The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephanie Meyer

The main character of this book is called Bree Tanner. It is about her new life as a vampire, in a newborn vampire army. It tells you how she felt and survived, how she became part of the newborn amry and how the newborn army become ready to fight the Cullens (the main characters in the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer). The genre of this book is horror but there is a small bit of romance. Bree Tanner is a very strong character it is clear that a lot of love went into this character when the book was written. The ending is very sad but it had to tie in with what happened in ‘Eclipse’ as it’s a short story about one of the characters that briefly appears in the book.

I would say that the intended audience of this book is 13 and over. Stephanie Meyer’s style of writing is very suitable for this audience and anyone who is dyslexic will have no problem reading the book as well. The Short Second life of Bree Tanner gets a five star rating. So if you have any free time you must read it.

Written by D.D.

Oxfam Bookfest - 3rd-17th July

Oxfam Bookfest - 3rd-17th July.
Support Oxfam's Bookfest by attending one of the events taking place around the country - author signings, readings, competitions, book promos and much more.
Or just buy the books from them!

Airman by Eoin Colfer

Airman by Eoin Colfer is an exiting adventure story of treachery and betrayal about a boy, Connor Broekhart and his need to fly. This need is explored fully as this the story of Conner’s life and of Great Saltee, the place where he lives, a small island community which is throwen into turmoil when the leader, King Nicholas is betrayed and is replaced by his jealous advisor, Hugo Bonvilain. The story is driven by the highs and lows of the Conner’s life and by his desire to fly and his need for justice. This book shows Colfer at his best and draws you into a story which is hard to put down as you just can’t waits for the next exiting twist and leaves you wondering when not reading it what exiting new direction the tale will go in. The historical setting to the book adds to the feeling of adventure as it brings make memories of exiting, swashbuckling adventures of old. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who wants to read a new and exiting book which bring the genre to new heights (literally) and makes you want to read more and more and read it again and again. 5 Stars!!!
by SR

Pirates by Celia Rees

“Pirates”, set in the eighteenth century, tells the tale of two very different girls who take to the seas and become pirates in order to get away from their terrible lives and be free. Minerva is a poor slave girl who is forced to work on a plantation farm and has to suffer in terrible conditions and be treated appallingly by the Plantation Manager. Nancy Kington is an English girl who is the daughter of a wealthy Merchant. She is oppressed by the life she is forced to live and longs to be free and not be forced to marry a man she loathes. After a terrible incident the two girls are forced to run away together and turn to piracy in order to survive. They encounter many things on their travels and undertake a few battles along the way.

The book is in the genre of ‘Adventure’ and is intended for teenagers. The style of Rees’ writing means that any teenager can read this book and enjoy it but could be enjoyed by some adults too because the style is written in a way that adults would find it a good read and not too easy. The key themes focused upon in this book are that of – segregation of wealth, race and social position. The two girls break all these segregated barriers as they become good friends and run away together. Like in all Rees’ books, the characters are strong and have clear personalities. She has a way of making the reader think these characters are real people and not just fictional. The thing that drives this story is the tales of what these girls did, the adrenaline drives the reader forward and makes them want to keep reading, this book has everything – adventure, battles/fighting and underneath it all is the friendship of the two girls. The ending definitely doesn’t disappoint and certainly leaves you wanting more.

I would give this book a Star rating of 5!

by AP

Road to a Good Read

Travel the world without leaving your bedroom...


910.4 - Around the globe in one book...

Holidays in Hell - P.J.O'Rourke
Up the Amazon without a Paddle - Doug Lansky
Spoken Here: Travels among Threatened Languages - Mark Abley
Worst Journeys: The Picador Book of Travel - Keath Fraser (editor)
Pole to Pole - Michael Palin

914.15 - Ireland

Round Ireland with a Fridge - Tony Hawks
McCarthy's Bar: A journey of Discovery in Ireland - Pete McCarthy

914.8 Scandinavia

In Forkbeards's Wake: Coasting around Scandinavia - Ben Nimmo

915.4 India

Holy Cow!: An Indian Adventure - Sarah MacDonald
The Customs of Kingdoms of India - Marco Polo

915.99 Philippines
Piracy, Turtles and Flying Foxes - William Dampier

917 - U.S.A.
On the Road to Mr.Right - Belinda Jones (U.S.A)
A Walk in the Woods - Bill Bryson (U.S.A.)
Travels with Macy - Bruce Fogle (U.S.A.)
Danny Wallace and the Centre of the Universe - Danny Wallace (U.S.A.)

