Peace Love Read

5000!

2012-03-03T12:44:00.001-08:00

YAY!

<3

Ender's Game

2012-02-26T12:01:00.001-08:00

Ender's Game. I read it last year, and I haven't reviewed it yet. Except now I will.

It is the Sci-Fi book.

It's well written and very interesting and amazing and you kind of have to read it.
So, I'm not saying you should read it. I'm saying you have to read it.

It's about Ender, who is at a battle school on a spaceship. Except there's a lot more to it than that. There's plot twists and interesting characters and setting and mind games.

Everyone go read it.

Peace, Love, and Sci-Fi

P.S. Also, someone is making a movie of it! With Asa Butterfield as Ender!

P.P.S. If you've read this already, there's also Ender's Shadow, which is also a must read :)

And we're really close to 5,000 views! Thanks so much you guys!

Harry Potter

2012-02-09T16:17:00.000-08:00

Harry Potter.
It just makes me want to quit reading.
And writing.
And books in general.

Because I just sort of know that I will never find a book that makes me as happy as Harry Potter does. It's a true fact. And I will never write a book as good as Harry Potter. And I will definitely never find a book that's as good. But oh well.

I love the Harry Potter series.

I love the characters. I love Luna and Neville and Hermione and Ron. But not really Harry because he can be whiny. But that's part of his charm.

J.K. Rowling has it all down. She created a universe that is so exciting and characters so interesting and magical that virtually everyone will love it. I really wish I was a Hogwarts student.

I am Hufflepuff. And Hufflepuffs are good finders!

Oh my. Don't even get me started on A Very Potter Musical. It makes me love Voldemort. And Harry is played by Darren Criss, who is totally supermegafoxyawesomehot. And it's a MUSICAL!

Have any of you readers heard of Pottermore? It's a website, and it's still in beta. I did not get into the beta group. It was supposed to be available to everyone in October. It's February. I'm getting impatient!

Why am I randomly writing about Harry Potter. Well, it's partly because I just read the nominations for the Oscars, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Pt. 2 didn't win anything. Also, in English class we're writing an essay on a person whom we admire and I'm writing mine on Luna Lovegood.

Is this a book review? I don't know. More like a rant. Well, you decide.

Peace, Love, and OMG 4,000 VEIWS!!!

The Son of Neptune

2012-02-05T17:32:00.000-08:00

Here it is! The promised Son of Neptune review that I forgot to post!
Thanks Jem for reminding me :)

**Note: This is clearly heavily edited and is probably very robotic seeming because of this, sorry. It was written for English class, so yeah. Sorry about that, but hopefully it's not really horrible. This is sort of maybe the way that real reviewer people write. I think.**

What if the Ancient Greek and Roman worlds ofgods, monsters, and heroes was real and affected our everyday life? And what ifyou happened to be a child of one of the gods?

If youwere, then you would fit right in with the characters in this book.

Yes, youread right. The main characters of Rick Riordan’s newest novel, The Son ofNeptune are all demigods.

The Sonof Neptune is the second installmentin the Heroes of Olympus Series (sequel series to the Percy Jacksonand the Olympians series). The book is about a group of demigods(half-gods, for those of you not in the know.) named Percy, Hazel, and Frank.Their mission is to find the god Thanatos, who watches the doors of death. Therevenge-seeking earth goddess Gaea has captured him, and without him no one candie. It is set in many real-life cities around the U.S., including SanFrancisco, Seattle, and multiple towns in Alaska and Canada. The book has variety of hilarious and interestingcharacters, witty dialogue, real Greek and Roman myths, and grabbing twists inplot that will keep you on the edge of your seat waiting to see what happensnext,

Let’s start with the characters. FromPercy’s hilarious sarcasm, to Frank’s adorable clumsiness, to Hazel’sintriguing back-story, the characters are, to sum it up, awesome. You can tellthat Rick Riordan really thinks out his characters to the smallest detail. Forexample, he wrote a character named Dakota, who’s tall, burly, and addicted tored Kool-Aid. Who else would think of that?

RickRiordan has clearly done his research on Greek and Roman myths. There are manyconnections to Greek and Roman myths throughout the book and series. With thefacts Rick Riordan gives, it’s believable that the whole story could betrue. Some of the connections areobvious or explained, like Percy’s ability with horses when Poseidon (his dad)created them, or thunder booming whenever they say something to offend Zeus,though others can be hidden and less explained

Andthough the book is pretty amazing, I have to admit that the overall conflictwith Gaea is a bit of a repeat of the conflict with Kronos in the first series.In both cases, the villain is gathering minor gods and forgotten monsters tojoin their armies to defeat the gods. And both are pretty much aiming forrevenge and world domination.

