Book Review: Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone

Author: J. K. Rowling

Pages: 309

Genre: Fiction/YA/Children

Personal Rating: 4/5

Awards: Winner of the National Book Award (UK), Winner of the Gold Medal Smarties Prize (UK), Publishers Weekly Best Book of 1998, School Library Journal Best Book of 1998, Parenting Book of the Year Award 1998, New York Public Library Best Book of the Year 1998, An ALA Notable Book, FCBG (Federation of Children's Books Group) Children's Book Award 1997, Birmingham Cable Children's Book Award 1997, Young Telegraph Paperback of the Year, British Book Awards' Children's Book of the Year, Sheffield Children's Book Award, Anne Spencer Lindbergh Prize, Sorcieres Prix 1998, Premio Cento per la Letteratura Infantile 1998, Booklist Best Book of the Year 1998, Booklist Editor's Choice 1998, Whitaker's Platinum Book Award 2001

From the back cover:

Harry Potter has never played a sport while flying on a broomstick. He's never worn a cloak of invisibility, befriended a giant, or helped hatch a dragon. All Harry knows is a miserable life with the Dursleys, his horrible aunt and uncle, and their abominable son, Dudley. Harry's room is a tiny closet at the foot of the stairs, and he hasn't had a birthday party in eleven years.

But all that is about to change when a mysterious letter arrives by owl messenger: a letter with an invitation to a wonderful place he never dreamed existed. There he finds not only friends, aerial sports, and magic around every corner, but a great destiny that's been waiting for him...if Harry can survive the encounter.

What an absolutely fun read. I can see why kids love this series. If I was a kid I would be reading it over and over again. I'm a little embarrassed to admit I'm looking forward to picking up book II (Chamber of Secrets). Rowling has a wonderful imagination. I was constantly amazed at what she thought of and was always looking forward to what she would think of next. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series just to see how creative she gets. To have such an imagination must be amazing! I'll admit I was a little apprehensive about picking up Harry Potter. Worried it wouldn't live up to all the "hub bub". Needless worry. It was a fast, fun, delightful read.

The basics of book 1 is that Harry doesn't know he is a wizard. He is stuck living with his aunt, uncle and cousin, who are referred to as Muggles (people who can't do magic). On his 11th birthday Harry learns he is a wizard, how his parents died and he is sent of to the Hogwarts school to learn how to be a wizard. At Hogwarts Harry gets his first owl and learns to fly his broomstick. He is the seeker on the Quidditch team (a combination of soccer and basketball played with many different sized balls on broomstick) and takes classes called herbology, history of magic, charms, transfigurations and defense against the dark arts. He makes friends makes, some enemies and learns of a plan to steal the sorcerer's stone. All through the story there are these wonderful little snippets that are just wonderful. For example, in pictures, the people don't stay put, they move around. So you can look at a picture and the people might not be in it, or they may be moving around.

If you've been avoiding this series or unsure about it give it a try. I was unsure and I'm glad I gave it chance. I'm looking forward to finishing off the series over time.

If you have reviewed this book and would like me to link to your review please let me know in the comments!

Book Review: Parasite Rex

Author: Carl Zimmer

Pages: 245

Genre: Non Fiction/Science

Personal Rating: 3/5

From the back cover:

IMAGINE A WORLD WHERE parasites control the minds of their hosts, sending them to their destruction.

IMAGINE A WORLD WHERE parasites are masters of chemical warfare and camouflage, able to cloak themselves with their hosts' own molecules.

IMAGINE A WORLD WHERE parasites steer the course of evolution, where the majority of species are parasites.

WELCOME TO EARTH.

For centuries, parasites have lived in nightmares, horror stories, and in the darkest shadows of science. Yet these creatures are among the world's most successful and sophisticated organisms. In Parasite Rex, Carl Zimmer deftly balances the scientific and the disgusting as he takes readers on a fantastic voyage. Traveling from the steamy jungles of Costa Rica to the fetid parasite haven of southern Sudan, Zimmer graphically brings to life how parasites can change DNA, rewire the brain, make men more distrustful and women more outgoing, and turn hosts into the living dead.

This thorough, gracefully written book brings parasites out into the open and uncovers what they can teach us about the most fundamental survival tactics in the universe.

