Percy Jackson's Last Book - The Blood of Olympus - Kind of Disappointed

 

As I have mentioned many times before - we love Greek Mythology and The Percy Jackson Series. In fact, The Percy Jackson Series is what ignited our love of Greek Mythology. We started reading the first series when Grace was about nine and continued with it until it was finished. We were thrilled when we learned a second series (The Heroes of Olympus) would be another five books we could look forward to. One out each year. The first four we again read together aloud. This go around Grace read it first for a book report and couldn't get but about three quarters of the way through it before just walking away and not finishing it. I then picked it up and was determined to finish it on my own. Much enjoyment was always had by these books, but, and I'm sure you saw this coming, there was one item  in the fourth book that didn't set well with me.

 

*Spoiler Alert*

 

The fifth and final book was a real disappoint to me. I finished it only because I wanted to know what happened at the end. Percy and Annabeth seemed to be afterthoughts in this book. Only a handful of chapters in the whole book related to them. Don't get me wrong I did like all the characters introduced in this series, but Percy and Annabeth where the glue to this entire series and I felt it was a disservice to not include them more. All five books led up to what one would think would be an epic battle with Gaea only to have her destroyed in less than a paragraph or two. The ending had everyone finding their "happy ending", but Leo and Calypso's reunion was very short and actually ended the book with almost like a cliff hanger of where they were going, but we all know this was the last book because the author is moving on to Norse Mythology with a new series to come out this fall. One last point I would like to make is the fact that the entire book seemed disjointed with all the characters spread out completing different tasks until meeting back up at the very end. It was like the author was trying to throw in every Greek mythological character he could to tie things up.

 

Anyway, I will get off my soap box now and just say for the most part I love everything that Rick Riordan writes. This one just didn't resonate with me. Other Percy Jackson fans may love it and that's okay, because we all have different opinions. All opinions in the post are my own and I bought this book myself.

 

 

Books on My Nightstand

 

 

I tend to keep a pretty eclectic stack of books beside my bed. I always read 30 - 60 minutes prior to falling asleep and usually have a book with me wherever I go (just in case there is any down time or wait time). For Christmas my son gave me a Visa gift card and every single penny went to new books. I had found that over the past 3-6 months it was getting harder and harder to find books that would capture my interest and keep it. Every time I went to the library I would come home with a big stack and not finish a single book. To me it doesn't matter - adult or young adult fiction are winners. Here is a rundown of what I am reading and my thoughts so far:

 

The Message - I needed a new Bible and wanted something a little different than my NIV. So far I have used The Message for my nightly Bible reading time and like it, but I don't think I would use it for my main Bible all the time.

 

Gifted Hands - This is one of those cases where I have seen the movie before reading the book. Grace actually wants to read this one so I thought I would buy it and read it first then hand it off to Grace. I haven't started this one yet.

 

Gone Girl - It took me a while to get into to this one, but once I did I found it kind of fascinating and disturbing. I have not seen the movie on this one. This book might not be good for the faint of heart as far as language goes. Way too much foul language for my taste but I still couldn't put it down because I wanted to see how it all played out and ended.

 

Wicked Ways - Haven't started this one yet but Lisa Jackson is one of my authors that I revert to reading when I have nothing else and just don't want to have to think over anything to hard.

 

The Uglies Part 2 (Pretties) - I have just started Pretties, the second in The Uglies Series. The first book we are reading with our teenage daughters in a book club that meets once a month. The girls are still reading it and not really enjoying it. I like it but don't love it. I have already moved on to the next book because again I just want to see how it all plays out. I was surprised that the girls haven't liked it as it gets great reviews from both teens and adults.

 

On my kindle I am still reading a few titles as well, most recently Not a Fan for Teens because it was free. I also still have the third Outlander book that I started but trying to read a book that is between 500 and 1000 pages seems very daunting at the moment. After many months of not really enjoying reading and just going through the motions, it is great to have a few that I do look forward to each night before bed.

 

 

What the Book 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess Taught Me

Let me just come right out and preface this whole little piece of writing by saying, I don't fast. There I said it. I'm not going to feel guilty about it. Well, maybe a little guilt. I don't deprive or sacrifice anything during the lent season, although there have been many years that my husband did, and I just watched from the sidelines.  Looking back I am know thinking that maybe I missed out on something. Our society rarely thinks of sacrifice because we are a society of excess and quite frankly most of us like it that way. 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess has opened my eyes just a bit. The author Jen Hatmaker is new to me. I saw the title of this book on Facebook and desperately needed something new to read, so in walks the book titled 7, actually it downloaded on my Kindle.

The basic premise of this book is fasting not feasting in certain areas of our lives. Jen took on this amazing challenge that lasted 7 months. She fasted in 7 areas she felt needed attention: Food, Clothing, Spending, Media, Possessions, Waste, and Stress.

