false9153147true5642629read0true2595156currently-reading6true2595155to-read56false2639160children-s35false2659925adult20false2675978horror---2nd-floor18false4361595summer-reading16false4241330young-adult12false2676508sci-fi---2nd-floor12false2676603cirque-du-freak9false2640886best-of-the-best4false2658892storytime-reads
<![CDATA[Pandora Kat added 'The Hanging Hill']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77961007
to: The Hanging Hill (Hardcover)byChris Grabenstein bookshelves: horror---2nd-floor
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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<![CDATA[Pandora Kat voted on a poll]]>
http://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/26037-should-we-continue-having-a-book-of-the-month
Pandora Kat
voted on the poll:
Should we continue having a book of the month?
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<![CDATA[Pandora Kat added 'The Islands of the Blessed']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77314077
to: The Islands of the Blessed (Hardcover)byNancy Farmer bookshelves: children-s
Basic plot: Jack, Thorgil, and the Bard are another adventure. This time they seek a way to quiet a mermaid's ghost before she takes a murderous revenge for her unjust death.
Finished the third part of the Jack saga. Having read The Land of the Silver Apples I knew that there was going to be a third book. There had been too many loose ends in Silver Apples.
The reason for the two star review is because this final chapter of the story is not the story I wanted to read. I had picked it up hoping that the loose ends would be tied up. In a way they were but, not in a result that made me happy. So add a star if you just intrested in the Jack and Thorgil story or think the Vikings are the best part of the story.
As for me I was more intrested in what was happening in Brutus' kingdom. The story though hardly spends any time there and if you thought Brutus was wasted in Silver Apples he is destroyed in this book. Slight spoiler alert. This story was like reading Star Wars in which Han Solo's part is reduce to one scence of being drunk in a bar. If you want Star Wars in which it is only about Luke becoming a Jedi Knight and not ever finding out if Han Solo and Princess Lei get married than you will be fine with this story.
As for myself I wish the story had not taken the side trip of freeing a mermaid from a curse and had focused instead on Brutus' kingdom. Even the goblins only get the first part of the story and than disappear when the mermaid story picks up.
Lessons learned from reading this story:
1) If you and the author disagree about the worth of a character then stop reading. The author is going to win.
1a) There are also worse fates than a beloved character dying. Such as a great character becoming an idiot.
2) When reading a series especially a long draw out fantasy series wait until the whole series is finished. Otherwise it gets hard to keep the story threads in your head. Cirque du Freak by Darren Shan was easier to read as it was being published. The books were shorter, he seemed to write faster, and it was easier to jog you memory about what happen before. With both Farmer and Funke though I found it difficult to remember the details between books. Farmer was easier than Funke. I finished this series but, didn't even bother with Inkdeath. Even the summary of Inkspell didn't help to bring it back.
3) Christian Fundamentalists should be more careful in the battles they pick. They lost all creditablity in picking on Harry Potter. They should have of been more worried about this series. Not saying it should be banned just that it is not kind to Christanity and some people might have a problem with that. I'm not really big on religon but, I did find it strange that even the Vikings come out as better than the priests.
4) Even more dangerous than an corrupt man is a man who does wrong believing he has done right. It seems that Brutus's kingdom is doomed to have the wrong priest. Which also means the balance that had been struck in Silver Apples with Christanity is lost in this book or at least I remember Silver Apples being more even handed.
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<![CDATA[Pandora Kat added 'The Crossroads']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77315197
to: The Crossroads (Hardcover)byChris Grabenstein bookshelves: children-s,
horror---2nd-floor
This was a scary ghost story. The main ghost is a killing ghost but, is limited in what he can do. A good choice for readers who need to move beyond Goosebumps.
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<![CDATA[Pandora Kat added 'School of Fear 1']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77305651
to: School of Fear 1 (Hardcover)byGitty Daneshvari bookshelves: children-s
Four children with various phobia spend their summer at a strange school with will get rid of thier fears. This is what I had hope the Mysterious Benedict Society (MBS)would be. It has the similar quirky off kilter setting like MBS or the Lemony Snickett books. This book though is able to sustain itself better than MSB at least for me. I got tired of the MSB plot. This plot held my attention better and I was able to finish the book. I didn't finish MSB. I did figure out how the book was going to end but, I still enjoyed the book. Probably because the unlike MSB it took me longer to figure out where the ending was headed. The book is funny but, not scary.
