The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis

From the Back Cover: NARNIA…where the woods are thick and cool, where Talking Beasts are called to life…a new world where the adventure begins. Digory and Polly meet and become friends one cold, wet summer in London. Their lives burst into adventure when Digory's Uncle Andrew, who thinks he is a magician, sends them hurling to…somewhere else. They find their way to Narnia, newborn from the Lion's song, and encounter the evil sorceress Jadis, before they finally return home.

This book was not the first book published but it is the first book in the series..kind of like how George Lucas worked the whole Star Wars thing. I decided that for the sake of this challenge, I am just going to read the series (as much as I can) and I'm not going to look at all the resources out there yet and seek to interpret it. I'm just going to see what speaks to me about the Christian imagery and then later, I'll go back and mull over the rest.

Well this seems pretty obviously the story of creation. Aslan (God) sings and the world appears out of darkness - the stars and the sun, the land and vegetation, and then the animals. There is a tree and the evil sorceress eats the forbidden fruit. I have to admit, I really enjoyed the brief section where Jadis came to earth - the fish out of water scenario is always ripe with humor and I could just picture that as a funny movie scene!

Even before this world, when they have just gone away from the human world, the cabby feels the peace and says, "I'd ha' been a better man all my life if I'd known there were things like this." That made me think of heaven and trying to be good in order to get to heaven.

When Uncle Andrew couldn't understand the animals speaking and only heard their sounds as growling, I thought about how we as Christians have to be open to hear God's word. So often, my prayer life is completely one way - please, please, please with the occasional thank you but not often any time spent in listening for a reply or reading His Word.

This was a fun read - I don't think I ever read this one as a child. I'm not sure why I skipped over it because I have clear memories of how much I enjoyed some of the others.

This book is my first for the Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge hosted by Carrie at Reading to Know

And it works for this too....
Click here to see my progress towards completing the challenge!

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

From the Scholastic website: One night Meggie's father, Mo, reads aloud from a book called Inkheart, and an evil ruler named Capricorn escapes the boundaries of fiction and lands in their living room. Suddenly Meggie is smack in the middle of the kind of adventure she has only read about in books.


I think the problem with this one was too high expectations on my part because it really is a great story. The family is interesting and endearing and quirky. The villains are dark and heartless. The setting is described in great detail with the little glimpses we get of the world from inside the book (fairies and trolls) magical and fanciful. I like all the elements. The plot was suspenseful. I thought the solution was quite clever and well executed by the characters. But.. I was more than ready for it to end. It was a long book 500+ pages and I never got hooked. I was curious. I was impressed with the details and thought as I read, "Oh this is a good story." but it wasn't a story that captured me so I had to push myself to keep reading. But in the words of George Kastanza, "Inkheart, its not you, its me."

BTW..the Scholastic website above has some stuff for the kids to do and I passed this one on to Youngest, age 10, we'll see what he thinks!

Click here to see my progress towards completing the challenge!

A Child Called "It" by Dave Pelzer - is it for Tween?

A Child Called It is Dave Pelzer's memoir of growing up in a terribly abusive home. His fairy tale mother becomes an alcoholic and turns into a monster. She is violent, withholds food, and emotionally manipulative. She isolates David, fools others, and vicously tries to destroy him day after day. This is the first in a trilogy of books and covers his early years from age 4-12 until he is rescued by Child Porotective Services. (BTW Those years in CPS are the second book and not real pretty either.)

This was a reread for me wondering if I could possibly put it in the hands of my sixth grader, Tween, the subject matter is so dark. I wouldn't be handing it to him because it's well written - it isn't. But it is sensational in the way of "alligator eats man" sensational. The content just stops you cold because it is so unimaginable to anyone who has ever loved another living thing. It's the train wreck that you don't want to see but just can't seem to avert your gaze.

Tween needs a book to read; daily reading is a homework assignment with a journal entry as proof. The RoundFile house is FULL of books. Bookworm and Youngest read constantly and Bookworm hoards books so her bedroom looks like a library. However, there is not a single book that interests Tween. No book can make that required twenty minutes of reading pass without whining and complaining and stalling and just plain driving Just Mom crazy. So I thought about what I see Tween watching on TV, lots of tabloid style shows i.e. "100 most outrageous ___". If you translate that to books - I think A Child Called "It fits the bill.

