Whoa
I love the library!!!! I don't have to buy the books( ) and I can read as many as I want as many times as I want.
Also, I started reading the Sons of Angels series a few days ago. And I love it! I've already read 3 out of 4, lol.

...I actually finished book 1 today and read all of book 3 today too...

Time is my greatest enemy.

Whoa
I love the library!!!! I don't have to buy the books( ) and I can read as many as I want as many times as I want.
Also, I started reading the Sons of Angels series a few days ago. And I love it! I've already read 3 out of 4, lol.

...I actually finished book 1 today and read all of book 3 today too...

Exactly what I love about the library. Especially when I'm broke

Whoa
I love the library!!!! I don't have to buy the books( ) and I can read as many as I want as many times as I want.
Also, I started reading the Sons of Angels series a few days ago. And I love it! I've already read 3 out of 4, lol.

...I actually finished book 1 today and read all of book 3 today too...

Exactly what I love about the library. Especially when I'm broke

Yes Dragondog! You get what I'm saying! *high five* I think you would like the series. The first one is called Spirit Fighter if you're interested. It's by Jerel Law. I think that's how you spell it...

And I read all of book 4 today! Yeah, denizen, I sat down and read some today, but I usually read while I walk and do things around the house. It's amazing how much you can read as you walk from room to room.

Okay, Mac85, I'll check it out

Googled it, and it definitely sounds cool! I'll let you know what I think after I manage to get ahold of a copy of the first one.

I just started Rocketmen, the book about the Apollo 8 mission. I'm a big space race fan, and especially the Apollo program.

Alrighty!!!

Last night I finished rereading Unnaturals: The Battle Begins.

The story follows Castor, a german shepherd mutt who lives as a stray in the abandoned alleyways of a city named Lion's Head. The whole outside is toxic to humans, but fine for animals, so Castor and the other members of his pack have never even seen a human up close... until a couple of humans capture Castor and bring him to their underground laboratories, where they inject animals with DNA-altering serums. Castor himself is turned into a mutant, as the serum they inject him with gives him eagle wings and talons, and before he knows it, he and a bunch of other mutants are thrust into an arena and expecting to fight each other for big prize money. Castor struggles to stay true to his moral values while still keeping up enough of a "vicious" charade to keep the humans happy. But the real threat is the scorpion-tiger known as "The Invincible" who is as unfeeling as he is vicious- and so far, no one has ever beaten him.

The story also follows Marcus, an eleven year old who used to believe that the unnaturals were virtual models, and was a huge fan of the fights. But when he finds out they're real animals forced to battle against their will, he immediately becomes an animal advocate who will do anything to free the Unnaturals.

And to add to those two viewpoints, there's also Leesa, a twelve year old girl who lost her chihuahua, Pookie, to the Unnaturals matches when she was eight. Pookie was the only one who ever came close to beating the Invincible, and survived, but has since disappeared. All Leesa wants is to get him back, no matter the cost.

The story itself is divided into three parts, with the first part introducing the characters, the second part focusing more on developing the story itself, and the third part as the climax. The author is amazing at conveying the emotional impact of the events, especially in the third part, which is probably why this is my favorite book series at this time.

Honestly, I've read this more times than I can count, but I discover something new almost every time. Obviously, the author was showcasing the evils of animal abuse, but at the same time, was showing us what could happen if we keep letting virtual reality and careless apathy drive us apart. Sort of like what would happen if Ready Player One and Wall-E wrote a book together

But it also shows some other truths as well. Like Castor struggling to stay true to himself despite what the humans want, or Marcus aiming to help the mutants escape, despite the fact that his stepdad is in charge of the team that's altering them in the first place.

I'm not sure why the recommended age range for this book is 8-12. I don't know all eight year olds out there, but I doubt I could have made it through a book like this at that age. As powerful as I find the series, it's pretty gruesome at times. I mean, if the whole "animals forced to fight each other" thing didn't give that away. Watching various characters getting severely hurt, or reading about them being tortured by electric collars and beatings is pretty tough to take, even at the age I am now.

But the series is still worth it, and I'm glad I stuck through it. I'm now starting the second book, which is also the last book. (Come on, you could have at least made it a trilogy!) But I'll discuss the second book in a different post.

