The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks

The Sword of Shannara is the first book in the series by Terry Brooks, who is my all time favorite author.  This first book is about Shea Ohmsford and his quest to obtain the Sword of Shannara and confront the Warlock Lord.  He encounters Dwarves, Gnomes, and Trolls along the way with great abundance of action and adventure. The characters in the book are on a quest for good.  Using their skills to better themselves and help others.  Ultimately to save the Four Lands. Brooks develops the characters so well that the way they interact with each other helps suck you into the story. It was a very difficult book to put down. I would rate this a PG book for the action scenes. If you'd like to read a brief introduction to the book, check out Wikipedia's article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sword_of_Shannara. I am just now reading Brooks newest book in the series, released last week.  Can't wait to see what happens next.

The Alchemyst by Michael Scott

"The Alchemyst is a contemporary fantasy which opens in modern
day San Francisco when brother and sister, Josh and Sophie
discover that the owner of the bookstore where Josh works
is the immortal French alchemist, Nicholas Flamel. Flamel
and his wife, Perenelle, are the guardians of the Book of
Abraham which they have protected for centuries. This is
a collection of the most powerful spells in the world. When
Dr John Dee discovers the Flamels’ whereabouts, he attacks
and snatches the book. Josh and Sophie intervene to help
Flamel, but now they too are being hunted by Dee and creatures
that predate humanity.

All of the main characters in The Alchemyst series are based
on figures from history or mythology.

Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel both existed. Nicholas was
born in France in 1330, and not only do his diaries and writings
exist, his house at 51 rue de Montmorency still stands in
Paris today.

In his diaries he writes extensively about discovering the
Book of Abraham, and his long quest to translate it. He claims
he discovered the secret of the Philosopher’s Stone – how
to turn base metal into gold – and also the secret of eternal
life.

From being a poor bookseller, he became extraordinarily
wealthy and founded schools, churches and hospitals in Paris.
In recognition for his charitable works, there are two
streets named after him and Perenelle.

He lived simply and when he died in 1418, his tomb was broken
into by thieves looking for his vast wealth.

His tomb – and that of Perenelle – were both
empty.

In the centuries that followed, there were several sightings
of Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel across Europe."

http://www.dillonscott.com/the-secrets-of-the-immortal-nicholas-flamel/books/the-alchemyst/

This is one of my favorite series.  There are six books in the series. This is a very fast moving story with lots of action.  Easy to read.  Very enjoyable.  The Nicholas Flamel character is the same one that is mentioned in the Harry Potter series as having invented the sorcerers stone.

I would rate this a PG for some of the mildly violent action scenes.  I would suggest this to a 10 + audience.

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

 

Ella Enchanted
Magic, adventure, a little romance, and a satisfactory ending. If this sounds like you, read this book! 








Sorry for the pun, but I was just Enchanted with this book! I read it several years ago, (and I almost never reread books) but decided I had forgotten enough of it that I would give it a shot.
!!! It sucked me in stronger than a whirl pool. It's based on the story of Cinderella, but with such an exciting twist it changes the whole story adding a much better taste of adventure and romance than the original fairy tale. (And I just love fairytales.)

 It is totally clean, I rate it E for everyone. I strongly suggest it if you haven't read it, it's not too hard to read so this book covers a wide range of audiences.

If you are 11, you can read it and have a blast. If you are 40, it's a scrumptious book to try if you have a free weekend. Gail Carson Levine is one of my most favorite authors, I usually feel safe reading any book she's published.
Has anyone else read this book before?
 Some of you may have watched the movie, but I assure you that (like in most cases) the book is better.  By the end of chapter 2 you are probably going to be sucked in.
If you haven't read it, inform me, I'm willing to make a deal!

"The Thief" by Megan Whalen Turner

 
I want to challenge you all to read "The Thief" by Megan Whalen Turner. If any of you want to make a deal, go ahead! This one I would rate PG because it has some violence, some swear words (that I can recall). Nothing else come to mind, but I haven't read it in awhile, so if you remember anything about it, please warn!
Thanks! And I do think it really is a good book. (If you read it, rate it below in the comments)

Clean?