The book is an easy read technically - easy sentence structure, not much difficult vocabulary. There's some foul language - even the F word. It's a difficult read emotionally but I think it will draw him in. Tween thinks I am abusive because I force him to live in a ranch style home while all the other kids live in two story houses. And he only gets a new skateboard when he earns enough money to buy one, the other kids get one practically on demand (or so he says). And I won't let him drink an energy drink chock full of sugar and caffeine half an hour before bedtime, and I demand that he do his homework before sports, or youth group, or movies ...it's just torture. I'm pretty confident in all those parenting decisions but this one...not so sure. Maybe this will go down as one of my bad parenting decisions but I'm giving him the book. We'll file this under the heading of...I'll do anything to get him to read. We'll see how it goes.

This is one of the books on my list for the Spring Reading Thing 2009. Click on the logo to see the rest of my list.






Click here to see my progress towards completing the challenge!

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

"Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities?" This is the ad that catches the eye of many children who then go to take a series of test to determine if they are the right child for the "special oportunity". When the final children are selected they band together and form the Mysterious Benedict Society. The Society is called upon to complete a dangerous mission and they are off for a great adventure.

Youngest devoured the book (485 pages!), then I read the book, then Bookworm read it too. It had mass appeal in the RoundFile family. Although Bookworm did sort of sniff and say, "It was OK." I thought it was much better than OK. It reminded me of Harriet the Spy mixed with Roald Dahl. The idea of the independent adventure as a child is so intoxicating. I can remember daydreaming that the president would recognise what an outstanding girl I was and grant me special permission to drive even though I was only 10 or 11 years old. I would lay in my bed and imagine how I could put a door to the outside in my room and redecorate it like an apartment and pretty much just visit my family as needed since I would be off - out the new door, driving the special car - to do exciting things. So you can see why this book appealed to me!

I liked that the children who "passed" the tests weren't all just smart, brainy types. One of our greatest blessings in life is that each of has gifts to share with the world. But some gifts are more easily recognized and rewarded than others so if your child's gift isn't in acaddemics or sports but is more ethereal like faith or kindness or creativity, this book show them how the differnet children each used their own strength for the group to succeed.

This book counts for two challenges...

This is one of the books on my list for the Spring Reading Thing 2009. Click on the logo to see the rest of my list.






Click here to see my progress towards completing the challenge!

Something Borrowed by Emily Griffin

From the author's website: Something Borrowed tells the story of Rachel, a young attorney living and working in Manhattan. Rachel has always been the consummate good girl---until her thirtieth birthday, when her best friend, Darcy, throws her a party. That night, after too many drinks, Rachel ends up in bed with Darcy's fiancee.

Although she wakes up determined to put the one-night fling behind her, Rachel is horrified to discover that she has genuine feelings for the one guy she should run from. As the September wedding date nears, Rachel knows she has to make a choice. In doing so, she discovers that the lines between right and wrong can be blurry, endings aren't always neat, and sometimes you have to risk all to win true happiness. Something Borrowed is a phenomenal debut novel that will have you laughing, crying, and calling your best friend.

This is your basic "chick lit" a frothy tale. It certainly held my interest but it wasn't laugh out loud funny or bring you to tears sentimental - which if I'm reading this genre is what I want. I could never just whole heartedly root for the heroine because she was after all - taking her "best friend's" fiance right out from under her nose. Maybe it's because I'm an old married woman. Maybe it's because I'm Catholic. Who knows? I just couldn't get past that little detail in order to actually like the people I was supposed to like. I read on the author's website that Hillary Swank bought the movie rights for this one and the next in the series, Something Blue. I'll go see the movie when it comes out and see if it does more for me as a movie than it did as a book.


This book counts for two challenges...

This is one of the books on my list for the Spring Reading Thing 2009. Click on the logo to see the rest of my list.






Click here to see my progress towards completing the challenge!

A Silent Ocean Away by Deva Gantt

From the back cover: Charmaine Ryan knows only poverty and pain growing up. In the wake of a horrifying tragedy, she seeks a new life, and fate leads her into the private world of the wealthy Duvoisin clan. At first, it seems as if nothing terrible could touch this seemingly charmed family. But an ill wind blows through the halls and chambers of the Duvoisins' sprawling island retreat, carrying betrayal, deceit, and ominous peril.

Quickly, Charmaine is caught up in the secrets and mystique swirling around the enigmatic family. At the center are shipping tycoon Frederic Duvoisin and his youthful wife, Colette. And there is Paul Duvoisin, a dashing seducer and Frederic's bastard son, who stirs a dangerous fascination in the two women; the scheming Agatha Ward, who will not rest until she's taken Colette's place in Frederic's heart as well as in his bed; and exiled son, John, who reenters the family fold, stoking the turmoil as he unveils truths best kept hidden. Ultimately, Charmaine chooses to stand with Colette against formidable enemies, but has she made the right decision?

A sweeping, remarkable blend of adventure, romance, intrigue, and suspense, A Silent Ocean Away heralds the arrival of a glorious new voice on the historical fiction scene.