Sorry, I didn't mean to ramble like that. Apparently graduating school doesn't automatically make you forget how to write book reports

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I love the cover!

The cover art is fantastic, that's for sure!

Here's the cover for the second book:



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Though I think this fan-made image sums up the series fairly well:

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So after all the talk about libraries, i decided to visit my local library on Saturday. Couldn't find what i was looking for but i managed to take out 3 books for my son which are great. He's read them twice already!

Yay!

I managed to finish the second Unnaturals book.

Like the last one, Castor is one of the main characters, though now the story follows him after he and most of his team members escape from the fighting arena. Being free isn't as easy as it seemed, as Castor and the others are advertised as dangerous fugitives on every available billboard, and it isn't long before some of them are back in the hands of the humans they were running from.

Marcus and Leesa are dealing with new issues as well, since they are known to have been responsible for the jailbreak.

Leesa had been living in an underground community, where all the poor citizens of Lion's Head try to make due with the synthetic food and poor living conditions. But the major money loss caused by the jailbreak has been added to Leesa's family debt. Add that on top of the fact that her former best friend has betrayed her, and it's safe to say she has way more struggles than before.

Marcus's stepdad, being in charge of the team that created the Unnaturals, is constantly being pulled away to the labs, and is acting like more of a jerk than before. Also, Marcus's older brother has been framed and arrested, then moved, and no one knows where the heck he is. But things are way more complicated than Marcus realizes...

Both Marcus and Leesa are investigating as to why the Unnaturals were created, and what the mayor actually plans to do with the research that was done when they were created.

And there's a new character, a fox-bat named Kozmo. She spent her whole life in the lab where she was created in a test -tube, hiding in nooks and crannies away from any human view. But she is eventually forced to escape with some other animals, and finally sees what the rest of the world outside the room holds. But what no one knows is that she might be the key to solving everyone's problems...

Like before, Devon Hughes, the author, managed to do an amazing job at building this world, and keeping the story both emotional, action-packed, and a bit gruesome at times. But I'm not just biased when I say there should be one more book. This one was meant to wrap up the series, but still leave some questions unanswered. We really could use more details, Mrs. Hughes

And, like I said with The Last Dogs, I'm alone in this fandom

The Lost World is really not that good as Jurassic Park. I'm about 60%, nearly 70% in the book but it's not as exciting as the first book. The movie really only seemed to take out some details from the book surrounded with complete new characters. The first big thing that was both in the movie and the book besides the trailers and some weaponry was the surgery on the infant Rex. Only in the book it was Malcolm and Harding doing the surgery.

I decided to go and reread Julie Salamon's two middle grade novels. As far as I know, she's more of an adult writer, but she has a poetic writing style that keeps her younger novels appealing to all generations.

Cat in the City was her first middle grade novel that I know of. Based on a true story, it follows a white stray cat who winds up stuck in Washington Square in New York, right smack in the dog run. Thinking he is soon to die, he gives in to his fate, only for the opposite to happen. One of the dogs, Maggie, takes pity, and another, Roxie, invites him to hang out with them, and eventually helps him find a home next to her own. The cat, who winds up with the name Pretty Boy soon finds himself feeling quite at home with his new friends, and hangs out at the dog park almost daily. But life doesn't play fair, or even take pity on the poor cat, and just when he thinks life couldn't get any better, his whole world is turned upside down.

I have fickle feelings about this one. It's certainly not bad, but I've read better. The plot itself is mediocre, but the author's poetic style keeps it interesting and she managed to capture my emotions.

It's actually rather bittersweet, what with Pretty Boy constantly finding a place, getting his world shaken, and winding up lost all over again. Reading through all those shake-ups and goodbyes is actually a bit rattling.

But it drags at times too. The story seems to be a love letter to New York, which I've never been to, and a good chunk of the story focuses on Eli, Maggie's boy, who is trying to learn to play a cello, as well as find his own happiness in this new place his parents moved him to. Personally, having never been to New York, or having interest in cellos, I got kinda bored in those parts.

