Would you become immortal if you had the chance?

No.  Given the fact that I believe in an afterlife I find the idea of being immortal unnecessary.  However, I can see the appeal immortality might hold for someone who thinks death is the end.

If you had to make the decision about whether or not to Awaken the twins, what would you do?

I don’t think it’s up to me, the twins should be the ones who should make that decision.  That’s one of my biggest problems with Nicholas, he expects them to make these major life and death decisions without bothering to explain anything or why they should take these risks.

If you had the chance to be Awakened, would you take it?

I honestly don’t know.  I probably would but only if I had I really good reason to do so.
One important task for fantasy writers is to build a believable world while still moving the story forward. How did Michael Scott do this? Was he successful?

Michael Scott has created a very interesting world in his novel, but I think his biggest problem is getting caught up in all of his details.  His story indeed has a lot of trouble moving forward in many places because he finds it necessary to explain so many obscure details that have very little to do with the actual plot.

Who is your favorite character? Which characters from myth would you like to see in the story?

I think Scatty is my favorite character.  She’s strong and loyal.  I think we need more female characters like her in literature these days.  In the sequels Scott not only introduces more mythical characters but several more recent and famous historical figures.  I don’t find that very consistent, I think he should stick to either the mythical characters or historical figures.  Blending them is a little confusing and doesn’t make much sense.  What I’m trying to say is I’ve already read the four books in this series (and that’s not the end) and I think the author needs to spend less time bringing in new characters and more time actually making his plot move.

Josh and Sophie both have doubts about Nicholas. Why don’t they trust him sometimes? Do you think he’s trustworthy?

I don’t blame Sophie and Josh for having doubts.  They don’t trust Nicholas because Nicholas doesn’t trust them.  Trust is a two-way street.  Nicholas is under the strange assumption that they will do what he says without asking questions.  Given the fact that their lives are at stake Sophie and Josh deserve those answers.  I don’t find him very trustworthy at this point mainly because he won’t explain anything, although I don’t doubt he thinks he is doing the right thing.  What does annoy me is when Josh thinks maybe Dr. John Dee is more worth trusting then Nicholas.  The scent of Dr. John Dee’s aura should give Josh the only clue he needs to figure out what that man is about.  Also, anyone who promises paradise, as Dee tries to promise Josh, is a liar.

Think about the alliances in the book. Why does Dr. John Dee work for the Dark Elders? Why do Scathach, Hekate, and the Witch of Endor help Nicholas and the twins?

The alliances were one of the most confusing thing about this book.  The battle lines, if you will, aren’t clearly drawn.  Dr. John Dee works for the Dark Elders because they gave him immortality, and because he think working for them will get him what he wants.  He’s not so much interested in what the Dark Elders want.  Scathach helps Nicholas out of loyalty.  Hekate doesn’t really want to help Nicholas and only does so grudgingly.  In the end she pays a heavy price.  This is off topic a little, but I was so sad when her magnificent tree died.  The Witch of Endor helps Nicholas because of Scathach and probably for some unknown reasons of her own.  I think one of the most confusing things about this book and subsequent sequels is trying to keep track of who is on which of the many sides and why.

Nicholas and Perrenelle Flamel were real people. There are streets and hospitals in Paris named after them. Dr. John Dee was also a real person, the most famous alchemist and astrologer of his age. How does the factual basis affect how you read this story?

Honestly, the only reason I’ve even heard of Nicholas and Perrenelle was because they were mentioned in the first Harry Potter book, and even then I thought they were fiction.  For all intensive purposes they are fiction because the author is making up most the important details that have to do with the story.  I’ve never heard of Dr. John Dee so he’s still as good as fiction to me.  So for the first book the “famous” names really made no difference to me.  However, in the sequels more characters are introduced that are historically famous and people I’ve actually heard of.  It did start to get distracting because it seems as if only the historically famous are ever granted immortality in Michael Scott’s world.  How unrealistic is that?  Seriously, I would not be surprised if Elvis shows up in a future sequel because all sorts of famous people who should be dead apparently aren’t.

What are your predictions for the next book in the series?

