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Reason for Reading: I love "Angel" to the nth degree!

Comments: I usually start my reviews with a brief summary but I can't with this book which picks up some time after the fight at the end of Season 5 of the television series Angel. The show ended with the end of the world and "the gang" taking on an epic battle against a horde of demons, including a dragon, which the viewer would assume continued until the bitter end. Well things are not exactly as they seem and the first five comics gathered here contain shocker after shocker about pretty much everything, especially about each individual member of the cast. And everybody is present and accounted for, except of course for dear Cordy. But we do have the return of three characters who had limited story lines in the show Groosalugg (from Pylea), Nina (the werewolf girl) and Gwen (the electricity girl).

This is a perfect continuation of Angel. I am completely satisfied with the direction that has been taken. The characters retain their sense of voice from the show. You can hear the actor's voices in your head, the humour and sarcasm, plus the interaction between the various characters is all perfect. The artwork is delicious. It is aptly dark and broody but the use of colour has been wisely placed to make a stunning book to just look at.

My book doesn't have a rating on it but I'd assume the comics were rated Teen. There is the typical violence of the TV show, that is the slaying of demons and beasts, nothing that would deserve a Mature rating. There are a few bits of language that wouldn't have made the show but nothing terribly profane or frequent. The only thing that could be of concern is the plenitude of women in barely there thong bikinis or bikini-like costumes, shown from various scintillating points of view.

The book itself has bonuses. I have the hardcover which comes with a ribbon bookmark (fancy shmancy!). The book starts with a note from Brian Lynch, then once the five volumes are over there is an art gallery which includes the covers of the comic books, artwork by various artists and photos of Angel and Spike. Next comes the original proposals for each of the five volumes, these are textual short stories and not exactly how the finished comics turned out. Then comes a Sketch Gallery by Franco Urro and finally the book ends with an annotated script of chapter one. I actually read through the annotations right after reading chapter one and gained a lot of insight before continuing on with the story.

If you have watched all five seasons then you must continue on with the story by reading this and be prepared to be shocked over and over as each chapter ends with a stunner. I can't wait to read the next one!

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Reason for Reading: I've become a fan of Dekker's new mainstream thrillers and wanted to try one of his books from a Christian publisher.

Summary: Janeal lives in a Gypsy community but is not altogether accepted. Her father is the leader but she is half white. She has always felt the need to leave, do her own thing and knew that one day she would. Then Salazar Sanso, a powerful and dangerous man, comes to her with a way to help her father get out of a terrible life/death "business" deal and offers her a life of everything she's dreamed. Janeal has her own life and death choices and consequences to deal with, that leave few of her Gypsy community alive.

Comments: My summery is quite brief, I think the publisher's jacket summary gives away too much information and I hate knowing something that happens halfway through the book so I've tried to keep the mystery remaining in my own summary.

I loved this book! It was a fantastic read. The plotting of the book was superb. Part One takes place when the characters are teenagers and is itself a complete story. Then Part Two picks up fifteen years later and slowly reveals who is left and what is happening now. Then at a certain point we are hit with an absolutely shocking and surreal twist. From that point on it is a fast paced roller coaster ride to the end.

The characters are great. Janeal, the main character, is the one the reader most feels for, though she isn't necessarily someone you will like. She is shown from both sides of her personality, the teenager she used to be and the adult she has become. The book is very well written and while the Parts are quite distinct from each other and the pace goes from slow to fast, it never drags, and it always holds together seamlessly. The shocker was cleverly placed and became a "Holy Wow!" moment for the book, totally shaking things up and moving the book to another level. I really, really enjoyed the plot, the suspense and the thrill of this book.

