (Hobbes) is his imaginary best friend, like a big brother to him. They tease each other, cheat in their little games, and Hobbes likes to pounce on Calvin when he comes home from school, but it's plain to see that they are the best of friends. I like the strips when Calvin is the central character, though. The line drawn between his imagination and reality is very thin indeed. He can be the heroic Spaceman Spiff, and he sees his parents, teachers and his neighbor Susie (a girl across the street who probably likes him) as terrifying aliens holding him captive that he must escape from. What a world this kid lives in.

Your Erroneous Zones, by Wayne Dyer ~ I recently finished reading this with my sister, Annette. It took us a long time to read, since we read a chapter out loud to each other a day, and we didn't exactly read it every day. But I'm proud to have finished it, so I'm listing it here. While this is a very educational book, I wouldn't recommend it for light reading. It talks about identifying the negative behaviors you may have put on yourself over the course of your life and getting rid of them.

I also wanted to say that I'm close to finishing these 2 books: Here Comes Everybody, a book about how the World Wide Web and its myriad tools have changed the way people interact with each other, and the Visual Quickstart Guide Annette and I are studying to learn about Illustrator CS4. The latter book has been extremely helpful to my sister and I.

I have no idea what books I'm going to follow up with after these. I wonder if anyone actually reads these reviews. It appears that for the entire year of 2010 I've only gotten 1 comment a month. Am I just crying out to an empty area of cyberspace? Hmm, maybe what I've been reading lately isn't that interesting to other people... Well, this blog is meant for me to keep track of the books I read over the years, so I don't care whether I get commented on or not. It may give my ego a little boost if someone decides to let me know that I pointed out a good read to them, but I don't need it.

I never thought I'd say this, but perhaps there's more to life than just reading book after book...

The Small Business Millionaire, by Steve Chandler and Sam Beckford

Since this book was such a short one, I'll keep my review of it short. I thought the story was pretty good, but the way it was written left something to be desired. It's about a man and his grown-up daughter who run a restaurant together, but the restaurant doesn't bring many customers in, even though the man's food is top notch. They spend lots of money on advertising (and go into deep debt this way), but nothing seems to work until a successful young man decides to help them. He seems to know everything about how one should handle a small business, and gives both the owner and the daughter huge life lessons. By the book's end, (need I say more?) the restaurant is hugely successful and everyone lives happily ever after.

I don't think it had enough action in it for me, or enough mystery. Yeah, it's supposed to teach readers what attitudes they should have towards business, but it was told in a fictional manner so I thought it might be a bit more riveting. I didn't like the dialogue very much at times. Mostly, I think if you asked me my end reaction towards this book, it would be, "Meh."

Book News #3

Since I went to the library yesterday, I thought it would be a good time to post some more book news. We checked out a ton of DVDs, but also plenty of books. Before I get into that, I want to say that since The Compound, I've kind of decided to give reading fiction a bit of a break, and I'll be reviewing more non-fiction type books.

Currently I'm reading Dean and Me, which is a biography that Jerry Lewis, one of my favorite comedians, wrote about his years working with his straight man partner, Dean Martin, before they broke up. I'm pretty much halfway through, and it's really great so far. My sister and dad said I just had to read this as soon as I was done with all my fantasy reads, so I did. You won't have to wait too long for a review of this. ^_^

Once again in a library visit, I tackled a graphic novel in one sitting. It was the second Alex Rider book, and I think it's amazing that I was able to find it so soon after the first one! I wonder if I'll be so lucky to find the third graphic novel... I kind of doubt it. But anyway, this book was just as exciting as the one before it. It was very fun to pass my time in the library reading through Alex's adventure. It was interesting to me when he got his hair cut for the mission. He looked so different! But cool. The villain was really creepy, you just hate him. So weird how he cloned himself... the ending is quite a twist too.

Okay, now I'll get to the books we checked out that I'm very likely going to read in the near future. After the Martin & Lewis book, I'm not sure what I'll read. Annette has other non-fiction books recommended for me that I want to get to, but she decided to check this book out for herself. Since she and I have developed semi-different reading tastes, I don't know how she picks books. Random, I guess. =P Well, it's called Send, and it seems to be all about the subject of emailing, which I think is very interesting. Who knows? Maybe I'll get to it next.

Okay, now this book was NOT checked out for a bit of light reading. In fact, it's quite serious. It's a how-to book on how to use the computer program Macromedia Dreamweaver 8. All part of Annette and my digital education. We've gone through these type of books before, for learning Flash or Photoshop or how to write PHP code. We think of it like a 90-day college course. I'm not sure when this class will start for us, but if I happen to pick up some really cool tips from it, I'll try to share them with you. Or I'll just give a status update of how far we are into it.