I liked the first book enough that I read all the available books in this series up to this point, including the new one that just came out in May.  There are four books in all so far, with another book planned, but I have no idea how many novels will eventually be in this series.   The Alchemyst was a good book, but it could have been better.   The story bogs down in the sequels, the author involves way too many key characters in all sorts of various sub plots.  The aforementioned new novel barely progresses the story at all, nothing really happens except more confusion for the reader.  The book would never work as a stand alone novel, and I think that’s a mistake.  I’m probably at the point where I’m starting not to care how the series ends, the last book I read in this series, The Necromancer, was a very unsatisfying read.  It’s too bad really because the author has neat ideas, he just needs to learn to leave out so many useless details and make sure his plot gets the attention it deserves.

Alcestis by Katharine Beutner
In Greek mythology, Alcestis is known as the good wife; she loved her husband so much that she died to save his life and was sent to the underworld in his place. In this poetic and vividly imagined debut, Katharine Beutner gives voice to the woman behind the ideal, bringing to life the world of Mycenaean Greece, a world peopled by capricious gods, where royal women are confined to the palace grounds and passed as possessions from father to husband.

Alcestis tells of a childhood spent with her sisters in the bedchamber where her mother died giving birth to her and of her marriage at the age of fifteen to Admetus, the young king of Pherae, a man she barely knows, who is kind but whose heart belongs to a god. She also tells the part of the story that’s never been told: What happened to Alcestis in the three days she spent in the underworld before being rescued by Heracles? In the realm of the dead, Alcestis falls in love with the goddess Persephone and discovers the true horror and beauty of death.

Alcestis falls head over heels for a selfish, conceited male. Admetus is in love with a God & the God has promised to intercede with the Fates to prevent Admetus’ death. But when it is time for Admetus to die he begs for someone to take his place. Alcestis, being the “Good Wife” that she was, offered to go in his place. While in Hades Alcestis falls in love with Persephone & you will find out a different version of the tale of Persephone & Hades. If you like Greek Mythology, but don’t mind authors putting a different spin on the tales then you might enjoy this book.

Black Ships by Jo Graham
In a time of war and doubt, Gull is an oracle. Daughter of a slave taken from fallen Troy, chosen at the age of seven to be the voice of the Lady of the Dead, she is destined to counsel kings.

When nine black ships appear, captained by an exiled Trojan prince, Gull must decide between the life she was born for and a most perilous adventure – to join the remnant of her mother’s people in their desperate flight. From the doomed bastions of the City of Pirates to the temples of Byblos, from the intrigues of the Egyptian court to the haunted caves beneath Mount Vesuvius, only Gull can guide Prince Aeneas on his quest, and only she can dare the gate of the Underworld to lead him to his destiny.

In the last shadowed days of the Age of Bronze, one woman dreams of the world beginning anew. This is her story.

Just as Marion Zimmer Bradley’s The Mists of Avalon breathed new life into Arthurian legend, Black Ships evokes the world of ancient Greece with beautiful, haunting prose, extraordinary imagination, and a profoundly moving story.

Black Ships is a beautifully written tale about the Trojans. Gull was a captured Trojan that was made into a Priestess. By becoming that Priestess, she changed the lives of the Trojans that remained. You get to go to Egypt & then on the voyage to where the Trojans end up.

This is a very well written book & a very enjoyable story. I was caught up in the story from the very beginning & I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a nice enjoying read.

The Memoirs of Helen of Troy by Amanda Elyot
History’s Greatest BeautyTells the Story of Her Life

Gossips began whispering about Princess Helen from the moment of her birth. A daughter of the royal house of Sparta, she was not the progeny of King Tyndareus, they murmured, but of Zeus, king of the gods. Her mother, Queen Leda, a powerful priestess, was branded an adulteress, with tragic consequences. As Helen grew to adulthood her beauty was so breathtaking it overshadowed that of every woman in Sparta. When she was kidnapped by Theseus, king of Athens, in a gambit to replenish his kingdom’s coffers, she was relieved to get away from the place where she had been so unhappy.

Helen fell in love with the much older Theseus, and to his surprise, he returned the feelings. But soon Helen was forced to return to Sparta and was hastily married off to the tepid Menelaus for the sake of an advantageous political alliance. After years of marriage, the spirited, passionate Helen was not the docile wife King Menelaus desired, and when she fell in love with another man—Paris Alexandros, the prodigal son of King Priam of Troy—Helen unwittingly set the stage for the ultimate conflict: a war that would destroy nearly all she held dear.