I’m think I can honestly saythat everyone will love The Son of Neptune. It’s got action, adventure,romance, historical myths, and it’swell written. It’s the complete package.

The Death Cure

2012-01-18T19:00:00.000-08:00

This was not exactly a fabulous book. The ending may have been fabulous, but the rest of the book was a bit of a letdown.

First off, in pretty much the first chapter, the whole reason behind the trials is revealed. And James Dashner thinks he can still finish up the book when the main question is answered in the first twenty pages? Honestly.

The rest of the book was pretty much just Thomas knowing what was going on, then being confused, then knowing, etc. It really confused me.

And then there was this whole other thing with kidnapping that never made sense to me. Why did the author stick that in there?

It had also been a while since I had read the previous book so I pretty much forgot everything which is really bad because they made a lot of references to it.

Well, I really apologize for not posting for like ever but I took a break from reading actual books, I just sort of reread the Hunger Games again and then read comic books for the rest of December.

But now I'm back!

Posts to come soon (hopefully):

-Ender's Game
-Miss Pengrine's Home for Peculiar Children
and more!

Peace, Love, and You Should Read it if You Read the First One

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T00:00:00.000-08:00

Happy 2012! This year's gonna be good. I can feel it :D

Out of my Mind

2011-12-15T17:29:00.000-08:00

Terrible ending.

I guess I liked the book, but there wasn't much plot. Or plot resolution, for that matter.

Which is kind of why the ending was terrible.

Also, you never really find out about Penny....

The end is really dramatic and overdone.

Blech.

I won't say don't read this, but don't read this.

EDIT: The only reason I really liked it was because it was interesting to see the world from the main character, Melody, who has cerebral palsy.

Peace, Love, and Happy Holidays!

Divergent

2011-12-10T14:40:00.001-08:00

I liked this one. A lot more than I thought I would.

Here's Goodreads Summary:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8306857-divergent
Beatrice "Tris" Prior has reached the fateful age of sixteen, the stage at which teenagers in Veronica Roth's dystopian Chicago must select which of five factions to join for life. Each faction represents a virtue: Candor, Abnegation, Dauntless, Amity, and Erudite. To the surprise of herself and her selfless Abnegation family, she chooses Dauntless, the path of courage. Her choice exposes her to the demanding, violent initiation rites of this group, but it also threatens to expose a personal secret that could place her in mortal danger.

There's also a romance, which I didn't like. It doesn't fit into the story properly. Like when you try to jam a puzzle piece into the wrong spot.

The rest of it I liked. It's pretty fast paced and exciting, suspenseful. You just want to keep reading. Tris is a quirky character.

It shows that good characteristics (honesty, selflessness, bravery) can be bad if taken to an extreme.

Oh wait. I forgot about the ending.
It cuts off really quickly, with one short paragraph that doesn't even really make much sense. It's not even that meaningful. I actually turned the page, to find the Acknowledgments instead of the next chapter I was expecting.

Peace, Love, and 3.5 Stars

Candor - Honesty
Abnegation - Selflessness
Dauntless - Bravery
Amity - Peace
Erudite - Knowledge

Oh, and for those of you who've read it, my question is:
Who runs the trains?

The Running Dream

2011-12-07T18:04:00.001-08:00

This book proves that you don't really need action scenes or true love to make a story interesting.

The Running Dream is inspirational. It reminds you to appreciate what you have and what you love. That people who are different should be celebrated.

I admit, I cried at the end. (happy crying☺)

This book is about a girl named Jessica who's lost part of her right leg in a bus accident, which means she'll probably never be able to run again. It shows how she over comes obstacles, from little things like walking a few feet on crutches, to navigating through high school.

There's nothing over-dramatic. Jessica's doesn't suddenly just start walking. It's a steady climb up. It's very true to what I think it would actually be like to lose a leg.

Fans of Jerry Spinelli and realistic fiction will enjoy this book!

Peace, Love, and I Give This Five Stars!

Delirium

2011-12-07T14:40:00.001-08:00

Amazing.
Utterly, fantastically amazing.

The characters, the descriptions, the plot, everything.

Amazing.

Delirium is set in a dystopian earth, where love is believed to be a disease and you are cured of it when you turn eighteen. Lena can't wait, she's been told that everything will be better, safer, once she's cured. But then, about three months before her procedure, it happens.
Lena falls in love.