This last book I checked out for myself. I've had my eye on it for a while on what I call the "Treasure Trove shelf". I probably won't get to it for a long time, but it makes me feel good just to have this kind of book nearby. I'll try to make this one last. Reincarnation, by Suzanne Weyn. I've never heard of her, but she seems to have written a couple interesting books. This opinion is purely based on the synopses on the inside covers, you understand. From what I gather, this one seems to be about a boy and a girl who keep running into each other through reincarnation. They never recognize each other in their different lives, but they feel the same strange attraction. I don't know anything beyond that, but I have a strong feeling that this one will be a keeper. ^_^

Before I wrap this book news post up, I'd like to add that I am also currently reading a manuscript that my awesome friend Graham Bradley is letting me read and critique, Ghost Machines. I've read a couple other of his books, which were simply awesome, and I do believe he has a non-fiction book that is in the process of being published. ^_^ So lucky of him! Anyway, I haven't gotten that far, just 3 or so chapters, but I still think it's quite good. I only read it in my spare time though, so I don't know how quickly I'll finish it. I'll definitely be sure to let Graham know as soon as I do! ^_~

Some Graphic Novels I've read

I love graphic novels, but usually I read them so fast and in one sitting, in the library or in the bookstore, that I doubt whether or not they should count in my book count or not. Well, last night I read a really cool graphic novel, so I decided that now would be as good a time as any to bring up some of the books I've read this year that I neglected to review.

First, there is Zot. I read this in my Borders, on the first Friday of the year, I believe. Well, it was a Friday. Anyway, I was attracted to the book right away, because of it's author, Scott McCloud. This guy has written a bunch of other books: Understanding Comics, Reinventing Comics, and Making Comics. And guess what? All those books are written in a comic format! It's really cool to be learning about comics as you're reading them. So I read all of these a couple years ago, and when I saw this book, I quickly picked it up and read as much as I could before we had to leave. I couldn't finish it, unfortunately (I'll have to wait until we go back to Borders again), but here's what I picked up.

Zot is about 2 worlds. There's our Earth, where teenage girl Jenny (I think that's her name) lives, and then there's an alternate Earth, where there are flying cars and robots and world peace, where the boy nicknamed Zot lives. Even if he lives in an idyllic reality though, Zot's world has supervillains, and he's the hero who saves the day with his rocket boots and gadgets and boundless optimism. He never loses on his world. At the beginning of the book, I immediately think I'm missing something, because it's from Jenny's point of view, and it seemed as if they were already tentative boyfriend girlfriend, and she knew about his world, but she was missing him because he hadn't shown up for a while. But I kind of got up to speed, and there's cool saving the world fights, and Zot kind of realizes that on our Earth, he doesn't always win and stop the bad guy. Like I said, I'd have to read more to find out what happens, but I'm definitely going to pick this book up next chance I get.

It was probably sometime last week when I read this book, Dead High Yearbook. It was at the library, and I read it all in one shot. This graphic novel was... okay. Not something I'd rave about or recommend to everybody, but the stories were kind of good, and I really liked the artwork. See, I wouldn't be reading any graphic novel if I didn't like the look of it's artwork. This actually seemed to be a bunch of different styles, because it was by different artists. It was a collection of stories about the supernatural deaths of some high school students. It reminded me a little of the Twilight Zone or something. I wonder if there will be any other books like this in the future. I think it hinted at the end that there were more, but maybe those stories won't be told. I don't know. I don't need to get my hopes up.

Finally, the last book I want to talk about. I read this, too, at the library, in just one sitting. The art attracted me immediately, plus I remembered that a friend had once recommended the series to me. (Thanks Rainy! ^_~) It was a graphic novel adaptation of Alex Rider, Stormbreaker. Really a cool story. It takes place in England, and it's about this teen boy named Alex Rider, whose uncle is a secret agent, but Alex doesn't know it. One day the uncle is killed, and Alex finds out that all his life he's been trained to one day take his uncle's place. It's funny, because the first thing he says when he discovers the spy headquarters is, "Is this Hogwarts?" He gets all these gadgets and, predictably, uses them all in the course of the story to defeat the villain and his evil plot to take over the world.