I'm torn with how to write the review for this book. One one hand I really loved it, on the other hand sometimes it bored me to tears. The book was incredibly fascinating, in small doses. Zimmer has a knack for writing so that you can easily understand what he is saying. BUT, I have a background in science. I teach biology. I am naturally interested in his subject matter and have prior knowledge on a lot of what he was writing about (especially details about how the immune system works). I'm not sure how much someone without a science background would would struggle to enjoy the book having to first understand all the science in it. I think that as long as you realize that you may need to do a little work to understand this book go ahead and pick it up. Plan to read it in short segments over a long period of time. There are only so many parasitic infections you can take at one time. If you are easily grossed out, squeamish, don't like worms, or enjoy science leave this book for someone else.

If you have reviewed this book and would like me to link to your review please let me know in the comments!

Book Review: Magic Study

Author: Maria Snyder

Pages: 425

Genre: Fiction

Personal Rating 3.5/5

From the back cover:

Yelena is a survivor. Kidnapped as a child, held prisoner as a teen, then released to act as a poison taster, she is now a student of magic. But these magic skills place her in imminent danger, and with an execution order on her head, she has no choice but to escape to Sitia, the land of her birth.

But nothing in Sitia is familiar. As she struggles to understand where she belongs and how to control her powers, a rogue magician emerges--and Yelena catches his eye. Suddenly she is embroiled in a situation not of her making. And once again her magical abilities will either save her life...or be her downfall.

Magic, romance, adventure, empowered women, mystery, suspense...there is a little of everything I enjoy all wrapped up in one nice book. This is the second book out of three. The first book Poison Study I really liked as well and I will be reading the third book Fire Study Soon.

This book is a nice quick read. It is interesting enough to keep you interested and not heavy at all. I had been reading some "heavier" book lately and needed a break.

Yelena has been forced to leave the North since there is an execution order on her head. She is taken south to Sitia, her homeland where was was kidnapped as a child. Here she will meet her family and learn to control her magic. Of course it does not go easily or smoothly.

Her brother hates her, thinks she is a spy and turns her over to Cahil, a supposed remaining heir to the North who wants the support of the south in mounting an army to take back what is his. Yelena is taken to the Citadel where it is determined she is not a spy and she will be allowed to be taught how to control her magic. Yelena is stubbon, does not trust anyone and doens't follow rules. She is a difficult pupil and always seems to be getting into trouble.

As the story unfolds it is determined that there is a magician loose who is stealing souls to make himself as powerful as possible. He has developed a group of followers as well. Yelena seems to the only one capable of stopping him but it means not following rules, trusing people and risking being kicked out of the Citadel and never learning to master her magic. It also means risking her soul to this magician which would make him the most powerful magician EVER and leave both the North and South lands in great danger.

You'll enjoy this story if you're looking for a interesting, fast read and like magic and romance. Though is isn't icky flowery romance (that stuff I can't stand).

If you have reviewed this book and would like me to link to your review please let me know in the comments!

Book Review: Uglies

Author: Scott Westerfeld

Pages: 425

Genre: Fiction/ YA

Personal Rating 4.5/5

From the back cover:

"Everybody gets to be supermodel gorgeous. What could be wrong with that?"

Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license -- for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there.

But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world -- and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.

I was pleasantly surprised by how good this book really was. The back of the book summary only covers the first quarter of the book. The majority of the book deals with the decision that Tally makes and the consequences that follow. In many ways it reminds me of Lois Lowry. If you enjoy her books you'll like Uglies.

Tally lives in a "future civilization" because ours has somehow messed up (of course). Our generation is referred to as "Rusties" for how much metal we used. They have advanced technology, and have learned from us . They don't make the same mistakes we do. The don't cut down trees and burn up fossil fuels. There is no war. Since everyone eventually gets to be pretty there is no more racism, jealousy, anger, hate etc. but we learn that it does come at a cost, thought very few know it.

From reading the back cover it appears that this story is going to be superficial. An ugly girl whining that she doesn't get to be pretty. It is so much more. People choosing freedom of their minds over the apparent freedom that beauty offers. I realize that my review is somewhat lacking in details but I don't want to spoil the outcome of the story for people who want to read it.

This is the first of three in the series. I think I just read there may be a fourth. I need to go out and buy Pretties, the second in the series right now. I really can't wait to read it. If you do not want to read the entire series I would not pick up Uglies because you will want to keep going!

If you have reviewed this book and would like me to link to your review please let me know in the comments!

