The Lost Symbol

In this phenomenon chapter about Freemasonry Profressor Robert Langdon, a Havard symbologist arrives at the US States Capitol Building in a favor of his best friend and mentor Peter Solomon, who is a 33rd degree Mason and head of the Smithsonian Institution. However, Langdon relises later on that the invitation was not from Peter himself when he discovers Peter's severed right hand on a wooden base, bleeding and tatooed in the style of the Hand of the Mysteries with the index finger pointing upward toward the fresco The Apotheosis of Washington on the inside of the Capitol dome. Peter Solomon had been kidnapped violently by a villanous man who calls himself Mal'akh who then demand Langdon to decipher the code of the Ancient Mysteries hidden in D.C in return of Solomon's life. In order to do it Langdon has to gain helps from Peter's sister Katherine, a reseacher studying Noetic Science in a secret laboratory in the Smithsonian Museum Support Center. This leads to a deadly cat and mouse game through the museum and architectures in Washinton D.C. Langdon and Katherine are both being chased by the villanous Mal'akh and the director of the CIA's office of security, Inoue Sato. Sato demands Langdon to solve this mystery as a national security since Mal'akh is going to release a chain of videos of Washington top brasses engaged in secret Masonic rituals. The clue surrounds a symbolon, an uncomplete stone pyramid with its gold top. Unfortunately, Mal'akh succeeds in capturing both Langdon and Katherine, torturing them, he then takes Peter Solomon to the U.S Freemasonry Headquater, House of the Temple while Langdon and Katherine are both save by the CIA. Mal'akh reveils his darkest secret to Peter, he was infact Peter's son Zachery. As a young man Zachery was not a good schoolboy, he got involved in the bussiness of selling drugs and got into trail. He was not happy with the way his father left him alone in captivity so he faked his death and escaped prison. With the fortune he had inherited from his rich father, he built himself a mansion on an island in Greece, changed his facial features and started living in luxury, knowledge and with the desire of vengence. With the lost word tatooed on the top of his head he offers Peter to release him from his mortal body with a sacrificial Akedah knife on the atlar of the House of the temple. Yet the Lost Word is not the lost word. There is no lost word, Peter breaks the knife with a single stab on the stone table, Langdon intrudes the atlar with help from the CIA. The CIA helicopter stops the data connection of the videos to distribution with the EMP. Zachary is fatally injured when the helicopter accidentally shatters a skylight above his head and the sharp falling pieces shard his body. After the death of Zachary Peter takes Langdon and Katherine to the Washington Monument, a dot in the circular plaza with a Bible in the center. Peter then tells Langdon that the Lost Word Zachary (Mal'akh) was seeking is infact the Bible, Koran, Bhagavad Gita,etc.... The Ancient Mystery is that people are not God's subjects they are god themselves. Langdon finally relises that God is the symbol of the limitless human potentials.

Great posting everyone, especially Vy of late. Well done for all your hard work this term. Enjoy your well- deserved rests and I'll see you in the new term.

Merry Christmas!

In a park in London, secret policeman Gabriel Syme strikes up a conversation with an anarchist. Sworn to do his duty, Syme uses his new acquaintance to go undercover in Europe's Central Anarchist Council and infiltrate their deadly mission, even managing to have himself voted to the position of 'Thursday'

When Syme discovers another undercover policeman on the Council, however, he starts to question his role in their operations. And as a desperate chase across Europe begins, his confusion grows, as well as his confidence in his ability to outwit his enemies.

But he has still to face the greatest terror that she Council has - its leader: a man named Sunday, whose true nature is worse than Syme could ever have imagined...

Chance - Joseph Conrad

It is a mighty force that of mere chance, absolutely irresistible yet manifesting itself often in delicate forms such for instance as the charm, true or illusory, of a human being.

In Flora de Barral, the slender, dreamy, mobidly charming daughter of a financier, Conrad creates his most complex heroine and one of his most unrelenting, but not unhopeful, novels of emotional isolation. Neglected by her bankrupt father and rejected by her governess, drifting into abstraction and despair, Flora takes refuge at sea on Captain Anthony's ship, where tragedy and her transformation begin.

Mary, Queen of Scot

England and Scotland in the 1500s. Two famous queens - Mary, the Catholic Queen of Scots, and Elizabeth I, the Protestant Queen of England. It was an exciting and a dangerous time to be alive, and to be a queen.

Mary was Queen of Scotland when she was one week old. At sixteen, she was also Queen of France. She was tall and beautiful, with red-gold hair. Many men loved her and died for her.

But she also had many enemies - men who said: 'The death of Mary is the life of Elizabeth.'

Hacker

When Vicky's father is arrested, accused of stealing over a million pounds from the bank where he works, she is determined to prove his innocence. There is one way is to attempt to break into the bank's computer files. Even if Vicky is the best hacker in the world, she might not find the real thief before they find her.

Regeneration

This book is written by Pat Barker and it is really really interesting.

This book is about the First World War and is mostly about the physical and mental consequences of war. Craiglockhart War Hospital is a mental institution where Sassoon was sent to for disagreeing with the war. There he meets a lot of other men who suffer from mental illnesses which are effects of the war. He also meets Owen whom he inspires to write poems about war. This book is extremely interesting and I think everyone should read it. It allows you tounderstand what the different after-effects of war are like.

P.S. Mr Pollicutt, I did read the book

What the dog saw - Malcolm Gladwell

Why are problems like homelessness easier to solve than to manage?

What does hair dye tell us about the history of the 20th century?

What do football players teach us about how to hire teachers?

How do we hire when we can't tell who's right for the job?

What is the difference between choking and panicking?

