Bran Hambric: The Farfield Curse by Kaleb Nation

"Bran Hambric" by Kaleb Nation is a relatively new fantasy book to come to the scene. It is about a boy, named Bran, living in a town called Dunce that has 3 rules: No Mages, No gnomes, and absolutely no Etceteras. Does that sound odd to you? Yes. But if you get past that, haha, it's a very good book! Bran is a boy who is living with the Wilomas's, a family who he only belongs to by accident, and is reffered to as 'the accident'. How? Apparently, in their town, there is a law of finders keepers, even when it comes to children. So, when Sewey Wilomas stumbled across a small boy with nothing but a note that bared his name, "Bran Hambric" he was then to be taken care of by the Wilomas's.
The rules of the town is that there is no magic or gnomes, or anything that could be considered an etcetera after listing those. Is that insignificant? Maybe it seems so, but later on, not.
Anyway, back to Bran. Bran doesn't know who his parents were, or what they were like. He knows that his mother left him for someone else to find. She could be dead. He has no idea. He doesn't know what any of his family was like, and apparently Sewey searched far and wide and found no relations. Read this story of what Bran finds out about that, and the mysteries of the town, the gnomes, the mages, and what the heck the Farfield Curse is.

I thought this book was very good. I think anyone who read and enjoyed Harry Potter will like this book, and it kind of reminded me of it. I think anyone 9&up can read and enjoy it as well! It is a good fantasy, with a nice sense of humor. It is kind of a new twist on books involving magic and stuff as it revolves around the modern world, just with some different rules.
I rate it 4 stars! So... Read it! :)
Bye bookworms! -Cat.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

This is a literary classic, gothic era 19th Century novel. It is classic literature filled with great vocabulary words (great learning opportunity, I had to read it for Vocab./Lit. Class). It has lots of old English. It is a good story, but it can be kind of hard to understand. I think it was good, after finally being finished. Lots of classics can be hard to get through sometimes because of vocabulary used, writing style (don't start out as fast), or old English. As long as you can get past that, which once you get into the book, it can be quite good.

A warning is not to go into reading this book expecting an awfully scary spooky story with the great Frankenstein monster ransacking towns, attacking people, and being just an awful unsuperior race that has been created in malice and other such things. It's not what you see in the movies or comic books. It's a story inside a story. It begins with letters, going to sort of story from beginning in the end and proceeding to, well, reflect on the rest of it. It's very complicated. It is a story from Victor Frankenstein, as he tells Robert Walton, a sea captain determined to control the seas and find a new route across the seas. Dr. Victor Frankenstein tries to control nature. His mother dies, and he seems to be inspired to figure out a way to create life out of death. He experiments with dead body parts (gross) and somehow brings an awesome (not as in good, as in shocking) creaure to life. (important note frankenstein isn't the monster, he's the person who created the monster). He goes into shock and falls ill. The monster escapes. andddd I'm not telling you anymoree stuffffff.
Really. That's as dramatic as it gets. It really isn't a scary book. Dramatic maybe. But not scary.

I rate it 3 1/2 stars maybe 4?. It's just hard for me too get into this book. It was a good story still though :).
I would say it's for ages 12 and up in appropriateness, maybe younger. But the age that can actually get through it, understand it, and appreciate it? Varies. Depends on the person. So, read it, it's good :) A nice classic.

November blog carnival

hello! this time I actually got a submission!!

Captain Lyaf Yarr has reviewed the Diary of a wimpy kid. you can find the review here.

thanks.

if you have any submissions, please enter it here.
if you have any questions, you can contact me at my blog.

Austenland by Shannon Hale

Jane Hayes is a seemingly normal young New Yorker, but she has a secret. Her obsession with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, is ruining her love life: no real man can compare. But when a wealthy relative bequeaths her a trip to an English resort catering to Austen-crazed women, Jane’s fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman suddenly become realer than she ever could have imagined.

Decked out in empire-waist gowns, Jane struggles to master Regency etiquette and flirts with gardeners and gentlemen—or maybe even, she suspects, with the actors who are playing them. It’s all a game, Jane knows. And yet the longer she stays, the more her insecurities seem to fall away, and the more she wonders: Is she about to kick the Austen obsession for good, or could all her dreams actually culminate in a Mr. Darcy of her own?

I enjoyed this book immensely! It has a good plot, romance, humor, everything! I'm not exactly a fan of Jane Austen (I've never read any of her books, but I have seen the movies.. does that count? :) but I really liked this book anyway. I would suggest that you go out and buy it right now! Parents: It's a PG rated book... Slight inappropriate content and language. I would say for ages 12 and up.

Peace out,

Robin

Owl in Love by Patrice Kindl

Owl in Love is a story about a girl who is an Owl by night (or whenever she wants to be) and a 14 year old girl by day. Her features and clothes are old, so is her home, and some of her values. The way she treats people isn't bad, just careful, as she doesn't really know how. She has no friends. She is the weird girl, though no one knows anything near her story. She has her parent's, who are human. She is somehow miracly a wereowl as she calls herself. Owl is her name too, though no one can even begin to realize how, say, ironic that is. Nothing but her oversized eyes and pale sand skin can give it a clue. What will happen with her 'crush' on her science teacher? More of an infatuation, thanks to her owl blood. What will happen when she finally makes a friend? What will she do about Houle, the boy she has seen as an owl, taken a liking too, and tried to figure out, and take care of?

I loved this book! It's way better then it sounds. It's rather underappreciated if you ask me. I rate it 4 stars! It's kind of short at only 212 pages, but no less pleasing. It left me wanting more, just as any good book does, and lead the time to pass quickly. The story begins fairly fast moving, so it isn't hard to get into. It is well written as well, flowing nicely, those words on the pages are a reflection of a deep, odd, and unknown story to the unknowning reader who hardly knew they were picking up a book about a weirdo who turns into an owl. So, read it! :) :)
I recommend this for ages 12&up for some scary elements and mild language. I also have a feeling that mainly only girls will enjoy this, even in the adventurous manner it has.

The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall

My new favorite book of all time! I very reluctantly picked up this book after my mom had told me I should read it because it was so good. First of all I'm the kind of person that judges a book by it's cover, and even though this book is only a few years old it looked way older then that, so I wasn't too thrilled to read it. Second, I'm a teen, and if my mom says something is cool I tend to not think it's as awesome as she says, but anyway... So after I got the book my family and I went on a trip, and I read the book in our hotel room, I finished it in one day (It would have been less, but I was busy!) The book is amazing! It's like new with old fashioned elements, but it's still totally awesome! It's a story of four sisters there’s responsible, practical Rosalind; stubborn, feisty Skye; dreamy, artistic Jane; and their shy little sister Batty. The four sisters and their father go to a cottage for summer vacation, and they get into all sorts of trouble, and have fun adventures! They soon meet the owner of the property their staying on, the very tough Mrs. Trifton and her son Jeffrey. Mrs. Trifton isn't too pleased with the Penderwicks because she thinks they are a bad example for her son. This book is filled with humor, adventure, and in my opinion it's everything a kid's book should be, and I highly recommend you read it!

Peace out,

Robin