To speak of the Christian Fiction aspect of this book, I think it's a long shot to be labeled with that genre. The book is clean (ie. no swearing, so s*x). There is one Christian character who is quietly so and could be found in any mainstream book. The real CF part of this book comes, if one looks at it that way, from the theme, which does have a character announcing Biblical prophecy to set it up. I don't want to give anything away so this is a bit difficult to go into. However, I did not buy the Christian theme, it did not correspond with my beliefs, it may with yours, but I felt it could just as easily be interpreted as a supernatural (a la Stephen King) theme.

This all leads to say that it doesn't matter, didn't affect my enjoyment of the book and don't be afraid to pick up the book because it's by a Christian publisher. Christians and non alike who enjoy a good suspense story with a bit of the unexplained thrown in for good measure are sure to enjoy. I surely did!

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Reason for Reading: Roger Moore is the Bond I grew up with, the one I went to the movies to see as a teenager.

Comments: Right from the introduction Mr. Moore states that he will not be 'dirt-dishing' nor telling 'tittle tattle'; he wants to write a fun book filled with memories the way he saw them and the wonderful people he met in his life but he promises that does not mean it will be a 'fluffy book' either. Roger Moore lives up to this statement giving the reader a very enjoyable look inside his life without trashing anyone. He does mention a couple of names that he simply hates with a straightforward reason why, he tells stories leaving the irritating one unnamed and he mentions names and follows the "if you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all rule" frequently. But Roger Moore is a charming fellow, very easy going, loves a prank or two, and can take a joke on himself as well so his book is filled with people he adored and those who adored him back.

Moore spends a good part of the book on his early life in England; his childhood, days in the army, acting on stage, becoming an actor in British movies. This was all very interesting and it's hard to believe that Roger Moore is really that old to have been in WWII! Even when acting in Britain the famous names start knocking about such as David Niven (a lifetime friend) and Michael Caine. Then he comes to America and makes a name for himself on the small screen starring in Maverick (replacing James Garner as his British cousin), then his famous Simon Templar as The Saint and finally The Persuaders with Tony Curtis. Not until we are closing in on page 200 does Roger Moore get to James Bond and the book has been so interesting up to this point that Bond is not the vital part of the book. Even if you started to read the because of the Bond connection. I won't go into any more details but from their Moore continues on with Bond, his wives, his other movies and work, ending finally with his long association with UNICEF.

Moore comes across just as I had expected him too. He keeps his debonair, suave, gentlemanly air about him but he also has his tongue firmly planted in cheek at the same time. Even as a child he behaved this way, he calls himself on it frequently saying "ever the poseur". He tells some wonderful memories and anecdotes as he's been with all the greats throughout his career: Elizabeth Taylor, Cary Grant, Gregory Peck, Noel Coward, Stewart Granger, Richard Burton and countless others.

The only thing I didn't enjoy about the book was the last few chapters which mostly focused pretty heavily on his UNICEF activities that it began to feel like an infomercial. I will state I don't support UNICEF for conscience reasons but I did enjoy hearing of the travel and good work he accomplished. But then it just seriously devolved into three chapters about UNICEF with Roger as the emcee. Otherwise, I had a very enjoyable read and certainly learned a lot more about the man who I previously only knew as The Saint and James Bond.

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Reason for Reading: Sequel to Rapunzel's Revenge.

Summary: This is very much Jack's story. Jack tells us of his childhood and his schemes as he grew up, later with his pixie cohort Prudence. Then comes the fateful day that he grows the beanstalk, steals a giant's magic goose and as he chops the beanstalk down he kills one of the giants, plus the building his mother lived in and ran her bakery from. Now the giants are after him and he leaves town. In one frame we're shown that this where the events of Rapunzel's Revenge fit in Jack's own timeline. Now that the time is right Jack returns to the city with Rapunzel where they meet up with Prudence and a strange young man with many gadgets and the foursome must save Jack's mother who has been captured by the giants and enslaved as their cook, but they must also end the oppressive giant rule and the current war with the ant people.

