I read “Positive Discipline for Children With Special Needs” – by Jane Nelsen. I highly recommend this for anyone with special needs kids. They have other books for teens, toddlers (I think) and so on, but this one really gave me a lot to think about and try with both of my children. 5 days ago

Could It Be Autism?: A Parent’s Guide to the First Signs and Next Steps
by Nancy Wiseman, Kim Painter Koffsky 1 week ago

I’ve just started this one, but it looks like it will be good and helpful. I hope so anyway. 3 weeks ago

I’m only counting full, novel-length books at an adult reading level (I’m a huge children’s literature fanatic). Full-length children’s books will be added with an asterisk for those I want to remember. I’m not really planning out my reading at this point, but will add books as I read them.

• The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
  2. Not Buying It by Judith Levine: I enjoyed this much more than I did the first time I tried reading it. I valued her research findings more than anything else in the book, they’re worth reading it again in order to note them.
  3. Blink by Malcom Gladwell: The first book I’d ever wanted to recommend to others before getting 50 pages in, and wanted to own before getting halfway through it. 3 months ago

It took me 30-40 minutes to read. It was okay. I didn’t really like the writing style, but the story itself was interesting. 5 months ago

I’ve read this twice before, once in 6th grade, and again in 7th. I enjoyed it then and I enjoyed it now. It took me 2 hours and 10 minutes to read. 5 months ago

This was a good book. It’s about a high school girl, named Ever, who gets gastric bypass, and how her life changes. It took about 3 hours to read. 5 months ago

It only took 84 minutes to read, lol. It was good, but a little middle school-ish. 5 months ago

... to make up the numbers! But it was fun thing to do for 2011. 7 months ago

So, I didn’t quite manage the book a week goal but I have really enjoyed taking on this challenge. On my 24th birthday I was still reading the last Artemis and I had already decided I wasn’t going to rush through it. So in total I managed 33 whole books. Which isn’t too bad really. An average of about 11 days a book.

The best part has been keeping a record of what I have read. It’s nice to look back over the year and see what’s happened.

I’m defiitely going to keep up the reading. I’ve already lined up my next book which I plan to start tomorrow. Maybe this time I can make the ultimate 52? 7 months ago

New Read! or Old Read

Started: Saturday 9th September

Finished: Wednesday 3rd October

Rating: 9/10

Comments: I’m not sure how I feel about this. It was a great story but I’m deeply confused as to how I feel about the ending. It doesn’t feel like and end. But it is the end of the series. I need to have a really big think about it… and then I’m not sure I’ll know. Great plot lines though, interesting character dynamics and awesome to go on one last adventure with the gang that have been my train carriage escape for the last few months. 8 months ago

New Read Old Read

Started: Sunday 2nd September

Finished: Saturday 8th September

Rating: 9/10

Comments: How strange that I should remember this one more than the last? Although I suppose I will have read it more recently… Anyway, Artemis has Atlantis Complex! Who will save the world? Not this new character Orion that’s for sure. Or maybe he will. It was great to have a new bad guy, that Opal gets all the plots. This time in was Turnball Root, evil brother of the recently decease Commander Julius Root, and he is out for revenge! Revenge and to save his beloved human wife?! It was definitely a great story. Plenty of twists and turns and a top quality cliff hanger. Bring on the final installment! 8 months ago

New Read or Old Read

Started: 12th August

Finished: 2nd September

Rating: 8.5/10

Comments: I found this one a little bit trickier to get through but I think that might’ve been a little bit of Artemis Fatigue! After all this is book six and I did start reading them back in July. Anyway, it was a good tale, if you like a bit of sci-fi you might enjoy this one. Time travel certianly makes for some complicated situations! Sci-Fi meets fairy fantasy-brilliant. I think the best part is it was like a prequel mixed in with a whole new story which was really fascinating. It also explained quite a few things that made you question stuff from the previous books. I didn’t see any of the twists coming at the end which is always a bonus. By the end I really was looking forward to starting the next one (although it will be nice to hang out with some new characters soon). 9 months ago

New Read or Old Read

Started: 6th August

Finished: 12th August

Rating: 9/10

Comments: I think the reason that I loved this one the most is that I didn’t really remember any of it! It was like a whole new story. New (potentially) dastardly nemesis. Extra crazy bad guys. Other dimensions and the theft of magic. Artemis growing up and learning even more about what it is to care, understand and to be human. I hope Mulch comes back in the next one though-he wasn’t really a feature at all and he’s normally so important. But then again, that was something else that was great-it wasn’t just the same tactics and plot points to the gang’s escapades. I am so excited for the next one just because I have no idea what will happen next-the end of this one was how I thought the series so far had ended so I’ve (technically) got even more new adventures to enjoy. 9 months ago