I liked the Charmaine character. Seeing the events unfold through her fresh, inexperienced eyes was fun. Because the story starts out with her terrible homelife, the authors have you rooting for Charmaine right from the start. I did enjoy how delicously bad Agatha was...whenever she appeared I knew there would be catty remarks. I was very suspicious of Agatha's brother, the doctor. I would have liked that possibility to be explored - the evil siblings plotting!

The book ending caught me completely by surprise because it happened so abruptly. I wasn't mentally prepared for it to end. Nothing seemed wrapped up; there were so many storylines unresolved. I know it's a trilogy but I expected more closure than what I got. When I think about other trilogies I have read, I feel like the individual books had more of a stand alone feel than this one did. This one felt incomplete. But with all that said, I thoroughly enjoyed the story and I will plan to read the next two books because I want to know how everything gets sorted out.

This book was the April selection for the Facebook Historical Fiction bookclub.

This book happened to meet my needs for two challenges...

This is one of the books on my list for the Spring Reading Thing 2009. Click on the logo to see the rest of my list.






Click here to see my progress towards completing the challenge!

First in a Series Reading Challenge 2009

I saw this challenge and thought, "That looks interesting, but I'll never get it done." Then as I have been reading this year, I noticed that two of my books read are first in a series books without even trying. So I have decided to throw my hat in the ring.

The challenge rules are...
1. Anyone can join. You don't need a blog to participate.

2. Read 12 books that are the first in any series. You may read & list your chosen books any time during the year.
3. You can join anytime between now and December 31, 2009.

Here's how I am doing...
1. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
2. Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind by Ann B. Ross
3. A Silent Ocean Away by DeVa Gantt
4. Something Borrowed by Emily Griffin
5. The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
6. A Child Called "It"
7. The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis
8.
9.
10.
11.
12

Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind by Ann B. Ross

From the author's website: This book begins the series that features the sharp-tongued, but soft-hearted in spite of herself, Julia Springer of Abbotsville, North Carolina. In it, Julia learns of her recently deceased husband's perfidious activities when his mistress, Hazel Marie Puckett, and his nine-year-old illegitmate son show up on her front porch without a nickel to their names. In spite of counselling by Pastor Ledbetter, criticism by her friends, gossip in the community, a kidnapping by a televangelist and the discovery of a new will that threatens to send her to the poorhouse, Miss Julia takes Hazel Marie and Little Lloyd into her home and learns to hold her head up high.

Quick fluffy read - but fun. The book had a gentle feel that reminded me of the Mrs. Pollifax books or the Ladies Detective Agency. This was the same combination of sweet innocent older lady going on a little bit of an adventure. I was surprised to learn it was the first in a series and then to see that there were so many that have followed it already. And as I looked them over, I realised I have read one of them before. That shows you that "read in an afternoon" fluffy books are fun but don't make much of an impression on me! While I enjoyed the book today, I can't imagine wanting to read more of this same character - at least not without a nice long break in between.


Click here to see my progress towards completing the challenge!

Twilight a book and a movie

In the course of a few days I read the book and went to see the movie. Brace yourself - the book was better. (Don't you just love saying that? It's best said with a harumphy sniff and a nose in the air.) It's definitely teen fiction so the longing looks and Bella's endless analyzing were a bit much to take. But in the end, the love story is H-O-T and even middle aged suburban housewives are enraptured of Edward. (That part makes my teenage daughter, Bookworm, feel physically ill.) Then finally the action begins and the vampire violence was captivating.

So what was up with the movie. Well, the good part would be that they did a nice job with the editing so that the story still made sense despite having to cut out so much. I had higher expectations for certain scenes - like when Edward exposes himself to her in the sunlight and he is supposed to be shimmering so radiantly that all the world would notice if he was out in the light in public. But in the movie he just kind of looked like he had thrown on some glitter dusting powder - not nearly as "oooh" as I had expected - more like an aging 80's pop star. And, of course, so much of the book takes place in Bella's head and you can't capture those internal conversations on screen. Not that I wasn't just a little bit sick of them by the end of the book! I guess the book had too much Bella deep thinking and the movie had too little - call me Goldilocks, I want it just right.

Overall both the book and the movie were great fun. I can see how they have inspired pages upon pages of flair on Facebook. Stephenie Meyer has a website - you can check it out here.

And the best Twilight humor is at Norman Mormon Husbands here and here.

This book is my "T" for the A-Z Reading Challenge!Click on the logo to see my progress.







This book is also the first in a series (like you didn't know that!) so it also counts for the First in a Series Challenge. Click this one to see how I am doing.