Talk about the kidlit you're reading!

My thoughts on Inkheart:

I very much enjoyed the series. My older son read the first one and enjoyed it, yet somehow not enough to get around to reading the next two.

Pros: Wonderfully imagined world. Great complex cast of characters, with villains that are truly villainous and heroes who are flawed and vulnerable. If you love getting lost in your books and settling in for a long journey, they are fabulous.

Cons: Only the first is really MG. The second moves the protag into YA territory, with quite a bit of romance and sessions of kissing. The third...well, it isn't really kidlit at all. The parents become the protags, and the young girl gets left behind during almost all the most exciting parts of the story. So...yeah. It feels a bit like she got so caught up in her story that she forgot who she was supposed to be writing it for.

I would recommend the series for bookish kids who read a lot. Not so much for kids with short attention spans or busy lives.

I haven't dropped in a while so here's an update on some of my latest reads.

The 7th Artemis Fowl The Atlantis Complex - I don't know if its possible for books to jump the shark but that's what this book did. Did not much care for any of this book. Funny thing was I had just reread all the other books in the series because I hadn't read them in a while, and I had commented to my husband about how much I enjoyed them. Then I realized there was a 7th book, and yikes, was it bad. It was left open for another book so hopefully it will be better. More what I expect from Artemis. I'm committed now so I'll read the next one, but not looking as forward to it as I usually would.

Janice Hardy The Healing Wars - Not my usual type of book. The characters' situation was pretty depressing and I'm not big on high fantasy. Not that I have anything against it. It's just usually too filled with unique words and circumstances that my feeble mind can't grasp, so I prefer more down to earth reading. Anyway the author's voice drew me in and then I was hooked. Read all three of them. Not the light, fluffy fantasy I generally prefer but definitely gets your attention. All I can say is WOW! Glad I strayed from my norm.

I read the first two Artemis Fowl books last year, I enjoyed the first, the second was pretty good but I can't imagine the next books keeping up the pace. Is the third to the sixth Artemis Fowl books good?

Well, wow. I finished INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN, and while I would be very interested to hear what actual middle grade readers think of it, I highly recommend it to anyone of any age interested in gorgeous writing and/or immigration stories.

Now I'm starting THE AVIARY.

playground_king said:

I read the first two Artemis Fowl books last year, I enjoyed the first, the second was pretty good but I can't imagine the next books keeping up the pace. Is the third to the sixth Artemis Fowl books good?

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I liked all the books except the last one.

Just started The Ranger's Apprentice series. So far cool concept but there a so many -ly adverbs. But hey, my godson loves these books and maybe I'm just being a crab.

Yeah, Ranger's Apprentice won't win any awards for skillful prose. Have you noticed how almost every chapter starts the same way? Line of dialogue, short paragraph giving the context, continue with scene. Not a bad technique once in a while, but every time? Oh, and I loved the scene where a single character "swarmed" up a wall. To quote the Princess Bride, I do not think that word means what you think it means.

But none of my quibbles with the writing make any difference at all to my son, who owns every single book in the series and dressed as a Ranger for Halloween 2 years ago.

MsJudy said:

Yeah, Ranger's Apprentice won't win any awards for skillful prose. Have you noticed how almost every chapter starts the same way? Line of dialogue, short paragraph giving the context, continue with scene. Not a bad technique once in a while, but every time? Oh, and I loved the scene where a single character "swarmed" up a wall. To quote the Princess Bride, I do not think that word means what you think it means.

But none of my quibbles with the writing make any difference at all to my son, who owns every single book in the series and dressed as a Ranger for Halloween 2 years ago.

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Hmmm, sounds very familiar lol. Swarmed...I haven't gotten that far I don't think, but I'm finding it harder and harder to read the book without giving it a mental edit.

The Kidd said:

Hmmm, sounds very familiar lol. Swarmed...I haven't gotten that far I don't think, but I'm finding it harder and harder to read the book without giving it a mental edit.

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I read the first one a few weeks ago and almost put it down a few times out of boredom. Not a bad read just couldn't get that much into it.

Kitty Pryde said:

Im reading the new Rangers Apprentice: Brotherband Chronicles: The Outcasts: Srsly Guys Use More Colons! Its very decent so far. I though I had tried the first book before and disliked it, but it wasn't Norse so it must have been something else...

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Not necessarily. The first one is fairly British/LOTR in its setting. Then, as it progresses, they travel to different areas to help various kings and such--Nordic, Celtic, Chinese-ish. The new series is an offshoot of one of those earlier adventures.