In graphic novel form, I thought the story was really entertaining and funny. It was like when I read the graphic novel to the first Pendragon book, and found that I loved the series! Later I discovered that there are a couple graphic novels that come after this one, so I might find these and go through the first 3 books in the series that way. I don't know if I want to read the actual books. I might, but I won't count on it. There is also a movie of Stormbreaker, which I've posted a trailer to, but I'm really hesitant to watch it. Since it was a graphic novel, it was fun to notice all the scenes I'd read about when I saw them in the preview, but I've heard that the film actually isn't that good. It's a little too cartoony, and the believability of it flies out the window. It's an awesome story in book form, though not in a live action movie.

I'll try to be a lot better at reviewing the graphic novels I read in the future! I promise.

Coming up next, very soon: Shades of Grey, by Jasper Fforde.

Stargirl, by Jerry Spinelli

I remember that last year (before this blog) I read a couple Jerry Spinelli books and really enjoyed them. For some reason I haven't read anything else by him in quite a while, but I found this book of his on the library's YA shelf. It was of a thin length, so I knew it would be an easy read. I basically based my decision for checking out a book on whether the synopsis on the back or the inside flap told a good story that would hook me in. And this book certainly did that trick.

Like The Rule of Won, this book takes place in the regular world of high school students, no fantasy or sci-fi elements whatsoever. On the first day of school, a strange new girl no one has seen before shows up and blows their minds away! Why, you ask? Because she's crazy! Incredibly friendly to perfect strangers, genuinely kind and caring, spontaneous, and a joy to be around. She absolutely does not believe in peer pressure. Other ways that she is different: She dresses in weird costumes, she brings her pet rat to school with her, she plays the ukulele (which she uses to sing Happy Birthday to whoever's birthday it is on any given day. Yeah, somehow, she knows everybody's birth dates) and at school games, she cheers for the other team as well as her own!

Her name, oddly enough, is Stargirl. This actually isn't her given name, but she claims that she likes to wear names like articles of clothing, and she replaces them when they don't fit anymore, so this time she calls herself Stargirl. At the start, everyone loves Stargirl and she becomes the most popular girl in school, because she's so honest and not fake, and gives off such a good energy. But then the kids find a reason to strongly dislike her different-ness, even hating her for it, so they collectively shun her. But Stargirl doesn't seem to care, either way. She just goes about business as usual.

The boy who narrates this story in the first person gets lucky enough to be Stargirl's boyfriend, and he loves every kooky thing about her. But when Stargirl starts getting ignored, so does he. Everyone stops talking to him, acknowledging his existence. He can't have both Stargirl and his friends, so how could he choose? Will it be possible for him to turn innocent Stargirl... normal?

This story seemed to have a pretty powerful message about nonconformity, and breaking the status quo. If anyone can take a leaf out of Stargirl's book, it seems that overall they'd be much happier, and more grateful to be alive every day. It's fun to do crazy, unpredictable things. At least, it's fun reading about it, but it makes you wish you could be brave enough to do those wacky things. But being human, aren't we already all crazy, in our own special way? Give this book a read. I think you'll enjoy it.

700 Sundays, by Billy Crystal

This was a wonderful book that my sister recommended to me. It's funny how over the years my twin and I developed quite different reading interests, but we still have a somewhat similar taste. This was a brief kind of autobiography of the great comedian Billy Crystal. The story was actually a play before it became a book. Must have been quite a funny play. ^_^

Billy sure had an amazing childhood. But he also had a sad one, because his father died when he was only 15. ~,~ He was born on a Sunday, and his dad died on a Sunday, so he calculated that he'd only shared 700 Sundays with his old man. Not very many, when you think about it.

The way the book is written is very engaging. Billy Crystal's life was just as interesting as a fictional character, only it felt a lot more real, because... well, he's a real guy, ain't he? =P But this is really an awesome book to read. I know Billy Crystal as a really funny guy from a bunch of movies and stuff, but this shows a whole other side of him.

A couple of short non-fiction books.

Taking a tiny break from fiction novels, I picked up a couple of thin non-fiction books that were quite interesting to read. One of these was a book all about the subject of irony, "The Big Book of Irony". (The book all by itself is ironic, because it's not even that big! ^_~) I love irony. I really liked all the ironic quotes and stories mentioned in this book. Just like a sense of humor, I believe a sense of irony is a wonderful thing to have. Of course, a lot of the ironic examples mentioned in the book are pretty morbid, for example: Say a guy is in the mood for a Coke, so he hops on a bike to go to a nearby gas station or something. Suddenly a truck runs over the guy and kills him. What was the truck delivering? Coke! Ooh, the irony. =P A less gruesome example is if a thief with no teeth in his mouth is caught and arrested for stealing toothbrushes. You probably get the idea by now. So basically, this was a good book that explored irony and it's history, definitions and many uses. (Doesn't the irony of the cover just take the cake or what?)

