Phillip Pullman Series

I have had these books in our library for quite some time and no one has ever checked them out. I thought that if read them and they were not too bad, I could encourage some of the students to read these. I am hooked. I can not wait to get to the last book. I am now on the second book The Subtle Knife. This is a type of book that you have to let yourself go. If you liked the Harry Potter books, you will love these. I bet these are made into movies eventually.

Reviewer:

Sarah Hunter "Ecclectic Taste" (Oregon, USA) - See all my reviews

I loved, loved, LOVED these books. WOW! I had no idea they existed until I saw a list of the favorite books of the British - and this was in the top 3. Certainly, the British can't be wrong - they produced J.K. Rowling! I am a diehard fan of the Harry Potter series, and after reading other reviews mentioning their "similarities" I decided to purchase this set. While I agree that this series is fantasy, as is the Harry Potter series, the similarities are overstated. These are different writers with different strengths. Philip Pullman is adept at creating mood, of sucking the reader in, of involving the reader in the story, of creating a real, palpable world of ghasts, daemons, alternate worlds, and so on. I was totally riveted. I recommend this series to anyone who can engage in the imaginary, who can totally let go of their current reality. You will certainly not be disappointed.

*NOTE* - These books are listed as appropriate for children or young adults, but they are dark and scary and, in some instances, gory. They are darker and scarier than the Harry Potter series. BEWARE!

Also, give the books a chance. When I started the first book, I didn't like it until I was in about 60 pages - I had a hard time figuring out what was real and what was a product of Philip Pullman's imagination, which was frustrating. Let go of your sense of reality, go with the flow, give the first book a bit of time to capture you and you'll not be sorry!!!

For One More Day

I loved this book. It really touched something in me. Maybe because of my cousin passing away this year and me wishing that I had just one more day with her. You will not be disappointed with this book and it is also a quick read.

From www.amazon.com

Mitch Albom pays homage to all mothers with this novel that beautifully shows the enduring power of a mother's love, a love so strong it can transcend even death. The moral of the story is not particularly original and not even handled in a unique way. But, grab the hankies and prepare to spend several hours reminiscing along with Chick Benetto about the things you wish you had done better with your own mother. Chick Benetto has hit rock bottom---divorced, alcoholic, has-been baseball player, and now comes the ultimate slap-in-the-face---his beloved daughter does not invite him to her wedding. After being shut out of the biggest day in his only child's life, Chick sees no point in continuing his miserable life and attempts suicide. But for his suicide he is drawn once again to Pepperville Beach, to the modest home where he grew up with his mom, dad, and sister. That is, until his dad deserted the family and life changed dramatically. The surprise for Chick is that his mom is still in the house. Intellectually, he knows she died ten years ago but here she is---cooking his food, sharing stories, giving advice.

The reader learns about all the times Chick's mom stood up for him and all the times he let her down. The writing is smooth and poignant, the memories both joyful and sad. If you have lost your own parents, the words will be doubly sad. But Chick has been given a very special gift: he learns that when someone is in your heart, they're never truly gone and they can come back to you, even at unlikely times. Chick has the unheard of luxury of being able to spend just one more day with his mother, having the chance to ask questions about things that have bothered him, finding out at last why his father left, and much more. How does it happen? Is this just another ghost story or a religious experience for non-believers? I think I shed the most tears when I realized at novel's end who was telling the story.

I think sentimental readers will find this one enjoyable and uplifting. So take it for what it is, a nostalgic trip back to childhood, that period of time that never lets you go, even when you're so wrecked it's hard to believe you ever were a child.

The Long Rain

What happens when you tell a lie so big that some one's life is on the line? How does a lie this big affect your life? That is what this book tries to answer. Jason Dark loves to go for long drives at night. On one of his long drives he accidentally hits a young boy and kills him. He covers the accident up and later realizes that someone else is taking the blame for what he did. His whole life falls apart because of what he has done and his lie affects his whole family. This was a pretty good book. It took me one day to read.

This was a book that I really did not want to read. I needed to put some books on AR for the boys in our school so I decided that I would try to read this book. I should have never judged this book by the cover. It was a great story that also educates the reader about the culture in Afghanistan. I strongly recommend this book!


From www.amazon.com

In his debut novel, The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini accomplishes what very few contemporary novelists are able to do. He manages to provide an educational and eye-opening account of a country's political turmoil--in this case, Afghanistan--while also developing characters whose heartbreaking struggles and emotional triumphs resonate with readers long after the last page has been turned over. And he does this on his first try.

The Kite Runner follows the story of Amir, the privileged son of a wealthy businessman in Kabul, and Hassan, the son of Amir's father's servant. As children in the relatively stable Afghanistan of the early 1970s, the boys are inseparable. They spend idyllic days running kites and telling stories of mystical places and powerful warriors until an unspeakable event changes the nature of their relationship forever, and eventually cements their bond in ways neither boy could have ever predicted. Even after Amir and his father flee to America, Amir remains haunted by his cowardly actions and disloyalty. In part, it is these demons and the sometimes impossible quest for forgiveness that bring him back to his war-torn native land after it comes under Taliban rule. ("...I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded, not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night.")

Some of the plot's turns and twists may be somewhat implausible, but Hosseini has created characters that seem so real that one almost forgets that The Kite Runner is a novel and not a memoir. At a time when Afghanistan has been thrust into the forefront of America's collective consciousness ("people sipping lattes at Starbucks were talking about the battle for Kunduz"), Hosseini offers an honest, sometimes tragic, sometimes funny, but always heartfelt view of a fascinating land. Perhaps the only true flaw in this extraordinary novel is that it ends all too soon. --Gisele Toueg --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.