Titanic 100th Anniversary Reading Challenge First Quarter

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73. My Path to Heaven: A Young Person's Guide to the Faith by Geoffrey Bliss, S.J.

My Path to Heaven: A Young Person's Guide to the Faith by Geoffrey Bliss, S.J. Illustrations by Caryll Houselander (US) - (Canada) - (Kindle)

Original Title: A Retreat with Saint Ignatius: In Pictures for Children
Pages: 89
Ages: 9+
Finished: Mar. 6, 2012
First Published: 1936, Sheed & Ward
This Edition: 1997, Sophia Institute Press
Genre: Catholic, Christian, children, devotions, doctrines
Rating: 5/5


Note about the modern edition: "This 1997 edition contains slight editorial revisions to remove anachronisms and correct infelicities in style."

First sentence: "The young boy at the bottom of the picture is supposed to be just made, or created, by God; that is why two lines come down from God's hands onto his head."

Publisher's Summary: "My Path to Heaven is an old-fashioned "retreat-in-a-book" that helps Catholic children, ages 9-12, ponder the truths of the Faith and calls them to live lives of holiness in accordance with those truths."


Acquired: Purchased a new copy from an online retailer.

Reason for Reading:   We always start our homeschool time together with God.  First using something for study, then reading a story or passage from the Bible.  I just happened to stumble upon this book online and after looking at the sample pages was extremely excited about using it with my son as a catechises/devotional.

This book is utterly amazing and I highly recommend it.  I do not have the theological background to do justice to it by trying to explain it to you and anything I do say about it will only be a small portion of just how beautiful and spiritually captivating and instructional it really is.  This is a twelve lesson course and we did one lesson a school week, thus with the occasional week off it took us just over 3 months to complete.  During that period of time, my son's knowledge of God & Jesus has blossomed and intensified.  He has formed from a childish knowledge of his faith to a more mature and personal devotion to the Lord which gradually became evident throughout the study of these lessons.  He understands concepts he never quite got before.  He knows what Love and Hope are, he knows who to pray for, he appreciates the glory of the sacraments and the importance of the Holy Eucharist with a true heart of someone who cannot live without the food the Lord provides for our souls.  He speaks of the Lord with knowledge and truth.  He has reached a new stage in his religious life and I am so thankful to this book which engaged him on all levels.

Briefly how the book works.  Each lesson is the same.  We start off with an illustrated picture and these are incredibly intricate and detailed pictures which one is asked to study the first day.  The picture also has a caption to go along with it to help your thought process. 

The second day one is to read the accompanying text for the lesson which run two to three pages, usually three.  These lessons are written to the children, in an old-fashioned voice, remember the book was originally written in the 1930s, but it is never condescending or babyish (the modern editing may have had a bit to do with this perhaps).  It explains theological concepts and Church dogmas so simply, even a youngster listening in could comprehend.  The theology is not watered down though in anyway.  The Truth is told here.  There is a Heaven and a Hell and it is up to you where you will go.  God sends no one to Hell. He gave us free will and we make the choice to go there on our own by the way we choose to live our lives and the lessons in this book each touch on a subject and show one how to strive for holiness, remembering that we have a forgiving God.  That while the Devil will tempt us with snares, God will show mercy and patience as long as we return to him and keep striving for that holiness through which this book shows children how to pick up their cross and follow Jesus.

The lessons suggests spending more than one day reading the lesson.  Then finally there is a list of anywhere from 10 to 20 "yes" or "no" questions at the end of each lesson to catechize the student/reader to obtain there understanding of the material covered.  Interestingly, there are no answers.  Just an accumulation of the yeses and noes such as Answer: 14: Yes, 6: No.  This makes the Instructor/leader have to pay attention as well.  I will say these lessons brought about some amazing discussions between ds and I.  He is 11 and autistic, he discussed throughout the lessons about the topics and we even got way off topic and he had  me answering questions about morality, ethics, what about the people who don't believe, abortion, what do we do with bad guy killers and a whole bunch of other stuff.  He's a very intelligent kid when it comes to this stuff and his lack of verbalizing in the usual way most of the time, makes it very thrilling to have these conversations with him when he takes the lead.   I highly recommend this book for individual or small group settings such as homeschool Sunday School.

