Happy Blog Day....

Do you know what today is? It's our first Happy Blog Day!! Our one-year anniversary! We started this nuttiness one year ago on June 7, 2007. Can you believe it?? We've had a lot of fun since then, learned a whole lot, read a ton of good books, and made friends with some really cool people. Bill (Sith Rule!!!!) and I want to thank all of you for making this a really good year. Here's to many more!

In honor of this occasion, I'd like to list my 12 favorite books of the last year. (12 books for 12 months) I've put the dates of the reviews with them so you can go back and read the original posts.

Call It Courage by Armstrong Sperry (6-7-07) The first book I reviewed and still the best single book ever! I have favorite series but this is my favorite single book.

The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan (8-1-07; 11-13-07; 1-30-08; 5-15-08; 5-23-08) What else can I say? They're grrrreat!!

The Prydain series by Lloyd Alexander (3-12-08)and the Tiger Magic series by Laurence Yep (1-2-08) Outside of Percy Jackson, Lord of the Rings, and The Chronicles of Narnia, my two favorite fantasy series.

The Barnstormers series by Loren Long and Phil Bildner (3-19-08; 4-1-08; 4-25-08) The most original, fun, exciting series I've read in a long time.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret: A Novel in Words and Pictures by Brian Selznick

(8-7-07) Winner of the Caldecott Medal last year, this book is like nothing you've ever read before. Everyone, and I mean everyone who's read it loves it.

Tumbleweed Christmas by Alane Ferguson (12-20-07) Yes, it's a picture book and it's about Christmas, but it's one of the very best Christmas stories I've read, better than a lot of chapter books.

Pappy's Handkerchief by Devin Scillian (2-20-08) Another picture book, but this one is definitely good for any age. It's fictional but based on real events. Made me grip the book, it was so good!

Pond Scum by Alan Silberberg (2-8-08) What a fun book! I really enjoyed it. The characters and settings are so vivid that this book creates a movie in your head.

Here follow 3 nonfiction books that prove that history is not boring and can be every bit as exciting as fiction:

You Wouldn't Want to be a Greek Athlete: Races You'd Rather Not Run by Michael Ford (1-11-08) Funny and informative, with hialrious illustrations. Great guy book!

John Smith Escapes Again by Rosalyn Shanzer (8-25-07) This one is better than a lot of the fiction I've read. Hard to believe all that really happened--but it did!!

Black Whiteness: Admiral Byrd Alone in the Antarctic (6-7-07) An incredible true story of survival and endurance.

It's harder than I thought to narrow down the choices to 12! I had to leave some good graphic novels out. And now, to present you with his Top 12, here's that wild and crazy, wacky and fun-loving, Jedi-smashing and galaxy-conquering Sith----DARTH BILL!!!!!!

Darth Bill's Favorite 12, from month to month, from the past year! Read these books and I guarantee the Force will be strong in you:


From June 2007: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: A Novel in Cartoons by Jeff Kinney - This is a great book that is too funny. See my review from way back on the 6/6/2007 posting.

From July 2007: Roanoke: The Mystery of the Lost Colony by Lee Miller - If you like history and strange events, this is the book for you. It was one of the best Non-Fiction books I read this year. See my review of this book on the 7/30/2007 post.


From August 2007:The Battle of Iwo Jima: Guerrilla Warfare in the Pacific by Larry Hama and Anthony Williams - This book is not only a great Graphic Novel telling the story of this true War War II event, it also includes a preface with a great deal of information about this battle and a afterwards pointing out other locations to learn more about this event. This GN is really top notch, but see my review from 8/15/2007 post. The rest of these books in this World War II graphic novel series are great also; for more information on them see the 11/8 /2007 post.


From September 2007: Any Book in the Artemis Fowl Series by Eoin Colfer - Okay, technically I did not review the entire series in September of 2007 (I reviewed the first book in the series), but these books are so cool I'm breaking the rules (I'm a Sith; it's in my nature). See my review of the first book in the series from the 9/18/2007 post.


