Rutilicus - Hercules

Hercules was a fighter.  The book I started to read was about war... I think... maybe... possibly... I've been told... so it's a stretch!

So I went to the library on Friday after school, and picked up several books from the Young Adult section.  I got excited because I was able to find several books that my friends had suggested for me to read. 

I like the instant-gratification of getting books from Barnes and Noble, and am often frustrated by the library system in my county because it is a huge county, and even with multiple facilities, books are often not in, or not at the location where I go.  So I took a risk and went to the library!  I even had to get a new card because I had (go figure) lost my old card!  Now I can even request books again!  haha!

I picked up a LOT of books, and at least when I pick them up at the library, I can feel not guilty when I give up on it and quit reading halfway through.  I don't often start reading with the thought of "this stinks" because I don't pick up bad books - since I'm not in high school anymore, I don't HAVE to read books that I don't like, so I CAN just quit reading part way through

So.  This happened.  Twice. 

I started reading True... sort of by Katherine Hannigan, the same one who wrote Ida B.  I honestly have never read Ida B. either, but have heard it's a great book, so I was kind of excited.  I did NOT like it.  It's a story about a girl named Delly (real name Delaware - I don't do well with kids named after states either...) who makes up words - like "mysteriousity" and other silly words.  It's like she is old enough to know better, but still makes up silly little words - so many in fact that the book comes with its own dictionary in the back of "Dellyisms."  I couldn't put up with it past like 6 short chapters, so I stopped.  It wasn't really going anywhere... I think it might be about a new kid coming, and Delly making friends with the new kid.... but Delly is not likeable character from the start...

So I started in on how i live now which was recommended to me (No, Ms. R, I don't hold it against you!).  I had a large print copy, so I'm not sure if part of the trouble I had with the formatting was because it was a large print version... There were no quotation marks, which made it a little hard to follow at times.  I also had trouble with something leftover from Junie B. Jones days... which is when a character wants to emphasize something by over capitalization.  For instance, here's a sample sentence -

"And for a minute I was so glad I was fifteen and from New York City because even though I haven't actually Seen It All, I have seen more than plenty, and I have one of the best Oh Yeah, This Is So Much What I Usually Do kind of faces of anyone in my crowd."

I spend most of my writing days trying to get kids to AVOID that type of writing, and it was downright painful to try and understand what was actually being said... and once I did figure out sort of the plot of what was going on, I was uninterested.  Don't get me wrong.  I read Flowers in the Attic, but I didn't realize this was gonna be kissing relatives also... So I gave up.  Right after Chapter 5 or so... literally, slammed the book and announced "well, i'm done with THAT!" 

I am really excited about several of the other books I picked up, including Forge by Laurie Anderson (the second book after Chains, The Monster's Ring and Juliet Dove, Queen of Love both by Bruce Coville, and both in the same series as Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher and Jennifer Murdley's Toad which I LOVED as a child.  Apparently there is a 5th book - The Skull of Truth which I have not acquired yet... emphasis on yet!  My arms were only so big! 

On the "fourth grade appropriate" side, I picked up Havoc but have since realized that I grabbed the sequel... and need to first read Malice - both books look phenomenol - about kids who are trying to escape a comic book world, and so the reader is literally forced into a 4-6 page graphic novel sequence at the end of each (long) chapter.  It looks fantastic and I'm excited - though I should wait to read the first one first...

I also grabbed The Forest of Hands and Teeth and am excited that it's a series - though the Zombie idea kind of creeps me out...

Other books that I picked up on a whim - Criss-Cross, No Talking (Andrew Clements, who wrote Frindle), and Small Steps which is the sequel to Holes. 

So I guess I'll be pretty busy - but if you have more ideas, PLEASE suggest them! :)