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<![CDATA[Pandora Kat added 'The Count of Monte Cristo']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/24180490
to: The Count of Monte Cristo (Paperback)byAlexandre Dumas bookshelves: adult,
best-of-the-best
One of my all time favorite books. This is one of the books I put in my top five. It is a book that I do enjoy reading over again. I read another version before this one and found this version to be the most complete. When I first picked up this book I worried that it was over a thousand pages. As I read it I was worried that just over a thousand pages and it would end. One of the best things about the book it has a perfect ending.
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<![CDATA[new comment from Pandora Kat]]>
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/61070-ending
Pandora Kat made a comment on I Am the Cheese:
Why do you think his parenets are fine? That is so unlike Cromier. He usually goes for the worst possible ending. Even when he has to force it like he did with Fade. He is simliar to the old Twlight Zone in that way. Which frequently ended with a bleak hopeless ending. Granted it has been awhile since I read this book but, what I said ealier is how I remember the book. Don't have a copy to check right now.
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<![CDATA[Pandora Kat added 'Goblins!: An UnderEarth Adventure']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75789936
to: Goblins!: An UnderEarth Adventure (Hardcover)byRoyce Buckingham bookshelves: children-s
A fast action packed book that should get the boys reading. The book blends humor with some horror elements - giant bugs, goblins, men eating slug monsters. For the most part though the books is an adventure quest story. The two main boys who think themselves as just two troublemakers end up discovering the hero within themselves.
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<![CDATA[Pandora Kat voted on a poll]]>
http://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/24084-what-frequently-challenged-or-banned-adult-themed-book-should-we-read-in
Pandora Kat
voted on the poll:
What frequently challenged or banned adult-themed book should we read in November?
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<![CDATA[Pandora Kat added 'The Secret Hour']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/45480427
to: The Secret Hour (Midnighters, #1)byScott Westerfeld bookshelves: horror---2nd-floor,
summer-reading,
young-adult
Jessica moves to a Bixby and discovers that what she thinks is a dream is true. Namely that she and some other teens are awake and can move in the secret hour of midnight while the rest of the town is forzen. In the midnight hour there are dark cretures from man's past and they don't like Jessica.
I guess my expections for this book was too high. It is popluar choice among the summer reading books. The cover promise a spooky thiller tale. So, I was thinking oh good another Neal Shusterman. Not. At least for me the midnight hour hasn't proved to be that scary. I suppose partly because it is such an alien world it is hard to picture it or really believe in it. At least for me.
It could also be that Westerfeld simply doesn't have the talent of Neal Shusterman. Shusterman's Full Tilt took place in a crazy world yet, I did feel scare reading Full Tilt and could picture the world. It could also be that in Full Tilt we stayed in one character's head and thus, got to really know the character and feel for him. In The Secret Hour we flip through various characters heads and though they are likeable there seems to be a lack of depth to them. Sometimes, what a charcter is thinking about (particular mathematical Dess) can be so out there that it becomes mind numbing to read. Another problem with the style of writing is that at times when the author has an attack it comes at point when it delays finding out an important clue making the fight more of a drag then exiciting.
A concern that hit me with this book (and it seems common to YA literature) is that once again it is teens aganist the dark forces and no adult will be helping them. The parnets role seems to be reduced to providing food, clothing, shelter, and being putting up roadblocks to the teens' quest by being parnetal. The police so far have been really nasty. I know part of being a teenager is finding your own way but, is some adult guidance really wrong? To me it seems that the major problem with teen society is that they have too little adult guidance and I question the trend of YA literature of having the teens living in their own secret world especially when the adult world is presented as hostile roadblock.
Westerfeld also once again has underage drinking. Wouldn't mention but, so far he is two for two - read two of his books and both had underage drinking.
Finale view. The book is entertaning enough but, so far the series is nothing special. It certainly not going to stay with me as other books have.
PS Another note he has a character correct someone from saying Indian and insted use Native America. I think the character is suppose to be Indian. The only problem I had with this is that from the little I know of Indian culture I think Indian has a slight edge in perfernce although both term are used.
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