Life is a Series of Books

"The books one reads in childhood, and perhaps most of all the bad and good bad books, create in one's mind a sort of false map of the world, a series of fabulous countries into which one can retreat at odd moments throughout the rest of life..." George Orwell

In a recent post I set you up for the summer with a selection of chick lit reads. The books should be keeping you busy unless your kids are home and won’t leave you some time alone! The recent movie release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince from the book series inspired me to recommend other collections available for the tween and teen scene.

News flash: the notorious James Frey is being taken off the backburner and back into the Frey-ing pan! You might recall his book A Million Little Pieces creating quite the kafuffle in the literary world. Frey went from the pan to the fire soon after Oprah put A Million Little Pieces on her book club list. Oprah proceeded to tear Frey into a million little pieces after it was revealed that his autobiography was a bit more imagination than realization! Frey was panned but now he’s on fire! All the hullabaloo didn’t hurt Frey’s career since he went on to write My Friend Leonard and Bright Shiny Morning. Now it appears that Frey is venturing into the teen scene with a sci-fi series for the younger set of ravenous readers. Frey is pairing up with a new novelist, Jobie Huges, to write four books. The first book is titled I Am Number Four. Are they going to work backwards or what’s the deal? It’s also been reported that Transformers director, Michael Bay has bought the film rights to I Am Number Four. Let’s hope the books and the movies do well or we’ll be hearing reviews that I Am Number Two stinks! Phew! Sorry, I just had to add that. With the recent release of the latest Harry Potter movie, I can’t help but wonder if Frey is switching gears desperately trying to be the next J.K. Rowling? Maybe it’s just the cynic in me but we can’t blame him for trying, right? Maybe Frey is looking for a million little dollars? Cue song: Barenaked Ladies singing ‘If I Had A Million Dollars’

If you have kids at home this summer and you’ve already heard “I’m bored” a million little times and feel as if you are going out of your freaking mind then maybe I can help. If your kids spend the majority of their waking hours starring at a screen or glued to a game controller then I might be able to assist. I have a 13 year old son. Need I say more? What’s a parent to do you ask? Get your kids into reading a good book, or better yet, a book series! I’m all for children reading whatever they’re into, even if it’s Archie Comics. BTW, did you hear Archie and Veronica are getting hitched? OMG! I thought I’d share a Twitter tidbit there!

After a few years of disinterest in reading, my “I’ll wait for the movie” son turned out to be an avid reader and now actually enjoys spending time in Chapters with me. Sometimes ‘DS’ likes to go it alone but that’s not the point and I don’t take it personally, really. (Sniff, sniff.) He is a teenager after all! This summer he’s discovered a series of books by Michelle Paver. For grading day I gave him a bag full of books that made him grin from ear to ear! I’m always asking him, “Whatcha reading?” and he always answers with the name of a book and looks forward to reading the next one. That’s my boy! I’m all for recommending the Harry Potter books but if your kids have ‘been there and done that’ so to speak and eager for a different series to get into then check out these titles.

Chronicles of an Ancient Darkness by Michelle Paver: Oath Breaker, Outcast, Wolf Brother, Soul Eater, Spirit Walker.

Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Magician’s Nephew, The Horse and His Boy, The Silver Chair, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Last Battle.

Inheritance Series by Christopher Paolini: Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr.

Pendragon by D.J. MacHale: The Merchant of Death, The Lost City of Faar, The Never War, The Reality Bug, Black Water, The Rivers of Zadaa, The Quillan Games, The Pilgrims of Rayne, Raven Rise, The Soldiers of Halla.

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer: Artemis Fowl, Artemis Fowl and the Arctic Incident, The Eternity Code, Artemis Fowl and the Opal Deception, Artemis Fowl the Graphic Novel, Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony, Artemis Fowl The Time Paradox, Airman.

A Series of Unfortunate Events by Daniel Handler aka Lemony Snicket: The Bad Beginning, The Reptile Room, The Wide Window, The Miserable Mill, The Austere Academy, The Ersatz Elevator, The Vile Village, The Hostile Hospital, The Carnivorous Carnival, The Slippery Slope, The Grim Grotto, The Penultimate Peril, The End.

So this summer encourage your kids to spend some time in the library or a book store and then bask in the quiet solitude as they immerse themselves in their books!