Lauren Oliver has flawless descriptions of everything. Some pieces are so poetic I almost gasped out loud. How she writing about love, and life itself, is stunning.

“Now I'd rather be infected with love for the tiniest sliver of a second than live a hundred years smothered by a lie.”
― Lauren Oliver, Delirium

It will inspire you, and leave you thinking. When it finished, I wanted to reread it, just to soak up every word completely.

I love the character Alex. He's cute, charming, caring, sweet, and I wish I knew him. *Sigh*

A must read for fans of The Hunger Games.
And fans of Twilight, too, I guess.

Peace, Love, and Amor-Deliria-Nevrvosa

Speak

2011-12-06T16:15:00.001-08:00

I dont usually do negative posts, so I decided to spice things up a bit.

This book was not my favorite.
In fact, I ditched it about two-thirds of the way through.

At first, I could kind of relate with Melinda.
Then I pitied her.

And then I realized that the reason she has no friends isn't because she's misunderstood, it's because she's depressed and sad and rude.

The book is also kind of... mature. If you know what I mean.

So, this is a do-not-read in my mind.

Peace, Love, and I Can be Negative. Sometimes.

Twilight

2011-11-29T18:07:00.001-08:00

What I liked -

Witty dialogue. Somewhat interesting characters. Funny. Cool cover. Sweet (-ish) love story.

What I didn't like -

Cliche. Bella is pretty much helpless. Sparkly vampires? (Really?) Plot leaves lot to be desired.

Peace, Love, and I know I already reviewed this.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-25T10:35:00.001-08:00

My thanks go out to all fans of 'Peace Love Read'!

Hunger Games Official Trailer

2011-11-15T14:16:00.001-08:00

OMG.
It's the official trailer.
I. Am. Thrilled.

Who else is as excited as I am?

Comment below!!!

Peace, Love, and Children Gladiator Fighting to the Death in a Post-Apocalyptic Future

My To-Read List

2011-11-11T10:07:00.001-08:00

Hello!
Here's a quick update on what's on my "To-Read List."

1. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

2. Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

3. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

4. Across the Universe by Beth Revis

5. Feed by M.T. Anderson

Peace, Love, and I REALLY need to go to the Library....

Wonderstruck

2011-10-14T15:50:00.000-07:00

I don't know whether it was the beautiful city skyline, the stunning blue of the sky, the mystery of the lightning bolt, the majestic font of the title, or just that it was written by Brian Selznick, but something about the book grabbed me from the second I saw it.
Or maybe I'm psychic and I could just tell the book would be really good.
Okay, or maybe it was because I've read The Invention of Hugo Cabret (also by Brian Selznick), and I figured that this book would be just as awesome.
Wonderstruck is two stories, one told in pictures and one told in words. Ben's story is told in words. He lives in 1977 Minnesota and his mom has just died. He never met his dad, so he's living with his Aunt and Uncle. Rose's story is told in pictures. She lives in 1927 New Jersey and is an artist. She is faithfully keeping a scrapbook of all of the newspaper/magazine articles about the actress Lillian Mayhew. I won't say any more because I don't want to spoil anything.
Brian Selznick did an amazing job with this book. The detail in each and every picture was absolutely stunning. The drawings are in black and white and are done by Selznick himself. The New York Times put it best, "it's like a silent film on paper." (in a review of The Invention of Hugo Cabret, which is written in the same words-pictures style). Here's just a taste of Selzick's style:

Awesome, right?
Not only are the drawings detailed, so is the writing. Brian Selznick is quite a descriptive writer, so everything he doesn't provide a drawing for, he describes beautifully.

Wonderstruck is a good book for anyone ages 2 to 92, for fans of any genre, for devoted readers and people who rarely pick up a book, for artists and writers, etc. It's a extraordinary book that has a very good chance of winning a Newberry Medal this year, and will be a great read for anybody and everybody.

Peace, Love, and Beautiful Drawings

Son of Neptune Review

2011-10-06T18:29:00.000-07:00

Yes, yes, I know.
I haven't reviewed Son of Neptune yet.
I finished it last night, and just let me tell you...
It's amazing.

In my English class, we are writing book reviews. I am reviewing Son of Neptune. I haven't finished the review yet, but when I do, I will post it.

So, you readers will have a little time to actually read it (Or the Lost Hero if you haven't read that yet.)

Peace, Love, and YAY! YAY! YAY!