There is one more thing I want to mention before we start any discussions or challenges. Some of you may wonder what we consider appropriate in books. Everyone may have different opinions of what is and isn't okay, which is perfectly natural. I notice this especially in movies. Some people can glide right over bad parts in movies, while others can't stand them and squirm in their seats. So, just like in movies, if you aren't perfectly sure your book you want to suggest is 100% clean, you can rate them. Below is what we consider different ratings to be. So, let's say you really want to suggest a book, but it's probably more for adults than  an 11 year old. Make sure to tell everyone! You can do this by rating it and (this is important) why you chose that rating.


E- for everyone.
 Fantastic book!No bad language, no disturbing detailed violence, and no overly descriptive romance.
It's hard to rate classics sometimes though, due to old words now used today as swear words, but I don't think this should be too much of a concern. If you are suggesting a book with quite a few of these old fashioned words, just be sure to mention about it.

PG- parental guidance.
You just read the best book ever! Well... except for one really gross part. Or possibly two parts that weren't so good. And an iffy swear word... but these parts only happened in a few sentences!
...No matter how much you just love your book, it's good to tell people these things, for all you know a 4th grader could be reading your suggested book!

PG 13. 
I just read an amazing book that I just HAVE to share... but it would be better if someone a little older was reading it. One of the characters are going through some events that happen to you when you're older, and you would prefer that any eager reader out there were at least 13 or 14 before reading.

R.
Since we've already stressed "Clean" in our first blog post, I personally don't think that there should be  rated R books among any suggestions. So I'm going to take the time now to say that any books with sexual intercourse in any detail, should not be suggested. I may be wrong, and there might be a very good exception out there, but if so they'll still need to make sure to really caution readers.


















If you think there is something bad in a book, I want you to warn readers about the type of thing in the book. Don't go into excessive detail about it! The whole point is to avoid having to read it.

Also, while we are talking about it, discussions about books may often lead to spoilers, so shh!!
Make sure you don't give away the story. But if you have to, make sure to say (Spoil alert!) or something similar beforehand.










Well that's about it. I hope we will be having lots of book suggestions soon! ;-)

Sorting out the details

We have already mentioned what we will be doing on this blog, but what we'll really need to talk about is HOW.

Discussing books:

This is kind of self explanatory. Basically, whether you have just read the greatest book in the world, or if you feel prejudice against a book we have suggested, you can start a discussion. If you want to mention just a few things, you can post a comment to start a discussion. However, if your feelings are overflowing and you need to write extensively about a book, we will figure out a way for you to post it. Discussions usually involve two or more people, so if you want to begin a a good discussion, it's great to ask questions to spark the conversation. 

Vocabulary lists:

What are we talking about? Well, the vocabulary list a list of words and definitions that will help readers while reading books.What good will it do?  When I was reading a book called Anne of Green Gables, there were a lot of old fashioned words that I didn't know. I was able to look up a vocab list online. Later, while I was reading the second book and discovered the same problem, I couldn't find any vocabulary lists online, so I decided to make one for myself (which I will be posting later). I don't know about everyone else, but I find these lists helpful (especially ones I didn't have to make myself) so links to vocabulary lists or other helpful tools for understanding books, will be appreciated. 

Challenges!

This was one idea that we really liked. Before starting a book blog, all of my friends and I kept begging each other to read certain beloved books. So this is one way of getting your wishes granted! There are probably many different ways to do this, but one way we came up with is what we call a trading challenge. It's a deal you make with someone where you ask someone to read a book, and in return they ask you to read a book. I don't know why, but once you read what you think is the best book on the planet, you are just dying to share it with somebody. This way, when your friends are hesitant  you can pull out a deal, and basically swap books!

            Well, that's enough to get started I should think. I hope you all enjoy our ideas, and if you have any of your own, we invite you to share! Thank You!

Here we go!

Welcome to our book blog.
In our family, we just looooove books- well some of us more than others. So we decided to make a convenient blog to discuss books, post vocabulary lists, and other book or story related things. As much as we love books, we are also very picky and cautious with what we read. So to everyone who feels the same way we do, we promise that this blog only covers the best and most wonderful types of books out there. Very clean! While we are talking about this, we would please ask everyone to be mindful of what you post, because our readers (and us the authors) are of all ages and different backgrounds.
I hope all book lovers will find this blog useful and enjoyable. Have fun!

P.S.
If someone starts suggesting books that you know are bad, please let us know, so we can take care of it.