Happy Halloween with a slice of good reads!!!!

Hi all and a happy Halloween from your favorite Library Ninja, Bill!!!! I love Halloween because it let's you pretend to be anybody or anything you want. Such as:

Dracula!!!!!

OR

Frankenstein!!!!!

OR The Scariest of All........

Smurfs!!!!!!!!!!

Hey how about a little Halloween music??? Check it out:

"This is Halloween" from "The Nightmare Before Christmas." 

 

Okay, here we go:


Amulet: The Cloud Searchers by Kazu Kibuishi - This is the third book in the Amulet Graphic Novel Series (The Stonekeeper Book 1 and The Stonekeeper's Curse Book 2). It continues the adventures of the human children Emily and Nathen, Miskit and the rest of the robotic crew, Lean Redbeard a swashbuckling fox, along with new allies in Captain Enzo (a cat) of The Luna Moth (a flying airship) and his brother Rico. Emily and her allies convince Captain Enzo to fly them to the mythical city in the sky "Cielis" to meet it's Guardian Council in hope to save the Kingdom of Alledia. An unexpected addition to their team is The Evil Elf King's son Prince Trellis. He appears to be on their side, but is he really? If that were not enough they are also being pursued by a bounty hunter hired by The Elf King, Master Gabilan and his frighting flying beast mount. Do they find the floating city in the clouds? Does everyone make the journey through intact? Are there more twist and turns in the storyline? I guess you will have to pick this great GN up and read it to find out. This is a story not to be missed. 

Alligator VS. Crocodile by Isabel Thomas - This is a great book that has wonderful pictures of alligators and crocodiles in their natural environments along with being packed with information about these lean mean killing machines (err reptiles that is). The book is divided up into rounds like a boxing match. Before the fight you have the obligatory "Meet the Reptiles" which gives some basic information on both. The rounds are divided up comparing facts about the two predators. The Rounds go something like this:
Round 1 - Size and Strength
Round 2 - Speed and Endurance

Round 3 - Surprise Attack

Round 4 - Teeth and Jaws

Round 5 - Hunting and Fishing Skills

Finally we get to find out theoretically if these two creature went head to head who would win the fight. Lastly we are given some important information concerning the survival of these animals from their worst enemy; man.

Tons of great information teamed with great photographs make this book a WINNER!!!!!!!!!


Happy Halloween all you ghouls, ghost, guys and gals,

Bill

It's here!

Well look what was sitting on my desk when I got into work this morning. This really takes the sting out of working on a Saturday.

Not So Patiently Waiting

There are two books I'm wanting to get my hands on right now the first is Behemoth. If you read Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan, than you are probably are already ahead of me. If you haven't read either, you are in for a treat. The sequel released last week, but my library hasn't yet ordered it despite my begging and pleading. We do have the audio book on the way, which I hear is great, but the illustrations done by Keith Thompson are so great that I want to get my hands on a print copy.

Behemoth continues the alternate history story of an Austrian prince who is running for his life from the Germans. The prince must trust in people he would normally consider enemies to survive.

The second book is The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan and it comes out tomorrow. This book is on order for my library, so I am going to resist the temptation to just run out to the store and buy it. This book is the first in the new Heroes of Olympus series that takes place with the next generation of demigods after Percy Jackson's adventures. If you don't know who Percy Jackson is, you have some awesome catching up to do.

New Series: Trackers

Patrick Carman, one of the authors for the 39 Clues series, has a new action series called Trackers out for the middle school audience. The first book is the aptly titled, Trackers: Book One, is a good start to the series and introduces the readers to the characters through a fast paced high tech adventure.

The books are enhanced with a website. Every few chapters, the book pauses and directs the reader to put enter a new password to unlock a new set of videos and puzzles for the reader. If you are like me and are not usually around a computer while reading a book it can be a little frustrating. But, the book does offer text transcripts of the videos if you can't watch them online. So they aren't essential to enjoying the book, but they are a good deal of fun if you include them.

The second book, Trackers Book 2: Shantorian is scheduled to come out January 1st, 2011. You can see more about the series on Patrick Carman's web page.

Bond, James Bond, Monstrumologist, and Graphic Novels

Greetings all in "The Land o Blog" it is I once again. The Library Ninja that wonders the world righting wrongs, Library Ninja Bill. It's a dirty job, but someones got to do it. Speaking of Ninjas here are some of my all time favs:

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!!!!!!

Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow!!!

Iron Fist (Marvel Comics)!!!



The Naruto Crew!!!!

And Lastly The Great

Hong Kong Phooey!!!!!

Alright is this sight about Ninjas or cool reads? Well I guess it's more about cool reads, so here goes!!!!!!

First let's start with some reads I have talked bout before. Something old (that's new again):

Silverfin: A James Bond Adventure by Charlie Higson - I have read the first three books in the Young Bond Series and they all are awesome. The first book of the Series is this one and once I read it I was seriously hooked. In this first book we are introduced to Bond when he is a 12 year old student attending Eton Boarding School in England. He has few friends, although the ones he does have are good ones, and he is very much a loner. We find out that his parents died when he was 7 years old and he is being raised by his Aunt Charman. James is a new student at the school and he immediately runs afoul of an older student George Hellebore who is a bully and the son of Lord Hellebore, a wealthy and powerful arms dealer. Lord Hellebore comes to the school and sets up a tournament that involves shooting, running and swimming all in the hopes that his son George will win by any means necessary. Let's just say that James prevents George from winning and their relationship does not improve. Break comes to Eaton and James travels to Scotland to meet his Aunt Charman who is there taking care of his Uncle Max who is dying of cancer. Just when James thinks he is getting away from his troubles at school, he discovers that the Hellebores live in an old castle by Lock Silverfin; right in the very same area that his uncle lives. James meets new friends in Scotland in Red Kelly, who sneaks on a train in England with Jame's help, and Wilder Lawless as they try to figure out what has become of Red's brother who was last seen in this area. Needless to say all clues lead to Lock Silverfin and the Hellebores. This is a great book for both Bond and Non-Bond fans (if that is possible?). Two Thumbs Up!!!!!!