From October 2007: Cowboy & Octopus by Jon Scieszka & Lane Smith - Man, October was a hard month to chose from as I read so much great stuff (Interworld by Neil Gaiman, The Tiger Moth Series, etc.). However, after much deliberation, I had to go for this whacked out and crazy book that made me laugh so hard it hurt. See my review of this book from the 10/10/2007 post.


From November 2007: The Jack Sparrow Pirates of the Caribbean Series by Rob Kidd- Okay I'm cheating again (I only reviewed the first book that month, "The Coming Storm", from the series), but these books are terrific. If you liked "The Pirates of the Caribbean" Movie Series, you'll love these books. If you have not read this series yet all I can say is "Ouch!!!!!!" See my review of "The Coming Storm" from my 11/27/2007 post.


From December 2007: Interworld by Neil Gaiman & Michael Reaves and The Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures Series by various - Wow, now I doubling the cheating (Like I said, I'm a Sith; I can't help myself!!!!!). Interworld is a really great science fiction story written in part by one of my favorite authors ever--Neil Gaiman. It's a terrific book that seems to have been overlooked by many people. Now The Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures Graphic Novel Series is really AWESOME!!!!!! It's got everything that makes Star Wars so great: action, adventure, Jedi, Sith, more Sith, Clone Troopers, Yoda, Mace Windu, Chewbacca, R2-D2, C3PO, Sith, and so much more. It really rocks hard!!!!!! For Interworld see the 12/10/2007 post and for Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures see my 12/4/2007 post.


From January 2008: Stan Lee: Writer & Creator by Sue Hamilton and Jack Kirby: Creator & Artist also by Sue Hamilton - Okay, I'm not even going to say anything more about cheating, period. These are two great biographies about two men who helped make the Comic Book Industry what it is today along with creating many of the superheros we are still reading about. See my 1/6 /2008 post for a great review of these books. Their are other books in this series about famous Comic Book creators that are owned by the Library System if you enjoy these books (Joe Sinnott, John Buscema, John Romita, Sr, Joe Simon).


For February 2008: The Bone Series by Jeff Smith - The book in the series that I actually reviewed in February was "Ghost Circles." This is a truly great Graphic Novel Series that is kind of like "The Lord of the Rings" combined with "The Marx Brothers." Great adventure mixed with great laughs. See my 2/6 /2008 for the review for "Ghost Circles."


For March 2008: Carl Barks' Greatest DuckTales Stories. Volume 1 & 2 / all stories written and drawn by Carl Barks - These Graphic Novels present some of the master of the Disney Ducks writing and drawing Carl Barks at his very best. Great adventure and comedy follow Uncle Scrooge, Donald, Huey, Louie and Dewey wherever they go. These are great reads that you will love!!!! See my 3/27 /2008 post for a review of Volume 1.




For April 2008: Tunnels by Roderick Gordon & Brian Williams - If you are still in the dark about this book, you have to read it as soon as possible. This book is probably the best I read all year and I guarantee you will love it to. See my review from the 4/5/2008 posting.



For May 2008: No More Dead Dogs by Gordon Korman and Stoneheart by Charlie Fletcher - No More Dead Dogs is one of the funniest books I have read in a very long time. Please don't let the title put you off; it's not what you think. See my review from the 5/7 /2008 posting for more information on this book. I also had to include Stoneheart as it is such an exciting and fast paced adventure that will grab you and not let you go until the end. Which will leave you waiting for more. See my 5/30 /2008 posting for a review of this very cool book!!!!!

Well, guys, this past year has been a gas and we have had a great deal of fun. We hope you have also!!! If you want, why don't you post about your favorite books from the first complete year of our blog (and when I say "our", I'm talking about you guys out there in Blogland, Carl, and myself. We are in this together, men!!!!!!)

Well, peace everyone,


Bill and Carl