Another good month for some book readin' and 7 of the 10 are keepers.
The Islands Of The Blessed by Nancy Farmer is the third book in the series that started with The Sea Of Trolls and continued with The Land Of The Silver Apples. It's a good series that has interesting characters and great settings. Jack is an apprentice bard, he's fourteen. Bards do some magic and Jack has a bit of talent and power. Thorgil is a Viking maiden, she's about the same age. Thorgil's full of anger. I suppose it gives her strength to carry her emotional baggage, which is mighty. They join the bard, who's pretty old and crabby and my kind of a curmudgeon, on a quest to rid their village of a draugr. It's a spirit of a mermaid who's been wronged by humans and wants to get some revenge on. There's a magical bell that calls it. The group travel about their world, running into one problem after another, until they get to the end of the book. It's a stinky old world, the England and Europe of the 7th century, glad I don't live there. They run into some great characters, some are amusing, some are deadly dangerous, and some are magical. People die, lots of them, for the worst reasons. The kids do some more growing up. It's a pretty good read with lots of stuff happening. I'm keeping it to read the whole trilogy again. I just read somewhere that Farmer said she might do another book in the series but right now she's working on the sequel to The House of Scorpion. One of her books I haven't read yet. I think that's the last one of her books I have to read, maybe two. I've enjoyed everything so far.
Once Upon A Curse by E. D. Baker has Princess Emma off on a time-traveling quest to break the family curse. After turning sixteen the women in the family can't touch flowers without turning into horrible wicked witches. She'd like to marry Prince Eadric but with the curse hanging over her head it wouldn't be fair. I like Princess Emma. She'd make a good friend. Very likeable, unlike some of the stinkers that she comes into contact with while on her mission. Still she's a resourceful princess and she manages to pull thing together at the end. It's the third book in the series that started with The Frog Princess and Dragon's Breath. It's really one long story and very enjoyable. Good writing, funny, and fun to read. This will be a keeper and re-read. There are more books by E D Baker and I am keeping an eye out for them.
The Clockwork Twin by Walter R. Brooks is the 5th book in the series. Still knocking them down as I write this months later. About a month or two back when I blogged about May's books I had noticed that some of the Freddy series seemed to be out of print at Overlook. The Clockwork Twin isn't available from Amazon, though their partners seem to still have new and used ones. I did hear some good news from Greg. He told me last Friday Night Movie night that he had talked to Overlook and they were going to start reissuing the series in paperback. Not sure of a schedule and their web site has a random few books that are said to be forthcoming. That's great news, if it pans out, as the hardbacks were $23.95 each, and that kept people away from buying them, even though they are totally worth it to the right person. Even at 10 bucks a pop for the paperbacks a 26 book series can add up to some serious coin. I think it's all relative and look at it as an average anyway. Those 50 cent clearance books help keep the average cost per book down. If you re-read a book you can lower that CPC. That's fiscally responsible.
In this 1937 book the Bean farm animals are involved with a flood. They rescue a kid from the raging river waters and take him back to the farm. Turns out his uncle and aunt are awful people who mistreat him. The kid, named Adoniram, is lonely and the animals ask Mr Bean's brother to make him a companion. Uncle Ben is an inventor and sure enough he makes up a wooden mechanical boy. It needs winding every so often and it has to be piloted by a chicken. Sometimes Charles would take it over and turn up the loudspeaker in it's chest to give speaches. The other animals put a stop to that. You can see from the book cover that Jinx painted on the face. Turns out he's got a nice paw with the brush. Adoniram, ain't that a mouthful, has a brother named Byram. The animals find him and reunite the brothers. The Beans adopt them and they never show up in the series again. Same with the kids from the earlier book. Gone. I still enjoyed it. Makes me laugh and the writing is so nice and lively.
