Charlotte's Web

Author: E.B. White

Reading Goal: Two chapters a day, finish in 11 days

Started:

Finished:

Summary: Okay, I goofed! I forgot to add details for this one. I liked it better than I expected, so that was good. I kinda wish I'd read it sooner, but I think I enjoyed it more now. Both movies are great, but I prefer Dakota's.

Boy: Tales of Childhood

Author: Roald Dahl

Reading Goal: One section per day, finish in four days.
Started: 9/22/08
Finished: 9/24/08
Summary: This book is too cute! It would be great for studying European geography. Those who have read Harry Potter could compare the boarding schools and teachers in each. Be warned: if you are squeamish, there are three serious injuries and a dead rat early in the book. 

So I finished Dahl's memoir. I was pleasantly surprised. I kinda expected it to be written as a children's book, but it was quite readable. If you've read any of his works you can easily see the inspiration. I wish we had more boarding schools in America. They might be worth a try. All in all, I'd say it was good. 4 out of five stars.

More Margery Sharp

I have now finished Miss Bianca, The Rescuers, and will finish Miss Bianca in the Salt Mines by tonight. I got a tad carried away, sorry! The books are definitely worth a read, however. They're great for families to read aloud with 8-12 year olds. 

Horton Hears a Who

Author: Dr. Seuss

Reading Goal: N/A

Chapters: N/A

Started/Finished: September 18

Play by Play: Young readers will love the rhyming. This is Dr. Seuss at his best. I wish I read it when I was younger, I would've loved it. I probably did and just don't remember it. There is a controversy over "A person is a person, no matter how small". I'm eager to watch the movie now!

The Turret

Author: Margery Sharp
Reading Goal: Three chapters a day, finish in four days
Started: 09/14
Finished: 09/17
Okay, you won't find this book on any must-read list. It is a great book, though. I chose it because it follows The Rescuers, and Miss Bianca, which the Disney movies are based loosely on. I intended to read the others first, but they arrived out of order (go figure). It was a good read, but even I didn't find it a must read.I'd reccomend it for a third to fifth grade reading level, and I would advise reading another Bianca book first.

More Anne

Okay, I know have a reading goal. That is to read two months worth of entries per day on the days when I don't have another book to read. This will be my fallback until I finish it. I started on Monday, dated June 1942, now I'm on January 1943. I'm getting three more books later tonight when I go to the library, so I probably won't have much time for a while.

The Diary of a Young Girl

Author: Anne Frank
Reading Goal: I plan on reading two months of entries per day when I'm not reading another book. It should then take about 13 days to finish.
Chapters: None
Started: 09/14
Finished:-----
I'm finally attempting The Diary of Anne Frank. It's been on my personal list for decades, so I was thrilled to see it in the memoirs section. I don't have any sort of reading plan, since this is a diary. I just finished her intros to the apartment. I have tried to read it before, so I may skip around a bit when I reach parts I remember. Then again, I may not. I never know where a book will take me until I'm reading it.

Okay, I know have a reading goal. That is to read two months worth of entries per day on the days when I don't have another book to read. This will be my fallback until I finish it. I started on Monday, dated June 1942, now I'm on January 1943. I'm getting three more books later tonight when I go to the library, so I probably won't have much time for a while.

Summer Finished

Summer of the Monkeys was an excellent book. I didn't care for Rawls other animal novel, Where the Red Fern Growshere, but this one was intriguing from begining to end.The relationship between grandfather and grandson is idyllic, and the brother - sister dynamic is typical. I think readers from a fifth grade level on up could enjoy this.

Now for the movie: As long as you don't compare it to the book, it's an okay movie. 3 1/2 stars. Even its best points do not make it a great movie. Disney book-turned-movie live action didn't turn out that great in the '90's.

Finally Finished!

I finally finished Summer of the Monkeys. I'll have a detailed review of the book and movie up tonight. I finished it on Saturday, but I've been busy and Charter hates working. More soon, I promise!

Harry Potter, Narnia, and Lord of the Rings: What You Need to Know About Fantasy Books and Movies

I'm attempting to write my own fantasy story, so I figured I'd try this book out. I found it for $6.95 at a Christian Publisher's Closeout store. I started reading the chapters on HP, since I'm always curious about all opinions there. I haven't been disappointed!

Oops.

Okay, so I just realized my library books that I recieve through inter-library loan are due in one week, not two or three. This makes things a tad more challenging (I love a good challenge!) Looks like my plan for Summer of the Monkeys was right-on. I've already sent off to get The Rescuers, but after that I'm going to try to get At the Back of the North Wind. I'm really struggling with the reading goals, and I think having a book in my hands would help. The other challenge is it takes two weeks or so for the books to get here. Looks like it's going to take longer than I thought to work out the kinks.

Other Books

Okay, confession time. I'm an avid reader (no surprise there, right?). Anyhoo, I'm going to continue my free reading throughout this excursion. I'm going to add extra books I'm reading here. Enjoy!

Where the Wild Things Are

Author: Maurice Sendak
Play by Play: This book is kinda cute. I know it was read to me when I was six, but I barely remembered it. Now I know why I chose not to. The sentances are broken up, and take up several pages. The illustrations are amazing, but to understand the meaning of the sentance you have to turn the pages quickly, but if you do that you can't examine the pictures. It's okay, but I still don't quite get what the big deal is. Maybe I've always over analyzed things. LOL! I love Maurice Sendak, but this isn't my favorite....

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Summer of the Monkeys

Author: Wilson Rawls

Reading Goal: Two chapters per day, finish in nine days

Chapters: 19

Started: September 8, 2008

Finished: September sometime....

Play by Play: So far, so good. I have this book in my hands, so I've been able to read it everywhere. The monkeys are hilarious! I'm impressed with the methods for catching them. The author sticks to the setting, and you get a feel for what it was like to not know everything we know today. So far, so good.

September 12: Still an amazing book. I'm on chapter 12, and it's hilarious! The author keeps dishing out hilarious ways to catch the monkeys. I find this much better than Where the Red Fern Grows (never mind I never was a fan of it anyway...shh!)

Rating: *****

501 What?

Hello! I don't know how you found me, but I'm glad you did. I recently purchased 501 Must-Read Books from Borders. I knew I would read all of them someday, and I decided to start as quickly as possible. Since I bought it I've read one of the books, and decided this had to be a bigger task. What good is reading a book if you can't share it with anyone? Hello world, here are my books! I've read a few of the books listed, so I will sub those with similar books in the same genre. You'll know what books are substituted, and what the original recommended titles were. I will blog daily (I hope) with my reading progress. My goals for each book will be outlined before I begin blogging on it. I have no order yet, and I don't know when I will. I hope you will come with me on my reading journey. From the title of one of my favorite children's books: Ready, Set, Read!

NOTE: I reserve the right to change any substitutions at will!