Ranger's Apprentice

Recently finished reading the Ranger's Apprentice books (five out, a couple more to come). Pretty awesome books. I always hate reading a series currently being written, because then I have to wait to find out how everything turns out. But in a good way.

I may not have been posting lately (which I blame on Spike #2 and the accompanying nausea), but I've been reading like mad. We finally managed to get T-Man to sleep without sitting in the dark next to his bed for eons. Now I get to sit down the hall in the sun room, in a comfy recliner with good lighting. Oh, and lots of books. Our sun room is also our library. :) [Note: It holds less than half our books. We might need an intervention at some point about our book buying habits...]

Since it normally takes anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour and a half for T to fall asleep, and since C works in the evenings, I get some cherished time to myself. (I usually need it by then...eight hours straight of three-year-old energy leaves me a little overwhelmed at times.)

People who know me well also know how very addicted I am to children's books. Now, I'm not talking Sesame Street and Animorphs and Sweet Valley High. I'm talking about the classics, and fantasy, and historical fiction, and mythology. I'm a sucker for a good kids' book. In fact, I spent a lot of time during my year at library school (where I got a master's degree, so don't be fooled by my fond way of referring to the program) reading and re-reading some of the greatest children's literature. The Little House on the Prairie series. The Anne of Green Gables and Emily of New Moon series. The Lord of the Rings. Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising series. Almost everything I could get my hands on that was written by Louisa May Alcott.

Sadly, having read so much awesomeness in that year, I often find myself disappointed with what's left to read. Not that re-reading isn't great, but every once in a while I like to have that AHA! moment of discovering a story and characters that really get to me, and that I can't stop thinking about and wondering about.

As I said, I've been reading up a storm this past two months. Lots of shorter classic kids' books. The Indian in the Cupboard series. Some books by John Bellairs (must read further - awesome stuff). But the best, in my opinion, was the series I just finished. The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, and The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner. I love the characters, especially Gen. I couldn't wait to find out what happened next. The plot twists were unbelievable. So I'm pretty excited about the entire series, but I'm also sad there's no more of it. And that the author hasn't written any other novels.