In this lush, compelling novel of passion and loss, Helen of Troy, a true survivor, tells the truth about her life, her lovers, and the Trojan War. This is the memoir that she has written—her legendary beauty still undimmed by age.

Everyone knows this story. But Amanda Elyot spins this tale differently then most would. She tells you about Helen from the day she was born. So instead of learning about just what you know you learn things that might of happened & how things may have happened. It was a very compelling story & very believed. The author did her research & you could tell that she knew what she was writing about.

The world called Bas-lag is quite interesting. There is cactus people, mosquito-like people, vampires, humans, and much more. I haven’t read his first book yet but I reserved it, though you can read The Scar without reading the first one from what I have been told.

This story is told through multiple points of view though the most reoccurring points are from Bellis Coldwine and Tanner Slack. Shockingly enough, Tanner Slack is a remade. The government remade the people as a punishment for a crime or other things. They get like octopus arms randomly added or metal parts of a machine. Basically I guess to make them a freak show or something. I am very curious as to why they are remade and hopefully I will find out when I read Perdido Street Station.

Basically, the story is about them on a floating city made up of many ships capture or stolen to free the remade people from being slaves at the new colony. I am not going to go too much in it in case you wanted to read it.

Here is a publisher summary if you are currently interested in reading it:

A mythmaker of the highest order, China Miéville has emblazoned the fantasy novel with fresh language, startling images, and stunning originality. Set in the same sprawling world of Miéville’s Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning novel, Perdido Street Station, this latest epic introduces a whole new cast of intriguing characters and dazzling creations.

Aboard a vast seafaring vessel, a band of prisoners and slaves, their bodies remade into grotesque biological oddities, is being transported to the fledgling colony of New Crobuzon. But the journey is not theirs alone. They are joined by a handful of travelers, each with a reason for fleeing the city. Among them is Bellis Coldwine, a renowned linguist whose services as an interpreter grant her passage—and escape from horrific punishment. For she is linked to Isaac Dan der Grimnebulin, the brilliant renegade scientist who has unwittingly unleashed a nightmare upon New Crobuzon.

For Bellis, the plan is clear: live among the new frontiersmen of the colony until it is safe to return home. But when the ship is besieged by pirates on the Swollen Ocean, the senior officers are summarily executed. The surviving passengers are brought to Armada, a city constructed from the hulls of pirated ships, a floating, landless mass ruled by the bizarre duality called the Lovers. On Armada, everyone is given work, and even Remades live as equals to humans, Cactae, and Cray. Yet no one may ever leave.

Lonely and embittered in her captivity, Bellis knows that to show dissent is a death sentence. Instead, she must furtively seek information about Armada’s agenda. The answer lies in the dark, amorphous shapes that float undetected miles below the waters—terrifying entities with a singular, chilling mission. . . .

China Miéville is a writer for a new era—and The Scar is a luminous, brilliantly imagined novel that is nothing short of spectacular.

The two teens in this book — twins, Sophie and Josh — were not annoying like most other teens in this genre. Their reasons for wanting to flee, for example, were valid. They were scared, and they knew that the adults were holding back information. At some point literature is going to evolve past this one complaint that kids always have in books, but for now I like to see how it’s handled. Sophie and Josh reacted based on their age and experience; they didn’t throw a tantrum, and although they put themselves in potential unnecessary danger, well, they somehow had to be reminded that the world they’d entered after encountering the Codex was very different from their own. They stick together, their emotions are very mature (Josh isn’t easily convinced that ‘nobody loves him,’ whereas I think most teens in other books fall prey to this argument from the bad guys way too easily), and their concerns are believable.

I kept thinking as I was reading that the style flowed very well. It seems that in most kid’s books I’ve read of late, each chapter stands on its own as an adventure in itself, all of them tying together into the whole story. That is true of this one as well; why else would you divide it into chapters? But things weren’t wrapped up nicely at the end of one chapter so the next could start with temporary peace. I rather prefer that, I think. It’s harder to put the book down, for one, and it just seems a lot more like reading life.

