LEFT BEHIND by Tim LaHaye & Jerry B. Jenkins

"Where are they?"

"You want to know where I think they are? Do you really want to know?"

"Of course!"

"I believe they are in heaven."

~ Chloe and Rayford Steele

Rayford Steele is just doing his job as a pilot, when a hundred of his passengers disappear right out of their clothes. It is not long before he finds out that this has happened all over the world... millions of people are suddenly gone. A polition by the name of Nicolae Carpathia has risen up to try to bring peace and order to the world, and the people hang on his every word and theory. But after watching a tape made by a pastor three years earlier, Ray knows that they have witnessed the rapture of the church, and that his are the end times. But what can be done? Carpathia is looking more and more like the Bible's description of the Antichrist. Can the small group of believers convince the world before he rises to power? Can Ray convince his own daughter?

This was a book that required an ok from Mom and Dad before I read it. It starts out with Rayford Steele (married man) dreaming about leading his pretty flight attendant on. It is not picuresome or explicit, and he later apologizes to her after he accepts Christ. But I think this part in itself makes this a PG-13 book. A journalist by the name of Buck Williams begins to have affections for Chloe Steele, but it is nothing big at all. The Christian characters are very strong and helpful to everyone else, giving their testimonies several times.

Technicality-wise, LEFT BEHIND is a very easy read. No cussing, and I already talked about the slight adult content. If you are going to read this series, I suggest reading a Dickens book here and there, just to vary your brain a bit:)

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but you may want to ask your parents permission before you read, or have them read it first. If you are under 13 years, I hear the LEFT BEHIND kids' books are worth a shot, but don't quote me on it:)

Author: Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins ~ Country: United States ~ Language: English ~ Series: Left Behind (series) ~ Genre: Christian fiction ~ Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers ~ Publication date: 31 December 1995 ~ Media type: Print (Hardcover, Paperback; also made into Graphic novel and audiobook) ~ Pages: 320 pp (hardcover) and 468 pp (paperback) ~ ISBN: ISBN 0-8423-2911-0 (HC), ISBN 0-8423-4270-2 (PB) ~ Preceded by: The Rapture ~ Followed by: Tribulation Force

INKSPELL by Cornelia Funke

"Stories never really end, even if the books like to pretend they do. Stories always go on. They don't end on the last page, any more than they begin on the first page."

As the sequel to INKHEART, I had high expectations for this book. Dustfinger finds yet another person who can read people into stories, and uses him to go back to his own land of Inkworld. But his little friend, Farid gets left behind. Meggie reads him - and herself into Inkworld to find Dustfinger. But back home, the evil Basta and Mortola want to go to the Inkworld too, and get Mo to read them in. But things are not well in Inkworld - for anybody. Mo is arrested because everyone is certain that he is the Bluejay, a renowned robber and huge annoyance to the tyrannical Adderhead. The writer Fenoglio, Meggie, Farid, Dustfinger, and a few new friends must find a way to stop the Adderhead and save Mo before it's too late.

I was hoping to find one of those books that are amazing and obscure when I read this, but I was disappointed. The trash talk is infinitely worse than in INKHEART, and they introduce an annoying, crazily silly, ridiculous romance between Meggie and Farid that made me mad and sick to the stomach. On the good side... well, it was well written and a clever story, but you can find that in many other books that are far more worth your precious time. It's just not worth digging through the dumpster to find a Hershey's Kiss. Skip it! Read something else.

Author: Cornelia Funke ~ Original title: Tintenblut ~ Translator: Anthea Bell ~ Country: Germany ~ Language: German ~ Series: Inkheart trilogy ~ Genre(s): Fantasy ~ Publisher: Meredith ~ Publication date: 2005 ~ Media type: Print (Hardback & Paperback) ~ Pages: 635 pp (first Eng. edition, hardback) ~ ISBN: ISBN 0-439-55400-4 (first Eng. edition, hardback) ~Preceded by: Inkheart ~ Followed by: Inkdeath

Check out this trailer for the upcoming INKHEART film! I'm not recommending it - of course I haven't seen it. Be sure to read up on it before you watch it. I'll try to get some info up here as soon as I can when I find out that it's worth seeing.

THE LAST SIN EATER by Francine Rivers

"The what?" you say. It's what I said when a dear friend recommended this book to me. "Never heard of it. Sounds like a Ted Dekker suspense novel or something."

"Oh it's NOT!" she says. And though we hardly EVER agree on what is a good book, I was in the agonizing state of out-of-books. So I checked it out at my wonderful library - and got completely blown away.

