We're on Twitter!!!!!

Hey readers,
We're on Twitter now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can follow us, our account is @bookclub123. Try to make an account if you can. See you soon!
Keep reading!

Tell us your blog address

We have a few new members who have made blogs. Thanks to those of you that have, and please email or comment your blog address so we can post it on the main blog!
Thanks

Are you on Goodreads?

Whoever is on Goodreads, please tell us your name in the comments and we will invite you to be in the group on Goodreads! The only members that have confirmed are Zoe, Daniela, Janna, Kathleen, and Erin. Thanks everyone!

We're on Goodreads!

Life is good... with books it's better is now on Goodreads! We're a group, find us at http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/57674.Life_is_good_With_books_it_s_better_ . Please check it out! We will continue to post things on the main blog, but we can also communicate on Goodreads! Also, we have changed our name slightly (to Life is good... with books it's better). So follow us on Goodreads!

Reminder!

This post is just a reminder to all the book club members to keep updating their blogs! We have some new members, so please remember to post about books!
You can post about:
-books you're reading
-books you want to read
-information about your favourite books and authors (ex. a nearby book signing, etc)
-reviews of books you've read
-anything about books!

Library Audiobooks

Do any of you have an iPod, iPhone, iPad, or Reader? If so, go to the Toronto Public Library website and click on Downloads and eBooks. There, you can download any book you want directly to your device. You can read audiobooks right on your iPod! Check this out- it's free for anyone with a library card!

Goodreads

Hello book club members. We would like to inform you about goodreads (www.goodreads.com ) It is a amazing website where you can rate, recommend, discuss and much more about books. You can also contacts authors and win books! To add you can even add friends, send messages and more. This website has so much to do u just have to join. When you do please tell us your name so we can add you. Check out Daniela's book blog for more info or contact one of us! bye!

Points and blogs

HOW MUCH CAN YOU READ???
We want to know! On the side of your blog, put a little note of the books you've read so far since we posted this! If you read a 350 page book, a 400 page book, and a 250 page book, post it! Add it together to get 1000 pages! We are giving 1 point for every 100 pages you read, so you would get 10 points. Don't worry if your book has a uneven number of pages-for example, a 137 page book and a 249 page book. That means you have read 386 pages. Just give yourself 3 points, and then when you read more books, it will even out eventually. DON'T delete your point count at the end of the week-just keep adding to it!
Also, some of us have made our own book blogs-thanks! The addresses are here:
http://jannasbooks.blogspot.com/
http://mybookblog-kat.blogspot.com 
http://mybookblog-jfm.blogspot.com
http://zoekbooks.blogspot.com
http://mybooks-dee.blogspot.com
Check back regularly for more info!!!!!!!

Changes

We've made a few changes to the blog since school started to make it easier to keep up with the book club! Here are the new guidelines.

1. Everyone should contribute at least 1 book review/recommendation per month. For example if you read the book 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone', you might want to say
-how much you liked it
-a rating
-a few lines about the book
-things you liked or disliked about the book. Be honest!

2. Instead of having everyone read the same book at the same time, read your own book and if it is really good recommend it to everyone else and we will try it too! Read at your own pace and you do not need a review for every book! If you don't have time for a full review just leave a comment saying you read it!

3. We will continue to have a main blog for the club. Ways to keep in touch would be that you could have your own blog to post your reviews, follow us on Blogger, call, text, leave comments, or send e-mails! We can post e-mails or comments with your reviews if you want.

If this works out we will do regular posts!
Contact us at zoepklein@gmail.com or missdaniela0204@yahoo.com
Thanks!

Uglies review

Below is our review of 'Uglies' by Scott Westerfeld
* Use ( ) to circle your answer for the questions needed*
Name Of book: Uglies
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Book Theme: Futuristic
Number of pages: 425
Would you read it again:( yes ) / no    (circle one)
Pros:
- Lots of action
- very cool and interesting concept-at the end it leaves you thinking
Cons:
-some times there was too little or too much detail which sometimes made it hard for me to understand.

Your Opinion: This book was amazing the whole concept of turning pretty is a great idea. I also like the fact that they call modern day people rusties and talk about how wasteful they are and how un-eco friendly they are. 
(which is true lol )


Over All: This book was amazing and I reccomend it to anyone over the age of 10.

Would you recommend this book to someone: (yes) / no

Rating: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-(9)-10   (10 is the best)




If you liked Uglies, you may also like...the second Uglies book; Pretties by Scott Westerfeld, The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau, The Maze Runner by James Dashner, The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness, or The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins




'Haunting Violet' by Alyxandra Harvey will be our next book. This book is available at the library so try to put a hold on it! A short summary of the book us here.
Sixteen-year-old Violet Willoughby has been part of her mother's Spiritualist scam since she was nine, but during an 1872 house party in Hampshire, England, she is horrified to learn that she can actually see ghosts, one of whom wants Violet to solve her murder.


Keep reading!

The Uglies By Scott Westerfeld

Here is the info for the next book


Starting: August 1
Ending: August August 15
Book: The Uglies By Scott Westerfeld
Help: Please try and get this book as soon as possible. Place a hold at your nearest library. I recommend going to the  Leaside library.  They have the whole Uglies series and doubles of all the copies maybe even triples. And when you get it please contact either me or Zoe.


One more thing.  Eye of the crow book reviews are due in 3 days.  Please contact Daniela if you don't have the discussion sheet document.


Thanks!

Updates!