As I said, my only complaint was that it was a bit wordy… I like the back story, I like all the detail, and I definitely didn’t mind the length. I just noticed that when Nicholas and Dee went into their histories, it was described in thoughts across four or five pages of paragraph blocks. That’s fine, except how many people sit around thinking of their lives like that when they know they’re short on time? In movies, they fill in back stories by way of conversation between characters. Even having Josh’s impulsive rude questions to interrupt Nicholas’s speech would have broken up the text a little more, made it a little less tiring to read. I found myself glancing ahead, seeing how many more pages until the book jumped back into the action.

All in all, though, it was really well written, and certainly something I’ll recommend in the future. It’s good for older kids (which I suppose is why it’s kept in the teen section). It doesn’t have a lot of ‘older’ themes, but it’s not as fast paced or attention grabbing as books for younger kids so unless you have avid readers on your hands, they might find it boring.

I actually got on the author’s website and looked into some of the other books he’s written, and I most certainly will read more. I’ll probably get through this series before I venture out into other realms, but he’s written a lot on Irish folklore and a few other young adult books that look rather interesting.

As far as the sexuality in the book. What part of this world isn’t laced with it? Everywhere you look, hear, or touch sexuality is there. Is there anything wrong with it? No, as long as it isn’t taken beyond decency.

As for the “us and them” mentality in the circus between performers and workers it would have to be that way. The workers think that they are the bones behind the circus cause without them nothing would be ready for the performers. While the performers think that without them the workers would not be needed. It is the same way with society or even with men & women.

I have never enjoyed the circus & though I have only gone to it once it was not an enjoyable experience. I enjoyed the human performers, but not the animal ones. But then this is just my opinion. This wasn’t a bad book, but it isn’t one that I would give someone that enjoyed going to the circus.

It was unusual to have Death as a narrator. Though once you forget who he is you get used to Death & come to realize that during this era there would be no one that would be more suited to narrate this book. You will come to appreciate his humor in the sadness of the book.

When I read the end, I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe they bombed the street. I was glad that Max & Liesel lived but so many died. I don’t care, nothing is worth it. War is a useless & stupid thing.

I liked & disliked this book. I probably will read it again, but not for a while.

It’s taken me a few days to figure out what I wanted to say about this book. I still don’t really know what to think. It’s one of two books which have made me cry over the death of a character. It took a little while to get into, but the story was one that sucked you in and held on tight.

The writing style was different, and at times distracting with the big bold announcements. After a few chapters, I became used to it, and actually looked for those small bits of bold words. I liked the character of death. I liked his wry humor, it was enough to not make a subject that you know is depressing, so very depressing all the time.

Until the very end.

The bombing of Himmel street, and the great loss of lives that cost. Everyone was gone, except for a few. Max lived. Liesel lived. She went on to live a long life. It was still sad. But a book about a war, especially WW II in Germany, is supposed to be filled with death. Even fictional wars are filled with death.

This is just one of those books that speaks to you. Not in the way that it makes you feel guilty for what happened, but in a way that it makes you see the “other side”’s humanity. The propaganda of that time in history is that Germany was bad, and did bad things. Yes, sort of. The guy in charge was bad, and recruited many followers who either agreed with him, or pretended to so that they could live. But there were plenty of people, like Hans Hubermann, who tried to do the right thing. Stories like these remind us of that.

It was a good story, and immediately after reading it I brought it over to my Dad for him to read. I think he’ll like it too.

If you haven’t seen it already, check out June’s Newsletter which just went out a few days ago. I’ll be sending them out once a month to remind everyone about the book club (don’t want our busy lives to get in the way of our reading, eh?).

The rest of this year’s books, which were announced in the newsletter, are as follows:

• July: Mythology
• August: High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
• September: Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Caroll
• October: Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz
• November: The Road by Cormac McCarthy
• December: Non-Fiction

Discussion questions & profile pages will go up for these books soon. :)

As amazing as this book turned out to be, I almost put it down shortly after I started it. Well, no, that’s a lie. I probably wouldn’t have put it down even if the world was shaking; I would have held onto the book and rescued it, along with my bunny, just so I could soak the words in the next day. What bothered me most about this book, however, was the writing style. I’ll get to that in a moment.

The book is narrated by Death, someone whom we all know very well, weather it be through relatives, parents, friends, or stories. It doesn’t matter which shape he comes in; he is as familiar to us as life the life we live every day. Death, in this particular title, has taken an interest in a little girl named Liesel Meminger. She’s a foster child who came to live with Hans and Rosa Hubermann, who found herself a best friend (Rudy), and who later discovered a talent for stealing books.