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72. The Best Book of Mummies by Philip Steele

The Best Book of Mummies by Philip Steele. Illustrated by Vanessa Card, Angus McBride, et al. (US) - (Canada) Out of Print
The Best Book of series

Pages: 31 +index
Ages: 7+
Finished: Mar. 5, 2012
First Published: 1998
Publisher: Kingfisher
Genre: children, nonfiction, history, ancient Egypt
Rating: 4/5


First sentence: "Imagine opening up the secret tomb of someone who has been dead for thousand of years."

Publisher's Summary: "This work invites you to unwrap the bandages and take a thrilling first look at Egyptian mummies - who they were, how they were embalmed, where they were buried, and how they were discovered."

Acquired: My own copy, purchased new, from an online retailer years ago.

Reason for Reading:   We've had books from "The Best Book of" series in the house for over a decade.  It is a good series.  And since we are studying Ancient Egypt right now I pulled this book from the shelf.

This is a short, picture book style book, with large text and a multitude of pictures set up in the usual Kingfisher format of a main narrative text followed by smaller boxes of text under certain illustrations and each illustration is captioned.  This book is strictly illustrated except on the last page where two photographs have been used.  Set up in two page spreads the book topically uses three such spreads to work in a succinct ordered manner describing the mummy process.  First talking about the pharaohs and why they would want to be turned into mummies in the first place, the society and religion, followed by the mummification process, the funeral procession, where and how mummies were stored and with what and finally ending up with robbers, archaeologists and the modern scientific process.  A very interesting, well-written and entertaining book for up to about age 11.  When we finished reading my son said "Awww, more book?!"  It was too short for him. 

He's really enjoying this study of ancient Egypt.  Up to this point in our reading mummies had of course been discussed with brief details but this is the first time the text got into all the little details and showed the tools, plus including interesting tidbits of information I don't think he'll forget soon.
Next we are off for a deeper look at Mummies with a DK book that is illustrated with photographs and thus will be more graphic.  I'm not sure if he will handle that well or not, he's very sensitive but this topic interests him, so we'll see.  If it goes over well, he'll actually get to see the mummies and learn that not just the Egyptians used the mummification process.

71. Ethel & Ernest: A True Story by Raymond Briggs

Ethel & Ernest: A True Story by Raymond Briggs (US) - (Canada)

Pages: 104
Ages: 14+
Finished: Mar. 4, 2012
First Published: 1998
Publisher: Jonathan Cape
Genre: graphic novel, biography, memoir
Rating: 4/5




First sentence: "Ethel! For Heaven's sake! Where are you?"

Publisher's Summary: "Poignant, funny, and utterly original, Ethel & Ernest is Raymond Briggs's loving depiction of his parents' lives from their chance first encounter in the 1920s until their deaths in the 1970s.

Ethel and Ernest were solid members of the English working class, part of the generation that lived through the most tumultuous years of the twentieth century. They met during the Depression--she working as a maid, he as a milkman--and we follow them as they court and marry, make a home, raise their son, and cope with the dark days of World War II. Briggs's portrayal of how his parents succeeded, or failed, in coming to terms with the events of their rapidly shifting world--the advent of radio, television, and telephones; the development of the atomic bomb; the moon landing; the social and political turmoil of the sixties--is irresistibly engaging, full of sympathy and affection, yet clear-eyed and unsentimental.

Briggs's illustrations are small masterpieces; coupled with the wonderfully candid dialogue, they evoke the exhilaration and sorrow, excitement and bewilderment, of experiencing such enormous changes. As much a social history as a personal account, Ethel & Ernest is a moving tribute to ordinary people living in an extraordinary time."

Acquired: Borrowed a copy through Inter-Library Loan.

Reason for Reading: When I found out about "When the Wind Blows" I checked to see if Briggs had any other adult graphic novels and found this one.  I was immediately drawn to the topic and requested it through ILL.

