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Readers' Realm

Reader's Realm: Fantasy
with Lisa


Welcome to the Readers’ Realm.  This month’s genre:  FANTASY! Plan to read your book in about a month.  A new discussion topic will be posted each Wednesday from now through February 24. Then on to a new genre/category!   



Feel free to post as much as you like.  You’ll have to click on the title of the post to get to the comment page. Be sure to read others’ comments and respond to them.   Let’s get to it: 

We know fantasy most times has magical or mystical creatures.  From your book’s cover and title, what kind of creatures do you think will be in the story?  If no creatures, what kind of magical elements do you think you’ll find?  
Please include the title and author of the book you’re reading in your post. 

I’m reading "The Goblin’s Puzzle: Being the Adventures of a Boy with No Name and Two Girls Called Alice" by Andrew S. Chilton. Obviously, a goblin will be in the story as it’s in the title.  A dragon is also pictured on the cover.  There’s also a castle and a small village, so it seems as if it’s going to take place in a fairy tale type land.  Maybe the kids have to solve the Goblin’s Puzzle to save someone/something?  I’ll have to find out! 

What’s happening in your book? 
Need help finding a book? Check out some of these recommendations!
Posted by [email protected]  On Feb 03, 2021 at 8:23 AM
  
Readers' Realm

Readers' Realm: Adventure!
with Lisa

OK, this is it; we’re finishing up ADVENTURE!  Keep commenting or join in now. 
A new genre/category will begin next week, so you can start looking for a book.  Let’s go to FANTASY next. Check out some suggested books below, but remember - the choice is totally yours. 

As you finish your adventure book, did you find it to be a page turner (you know, the book you can’t put down)?  Did they characters actually finish the adventure or are you the reader left hanging?  Did it end like you wanted it to?  If so GREAT!  If not, what could have made it better? Please include the title and author of the book you’re reading in your post (some of us want to add to our reading list!) 

In my book, "The Tomb" by S.A. Bodeen, I was left with a cliff hanger.  Another unknown spaceship had pulled the Tomb to them with a tractor beam, and now Kiva and Seth are faced with a similar decision to the one they had before; they are not both going to get to leave.  The ship is ruled by the Witch, so staying onboard is not a good option.  Only one escapes, but what will happen to the other?  I guess we need a sequel to find out! 

Remember we’ll start next week with Fantasy!  Here are some suggested titles, but, of course, the choice is yours!

Posted by [email protected]  On Jan 27, 2021 at 9:21 AM
  
Harry Potter Book Week

No need to use the Floo Network to get to Hogwarts this year...we're using Muggle Tech!
Lessons at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry have gone virtual! Join us for a week full of DIYs, trivia, discussions, contest & more celebrating the Wizarding World of Harry Potter! Follow us on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram for the fun! Click here for a full schedule more details.
Posted by [email protected]  On Jan 22, 2021 at 11:10 AM
  
Readers' Realm

Readers' Realm: Adventure!
with Lisa

The adventure continues! Keep commenting or join in now. 

A new discussion topic will be posted each week from now through January 27. Then on to a new genre/category.   
Feel free to post as much as you like.  You’ll have to click on the title to get to the comment page. Be sure to read others’ comments and respond to them.  Let’s get to it!

What’s an adventure without a little life or death?  Have the characters in your book had to face any life or death situations?  Have they had to make any sacrifices to keep going on their adventure?  Please include the title and author of the book you’re reading in your post (some of us want to add to our reading list!) 

In my book, "The Tomb" by S.A. Bodeen, Kiva has a difficult decision to make.  Her friend, Seth, has been knocked out with some poison and can’t walk or talk.  Should she leave him with the evil caretaker of the spaceship and take the much needed spare part back to her ship or leave the part, which could cause everyone on her ship to die, and save Seth?  What a decision!  She has to do something to get away from the evil guy, but neither choice is good.  Maybe she can come up with a third choice? 

What’s happening in your book? 
Posted by [email protected]  On Jan 20, 2021 at 9:32 AM
  
Readers' Realm

Readers' Realm: Adventure!
with Lisa

The adventure continues! Keep commenting or join in now. 

A new discussion topic will be posted each week through January 27 - then on to a new genre/category.   
Feel free to post as much as you like. Be sure to read others’ comments and respond to them.  Let’s get to it!