At first I found the “Death thing” to be a bit goofy, but then I started to see how necessary it really was. Set in Nazi Germany, death colors the world in this book. It isn’t strange that I say it in that way, for if you’ve read this book you’ll know how Death sees the world in colors. When thousands of Jews die, Death sees a murky grey sky with splotches of footprints in the sky. Through his narration, Death evokes so many images involving deep, vivid colors, that the distortion is illustrated. Did you ever see the movie 300? Remember how everything was sort of “burnt” – darkened, crispy, extremely sharp? That is how I imagined this book through the colors that Death described.

Liesel becomes a book thief right off the bat, though she doesn’t get the nickname for quite some time. Her brother’s death is an underlying reminder in this book; he stays with Liesel and helps her, scolds her, holds her hand and haunts her. Her first book evoked memories of him; The Gravedigger’s Handbook had significance in that she stole it after her brother’s death. In fact, all the books that Liesel stole were more than just words. They all had meaning, memory, significance attached to them which Liesel fully knew and understood. She took a book from a burning pile of Jewish literature and Nazi propaganda, another few found their ways into her hands through an open window and a dusty library.

The books had words, sure; all books do. They had stories and meanings of their own true to their authors and readers. For Liesel, however, they signified time, place, and events. She learned to read from The Gravedigger’s Handbook and used that skill later to comfort friends and townspeople in a basement while the booms of the bombs rolled through their ears. She formed an unlikely friendship with the mayor’s wife after stealing a book written by a Jewish author; it burned her skin to take it just as the woman’s eyes burned into her while she watched, but Liesel carried it home painfully just to have it. It wasn’t merely the satisfaction of stealing (though that was also apparent throughout); it was knowing it was hers, keeping it, holding it, and reading it.

She later finds it in her to write. Her inspiration, I think, was Max, the Jew her family hid in the basement. I held back tears throughout most of this book, but I couldn’t hold them in when it came to Max. The final pages talked of what happened to every character, the gut-wrenching realities and heartfelt moments soaked in adding potential to my tear ducts, but nothing came out until Death told me about Max. (It may not be what you think, but it made me cry nonetheless.) Max with his feathery hair and leather skin asked Liesel to tell him about the weather. He wrote her a book; in this book, she found the importance of words.

This is one of those books that leaves you feeling conflicted. Some people tell me they can’t read Holocaust fiction because they hate the feelings that come with it. They hate being sad while they’re reading, they hate getting to know a character whose entire family dies, who wakes up one day and realizes that the world she/he lives in is full of death and sadness. They would rather engross themself in “lighter” literature – even that of a fictional war would be better. Personally, however, I relish the thought of reading a book which touches me so deeply that I cry unexpectedly after merely four days of reading. I can only imagine the thoughts Zusak must have had while he was writing this; perhaps even he was crying during the bombing of Himmel Street.

I promised I’d mention this again, so here I am: the writing style. It reminded me of my seventh grade stories. Sometimes I’ll write reviews in the style that the book was written to show what an effect it had, but it’d be difficult to write this one as it was so utterly annoying. There were words. They were in sentences. The sentences were short. Short like this. Sometimes things repeated. Repeated as if you didn’t know what was said. But I knew, oh yes, I knew. And soon you will know too. Then there was the boldness and the asterisks; whenever Death had an announcement to make, there would be huge bold letters announcing the announcement and a small group of words in explanation. It could have been just as easily stated within a paragraph, no bold letters, no centered text, but instead it was necessary to draw attention to these things. I didn’t like it! My eyes kept averting to those bold letters; sometimes I’d read them before I got to them, and sometimes I’d go back and reread them even while in the middle of a paragraph on the next page. It never ended.

That said, I read through the book quickly, and most people I’ve talked to about it have said that they finished it in one sitting. It wasn’t that easy, but it was that good.

A powerful book. I usually keep the books I love on my bookshelves to stare back at me and smile, but this one I loved so much that I’m resigned to bringing it into my used bookstore. I want other people to read it, to feel what I’ve felt, and to sit and think for a while. This book should be passed from hand to hand, read several times over; The Book Thief should give meaning to lives just as Liesel’s books gave to her. These aren’t merely words.