This is just a simply charming book.  Briggs pays homage to his parents in a way I guess we all wish we had the talent to do so.  While a biography of his parents, it also includes his own life story as far as it affected his parents, until the time of their death and in a way also shows us what shaped the man Briggs himself came to be.  The book shows how heroic ordinary people are just living their normal everyday lives, getting through the tragedies of real life and what an extraordinary time it was to live through the twentieth century with the incredible changes that took place over the span of one person's life.  Ethel & Ernest are comic in their straight forward attitude as they take these changes in their stride and comment upon the usefulness or silliness of each new modern invention.  Ethel is fascinated with a copper water heater.  Just turn a button and light a match!  How brilliant!  Then we watch a page of frames as she back-breakingly washes her sheets by hand with this scalding hot spray of water.  Television?  Ridiculous! How awful.  It would be like going to the pictures every single night!  Once Raymond grows up and starts college as an art student his parents are horrified.  He turns into the typical 60's long haired hippie and his mother constantly meets him with "Hello Raymond, Here's  a comb."  You will fall in love with this peppy, perky couple who worked a hard life of manual labour through the 30s and 40s, survived WWII and the minor bombing of their house, learned to adjust to the modern inventions of the 50s and became baffled by the political and social upheavals of the sixties, of which their son was a part.  There is nothing in the book inappropriate for children, the deaths at the end may be traumatic for some, but on the whole, the subject matter is going to be appreciated by a more mature audience.  A lovely book that I'm glad to have stumbled upon!

70. Fibble by Dale E. Basye

Fibble by Dale E. Basye. Illustrations by Bob Dob (US) - (Canada) - (Kindle)
The Fourth Circle of Heck

Pages: 368
Ages: 9+
Finished: Mar. 3, 2012
First Published: May 24, 2011
Publisher: Random House
Genre: children, fantasy, paranormal, humour
Rating: 5/5


First sentence: "Being a boy feels really weird, Marlo thought as she dangled her brother's gross feet off the backseat of the stagecoach taking her to Fibble, the circle of Heck for kids who lie."


Publisher's Summary: "When Marlo Fauster claims she has switched souls with her brother, she gets sent straight to Fibble, the circle of Heck reserved for liars. But it's true—Milton and Marlo have switched places, and Marlo finds herself trapped in Milton's gross, gangly body. She also finds herself trapped in Fibble, a three-ring media circus run by none other than P. T. Barnum, an insane ringmaster with grandiose plans and giant, flaming pants. Meanwhile Milton, as Marlo, is working at the devil's new television network, T.H.E.E.N.D. But there's something strange about these new shows. Why do they all air at the same? And are they really broadcasting to the Surface? Soon Milton and Marlo realize that they need each other to sort through the lies and possibly prevent the end of the world—if Bea "Elsa" Bubb doesn't catch them first."


Acquired: Purchased the arc from my library's sale table.

Reason for Reading: Next in the series.

This has got to be the best book in the series for me so far.  The plot has several lines running through it and not just the ones involving Marlo and Milton.  Coming into each book we never know who will take centre stage, brother or sister.  This time around, Marlo and Milton alternate chapters as one is in Fibble and the other is working for Satan and has uncovered a plot to bring about the end of the world.  Eventually, but not until close to the end the two meet up and their stories merge into continuous chapters.  Again the plot is much deeper this time around, with religion playing a much more major role than it has in any of the other volumes.  Filled with references to all the world's major religions Basye takes a satirical look at all, without offense, (if one can laugh at oneself as much as another) and brings forth a message of getting along with each other.  This is all hidden within the framework of the usual puns and play on words that saturate this series.  Basye has even done the unthinkable with this book and inserted himself as a minor character. 

So far in these books, the overall theme has been Principal Bubb's determination in finding and punishing Milton for the repeated trouble he has caused her.  Fibble introduces a bigger, more grandiose plot that leaves  few unanswered questions and promises to be a further overall theme for the books.  You must read these books in order to understand the story.  Jumping in at this point will simply leave you confused.  As to age recommendation, while the first book in the series is certainly easily enjoyed by the average 9 year old, by the time we get to Fibble I'd say the appreciation level of the themes, word play and historical figures will be better suited to the 11/12 year old.  I'm  looking forward to Snivel which comes out shortly this year and a movie is purported to be in the works based on the first book in the series, Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go.

2012 ARC Reading Challenge - FINISHED

ETA- Mar. 16. I have officially completed the Platinum Level (35 ARCs) so will consider this challenge completed.  However I will continue to play along and list my arcs read here and add them to the monthly posts on Teddy's site.

*********

The lovely Teddy Rose is hosting this challenge as usual, and once again I will be joining. I find it keeps me accountable for the massive amount of ARCs I manage to get myself buried under. This year Teddy has added a new level of 35 or more books which I will sign up for. Last year I found myself humming and hawing as to whether I should add smaller books to this challenge, like picture books and some graphic novels. So my personal rule for this challenge, this year, will be to only include my ARCS that have 100 pages or more.