When Granny Forbes passes away, her granddaughter, Cadi, is devastated. But she goes to the funeral with the healer's words ringing in her ears, "Cadi, you must listen. Do not look at the sin eater. He has taken all manner of terrible things unto himself. If you look at him, he'll give you the evil eye, and some of the sin he carries might spill over onto you." The sin eater? She finds that, in order to have your sins taken away, the sin eater must come and perform the ritual to take your sins upon himself. But as Cadi keeps her eyes shut tight, his voice startles her into looking right at his eyes - and so begins her curiosity to know who he is. With the shame of a terrible sin that has stolen her mother's love away from her, she wants to find the sin eater and have her sins taken away. Maybe her mother will forgive her then. With the help of her friends Fagan Kai, Miz Elda, a strange man by the river, and an even more mysterious girl named Lilybet, she sets out to find out the truth - maybe she can be set free.

This book has a VERY strong Christian message! I was very happy to give over my utter despair of contemporary Christian novels. This book is filled with mild (but not unhealthy) suspense and Christ's teachings. There is violence from the fiery leader of the town who is completely run by his temper, who beats two people up and even kills a man. The writer did an excellent job depicting the Sin Eater: a shady, mysterious character that keeps you wondering and shivering. There are always those characters that seem as if they are behind a black sheet - you hear their voice and see their outline, but not their features; and no matter how hard you look, you can't see anymore until the end and the sheet falls. Rivers does a wonderful job with many characters such as this. The language is clean, but a woman in the story says that her drunk father, "took it in his head that it was his right to use me like a man used a woman" and her lover quickly dispatched the man in anger. But Cadi does not understand, and since we hear the story through her eyes, nothing is taken further. Cadi's brother, Iwan and a girl were described as "tangled up together in the woods". The girl's father calls her a harlot and it is implied he turns her from the house, but they are not central characters and it is not further spoken of, nor is anything described in any detail. I would recommend this book to anyone old enough to understand the consequences of sin and death, probably about ten years and up. But if you think your little ten-year-old would be afraid, maybe you should read it out loud and make explain some things, but there's no reason they should miss out. YOU NEED TO READ THIS BOOK!!!!!

INKHEART by Cornelia Funke

Yes the title says "Tintenherz". That's because this novel was written by a magnificent German author by the name of Cornelia Funke. Translated into English as "Inkheart", this book is about a man and his daughter who have a strange power. When Meggie's father Mo reads aloud, the books come to life. This power is not as wonderful as you may think, especially when he read a book called "INKHEART" that was filled with dastardly characters to his wife. Before he could blink an eye, the room was full of men in jet black clothes: Capricorn, Basta, a friendly juggler called Dustfinger - and Mo's wife was gone. Mo found that if something is read out of a book into our world, something from our world must take it's place. But it was too late. He tried for a long time to read her out of the story, but to no avail. Nine years later when Meggie is twelve, Dustfinger shows up at their door, telling Mo that Capricorn wants the books and is on his tail - again. There is an iffy part here where Meggie listens to the conversation instead of going to bed. Yet another when they go to see an aunt she's never met and Mo does not tell her why or what they are running from. She refuses to get in the car until she knows everything. This Aunt Elinor is a gruff book collector. A little grumpy, but a loveable character as the story goes on. Together they confront and escape Capricorn several times, drag the author of INKHEART into the action, and make everything right in a stunning climax. Or do they make EVERYTHING right?

This book is amazingly creative and well-written! I can't believe I didn't hear about it before I saw the preview of the upcoming movie about it. However, I've already mentioned some slight disrespect by Meggie to Mo, but everything indicates that they are best friends and very close. Also it would be nice to give this book to your mom at the precise moment you hand her a black sharpie. Elinor likes to use a naughty word, as does Basta on occaision. I HIGHLY recommend you get a reliable sharpie-user, because this one is just too good to miss! I do hate it when they ruin good books with all that cussing. Upon further research, I have just discovered that this book is only the first in a trilogy. I see very few things left unsaid, but it is an exciting find! Again, GET A SHARPIE-USER!!!!! Don't miss this one!!!!!