Comments: An adventure filled plot from start to finish that doesn't let go. As well as all the action we have a bit of a romance going on as well as the new guy likes Rapunzel and charms her with his smooth talking. Jack realizes he doesn't like this and a little love triangle is at work with some humorous moments involved. Rapunzel, again, is ever the hero. In fact, it is assumed that she is the fighter of the team and she takes that roll with grace and authority. Her part in the story is relegated to a secondary character though with Jack and Prudence being the main central characters. Quite an intricate plot that includes a couple of shocking twists, this is sure to please the intended audience and fans of the first book. However, this book stands alone very well and I'd say it is not necessary to have read Rapunzel's Revenge first to understand this book. Though I always do like to recommend reading books in order, if possible. The illustrations are just as gorgeous as one would expect them to be from Nathan Hale. A riproaring adventure with steampunk elements that will have readers begging for more from this trio.

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Reason for Reading: I love books set in 1930s Southern USA.

Summary: Ludelphia Bennett is ten years old, her family is part of a sharecropping community. Ludelphia wears a patch over one eye as she accidentally went blind in it when a tiny sliver of wood flew into it when she was younger. She has a passion for quilting and is working on a special quilt now for her Mama that will tell Ludelphia's story to her. Mama is ill with a terrible cough and large with a baby on the way but when Mama goes into labour early and the baby is born healthy after 3 previous stillborn, Mama's health turns worse. She can hardly breathe and now she's coughing up blood. Ludelphia decides she must do more for Mama and embarks on a 40 mile journey to get the nearest doctor and medicine to save Mama's life. It's a dangerous journey for one-eyed, ten year old Ludelphia, who has never been out of Gee's Bend, and never seen a white person before but she takes her quilting with her to keep her hands busy and on the way comes across scraps of cloth to add to the quilt and her story.

Comments: This is a sweet, touching story. I fell in love with Ludelphia from the first page. She is a feisty girl, full of questions, not one to accept an answer without fully understanding and agreeing with it. She has a fine heart, loving all those around her and giving all the benefit of the doubt, she has a way with animals and is the only one who can get along with the stubborn mule they own. A very enjoyable character to read about.

The book takes the reader inside the daily life of a struggling sharecropper family during the depression. How the small rows of houses form a community and everyone looks after each other. They share the good times and they weather the strife and hardship together. I read this book quickly and really enjoyed it. It is a heart touching story and one roots for Ludelphia as she works her way through each challenge ultimately not only to save Mama but to save Gee's Bend itself. The story presented here is fictional but the author has woven a real life event from Gee's Bend's history into the novel.

The only thing that I felt book needed was an illustration at the end of Ludelphia's finished quilt. It's making is so integral to the book's plot, I felt a bit let down not being able to see the finished product and search within it for some of the pieces of cloth she found along the way.

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Reason for Reading: My son read aloud to me. I chose this book because I wanted something he could read in one sitting this day.

Comments: Elephant has the hiccups and his friends each tell him a sure fire way to get rid of them. He tries each way and none of them work until Mouse's suggestion. But with the hiccups gone, the book ends with a surprise twist. Honestly, I didn't expect much from this book but was pleasantly surprised with the fun time we had reading it. At this reading level, the book is well written, engaging and funny. Ds particularly found one scene hilarious and he had me read it in unison with him three times before we continued on with the story. The ending is funny and I recommend it to beginning readers.

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Reason for Reading: My son read aloud to me.

Comments: As per any Little Bear book this is divided into four chapters each containing a stand alone story and yet they all flow together nicely. In the first story. Owl and Little Bear catch a fish for dinner then sit on a big log and pretend they are out on the ocean catching large and unusual fish until Mother finally comes looking for them and her fish. In the second story, Father Bear comes home but Little Bear imagines what if he brought home a mermaid and then as he meets each of his friends they follow along each expecting to meet the mermaid Father has brought home. In the third story Father Bear is quietly reading his paper and Little Bear has the hiccups, all his friends have ideas how to get rid of them but they don't work, then Father Bear roars asking what all the noise is about. Finally, the book comes full circle as Father, Mother and Little Bear go down to the river for a picnic and Little Bear and his friends wonder if there is a mermaid in the river and imagine what she would be like.

