Ok, this month suuuuucked!!!

I only read 1 book, that's right, you read it correctly.... 1 book. ::headdesk::.. If you don't know what that is, it is similar to face-palm.

Example:














And and example of face-palm:















Yes, April has been my reading fail for books. I've started three books this month, but I just couldn't get into them. I guess I'm just looking forward to May, which is in about 20 minutes. On May 1st, a couple of books I'm looking forward to come out...YAY!! So hopefully, May will be better for me.

Ok, for April, here is what I read.

Legend by Marie Lu was not that legendary. It was highly predictable. It followed the basic cookie cutter pattern for a YA book. It didn't hold my interest and I was able to set it down and not care if I finished it. It was lacking. It's a not to read.








Well, that's it for the month. That brings my total for the year to 15. I have 60 books to go to reach my goal of 75, and after this month, I'm questioning it a little bit.

I finally was able to finish a book this month. I got through Legend by Marie Lu.

However, the title of the book does not fit the story. This story was not legendary. It didn't hold my interest much. It was easy to set this book down for long periods of time.

The ideas in this book were just a bit to far out there to believe, but I'll get to that in a minute. This story rotates between two points of view, Day and June. Both are 15 years old living in the Republic, which is where California is at. The Republic is in an on going war with the Colonies, which is on the Eastern sea board and reaches to part of Texas, northward to Montana and the Dakotas. There isn't much back ground on how this war started or what happened to America. The Republic is presented as a rich society that is lead by a military stand point and the Colonies are just some back woods people.

In the Republic, children are tested at age 10 on their physical abilities and their intelligence. The best are moved on to the most prestigious schools and put in top commands. It works its way down the line till you come to the kids who fail and these kids are signed over to the Republic by the parents, by law for the children to be sent off to labor camps....or so the story goes.

At 15 June, was a genius and had passed her test at 10 with the highest score in the Republic. She was moved to a top school and was about to graduate college at 15. However, she is rebellious and is always getting in trouble at her school. Her older brother who is a Captain in the Republic is raising her since their parents are dead. Soon after being brought home by her brother for a break from school, he is killed on a mission and June sets out to find his killer. She is called up by her brother commander and put in a high position in her squad to hunt the killer down.

Day is another 15 year old kid, however he didn't grow up with the privilege June had. He hadn't passed his tests at 10 and was shipped off only to run away and he now lives on the streets and is the Republic's number 1 enemy in their territory.

Ok, I'm going to stop here for a minute. I might have been more into the story if their ages had been more realistic, but in my mind, 15 is not the age that these kids could have done anything. Smart or not, if they were 18 or 19, maybe, but not 15. Adults relying on a 15 year old to lead a group of soldiers just wasn't plausible to me and she was never assigned a rank, even through she was "high ranking".

The story played out in the textbook fashion. Boy and girl from opposite sides meet, get to know each other, like each other, then secret is reveled, then one doesn't like the other and the anger shows in both of them toward each other. They then reconcile and help each other out and refuse to separate ever again.

This book just didn't hold my attention. It just added to the reading funk I'm in right now. I say it's not to read!

Ok, I think it is time for another post on kid's books. I have to say, this round some are good, the others made me want to throw the book out the window. Let's get this started.

I'll start with the good.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan. I have to say, I loved this series! I'm a history/ mythology nut and I loved how Mr. Riordan applied this rich mythology into the present day stories.

I think that this series is a wonderful read for kids. It has a good story to follow. Some true bad guys you want defeated. And like another popular series out there, is about a boy and his two closest friends who want to help him out on his adventures.

Unlike some series I have read, this series stays strong and the story flows smoothly from one book to another. I think that this series could easily help a kid understand some classical history a little better. The updated version of Jason and the Golden Fleece was done well. Plus, made the gods of Greece more understandable and left out a lot of the sordid details to make them a little more kid friendly. I haven't read this series to my kiddo yet, I think she is still a little to young, but I will.

 The Books in order are:
1. The Lightening Thief
2. The Sea of Monsters
3.The Titan's Curse
4. The Battle of the Labyrinth
5. The Last Olympian

I say that these books are a to read!

Mr. Riordan also has another series out as well, that is continuation of the Greek gods and features three news kids and the old ones we have come to love. I'll save those for another post. Along with his anciant Egyptian series.

Next, on the agenda of kid's books is the bad.
This has to be one of the few times that I prefer the movie over the book. Oh, my gosh! These books drove me crazy! How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell.

The movie was fun and full of adventure that the whole family could enjoy. Toothless was fun and Hiccup was hilarious. In the books however, Toothless is the biggest whiner. He was a selfish dragon that refused to do anything unless something was in it for him. Hiccup was a huge wimp who never stood up for himself and he did everything Toothless begged him to do.

The only thing that was the same between the movie and the book, were the names. Nothing else is the same. The dragons in the books are dog sized and stay in the house. Dragons are already a prominent part of this viking society.

The books are written from Hiccups perspective as if it was part of his journal. The whiny-ness of these books, the bullying that went on from his cousin in every book... It was just to much. It was also very crude for a kids book. I remember when there were higher standards.

I read the first two to the kiddo, but she was not pleased that they were not the same as the movie. I read the next two to see if it improved any. They didn't. Don't waste your time with these books. Not to read!

Oh, my goodness, it's April 11th and I haven't posted one single entry for a book, all because I haven't finished a book yet this month. I started one book and just couldn't get into it so I set it aside for a later try. Now, I'm on to another and only 1/4 of the way through. March and the beginning of April have not been kind to me for reading, but I hope to catch up soon.

Until a book post comes along, I thought I would share this however. A friend sent it to me and loved it!