The Titan's Curse

The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan

Percy Jackson and friends are back for another adventure in "The Olympians" series. The evil of the titans is building and they are re-grouping and re-forming to battle the Gods of Olympus once again for rule. It's up to Percy and his friends to solve mysteries and battle monsters, titans, and other demi-gods in order to save the world as we know it.

The Sea of Monsters

The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

This is the second book of "The Olympians" series with Percy Jackson. It is more Greek mythology and monsters coming to life to take over Olympus and the modern western world. Good thing 14 year old Percy is a hero who takes his tasks seriously.

This is a great series for young adults. It will teach them about Greek mythology in a way that just might stick in their minds. It's also great because the heros are kids too. It's a fun fast series for adults as well who just want something fast and entertaining to read.

To Kill a Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

I figure everyone has a least seen the movie starring Gregory Peck but just in case here is what I told my four year old about the book.

It's a book told by a woman about her life when she was a girl. There is her dad, Atticus and her brother, Jem, their maid Calpurnia and a summer friend, Dill. It is a few years of their life in rural southern Alabama. It is a book about how to live in a way that treats all people with respect.

This was Harper Lee's only published book. Her writing was plain, witty, and poetic all at once. I highly recommend reading the book as well as seeing the film. Apparently Ms. Lee was quite pleased with the screen play and became good friends with Gregory Peck and his family so they must have gotten it right.

The Sun

The Sun is not a book it is a magazine and I have had a subscription pretty consistently since 1998. (I have all my back issues if you ever want to read them - not sure what to do with them now that I've been saving them this long)

I was on such a book reading jag that I wasn't reading my issues of The Sun and so I decided it was time to get caught up. Also, I started reading a book that I just couldn't get into so I'll try it again at a later date - or not. Plus I've been crazy busy traveling and working and doing stuff that is not necessarily conducive to sitting and reading for long lovely periods of time.

If you have never heard of The Sun you need to check out their website for examples of how great this publication is. www.thesunmagazine.org One year I gave gift subscriptions to many of my friends and family. I only think one person has kept it going but, oh well.

This magazine is great for a variety of reasons the first being NO ADVERTISING (yea!). It is a literary magazine with fantastic black and white photos, essays, memoirs, short stories, poetry, fiction, always and interview and my favorite - reader's write.

Reader's Write is just what you think it is. Reader's send in their short non-fiction stories on predetermined topics. For instance, February 2011 will be about Making It Last. May 2011 will be about Shoes. I regularly laugh out loud or break down crying when reading the Reader's Write section.

I am almost finished with the July issue and then I can get started on August but I'm also reading To Kill a Mockingbird for my book club so stay tuned for that review.