I enjoyed her style of writing which was fun and engaging, but also thought provoking at times. It is not a bang you over the head kind of book about religion but it does make some very valid points about our society at large, especially those of us that are Christians. The part of the book that touched me the most starts on page 172 and runs for a couple of pages about what the Early Church would think of church as it is today. Feasting and not fasting. Many of her thoughts on this matter have also been my thoughts over the past couple of years and why I think our family has had such a tough time finding a new church family and church home. My thinking on corporate worship has changed dramatically over the years and continues. One day I might have the fortitude to write a blog post about it.

Regardless, in my opinion this is a very worthy read. Did it impress upon me the need of fasting? Yes. Am I going to do it? Maybe. Some areas of my life need more work than others. Media, spending, and stress are probably the three I would need to work on first. What areas in your life need some fasting? I'd love to hear from you.

 

 



Favorite New Reads

Lately it has been hard to find any new adult novel authors that interest me. So I moved on to youth fiction. Here are a couple of interesting ones:


This is a three book series and I am currently about to finish the second. If you like The Hunger Games you will like this series too. I am really enjoying this one and can't wait to figure out everything in the last book.



I have found this one enjoyable also. I believe the author is already up to book 5 but I am about to start book 3. On Amazon it is recommended for 8th grade and up but I think more like 10th grade and up due to some thematic content and language.

Grace just finished Nobody's Princess and is anxiously awaiting the second in this series from the library.

While Grace is waiting on the sequel to Nobody's Princess she has decided to start the Divergent series. I will also start this one after she finishes it.

What I'm Reading

I first started reading this book to see if it would be appropriate for Grace to read (it isn't, probably more for 16yrs and up). But I have been drawn in the the world that was created for the series, so unless something changes I will probably finish the series.
This one is for an online book club. Currently on chapter three and really enjoying it. Of course it is kind of depressing about how far all most of the kids in the world have been drawn away from outdoor play and nature through many sets of circumstances.
Being a family that raises chickens this one was a no brainer. The illustrations are in water color and so great. Yesterday I tried my hand at copying one of the chickens in my own painting. Let's just say it will not be seen on this blog. lol. Something I found very interesting was the forward was written by Prince Charles. Evidently his grandmother was a huge fan of Buff Orpingtons and had a flock of her won. Even Prince Charles keeps chickens (of course he probably pays someone to keep them for him). But still the same it just proves how many folks around the world really love chickens.

Afternoon Out

Pretty much the entire week we were at home. No outings, no extracurricular activities, etc. It was really nice. We also didn't go out to eat all week (which is really good for us lately). Today is one of Scott's long days at work, so it called for a little fun. We finished most of our school this morning then headed out for our small adventure. Went to Zaxbys for lunch then headed to the closest decent book store, 30 minutes away. I had some things in mind that I wanted and was able to accomplish alot of it. Of course I could have purchased so many other nice things. Lots of great chicken raising books and gardening books. But I tried to control myself, especially with going to the homeschool convention in only three weeks. Yeah! The above photo is a national Audubon Society Pocket Guide of Familiar Butterflies of North America. This will go great with our current butterfly unit and we as a family hope to do some hiking in the near future. The is a great small book we can take with us to identify some butterflies.

Next on the agenda was some new reading material for Grace. Grace really has to connect with a book to finish it. Here lately that just hasn't happened. A couple of months ago she read the two Lanie books from American Girl and really enjoyed them. They were mostly about plants and nature. She is not that interested in reading their historical books though. She is right on the edge of them being a little young for her. But for independent reading each day I really don't mind, it gets to be her choice. I decided to pick up the two series book Nicki and Thanks to Nicki. These two books have another of Grace's interests, dogs. The Nicki books are about dogs in general as well as training service dogs.

This is a just for fun book for Grace. She really loves all things fantasy. She has a dragon book from this series also. She will also be using it for sketching time. One of her favorite subjects to draw are fairies.

Next comes a couple of items for me. It isn't often that I purchase just for me. Normally I get most of my reading material , non-fiction and fiction, from the library. But I knew I needed to soon start doing some planning for Grace's high school year. I have perused this book before and it looked like it has some good information in it. Good enough to keep on the shelf for future references. There is one other high school book I want and will try to find at the used sale at the convention. I think the name is something like High School Design. It is for families that are homeschooling but not necessarily doing it a traditional way. Which will probably be us. I don't see us taking a completely traditional path for high school subjects, etc. I will post more about this in the future as it plays out.

This is just a little clearanced dollar item I can keep in my purse. I am constantly needing something to write on for books I want to put on hold at the library or just things I want to remind myself to do the next day. Also it will be handy to take to the convention to take notes in sessions, etc.