What can pit bulls teach us about crime?

Are smart people overrated?

From crimes to ketchup, from job interviews to dog training, Gladwell takes everyday subject and shows us surprising ways in which we can look at them and our surrounding world. He explores in details and reveals how everyone and everything contains a story. The book makes u stop and ponder upon things you never seem to notice much about.

Simple, Surprising, and Entertaining. Soooo pick up the book and yule be glad that you did.

The Polar Express - Chris Van Allsburg

The Polar Express is a story of a young boy who travelled on a mythical train to the North Pole. It was a wonderful train ride full of children who want to believe and have a meeting with Santa. Keeping the tradition, Santa would select one boy to give his first Christmas present before he came to visit all the children around the world. Rather than ask for a PS3 or an iPhone nor any big gift, the boy asked for one of Santa's sleigh bells, proof he could hold on to that YES, Santa does exist.

The book opens the possibility that Santa, as presented to us, may not physically exist. But it makes the readers think about the question "Is Santa real?". It tells a story not of the belief in a living, but of the belief in the spirit of Christmas.

Cracker by Cynthia Kadohata

Craker a German sheperd dog leads a very complicated life as the beloved pet owner of a young boy. However, Crakers life changed when the young boy's father lost his job and then the family had to move to an apartment where you are not allowed to have dogs. After many painstaking disagreements and agreements the family decided to give the dog to the US army to fight for the Vietnam War. Craker became a scout dog and his job is to sniff out bombs, booby traps, weapons caches and enem troops for the army. He was one of the best dogs in the Vietnam war and was also a hero. Craker's wartime companion was a 17 year old Rick Hanski.

You will find out what happens when you read this book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Matilda - Roald Dahl

This book is about a four year old genius girl name Matilda. she lives with her family, Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood. Mr. Wormwood owns a car garage and cheats people all the time, and Mrs.Wormwood spends her day at the bingo outside town. They always think that her daughter Matilda is a stupid and useless girl but actually she is a genius

When Matilda was alone she often went to the library reading books. Mrs.Phelps - the librarian, were surprised when a four year old kid like Matilda could read books that a grown-up reads.

Her parents don't really care about her education so when she is 5 years old she went to school for the first time. Ms.Honey, was shocked when she tested Matilda the 2 times table, but Matilda even got to 2 times 28. She asked Matilda if she could do 2x487, and she got it right. She also could read a book very influence. Ms. Honey asked who taught her all of this, and she answered that she figured them out all by herself.

Ms. Honey was surprise and went to Ms. Trunchbull - the headmaster to tell her everything. But Ms.Trunchbull didn't believe on her story and believe on Matilda's dad that she is stupid. Ms. Trunchbull is a horrible person and she always did terrible things to the pupil ex:hold the girls' pigtails. One day, Lavender - a classmate- secretly put a newt on Ms.Trunchbull's glass of water. She screamed and blamed it all on Matilda. Matilda got mad because Ms.Trunchbull wanted to expell her. She felt her eyes became very hot and manage to tip the glass of water with her eyes. Ms. Trunchbull got scared and ran out of the room.

Everybody's left, except for Matilda and Ms.Honey. Matilda told Ms.Honey everything and showed how she has done it. She went to Ms.Honey house and found out that Ms.Honey is very poor, she lived in a tiny house, Ms.Trunchbull is Ms.Honey's aunt and Ms.Honey owes Ms.Trunchbull alot of money. One day, Matilda used her eyes to pick up te chalk and write on the darkboard. It was for Ms.Trunchbull, it wrote that if Ms.Trunchbull didnt give Ms.Honey a house and her wages and get out of here. And no one saw her again.

The police found out that Mr. Wormwood was cheating. They quickly moved to Spain and left Matilda. Ms.Honey then adopted Matilda and they live happily ever after.!

:)

Well done!

Not sure when the reading blog challenge ends, but I am sure we will have definitely destroyed all of the "competition" from other Year 9 classes!

I will check with Ms White tomorrow to see where we are at with the challenge.

Well done to you all- I enjoy reading your blogs and learn much from them, please keep it up.

My Sister's Keeper

This book is written by Jodi Picoult and it is really really really really good. It is about this girl named Anna who is trying so sue her parents for the rights of her own body. Anna has a sister named Kate who suffers from a rare case of leukemia and needs more plasma but her parents could not find a match. So they genetically created Anna who is a perfect match for Kate so that Anna can help her. Since then, almost everytime Kate winds up in the hospital, Anna does too. Anna then gets sicks of her parents taking things from her body. She then decides to sue them. This book is extremely good and it shows how this situation affects the family. I strongly recommend this book to everyone and even though it's going to spoil it, this book has a really sad ending and I cried when I read it.

Airman - Eoin Colfer

Conor Broekhart was born in the sky.Literally. Conor and his family live in the Saltee Islands off the Irish coast, he studies the science of flight with his tutor and the King's daughter, Isabella. He soon discovers a conspiracy to overthrow the king. When he tries to reveal the plot, he is betrayed with his tutor killed and thrown into jail on the prison island of Little Saltee. The traitor, Marshall Bonvilain, tricks Conor's parents into thinking that he is a criminal who killed the king. A psychopath.

Two years later, Conor tries to flee to America, but then realizes that he should go back and uncover Bonvilains plot...

An incredibly amazing book, one of my favorites and is a great and touching read...

Think and Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill

This book, despite the title, is not a step-by-step guide to becoming 'rich'. This is not one of those childish books that they sell to kids that tell you how to get rich at all...

