Two Very Cool Star Wars Books

Greetings, guys and Star Wars fans everywhere! It seems that the Iron Guy has devoted the month of May to the saga of the galaxy far, far away. And why not? The movies are full of what guys love--Adventure! Blasters! Good Guys chased by Bad Guys! Space Battles! Not to mention strange-looking aliens, light sabers and lots of things that blow up. Well, there are lots of Star Wars books that have all this as well. Here are a couple that I've read lately and liked a lot.

Star Wars Smuggler's Run: A Han Solo and Chewbacca Adventure by Greg Rucka

OK, how could you not like a book that features this wise-cracking guy who's always one step ahead of trouble and his big, shaggy companion? In this story, which takes place right after the Battle of Yavin (when the Death Star was blown up), Princess Leia sends a reluctant Han Solo on a mission to retrieve a man who knows the location of the next Rebel base before the Empire captures him. But when Han arrives on the planet, not only is the Empire there but also a bunch of bounty hunters looking for the money for his capture! Can even Han Solo get away from both of them? This was a terrific read that kept me turning the pages. And it has a great villain that I wish would show up in a movie,


Star Wars: The Force Awakens by Michael Kogge; based on the screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan, J.J.
Abrams and Michael Arndt

Didn't you just LOVE this movie?? Yes, yes, yes!! It had everything we enjoyed about the original Star Wars trilogy while breaking new ground. This book is a faithful retelling of the movie and, even if you know the story backwards and frontwards, it doesn't get boring. It's like hearing a favorite song all over again. I enjoyed reliving Finn and Po's crash landing, Rey and Han Solo escaping Jakku in the Millennium Falcon and and Hux and Kylo Ren meeting the Supreme Leader. (which leaves me with the question I had from the movie--is Kylo Ren really a villain or just a big whiny kid with a light saber and no impulse control?) Anyway, read this and have a good time!

And one more bit of fun--both books have a tie-in with each other. What is it? I'll give you a hint--both of them mention the names of those who stole the Millennium Falcon. Write in and tell us if you find out. And tell us about any other Star Wars books you've read!

Star Wars--The Force Awakens: The Visual Dictionary

Greetings of the New Year, guys! Hope that 2016 turns out to good and prosperous for all of you. I started the year right by going to see the new Star Wars movie. Wow! Was it great? You bet it was! I won't talk about the movie right now because I could go on all day but I will tell about a really cool Star Wars book.

It's Star Wars The Force Awakens: The Visual Dictionary and, man, is it ever great! Lots of very cool photos of the characters, equipment, droids, weapons, starships, etc. with information about each of them. Want to know what happened between The Return of the Jedi and this movie? It's in here! Want to know about the starship graveyard on Jakku? Kylo Ren's lightsaber? Rey's speeder? Want to learn more about TIE and Resistance pilots? It's all here--and a whole lot more!

Anyone who has read these Star Wars Visual Dictionaries know that they are amazing. This is no exception! Fun and fascinating, this book will keep the old-time Star Wars fan or the first-time-I've-ever-seen-a-Star-Wars-movie fan entertained and engrossed. And it's the perfect book to hand to an experienced reader or to what the grownups call a "reluctant reader."

Now, the big question is--should I read the book first or see the movie first? Well, this book doesn't contain any spoilers but I think I got a lot more out of it by seeing the movie first. And it's probably a moot point by now because I'm sure that every boy in the United States has already seen it at least once. (if you haven't--what are you waiting for?? Go see it and then check out this book!) Tell me what you thought of the movie. Did you like it a lot? A little? Did you find, as I did, that it really kept to the spirit and look of the original three movies? (Episodes IV--VI?) And have you checked out this book? And is it truly great or what? Leave a comment and let us know!

Update--today, Monday, January 11, is  Nonfiction Monday. Click here to learn about other cool nonfiction books.

A Call To Arms!

ALL RIGHT!!! A manly man named Cy has responded to our cry of distress! Our blog is danger of a hostile takeover by the girls of Mrs. Smith's 4th-grade class at Metrolina Scholar's Academy. (see yesterday's post) Let's hear Cy's brave response to this brazen attack:

hey, its cy, from Mrs. Smith's third grade. I'm not letting any girls take over.boys in Mrs. Smith's class(fourth and third). write in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Very good, Cy! But did he just stop there? NO!! He got out his manly pencil and wrote two reviews!!

Star Wars Pop-up by Matthew Reinheart

If you don't know much about the Star Wars galaxy, this is the book for you. The pop-ups are huge. The book has almost everything about the Star Wars galaxy. but I think that the working light sabers are the coolest. I recommend this book.

Sardine 5 by Emmanuel Guibert

Don't turn this book away Just because the main character is a girl, this series is full of missing brains to scamcorders. when I read this book, I was laughing all night. If you have questions, read the book.

OK, Cy!! You've made want to read the Sardine series! We've had them at our library, but they're checked out now. Maybe I'll get it from one of the others.

But wait!! Cy was not the only boy to stride out bravely to defend our blog; Evan also came forth with a review:

Magic Tree House: Hour of the Olympics by Mary Pope Osborne

Jack and Annie get to go to ancient greece. I liked it because I like the olympics and history. I recommend it for people who like to learn because I learned that girls use to not be able to watch the olympics in ancient greece.

Good work, Evan! I like the Olympics too. Did you get to watch much of it? If you read the book You Wouldn't Want to Be a Greek Athlete: Races You'd Rather Not Run by Michael Ford (I reviewed it on January 11, 2008), you'd see why girls couldn't watch the ancient Olympics!!