An enchanting book in the series, wonderful art by Sendak. My son is very familiar with these characters from the cartoon and has read a couple of the books now and continues to enjoy reading the stories, which are just at the perfect level for his reading abilities at the moment. There are occasional full pages of text but still plenty of half pages of text shared with a picture. A classic!

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Reason for Reading: Next in the series.

Summary: Tara and her brother, Suraj, along with his friend, have gone to the local fair. There they befriend the Ferris wheel operator, an overweight yet very friendly boy and a performer who can dislocate all his joints to fit inside small containers along with his little sister helper, Sadia. While there, a scream rips through the fairgrounds and the girl, a fair person who can see as day in the night, who was looking after Sadia screams that Sadia was taken from her by a hyena into the jungle. Tara herself had earlier thought she had seen a hyena but shrugged it off as a trick of the sun as hyenas do not live in these parts. Men quickly start organizing a search party when Tara realizes that her brother and his friend are missing too and when a scrap of his shirt is found on a bush they know he was taken too. Thus the story is set up as Tara and her new found friends, along with a familiar face from book one take matters into their own hands and set off into the jungle to find the missing children only to find out that it is all a carefully orchestrated plan to lure Tara herself into the clutches of her evil nemesis, Zarku. Only this time her brother's life may be the sacrifice to rid the world of this evil once and for all.

Comments: The second book in this trilogy jumps right into the action and does not let go until the very end. A very fast-paced plot-driven novel that kept me reading well into the night. The book is not quite so dark as the first in the series but is, even so, still dark with death and imagery. After the brief beginning in the fairgrounds, the entire story takes place within the jungle which serves to add a heavy, broody, stifling atmosphere throughout as the teens deal with the heat and humidity, mosquitoes and thirst. The plot itself is what I call the "race against time" theme where the characters set off to save someone and event after event happens until the final climax. Thus, there is not a lot of character development in the new characters introduced in this book. The heavy set boy and the night seeing girl were the most fully realized and I developed feelings for them. On the other hand the boy who's sister was taken plays a more important role in the story, yet he felt flat to me and I didn't connect with him. But otherwise, I really enjoyed the band of teens and the various personalities make for great dynamics within the group.

Tara, herself, is given the most powerful characteristics. Along with how we've come to know her from book one, she is a strong girl, with family loyalty and honour high in her values along with responsibility, fairness and a willingness to believe in others. Tara is faced with many dilemnas such as choosing between: the one or the many, a life of evil or death and sacrificing herself or losing time by going for help. Choosing the right thing is not easy nor is it always obvious.

One can't help but write about a sequel and not compare it to the first and here I found that while "The Third Eye" was steeped in Hindu mythology, this book does not follow through with that though it is still present, just in a smaller degree. There is no mistaking though that the story takes place within a Hindu society as the culture is ever present throughout and this is one of the exciting things about this series, making it so different from the usual YA fantasy fare being written at the moment. There is even a glossary at the back for all the Hindi words used in the book. I wonder if I can get my sister to start calling me Didi?

The cover is also quite intriguing. I think it reflects the ethnic flavour of the story well and the picture reminds me of a simple henna drawing. While being the second in a series the story can hold up on its own. References are made to events in the first book but the story here is complete within itself having a beginning and an ending. I always appreciate when authors can make the second book of a trilogy a complete story of its own while continuing to be a part of the whole (no cliffhangers please!). Ms. Narsimhan does this very well by bringing this story to a conclusion and then giving readers a taste by setting up the direction the next book will take. The last few lines of the book left me with a gleeful chuckle and shiver as I look forward to the final 'showdown' in the last book.

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Reason for Reading: Read aloud to my son as part of our history studies.