There are a few things to update now: the next book and theme, and the review of our past book, Eye Of The Crow.
Eye Of The Crow was a very good book in our opinions. We give it an 8.5/10. 
Some pros were:very suspenseful, characters are well described, there was a good mix of adventure and mystery, the whole concept of the story was great.
Cons were: some parts of the plot were very dense, and some of Sherlock's guesses were too complicated to catch on to at first.

Over All:

I think this book was great and readers of all ages will enjoy it.

I would gladly read it again and want to continue the stories. It is great how the author is using the young Sherlock Holmes. We hear so much about the older one but seeing how he became a detective to is interesting. I love this book!
If you liked Eye of the Crow you might also like... Nancy Drew by Carolyn Keene, Young Bond by Charlie Higson, or the 2nd Young Sherlock Holmes book, Death in the Air.


As well, the Uglies book is winning our voting poll. So we will read Uglies for our next book. The theme is Futuristic so if you have any other Futuristic books you want to recommend we want to hear it, or if you want to read other books related to that theme, try The Maze Runner by James Dashner, The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness, or The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. PLEASE tell us if you can't get the book so we can postpone the finishing day!

Almost done!

I think we're almost ready to post our book reviews of 'Eye of the Crow'. If you need more time or haven't got a hold of the book yet please let us know! Also, please vote for what book to read next at the voting poll. The choices are: The Uglies, Hush Hush, Eon, and The Luxe. Thanks!
Summaries of the books are below.
Hush,Hush-For Nora Grey, romance was not part of the plan. She's never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how much her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her...until Patch comes along. 
With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Nora is drawn to him against her better judgment, but after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora's not sure whom to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is, and to know more about her than her closest friends. She can't decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is far more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel. 
For Nora is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen - and when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost her life.

The Luxe- Elizabeth Holland, a prim and proper lady of old-money society, is betrothed to one man, though furtively loves another; Henry Schoonmaker, a debauched playboy who must marry Elizabeth or be disinherited; Diana Holland, Elizabeth’s younger sister who is in love with her fiancé; and Penelope Hayes, a member of the nouveau riche who will stop at nothing to win Henry’s affections. As Elizabeth and Henry’s wedding approaches, the spectacle unfolds in a wondrously grandiose scene, making for a fun, though not entirely unexpected dénouement.

Eon-Eon has been studying the ancient art of Dragon Magic for four years, hoping he'll be able to apprentice to one of the twelve energy dragons of good fortune. But he also has a dark secret. He is actually Eona, a sixteen-year-old girl who has been living a dangerous lie for the chance to become a Dragoneye, the human link to an energy dragon's power. It is forbidden for females to practice the Dragon Magic and, if discovered, Eon faces a terrible death. After a dazzling sword ceremony, Eon's affinity with the twelve dragons catapults him into the treacherous world of the Imperial court where he makes a powerful enemy, Lord Ido. As tension builds and Eon's desperate lie comes to light, readers won't be able to stop turning the pages . . .

The Uglies- Tally Youngblood lives in a seemingly utopian future world where everyone undergoes an operation on their 16th birthday that turns them pretty. Tally can't wait, but her new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to become pretty. Shay runs away the day before her operation, leaving Tally only vague clues of where to find her. Tally is torn between her friend and being pretty. But then she learns about the not-so-pretty side of the pretties...

First book and theme!

Our first book club theme and book is Mystery. We are all going to try to read 'Eye of the Crow' by Shane Peacock. Each of us will also pick another mystery-themed book of your choice too and read that. For example, I am going to read Eye of the Crow, and Nancy Drew and the Secret of the Old Clock. Remember to leave a comment or to email us with your thoughts about the book. A summary of Eye of the Crow is here.  

It is the spring of 1867 and a yellow fog hangs over London. In the dead of night, a woman is murdered on a narrow, cobblestone street in the old Whitechapel section of the city. No one sees the gruesome crime. Or so it seems. Up above, two crows are watching. The next morning, the dark-haired son of a disinherited upper-class woman and her poor Jewish husband reads about the crime in an illustrated newspaper. Unquestionably gifted, but hounded by racist schoolyard taunts and burdened by bitterness about his life, the young boy spends his days playing hooky in central London, dreaming, watching the rich and famous, and reading newspaper accounts of spectacular crimes. The Whitechapel murder intrigues him and so do the city’s crows. The brilliant black birds fly free, but suffer the same prejudice he feels. Circumstances bring young Sherlock to the scene of the crime and to the understanding that the crows saw it happen. He soon comes to believe that the accused, a young Muslim butcher, is innocent. But then Sherlock, too, becomes implicated and finds himself on the run from the police. Sherlock pursues the crime’s solution through a series of brilliant deductions and daring exploits, but a terrible price is paid along the way. 


We will try to get everyone's responses and post them 2 weeks from now. We hope to hear from you soon!

Guidelines

Hi bookworms! The club information is here:
Each session we'll pick a theme, and a book related to that theme. We would all read one book and then each pick our own book related to that theme. For example if the theme was Magic, we might all read Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and then we would each pick our own book related to the theme, for example Bed-Knobs and Broomsticks and recommend it to the club. You can leave this information in a comment or email it to us, and at the end of the session we will put everyone's in a posting. Check back often to see the new books!

Welcome to the book club!

Thanks for joining the book club! We hope you love books as much as us and your love for reading will grow with this club. Look for new posts all the time about great books to read. 
          -Zoe and Daniela