Yummy, yummy books

So I thought I would revamp my book category. Since I read way too fast for me to be able to update the sidebar when I change books, I thought I would just post about books that I thought were fantastic and I think others should read.I do not claim to be a great book reviewer. I sucked at book reports in school, but I will tell you when I like something and try to explain a little about why. If you want a good book review go read Monkey's book review blog. You'll enjoy it, trust me! :) Monkey reads just as much, if not more than I do. She also reads many different varieties of books, whereas I tend to stick to the same things. I don't like to be too adventurous in my reading. I also don't like non-fiction.So in honour of my revamped book category (this only applied when the post was on my other blog) I shall tell you about 4 books. But two of each go together, so it's really like two really long books. :)Peter and the Starcatchersby Dave Barry & Ridley PearsonIf you ever wanted to know how Peter Pan became Peter Pan, then this is a good book to read. It has the (toned down) Dave Barry humour and the (I guess) Ridley Pearson fantasy style. It is quite a fantastical depiction of what makes Peter magical and how he ended up on Never Land. It is unlike any other Peter Pan stories that I have read. There is a reason for everything, the magical creatures weren't just always magical. Normally I think I would have had a problem with that, but I really liked the way this story was written and I quite liked the characters. This is why, after having read this particular book in soft cover, I went right back to the bookstore the next day and bought the sequel in hard cover.Peter and the Shadow Thievesby Dave Barry & Ridley PearsonNow that Peter is all Peter Pan and stuff there is more trouble afoot. I did not like this story as much as the first, as if often the case with sequels, but I did like it in the sense that is was a great adventure novel. The plot itself interested me, but I felt like it didn't really do much to progress the story of Peter Pan. I guess it wasn't exactly the intention, I got the feeling this book was more about the adventure than about Peter Pan being Peter Pan. There are more characters involved than just the original Peter Pan ones. There are more pirates than just Captain Hook and his gang. And there is more sort of supernatural elements than I would have thought. I don't know how I feel about that exactly. But the story never bored me and I was caught up in it right through to the end.Both of these books are nice long ones. I was rather excited about how each chapter also had a little picture. I would say these were easier reads than the Harry Potter novels, but they are almost as full of excitement and adventure and mystery. Not too sure about how to gauge what age a book is for. I probably would have read these at about 7 or 8. I think they are classified under 9-12 years old in the store. If you know someone who liked Harry Potter, they will be sure to like these Peter Pan novels!twilightby Stephenie MeyerThis was one of those books that I picked up and put back down, picked up and put back down many times when I'd be in the bookstore. The first time I picked it up was because the cover caught my eye. Once I'd read the summary on the back, I wasn't too sure. Sure I liked many vampire stories, but I wasn't really a vampire girl and then added to the fact it was a TEEN vampire? I had visions of Dawson's Creek meets Dracula or something. I couldn't bear the thought of teen angst vamps. But then I would think about it again when I passed by, but would always end up putting it back on the shelf. But then I read Monkey's review and I went back to the store and bought it. Bella isn't your average teen, nor is she a vampire. But the love story between her and Edward the vampire is one that is told in such a manner that I was not rolling my eyes, I was not bored nor was I thinking this was totally unbelievable. I liked all the characters and I found this author's take on the vampire myth to be refreshing.And again? I went back to the store the next day and bought the sequel in hard cove. [for those of you who don't know me well enough, I HATE when my books don't match. If I am buying them in soft cover - they ALL have to be in soft cover. I generally do NOT like to mix and match my books. Don't even get me started on my Harry Potter all being in soft cover in the AMERICAN versions!]new moonby Stephenie MeyerLook! A sequel! And it wasn't as good as the first! But I didn't totally hate it. I was a little grumpy about the additional characters though. Just once I would like to read vampire books and not suddenly have the whole "we don't get along with werewolves" thing. I think the book really could have done without the introduction of a new supernatural being. I was happy with the vampires. The vampires were missing for half of the book and that was not fun. But the vampires came back (the very next day... hehehehehe, sorry) and all was well. The story didn't captivate me as much as the first, but I still ended up reading the entire 570 pages in one night. I think it was just a little over four hours. Now of course I have to wait until October 2007 before I can find out what happens next. GAH!And of course now I am about to dig into the pile o' books we just bought with Christmas gift cards and I am drooling over having at least a week of reading ahead of me. Hopefully I'll get more gift cards for my birthday because I know I'll be going through book withdrawal again by then!