Read Spook's Apprentice for free!

The latest in the Spooks series by Joseph Delaney has just been published and to celebrate the publishers are offering you the chance to read the first book for free! Catch it here online between the 4th June to 18th July 2010, you can read The Spook’s Apprentice online, for free. The first spine-chilling instalment will be available to read until Friday 25th June. Check back then for the 2nd instalment, if you dare…

Find out more about the series check the website

Who are the richest fictional characters?

Carlisle Cullen tops the Forbes Fictional Rich List - they estimate his wealth at $34.1 Billion (the result of long term investment and compound interest)

According the the Forbes website;

"Immortal vampire and small-town doctor has quietly amassed a fortune over the centuries. In 1670 received generous handout from Italian friends; put savings in bank, reaped billions in compound interest. Made shrewd long-term investments in steel, gold, oil, thanks to prescience of daughter turned financial advisor Alice; saw recessions coming, invested early in Wal-Mart. Earned doctor's salary for 340 years without paying for groceries, health care expenses. Avoids sunshine and public displays of wealth but owns several valuable properties, including yacht, private island, collection of Renaissance art."

Read all about him and his family in the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer.

Also making it onto the list are comic book stars Tony Stark (from the Iron Man series) at No.4, at No.6 Adrian Veidt aka "Ozymandias" (from Watchmen) and Bruce Wayne (from Batman series) at No. 7.

Artemis Fowl II makes it in at number 11 with $1.9 billion (from inheritance, theft and technology patents). Son of an Irish crime lord he took over the family business and is trying to make it legal. You can read all about him in the books written by Eoin Colfer.

The mysterious billionaire Jay Gatsby (right) just squeezes in at number 14 - this self-made man is famed for his weekend long parties and extensive clothing collection. Find out more about him the 'The Great Gatsby' by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Read the full list here.

Puffin of Puffins Winner

10,000 people voited for their Puffin of Puffins and the winner is Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl.

So what's it all about?
"Twelve-year-old villain, Artemis Fowl, is the most ingenious criminal mastermind in history. His bold and daring plan is to hold a leprechaun to ransom. But he's taking on more than he bargained for when he kidnaps Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon (Lower Elements Police Reconnaissance Unit). For a start, leprechaun technology is more advanced than our own. Add to that the fact that Holly is a true heroine and that her senior officer Commander Root will stop at nothing to get her back and you've got the mother of all sieges brewing!"

Find out more at the offical Artemis Fowl website

Do Nothing but Read Day

Did you know Sunday the 27th of June is 'Do nothing but read day'?

Started as an idea on facebook this just keeps growing.

So why not challenge yourself to do nothing but read!

Find out more here

Boy Night In!

Looking for a laugh try
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
Corby Flood by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell

For guns, bombs and drama try
Grass by Cathy MacPhail
Black out by Sam Mills
Bonechiller by Graham McNamee

Which side are you on?
Hero.com by Andy Briggs
or
Villan.net by Andy Briggs

Looking for something creepy and thrilling? Try
Mortlock by John Mayhew
Ancient Appetites by Oisin McGann

Mutilation or Art? Tattoo Websites

History of Tattoos  from Australian Museum's Body Art Exhibition

BBC article - So why do 'normal' people get tattoos?

Edinburgh Evening News article - So you have a tattoo? How terribly common.

Double standards for men and women? - Daily Mail articles 'Why do women have these tramp stamps?' and 'what men really think about women and tattoos'

Tattoo Controversy - David Beckham's Tattoos and a night club banning clubbers with tattoos

Does having a tattoo affect the chances of getting a job? - Guardian article 'Under your Skin' 

The Augusta Chronicle on Gang Tattoos

Extreme body modification - National Geographic on scarification, Science a GoGo on the art of self-mutilation and The Review 'Art or Mutilation'?

World Cup Reading

Looking for a Football related read?