ARCS (of 100+ pages) read this year:
Post reviews here.
1. Drop In (Tony Hawk's 900 Revolution #1) by Donnie Lemkie
2. Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan, Vol. 5 by Hiroshi Shiibashi
3. Who Cut the Cheese? by Jo Nesbo
4. Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan, Vol. 6 by Hiroshi Shiibashi
5. MAOH: Juvenile Remix, Vol. 7 by Megumi Osuga
6. The Translation of the Bones by Frances Kay
7. MAOH: Juvenile Remix, Vol. 8 by Megumi Osuga
8. Green River Killer: A True Detective Story by Jeff Jensen
9. No Such Thing as Dragons by Philip Reeve
10. Super Dinosaur, Vol. 1 by Robert Kirkman
11. 50 Underwear Questions: A Bare-All History by Tanya Lloyd Kyi
12. The Last Dragon by Jane Yolen
13. The Fathomless Fire by Thomas Wharton
14. Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee, Vol. 7 by Hiroyuki Asada
15. African-American Classics edited by Tom Plumplun
16. The Betrayal of Trust by Susan Hill
17. 101 Puzzle Quizzes by The Grabarchuk Family
18. Nicholas St. North and the Nightmare King by William Joyce
19. The Clockwork Three by Matthew J. Kirby
20. The Midnight Zoo by Sonya Hartnett
21. Fluffy, Fluffy Cinnamoroll, Vol. 1 by Yumi Tsukirino
22. The Flint Heart by Katharine & John Paterson
23. Titanic 2012 by Bill Walker
24. Revenge of the Horned Bunnies by Ursula Vernon
25. X, 3-in-1, Vol. I by CLAMP
26. All Different Kinds of Free by Jessica McCann
27. Judge Anderson: the Psychic Crime Files by Alan Grant
28. Friends With Boys by Faith Erin Hicks
29. Glory Be by Augusta Scattergood
30. The Secret World of Arrietty, Vol. 1 by Studio Ghibli
31. The Secret World of Arrietty, Vol. 2 by Studio Ghibli
32. Cinder by Marissa Myer
33. A Rare Titanic Family by Julie Hedgepeth Williams
34. Library Wars: Love & War, vol. 7 by Kiiro Yumi
35. Tegami Bachi, Letter Bee, Vol. 8 by Hiroyuki Asada

The And More ...
36.

69. Tegmi Bachi: Letter Bee, Vol. 8 by Hiroyuki Asada

Light Shining Upon Darkness by Hiroyuki Asada (US) - (Canada)
Tegmi Bachi: Letter Bee, Vol. 8

Pages: 200
Ages: 13+
Finished: Mar. 2, 2012
First Published: 2006 Japan (Feb. 7, 2012 English)
Publisher: viz media
Genre: YA, manga, fantasy, science fiction
Rating: 5/5


First sentence: "So that's it, huh?"

Publisher's Summary: "Lag arrives at the town of Lament determined to save the heart of his fallen hero, Gauche Suede. Gauche’s rebel organization, Reverse, may be hiding out in the town’s convent. To get in, Lag will have to use his wits, and he has no idea what—or who—awaits him there. Will this be Lag’s chance to fire his Letter Bullet and restore Gauche’s memories...or the end of his career as a Letter Bee?"


Acquired: Received a review copy from Simon & Schuster Canada.

Reason for Reading:   Next in the series.

A heart-thumping, fast-paced, plot driven volume.  This entry in the series had me flipping the pages as fast as I could read/take in each page.  Events are full of emotion as the story gets back to the whole overall big picture, which hasn't been touched upon in recent volumes.  We meet a new character who becomes emotionally involved in the story right away.  The return of many familiar faces make for a good story with a final showdown between good and evil.  Yet, questions arise as to whether the evil is really the enemy, sure there methods are despicable but do they stem from good intentions.  Personally, my ethics state that the ends never vindicate the means, however this changes the viewpoint of certain characters.  The question of Amberground's government's role in all this is once again brought up and this volume lets us know that we will once again be returning to Capitol City, where we've only been once before, in the next volume: "The Dead Letter Office".  This volume keeps the story fresh and has me anxious for the next book.  Still my favourite manga I'm reading at the moment.