Hill talks everyone who's anyone on the planet, from Thomas Edison to Bill gates and reveals their stories. This book is like Outliers, but focuses on their stories of success, and Hill brilliantly analyses these stories to come up with a set of common factors that all of these people have in their amazing success stories

And ESSENTIAL read.

The Old Man & His God - Sudha Murty

Murty takes the reader on her touching adventures across India, shedding light on the India under the commercialism, under the poverty and under the image of India to unearth real stories of people who are unlike those anywhere else on Earth. The spirit of India.

One of my favorite stories is when she went to a small town in Uttar Pradesh. She was driving along a crowded rural highway when a storm hit and her car broke down. She walked into town to take shelter in the local church. She walked into the building to take shelter from the rain only to find an elderly couple under a statue of Shiva. This couple were of maybe 70-80 years of age, who have no home or nobody to take care of them. The woman walked up to her, noticing that Murty was shivering, she offered her only shawl to her to keep her warm. This act of kindness touched Murty, and what drove her to write this book. Murty talked to them about what they did and how they lived, and Murty was to touched she offered to give them money to support them. They promptly refused. When she asked why, they replied: "We have enough to be happy and stay alive, who needs surplus money when you have people who care about you?".

All in all, a touching book full of amazing stories and a great read.

Another book by one of my favorite authors. Bryson tells of the America of his youth and all of the amazing, hilarious and abnormal adventures of his childhood. He goes all the way from the conveyor belt crisis at his mom's favorite superstore from his dad's precious Chevy Impala's flight off a cliff and his fathers loss of sanity due to this.

An excellent read for everyone and everything, and guaranteed to make you laugh your way through to the last page...

How to build a Time Machine - Paul Davies

Despite the appearance of the book and its name, this is really only for hardcore scientists. It explains the concept of relative time, the concept of String Theory and the 47 dimensions that come with it and the concept of ionizing light itself and making the possibility of 'plasma light'. After Davies explains these concepts in-depth, and then couples them with the reality and science behind parallel 'dimensions' connected with wormholes and what this has to do with time travel.

This book is not to be mistaken with a science-fiction story, as it presents papers from scientists from Steven Hawking to Richard Feynman and is really an eye opening read. I do not recommend this book to the students of 9S as it is really a science-geek physics book, using complex theorems to describe the universe that we live in around us. I had to read it twice to fully grasp the concepts that Davies are explaining, but it is very interesting...

Refugee Boy

by Benjamin Zephaniah.

This book is about a boy called Alem Kelo who is half Eritrean and half Ethiopian who came to England to seek asylum. It describes his ups and down when he was living with his foster family and with his foster sister Ruth who seems like a careless teenager but then turns out to be nice.

It's an easy and quick read and it's very interesting as well

Fire Girl - Tony Abbott

This book starts off slowly with Tom, a seventh-grade boy, daydreaming about his favorite sport car and imagined adventures of him rescuing a pretty classmate and plain old everyday thoughts. But then one day, Jessica - a new girl - shows up. Jessica was disfigured by a childhood fire. Everyone is horrified and no one knows how to relate to her. So Jessica is isolated and people gossip behind her back. Tom, however, has the courage to be Jessica's friend.

Fire Girl is a story of change and acceptance. The mood of the book is like a roller coaster - up and down all the times. There is nothing that lasts forever in this book. Jessica doesn't heal up, Tom doesn't transform into a hero and all the students in the class don't learn how to accept Jessica. Instead, it is about individual struggle between what you know is right and wrong. It is not long. Everyone can read and understand it easily.

Emergency

The writer, Neil Strauss, wonders what he would do if the world failed. All these natural disasters, global warming, terrorism, no more electricity or iPods, nor food!? The book begins with Neil Strauss as a city boy who knows nothing about survival. But then he seeks and learns the skills he feels he need to survive.

This book teaches you how to become a lawsuit global citizen: multiple passports, lock-picking with soda cans, escape and evasion,...It is a good read for its entertainment value. The story is interesting and adventurous.

I enjoy this book. When i read it i laughed. You will too. So why not try?!

Notes: This book is not a survival manual.

Teen Idol

This book is about a girl named Jen Greenley who is secretly the school's newspaper advisor. When Luke Striker(celebrity) comes to school masking his identity and Jen being the only one to know about it, everything starts going wrong. When Luke reveals his tattoo and everyone finds out that he is actually Luke Striker, all the girls go mad and want his autograph. Soon, everyone thinks that Luke and Jen are going out even though Luke fancies someone else. When, Luke asks Jen to the Spring Fling, it gets even worse. Everyone thinks that Luke like Jen but Jen likes someone else and Luke likes someone else although Luke won't tell Jen who it is. If you want to find out what happens then you just have to read the book. This book is amazing just like Meg Cabot's princess diaries series and her mediator series. Although it isn't a series, this book is very good. I highly recommend this book. And guys, its not just for girls just cos the cover is pink :]

Drowned Wednesday

This is the third book in the Keys to the Kingdom series and I find it the least entertaining among those that I have read. In this book, the keeper of the third key does not have any power over the key and is willing to let Arthur have the key. When Arthur realises that Wednesday has the key but it has no power, he has to go restore the key's power. This book is somewhat different to the other book as the keeper is willing to let Arthur have the key which does not make it a really big fight in the end for the keys but this book is still wroth reading.

P.S. Guys I'm running out of books to read and I would really appreciate it if you guys read more :] thx

Grim Tuesday

This is the second book in the series and in this book, Arthur is trying to get the second key from Grim Tuesday who is not as careless as Mister Monday and will not be giving up that easily on his key. Arthur has to go through more challenging obstacles to obtain the key from Grim Tuesday. Although Arthur already has the powers from the first key, it might not be enough to overpower Tuesday. This book is ok... But then again I have high expectations for books so I guess I would recommend this book to everyone. Although Garth Nix has written better books than the Key of the Kingdom series.