The other book I read that I finished more recently was of a very different tone altogether. It's kind of the memoirs of a prolific author that I've never heard about, but who used to be a teacher and got a lot of his ideas from his experiences and the letters students wrote him when he visited schools. It's called "Invitations to the World". When I randomly picked it out from the library, I thought the subtitle "Teaching and Writing for the Young" meant it would teach me a little about writing. It didn't exactly do that, but it was still a good book anyway. It included excerpts from the guy, Richard Peck's, numerous books, and a couple poems that I believe he wrote. One of these poems in particular stood out for me, the last thing he writes in the book:

---

A story is a doorway that opens on a wider place.

A story is a mirror to reflect the reader's face.

A story is a question you hadn't thought to ponder.

A story is a pathway inviting you to wander.

A story is a window, a story is a key,

a story is a lighthouse, beaming out to sea.

A story's a beginning, a story is an end.

And in the story's middle, you might just make a friend. ^_^

---

I don't know how much I would enjoy Richard Peck's novels, since he doesn't exactly write sci-fi or fantasy fiction, but his name could be something for me to remember.

2 Awesome Books!

Okay, I'm really, really sorry for not writing about any books for weeks! I've been very busy, and the books I have been reading are actually really big and bulky, and I'm reading them at the same time! These two books are The Lost Symbol, by Dan Brown (I am very close to finishing this, so a review will soon be in order, I expect) and Planet Simpson, by Chris Turner (This book is incredibly huge! But I love it, because it continues to feed my new obsession over the Simpsons. ^_^)

I have also been quite lucky and honored to be a beta-reader for my good friend, Graham. (I'm sorry to be taking so long, buddy! ~,~) Plus I've been having many thoughts and ideas on the story I will write for NaNoWriMo. (If anyone feels curious about what my ideas are, just comment and show your interest.) As you can see, I've got a lot of stuff on my mind presently.

But today I finished a couple of short, quick books that I really liked, so here is my review of both of them at the same time. First, I read Simpsons Comics Royale, a book that, obviously by the title, had Simpson comics in it. That was really funny. ^_^ Reading comics of the Simpsons is just about as good as watching the show. (My sibs have recently taken to watching short clips of Simpson episodes on hulu.com. Some of them are really hilarious!!!)

Besides the comics, dispersed within the book are page-long insights, commentary, and personal stories by Simpson creator, Matt Groening. (How is the guy's name pronounced? I automatically think it's groaning, but I don't think that's exactly it. =P) Matt sounds like a really fun guy.

I think my favorite comic in the book was "Lisa's Adventures in Wordland," which was a spoof on Alice's adventures in Wonderland. Very funny. I hope to find more Simpson comic books soon. ^_^

The other book I read was one I picked up from the library yesterday, but finished today in only one sitting! It's called Dancing the Dream, by Michael Jackson. Yep. That's right. MICHAEL JACKSON WROTE A BOOK!!! (He actually wrote another book before this one, Moonwalk, which I hope to read very soon, because that book is biographical!) I loved Dancing the Dream! It was a book full of pictures of Michael and poetry that he wrote!!! Oh my god, if he wasn't already a poet in the way he wrote his awesome songs, he has become my favorite writer of poems ever!

Michael has such a way with words in this book. Most of his poems are prose and stories. They don't necessarily rhyme. But whenever he does choose to rhyme, the result is just... beautiful. No other word can do it justice. I love Michael Jackson's poems. It's incredible that I found yet another reason to love him. ^,^ I wish he'd written more.

Actually, I was a little vexed to discover that the copy I read was missing many pages, throughout the book! Where did these pages go? And what was written on them?! I can see that I will someday have to get another copy of this book, so that I can read it in it's entirety.

I would really like to share my favorite poems of his, so you can share in my incredible enthusiasm, but they are a bit too long, and I don't want to just post excerpts, because you simply must read the whole poem for the full effect. So I suppose I can't do anything more than hope that this review has inspired you to look for this book in your local store or library, because if you happen to be a big Michael Jackson fan, like I am, you just HAVE to see the incredible things Michael has to say to us.

Thin Threads and Sloth

This review is definitely late in posting, so I thought I'd get to it.

Thin Threads: Life Changing Moments, is a book of inspirational stories that was compiled by one of my mom's best friends, Stacy. It's going to be a series, kind of like Chicken Soup for the Soul or something. I read this while on Annette's and my flight to Boston and the first couple days after we arrived. I finished it quickly.

