Pedro Garcia Garcia itibaren Gbonko, Sierra Leone itibaren Gbonko, Sierra Leone

How much do you know about Greek myths? You don’t have to know too much to enjoy The Lightning Thief, but it sure makes it more fun if you do! Percy Jackson is not a terribly normal kid; he’s been to six schools in six years, has major dislexia, and strange things seem to happen to him all the time. (If this is starting to make you think of Harry Potter, it’s kind of similar, but not a clone by any means) Turns out, Percy is even more not normal than even he thought; his dad is one of the Greek gods. You know, Zeus and Ares and Poseidon and all those guys (and gals). So Percy is a demigod, and he’s sent to a camp for other kids like him, located on Long Island. He has an adventure/quest to go on with two good friends, and after some twists and turns, makes it to the end of the book. Riordan peppers the book with references to different myths and traditions about the Greek pantheon, which make the book even more fun. My favorite was Percy’s sojourn to the Lotus Casino - he “loses track of time” playing games and eating great food, only to find that he’s spent 5 days in the casino without noticing - an homage to the Lotus Eaters section of Homer’s Odyssey that I was forced to read as a freshman. The Lightning Thief is a great adventure with likeable characters and some neat twists. The best part? It’s Book 1 of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, so there’s more to come

This is a beautifully crafted novel about The Battle Of Gettysburg. I read this book in high school and loved it. Then a few months ago I re-read it (something I rarely do) with my husband. We took turns reading it aloud during car trips. This is a good book. It is extremely well written and full of a very heart-felt, gut-wrenching history. While the book is officially fiction, the writer pieced together his plot by reading all the historical documents he could get his hands on. He tried to be as faithful to the facts as he could and when there wasn't any information he filled in the details, guessing based on what he knew. The story jumps back and forth between the Northern and Southern Armies and gives both perspectives, a good reminder of how easy it is to mis-characterize "The Other Side."