ELLA ENCHANTED by Gail Carson Levine

"If someone told me to hop on one foot for a day and a half, I'd have to do it... If you commanded me to cut off my own head, I'd have to do it. I was in danger every moment." ~ Ella from Ella Enchanted

Ella of Frell was given the gift of obedience at birth from a foolish fairy. But the gift is closer to a curse! Whatever anyone commands she must obey, whether it be cooking herself for hungry trolls or putting on a black dress. When her mother dies, Ella's life seems to go topsy-turvy. She is left under the guidance of her merchant father, who doesn't seem to care anything about her. But in Prince Char and the cook, Mandy she still has friends. Her father presently announces she must go to finishing school, and in doing she becomes acquainted with the worst company imaginable: two nasty girls named Hattie and Olive. There she stays for a time, obeying every order from the school mistresses and Hattie, until she runs away to try to break the obedience spell.

In the proceedings of this NEWBERY HONOR award winner, Hattie and Olive become Ella's stepsisters, and in obeying their every wish she becomes a maid. But she secretly keeps a correspondence with Prince Char, and the two gain more and more affection for each other. But will the curse keep Ella from marrying? Can she break the spell?

I read this book aloud to my two sisters and we all had a great time laughing and sighing over it! Sometimes my brother even stopped by to hear a sentence or two and got a giggle. Surprisingly, Louie (10) loved it much more than us older ones! It's a fun and well-written read that's interesting enough for teens; yet still short, easy, and funny enough for younger kids. The author is very talented, and the girls liked the humorous writing strain of the book that could still retain some seriousness. I picked up another book of Levine's that is in the same setting as ELLA ENCHANTED, and got universal groans when I told Lane and Louie that Lucinda is up to her old tricks again! Don't know anything about the movie, but you can count on the book being a healthy read for any age!

Author
Gail Carson Levine
Country
United States
Language
English
Genre
Fantasy
Publisher
Harper Trophy
Publication date
1997
Media type
Hardcover, Paperback & Audiobook
Pages
240 pp
ISBN
ISBN 0-06-440705-5

THE CHILDREN OF HURIN by J.R.R. Tolkien

"What? Can it be? A Tolkien book I've never heard of?" Such were my thoughts as I looked up at a gray book with gold letters in the "T" section of my library. I stood on tiptoes and checked it out. Neat cover! I like neat covers and I like Tolkien! I took it home and read it through.

This book takes place in the First Age of Middle Earth. As the name implies, the story centers around Túrin son of Húrin and his kin. Húrin, the mortal man who dared defy Morgoth the Evil One. Morgoth cast a spell upon him that bound him to a chair to watch the fate of his two cursed children, and he could neither move, nor die until the Evil One so wished. And so the story tells what is seen by Húrin.

His wife, Morwen, seeing that her husband did not come, sent her son Túrin over the mountains to become a man, and not a thrall. King Thingol of Doriath received him and treated him as a son. There he was well-treated by all, except for one of the king's lieges, who taunted him and scorned his family. Outside the castle Túrin finds him and pays him for his mockery by chasing him through the forest naked. When the frantic pursued one comes to a rocky stream, he tries to jump across it, but falls to his death. "Unhappy fool! From here I would have let him walk back to Menegroth. Now he has laid a guilt upon me undeserved". The king's nobles catch up to them there, and guess that Túrin has slain the man in his anger. So Túrin leaves Doriath to live as an outlaw, accidently kills his best friend, and runs into other misfortunes.

Meanwhile, his mother has given birth to his sister, Nienor. The two set out to find Túrin and meet the Dragon Glaurung. His words put Nienor into a craze when she awakes, she remembers nothing of her past. Túrin finds her, and, not knowing she is his sister, names her Niniel and eventually marries her. But he still has Glaurung the Dragon to deal with.

I enjoyed this book very much! It is typical Tolkien - what higher praise is there than that? The violence is as usual with his work, not described. It is a hard read, and probably only engaging for teens. If you are teen or adult, check out this book at your library!



Author
J. R. R. Tolkien;
Christopher Tolkien (ed.)

Cover artist
Alan Lee

Country
England

Genre
Fantasy novel

Publisher
HarperCollins in UK,
Houghton Mifflin in USA

BETRAYAL by Aaron Alliston

"The thrilling launch of an epic new STAR WARS series, featuring the heroes of the New Jedi Order!"

That's right friends! A brand new Star Wars series, The Legacy of the Force, is kicked off in this New York Times bestseller BETRAYAL. Set about 40 years after RETURN OF THE JEDI, Luke Skywalker and his wife, Mara Jade, have a thirteen-year-old son and have trained a brand new generation of Jedi Knights in the galaxy. Han andLeia Solo are still doing their service to the New Rebublic, along with their jedi children, Jacen and Jaina. When Corellia, Han's home planet, decides it wants nothing more to do with the Galactic Alliance, It's up to our heroes to restore peace. But to make matters worse, the rebellion of Corellia is led by Thracken Sal-Solo, Han's sinister cousin. the Skywalker and Solo families find themselves on opposite sides, divided by loyalty and blood ties, with a very fine line as to who's right and who's wrong.