Also Reviewed By:
Bloggin' 'bout Books

Book Review: The Blind Assassin

Author: Margaret Atwood

Pages: 521

Genre: Fiction

Personal Rating 4/5

Awards: Booker Prize

From the back cover:

The Booker Prize -winning sensation from the incomparable Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin combines gothic drama, romantic suspense and science fiction yarn in an entrancing novel of uncommon intricacy and grace.

The novel opens with these simple, resonant words: "Ten days after the war ended, my sister drove a car off the bridge." They are spoken by Iris, whose terse account of her sister Laura's death in 1945 is followed by an inquest report proclaiming the death accidental. But just as the reader expects to settle into Laura's story, Atwood introduces a novel-within-a-novel. Entitled The Blind Assassin, it is a science fiction story told by two unnamed lovers who meet in dingy backstreet rooms. When we return to Iris, it is through a 1947 newspaper article announcing the discovery of a sailboat carrying the dead body of her husband, a distinguished industrialist

What makes this novel Margaret Atwood's strongest and most profoundly entertaining is the way in which the three wonderfully rich stories weave together, gradually revealing through their interplay the secrets surrounding the entire Chase family--and most particularly the fascinating and tangled lives of the two sisters. The Blind Assassin is a brilliant and enthralling book by a writer at the top of her form.

I think to truly appreciate this book it needs to be read more than once. However, I enjoyed it immensely. The reason I say it needs to be read more than once is that the Blind Assassin involves three different stories, that all interweave. The novel jumps back in forth in time from the main characters present to the past. It is written in a very clever fashion. It kept me guessing right up until the very end what had actually happened. I kept thinking I had figured it out, but then I would get a tidbit of information that would make me change me mind. I think Atwood did a fantastic job with the writing.

Knowing now what actually happens I think I would pick up a lot of new information with a reread that I missed the first time through. We all know that there are a lot of books to read out there so I won't be rereading The Blind Assassin just to see what I missed.

It was a little difficult to keep track sometimes of who was actually narrating the story. I wondered sometimes though if that was Atwood's intent. If it was supposed to be confusing and unclear...I'm not sure.

Even though everyone might not like this story I think most people will appreciate that The Blind Assassin is well written. How the three separate, and sometimes confusing, stories end up coming together was impressive and satisfying. The only reason I didn't rate it higher is that I don't want to have to reread novels to "fully understand them" and I think it started slowly.

Do I recommend picking it up? Definitely!

ALSO REVIEWED BY:
Rhinoa at Rhinoa's Ramblings
Tammy at Tammy's Book Nook


If you have reviewed this book and would like me to link to your review please let me know in the comments!

Book Review: The House of the Spirits

Author: Isabel Allende

Pages: 433

Genre: Fiction

Personal Rating 1/5

Awards: Panorama Literario Award: Chile (1983), Best Novel of the Year: Chile (1983)

From the back cover:

Here, in an astonishing debut by a gifted storyteller, is the magnificent saga of proud and passionate men and women and the turbulent times through which they suffer and triumph. They are the Truebas. And theirs is a world you will not want to leave, and one you will not forget.

Esteban -- The patriarch, a volatile and proud man whose lust for land is legendary and who is haunted by his tyrannical passion for the wife he can never completely possess.

Clara -- The matriarch, elusive and mysterious, who foretells family tragedy and shapes the fortunes of the house of the Truebas.

Blanca -- Their daughter, soft-spoken yet rebellious, whose shocking love for the son of her father's foreman fuels Esteban's everlasting contempt... even as it produces the grandchild he adores.

Alba -- The fruit of Blanca's forbidden love, a luminous beauty, a fiery and willful woman... the family's break with the past and link to the future.

I hate to write bad reviews but sometimes it must be done. This book was awful. I hated it. What was so horrible about it? I'm not sure. It is difficult to put my finger on it. I know it was easy to just put the book down and forget about it. I didn't care about anyone in the story. I preferred to do household chores than read (now THAT should tell you something). I took me weeks to finish this book. I finished it through sheer will power and determination. It covered 8 challenges for me so there was no way I was going back once I started. I also figured since it had won a few awards it must be decent. This is horrible to say but one of the challenges i read this book for was the Banned Book Challenge...the only thing this book should be banned for is being boring.

