I'm running a bit behind in reporting what I read. August was a pretty good month, 14 titles.
The Edge Chronicles 4 - The Curse of the Gloamglozer - Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell. I've been enjoying these books. I like the art and story. Lots of characters and interesting and dangerous places to see. The first three books were about Twig and this book is about his parents. In this prequel we go back to when they were young and how they meet and marry. There's lots of political intrigue. Quint is left by his sky pirate father to be the apprentice to the High Academe on the floating island Sanctaphrax. The HA has a secret lab in the heart of the honey combed island. It's killing him, but hopefully Quint and Maris will save the day. It's never that cut and dried in the Stewart/Ridell universe.
The Land of the Elyon 1 - The Dark Hills - Patrick Carmen. I picked the first of these up on a whim. I kind of liked the cover. It sat on the shelf for ages and eventually the 2nd and 3rd books were added to the pile. There is a 4th and 5th but I haven't found them used yet. The first three are kind of a trilogy and can be read in a group. In this tiny self contained universe it seems that most of the people live in walled cities. They even have a walled road connecting the major cities. Alexa, our heroine, gets her secret wish, a chance to go outside of the wall. There's a secret plot going on. There's danger, a bit of magic, criminals and some other critters. The writing is good at times and draggy at others. Alexa doesn't sound like a kid very much. She sounds old and oppressed. Maybe from living in a walled city all her life. I wasn't sure that I'd re-read them again. The second and third books take Alexa into more of her universe. There are a lot of new characters and places to go.
My Father's Dragon/Elmer and the Dragon/The Dragons of Blueland - Ruth Stiles Gannett. I found this three book volume at Half Price Books and thought I'd take a chance. It's really aimed at the smaller set but the stories are fun and there are lots of dragons. The illustrations are pretty good.
The Edge Chronicles 5 - The Last of the Sky Pirates - Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell. The first of the Rook Barkwater books. Rook is a new Librarian Knight, in the secret society, who's chosen to travel into the Deepwoods to study Banderbears. The Librarians are keeping the earth knowledge alive even though they are being hunted by The Guardian of the Night. There's danger, betrayal and plenty of action to keep my interest. Lots of weird critters too.
The Land of Elyon 2 - Beyond the Valley of Thorns - Patrick Carmen
The Land of Elyon 3 - The Tenth City - Patrick Carmen
More Adventures of the Secret Seven by Enid Blyton. Contains Good Work Secret Seven/ Secret Seven Win Through/ Puzzle For The Secret Seven/ Secret Seven Fireworks/ Good Old Secret Seven. All five of these books came in one volume, which is printed in Czechoslovakia. I kind of wish I had the original books, I like the covers. Blyton wrote 15 books in the Secret Seven series. I don't think are as good as the Adventure series, but still enjoyable to read. I can knock one off in about an hour. Large type and about 110 pages each. The group of kids, there are seven of them and a dog, solve some crimes. If I could find more cheap I'd buy 'em.
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J K Rowling. After I watched the trailer for the Half Blood Prince a bunch of times I was driven to read the last two books again. This is the first of the two. I liked it all over again.
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