But, to an extent, I could relate to Pretty Boy, since I'm more of an introvert. I get what he means about finding friends for the first time, and having to learn how to act. So altogether, I guess 4 stars out of 5 is a fair rating.



Then I reread Mutt's Promise, her other middle grade novel. I like this one much better.

So this one kinda jumps a bit, first focusing on Mutt, a wandering dog who ends up saving a farm cat from a weasel, and earns a place on the cat's owner's farm in return. She befriends Gilbert, the son of one of the farm workers. It's soon discovered that she's expecting puppies.

After the puppies are born, Gilbert names them, and becomes as close to them as he is to their mother. But summer ends, and Gilbert and his parents leave the farm for the school year, with Gilbert promising to reunite with them next summer.

Unfortunately, Gilbert's father opens a restaurant in New York, and declines the offer to return to the farm. With the farm hand not coming back, the farm's owner decides to re-home the puppies.

He manages to find a good home for two of the puppies, but becomes impatient, and let's the last two go with a man named Raymond. Unfortunately, Raymond owns a puppy mill, and has no compassion for the puppies entrusted to him.

By now the story focuses on Luna, the youngest and most timid puppy, and a little on Chief, the oldest puppy, as they get stuck with Raymond, befriend Charlie, another puppy from the puppy mill, and escape from Raymond's place, hoping to return to the farm where they were born.

But more than trying to find home, Luna, Chief, and Charlie are trying to find their place in the world. Mutt once told her puppies that they would one day find their talents, and when they did, everything would fall into place. But is she right?

Unlike Cat in the City, this story is big on both plot and emotion, keeping it much more interesting to me. Of course, I might be a bit biased, because I can really relate to Luna, as far as her anxiety goes, and her uncertainty that she'll ever find out where she truly belongs. Her character development as she grows up and learns to let go of her fear and trust people again is believable, and, like I said, relatable. Not that I've ever had to travel miles and miles after being abducted, but still, I get where she's coming from I'd give it 5 stars.

And both books were illustrated by Jill Weber. She really has a talent. Her illustrations are a work of art.

Okay, one more, and then I'll finally shut up. Sorry, guess I got a bit carried away



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Finished The Lost World. The last 100 or so pages things became interesting but only after like 300 pages. No, this is not, the page-flipping book Jurassic Park was. Shame really, the book had the level of so many flawed sequels in movies. Though I think however if the movie stuck closer to the last 100 pages the movie could've been better. But who knows maybe they didn't like the book either and decided to go with the San Diego incident instead. Dodgson's story was finished well and mirrored the ending of Peter Ludlow in the movie. The movie did take a lot of creative freedom, like the entire InGen group with new characters instead of bringing Dodgson back who just had that one scene in the movie. Ever since I took up reading again this was the least interesting book so far.

If you enjoyed Jurassic Park, Try reading Congo. It is better than the Lost World IMO.

I have decided to start reading Pet Sematary.

Don't have Congo but I've seen the movie.

I started immediately with Meg. Only the introduction and two chapters so far and the book is already more interesting than the movie.

I finished Meg. It was a good read and it would've made a good B-movie.

Have started to read Stephen King's The Green Mile. The original six episode books. As usual it reads like train.

Strange Gifts by Robert Silverberg. I was watching Macgyver The Prodigal and this was one of the books that fell off the bookcase, that was being used to barricade the door, while the bad guys were trying to shoot their way in.

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Currently reading some Indiana Jones books. Still going chronologically. While I totally disliked The Oracle of Delphi, I just read Dance of the Giants and am currently reading The Seven Veils. All by the same author. It's getting better and the books seem to follow each other up. The stone that Indy found in Delphi makes a return in Dance of the Giants where he meets Deirdre Campbell who also appears in the Seven Veils as his love interest. I just finished reading a chapter where they are travelling to Brazil on the Mauretania. The ship mentioned by Kate Winslet in Titanic. This is one of the first more interesting references of real life history. The book is currently set in 1926 and actually can't wait to get to the late 30's and 40's to see what other historical references will be used.

Getting to the final chapter of The Langoliers. Another great King story that reads smooth as silk.

I started reading a book called Get Coding! Learn HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and build a website, app, and game today. It's pretty snazzy so far.