July Books Read

Extras - 448
Scott Westerfield

This was a fun conclusion to the Extras series. I actually found the book to be interesting, but not necessary to the whole story. I think it was fun to find out what was going on in other parts of the world, but I don't think we really went anywhere new with the main characters of the previous stories.

The Hunger Games - 384
Suzanne Collins

This is one of the best books that I have read this year. I really enjoyed the story and thought that the writing was very good. I found myself able to visualize the story such that at one point I had to remember that I had read the story and not watched a movie of it.

Time for Witches (Smart Novels: U.S. History) - 184
SparkNotes Editors
Shades of Blue and Gray (Smart Novels: U.S. History) - 168
SparkNotes Editors
Reckless Revolution (Smart Novels: U.S. History) - 184
SparkNotes Editors
Gilded Delirium (Smart Novels: U.S. History) (Smart Novels: U.S. History) - 216
SparkNotes Editors

This series of books is designed to get kids interested in learning history by making it "fun." I thought the premise was interesting and found the books to be enjoyable, however goofy the story turned out to be.

Utopia - 176
Thomas More

At times I find myself in need of a "grownup" book and found this one while rummaging through a box of books that we had taken from James' uncle's old collection. The story was fascinating, I found the translation to be relevant (the story is written in Latin) and intriguing in the political time that we are facing. Basically in the land of Utopia everything is perfect and if something is not right, then it is forced to be right. Everyone is taken care of and told how to live and what to do. A good read if you are looking for something different.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - 672
J.K. Rowling

After seeing the movie I needed to reread the story to see what was changed and to remember all that I had forgotten. I really enjoyed rereading the book and being able to take the time to take more of the story in, rather then wanting to finish so that I could know how it ended. On a side note, I loved the movie and I thought the changed in it were great, they enhanced the story instead of taking from it. Yes there were a few things I would like to have seen in the movie, but I loved it anyways.

Total for July: 2432
Total for 2009 thus far: 19980