Mister Monday

This book is the first book in the Keys to the Kingdom series and it is written by Garth Nix. It is about a boy named Arthur who is the 'chosen' boy to hold the keys to the kingdom and he has to overpower all seven of the key holders and become the 'king'. There are seven books are named after the days of the wee. In this first book, Arthur is trying to reclaim the key from Mr Monday who gave him half of the key at the beginning of the book to start off and is challenging him to come get the other one. This is not one of the best books I have read but I would recommend this book to everyone although it might seem boring to some people.

thank you lucky stars

This book is about a girl name Ally. In the first day of fifth grade her best friend name Betsy be in same class. They decided to sing in the talent show before but Betsy got a new best friend other than Ally. At the first day of school they promised to wear what they decided to wear. However when Ally went to Betsy`s house she was not wearing it, also she was talking to girls, not Ally.

Then Ally got a new friend name Tina. However they become friendly again after time passes.

Try this book and find out who`s who and what happened in detail.

COMMAND & CONQUER Tiberium Wars

Thought that Tiberium was the answer for the energy crisis in the twenty first century. An alien substance that could be humanity's success or its downfall. Tiberium is a resource that could solve the world energy crisis. However, it is highly destructive, spreading dreadful diseases and devastation. It divides the planet into two fractions: the Global Defense Initiative (GDI), which tries to maintain peace at all cost and the opposite side The Brotherhood of Nod, a brotherhood of terrorists who turned from nothing to superpower has their own religious belief based on the potential of Tiberium. Two groups had fought many wars in loss of millions.

Now in the year of 2047, The Brotherhood of Nod launches a massive attack that paralyzes the GDI. A new war is being waged. Many lives will be lost. The 22nd Infantry Division, one of the GDI's top unit has the mission to stop Nod's evil plan in order to stop the world turning into further chaos. While people are busy fighting each other, mysterious visitors turn up . . . casting the spell of doom for humanity.

The Host

by Stephanie Meyer. Damn Michelle beats me.

It's like one of those sci-fi out-of-space-but-in-this-Earth-romantic book. It's a good read, way better than the Twilight 'series'.

It's about the life of a 'soul' that was planted in a girl called Melanie's body. Melanie's body and mind somehow resist to this soul and shared the memories with the soul. The soul then return to find Jared and Jamie (Mel's lover and brother) and to discover that not all humans are bad.

I would recommend it to everybody who likes a sob adventure.

P.S: Stephanie Meyer probably have this thing about not describing the main female character...

The Host

This is a book written by Stephenie Meyer called The Host but it has nothing to do with Twilight.

This book is about this soul called Wanderer(Wanda) who is inserted into this human(the souls took over the world and live in the human beings) named Melanie Stryder. Melanie refuses to go away and Wanda has to put up with her in her head. When Melanie is hiding something, Wanda fights back to try to look at her memories. In her memories, Melanie was looking for Jamie and Jared who are still human and alive. Melanie tries to lead Wanda to them through her memories but she is found by Uncle Jeb. Jeb takes Wanda to the caves but she is not welcomed at all. Jamie and Jared are there but Jared will not talk to her although Jamie will. Soon, most people have had a change of heart and people like Ian and Trudy start talking to Wanda. When Kyle gets back from a raid and tries to kill Wanda things start going weird. You know how I was talking about how Twilight is the best? Well I stand corrected. This book is amazing. I highly recommend it to EVERYONE. Although this is an adult's book and some people might not understand most of the words, I still recommend it!!!! This is my favourite book by far :] And yes, this beats Twilight.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

This is the last Harry Potter book in the series and in this book, Harry, Ron and Hermione leave school to look for the remaining Horcruxes(things which Voldemort stored his souls in). It is a very challenging job that Dumbledore had left them before he died as Voldemort had already taken over the wizarding world and everyone was looking for him. They encounter many obstacles and that is excluding all the Death Eaters looking for them. In the end, Harry and Voldemort have a fight but you have to read the book to find out who wins. This book answers a lot of the previous questions I had in the other books but I think that it is really rushed. It is still a good book though. I know this is going to totally ruin everything but I feel the need to say this now. FRED DIES!!!!!! :'( I CRIED WHEN HE DIED AND IT WAS SOOOO SAD!!!! AND HE'S MY FAVOURITE CHARACTER!!!!!:'(

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

This is the sixth book in the Harry Potter series and I think that it is the best out of all the seven. I was pretty impressed by the movie for this book although there were still somethings different. In this book, Harry is back at school but then Dumbledore starts having classes with Harry where he brings Harry into other people's thoughts and memories to learn more about Voldemort. Harry in the meantime, is finding things very strange about Malfoy and the way he is acting. Malfoy seems to disappear a lot lately and Harry can never seem to find him. Other than lessons with Dumbledore, and trying to keep and eye on Malfoy, Harry also has problems with Snape, his least favourtie teacher. Snape is being very strict with Harry and is giving him detention on the day that he has the big Quidditch match. When Katie Bell almost came close to dying and Ron almost got poisoned, Harry realised that something was wrong. Someone was trying to kill someone else and he had no idea who. If you want to find out what happens in the end you have to read the book. I highly recommend this book as it is one of my favourite books and I am extremely picky with books. This book is one of those that you canot put down once you pick it up and start. Even though you might have already watched the movie I would still read the book as the book is so much better.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

This is the fifth book in the Harry Potter series. I think that this book is one of the best out of the seven.