2011-10-04T15:49:00.001-07:00

UPDATE!
Oh. My. Goodness.
Guess what arrived first thing on my Kindle today?
Yes, that's right.
The Son of Neptune.

And it's absolutely and utterly amazing.

Also, virtual high five to whichever reader had voted that they had finished it already!
I'm only a third of the way through...

Son of Neptune!

2011-10-03T18:19:00.000-07:00

Oh. My. Goodness.
The Son of Neptune comes out tomorrow.

YAY!

YAY!

YAY!

Peace, Love, and OMG! SON OF NEPTUNE!

Also.... I changed the blog format. Again. I know, I know...

The Adoration of Jenna Fox

2011-09-29T14:49:00.000-07:00

Okay. Um... I dont really know where to start with this book. It wasn't fabulous, but it wasn't horrible. It was pretty good, but also kind of creepy....
This is probably going to be really short because I can't think of a single thing to say right now.
Hm. Okay.
Yeah.
It's a sci-fi book. It's good.

Peace, Love, and Um....

Elsewhere

2011-09-16T19:06:00.000-07:00

Hello! Okay, let me just start by saying I'm sorry for not writing, but with summer ending and school starting I've been kind of busy. But, I've found a bunch of new books to read so get ready for a lot of reviews!

The book I've just finished is Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin. I know that there's a lot of other covers, but the copy I read looked like this... If you'd like to look at all of the covers click here.

This book was amazing. I absolutely loved it.

Here's a quick summary -

Liz is about to turn sixteen, but then she dies. She ends up on a boat going to Elsewhere, and once she arrives, she starts aging backwards. Elsewhere is like another version of the afterlife.

I'm not that great at writing summaries but I hope that made sense.

I really liked it. It was a good book to start my school year with, partly because of it's lack of action. Definitely a great way to transition from not much reading to a lot of it. I liked Gabrielle Zevin's writing style; it was quirky and funny and serious all at the same time.

She gave the characters strong personalities, but did not stress on apperance too much, so you as the reader could kind of fill that part in on your own. I imagined Liz as being tall-ish, with dirty blond hair just a little above her shoulders. But you might imagine her differently. Let me just ask, have you ever read a book imagining a character with brown hair or something, but then it turns out the author had written him as a blonde? You just can't change how you were picturing them. It also happens a lot with pronuncations (Like pronouncing the name Liza "Lee-Sa" instead of "Lie-Za").

It's just something fun to think about.

So, I guess I'll give the book 3.75 stars. Am I allowed to use decimals?

I'd say you'd like this book if you....

A. need a break from fast-paced books

B. like kind of meaningful, sad-ish books

I think most people would like it, but I think I have to say I think girls will probably like it more than boys because there is a romance element to it...

Alright! I think that's about it!

My next post will probably be about the book I'm reading now, The Adoration of Jenna Fox.

It's interesting. You might like it :)

Cheerio!

Peace, Love, and My 25th Post!

Picture Credit - http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-J1AKK4kkYrg/TnP1f_PNH9I/AAAAAAAAAIk/GwSyc9zxbhg/s1600/Elsewhere+Cover.jpg

I'm Back!

2011-08-26T20:26:00.000-07:00

Hello!
I am back from camp and as ready as ever to rate a new book.
And the book is..... (drumroll please!)

Maximum Ride!

And let me say, this book was just as good as my friends made it sound.
It's funny, it suspenseful, it's hectic, it's magical it creepy, and I loved it.
I read the whole thing in like a day.
Thumbs up for this one!

Sorry for such a short post but I'll write again soon!

-- Lily

Peace, Love, and Flying People

Also, my friends at camp absolutely loved The Hunger Games.
They each read the whole series in less than a week!

Cheerio!

2011-07-19T04:16:00.000-07:00

Hello World!

I will not be posting anything for about a month, because I will be away at camp.

But, let me reassure you, I am bringing about ten books.

They are already packed but I think I can remember a few...

1. Eragon

2. Lock and Key

3. Maximum Ride

That's all I can remember.

Okay, so maybe I'm bringing more like six books.

But I can always borrow books from friends, and these books are pretty thick so I don't think I'll have a problem :)

So,

Cheerio!

TTFN!

Peace, Love, and Big Fat Books ;)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows (2)

2011-07-15T07:40:00.000-07:00

The.

Best.

Movie.

Ever.