It should have been a good story. It went on long enough. It "spanned" generations. So many different story lines evolved, started, stopped. There was love, death, murder, kidnapping, mutilation, war, riots, revolt, marriage, a head in a box, a car crash, magic, green hair...there was so much. This family was an absolute train wreck. It should have been interesting in the "I can't look away car crash type of way". But it wasn't. It was boring. It was difficult to keep track of who was who (that could have been from me putting the book down for days at a time).

Save your time. If you want to try Allende try something besides The House of the Spirits

If you have reviewed this book and would like me to link to your review please let me know in the comments!

Book Review: Kabul Beauty School

Author: Deborah Rodriguez

Pages: 270

Genre: Non-Fiction

Personal Rating 5

From the back cover:

Soon after the fall of the Taliban, in 2001, Deborah Rodriguez went to Afghanistan as part of a group offering humanitarian aid to this war-torn nation. Surrounded by men and women whose skills–as doctors, nurses, and therapists–seemed eminently more practical than her own, Rodriguez, a hairdresser and mother of two from Michigan, despaired of being of any real use. Yet she soon found she had a gift for befriending Afghans, and once her profession became known she was eagerly sought out by Westerners desperate for a good haircut and by Afghan women, who have a long and proud tradition of running their own beauty salons. Thus an idea was born.

With the help of corporate and international sponsors, the Kabul Beauty School welcomed its first class in 2003. Well meaning but sometimes brazen, Rodriguez stumbled through language barriers, overstepped cultural customs, and constantly juggled the challenges of a postwar nation even as she learned how to empower her students to become their families’ breadwinners by learning the fundamentals of coloring techniques, haircutting, and makeup.

Yet within the small haven of the beauty school, the line between teacher and student quickly blurred as these vibrant women shared with Rodriguez their stories and their hearts: the newlywed who faked her virginity on her wedding night, the twelve-year-old bride sold into marriage to pay her family’s debts, the Taliban member’s wife who pursued her training despite her husband’s constant beatings. Through these and other stories, Rodriguez found the strength to leave her own unhealthy marriage and allow herself to love again, Afghan style.

With warmth and humor,Rodriguez details the lushness of a seemingly desolate region and reveals the magnificence behind the burqa. Kabul Beauty School is a remarkable tale of an extraordinary community of women who come together and learn the arts of perms, friendship, and freedom.

Yep, a fiver! You know when a book has you scavenging the Internet for places to volunteer overseas that it has made an impact on you. I loved this book for two main reasons. Or I guess i should say for the two glimpses it gives you. The first is the glimpse it gives you into the life of Afghan women and the second is the glimpse it gives you into the life of the woman Debbie Rodriguez. Her dedication of the book tells you a lot about her "style"but leaves a lot of her "style"to be discovered

"This book is dedicated to my father, Junior Turner, who passed away June 5, 2002, while I was on my first trip to Afghanistan. Dad, I never got a chance to tell you about Afghanistan and the school. You left me too soon. I know you would love Sam, my husband--he is just like you, but Afghan style. I know you would be worried, but also very happy that I am following my dream. I miss you."

Debbie Rodriguez is an spirited, tough, inspirational woman who just doesn't quit. She ends up in Afghanistan as part of a group of humanitarian workers and feels very out of place with the doctors, nurses, teachers, and engineers. She feels like she has no place there. She is just a lowly hair dresser. But when she is introduced with her group for the evening her job title brings down the house and she is instantly surrounded by women (& men) who just want a little pampering! She is needed just as much as the doctors, just in a different way.

Rodriguez comes to learn that her skills are actually very valuable because men cannot enter beauty salons (since women take off their veils and their hair can be seen). If she can teach women how to run their own salons they would ultimately be in control of their own money. Their husbands would never see how much they were actually making since they couldn't enter the salons. The women would for once have some small control over their own lives. They of course would have to turn their money over to their husbands but since he wouldn't know how much they were actually making...

So the book follows Debbie from the beginning of her quest for free donations and her joining of forces with Vogue and Clairol who had already begun to start a Kabul Beauty School, to her marriage to Sam (an Afghan) up until 2006 when her salon and the beauty school are locked up and Kabul is locked down due to political unrest.

I just kept reading and reading this book. I found it very inspirational and moving. I think anyone would enjoy this even if you do not normally enjoy non-fiction. It is just so eye opening to show us how another culture lives.