In this book, Harry is attacked by dementors in the beggining of the book while he is stil at Privet Drive and because this is his second time using magic, he has been called to court so that everyone can decide whether he is allowed to keep his wand or not. Back in school, there was a new teacher, Professor Umbridge who was the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. During DA, the students were not allowed to use wands at all. When Harry stood up to her in class, he recieved a very painful punishment from Professor Umbridge. Soon, Harry started creating a club where students were learning how to defend themselves against the Dark Arts themselves since Umbridge would not teach them. When Umbridge finds out, everything starts going wrong. Dumbledore dissappears, Umbridge becomes Headmaster and Harry is getting weird dreams. To find out what happens, you are just going to have to read the book. This is an excellent book and I am sure that everyone will enjoy it.

The Call Of The Wild by Jack London, my niece

The main character in the book called 'The Call Of The Wild' is not a human, but a bog called Buck.

This dog was living in the good and noble house, which has a lawyer father with some children. One day, when Buck was having happy life, the gold was found in the harsh place with lots of snow, so lots of people began to buy dogs with good muscles. A servant in his house took him to sell him, because Buck was a dog with strong muscles. Buck sold to many people and went around many places. During his trips, he learned how to survive in the snow and got even stronger muscles. After lots of trips, he met his final master, who was very good and saved his life, but he died by group of primitive humans.

I liked this book because this book tells about the place that I know. Buck was strong, but not much, so he was controlled by the people, or the leaders who have power to do what they want. These people did whatever they want for their desires and gave harsh life to the dogs. Some good masters were good to the dogs, and respected them, but some masters were really bad and did any kind thing to get more and more money. And these people are similar to the people who block some web sites for their power, ignoring people's rights. And also I like the fact that Buck, normal people in the place that I know, will be the one who get the most power, like the fact that people's rights and people will be respected.

The Lord of the Rings Series by J.K.K Tolkin, my nephew

There are 3 books in this series and I read all of them.

These books are talking about the adventure happened during the adventure by the hobbit called Frodo, and his servant (not a slave), Sam. At first, the hobbit called Bilbo who had a great adventure in the book called 'Hobbit' found a ring, and years later, lots of enemies were made , and people found out that the only way to stop the great amount of enemy is to destroy the ring, but it is really hard and dangerous. The ring bearer must go to the center of the enemy base, but Frodo said that he will destroy the ring, with his servant Sam and with other 7 people. But during the journey, lots of them distributes into many places by the enemies, and lots of adventures and things happens.

I liked these books because like the book called 'Hobbit', this book is talking about the adventure, and I like the adventure book because it is hard to expect what is going to happen next, so this makes me feel more interesting about the book.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

This is the third book in the Harry Potter series. The movie for this is okay but I stil think the book is better. In this book, Harry finds out that his parents actually had been betrayed by their best friend who was suppoused to keep the secret of where they were hiding at the moment but suppousedly gave it to Voldemort. Therefore allowing him to murder Harry's parents. When Harry found out that that man was Sirius Black who had recently escaped from Azkaban(the wizard prison), he realises that he might be the next target. When Sirius Black breaks into Hogwarts and is after Harry, things start going all wrong. Sorry, but you have to read the book to find out what happens in the end. The book is so much better than the movie. I highly recomment this books to everyone who loves a bit of mystery and a bit of suspense. This is definitely the book for you.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

This is the second book in the Harry Potter series. I still believe that the book is better than the book. In this book, Harry is back at Privet Drive and there is nothing interesting happening. When Ron and his brothers come to bust Harry out from the house driving the flying car, Harry is relieved that he is finally able to be in touch with the wizarding world again. When he gets back to school, strange messages start appearing on the walls stating that the 'heir of Slytherin' would kill all of the students who are not full wizards. More messages appeared saying that the Chamber of Secrets has opened. Moaning Mrtyle, who died the last time the Chamber was opened. Now, Harry has to find and close the Chamber before anyone dies again like the last time. You have to read the book if you want to find out what happens. I highly recommend this book as it is extremely interesting. J.K. Rowling is an extremely good author and her books are amazing. Although I like the Twilight series, I prefer J.K. Rowling as an author to Stephenie Meyer. :]

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

This is the first book in the Harry Potter series. I think that ALL the Harry Potter movies are really bad although the sixth one is not that bad. The first part of the book is mostly explaining Harry's past. Harry Potter lives with his uncle and aunt because his parents were killed by Voldemort when he was young. When Harry turned 11, Hagrid(a half giant half human) came to bring him to Hogwarts, the wizarding school. In school Harry, meets strange people, his people and he learns more about the wizarding life. When things start getting weird, packages being picked up that is top secret, trolls in the schools, one of the rooms being out of bounds and the Mirror of Erised, Harry and his friends Ron and Hermione start investigating. You probably would have watched the movie but trust me the book is better. I highly recommend this book to everyone, even if you do not like action or suspense because this book, in fact this series is amazing. Still cannot beat twilight though...:]

Necropolis

This is the fourth book in the Power of Five series. Jamie, Scott, Pedro and Matt are finally together and now they have to look for a girl name Scarlett Adams to complete the circle. They look for her and try to reach her but somehow they always come so close but not actually meeting her. In the meantime, Scar is on her way to see her father in Hong Kong. All of a sudden, some people are trying to lead Scar somewhere but there is always someone appointed as her gaurdian to follow her so no one can contact her. If you want to find out if the Five finally meet or not, you have to read the book. This book is really really good and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes reading action books. It is a really good series but it can never beat twilight. :]

oh my! What a voracious blogger Michelle is! 2 House points, I think!

oh my! What a voracious blogger Michelle is! 2 House points, I think!

