June--Chanda's Secrets

Hello All!!
It's summer and that means fun reading! I am jealous of all of you being off of school. Anyways this month we will be reading and discussing Chanda's Secrets by Allan Stratton, Chanda Kabelo, a sixteen-year-old in a small South African town, faces down shame and stigma in her efforts to help friends and family members who are dying of AIDs. I encourage you to go the public library to check it out.

I enjoyed it and look forward to hearing what you think. A book guide will be posted in the next couple of days.

I also know that there were more people interested in the online book club that didn't get there applications in, so if you know of friends that still want to get involved please tell them to drop me an email recbec@mail.holmen.k12.wi. us.

Happy reading!!

P.S. I am listening to Bras and Broomsticks which I think some of you would enjoy. Rachel, a 14-year-old girl finds out her mother and sister are witches, but she is not. Right now Rachel is trying to figure out how she can get her sister to use her magic to help Rachel and get rid of their future step-mother. The author's style kind of reminds me of Meg Cabot.

New Members

I would like to welcome two new members to our blog!! I encourage you to introduce yourself and start posting.

Contest--Win Free Books

Follow this link to a contest to win free books. Check it out!! I know you all would enjoy some of the ones they are giving away! (The title is linked)

New Feature

Hello All!!
There is a new feature, you may comment directly to someone's original post. If you notice in the lower right corner of the post there is a link with a number followed by "comments", you may click on the link and then comment on this specific post. I think this might make some of the posts a little less confusing and a little more organized. FYI--I posted comments on a couple of posts so check those out. If you are starting a completely new topic do it the same way as before.

Happy reading!!

b

Sorry I didn't make it today. I was OVERSWAMPED with Newspaper stuff. Plus, I only read like half the book. I just couldn't get into it. :-(

Oops...kinda forgot this site existed for a while. :-) lol. I plan on reading The Wish List tomorrow since we have a half-day! Yea for half-days! :-D

http://www.livejournal.com/users/writergirl1988/

That's my writing site. I post my poems and snippets of stories there. Be warned, if you happen to go there, I don't hold back in my writing. Some of it is a little graphic, but those are always under cuts. You don't have to read them. :-) Any feedback on any of the poems I've written there are welcomed and appreciated.

On an actual book note, I just finished an absolutely dreadful book. I really didn't like the author...she just seemed to drag the story out. I didn't really enjoy the book. It was called "The Sinner" by Madeline Hunter. I don't know. She just doesn't do it for me.

What have people been reading? Anyone finish The Wish List, wht did you think? I would love to hear some feedback.

Just finished...
Dinner for Two by Mike Gayle
I enjoyed this book. It kind of reminded me of The Bridget Jones Diary but told from a male perspective and it was a lot cleaner (no swearing, etc.) Dave Harding is a music jounalist who really wants to be a dad. He ends up losing his job and starts working for a teen magazine as "Love Doctor Dave". Through this job he realizes he has a teenage daughter. The HHS LMTC does not own this book, but the La Crosse Public Library does.

Reading Currently...
Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
It is a little bit slow going, but the author is creating this great tension between the father and the rest of the characters. The author is very descriptive. So much so that I can see the pictures very vividly in my head. The story is about a wealthy family in Nigeria. The tension in the book is definitely keeping me in the story.

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke (audio)
I just started this one last night and am only through chapter one, so I have no idea where it is going or whether or not I am going to like it.

Just finished...
Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult
I got to see Jodi speak last month in Edina, MN. She was very entertaining and interesting. One of the things that stuck with me the most was when she spoke about writer's block. She said that a writer should never have a block, they should always write something because even if it is garbage you can still revise garbage, but you can't revise nothing. Vanishing Acts was definately a page turner. I kept wondering what would happen next. The first chapter starts with you meeting the main character, Delia, and getting introduced to her family and friends. It ends with Delia's father getting arrested for Delia's kidnapping when she was 4 or 5 more than 20 years after the event. Jodi read this chapter to us when she spoke, oh it was so good!! I highly recommend this book, however, it wasn't my very favorite book by Jodi that place is still held by My Sister's Keeper

Maybe next...
Fat Boy Swim
The Kite Runner
The Sea of Trolls
Becoming Naomi Leon

I like it. :-) The new design is nifty and cool. I like it.