I loved the beginning and I loved the middle and I loved the end!
There was so much action and suspense and fighting and chaos and awesomeness!
My new favorite character is Neville.
Watch the movie to find out why ;)
I won't do a full review now, seeing as not many people have seen it.
So....
Um..
Yeah!
I give it five stars!

Peace, Love, and Sometimes the Movie is as Good as the Book :)

When are you seeing it?
Seen it already?
Who's your favorite character?
What'd you think of the movie?
Anything you'd add?
Change?
Any new opinions on characters?
Comment below!

Picture Credit - http://1.bp.blogspot.com/

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows

2011-07-13T15:36:00.000-07:00

AHH!!!!!!!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part Two comes out tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!

AHH!!!!!!!!

I am SO excited!!!!!!!

It's the last Harry Potter ever.

BUT,

I have tickets to a midnight showing!!!!!!!!!

YAY!!!!!!!

I'm hyperventilating.

I love the Harry Potter movies.

And books.

I have a bit of an obsession.

How can't I?

So,

Who's your favorite Harry Potter character?

I personally like Hagrid.

And Hermione.

She's my role model :)

Comment Below!

Peace, Love, and I Love Comments :)

Picture Credit - http://www.greatnewmovies.com/

Happy Independence Day!

2011-07-04T06:39:00.000-07:00

Happy Independence Day!

I hope you get to see fireworks!

Yay!

Did you know?

Both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on July 4th 1826.

http://lomalinda.patch.com/articles/fun-4th-of-july-facts

The 4th of July became a federal holiday in 1838.

http://lomalinda.patch.com/articles/fun-4th-of-july-facts

America voted to declare independence on July 2nd. Congress approved it on July 4th.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence

Now I know I do have some international readers who don't celebrate this holiday.

I'm sorry about that.

Happy Monday to you!

Peace, Love, and Independence

Picture Credit - http://elev8.com/

City of Ember

2011-07-04T06:12:00.000-07:00

Salutations!

My summer reading book is the City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau. It’s a really good book; I’ve read it about a hundred times. The movie’s really good, too. So, I’m re-re-re-re-re-re-re-reading it, because I might as well get a reminder of the plot. Like I’d forget… Anyways, I am at the part where -

SPOILER ALERT!

- Lina and Doon have just found out that the mayor is hogging the supplies. Which is pretty jerk-ish of him.

I really like this book, partly because besides the mayor, there isn’t really a bad guy. Just awesomeness. I love the cover, too. It’s cool how the lightbulb actually looks like it’s glowing. On the back cover there’s a map of the Pipeworks, which is interesting. Also, Ember is an awesome name for a city. ‘Nuff said.

I have a ton of books to read during the next week.

Here’s some of them:

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Summerhouse Time by Eileen Spinelli

Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli

I know there’s more, but they’re not in front of me, so I can’t name them all.

Peace, Love, and Sweet Summer Reads

I love comments :)

Picture Credit - http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/98/The_City_of_Ember.jpg

New Design!

2011-06-25T06:52:00.001-07:00

Hope you like it!

Thank You Rick Riordan!

2011-06-24T20:32:00.000-07:00

The uber-famous author, Rick Riordan mentioned me on his blog!
Now, you may be wondering how this is possible.
Well, I went to one of his book signings and I had given him a note with my blog address, and at the end of his tour he gets sent a box of stuff from fans from the tour. And my note was one of those things! When he was writing shoutouts to people he wrote-
Lily T. shared a note and a link to her blog about reading. Way to go, Lily! Good luck with your blog.
Not only does this mean I'm semi-famous (Yes, it raised my daily page views from 2 to 30), it means he read my blog!!!
Which is awesome!
So I will give a big thank you to Rick Riordan for being amazing.

Peace, Love, and Complete and Utter Awesomeness

My Post on the Signing

Rick Riordan's Blog

Also, I may change the blog's design and font...

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T18:24:00.001-07:00

Happy Father's Day!

Remember to give your dad a hug :)

Love you Dad!

Peace, Love, and Happy Dads

Picture Credit: http://www.brighterman.com/

BerryLine!!!

2011-06-13T12:52:00.000-07:00

I've discovered the most amazing thing ever.

It's called BerryLine.

My epic friend told me about it, and now I am completely in love. If you are reading this, you now have an obligation to go.

What is it? The most awesome yogurt store in the ENTIRE WORLD.

You can get a ton of different toppings.

And don't expect it to taste like ice cream.

It's not ice cream.

It's YOGURT!!!!!

It has no fat or sugar, and only about 25 calories per ounce.