Prom

By Laurie Halse Anderson

It's a book about a girl who first doesn't like prom but then turns 180 degree into organizing it and making it happen.

The book is a chick flick and it's very girly so I would recommend it to the girls but if you are one of those boys then you SHOULD read it as well.

Prom is a great read when you're bored and it's very addictive (read it in one go) and it's easy to understand.

Nightrise

This is the third book in the Power of Five series and I think that it is the best one. This book is written in Jamie and Scott Tyler's point of view. They are telepathic twins who are two of the Five Gatekeepers. When Scott was abducted during their telepathic act, Jamie begins to look for him and ecounters many obstacles in his way. He gets shot at, and then travels back in time to see his old self. He also gets caught on purpose so that he can look for his brother. The prison where Scott is being held in not pretty and Jamie cannot find him anywhere. With the help of Joe Feather, he manages to escape but is then shot. He then travels back in time to help the previous Five Gatekeepers. When Jamie woke up, he knew what he had to do after finding his brother, to find the other four. To find out whether Jamie saves Scott or not, you have to read the book. I think that is the best book out of all the Power of Five books I have read but it is also the longest:] but I am sure that that will not stop some of you from reading it.

Evil Star

This is the second book in the Power of Five series and it is as good as the first book. In this book, Matt manages to stop the Raven's Gate from opening but it is rumored that the second gate is opening in Peru. The moment Matt arrives in Peru, Cole is kidnapped and Matt is able to flee but he has nowhere to go. He has no choice but to sleep on the streets. When he wakes up, he finds a pickpocketer trying to steal his wallet and watch. That pickpocketer was another one of the Five but Matt did not know that. Together the two of them tried to find Cole and the second gate. The other Five was named Pedro and he did not speak English. When a diary entry leads them to the Mountain of the Sleeping God Mandango, Matt finds Cole and Pedro finds out who he is descended from. The Incas. Pedro's powers was that he had the power of healing. The diary entry also leads them to the second gate although they do not know where in the dessert it is. Matt soon finds out that there is someone looking for the second gate as well. It is a race against time and you are just going to have to read the book to find out. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a book full of action and suspense. This book is deifinitely a must read.

Raven's Gate

Raven's Gate is the first book in the Power of Five series and is written by Anthony Horowitz. There are a total of four books in the series so far and I think that this is not the best one. This book is about a boy named Matt who is one of the Five. He was a rebel in the start of the book and was sent to Hive Hall to live with his new foster parent. There, Matt lives with an old woman who is acting very suspicscious. When strange things start happening, Matt tries to escape but always finds himself back where he started. When Matt tries to escape through the woods, he finds Omega One, an abandoned nuclear station. When Matt sees lights coming from it even though it has not been used in twenty years, he starts getting suspiscious. He goes to investigate Omega One and sees the words Raven's Gate scrawled on it. Curious, Matt looks it up on the internet and a message box instantly appears and Professor Sanjay Dravid tells him his name before leaving. When strange things start happening to Matt, he starts getting worried and goes to library to check it out. When it leads him to an author's daughter who gives Matt and Richard Cole, a journalist whom Matt befriended the whereabouts of Professor Dravid. Dravid then starts telling them about the Old Ones who are dark creatures who tried to take over the human world thousands of years ago but were banished by five children with supernatural powers. The Five, or the Gatekeepers banished them to another dimension and built a barrier called Raven's Gate to keep them inside that dimension. Dravid tells Matt that he is an incarnation of one of the Five. When Dravid is killed and Matt and Cole are dragged back to Omega One, things start going wrong. If you want to find out what happens you just have to read the book. I highly recommend this book as it is extremely interesting. Horowitz is also a very good writer and I also recommend the Alex Rider series.

Breaking Dawn

This is the last and the best book in the entire Twilight series and probably the best book I have ever read. In the beggining of this book, Jacob has run away while Edward and Bella are engaged. Bella is getting worried as Jacob is gone and she needs her best friend back. After Edward and Bella get married, Edward promised to change Bella into a vampire. This book gets confusing as it changes from Bella being the first peron to Jacob being the first person. When Jacob is telling the story, he is somewhere faraway from Forks as he is trying to be alone and reflect on his thoughts. When he finds out that Bella and Edward are back, he rushes back to see if Bella is dead or not. When he finds out that Bella is pregnant with a half human half vampire baby, his pack decides to kill Bella along with it as they cannot risk a baby being out of control. When Jacob decides to leave the pack and to go protect Bella instead of fighting with his pack, Seth and Leah join too. After the baby is born, Edward has to change Bella into a vampire or else she has no chance of surviving. When Bella wakes up as a vampire, new problems start to appear. Someone sees the baby and think that she is an immortal baby and immortal babies are against the law. She reports this to the Volturi and they are coming to sort it out which usually means killing all the Cullens. The Cullens then start bringing friends in to witness for them that the baby is not immortal and is actually half human. At the same time, Bella finds out about her new powers and tries to learn to use them. To find out what happens you have to read the book. This is by far the best book i have ever read. I highly recommend it but this is more of a girl's book so girls have to read it. In my opinion Edward is stil mean and evil but Jacob is just pure awesomeness.:]

On the night Tegen was born, the Goddess made the stars dance across the sky. Her birth is part of an ancient prophesy that one called the Star Dancer will save the Goddess' people from a coming and terrible evil. The druids spells and castings are telling them that this evil is coming close, but they cannot bring themselves to accept that the Star Dancer is a woman, not a man. And so Tegan comes up with her silversmith father Clesek, her reserved mother Nessa and Griff, her "halfhead" foster brother and the druids continue to search for people who could help. But Tegen's destiny cannot be denied.