Summary: The story of a slave mother and her two children who escape from a southern plantation to St. Catharines, Canada via the Underground Railroad. The family is split up and the little girl, Eliza, is the first to arrive across the border at the Reids' house and the story concentrates on her and the youngest Reid girl as they spend time together. From Eliza's point of view we see the weight of slavery lift and are told about her past life through flashbacks. From Johanna Reid we see at first jealousy at this girl who is so eager to please, then understanding of what slavery really is. The two girls become friends and Johanna soon comes to realize that even in a 'free' county there are some two-faced people who treat the blacks in town differently. The plot becomes more exciting as slave catchers come on the scene and through different ways the brother and mother finally make it to safety.

Comments: This book is set up exactly like Greenwood & Collins' Pioneer series of books. Between each chapter of the fictional story there is a non-fiction section which digs deeper into the subjects discussed. These sections often refer to the characters in the story and seamlessly join together. Each of these sections also includes an activity though they are less crafty than in previous books by this team. Here we have a few crafts, baking, singing, and storytelling. This is the first time I've read this title and I enjoyed even more than The Pioneer Story. The characters are real and we are shown the story from many different view points: the runaway slaves, the American Underground Railroad conductors, the Canadian freedom helpers, Canadian women and children with racist attitudes, we even see why the slave catchers would cross into Canada and try to take slaves back when they had no rights on this side of the border. Heather Collins' black and white drawings are very detailed and informative. An excellent book that takes you from the slave on the plantation, to the fugitive on the run, and finally to the free black in the city, working and sending their children to school.

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Reason for Reading: I haven't read Jasper Fforde before. I really want to but just never find the time to start his Thursday Next series so I jumped at the chance to get in at the beginning with a new series.

Summary: I don't really feel capable of doing this justice but I'll make an attempt. This is a satirical dystopian novel. Set 500 years in the future after Something Happened, this new world is ruled by a Colortocracy. People are born being able to see only one colour or perhaps a mixture of primary colours thus making greens, oranges, etc. Those at the top of the class system are Purples and those at the bottom are Greys, the working class who are colourless. Increasing one's family's colour heritage is of utmost importance and marriages are arranged to produce children who will climb further up the class system. It is here we find Eddie Russet, half promised to marry into the Oxblood family, who finds himself wearing a humility badge, sent to the Outer Fringes, a town called East Carmine, to conduct a chair census supposedly because of a prank he pulled but in reality because he asks too many questions and shows too much curiosity, a dangerous quality in this society. But it is in East Carmine that he realizes the banality of the heavily rule dependent government and the oppressiveness that is wrought upon society. He meets Jane, a Grey revolutionary, who he loves at first sight and while her ideas seem fanatical at first, the more he experiences the more he starts to agree with her.

Comments: This was a fabulous book. Fforde has created an utterly unique and fascinating dystopian society that is believable but is full of satirical comments that reflect upon our own society that one can take the story seriously and with tongue in cheek at the same time. I became immersed in this world from the first page, and while I'd never want to live there, I enjoyed every detail of it from government policies to recreation requirements. The characters are wonderful. Eddie and his group of friends each are distinctly real and flawed persons. The entire cast of characters is enormous and entirely eccentric from the librarian Mrs. Lapus Lazuli who has memorized the barcode of every book that has been removed from the library to the Apocryphal man, a 400 year old historian who everyone must pretend does not exist. The plot itself is a slow unraveling of Eddie coming to terms with the hidden reality of his society and the unsettling realization that the few must be sacrificed for the many. The story is quite dark and while I haven't read any other Fforde books, from what I've read about the Thursday Next series, it would appear that this is a different move for the author. The themes and atmosphere are dark, there is a lot of satire making for plenty of humour but even the humour is dry and biting at times. There is so much going on within the pages of this book that I could simply go on and on about it. Suffice to say, I am utterly enamored with this world and its mythos and can't wait for the next book.