So it's healthy!

Even if it wasn't healthy it would still be the best thing ever.

Cheerio!

Peace, Love, and Epic Yogurt

http://www.berryline.com/

Picture edited by me using www.picnik.com

Original picture from http://farm3.static.flickr.com/

Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry

2011-06-08T17:28:00.000-07:00

Well, I finished it. And it was awesome. I have to admit, not one of my favorites, but I liked it.
Umm... Let's see. The ending was really sad, the climax was suspenseful-ish, it was overall pretty good. ***SPOILER ALERT!****
I don't think the author made it clear enough that T.J. died. Did he die? Beats me. I must figure he did. What happened to Uncle Hammer? And everyone else? Maybe I didn't read hard enough...

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Peace, Love, and Finally Finishing a Fairly Fantasic Fiction

Hunger Games Connection to Ancient Rome?!?

2011-05-25T15:02:00.000-07:00

Hello world! In my history class, we are learning about Ancient Rome. And as my teacher is talking about Caesar and the Roman Republic and all that stuff, I am sitting there noticing connections to the book The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.
Now, those of you who have read the book are probably thinking, That makes no sense. The Hunger Games is set in 2675 or something. Ancient Rome is... ancient. Well, you're right.
Those of you who haven't read the book are probably thinking, Ok, great. Why do I care? Well, you care because The Hunger Games is one of the best books ever written.
For the sake of the people who've never heard of the book, I'll give you a little overview. It's about a girl named Katniss living in a post-apocalyptic world where a few kids from each district are forced to fight each other to the death in the Hunger Games for the entertainment of the evil Capitol and the horror of the districts. Sounds great, right?
Alright, now to explain the connections.
First, the Hunger Games are a lot like the gladiator games, where innocent slaves fought each other to the death. While this entertained the Romans, it terrified the slaves. Sounds kind of familiar, huh?
Second, the Romans had sort of a show-no-mercy attitude, like President Snow and President Coin.
Third, there was a man with the name of "Cinna" helped plan and carry out Julius Caesar's assassination. When an angry mob went off to find and kill him, they ended up murdering Helvius Cinna, an innocent poet. I thought this was similar to the part in Catching Fire, when the mob kills Cinna.
Fourth, in the First Punic War, the Romans found a Carthaginian war ship, and replicated it, kind of like how District 13 finds some of the Capitol's technology and replicates it.
I know that's not a lot of connections, but I thought the Cinna one was interesting.
Cheerio!

Peace, Love, and Crazy Connections

English Class

2011-05-23T13:26:00.000-07:00

Last week in English class, we started book groups. Basically, that means our class is split into groups of four and each group is given a different book. My group got Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry by Mildred D. Taylor.
I'm only two chapters into it (and I need to finish two more by tomorrow) but it's pretty good.
It's about a African-American family living in Louisiana during the 1930's. I really like it so far, but the characters have strange names. Like "Little Man," for instance. If you've read the book, I do like the part with the schoolbooks. The main character Cassie has a lot of character potential, if you ask me.
Alright, I've got to be on chapter 4 by tomorrow, so I'd better get reading...

Peace, Love, and English Class

Kira-Kira

2011-05-13T16:30:00.000-07:00

Most. Amazing. Book. EVER.

It's officially one of my favorites. As of now.

I got this book from my school library, after hearing good things about it from many other people. I'd heard it was sad, but I wasn't worried. Well, it was much sadder than I thought but it was still amazing! It's about a 12 year old japenese girl who moves to Georgia, but then her sister gets sick and her life sort of goes crazy. And it's really good.

Rating: ★★★★★

Peace, Love, and the Kira-Kira

Library!

2011-05-12T06:24:00.000-07:00

Guess who went to the library? Lily did! Yesterday night I headed over to the public library and got seven books. I've already finished four of them. The books are:

1. Summerhouse Time

2. Snap

3. No Talking

4. Loser

5. School Story

6. Room One

7. Modern Fairies, Dwarves, Goblins & Other Nasties

So far I've finished Snap, No Talking, Loser, and Modern Fairies. Well, I've got to get reading!

Peace, Love, and Never-Ending Reading

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T09:55:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day!

Remember to give your mom a hug :)
Love you Mom!

Peace, Love, and Happy Moms

Mount Holyoke

2011-05-07T18:59:00.000-07:00

Note: Rick Riordan post below :D

Hello everyone! Yes, that is me. In this picture, I am outside the gate into Mount Holyoke, where my Mom went to college. It's an awesome college in South Hadley, MA. I was there today so I could see Rick Riordan. Anyway, my Mom gave my Dad and I a tour, which was fun. And now, with the magic of the internet, you can get a tour too!