But we need more, guys! We had five girls write in yesterday and two today. We need to hear from three boys to match their numbers--more to outnumber them! And what about the rest of you guys out there? Are you going to let your fellow boys be over run?

Calling for reinforcements,

Carl

PS--If you write in, you'll not only defend the blog, you'll be able to get a free book from the Imaginon or Matthews libraries!

Another Star Wars Review from Lord Vader and Some Summer Goofiness!

Hey, one and all, Lord Vader has given us another good review of a Star Wars book:


I just finished "Star Wars Last of the Jedi: Master of Deception" by Jude Watson. It picks up the story shortly after Anakin becomes Darth Vader and when Leia is just a small child. It takes place on Alderaan when Leia's presence is felt in the force because of her strength in it. The dark side doesn't know who is causing a ripple in the force but they want to find the being and deal with it. I thought this book was great and I think other readers that like the Star Wars movies will like this book as well. I can't wait to see the Clone Wars movie on August 15th.

Mikie a.k.a Lord Vader

I can't either, Lord Vakie, I mean, Mider, I mean Mikie. BTW, all you sith and jedi out there, keep your eyes on this blog for some interesting developments!

Now here's some totally goofy summer fun. This is a clip from an old movie. I put it in here because it features the great Spike Jones. I'm a bigggg fan of his. He was a bandleader wayyy back in the day and was famous for taking hit songs of the times and doing crazy things to them. He'd put car horns, hiccups, pistol shots, gargling, and other wierd noises into the songs and make fit in time with the music! In this scene, some lady is singing for a party but doesn't know that Spike Jones is the bandleader. Someone tires to warn her, but too late!!! Go look for some of his music--it may be hard to find now, but go look because it's funny, funny, funny!!!!

Did you know that he even had a TV show??? What must that have been like???

Carl

Back To School, Back To Work

Hey, everyone, and Happy 2008! Once again, I (Carl) hope you had a good holiday break. I sure did. Now it's back to school, huh? Do you all like this first day back or not? Some don't because they've had such a good time during the break; others get bored, miss their friends, and are ready to get back. Me? I enjoy what I do, so I don't mind. Well, in any case, here are some books to enjoy:

The Tiger's Apprentice trilogy by Laurence Yep. Ever read an epic fantasy adventure based on ancient Chinese mythology? No? That's because you haven't read these books. They're grrreeaattt!!! ("They're grreatt?--Tiger? ah ha, ha,ha....oh,well) Tom Lee lives in Chinatown and shouldn't be surpriesd when a tiger wearing a suit knocks on the door. After all, his grandmother studies the Lore, which is ancient Chinese magic. Events suddenly make Tom become apprentice to the tiger, who has a very short time to teach Tom the Lore in order to stop the truly evil Lord Vatten. These are terrific books tht get you at the beginning and keep you to the jaw-dropping finale. The three books in this trilogy are:
Tiger's Apprentice, Tiger's Blood, and Tiger Magic

I have longer reviews on the Bookhive. If you want to read about each one, click here and here and here.

Star Wars: The Ultimate Visual Guide by Ryder Windham. Boy, this book really lives up to the title! This really has to be the ULTIMATE guide to the Star Wars Universe. Not only does it cover all 6 movies, it gives the history of the galaxy before the movies, information on the Jedi and Sith orders (Darth Bill could have told them about that!), behind-the-scenes info from the movies, and videos games based on Star Wars. I really liked that they also included artwork from some the Star Wars magazines and comics as well as photos from the movies. If you have the least interest in Star Wars, this is the book for you!

The 2000 Year Old Man Goes To School by Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner. OK, I have to talk about another picture book, but this one is funny and everyone would like it. A 2000-year-old man goes to an elementary school and gets questions from the kids like, "What did you use for transportation?" ("Mostly fear...an animal would growl at you and you'd go 2 miles in a minute!") You also found out that Murray was the world's greatest inventor, no matter what happened to him. There's a CD that goes with this book. I haven't heard it, but I know it would be funny because Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner are a comedy team from way back. I've heard them do this before and it's great! So don't wait 2000 years--go get it now!

Return Comment of the Jedi

Hey all you Jedi and Sith across the galaxy (and especially you, Darth Bill),

Obi-wan Andrew has answered your challenge! Here is his latest comment:

Hi Darth Bill and Carl,
I haven't gotten around to reading the free book you gave me yet because I'm reading a book I checked out. It's called "Star Wars, Jedi Quest: The School of Fear" by Jude Watson. One of the Senator's sons is kidnapped, and Anakin and another padawan named Ferus must go to the school to gather information to save him. It's pretty good so far, and I think Star Wars fans would enjoy it.
Another series I like is "Andrew Lost". I started reading it when my mom found it for me at the library. I know there are at least 15 books in the series. I finished number 14 last week, and I'm searching for number 15 now. In number 1, Andrew and his sister, Judy, and his robot, Thud, are normal sized people. It's Show and Tell at school, and Andrew builds a shrinking device to shrink garbage. But it backfires and shrinks him, Judy and Thud! Some of the other really good book titles include: Andrew Lost in Time, Andrew Lost in the Garden, Andrew Lost in the Ice Age, & Andrew Lost in the Garbage. I think the funniest one is Andrew Lost With the Bats. They are stuck in a bat cave and Thud gives out information that Judy doesn't like. The more you read, the funnier it gets! Have a great July 4th holiday, and if you're not the driver, then read in the car!
Obi-wan-Andrew

PS Darth Bill--
The Sith will never overcome the Jedi.

So what do you think, all you Jedi and Sith and readers? Got any favorite Star Wars books? Have you read the Andrew Lost books? Any other favorite reads?