The Positive Page-turner's Challenge: Take 20

The Positive Page-turner’s Challenge: Take 20
This should’ve been a post in December, but I had church offering that needed to go to other causes (e.g. Toys for Tots donations) and so pushed this off into the new year. On the plus side, I feel confident that I will achieve one more Positive Page-turner’s Challenge this year.
            As I’ve done for awhile now, I will be donating $5/book in this picture. 17 books seems to be my magic number. I will be donating $85 to my home church’s Sunday School Fund. It will go in as a gift by The Reading Rutabaga in February.
            Especially after the holidays, most of our financial belts feel stretched thin, but I still encourage any readers to contribute what you can. If not with money, then volunteer time. If time is stretched thin, too, consider saying a kind word at the checkout or help someone reach something on a shelf if you’re able. For instance, I’m no help getting things off the top shelf (unless I climb it), but if you need someone to squat down and grab that can off the bottom shelf, I’m your person! Let’s make humanity look good in ways big and small. Be kind to one another! <3

"Wrath of the Triple Goddess" by Rick Riordan

Wrath of the Triple Goddess (Sept. 24, 2024) by Rick Riordan.

<This is the second novel in a sub-series.>

<This is the seventh novel in a series.>

To earn his next letter of recommendation for New Rome University, all Percy Jackson has to do is pet-sit Hecate’s babies. (She’s the Greek goddess of magic, crossroads and necromancy and also ghosts, nighttime and manipulating the Mist.) Those not-actual-babies include a hellhound called Hecuba, a gassy polecat named Gale and four mischievous eels dubbed Larry, Fortunato, Bigwig and Janet. Percy, Annabeth Chase and Grover Underwood get to know the terrifying animals and set themselves up at The Manse, Gramercy Park West. There are bathrooms that don’t make sense (one’s toilet is on the ceiling, but the shower works normally, and in another, the shower sprays sideways at the toilet), conflicting door knockers (“Wait! We work fine! PORK RINDS!”) and a strawberry-flavored potion in Hecate’s lab that Grover can’t resist despite its being off-limits. Chaos ensues. The mansion is in shambles, Hecuba and Gale are missing, and they’ve forgotten to cancel the Halloween party that they invited their Camp Half-Blood friends to (they’re in a mansion, after all, how could they not throw a massive Halloween party?). They must retrieve Hecate’s fur babies and restore the mansion by Saturday, lest they be incinerated by the Triple Goddess (Maiden, Mother, Crone). They’re going to need all of their demigod craftiness, luck, friends and reluctant ghosts to set things to rights.

            Chaos tornado. That is so often Percy Jackson’s life. All he needs are two more recommendation letters. Surely Hermes would help him out? (He would’ve, actually.) This newest from Riordan is full of rip-roaring adventure, glass-always-full action and the over-the-top drama that we so readily expect from gods, goddesses and anything associated with them. The seventh novel in the Percy Jackson series and the second in The Senior Year Adventures sub-series will have readers laughing aloud with its humor and cheering for our heroes.  Like all of Riordan’s stories, this one is highly entertaining and is an excellent reminder of the importance of friendship.

            Percy Jackson: Books 1-5

            Book 6 / The Senior Year Adventures Book 1: The Chalice of the Gods

"Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell

Impossible Creatures (Sept. 10, 2024/US edition) by Katherine Rundell.

<This is the first novel in a trilogy.>

The day that Christopher Forrester saves a drowning baby griffin from a hidden lochan (lake) near his grandfather’s property changes his life forever. That his grandfather doesn’t bat an eye when Christopher rushes in with a baby griffin is telling. Christopher learns of the Archipelago, a cluster of unmapped islands (though there is a map and a bestiary of magical creatures in the book) where magical, mythological creatures live, sometimes on their own islands and sometimes amongst other humans. Christopher is from the Otherworld (actually, the UK), his grandfather is a guardian and Malum (Mal) Arvorian is not. Christopher’s about to be attacked by a kludde (it has fire for ears) and would be eaten face-first if not for Mal’s shout. She’s just come through the waybetween (like a portal) and needs Christopher’s help. They meet Fidens Nighthand (“You may call me Nighthand: I don’t answer to Fidens.”) the Berserker, Ratwin the ratatoska and Irian Guinne, a marine scientist stationed at the University of Alquon in the west of Antiok, who’s part-nereid (though she doesn’t advertise this fact). They consult sphinxes, negotiate with a small dragon and battle krakens, karkadanns and manticores. Mal is desperate to save the Archipelago. The magical creatures are dying. Gelifen, the baby griffin, is thought to be the last griffin. The glimourie (or magic) is fading. The truth is dark, and somewhere in the Archipelago is an Immortal who has no idea he or she is the Immortal.

            I first saw the UK version advertised one-and-a-half years ago when I was in the UK and knew it’d be a book I’d love. Fast-forward a year later when the US edition was planned to release, and I was first on the list to read my local library’s copy. As soon as I read the first page, I ordered my own personal copy and returned the library copy, so it could move onto the next patron!

            And I was right, I DO LOVE this story where there is a portal into fantasy, magic and mythology. Rundell’s middle-grade trilogy starter is wildly imaginative, the writing fresh, and the characters are well-developed, showcasing courage, hope and strength, but vulnerability, too. For the most sensitive of readers, a beloved character does die, and it caught me so off guard that I teared up. The story sizzles with energy, roars with adventure and blazes with fireworks of creativity. It is thoughtful and takes kids seriously. It is unforgettable and epic; it is easily a new classic.

            P.S. Gelifen is my favorite. Jacques the jaculus (the smallest dragon) is my spirit animal: small, extremely fierce and breathes fire enough to overcome a giant manticore!

            P.P.S. I could really use the tooth of a sphinx.

Happy 2025!

Happy New Year! Whether the previous year ended on a high note, a low note or somewhere in-between, 2024 is done. You got through it. Box it all up, brush your hands off and store it away, because you’ve got to make room for new memories. 2025, here we are! What does the top of the new year look like to you? What are your plans/goals/dreams? I wish for you a prosperous, safe and healthy new year. Knowledge is power, so keep learning every day. Do something outside of your comfort zone; you only live once. Take care of yourself, because you are worth it!!

Sending love and sparkles,

Lisa