Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze

Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze by Elizabeth Foreman Lewis is about a Chinese boy (Young Fu) who lives in the country, but moves to Chungking with his mother. There he is apprenticed by Tang, an experienced and known coppersmith. While in his apprenticeship and as a journeyman (later on his apprenticeship ends but not his work in Tang's shop), Young Fu meets a scholar, a group of river bandits, the horrors of living in Chungking, debt, a hateful apprentice, an opium smuggler, and many other things. He learns many wise things from his experiences, and in the end, realizes that he has it good. This book was slow for me, and I would've given up (but I didn't because it was part of my history), but it teaches good lessons, and some parts are interesting to read about (the opium smuggler, for example). If you like the way Chinese speak, the slow journey to the realization of things, and some mild action, this book is for you.

P.S. Okay, look. there's one book I'm reading that just might end up on my blog, and I'm almost done with the tediously slow Septimus Heap series (sorry, but it's just a little too slow for me. The whole story is really exciting, but there are just too many slow parts) and then I can read whatever (I've got a pretty big book list that I can choose from, now that I'm done reading all those series [which is probably boring for you {sorry!}], and I know which series I'm going to try next [don't worry, it's not that long] and I'm pretty sure it will be exciting). So try to hang in there!

P.P.S. I'll try to post whatever random things I have so that you don't get bored while waiting for me to finish reading a book! (Oh, and you'll probably get a Japanese book to hear about soon... and some more... [my history is about the eastern hemisphere, so there will probably {most likely} be another book on some Chinese, Japanese, or Vietnamese person soon.] But I'll keep reading normal books, so don't worry.)

P.P.S.S. How many times have I said "sorry" or "don't worry" in the last two paragraphs? Go ahead, count. How many? That's right. Four, all together. Yup. Sorry about all the sorry-ies and don't-worry-ies. But don't worry! I probably just have a writers' tick! I'll get rid of it, so don't worry. Ooh... sorry about all those extra paragraphs! But don't worry, I'll make sure that doesn't happen again.

P.P.P.S.S. Yeah... that's how I feel sometimes. "Oh, look how many times I've said that. Yeesh. Well, there's no point in fixing it (or in other words: whatever), so why don't I just say it over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over....
Goodbye.

P.P.P.S.S.S. There you go Weese; a big fat line of 'post script's for you. :)

- Maria

The End of The Books of Elsewhere

A little while ago, I finished the Books of Elsewhere. I didn't write about it though, because I thought I would have a new book to tell you about (and I would have written about the end of this fantastic series at the same time), but apparently not.
The Books of Elsewhere were awesome. When I read about Olive (the main character, for those of you who don't remember), she just felt so real to me. I would read about her and say to myself, "that's exactly what I do!" or, "that's exactly how I would feel!". Olive is a great character because she's not perfect. Not even close. She trusts all the wrong people and makes bad decisions. But what I really like about her, is that if she does something wrong, she tries to fix it. She wants to do the right thing, wants to help others, and she wants to regain the trust of her friends. But sometimes it's hard for her. I mean, if there was a painted witch trying to take away your house and you had to chose between a trio of cats and two adults who supposedly are magical experts for help, who would you chose? I loved following Olive into this dangerous and unpredictable world of hers. I loved watching her fight a mentally and physically strenuous battle against the evil characters and becoming stronger. I loved watching her try to help her friends. I loved every part of this series.
The Books of Elsewhere by Jacqueline West, has five volumes: The Shadows, Spellbound, The Second Spy, The Strangers, and Still Life. Every single one is a section of the fantastic story of an old house, a not-so-perfect Olive, oily paintings, and evil owners.
This series is a GREAT read. (Well, I loved it, so you probably will too.)






P.S. So sorry I haven't written anything in a while! It's just that once you have about three series going at a time, you don't really have any time for other, new books. More soon! I promise.

- Maria

The End of Conspiracy 365... Or Is It?

I finished the last Conspiracy 365 book today (December, the twelfth book) and it was awesome!!!!!! Although, I wish that the author hadn't skipped the rest of the story and ended with a short epilogue. So to get you a little more interested in this series, I'll tell you the basic parts: Callum Ormond doesn't know that his family has a HUGE secret. Then on New Year's Eve, he suddenly gets involved. The boat he's on gets sabotaged, a almost gets eaten by sharks, and a crazy man tells him that the Ormond Singularity will kill him. From then on, things only get worse. Cal has to solve the mystery of the Ormond Singularity, with only his best mate, Boges (they're from Australia). But that's when Cal realizes that he's not the only one trying to solve the mystery; some of the top criminals in Australia are after it as well. Pretty soon, Cal is accused of murder, and his life turns to one on the run. When he meets a girl named Winter, he wants to trust her... but she lives with a criminal who wants to kill Cal. Can he trust her? Can he clear his name? Can he gain his mum's trust? Can he solve the Ormond mystery? Can he stay alive?

But guess what? There's more! Gabrielle Lord has written a sequal series that includes: Revenge, Malice, Missing, Hunted, and Endgame. (I don't know why, but Missing, Hunted, and Endgame say Black Ops next to Conspiracy 365, but Revenge and Malice don't.) I can't wait to read those! It will be a while before I read all of them, but I'll tell you once I finish!

- Maria