Then try Theo Walcott's new books - T.J.and the Penalty and T.J. and the Hat-trick. You can get more information on the books, exclusive content and footie facts at the website for the books.

You could also try Alan Gibbons, Rob Childs or Mal Peet for more football related fiction.

Want to know everything about the World Cup?
Then look out for 'Great World Cup Moments' and 'World Cup 2010' both by Michael Hurley or the Foul Football series by Michael Coleman. More football books can be found in the 796.34 section of non-fiction.

The official World Cup website from FIFA can be found here

The BBC World Cup website is here

From Jurassic Park to Knots and Crosses

The challenge is to link these two books by only 7 books.


'Jurassic Park' by Michael Crichton is all about a island park filled with dinosaurs (created by a bit of DNA extraction and cloning). The sequel is called 'The Lost World' which is also the title of a book by Arthur Conan Doyle.

'The Lost World' by Arthur Conan Doyle also takes place on a dinosaur filled island but this time it's because they are left over remnants from the past.

Arthur Conan Doyle wrote 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' which seems the keen, sharp mind of Sherlock Holmes pitted against supernatural and murderous giant, ghostly hounds who have already killed the original Lord Baskerville.

In his later life Arthur Conan Doyle was friends with Oscar Wilde and in Gyles Brandreth's 'Oscar Wilde and the Ring of Death' the pair are at a dinner party together but within 24-hours one of their fellow guests is dead. It's up to Oscar Wilde to solve the crime using logic and observation similar to that used by Sherlock Holmes.

Oscar Wilde himself is a famous writer and wit wrote the wonderful story of 'The Picture of Dorian Gray'. Dorian is a young, handsome man who upon seeing the painting his friend Basil has done of him says:

"How sad is that! I shall become old, ugly and disgusting .And this picture will stay always young and never be older then this June day…..Oh, if it only could be opposite! If I could stay young forever, and the picture getting old.! For that-for that i would give everything. For that i would give my SOUL!"

So begins his curse for while he stays young and beautiful the picture begins to show his true face. The idea of having a dual personality is something that appears in Robert Louis Stevenson's 'Strange Case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde'. While Dr.Jekyll is a respectable and honest man, Mr.Hyde is the exact opposite but the two are linked togther and the truth will come out.

Which leads to 'Knots and Crosses' by Ian Rankin like Stevenson's this is set in Edinburgh and similarly it looks at light and dark as Inspector Rebus frantically tries to stop a brutal killer.

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephanie Meyer

This is a short story from Stephanie Meyer and tells you more about Bree Tanner a vampire that features in Eclipse.

Even better if money is a bit tight or the library waiting list too long starting at noon on June 7th until July 5th, it will also be available online at www.breetanner.com as a gift from Stephanie Meyer to her fans (see her blog for more)



Vote for the ultimate Puffin book!

Puffin have chosen one book from each decade they've been publishing and they want you to vote for your favourite one!
You can cast your vote here but make sure you do it before the 16th!

Cry, Beloved Country - Alan Paton

The World Cup is about to kick off in South Africa but the country  hasn't always been so open and welcoming. Between 1948 and 1994 South Africa was under apartheid. This is a legal system that kept the much larger Black population under the control of the White minority.

This split in society did not happen overnight and it is a complicated issue but "Cry, Beloved Country" tries to explain the development. Published in 1948 it is the story of a Black Zulu Pastor, Stephen Kumalo, from Ixopo (a small village) whose sister is in trouble and his son missing in Johannesburg. The story is slow paced but wonderfully written. It talks of the bus strikes by the Black communities in Johannesburg over the unfair rise in fares, the growing fear of the White communities about the Black population, the destruction of the tribe system and of many other ideas and issues that led to aprtheid. It ends before apartheid and ends with hope but I found it was mixed with sadness for me as a reader with the benefit of knowing what was to come.

Apartheid was condemned internationally and movements within South Africa worked to try and end it such as the ANC (African National Congress). Nelson Mandela was a member of the ANC and was imprisoned for 27 years but when apertheid ended and he was released he became a major political figure. President of South Africa from 1994 to1999 and receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. You can read about his struggle in his autobiography - "Long Walk to Freedom".

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