Book Review: Messenger

Author: Lois Lowry

Pages: 169

Genre: Fiction/Young Adult

Personal Rating 3.5

From the back cover:

For the past six years, Matty has lived in Village and flourished under the guidance of Seer, a blind man known for his special sight. Once, Village was a place that welcomed newcomers and offered hope and homes to people fleeing poverty and cruelty. But something sinister has seeped into Village, and the people have voted to close it to outsiders. All along, Matty has been invaluable as a messenger between Village and other communities. He hopes someday to earn the name of Messenger. Now he must make one last journey through the increasingly treacherous forest to spread the message of Village’s closing and convince Kira, Seer’s daughter, to return with him. Matty’s only weapon against his dangerous surroundings is a secret power he unexpectedly discovers within himself. He wants to heal the people who have nourished his body and spirit and is willing to offer the greatest gift and pay the ultimate price.

I read Messenger as my third book in the Themed Reading Challenge. My theme is books by the the author Lois Lowry. I've already read The Giver and Gathering Blue. My last book will be Number the Stars.

Messenger is listed as "A companion to the Newbery Award Winner The Giver and to Gathering Blue" and it does incorporate the two together, drawing on characters and experiences from both books. If you haven't read the prior two books I would wait to read Messenger.

I enjoyed Messenger but not nearly as much as The Giver or Gathering Blue. This book was similar to the first two in that the main character Matty exists in a world "similar yet different from ours". It actually seems to be happening simultaneously with the worlds of The Giver and Gathering Blue. While those worlds are (still) existing. When you read The Giver and Gathering Blue it seems that they are there own distinct worlds but you learn in Messenger that they are not.

I guess Lowry has lost a little of her shine for me. Her first two books were so different and surprising. I "sort of" knew what style to expect with Messenger and sure enough I was able to figure out what would be happening. It was still a good book, just not as good as the first two.

The God of Small Things

Author: Arundhati Roy

Pages: 321

Genre: Fiction

Personal Rating: 2.5

Awards: Booker Prize

From the back cover:

The story of the tragic decline of an Indian family whose members suffer the terrible consequences of forbidden love, The God of Small Things is set in the state of Kerala, on the southernmost tip of India. Armed only with the
invincible innocence of children, the twins Rahel and Esthappen fashion a childhood for themselves in the shade of the wreck that is their family — their lonely, lovely mother, Ammu (who loves by night the man her children love by day), their blind grandmother, Mammachi (who plays Handel on her violin), their beloved uncle Chacko (Rhodes scholar, pickle baron, radical Marxist, bottom-pincher), their enemy, Baby Kochamma (ex-nun and incumbent grandaunt), and the ghost of an imperial entomologist's moth (with unusually dense dorsal tufts).

When their English cousin and her mother arrive on a Christmas visit, the twins learn that Things Can Change in a Day. That lives can twist into new, ugly shapes, even cease forever. The brilliantly plotted story uncoils with an agonizing sense of foreboding and inevitability. Yet nothing prepares you for what lies at the heart of it.

Well, unfortunately I've read another prize winner that has left me shaking my head. While I do admit Roy writes beautifully, I also found her writing tedious and confusing. She often jumped back and forth in time, making it difficult to tell what was going in. In one paragraph Ammu is alive and a few paragraphs later she has been dead for a long time. I found this novel difficult to read. After several chapters I found her writing style to be annoying. "She told me to 'stop it' so i 'stoppited it'". To me she came across as trying to hard to write uniquely.

There were many characters. I didn't really care about any of them. I don't feel Roy developed any of them enough to allow that. Or she jumped around so much you couldn't develop a bond with them. Plus there names were very confusing. Now this may partially be my fault. I started this book over a week ago out of town at a funeral. I got a chapter or two in and put it down in disgust. I re-injured my foot yesterday so I picked it back up for a marathon finish. I was determined to finish it so i could move onto a book I would enjoy more.

It's a little funny, I just went and read a few 5 star reviews and a lot of them even admit they initially had trouble staying interested or found it slow going.

Must read? I don't think so. With so many other books about India out there I would grab something else. Oh yeah, the story line overall is just plain depressing.

ALSO REVIEWED BY

Rebecca at The Inside Cover

Book Review: A Tree Grows In Brooklyn

Author: Betty Smith

Pages: 483

Genre: Fiction/Historical/YA

Personal Rating: 4.5

From the back cover:

I couldn't decide between the one that was actually on the back over or the one from Amazon so I've included both!

The American classic about a young girl's coming of age at the turn of the century.