Tegen is separated between her family and her destiny. She isn't quite a famous heroine, because the pull of magic, religion and fate is strong within her. She's young, afraid and confused, but she's also brave, determined and powerful. She's just the sort of central character children love to read about and admire. Over the course of the book, she is asked to gain maturity and make painful decisions.

I enjoyed reading this book because there was a lot of amgic, ancient history and mythology which made the book more attractive. Beth Webb writes a lot about courage, magic, and history

Eclipse

Eclipse is the third book in the Twilight series and is the second best book in the series. In this book, Edward comes back to Bella but Jacob is still trying to win Bella over. Edward has to deal with a werewolf being Bella's bestfriend and Jacob has to deal with a vampire being Bella's boyfriend(vampires and werewolves hate each other). When Bella finds out that Victoria is after her, Edward and Jacob start thinking of a plan to keep Bella safe. Both of them do not know how Victoria is going to attack Bella so they are just protecting her at the moment. After all the newspaper reports on mass killings, Jasper figures out that Victoria is creating newborn vampires to try to attack the Cullens and werewolves to get to Bella as newborns are wild and strong. Jasper then gives the werewolves and his family a crashcourse on newborns and he is most experienced in that topic. The newborns come of course but they are strong. Will experience beat strength? You will have to read the book to find out. People say this movie will be released in June or July but trust me, the book is so much better than the book and it is actually worth the money. I highly recommend this book as it is just one of those books that you cannot put down after you pick it up.

New Moon

This is the second book in the Twilight series. I think that it is probably the worst book in the entire series but others might think differently. In this book, Bella almost gets attacked by Jasper when she gets a papercut at her birthday party. Edward being the overprotective person he is, decides that he and his family are too dangerous for Bella so he decides to leave her. When Edward leaves Bella, she becomes really depressed and stops being the usual happy and cheerful self she is. Her father tries to threaten her by saying that he is going to send her to Jacksonville to her mother as she is neglecting her friends. When Bella spends more time with her friends, she finds that she is missing out on a lot. Soon, Bella starts hanging out with Jacob Black and she is beggining to cheer up and has stopped being so depressed. By the way, Jacob is my all time favourite character in both movies and books.:] When Jacob starts neglecting her, Bella starts losing it. Whenever Bella asks to talk to Jacob he always brushes her away. He keeps telling her that he cannot tell her and that she has to figure it out herself. When Jacob gives Bella a hint, she finally figures out that he is a werewolf along with all his other friends. When Laurent who was part of James's old covenant comes back for Bella, Jacob and the werewolves fight back and kill Laurent. When Alice(she can see the future) sees Bella jump off a cliff, she rushes back to Forks to check on her but Edward already thinks that Bella is dead and has decided that he wants to die too. The movie for this book is pretty new and I did not really like it but the book is ok. I highly recommend this book, especially to girls if you enjoy romance. In my opinion, Edward is evil and mean and Jacob is like a life saviour and he is awesome.:] This is a must read book.

Twilight

This is the first book of my favourite series in the entire world. This book is written by Stephenie Meyer and is also a movie although the book is so much better than the movie. This is about a girl named Bella Swan who moved to Forks from Pheonix and is trying to fit into school and adpat. At school, she becomes popular at once as Forks is a small town and everyone knows that Bella is Chief Swan's daughter. Everyone is welcoming Bella at her new school except the Cullens. They are very quiet and keep to themselves, especially Edward. Edward seemed to hate Bella the moment she got to this school and she is very worried about it. After biology where Bella has to sit next to Edward, Edward leaves for a few days. Bella starts to get worried about what she did to him. After a few weeks or so, he comes back and is starting to talk to her. Edward is beggining to open up slightly towards Bella. The other guys like Mike, Eric and Tyler have begun to ask Bella out but she turns them down. When Bella is in Port Angeles and was saved by Edward from a group of men, she begins to find out what he really is. Edward is actually a vampire but Bella is not bothered by this fact. Edward starts getting closer and closer to Bella and she even meets his family. One day, Edward invites Bella to watch his family of vampires play baseball. When they are joined by another coven who drink human blood(the Cullens drink animal blood so as not to harm the humans), Edward tries to protect Bella from them. When he finds out that one of them, James is a tracker, he tried to bring Bella away. I know you guys have probably already wacthed the movie, but believe me. The book is so much better and I highly recommend it. This is probably one of the BEST books i have read. EVER.

Eldest

This is the second book in the Eragon series. This book is even more complicated than the last one and it took me a long time to finish reading it. This book is also written by Christopher Paolini and it is as good as the last one. Eragon had defeated the Shade but some Urgals survived and killed Ajihad. The Varden was then left without a king and Nasuada, the princess had to take over of course. This book gets very confusing as sometimes it is told by Eragon or by Roran(Eragon's cousin) or Nasuada. When Eragon is telling the story, he is talking about the training he underwent with the elves and how Saphira had similar training. When Roran was telling the story, he was trying to help the villagers and trying to send them somewhere safe so that the Empire would not be able to catch them and make them slaves. When Nasuada was telling the story she is trying to solve all the problems and how she thinks that there is going to be a war soon between the Varden and the Empire. She is right of course but a lot of things have happened between the point she sent Eragon to undergo training and the point when war is declared. Eragon is much stronger and so is Saphira but there is a new Rider in the midst and although he is a younger Rider, he has more power and he learned from the king. In this book, Eragon finds out about his history. Who his father was, what reputation he had and who his brother was. This book explains a lot of questions in the first book and is sort of like an answer. It is still difficult to understand and is confusing as it jumps from one narrator to the next. It is still a good book and though and I still recommend it. Still does not beat twilight though...