On a separate note... I just finished Mockingjay. OMG. Yes, it's an amazing series. But boy, does it get gruesome! Talk about needing a palate cleanser... fortunately, I had two Masterpiece Theatre Jane Austen stories on the DVR. Three hours of knitting to Miss Austen, and maybe I won't have nightmares, after all...

Last week I finished book eight in The Last Apprentice series. I've really enjoyed all of the books, and my son is half way through the series now. He can't put them down! He's literally carrying a book with him everywhere he goes--on five minute car rides to the store, to my parents house on Christmas...and I keep catching him hiding under the covers at night when he should be sleeping!--which makes me love the books even more

MsJudy said:

Not necessarily. The first one is fairly British/LOTR in its setting. Then, as it progresses, they travel to different areas to help various kings and such--Nordic, Celtic, Chinese-ish. The new series is an offshoot of one of those earlier adventures.

On a separate note... I just finished Mockingjay. OMG. Yes, it's an amazing series. But boy, does it get gruesome! Talk about needing a palate cleanser... fortunately, I had two Masterpiece Theatre Jane Austen stories on the DVR. Three hours of knitting to Miss Austen, and maybe I won't have nightmares, after all...

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Everyone else is really looking for the Hunger Games movie, but I'm not sure I want to see it. I will see it, no doubt. But I'm not especially looking forward to it. I mean, kids fighting to the death? Does anyone really think that will be fun to watch?

Smish said:

Everyone else is really looking for the Hunger Games movie, but I'm not sure I want to see it. I will see it, no doubt. But I'm not especially looking forward to it. I mean, kids fighting to the death? Does anyone really think that will be fun to watch?

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Exactly. It's grim enough when you can set the book aside and do something else. But to watch it, in full color... The first of the trilogy might not be so bad, since much of the hand-to-hand combat happens off the page, so to speak. But by Mockingjay... I just don't know if I have the stomach for it.

I won't be seeing the movie. I'm probably the only person in the kidlitosphere who hasn't read the book. My 18-year-old daughter loved the books, cried over them, still raves about them. She has, more than once, brandished HG in my face and ordered me to read it. I read the first chapter, just to make her happy. It's great, and all. I just can't make myself keep reading, knowing what's coming. (For the record, I was the kid who put down Little Women after my friend Peggy blurted, "I hear Beth dies," and refused to pick it up again for years!)

Ha! That's hilarious, Ruth. Bet you never read - or watched - Old Yeller, either?

I agree, I loved the Hunger Games books, and I'm interested in the movies, but very wary. I'm not sure I can handle it. I think it will help that the characters are mostly older teenagers, and as such, mostly actually actors in their 20's. But the exceptions ...

I'm FINALLY reading R.D.'s The Witches and I've got to say it is already one of my favorite books of all time. I can see how the admonition against bathing wouldn't be a hit with parents though.

RuthD said:

I won't be seeing the movie. I'm probably the only person in the kidlitosphere who hasn't read the book. My 18-year-old daughter loved the books, cried over them, still raves about them. She has, more than once, brandished HG in my face and ordered me to read it. I read the first chapter, just to make her happy. It's great, and all. I just can't make myself keep reading, knowing what's coming. (For the record, I was the kid who put down Little Women after my friend Peggy blurted, "I hear Beth dies," and refused to pick it up again for years!)

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I've only read the sample you get through the kindle and it didn't push me over the edge to buy it. Not my cup of tea I guess.

Smish said:

Ha! That's hilarious, Ruth. Bet you never read - or watched - Old Yeller, either?

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Ha ha ... no. But I did have a love/hate relationship with Beautiful Joe.

Just finished 'Ranger's Apprentice' book one and now I'm moving on to 'The Last Apprentice' book one.

THAT'S what it was! I tried The Last Apprentice and disliked it, and was confused and thought it was The Ranger's Apprentice. But it was not.

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I have to admit that I thought they were the same series too until my godson pointed them out to me on the shelf. So far I think I'm liking it better than Rangers.

The Last Apprentice is better written, but also much darker and creepier. Ranger's Apprentice is more warrior/adventure.

Just finished The Blackhope Enigma by Teresa Flavin. It was okay - I really liked the premise, but the writing didn't wow me.

I read The Hunger Games and finished it, but won't go beyond it or watch the movie. The brutality is too realistic for me. I don't know why it's easier to stomach as a fairytale.

I remember our 7th grade English teacher reading some book to us - about a dog, but not any major ones - and she would send me out into the hall for all the sad scenes after I broke down and sobbed the first time. The other kids made fun of me, so she spared me that, at least.