![]() ![]() Here Bernard Cornwell resurrects the legend of the battle and the "band of brothers" who fought it on October 25, 1415. One of the most dramatic victories in British history, the battle of Agincourt - immortalized by Shakespeare in Henry V - pitted undermanned and overwhelmed English forces against a French army determined to keep their crown out of Henry's hands. But after the English campaign suffers devastating early losses, it becomes clear that Hook and his fellow archers are their king's last resort in a desperate fight against an enemy more daunting than they could ever have imagined. ![]() Hook returns to France as part of the superb army Henry leads in his quest to claim the French crown. Instead he is discovered by the young King of England - Henry V himself - and by royal command he takes up the longbow again and dons the cross of Saint George. With no options left, Hook heads home to England, where his capture means certain death. Together they survive the notorious massacre at Soissons, an event that shocks all Christendom. ![]() A wanted man in England, he is driven to fight as a mercenary archer in France, where he finds two things he can love: his instincts as a fighting man, and a girl in trouble. "The greatest writer of historical adventures today" (Washington Post) tackles his richest, most thrilling subject yet - the heroic tale of Agincourt.Young Nicholas Hook is dogged by a cursed past - haunted by what he has failed to do and banished for what he has done. ![]()
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![]() ![]() Sounds pretty cool to me.Įvie, our main protagonist, is funny, sarcastic, and kind, and it’s these things that really add to the story. I liked the fact that the story revolved around a “normal” teenager who is a complete girly girl, but ends up doing basically re-con jobs for a paranormal agency. Right off the bat this sounds like any other normal YA paranormal book right? True, but something about the story’s synopsis and pretty cover led me to pick up this book (plus it was on the bargain shelf in the store). Her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she’s falling for a shape-shifter, and she’s the only person who can see through paranormals glamours.īut Evie’s about to realize that she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures. Book Review: “Paranormalcy” (Paranormalcy #1) by Kiersten Whiteīook Length: 335 pages (hardcover edition)Įvie’s always thought of herself as a normal teenager, even though she works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency. ![]() ![]() ![]() This trilogy involves more of the various vampires characters, and their beliefs and customs (such as their views on death, life and their views of right and wrong). ![]() It contains the books Vampire Mountain, Trials of Death and The Vampire Prince. Vampire Rites (also called the Vampire Mountain trilogy) is the second trilogy in The Saga of Darren Shan by author Darren Shan. The film was released on October 23, 2009. Universal Studios have bought the rights to Darren Shan and is directed by Paul Weitz with Chris Massoglia playing the lead role of Darren Shan. ![]() Cirque du Freak: The Vampires Assistant is loosely based on this trilogy He has just been changed into something hardly anyone would accept, and throw in the fact that he's just a child leads into a darker and more unusual way to grow up. The main theme for the whole of the trilogy is insecurity. As well as introducing the character, while the second and third go into more detail about how he has to change and what he will never be able to do. The first book contains the reasons why he became a half-vampire and what he had to give up in order to save his ex-best friend. ![]() These starting books explore how Darren must adapt to his new life, and what that entails. It contains the books The Nightmare Begins, The Vampire's Assistant and Tunnels of Blood. Vampire Blood (also called the Cirque du Freak Trilogy) is the first trilogy in The Saga of Darren Shan by the author Darren Shan. ![]() ![]() ![]() Many books on my “RESEARCH” shelves here were absolute keepers: Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste hand surgeon Paul Brand’s memoir The Gift of Pain Salman Rushdie’s The Moor’s Last Sigh and Douglas Stuart’s Shuggie Bain, to name just a few. “Research” is the writer’s guilt-free method of not writing. I began the trimming with the shelves I labeled “RESEARCH” that held the many books I’d read in aid of my novel, which is set in India and Glasgow. I hoped it would be the necessary cure for what ailed me. The pruning task over many weeks would turn out to be a self-examination, a means of retooling and reinvention. In the lull following its departure, I had felt lost. ![]() Earlier in the year, my novel-the labor of nearly a decade-finally went off to the printers with a launch date set for May 2023. As with prize-winning rose bushes or facial hair, periodic pruning is necessary. I stood gazing at this chronicle of my reading history. ![]() I only keep those that I want to return to for inspiration, for memorable passages, for technique… or sometimes in the hope that by cradling a volume its magic rubs off on me. As 2022 wound down, once again the floor-to-ceiling bookcases that cover every wall in my study groaned with more volumes than they could hold. ![]() ![]() ![]() He heads upstairs to collect Twoflower, who has been sleeping while a fight rages downstairs. The Patrician threatens to kill Rincewind if he does not fulfill his duties as Twoflower's guide, so Rincewind reluctantly returns to the tavern. Rincewind attempts to run off with his advanced pay, but is detained by the town leader, the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork. He pays Rincewind a hefty sum in solid gold coins to be his travel guide. Twoflower, a clerk from Bes Palargic in the Agatean Empire, has saved up a lot of money to see the sights of Discworld. Rincewind is enjoying a beer at the tavern when he meets Twoflower and helps him communicate with Broadman, the owner of the Broken Drum. A blind beggar takes them to the Broken Drum, a tavern frequented by thieves and barbarians. ![]() Twoflower and his magical walking suitcase, known as the Luggage, arrive by boat in Morpork. In an extended flashback, Rincewind tells the warriors the story of how he and Twoflower met. Rincewind, a local wizard, and Twoflower, a visitor to the area, ride away from the city and meet Bravd and Weasel, two local warriors. Discworld is held up by four elephants that ride on the back of Great A'Tuin, a giant turtle that swims through the cosmos.