These pictures are of Wilder and South Rockefeller Hall. These are both places my mom stayed when she went here. You can find many stories online about ghosts, which are really freaky. It seems that there's a ghost in basically every room here...

This is the library, which is a three story building that has about a trillion books. There's also a coffee shop there with yummy food. It's really quiet in there too, and it's perfect for studying. My Mom remembers staying up late studying there. If you notice in the bottom photo in the bottom right, there's a sign with different places around the world and how many kilometers away from the sign it is. For example, the sign is 5655 km away from Paris. There is a few other signs like this around campus.

We also visited the greenhouse, which has tons of amazing plants and trees and even a pond with lily pads. It was nice because it wasn't too warm so we could spent a while there. My Mom said that if you had a plant in your dorm and it got sick, you could bring it down to the greenhouse and it could get better.

Alright so... um... that's it for my mini tour of Mount Holyoke.

Peace, Love, and Mount Holyoke

Rick Riordan!

2011-05-07T15:52:00.001-07:00

Today, I woke up at 7:30. My parents and I got in the car at nine o'clock and we set off for South Hadley, MA to go see Rick Riordan sign books! It was a two hour drive, but totally worth it! As soon as we got there, we ate a quick lunch and picked up two copies of The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan. My mom, a Mount Holyoke alumni, gave my Dad and I the full tour. I'll post that later...
At 1:20 pm, we were fifth in line to go in. The mom in front of us was had brought her fourth grade daughter and about third grade son; and she hadn't told them what they were doing there. They were bouncing around like little chickadees, trying to solve the mystery.
I'm surprised they didn't figure it out by the fact that everyone in line was holding Rick Riordan books.
At two they let us in, where I got fantastic third row seats. Then we sat there waiting until three, when the Odyssey Bookshop events coordinator came out and talked a little bit on Rick Riordan. She was stammering and reading from note cards, so I figured she didn't talk in front of crowds often.
Then the author himself came out.
He is (no surprise) very funny, and also (still no surprise) very good at talking in front of crowds. It was amazing, seeing my favorite author and the brilliance behind Percy Jackson, just a mere 10 feet away. AHHHHH! Okay, okay, I sound like a crazed fan. But he was very funny and kept the crowd interested, talking about writing books and all that. Then he answered a few questions. Alright, maybe more than a few. It was AWESOME because he called on me to ask a question. I'm not very good at talking in front of people, even if it's just something like this. So as I asked my question, of course I was distracted by the storm of moths in my stomach. Ugh. Anyway, I asked him why he hadn't mentioned Eris (the goddess of strife, she started the Trojan War) yet in a book. He told me that by the end of the Heroes of Olympus series, he would have definitley covered all of the gods/goddesses. He also said that he might have to think about that. Hmm... maybe he'll use Eris in the next Heroes of Olympus book. In response to other people's questions, he said that he can work to up to 10 hours a day, he usually writes 14 drafts for a book, and that he had never been to this part of MA before. Also, The Kane Chronicles is apparently supposed to be a three book series, and The Heroes of Olympus is supposed to be five.
After the questions, people lined up to get their books signed. There was about 250 people getting books signed, and about two books per people, so Rick Riordan had to sign about 500 books! Wow. His hand must hurt. He signed my two books (one for me, one for my friend) and I asked him: "If you were battling monsters, who would you rather have defending you: Percy or Annabeth?" He said Annabeth, becuase she had strategy. I'd say Percy. He's good at defense (like fighting the Minotaur) , and Annabeth is good at strategic war (like fighting Kronos's army). I was very happy that he answered Annabeth, as opposed to "I can't choose."
Actually, there's a chance he may be reading this, because when he was signing my books, I gave him the blog address. Woah. He could be reading words I wrote, instead of the usual vice-versa.
Well, Rick Riordan, if you are reading this please know that you are by far my favorite author, and that I LOVE the Percy Jackson series. Feel free to leave a comment!
Cheerio!

Peace, Love, and Ridiculously Awesome Authors

Rest of the photos from today:

Me with my Sadie Highlights

Rick Riordan Talking

Rick Riordan signing books

Boomerang Wand Finished!