I'm reading a whole lot of nothing lately. Nothing. :-( That's sad. I want to go read The Wish List, but I can't. I guess I'm just not in the mood. Oh well. I don't really know.

On second thought, I am reading a book. Almost a Bride by Jane Feather. It's a romance novel. Started it like two weeks ago. Haven't finished yet. But yeah, I'm in the middle of it. Maybe I might go read that...

:-) What about the rest of you?

So what do you think of the new look. Hopefully it will function better then the old one. What are you reading these days.

We selected our new book--The Wish List by Eoin Colfer (the same author of the Artmis Fowl series).

More later on that and other stuff!!

Happy reading!!

Coolness. I might look into those books.

Yep, I'm from MD. Nice place. Can't wait to go back. :-) However, I think I'm gonna miss it here. It's a nice place.

:-) What books are you all reading lately?

:-) Who does the series?

I'll probably go to prom back home in Maryland next year and the year after. I'm only a sophomore so it's not like I would be going this year unless somebody asked me. Which is very unlikely. lol.

Are you going to prom with anybody?

Missing Persons series? Hmmm...never heard of it. Was it good?

I'm not going to prom. I wouldn't go to save my life. But that's just me...lol. :-)

At the risk of triple posting...

I finished The Brimestone Journals. I didn't like it that much. I don't know. It just didn't seem like it wrapped it up very well. Too neat, but also...it left some ends loose. Doesn't that sound weird?

Had anyone else finished it? Or started it? (the discussion is next week)

Didn't happen. Oh well. I tried though. I promise, I did. I just...couldn't. It's so boring! I'm gonna go to bed now. It's almost 1am...actually, it is right now! lol.

I hope your spring break is going well!

Happy Easter (if you celebrate that sort of thing)!

Well, I'm kind of hormone crazy so the sex thing in romance books doesn't really bother me. I absolutely LOVE Victoria Alexander, Mary Balogh, Jane Feather (although Chase the Dawn was the worst book I've ever read), and Lisa Kleypas. Those authors are just made to write romance novels.

Anyway, I just finished Keeping You a Secret. GOOD BOOK. I also completed the New Rules of High School. That one was okay. Not too bad. I'm wrapping up Empress of the World and I'm pretty sure it's the best book I've read in a while. It's by Sara Ryan so go check it out! :-)

I'm going to reread The DaVinci Code and Angels & Demons. I'm kind of in that sort of mood. I don't know. I'll also be attempting to read Pride and Prejudice again. ::crosses fingers:: Wish me luck!

Wow. I couldn't think of ANYTHING that might be a school appropriate book for you to read. I'm a mushy-gushy romance fan so that's what I read a lot. If you like those kinds of books, let me know and I'll tell you my favorites. Gosh, I love romance books. :-) I'm most certainly a romantic. ::sighs:: lol.

Chels, did you ever read Truth or Dairy? I know HHS has it. It's by Catherine Clark. I loved it. It was funny. You'd like it.
Sorry i missed your IM the other day, too. My sister was on. Sorry.

I'm excited for the next book too. It looks good. I like poetry novels. Have any of you read One of Those Hideous Books Where The mom dies or something like that. the title gives away the beginning. And I like God Went To Beauty School, and Things My Mother Doesn't Know.

Yeah. so. later days.

Ohhh!!! I have suggestion! Have either of you read any books by Jodi Piccoult? The two I have read are Plain Truth and My Sister's Keeper. Plain Truth is about a teenage Amish girl who is accused of murdering her newborn baby, but she denies even being pregnant. My Sister's Keeper is about a 13-year-old-girl whose parents conceived her to be an umbilical cord fluid donator for her sister who has a rare form of Lukemia. The girl is now sueing her parents for medical emancipation. Ohhh it is so good!!! I haven't read anything else by this author, however, I think The Pact looks really good.

Just as an FYI we read Plain Truth for book club a few months ago and there is a link on the left for a better description.

By the way it is also good to see you guys posting!

Happy Reading!!

Hey Chels! Do you have break this week too? We are done with school for the next four school days. :)