Adventures can truly take place anywhere.  Where is your adventure taking place? Tell me about it.  Do you think that’s a good place for adventure?  Is it unique, or is it overused? Please include the title and author of the book you’re reading in your post (some of us want to add to our reading list!) 

The book I’m reading, "The Tomb" by S. A. Bodeen,  starts in ancient Egypt.  But there’s a twist!  The Egypt parts have actually all been a virtual reality simulator.  The two main characters are on a small spaceship that they name the Tomb.  This totally makes sense, as some of the Egyptian activities were not actually from ancient times.  It’s a great setting, as now these two teens are alone in space, heading toward another space craft.  All kinds of things can go wrong.

 The Tomb

What’s happening in your book? 
Posted by [email protected]  On Jan 13, 2021 at 8:10 AM
  
Readers' Realm

Readers' Realm: Adventure!
with Lisa

Welcome to the Readers’ Realm! Our new online book club, Readers' Realm, explores a different genre/category each month and encourages middle school fiction lovers to share their favorite reads - and find some new ones along the way!

This month’s genre: ADVENTURE! Plan to read your book in about a month.  A new discussion topic will be posted each Wednesday through Jan. 27. Then it's on to a new genre/category!   

Feel free to post as much as you like.  Be sure to read others’ comments and respond to them too.  Let’s get to it!

This week's questions:
What book did you choose? Why did you choose your adventure book? Who is your favorite author? Just from the title and the first few pages, what do you think the adventure will be about?   

I’m reading "The Tomb" by S. A. Bodeen (one of our featured authors).  I choose it because I’ve liked her other books, and the title sounded a bit scary. A tomb?  Is something/someone coming out or going in?  The first few pages take place in Ancient Egypt, but the cover shows outer space.  Hmmmmm... I’ll have to see how that goes together. Maybe the Egyptians learn about some aliens?? 

The Tomb

Tell us about your book in the comments below! 
Looking for an adventure book? Check out some of these great titles! 

Posted by [email protected]  On Jan 06, 2021 at 8:25 AM
  
Readers' Realm
Journey into Readers' Realm with a new genre each month
by Lisa

Our new online book club, Readers' Realm, explores a different genre/category each month and encourages middle school fiction lovers to share their favorite reads - and find some new ones along the way!

Each month, Readers' Realm will dive into a different genre/category. Beginning January 6, and every Wednesday after, a new question or discussion topic will be posted on the APL blog. Middle grade readers can respond any time, as many times as they want, in the comment section of the blog post; there will be no specific meetings.  They can also read what other people post and respond to them to get a real discussion going.  

And how exciting is this?? Authors S.A. Bodeen ("Shipwreck Island", "The Raft", and more), Dan Gutman ("The Genius Files", "My Weird School", and more), and Roland Smith ("Peak", "Beneath", and more) will occasionally blog with us!

The first genre/category for January is ADVENTURE!  We've listed some suggested books below, but it is your choice what book you read – as long as it’s adventurous!

Get reading and get ready to blog about ADVENTURE books.


Posted by [email protected]  On Dec 16, 2020 at 10:33 AM
  
Read It!

Read It! "Where the Crawdads Sing" by Delia Owens
Review by Nicole

Hello there! If you have read my posts before you will know that I am a Wisconsin native who moved here to lovely Colorado just at the start of the year. To keep in touch with some dear friends we started a book club that I get to virtually attend about once a month and we discuss a book one of our groupmates recommended. I just virtually met up with my WI book club this past weekend and it had felt like forever since we had our last book discussion. Our discussion for this month was “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens. 

“Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens


 This was a book I was really looking forward to both reading and discussing. Like all widely talked about books,  I was interested to view for myself what the hype was for this book. Since it has been published in 2018, it was a New York Times Bestseller for 32 non-consecutive weeks, sold more than 7 million copies worldwide, was A Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick and A Business Insider Defining Book of the Decade. That’s a lot of hype! The premise of having a coming of age story mixed with a possible murder was of great intrigue as well.  

Kya Clark, also known as the “Marsh Girl” around her quiet town of Barkley Cove on the North Carolina coast, has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. In 1969, when the beloved and handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, everyone immediately suspects Kya. But she is not what they say. Sensitive, and somewhat reserved Kya is yearning to be loved and when she is highly sought after by two young men in town, Kya slowly starts to open herself to a new life, and then the unthinkable happens.  