2011-05-06T15:30:00.000-07:00

Ta da! It's a not at all authentic boomerang wand from the series, The Kane Chronicles. It's really just a rubber boomerang with a ton of masking tape. The sign in the middle:

is the symbol of Isis. Sadie wears a pendant with this symbol on it. The hieroglyphics surrounding it:

say Sadie. Pretty cool, huh?

Alright, so as wickedly awesome as that is, here's a picture of what these things actually look like:

Yeah... Oh well. Mine's still awesome.

Blog you later!

Peace, Love, and Rubber Boomerang Wands

Still Waiting...

2011-05-06T12:12:00.001-07:00

22 hours and 43 minutes until Rick Riordan! AHHH! I can't wait.

Well, as long as I'm writing, I might as well tell you what I'm wearing to the signing.

I'm dressing up as Sadie Kane. I'm using red magic marker to do a couple of streaks in my hair. Yes, Crayola Magic Marker, It goes in really easily and comes out really easily. I'm also wearing my black converse. Yeah, I know the actual character wears combat boots but I don't own any. I'm wearing my favorite shirt; the "John Lemon" one from dELiA*s, with my military jacket. Ugh. I just remembered I also need to find a boomerang to use as a wand. Well, that's what I'll look like. It's going to be AWESOME!

Peace, Love, and (my lack of) Patience

The Countdown to Saturday

2011-05-05T18:07:00.000-07:00

"A man who is a master of patience is a master of everything else." George Savile

Right now, I am on a constant countdown to Saturday. No, it's not because there's no school. Well, yeah, it is, but not just that! On Saturday, my Mom and I are driving to see Rick Riordan! He is signing his new book, The Throne of Fire. I am thrilled. As of right now, there is only 2 days until the signing. YAY!

Oh, and thanks to my brother Max who let me take a picture of his pocket watch (picture shown above). He collects them, which is really cool. He has a few really cool ones, of all different sizes and designs. Maybe I'll post a picture of them all later...

Peace, Love, Awesome Clocks!

Throne of Fire

2011-05-05T16:49:00.000-07:00

"I used to walk to school with my nose buried in a book." Coolio

Well, that is exactly what I did the day The Throne of Fire came out. Now, as you may or may not know, my favorite author is Rick Riordan, and I had been counting down the days until the book came out. And I have to say, I was not disappointed.

I think that The Throne of Fire is one of Rick Riordan's best books. He had more action scenes than usual, but it fit the story nicely. The plot was twisted nicely, with Zia especially. I thought Bes was a hilarious character, and I hope he returns for the next book. I must admit that Sadie is my favorite character. I like her rebel attitude.

My favorite quotes from the book

"I will say this for Bes: he drove like a maniac. And I mean that in the best possible way."

"Why do deserts have to be so bloody huge?"

"'Want a cookie,' Ra said.

'What kind?'

'Weasel cookie.'"

"We love sewer gas in Brooklyn!"

As you can probably see, this book is hilarious. One minute you're cracking up, and the next you're gasping in worry. Or sometimes both at the same time.

Anyhoo, great job Rick Riordan! You have written another absolutely amazing book!

Rating: ★★★★★

Cheerio!

Peace, Love, and Egyptian Magicians

Introductions

2011-05-05T16:17:00.000-07:00

"A smile is the universal welcome.” Max Eastman

Okay, I admit, I don’t actually know who Max Eastman is. But it’s a nice quote!

Hello! I’m Lily, if you didn’t know that already.

At the moment, my favorite book is The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. I read it a few years ago and was completely hooked. I love how Riordan describes everything, and he has a fantastic sense of humor. He also creates very unique characters, which I like. The chapter titles are hilarious, too.

Okay, so even though I just said The Lightning Thief is my favorite, but that’s not true. It’s not my only favorite. My other most favorite book is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. It took about a month of my friends telling me to read it for me to finally pick it up, and once I did I couldn’t put it down. Now, I know what you might be thinking. Yes, it is about post-apocalyptic kids fighting to the death. No, it’s not gory. Well, actually, it is. But not too gory. I mean, kids all over the USA love this book, so it can’t be that bad. The main character, Katniss, is also hilarious. But Suzanne Collins’ humor is different than Rick Riordan’s, in a way.

When Rick Riordan has a joke in a book, you feel more like it’s coming from him, instead of Percy. Yes, there is some Percy-ness to it, I admit, but Suzanne Collins does a good job of making the sense of humor range through her characters. It might be sort of confusing, but if you compare the books it might be clearer.

All right! There’s a little introduction to me and my favorite books!

Peace, Love, and First Hellos