DragonSpell by Donita K. Paul

review submitted by Beth

I greatly enjoyed this book. To prove how much I enjoyed it I can say that I read it in a day and a half. There are many different components to it that make it a top rating for myself. First of all the most important thing I look for is what I can learn from the book and refer  back to in my own life. Since DragonSpell is an allegory this is not difficult to do. The next rating cruncher for me is the character development. DragonSpell past this test with flying words. As the main character goes through different circumstances I feel as though I am experiencing the same fears and joys as her because I understand her past. Another reason why I love this book is because it is a Fantasy. The author did a wonderful job of making new species instead of copying the overused dwarves, elves, and humans. Each species has very unique traits and capabilities that you do not see in other books. The only clincher for me is that the book is geared toward a younger audience then myself. My personal opinion is that the best age to read this book is from ages 12 to 14. Overall this book was a great success under my scrutiny. It deserves a 4 out of 5.

Christy Miller (Series) by Robin Jones Gunn

review submitted by Brittany S.

robin jones gunn is a great author she wrote the christy miller series (which were awsome and a story teens can relate to) she also wrote the katie weldon series

When you think of a book about christianity you think boring, but the christy miller series turns that around its about a 14 yr old girl who goes to the beach likes guys and has a personality that makes her who she is. the christy miller series follows through christy’s life until she’s proposed to in the most romantic way. christy experiences many challenges and amazing moments in her life from going to switzerland to getting in trouble. this is definetly a good series.

it all started the day her rich aunt marti invited her to stay at newport beach with her. Christy encounters friendly people and not so friendly people. The crush of her life and the friends you dream about.

the story continues through the summers of Christy’s life as she meets new people and discovers new challenges.

the christy miller series is definetly the series to read

Review posting times

Just a quick, huge THANK YOU! to all of the participants who have submitted reviews so far! As you can see, we’ve started posting them and will keep doing so. If you have a comment about someone’s post, please feel free to leave them at the end of their review.

I just thought I’d remind everyone: if you leave a comment or review and we don’t post it right away, don’t worry. It’s not that we haven’t got it, or that we don’t like it. We’re just waiting for approval before we can post it. Depending on what day and time you leave your comment or review, it could even be a couple of days before we get it up. We’ll do our level best to keep it to no more than that, but it can take time — as weird as that sounds in the Internet Age!

If you leave an email address, I try to send an email as soon as I get your review to confirm that I’ve received it (especially if it’s going to be a day or two before we can put it up) and then another when the review is posted here so that you can have a look at it. If you see something in the posted review you want changed you can drop another comment and I’ll fix it for you. We don’t make any changes, even to spelling or grammar, unless you request it.

Thanks again, everyone! Keep up the awesome reading and awesome reviewing!

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

review submitted by Kayley

Very good book. If you’re one of those people who like fantasy/horror mixed with a love story then this book is for you! It is totally unpredictable what’s going to happen next as Nora and her skills as a reporter struggle to uncover what her mysterious bio partner, Patch (whom she is weirdly drawn to) has to hide. Although she rarely has time since she’s to busy freaking out over a stalker in a ski mask that seems to be everywhere! Now Nora is suspicious of a certain Elliot Saunders and his friend Jules who seem to have taken an intrest in her and her best friend Vee Sky. Nora lives alone with her mom (who’s always on buisness trips) and their housekeeper, Dorothea (who’s only at the house during the day). Nora’s dad was murdered, shot to death in Portland while buying her mother’s birthday present. Did someone randomly choose to shoot him or was there a specific reason someone might have wanted him dead? Since Nora is blood related to her father, is she safe or is someone out to get her too?

Suggested: Black History

suggestions submitted by Lily

into black history? check out the series by Mildred D Taylor:
first book-song of trees
second-roll of thunder hear my cry
third-the circle be unbroken
fourth-the friendship
fifth-Gold cadillac
sixth-the road to memphis
seventh-the land

and if thats not what you want (^) then look at books by Nicholas Sparks. my two favourites are dear john and last song.

[Note from the library: We were missing some of the books in Mildred Taylor’s series, but we’ve fixed that! You can now put them on hold.]

13 to Life by Shannon Delany

review submitted by Kayley

This was not one of my favourite books. The author didn’t give a good description of any details surrounding the story. I spent a lot of time guessing what things meant or what had just happened while reading this book because at some parts the author wasn’t very clear. In a way, it was predictable but, the end was very unexpected! The story itself was pretty good, it’s just what happened before that was a little difficult to understand. I was half-way through the book before i actually found out how Jessie’s mom died! Anyway I really like the characters in this book! They were fun and original.