While his family struggles with aggressive negotiations, Jacen Solo meets a woman with strange powers and ideas on a sith world. Is the the Jedi Order of his uncle right? Or will Luke's mysterious visions of a new dark Sith come true...

BETRAYAL met my high expectations! While I only covered a very little bit of ground here, more heroes of the original STAR WARS trilogy, like Wedge are involved, along with many characters from previous books, which makes it especially fun to read. I would recommend it to any Sci-Fi lover! There are two cases of very mild language and of course, a little lightsaber violence. But all in all, this book is a must for people who have a few other STAR WARS books under their belt, while I'd stick with a PG for first timers (who won't get it, you guys will need to read some prequels first!) and younger children.

Author
Aaron Allston
Cover Artist
Jason Felix
Country
USA
Language
English
Era
Legacy of the Force
Series
Legacy of the Force
Galactic Year
40 ABY
Subject(s)
Star Wars
Genre(s)
Science Fiction
Publisher
Del Rey
Released
30 May 2006
Media Type
Hardcover, Paperback
Followed by
Bloodlines

the Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

I was given the chance to read this out-of-print novel and started it with less than exceptional zeal. It sounded like a Jane Austen/the Count of Monte Cristo type read. And can you guess? It was! But what I didn't know was that those two books melded together could make such a great story!

This story is told by several of the involved characters - I've seen one or two characters doing that, but this is around ten which was something new that I liked. The story starts when a humble drawing teacher by the name of Walter Hartright meets a lady on the road dressed all in white. She is very distressed, flurried, and afraid of something and he helps her find London. As he walks down the road afterwards he overhears men from the asylum talking about their runaway - a woman dressed completely in white. We hear no more of the white lady for awhile, while Walter falls in love with one of his pupils, Laura Fairlie. And amazingly, she looks extraordinarily like the woman he helped on the road! But her sister, Marian informs him that she is engaged to a Sir Percival Glyde. Laura's father had set the match on his deathbed and she could not possibly go back on her word. An anonymous letter arrives, warning her not to go through with it. But she is unable to be released from the engagement and she does unwillingly marry Sir Percival, which is more than I thought would happen, and we are introduced to a friend of his by the name of Count Fosco. He is one of those characters you can never form a solid opinion on until the end. The woman in white, Anne Catherick, returns to the story and tells Laura there is a great secret about Sir Percival that would ruin him if unearthed. Walter delves into the mystery of Anne Catherick and Sir Percival, and you cannot foresee ANYTHING that is going to happen.
I read all that and figure out that I have NOT COME NEAR telling you about this book! There is so much mystery you'll have to read it for yourself. It is more for teens and adults, but because of hard words, not iffy content. There is mayhem, mistaken identity and all the things that guys love shoved into a girl's book! I'm sure some guys are capable of enjoying it too - but probably wouldn't dare touch it. If you can get your hands on a copy it is worth having in your home library! I need to buy it myself.
Rated: G

Author - Wilkie Collins
Country - United Kingdom
Language - English
Genre(s) - Epistolary, Mystery Novel, Sensation novel
Publisher - All the Year Round
Publication date - 1859 - 1860

DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE by Robert Louis Stevenson

This classic is not for the fainthearted! The story centers around a lawyer by the name of Mr. Utterson who is a friend to Dr. Jekyll, a young scientist. He hears an alarming tale about a mysterious good-for-nothing Mr. Hyde and his violent cruelty, and investigates it. Utterson finds that Dr. Jekyll knows the man and has given him free reign of his house. More suspicions are aroused when an innocent bystander witnesses a sudden murder in the streets - and the murderer matches Mr. Hyde's description. Not long afterwards Dr. Jekyll seems to have disappeared. The story closes with a startling revelation.
If you can't stand a story without a happy ending, this probably isn't the book for you. There are those boy pleasers (violence, murder and mayhem), and the Mommy pleasers (a large vocabulary, the 1800s attitude, and a general air of intelligence). However, if you have read classics before you will notice that this book too contains some of the occasional old swears that were popular at that time. I enjoyed the story very much, but if you are under 13 and scary violence bothers you, you may want to have your mom or dad read it before you do.

Rated: PG -13

Author:
Robert Louis Stevenson
Country:
Scotland
Language:
English
Publisher:
Longmans, Green & co.
Publication date:
January 1886