New Read or Old Read

Started: 29th July

Finished: 6th August

Rating: 9/10

Comments: I really enjoyed this one; The best so far I think. It wa full of plot twists and it was really interesting to see how Artemis coped without any of his memories. The loss of a character (not saying who) I feel always adds weight to a story, even though you never want to lose anyone. The plot certainly thickened right at the very end regarding Opal Koboi, especially seeing as I know she is at the centre of the final installment. Even more so as I can’t remember what happens in the three books inbetween. 9 months ago

New Read or Old Read

Started: 26th July

Finished: 29th July

Rating: 8/10

Comments: Glad to have finished this one as I am aware that I’m probably not going to complete this goal on this attempt, but I do want to get through this series as quickly as possible because that means I can read the last installment!

It’s definitely a book that is easily finished if you have the luxury of time to read (which being the weekend I do!) because you just want to keep reading. The plot is thick with twists and ingenuity and there are plenty of little things that get you thinking about what could possibly be happening. The best part is most definitely the massive cliffhanger ending, but also throughout the story finding out that Artemis really is developing as a character.

Book Four here I come! 9 months ago

New Read or Old Read

Started: 19th July

Finished: 26th July

Rating: 8/10

Comments: I had forgotten quite a lot of what happened in this book. For example, I hadn’t remembered that this was the book where the very important character of Opal Koboi was introduced. It’s great to see the development of the characters for the first book and to see where their shifting personalities affect the story. 10 months ago

New Read or Old Read

Started: 15th July 2012

Finsished: 19th July 2012

Rating: 8/10

Comments: I have chosen to re-read the entire Artemis Fowl series before reading the much anticipated final installment.

I enjoyed rereading the first installment in this series. I did find it pretty easy to read but then again it is a ‘young adult’ and I have read it a few times before. Nevertheless it doesn’t detract from the fact that it’s an excellent story and I would recommend it regardless of this. If you like a fantasy and/or adventure stories then it’s defintely one for you.

Artemis (12 years old!) and his bodyguard Butler take on the fairy race (underground magic folk with big guns-not the little things from down the bottom of the garden!) in order to get enough gold to rebuild the Fowl family empire after the disappeance of Artemis’s father. Why wouldn’t you want to read it? 10 months ago

New Read or Old Read

Started: 8th July

Finished: 15th July

Rating: 8.5/10

Comments: I enjoyed the final installment in trilogy very much. It was an exciting read with plenty of trials anf jeopardy, but also some lovely touching moments. It was nice to get to see some of the other characters grow and develop as well as focusing on the main pair Kestrel and Bowman. I’m still not sure how I feel about the ending and whether or not it’s what I wanted to happen so in my confusion I have had to bump it down to 8.5 because it made my head hurt. I highly recomment the Wind Singer Trilogy. 10 months ago

New Read or Old Read

Started: Sunday 10th June

Finished: Friday 6th July

Rating: 9/10

Comments: It has taken me a long time to read this and I’m not 100% sure why. It did take me a while to get into it but once the story had gotten going it was an excellent read. I enjoyed the parallel plot lines and waiting for them to converge-it’s ended on a top quality cliff hanger so I’m really looking forward to strating the third and final installment.

A really good thing I am finding with this particular challenge (even though it’s really starting to look like it’s a total washout!) is that I’m not giving up on books that I would normally abandon. I’m sticking with them because I know I can’t start something new until I’ve completed the entry on here. That might mean it takes a while but it does mean that I’m not missing out on potenially brilliant stories. 11 months ago

New Read, Old Read or Attempted Read

Started: Tuesday 5th June

Finished: Sunday 10th June

Rating: 7/10

Comments: I’ve tried to read this a couple of times before when I was younger but always left it about halfway through. Stuck it out this time and found that it was actually pretty good. It follows 3 children as they set out on a quest to return the voice to this thing in their distopian city called the Wind Singer. This it is said will make everything good again. It has a slightly Hunger Games feel to it (although I’m pretty sure this came first so maybe the Hunger Games has a Wind Singer feel who knows)! I am looking forward to reading the other two in the trilogy so that’s a good thing! (Also, on a challenge related note-I am loving that it took less than the week). 11 months ago

New Read or Old Read

Started: Monday 28th May 2012

Finished: Monday 4th June 2012

Rating 10/10!

Comments: Amazing! Best book I’ve read in ages. It was so different to anything I’ve read recently and as you can see I’ve managed to do it in the week I’m meant to be aiming for on this challenge-something I’ve struggled to do with other reads. This one though I just didn’t want to put it down. I heartily recommend it to everyone! 11 months ago