I was born into a family of readers, and it has really paid off over the years. Book recommendations are always forthcoming, leading me to authors I love much sooner in life as well as those I'd never have discovered myself. It's how I ended up loving Louisa May Alcott when I was still pretty young (thanks Aunt K), how I found authors like Nelson DeMille and Robin Cook (thanks Dad), and even how I ended up tearing through VC Andrews novels throughout high school and into college (thanks Mom.)
I continue to love having people in my life who are big readers, people with whom I pass book suggestions back and forth each time we get together. The question, "So, what you are reading?" comes up more often than most others and it's wonderful.
My daughter, who's eight, is just getting to that stage where books are grabbing her attention. More than anything I want to help expose her to great reads. So far, I'm struggling due to her love of graphic novels, which didn't exist when I was a kid and isn't something I read very often. She doesn't fully trust my suggestions when I hand her a book that's solely text. Pippi Longstocking was tossed aside with disdain when I offered it up, but she really liked it when read by her second grade teacher. I know the love for books is there, so I'm working on getting caught up on YA content.
My desire to be somewhat of a book resource for my kids has made me realize I need to know about YA titles published this century. Not just Hunger Games and Harry Potter, but other books that will appeal to a younger reader. As a result, I try to read YA books I wouldn't typically pick up. This is what drew me to the first descendants novel.
I've seen the moves on Disney, but wanted to know if the books stacked up as a possible referral to my daughter.
I have no idea if my kids will be into these, we don't watch a lot of Disney princess movies, but after finishing the first book, I'm looking forward to the second. The writing is definitely geared toward a younger audience, but the story is developed enough to entertain an adult reader. Unlike the movies, the first book is only about the children of villains as they try to live up to parental expectations and fight off feelings of inadequacy. They also learn about friendship even though it goes against their villainous nature. Isle of the Lost is a strong combination of adventure and age-appropriate life lessons good for young readers.
I honestly can't recommend you add this book to your To Read list unless you're a parent who, like me, wants to have an arsenal of books at the ready for when your children come complaining, "I don't know what to read next...."
This is a modern-day adventure story, what Indiana Jones might have gone through if the Internet and cell phones existed in the 1940's. Instead of dark caves with lots of skulls and scurrying animals, the characters here have Google and CG as their tools to solve the great mystery of a secretive society.
Everything about this book is quirky. Even the realistic impression of the crazy stuff going on at Google HQ is odd (and probably not that far from reality.) Clay is an out-of-work marketing person whose most recent job at a start-up that went under has left him a little disillusioned, so he takes the night shift at a unique 24-hour bookstore run my Penumbra. It's not your typical bookstore. There are only a few shelves in the front that carry modern-day books for sale. The rest of the store is devoted to a collection of old books all written in code. The regulars at the store don't buy anything, just borrow these old books, one at a time. Clay must track the activity of these regulars in great detail. He has no idea why or what's going on and probably would have stayed only slightly curious if not for a girl. She works for Google and she's extremely curious about everything and very persuasive.
So, the adventure begins to discover what these coded books are for, why they must be read in a certain order, who Penumbra really works for, and what the strange symbol on the door really means. In order to figure things out, Clay enlists a special effect wiz with a preference for building models out of real materials and his best friend who happens to own a company that creates anatomically correct body parts digitally. He also takes advantage of some pretty serious equipment and some serious brain power at Google. I won't give anything away, but even the cause for the adventure is quirky - it's all about a specific font with a cameo plot line about a fantasy writer (think dragons and magic.)
A quick and light read, this was a great departure for me from all the fantastical books I've been reading lately. It took place in today's world but was still a little mystic and exciting. It was a real adventure, one that anybody with the right resources and the right mystery to solve could go on today. The focus was on the quest itself with a little bit here and there about the characters so you were easily kept in the moment and not bogged down with too many flashbacks and internal monologues. I had fun reading this book and definitely feel like it has mass appeal potential.