Man if you are looking for a book that is:

*Scary;

*a great story that will have you turning and reading page after page;

*Has great characters.

I have the book for you!!!!!!!!

The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey - Let me give you a little taste from the inside front jacket of this book: "These are the secrets I have kept. This is the trust I never betrayed. But he is dead now and has been for more than forty years, the one who gave me his trust, the one for whom I kept these secrets. The one who saved me.....and who cursed me."

This book is about a young boy named Will Henry living in the mid/late 1800s, whose parents have passed away, that lives and assist the great Monstrumologist Dr. Warthrop. What is a Monstrumologist you ask? Well let me give you the definition given in the book:

mon*stum*ol*ogy (n.)

1: the study of life forms generally malevolent to humans and not recognized by science as actual organisms, specifically those considered products of myth and folklore

2: the act of hunting such creatures

This book starts with the Doctor and Will discovering the remains of a male creature known as an Anthropophagi. The creature appears somewhat human, except that it has no head. Its eyes are found on it's shoulders. It has very long arms that end in razor sharp claws. Its mouth with shark like teeth are found in it's chest area. It is extremely muscular and dangerous whether it be male or female. Lastly, and most frightening, they prey on humans.

Somehow these creatures, normally found in northern and western Africa and the Caroli Islands, have found there way to the good Doctor's home in New Jerusalem, North America. This discovery starts the beginning of a story of adventure and horror that will haunt Will Henry for the rest of his days. Another great but creepy character that helps the Doctor and Will Henry hunt and attempt to destroy these creatures is one Dr John Kearns, whose true identity will shock you.

This is a great book that will have you turning pages in quick succession to find out what happens next in the book. However, I feel obligated to warn all that this is probably not for young children. This book contains some extremely gory scenes in addition to just being down right frightening. It scared the living "you know what" out of me and I'm far from being a child. So before starting to read this book make sure it is cool with your parents and you are not frightened easily. This is a great book and I hope there are more in the near future such that this could become a series. Highly recommended!!!!!!!!!!!

Now for some fresh and hot of the presses reviews. Something new:

The Donner Party by Scott Welvaert, Ron Frenz and Charles Barnett - This Graphic Novel for ages 9 and up tells the true story of the ill-fated Donner Party and there journey in the mid 1800's to reach California starting from Missouri. The group that would become known as "The Donner Party" was made up of a group of 87 people and 23 wagons. Many incidents and bad decisions would lead this group of people to being remembered through history. What exactly happened to them and what makes them so infamous in history. Read this terrific Graphic Novel and find out!!!

Green Lantern: The Sinestro Corps War (Volumes 1 and 2) by Geoff Johns, Dave Gibbons, and more - This story collected into Graphic Novel format is epic and kicks butt!!!! It collects a storyline that ran through the comic series Green Lantern and The Green Lantern Corps along with various special one shots. Okay here is a quick overview, Sinestro, a one time Green Lantern and mentor to Hal Jordan, has come up with the perfect plan to put OA (the home of The Guardians of the GL Corps and the Corps itself) and The Green Lantern Corps on a path he desires.

He forms The Sinesto Corps and recruits members who have the ability to install great fear. Each Sinesto Corp member is armed with a yellow power ring, mirroring the green ones of the Green Lantern Corps. Amongst Sinestro's allies are Parallax, The Anti-Monitor, Cyborg-Superman, Superboy-Prime among others. On the Good Guys side we have The Green Lanterns Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Guy Gardner, Kyle Rayner, Sodam Yat, Kilowog and many more. That's a bunch of good guys and bad guys. The reason is this story is epic. Blood is spilled on both sides as both heroes and villains fall. Will the Yellow Power Ring Bearers who represent fear prevail or the Green Power Ring Bearers who represent good (at least as far a we can tell) and overcoming fear. This GN is recommended for ages 13 and up because of some language and violence.

Also the follow up "The Rage of The Red Lanterns" rocks pretty hard!!!!!!

Well that's all for now all you mighty ninja readers!!!! Peace out with a Kung Fu Grip,

Library Ninja Bill

Origami Yoda is getting a sequel

I don't think I mentioned the super awesome book for younger guys, The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger, everyone (young, old and in between) should put this on your to-read list right away. The story is about a sixth grader named Tommy who is on a mission to figure out if the advice given by his classmate Dwight's finger puppet Yoda is genuine or just Dwight being his usual weird self.

Another reason everyone should read this book is that the author announced on his website that there will be a sequel in 2011. He hasn't announced the title yet, he is waiting until the big winter American Library Association Conference to tell the world the new title. His website has the full story and a poll, so everyone should go over there right after you leave some comment on this post.

(Thanks, Rebecca!)

Guys Read: Funny Business

HarperKids put together a great video in honor of the new Guys Read book, Guys Read: Funny Business.