Fablehaven

Finished Book #1 in the five book series this weekend.  Very fun, lighthearted, entertaining read.  Basic premise: Two children spend two weeks at their grandparents home in the country while their parents head off for a cruise.  During this time they find out that their grandparents are caretakers of Fablehaven, a refuge for mystical creatures both good and evil.  The kids have many adventures and end of in one of the most daring rescue trips ever!  I look forward to the next four books.  Keep reading friends!

The Door Within...

What a great series!  It is rare that I get to book #3 without posting.  I think it is because I have been reading them so quickly.  Wayne Batson writes a beautiful series that begins with, The Door Within.  The story centers on Aidan Thomas as he leaves his world and enters THE REALM.  There he quickly becomes the 12th knight and helps save Allebele.  In book #2, The Rise of the Warm Lord, Aidan's friend Antionette is called into THE REALM and try to help the knights save Yehwood.  I cam currently reading book #3, The Final Storm.  Antoinette is still in The REALM and Aidan is battling in this world to save his best friend Robby from following Lord Paragor.  If you like fantasy...If you enjoy the story of what God did for us...If you like reading...Dive deep my friends.  You certainly will enjoy!!

Keep Reading,

Happy/Sad

The older I get, the more I am finding that I am both happy and sad at the same time far too often.  Maybe, my father's passing has heightened this awareness in me, as I am both happy that he is home and free of the pain that he was suffering from, but also lamenting that he is gone from me here and now.  Either way my heart is full.  It is full of emotion - love, joy, pain, hurt, loss, and grace.  I get a little of this sense when I finish a book series.  As I wrapped up The SYLO Chronicles, I am happy to have read the story, but sad that I end my relationship with characters whom I have grown fond of.  I think it is why I love reading so very much.  Authors that create genuine, authentic, caring characters are magicians.  To me, that is beauty.  I know that the story is fiction...yet, I allow myself to revert back to childhood days; I let myself IMAGINE.  In doing so, I am so very often swept away into a world for a time, and my sincere hope is that I learn deeply and grow richly, from my experience there.  After reading this trilogy I desire two things: I want to passionate do my part to transform the world so that I indeed, leave it better than I found it, and as my heart continue to heal from the loss of my father, I want to be incredibly intentional about investing in the lives of those whom i care deeply about. Love you friends.

2 out of 3...

Last night I finished book two!  It is so wonderful to finish a book, but it is even better when you know that the story is not over.  This morning I will begin reading book three, Strike.  I hope that you all have been enjoying this unit.  I really like slowing down and wallowing in a a good book.  I always learn from he author and from the characters that I meet along the way.  Slow down.  Enjoy the present.  Read carefully. Enjoy!

A New Trilogy...

I'm so excited to being a new trilogy!  We are just beginning our Independent Reading unit with My Grade 9 class.  I am excited to read along with each of them and to learn new strategies to help guide my reading, and seeping my understanding of what it is that I am reading.  The series that I am undertaking during this unit is written by D.J. MacHale and begins with a book called Sylo. After 38 pages I am already hooked and am excited to keep reading more.  I don't want to give the storyline away but the books takes place up in Maine and the central character is a high school freshmen named Tucker.  So far a boy has tragically died during a Friday night football game, a mysterious flying object has blown up off the coast, and Ticket and his best friend are currently in the backseat of a police jeep trying to explain they had nothing to do with it.  Clearly, this is my kind of story:)  Enjoy reading friends!!

September 27

Finished Orbiting Jupiter.  Highly recommend.  Easy read.  Hard content.  Life is not always easy or beautiful.  Gary Schmidt reminds us that there are deep deep troughs in life.  I am reminded again of that today.  My heart is heavy.

Orbiting Jupiter

I LOVE when someone I love and trust recommends a book to me.  On Monday my friend, Mark Hiskes put a book in my hand, Orbiting Jupiter by Gary Schmidt.  Immediately I was excited as I have read some other Schmidt works including Wednesday Wars.  Last night I read the first 65 pages and can see why my friend enjoyed it so much.  I'll be finished by Friday and the book will be back in the library.  Feel free to grab it then - I think you too will very much enjoy it.