68. Salamander Smackdown by John Sazaklis

Salamander Smackdown by John Sazaklis. Illustrated by Art Baltazar (US) - (Canada)
DC Super Pets

Pages: 52
Ages: 6+
Finished: Mar. 1, 2012
First Published: Aug. 1, 2011
Publisher: Picture Window Press
Genre: children, easy reader, superheroes
Rating: 4/5


First sentence: "It was a beautiful morning in Central City."

Publisher's Summary: "When two naughty newts escape from a pet store, nothing can stop their amphibian antics . . . except the TERRIFIC WHATZIT! This super-speedy turtle must stop the slimy salamanders before they cast another tale of terror on CENTRAL CITY."

Acquired: Received a review copy from Capstone Press.

Reason for Reading: Ds read aloud to me as his reader.

Well ds (and I) really enjoyed this title even more so than usual.  This is a very fun story that doesn't follow the usual supervillan plot of the other books in the series.  Instead, this time, we have two cyborg salamanders who idolize Professor Zoom, follow him home, find a giant robot and get it working.  They then proceed to cause chaos in Central City.  Luckily The Flash's pet turtle the Terrific Whatzit is nearby to rescue the day.  Ds had a great time reading this one and enjoyed the antics of both Whatzit and the newts.  Being autistic he doesn't often get a lot of humour unless it is right in your face but he laughed all the way through at the shenanigans of cyborg newts, X-43 and Bit-Bit.  He even got 2 out of the 3 jokes at the back of the book!  He usually doesn't get any of them.  Lots of fun had by all and one of our favourites in this entertaining series written at a low reading level but suitable for a wide range of ages who are still interested in superheroes. Ds is 11 and mum is forty-{cough}.

67. Secrets of Tut's Tomb and the Pyramids by Stephanie Ann Reiff

Secrets of Tut's Tomb and the Pyramids by Stephanie Ann Reiff. (US) - OUT OF PRINT
CPI Weird World

Pages: 48
Ages: 8+
Finished: Feb. 26, 2012
First Published: 1977
Publisher: Raintree Children's Books
Genre: Children, Non-fiction, History, Paranormal
Rating: 2/5


First sentence: "Imagine lifting enough stone blocks to build a wall running from Los Angeles to New York City."

Publisher's Summary: "Discusses the building of the Egyptian pyramids, the finding of King Tut's Tomb, strange stories associated with them, and possible powers possessed by pyramids."

Acquired: Bought a used copy from my local library's book sale table.

Reason for Reading:   Bit of a story... When I was a kid, my library had this whole series and I was into all this paranormal stuff back then.  I remember this book, as well as others, from the series, quite fondly.  Someone on LibraryThing has taken the time to add the entire series with pictures and I brought this book home as a bit of a memento from my childhood.

While studying Egypt, I read this aloud to ds, thinking the finding of Tut's tomb along with the story of the curse would be fun for him.

First of all, this book is not a literary winner.  Written in simple, stilted language, it is not exactly a winner of a book.  The first few chapters discuss the pyramids (Giza in particular) how they were made and why.  Of course, the book leaves off a lot of factual information so it can produce an aura of mystery around them.  Fortunately, I have the information to fill in the obvious blanks and even my son has gained some knowledge up to this point to do so as well.  What was fun, and ds thought absolutely crazy!, was the book bringing up the possibilities that the pyramids may have been built through levitation or the help of UFOs!  Near the end is a chapter on the pyramidal shape itself and all the 1970s mumbo-jumbo about the magical powers of pyramids.  Remember when they were all the rage?  You could by pyramid kits for healing or pyramid necklaces, etc.  Well I skipped reading that chapter to the ds, but did read it myself.

What this book was good for, and why I give it two stars, is that it's middle chapter, the longest in the entire book, gives a very entertaining narrative on the finding of Tut's Tomb.  Right from the frustrating first attempts to the final finding of the burial chamber and the subsequent deaths of those on the party, bringing forth the contemporary hysteria over the tomb's "curse".  The book is also profusely illustrated with mostly colour (some b/w) photographs.  Not a book I'd normally own, let alone read, but it was on hand and sufficed to tell the Tut story.  Otherwise, for the meantime, I'll keep it as a souvenir as a reminder of this part of my childhood.