All the stories that are in this book are really great. There's a couple about people who get into big accidents and get stuck in wheelchairs, but they accept it and go on to lead a good life. There are a few tales about how people met their future spouses that were either romantic or pretty funny. (One girl met her husband online, while the internet was still a brand new thing! How wild!) There are lots of stories about how people started the business of their dreams, or got a brand new outlook on life because of a small event, or they ask for something really hard and the next day it's theirs! I think there's a story for everyone, and the great thing is that they're all apparently real stories. I highly recommend it. 'Nuf said.

Now Sloth, on the other hand, is a graphic novel written by Gilbert Hernandez, a guy I know absolutely nothing about. In fact, I took this book off the library shelf without knowing anything about it, except it was a graphic novel and the drawing style looked cool. It was... alright. The story is about teens who are stuck in a small town, and there seems to be alternate universes where one of them goes into a coma for a year. Confusing, I know. See, first the guy goes into a coma, and then comes out of it a year later, to find a few changes. His loving grandparents take care of him and he's got a girlfriend and a best friend that explore a lemon orchard because it's the stuff of urban legends. And then, halfway through the book, the story changes so it's like the girlfriend is the one that had the coma, only things are different in her world. Her grandparents are mean to her, and the guy is only her crush and the best friend is actually a super-famous rock star or something.

As you can see, it was just a really weird story. But I'm glad it was in comic book format, because I don't think I would have understood it or even been interested in this story if it was in normal novel form. Still, I would give it a 1 on a 1-5 scale. I don't recommend it. But at least I read it so I could tell you guys it's not interesting. Thin Threads is a much more fulfilling read.

Persepolis 2

This book was the sequel to the first Persepolis, which I've already expressed enjoyment reading. I think I liked reading this book better, because it picks up from when the Iranian girl is 14 and goes through her adolescence in Austria. She travels a lot and gets real world experience and grows into a sensible adult. She also gets into a couple heavy romances and after one particularly bad breakup she goes back to her family in Iran and later meets another guy and gets married, only she finds that she dislikes married life and they divorce.

I wouldn't recommend this book to a lot of people, but I personally enjoyed this serious, yet quite witty, coming of age story. Graphic novels are really fun to read. I liked how in this story, the main character, Marjane, grows up and develops a beauty mark on her nose, so you always know which girl is her in each panel, even though she might be wearing a veil or be in a large crowd. That's a pretty important thing to remember in a good picture story.

Happily I've been writing a lot in my story, like I promised myself, but I hope I can review a lot more books soon. When is Flight #5 or Wings or something going to come in from the library?!

Two books at a time.

This will be a short report, because as much as I liked these books, if you know me, there's only one novel I really care about right now. Yeah. These stories absolutely pale in comparison to the epic that is Pendragon # 10: Soldiers of Halla. But I'm not gonna talk about that now.

The book I finished first was a graphic novel that Annette picked up from the library. It's a pretty fascinating plot. The main character is a young Iranian girl living in the '80s. It's based on the author's actual life. It's hard to define what happens, but she definitely had a brutal childhood. It reminded me of the new movie, Slumdog Millionaire. They may be foreigners, but I still cannot believe that people can live the way they do in those stories. Anyway, I think there's supposed to be a sequel to this book, which is a good thing. I really liked the art style. That's a key thing. The story is definitely good, but if the artwork wasn't so simple and easy to follow, I probably wouldn't have shown any interest in it.

The other book I finished, I'd say was... alright. I took it up after it was recommended by Graham. I like Stephen Colbert, but his comic style is a little out there for me. I mean, I have a feeling that everything he writes is all in fun and he's just teasing America, but his manner is pretty harsh. I don't agree with a lot of his beliefs, and all his ideas and opinions are pretty wacky. I know how he runs his T.V. show, and this book was just like that, only probably more... concentrated. Like Graham said, no aspect of American life is safe from this guy's rampage.

I liked the margins and the footnotes, but I wouldn't say I busted out laughing at his political humor. Like, whenever I read something meant to be funny, I probably smiled with a wince. It wasn't funny enough for me to laugh at. My taste is more aimed at SNL style humor, or Jon Stewart. Now there's a nice guy. I wonder if he'll find the time to write a book. Recently I saw Larry King come on the show with his book (seems like an interesting read), and they had a funny talk. My favorite part was when Larry's like, "Hey, I'm a little older than you," and Jon says, "A little?" ^_^ lol.

Okay. I'm done here. Coming up next: The moment you've all been waiting for...

My review of Pendragon #10.

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.

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.