Book: The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

Pages/Format: 381/Hardcover

My Thoughts: Well, I finally finished the Percy Jackson series.  It was just okay for me. 

In The Last Olympian, Percy leads Camp Half-Blood to battle against the Titans in order to protect Mount Olympus.  It was action-packed, but it seemed to move rather slowly for having quite a bit of action in it. 

Percy did seem to be slightly more mature in this book, which is an improvement over the other four books in which he pretty was the same kid at the age of 12 as compared to his 15-year-old self.  That was one of the things that annoyed me throughout the series.  I wasn’t expecting any dramatic changes but there should’ve have been some change, however small. 

Anyway, the mythology element was really interesting, and it turns out that Rachel Dare, who appeared in the previous 2 novels, is the new Oracle of Delphi.  All of the minor Greek Gods get cabins at Camp Half-Blood, Mount Olympus is rebuilt, and the gods are going to recognize all of their children by the age of 13. 

The most surprising thing was that Percy turned down the chance to be a god, instead asking that all children of the gods get recognized, and that everyone gets a cabin at camp, as well as asking that they free those titans who are innocent.  It was bold, but they agreed to it.  I wasn’t expecting Percy to turn down the offer of godhood, but he really does want to be normal (even though he’s not).

The one thing I could see coming was a prophecy given by Rachel near the end of the book.  The one thing that popped into my mind was that he’s totally setting it up for another series involving different campers, possibly with some of the characters from this series in the background.  Plus, Percy and Annabeth finally get together.  That was also really obvious, since it was totally set up since the beginning. 

It was a slightly disappointing conclusion, but relative to all the other books…it worked.  Kind of.  It could have been better.

Rating: Despite the fact that this book was slightly disappointing, it gets a 3.5 out of 5.  There were things I liked, and the mythology is most of why it got a 3.5.

Book: Fruits Basket, Volume 2 by Natsuki Takaya

Pages/Format: 200/Paperback

My Thoughts: I loved it!  One really cool thing about this series is that starting with this volume, there’s a short description of each of the characters at the beginning of the book.  The character list gets longer as we get introduced to more characters, plus there’s a page devoted to the story so far.  Also cool is the fact that there’s instructions on how to Play Rich Man, Poor Man, which is mentioned a few times in volume 1, info about the year of the rat, fan art, and a sound effect index.

In Volume 2, we learn that Tohru’s 2 best friends (Hanajima and Arisa) sleep over at the Sohma house, and grudgingly approve of her new living arrangements.  We also get introduced to Momiji Sohma, who Tohru meets one day at work.  Momiji is the rabbit in the Zodiac. 

So, there’s a culture festival at school, and Tohru’s class has an onigiri booth.  Yuki wears the dress that the class convinces him he needs to wear, and distracts everyone when Momiji decides to hug Tohru.  We learn that Hatori had to suppress the memories of his former fiancee because Akito, the head of the family, disapproved.  Kyo and Yuki decide to miss the mandaory family dinner for New Years after running into Hanajima because they didn’t want to leave Tohru alone. 

So, I really liked the artwork, which is really detailed.  I love how even when the characters aren’t talking, I still know what’s going on and can tell what they’re thinking.  Scattered throught the book are notes from the author: some are “ultra special blah blah blahs” while others just random side notes where the author talks about video games she’s playing or writes about the characters. 

Rating: It gets a 5 out 5!  The storyline is cool, there’s really detailed illustrations and I love the random notes.  Plus, the character list becomes important later in the series because we get introduced to more and more characters.

Book: Henry VIII: The King And His Court by Alison Weir

Pages: 496/Paperback

My Thoughts: I really liked it.  It covers Henry’s life and what his court was like.

It was interesting to learn more about Henry himself, since I tend to read about everyone else from that time period.  I learned a few things: he was obsessed with cleanliness, discreet, and had an increasing desire for privacy.  Also interesting was that Will Somers, who was the court fool, never tried to take advantage of his friendship with the king. 