This book was not only a great book to read but also gave us a great discussion. We divulge into Kya’s character and personality from the time she was a little girl to a young woman. She has had many hardships in her life but Delia Owens created a strong, and resilient character in Kya. The narrative jumps back and forth between present day in 1969 and less than a decade before that in 1952 as we learn about Kya’s home life and her fascination with the gulls and the marsh. This brought on some great conversation about Kya, the people in her home town, and the symbolism of the marsh and its variant wildlife.  

If you are looking for a book that has love loss, and bit of mystery, this is the book for you! 

If you are looking for books similar to “Where the Crawdads Sing”, check out “Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance”  by Ruth Emmie Lang, “Magic Hour” by Kristin Hannah, and  “The Wildlands” by Abby Geni

Check back for my next review for the book, “Marriage Vacation” by Pauline Brooks.  
Posted by [email protected]  On Dec 12, 2020 at 9:07 AM
  
Read It!

Read It! "The Little Shop of Found Things" by Paula Brackston
by Nicole

Hello there! Like I said before, I am giving my reviews on the books that have been chosen to read in my virtual Wisconsin book club group! Once a month, we all get together on videochat and discuss the book we picked for that month. It’s been great to catch up with them since we moved out here, and even better being able to discuss books! Our next book we picked to read was “The Little Shop of Found Things” by Paula Brackston.

The Little Shop of Found Things

This was actually the book I recommended to the group because I had read other novels by Paula Brackston such as “The Witch’s Daughter” and “The Winter Witch”. She mostly writes historical fantasy novels which is why I was excited to read another book by her. “The LIttle Shop of Found Things” was published in 2018 and categorized as a historical fiction, romance and fantasy novel. All good genres rolled into one! This book is about a young woman named Xanthe (pronounced Z-an-thee) and her mother Flora who move from London to a tiny town named Marlborough for a fresh start. Xanthe has a unique gift, when she touches an antique they “sing” to her. Meaning she senses the stories they hold and where they might have come from. Xanthe and her mother open up an antiques shop, with the hopes of Xanthe’s gift will help them flourish. As they are preparing to open the shop, Xanthe finds an intense connection to a silver chatelaine. As she tries to examine it more, Xanthe is transported back to the chatelaine’s origins, the 17th Century. An unkown spirit also appears seeking Xanthe’s help by saving her daughter, who was wrongly accused. As Xanthe tries to save this girl in 1605, she also meets an architect named Samuel Appleby. Can he help her succeed in her quest or will he become the reason she can’t bear to leave?

I loved this concept of having a gift like that where you can touch objects and learn their past and stories, and some be able to visit the time of their origins. Xanthe is an admirable and loveable character who wants to help her mom succeed with their antique shop, while also wanting to help pure strangers such as the spirit and her daughter. Not only is there time-travel but also a budding romance. Xanthe finds herself desperately attempting to fit into the seventeeth century but also keeping to her true personality in the presence of Samuel. While we did enjoy the story, there were times we did feel that is a slower developing story than most. It takes some time for us to learn the chatelaine’s importance and why it’s so imperative that the spirit’s daughter must be saved. However if you enjoy a slower paced storytelling with a hint of romance, you will enjoy this book. And bonus: it’s part of a series! The sequel, “Secrets of the Chocolate House”, was published in 2019. And expected sometime this year will be the third installment of the series, “The Garden of Promises and Lies”.

Secrets of the Chocolate House

For books similar to the "Little Shop of Found Things", check out “The Book Charmer” (Dove Pond, #1) by Karen Hawkins, “Midnight at the Blackbird Café” by Heather Webber and “The Witch's Kind” by Louisa Morgan.

Check back for my review of our next book club pick - “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens.
 
Posted by [email protected]  On Nov 20, 2020 at 9:12 AM
  
with Brandon & Elizabeth

Today on Pop Culture Den, Brandon and Elizabeth discuss horror past, present and future. Come join us as we discuss everything from childhood terrors to what makes horror work! 

Do you have a favorite horror movie, TV show or book? Tell us in the comments!
Posted by [email protected]  On Oct 17, 2020 at 9:22 AM
  
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