The Well-Wishers by Edward Eager is the sequel to Magic Or Not. Both the books have the same group of kids living in the country. They go searching for a second magical well, find a likely candidate and start the wishing right away. The events that happen could be magic, or they might not be magic. They help an orphan find a good home. They help a lonely man and lonely woman find love. They turn a bully into a pal. The story is told from the POV of each of the kids. It's a device that I didn't find satisfying. There's also a socially relevent aspect in the subplot dealing with the introduction of a black family to the town. Some folks don't want it to happen. The kids welcome them with open arms. Not my favorite of Eager's books. I prefer the magical tales. I will find a copy of Magic Or Not soon and read that. Then there's only one book to read and I will have read all 7 of Eager's novels.
Vampire Plagues - London 1850 & Vampire Plagues - Mexico 1850 by Sebastian Rook (Ben Jeapes writing under a fake name for some reason) are the first and third of a series of books about ancient Mayan vampires and the kids who stop their plan for world domination. They are from 2004 and 2005 and there's a middle book set in Paris. I thought the covers looked ok, especially Mexico. I liked it as a piece of art. They were on the clearance shelf for half a buck each and I also had a 15% off coupon, so they were cheap. Not as cheap as the romance novels my mother gets at some Goodwill like place in Winnipeg. They raised the price on the books she likes. They were 5 for a buck and now they are 4 for a buck. If only there were some books that I could read in that lot. I'm happy with 50 cent books that are readable. This series was ok, short, fast paced but not a keeper.
The Winter Knights - The Edge Chronicles 8 by Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell is the second book in The Quint Saga. That three book trilogy is the earliest part of the 12 book series, read chronologically number 8 is the second book after number 4 and number 9 would follow number 8. Writers! The second trilogy is The Twig Saga which is about Quint's son and the third trilogy is The Rook Saga which is about Twig's grandson. There's a volume 10 that appearently jumps ahead in time, introduces new characters and wraps up some old loose ends. There's a slim book of Maps and a collection of short stories and novellas call the The Lost Barkscrolls. I have the maps book but haven't read it, it's a short pamphlet and a fold out map. I just found a British copy of The Lost Barkscrolls at Half Price books today for 6 bucks. It was even cheaper after I used the 15% off coupon that I got in the HPB annual calendar. I also spent more than 30 bucks so I got a new calendar for next years batch of 15% off coupons. One of the reason's that I like going to the used bookstores is you never know what you're going to find there. That "it's a mystery feeling" happens less at, say, Target. Same goes for The Edge Chronicles, you never know what's going to happen next. Quint's father, the sky pirate Wind Jackel, leaves Quint with the Proffessor of Light at the Knights Academy. Quint makes some friends and an enemy at the school. He does some growing up and saving the day along the way. He's reunited with his father at the end of the book and they go off to have an adventure in book 9. I have been enjoying the series which has plenty to keep my interest. It's a bit of a sad universe, The Edge, filled with plenty of deceit, dispair, and danger, even for small children, but there are bits and pieces of hope and beauty. It's a series that I plan on re-reading and now that all or most all the books are out it's much easier to read them in the right order.
There's A Boy In The Girls Bathroom by Louis Sachar is a novel about a kid who moves to a new school. He's seated next to the most annoying and odd kid in his grade. They eventually bond and the annoying kid grows up some. It's an ok read but not a keeper. What is a keeper is Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling. I started the series again. For these last few months I have been chain reading the Freddy series and HP before hittin' the hay. Books like Sachar's get dragged to work so I have something to read at breaks. If I don't go out for lunch or someone doesn't call wanting something then I get a good hour of reading in each work day. Reading is a time consuming hobby. I am building up a good library to re-read during my retirement or the apocolypse, which ever comes first. Not to worry if it's the latter. I can read without my glasses.
The Clash Of The Sky Galleons - The Edge Chronicles 9 by Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell is the third of The Quint Saga. It's an exciting air adventure with lots of sky sailing. Quint is reunited with his father, the sky pirate Wind Jackel. They board Wind Jackel's ship, The Galerider, on a hunt for the man who started the fire that killed Quint's mother and brothers and destroyed much of the Western Quays. He's a smart villian who nearly catch's the father and son in his many booby traps. Eventually justice is served but at a great cost. Another good part of the series. It's one that I plan to revisit when the story fades from my head. So, maybe next year.