It was hard to get through, mostly because it was long.  It helped that Weir didn’t go into his marriages in too much detail, although it wasn’t that big of a surprise since she covered that in one of her other books.  She did cover it, focusing more on Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn, than anyone else, and only talking about the marriages as they related to Henry.

While I found myself bored at times, Weir made it a lot less boring than it could have been.  I’m indifferent towards Henry, even after reading about him.  As much as I loved Tudor England, Henry isn’t my favorite person, but since he’s such an integral figure to the time period, having insight into who he was is important.

Rating: 4 out 5.  Her attention to detail is amazing, but sometimes it was a little too detailed for my tastes.

Book: The Battle Of The Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

Pages/Format: 361/Hardcover

My Thoughts: I liked it, although not as much as I liked The Titan’s Curse.  It was still better than the 1st two books in the series. 

The Battle Of The Labyrinth is about Percy and friends as they navigate the legendary labyrinth in order to prevent Luke (a former friend turned traitor) from invading Camp Half-Blood. 

Like with the other books, I loved the mythology element of this book, and liked how the labyrinth was so central to the plot.  I also really liked the plot, and it was full of action and adventures.

There are a couple things that are rapidly becoming very annoying.  One, Percy’s inability to stay in one school for more than a year.  At first, it was okay, but now it’s just annoying.  Why not just home-school him or keep him at Camp Half-Blood year-round at this point?  Why keep sending to different schools every year? 

Two, Percy doesn’t seem to be growing as a person.  I honestly don’t see much change between Percy in the first book, and Percy at the end of this book.  It may be because Percy is the one narrating the series, but there should be some differences between 12-year-old Percy and 15-year-old Percy, and sadly, he still seems to be the same. 

Rating: 3 out of 5 because there are a couple things that are getting old (and things are starting to get slightly repetitive) but the mythology element is really interesting and the plot was really fast-paced.

Book: Fruits Basket, Volume 1 by Natsuki Takaya

Pages/Format: 200/Paperback

My Thoughts: I love Fruits Basket!  Fruits Basket is a manga series written/illustrated by Natsujki Takaya.  It’s about the Tohru, who’s an orphan.  She ends up living in with the Sohma family who are possessed by the spirits of the Chinese Zodiac. 

I first heard about Fruits Basket in high school when we watched part of the anime series in the Anime Club I was involved in.  A few years ago, I discovered it was actually based on the manga, so I bought the first couple, and found I loved it!  There are a total of 23 volumes- I only have the first 15 volumes, so I’ll definitely be reviewing the those.  I’ll see if I can check out the remaining 8 from the library.

So onto Volume 1.  We get introduced to Tohru, her two best friends, and several members of the Sohma family.  For the first book of the series, it’s pretty good.  I had some trouble with it the very first time I read it (I’ve read it a few times) because it was my first time reading a manga, so I wasn’t used to it, but I picked up on the flow of it pretty quickly. 

I really don’t have any other thoughts on it, but it’s very cute, and pretty funny.  Volume 1 hints at some darkness, which happens later on in the series.  The artwork is pretty cool too- it’s a lot more detailed than I ever expected. 

Rating:I give it a 5 out of 5.  Even though I’ve read it a few times, sometimes it’s a little hard to follow what’s going on, though it’s more that it’s been a while since I’ve read it.

Book: The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan

Pages/Format: 312/Hardcover

My Thoughts: Of the 3 books I’ve read, this is probably my favorite.  It was fast-paced and I couldn’t put it down.  In The Titan’s Curse, Percy goes on a quest to find Artemis and his friend Annabeth, who both go missing. 

I didn’t find myself annoyed with Percy, or comparing the series to Harry Potter.  I still find there are similarities, but they weren’t noticeable in this book.  The mythology element has been one of the very few redeeming qualities of the series, and I loved the focus on Artemis in this book.  I’m still not of the 1st-person perspective for this series, but it worked well for this particular book, and his writing style didn’t bother me like it did in the previous 2 books. 

