Black Potatoes by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

I really liked this book. It seemed incredibly full of facts about this period of time. I have a deep respect for the Irish and all they’ve been through. I don’t know how people could ever survive amid such lack of food…or perhaps lack of access to the food.

I must admit, I was less than pleased about the help they received. Irish seem to be a very hard working group of people. Their ill fortune should not have been so tragic. If other countries, especially England, would have been less selfish they could’ve helped prevent such a massive desolation. England wouldn’t let Ireland handle its own problem. It was like their hands were tied. It makes me wonder what the outcome would’ve been if the Irish’s hands weren’t tied. If they were able to use some of their own resources instead of being taxed to death and left without their other major resources that were exported to England. It is a sad time in Ireland and England’s history.

I would definitely recommend the book. It gave me such a desire to feel grateful with what I have and sorrow for those who didn’t have much. Even though it is sad to know some of the details, it helps to be informed. Being informed may just prevent it from happening again.

Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor

Addie lives in a trailer with her mom. She would love to have a normal life and keeps waiting to have one. She loves her mom, but her mom is an “all or nothing” mom. This book is very effective in showing the effects of a mom who has some real problems and how it affects many people. This is a very good book. It is good to read about such an upbeat girl even though her world is far from ideal.

Dragon Spear by Jessica Day George

Dragons, Dragon eggs, Volcanoes, Adventure!

This book is full of excitement. I had a really tough time putting it down. I struggled to keep all the dragons straight. There were many, but I think I followed pretty well. I felt very satisfied with this book. In this book, some things happened that I wanted to happen since the first book. I highly recommend this series, it is a quick, fun read.

Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer

I always love the Artemis Fowl books. They have such great adventure and there are always little twists and turns that I just don’t expect.

I can hardly wait to see if he will write another. The end of this one suggests one.

This is the newest one and it has taken me a bit to get to it, but once I started reading it went quickly. I forgot how much I love the Artemis books until I picked up this one. Eoin Colfer has done it again. It’s a hit in my eyes.

I want Holly and Artemis to get together though!

Lots of Posts

The posts today are many. I have been keeping track of the books I've read since the beginning of the year and didn't realize it had been so many. I also wanted it to be easy if someone wanted a particular book so I put labels on the books. Many changes today. I will write a report after this post on the book I finished this week and I will keep up now that I have this blog.

Have a groovy Day!

The Adventures of Spider by Joyce Cooper Arkhurst Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney

These are West African Folktales.

This book is great. I enjoyed reading it. It does have what I think would be the feel of listening to someone tell a few West African Folktales. I like it that they say spider is “just like a naughty little boy.” Spider is clever, mischievous, greedy, loves to eat, hates to work, and he plays a lot of tricks. It as the introduction says can be like us or like me.

These are fun stories. Each one teaches a lesson. I sat and read this book straight through. They are fun tales.

The pictures are fun. They are so appropriate for the subject. They remind me of what I think a folktale from West Africa would look like. He uses only a few colors on some. Those colors repeat on different picture pages. I like the colors and how they are dispersed. I also like that every once in a while they throw in a drawing without any color.

Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George

There are a lot of twists and fun plots in the story. This book is so fun. I had a hard time knowing where the book would turn next. I had great wishes for Creel and became quite attached to her and her beautiful embroideries. My sons called it a girly book. One of them liked the book even though it was girly. I liked it--girly or not.

I like how the author keeps my attention. I like the story line. It is very appealing. I didn’t want to leave the story and was not disappointed when I did come back to the story. Great book!