Eragon

Eragon is the first book in the series and it is written by Christopher Paolini. I think that it is a very difficult book to understand but once you know what is going on, it is very interesting. It is about this boy named Eragon who found a dragon egg and it hatched for him. He named the dragon Saphira but the king is chasing after him and the dragon. Eragon has to run away from the village but he is followed by Brom whom he thought was the village storyteller but in fact works for the Varden. Brom teaches Eragon everything he knows about swordmanship and magic and tried to teach Eragon as much as he knows. When Brom is killed, Eragon is left to look for the Varden with Saphira and Murtaugh. When he arrives at the Varden he is welcomed by some and unwelcomed by some. He meets Ajihad the leader of the Varden and is then taken under the Varden. Everyone stays clear of Eragon and Saphira as they are afraid of them. Soon there is a battle between the Varden and the Urgals. A lot happens during the fight but you have to read the book to find out who wins. This is a good book but it is not that great. Harry Potter, House of Night and Twilight series beat this series by a mile. I recommend this book to people who do not mind reading it a few times as it takes a while to understand the story. It has a very interesting storyline and plot but it is not the best I have read. So far, my favourite series is still the Twilight series.

Hunted

This is the fifth book in the House of Night series. I take back what I said about the fourth book being the best because this is by far the best book in the series. At this point, it is also the latest one but the sixth one is already out in America(-.-). This book is written by P.C and Kristin Cast. In this book, Zoey and her friends including Erik have escaped from Kalona and Neferet and are now hiding at the old epot with the other red fledgings and vampyres. It is not the best place to stay but it is safe as Kalona does not like the Eart and the underground. While under the depot, Erik asks to get back together with Zoey again and Zoey agrees so now Zoey has one boyfriend. Shortly after that, Zoey finds poems about Kalona and how they might help drive him away. But, Heath arrives soon and messes everything up. Apparently Kalona was looking for Zoey as he believed that she was his queen and all that. But he could not get underground to get her, so he made his half man half crow sons watch the depot entrance so that Zoey will be caught the moment she comes out. When Heath arrives, he persuades Zoey to go outside to talk but when they get outside, Kalona's sons attack Zoey but Heath manages to run back to the depot. When Darius, a vampyre looks at Zoey's wound which was very serious he said that he could not help until they were back at school and at the mean time, Zoey needed human blood. Heath had no choice but to give his blood to her and they imprinted... Again. That is boyfriend number two. When Darius tells everyone that the only way to heal Zoey is to go back to school, everyone decides to follow except Stevie Rae and Erik. While they are there, Zoey has to be careful that she is not attracted towards Kalona and persuaded to join the bad side. In the mean time, Zoey is trying to decipher the poems to drive Kalona away. Stark, is finally coming to his senses and is starting to talk to Zoey although her friends do not like it as they believe that Stark is on the bad side. I cannot tell you what happens in the end but I will tell you this, Zoey figured out what the poem is saying but I am not saying whether she is right or not. You have to read the book to find that out. This book is one of the best books i have read and it falls under my top ten. It is a must read but it is not the best book i have read.

Untamed

This is the fourth book in the House of Night series and I think it is the most interesting one so far. In this book, Zoey has exactly the same problems as before. Friend problems, best friend problems, teacher-trying-to-kill-her-all-the-time problems... But, she has no boyfriends. Well, not yet at least. When a new kid transfers into school and her ex-boyfriend Erik gone, Zoey is finding it very hard to cope. The new kid, Stark has a special gift and he only told Zoey about it. Zoey could understand how Stark felt as she had a special gift as well as she had an affinity for all five elements. Stark's gift was that he could never miss his target while shooting an arrow. After he explained to Zoey how he had accidentally killed his instructer, Stark's body started rejecting the change. Zoey then quickly told him about how fledgings do not completely die after they reject the Change and how Stark might be able to live again. After Stark died in her arms, Zoey has another problem. Erik Night, her ex-boyfriend who had changed into a full vampyre started taking over the drama class here at the House of Night. This makes everything very complicated with Erik still thinking that Zoey cheated on him(this is all in the fourth book chosen) and Zoey not really wanting to have more boyfriend issues. Aphrodite who has visions about the future, saw Zoey's grandmother in her dreams and she was holding a poem. When Zoey read the poem out to her grandmother, things all start to go wrong. The poem was about a fallen angel called Kalona and Zoey's grandmother believes that he is going to rise again and make the world go bad. I cannot tell you what happens in the end of course because that would ruin the whole story. I highly reccomend this book because it is really really really really really really really good... but it still cannot beat the twilight series. EVER

Chosen

This is the third book in the House of Night series. It is written by P.C and Kristin Cast. It is about a young vampyre fledging who is very special as she has affinity for all five elements named Zoey. In this book, Zoey has found about the red fledgings and are trying to help them gain their humanity back. But Neferet is making that very difficult for her as she is always trying to find out what Zoey is up to. Other than major best friend issues and her mentor trying to kill her all the time, Zoey like any other girl has boyfriend issues as well. Zoey was juggling three guys and that can only be a recipie for disaster. When Zoey helps Stevie Rae get her humanity back, her friends find out that she was keeping it a secret from them except Aphrodite and Aphrodite was Zoey's arch enemy. So, now her friends are mad at her and the only person she can talk to is Aphrodite who is not much help. After all the stress and the problems... you just have to read the book and find out what happens. I highly recommend this book as it is excellent. But is will never never never EVER beat twilight.:)