Lord Sunday (Keys to the Kingdom 7) by Garth Nix

review submitted by Katie W.

If you’re into fantasy, then Lord Sunday is one of the best books ever, with a great plot, interwoven stories and a stunning conclusion (beng the last in a series of 7), although it’s new and the hold periods are quite long. I hope you’ll try it!!!!!

[Note from the library: good news — there is currently no waiting list for this title!]

The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson 4) by Rick Riordan

review submitted by Kayley

I just finished reading “The Battle of the Labyrinth” by Rick Riordan and was blown away by it’s unique story line and all the research that Rick Riordan must have done before writting the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. The difficulties and strange situations continue for Percy, a 14-year-old half-blood who’s father just happens to be Poseidon, the God of the Seas. Percy becomes aware of an attack being planned that includes an army of monsters invading Camp Half-Blood, which is where all the other half-bloods in the U.S go to spend their summers doing things like training and playing deadly games of capture the flag. It’s not an easy life when one of your parents is a God! Percy and his bestfriend Annabeth, daughter of Athena, discover an entrance to the legendary Labyrinth that consists of maze spreading underground of the entire United States that will take you anywhere but, it is infested with enough traps and monster to drive you insane and it is almost impossible not to get lost. Ariandne’s string is the only thing that can lead you through the maze to where you want to go. Daedalus, the creator of the Labyrinth, is the only one who knows where it is. Luke is a former attendant at Camp Half-Blood but he’s gone bad and betrayed the whole Camp. He believes that all the Olympian Gods have been ruling to long and that its time they were destroyed and replaced by Kronos, the evil Lord of the Titans. Luke is also the one in charge of the attack on Camp Hlaf-Blood. He intends to find Daedalus and get Ariandne’s string so he can lead his army of monsters threw the Labyrinth, pass the magical boreders around Camp, straight out the entrance to the Labyrinth, right into Camp. Percy and all the other half-bloods must take action and find Ariandne’s string before Luke does. Annabeth is chosen to lead the quest into the Labyrinth because she is an expert in architecture. She chooses Percy, Tyson who is a Cyclopes and also Percy’s half-brother, and Grover their faithful satyr protector to accompany her on her quest. Their adventure in the Labyrinth leads to a maze of secrets, love, friendship, near death experiences and a little bit of jealousy. Percy discovers a way threw the maze with the help of Rachel Elizabeth Dare, that Luke is even more far-gone and helpless then he thought and that Nico, son of Hades the God of the Underworld will stop at nothing to bring his sister back from the dead. Percy must deal with problems involving anything from a barn-full of flesh-eating horses to a couple of blood-sucking cheerleaders. Part of why I like the Percy Jackson books so much is because of all the imagination and Greek mythology put into the books. The “Battle of the Labyrinth” is the 4th book in a 5 book series and it is also my favourite so far!

The count begins…

As you may notice when you visit this blog, we’re keeping track of our books, pages, and running times this year right here on the front page. Keep an eye on the top of the sidebar, and you’ll probably notice those numbers rising, starting today. The first numbers have started to roll in, with several libraries reporting. Arthur Branch is currently waaaaaay in the lead with over 67 books read in the past two weeks! Read on, Arthur, and great work!

Happy Canada Day!

What a beautiful day for sitting on the dock and reading a book! Or perhaps you’re on a long weekend road trip, and happen to have an audiobook along. Today, I’m celebrating Canada Day by going on a hike, having a bbq, and reading something by a Canadian author — specifically, Locavore by Sarah Elton, which is a book about Canadian food and farms.

Other great Canadian authors to check out at the library, in no particular order:

Arthur Slade, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Kelley Armstrong, William Bell, Deborah Ellis,  Norah McClintock, Pierre Berton, Farley Mowat, Marthe Joyce, Jean Little, Barbara Smucker, Eric Walters, Malcolm Gladwell, Michael Ondaatje, Margaret Atwood, Charles de Lint, Guy Gavriel Kay, Robert J. Sawyer, Kenneth Oppel, Kean Soo, Cory Doctorow…

This is only a tiny fraction of the possibilities. Who am I missing? Have you read anyone on the list above? Who is your favourite Canadian author?