Blessings,

The Hero of Ages

I spent the last part of my evening talking with my father-in-law.  We had just finished putting together a bunk bed for my boys.  By "we" I mean he put it together and I helped put it into the corner of the room at the end.  As we sat around the island in my kitchen we were chatting about all the many pieces that it took to put the bed together.  There were hundreds!!  He then picked up my book The Hero of Ages and asked if it was good.  I laughed into just how incredible the series (Mistborn) has been and how I am loving this final book.  It clicked to me thinking about just how many pieces go into writing a trilogy.  All the little details, the characters, the descriptions of the setting and all the sensory details that make the book really pop.  I smiled and then spent the next two hours reading.  I love books.  Happy reading friends.

Mistborn

Good morning friends!  I finished the first book in the Mistborn trilogy.  This morning Mrs. Houge walked into my classroom with a surprise. BOOK TWO!  It was checked out by someone else and now I can jump into the second book in the series, The Well of Ascension.  I am a bit weird when it comes to reading.  I only like reading series that are finished (I do not like reading them as they come ou because then I have to wait so long for the next book).  I hope you find a book that invites you into a world of discovery and joy.  Blessings on the start of the school year!

Summer Reading

What an incredible summer.  I absolutely fell in love with the long days, the warm temperatures, the blue skies, and the green grass.  I also had a great summer of reading.  I began by finishing The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan.  What an incredibly series!  If you are looking for a truly epic work (14 books and over 10,000 pages) this is it.  I was blessed to finish and was a bit sad when my time with Rand Al Thor came to an end.  After finishing I read the Mortality Doctrine series by James Dashner. I had read the Maze Runner series earlier in my life and was excited to read more.  It was really good and I recommend it!  My next read was going back to an and favorite that I never finished - The Lorien Legacies.  I had read I am number Four and the next three books a few years ago but the series was not finished and I left frustrated.  Well, the series is completed and all the books are in our library.  I read the series in a week and really loved the story.  It is a very easy and fun read.  I spent some time with Ted Dekker reading The Martyr's Song series and read a WWII favorite as well.  Currently I am reading Mistborn by Branden Sanderson.  It is also Fantasy Literature (one of my favorites).  Mr. Sportel recommended it and I am a big fan of reading recommended books by people who I love and trust.  At the start of this year, I encourage you to check out a book and get lost in a world of reading.  Blessings, friends.

YES!!

Finished Book 11 and have begun reading Book 12.  There is a light at the end of this tunnel.

Have you ever worked really hard at something and seen the payoff at the end?  I fell a bit like this here today.  I know I have 3 more books to read, but it feels so good to be tackling a major project and seeing results.

I highly recommend the series: The Wheel of Time.  If you are up for a great challenge and an incredibly journey...dive in.

Love you and keep reading!

The Wheel...it moves but slowly...

Book 11 - The Knife of Dreams.  Friends I cannot tell if I love this series or hate it.  Is that completely strange?  There are times when I cannot put the books down while at other it is a chore to even make the effort to put them in my hand.  Regardless, I am invested...three books from the end and I truly cannot wait to see how the wheel of time moves.  I recommend the series if you are up for 10,000 pages, hundreds of characters, plot twists, strange worlds, and customs that will blow you away.  Love you all and KEEP READING!

The Wheels keeps moving...

So I finally finished book #8 The Path of Daggers.  Sometimes I think authors get bored.  What a tough book for me to get through.  It just felt like there was suddenly little to no action and far too much description of characters and scenery.  I did manage to start reading book #9 The Winter's Heart and I am already up to page #300...it is amazing!!!  I guess in any epic story there are parts that have to move more slowly so that others can shine....kinda like life I guess.

Keep reading.