I was iffy on whether I wanted to continue the series, but this book made me want to finish it.

Rating: I give it a 4 out of 5, because I liked the focus on Artemis.  Plus, it sets up the last 2 books in the series fairly well.

Book: The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

Pages/Format: 279/Hardcover

My Thoughts: Like Book One in the series, I thought it was just okay.  I liked it slightly better than The Lightning Thief, and liked the character of Tyson, who was introduced in the beginning of the novel.

It turns out Tyson was a cyclops, which Percy didn’t pick up on until he met Annabeth, who helped him figure it out.  I don’t particularly care for the being at a different school every year element, but at the same time, being at a new school every year seems to set up what happens the rest of the book. 

I’m still not a fan of his writing style, and I honestly don’t know if it’s something that’ll get better over the next 3 books.  However, the storyline was interesting enough for me that I’m willing to overlook it.  At least, for now, but that might change if I decide to read the rest of the series. 

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.  It is slightly better than The Lightning Thief, but I think I’m going to hold judgement on the series until I’ve finished reading all of them.

Book: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Pages/Format: 375/Hardcover

My Thoughts: I thought it was just okay.  The whole time I was reading it, I kept thinking of Harry Potter, and how similar the two are.  I loved the mythology element of it. 

The main character, Percy, is the son of Poseidon and a mortal woman.  I wasn’t expecting him to be the son of Poseidon at all, and the ending was slightly surprising.  While someone you thought was Percy’s friend really wasn’t, it wasn’t the person I was expecting at all.

But overall, there really were too many similarities to Harry Potter for me to fully enjoy the book.  A group of three kids off to save the world, with a mentor, and a threat to destroy the world, with elements of magic and a special school (or camp) to get training.  Percy Jackson is pretty much Harry Potter with a mythology element thrown in, at least based on the first book in the series.

The writing is okay- I found it to be somewhat simplistic, but since it’s Riordan’s 1st YA novel, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt, and hope that the writing in the rest of the series gets better.  The 1st-person perspective worked, but I think 3rd-person might have worked a little better.   

Rating: 2 out of 5.  It was a quick read, but the mythology element was pretty much the only thing that saved the book for me.

Book: The Annotated Alice: The Definitive Edition

Pages/Format: 298/Hardcover

My Thoughts: The Annotated Alice contains both Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll. 

Alice In Wonderland was a great book, and I loved it.  The notes on the side were helpful, and described different traditions and references that Carroll makes.  At the same time, the notes were really distracting, and I sometimes found myself focusing more on the notes than on the actual book.  Overall, the side notes were really helpful.

There were also illustrations scattered throughout Alice In Wonderland and really detailed.  More illustrations would have been nice, but the ones that were in the book were really nice to look at. 

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the movie, but I definitely like the book a lot better.  I loved reading the different poems and songs, and the characters were memorable.  The Mad Hatter, The Queen of Harts, The Caterpillar, The Cheshire Cat, and Alice were interesting characters.  While I liked Alice, I found the other characters a lot more interesting, and I became attached to all of them. 

Through The Looking Glass, I didn’t like as much.  It was enjoyable, but I would have been perfectly fine if Carroll never wrote it.  I liked Alice, and I liked Tweedledum and Tweedledee, but didn’t really care for any of the other characters.  I liked the poems scattered throughout the book too.  As for the illustrations and annotations, I felt the same way about them in Through The Looking Glass as I did in Alice’s Adventure’s In Wonderland.

The Wasp In A Wig, which is a suppressed scene of Through The Looking Glass, was also included.  It was okay, but it felt like an afterthought, like it was tacked on to the book because it should be there. 

Overall, I really liked it, and loved the illustrations. 

Rating: 4 out 5, for a very enjoyable book.