"A profoundly moving novel, and an honest and true one. It cuts right to the heart of life...If you miss A Tree Grows in Brooklyn you will deny yourself a rich experience...It is a poignant and deeply understanding story of childhood and family relationships. The Nolans lived in the Williamsburg slums of Brooklyn from 1902 until 1919...Their daughter Francie and their son Neely knew more than their fair share of the privations and sufferings that are the lot of a great city's poor. Primarily this is Francie's book. She is a superb feat of characterization, an imaginative, alert, resourceful child. And Francie's growing up and beginnings of wisdom are the substance of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn." --New York Times

"One of the most dearly beloved and one of the finest books of our day." --Orville Prescott

"One of the books of the century."--New York Public Library

***********************************************************

Francie Nolan, avid reader, penny-candy connoisseur, and adroit observer of human nature, has much to ponder in colorful, turn-of-the-century Brooklyn. She grows up with a sweet, tragic father, a severely realistic mother, and an aunt who gives her love too freely--to men, and to a brother who will always be the favored child. Francie learns early the meaning of hunger and the value of a penny. She is her father's child--romantic and hungry for beauty. But she is her mother's child, too--deeply practical and in constant need of truth. Like the Tree of Heaven that grows out of cement or through cellar gratings, resourceful Francie struggles against all odds to survive and thrive. Betty Smith's poignant, honest novel created a big stir when it was first published over 50 years ago. Her frank writing about life's squalor was alarming to some of the more genteel society, but the book's humor and pathos ensured its place in the realm of classics--and in the hearts of readers, young and old

I have to admit, I loved it. I loved A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Usually I do not enjoy fiction that doesn't have a specific plot and just "sort of describes" a person life but this novel was different. For me it started slow but as I became engrossed with Francie and her family and how they would "manage to get by" (sometimes they did by pretending they were explorers stranded at the North Pole waiting for rescue) it went by faster and faster.

ATGIB is about a poor family and little girl growing in Brooklyn from 1902 -1919. So many small little incidences happen I often wondered how closely this book came to describing Betty Smiths actual life. The novel is divided into 5 Books each describing a differet section of Francies life (the first she is about 11, second is how her parents met until she is 7, the third covers their "education" schooling and other wise which continues until they are about 14, book 4 is about Francies having to take jobs to help earn money and finally book 5 sums it all up)

The character development is beautiful. I felt like I knew Francie, Neely, Katie and all the other characters. The writing is beautiful. I feel like I may have a little piece of what it was like to grow up poor during the early 1900's. The novel covered so many themes: poverty, class issues, gender roles, education, belief in god. All through a child's eye

Overall, the novel is not a fast read. This book is one to be savored and read slowly. It is listed as a YA novel, but the writing can get so descriptive I think many teens may find the book boring (especially boys).

ALSO REVIEWED BY

raidergirl3

Spring Reading Thing 2008

Yeah, I'm already signed up for the Spring Reading Challenge. Why am I doing this one too? I'm going to sign up for this challenge since it runs different dates (goes a little longer), allows you to link your posts and there are prizes!!!

Spring Reading Thing is being hosted by Callista at Callapidder Days

Spring Reading Thing 2008 is simply an opportunity for you to set some reading goals, share them with the blogosphere, and work toward them this spring. Perhaps you want to add some variety to your fiction reading. Or maybe you've had very good intentions as far as reading that book on budgeting or marriage or starting a home business, but...you haven't even cracked the cover yet. Some might want to read more with their children; others might feel guilty for never having read Wuthering Heights.

The official dates are March 20th through June 19th. Make your own list!!!!!!

My list will cross over with the other Spring Challenge so I don't go crazy and then will have my additions since it runs longer.

1. The Messenger (Lois Lowry)
2. God of Small Things (Arundhati Roy)
3. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
4. The Boy In Striped Pajamas (John Boyne)
5. Prentice Alvin (Orson Scott Card)
6. The Blind Assassin (Margaret Atwood)
7. Bel Canto (Ann Patchett)
8. Parasite Rex (Carl Zimmer)
9. Number the Stars (Lois Lowry)

Alternates

Alvin Journeyman
Heartfire
The Crystal City
House of the Spirits (Isabel Allende)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (J. K. Rowling)
Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil (Deborah Rodriquez)
Dicey's Song (Cynthia Voight)
Holes (Louis Sachar)
Uglies (Scott Westerfeld)
Magic Study (Maria Snyder)
I, Mona Lisa (Jeanne Kalogridis)