Īnkh-Morpork, the oldest city in Discworld, is on fire. It takes place in the fantastical realm of Discworld, a flat, round land in an alternate universe. ![]() ![]() The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett is a humorous epic adventure. ![]() ![]() (Shortform note: Self-doubt often manifests as imposter syndrome, which can cause people to doubt their abilities and accomplishments and feel like they aren’t as good as others. It can often seem like their world is on the brink of collapse at any given moment, and this can lead to feelings of incompetence and inadequacy. Many people with ADD report feeling like frauds, like they don’t deserve their successes because they should have been able to do better, or like their successes are due to luck or someone else’s hard work. Accommodations may include things like extra time on assignments, fidget devices, and frequent breaks.) ![]() Students with ADHD have a legal right to accommodations designed to help them succeed. (Shortform note: People with ADHD are often very intelligent but do poorly in school because the school structure demands behaviors that are particularly difficult for them. Students who struggle with these and other skills required for school are often reprimanded or considered lazy, which can lead to a dislike of school or of learning itself. People with ADD often struggle with tasks others can do easily, like listening in class or staying organized. ![]() (Shortform note: Parents of children with ADHD can help them hone their social skills by modeling such skills for them, discussing how they see these skills being used by characters on TV or in movies, role-playing social situations with them, and giving them immediate feedback on their social behaviors.)ĭifficulties in school. ![]() ![]() ![]() I started off thinking, “This book is fine. Reading this book in its entirely helped me experience for myself how important it is for those who make decisions about the fate of a challenged book to read the whole book. Others who are lucky enough to escape such experiences can develop empathy for those who do experience them. However, I know there are students out there who are living realities of similar racism, abuse, and violence, and will find this book a healthy way to process those experiences and become change makers for the future. One might say that a high school or middle school student should not be exposed to such content. This is historical fiction intended to reveal the darker sides of history, the racism and abuse that live on today, perhaps in part because nobody wants to talk about it. Nothing in the book felt gratuitous, but rather purposeful. It was also very well-written and the disturbing content written in such a way that a naive reader might miss most of it entirely. The book actually had more disturbing sexual and violent content than I expected. I had a short conversation online with the author (who is a cousin of my teacher friend) in which she explained her reasoning for the content in question. ![]() I read this book because it has been challenged at my children’s school district and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. ![]() ![]() ![]() But for Jack to fully understand this secret, he must revisit his past-and finally tell his story. Yet it is Jack who Ombric Shalazar (once a great wizard, now known as Father Time) trusts with a tremendous secret. Always inclined to keep to himself, Jack has become especially isolated from the other Guardians since his transformation. Jack's transition from Nightlight to Guardian was not an easy one. All the Guardians feel the weight of lurking menace, but Jack Frost-now half human, half of his former self Nightlight-feels it the most. But the world has not been without evil since Pitch's imprisonment. Now, many years later, the Guardians have settled into their final selves, embracing their public images and the Earth Holidays. When we last saw the Guardians, they were celebrating their victory during Bright Night, the final great Battle of the Moon, where they defeated Pitch once and for all. The Guardians' powers are put to the ultimate test in their final battle in this thrilling conclusion to the epic chapter book series from William Joyce. ![]() ![]() ![]() In 2019, Sedaris was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He is the brother and writing collaborator of actress Amy Sedaris. ![]() ![]() Much of Sedaris's humor is ostensibly autobiographical and self-deprecating and often concerns his family life, his middle-class upbringing in the suburbs of Raleigh, North Carolina, his Greek heritage, homosexuality, jobs, education, drug use, and obsessive behaviors, as well as his life in France, London, New York, and the South Downs in England. His next book, Naked (1997), became his first of a series of New York Times Bestsellers, and his 2000 collection Me Talk Pretty One Day won the Thurber Prize for American Humor. He published his first collection of essays and short stories, Barrel Fever, in 1994. He was publicly recognized in 1992 when National Public Radio broadcast his essay " Santaland Diaries”. School of the Art Institute of Chicago ( BA)ĭavid Raymond Sedaris ( / s ɪ ˈ d ɛər ɪ s/ born December 26, 1956) is an American humorist, comedian, author, and radio contributor. ![]() ![]() They have harsh words to start but then get together. When she sees Madoc, however, she can’t help but remember that at one time in her life she loved him…and never really stopped. They end up falling in love but of course all good things must come to an end and it does here as well.įallon is shipped off and told that Madoc doesn’t want her Madoc is told that Fallon complained that she was being forced neither parent is in their kids’ life and when Fallon comes back into town for the summer before she heads off to college, she’s ready for revenge on all of them. They start when they are sixteen and though they never show it in public they are all over each other at night. ![]() That doesn’t stop them from wanting to have sex. Madoc and Fallon are step-siblings who have never gotten along. Tracy’s review of Rival (Fall Away #2) by Penelope Douglas That’s what he wants, right? As long as I keep my guard up, he’ll never know how much he affects me…. Two years and I can tell he still wants me, even if he acts like he’s better than me.īut I won’t be scared away. I was stupid then, but now I’m ready to beat her at her own game… Back when we lived in the same house, she used to cut me down during the day and then leave her door open for me at night. ![]() Two estranged teenagers playing games that push the boundaries between love and war…įor the two years she’s been away at boarding school, there was no word from her. ![]() Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books ![]() |