Happy Reading In 2010!

Just a wish from all of us for a Happy and Prosperous New Year. There have been a lot of good books in 2009 and we're looking forward to even more coming up. (A lot of bloggers publish their favorites of 2009 about now but we've been too busy--maybe next week) What do YOU look forward to reading in 2010? The Kane Chronicles? More graphic novels? More 39 Clues? More Erec Rex? Or something we don't even know about yet? Let us know! And don't forget--you still have until Monday to write reviews and get a free book for each one you send!

Incredible! MORE Reviews!

This is Yoda Claws and very embarrassed I am! Darth Bill just told me that these great reviews from the last few days are from Michael, but I thought they were from Lee! Got the name wrong I did. (gave Michael his mom's name I did!) Gone back and corrected this I have. Very sorry I am, Michael. And to think that I, a trainer of jedi knights, was corrected by a sith!! Well, here are two more reviews from MICHAEL:

Forbidden Doors, book 2
The Deceived
by Bill Myers
When Becka's boyfriend Ryan wants her to attend a lecture on reincarnation with him, Becka thinks it's no big deal. But then, the speaker uses her as an expiriment, and get's involved in her personal life, even dating her mom. Scott, Becka's brother, learns from Z, his mysterious chat room friend, that the speaker, Maxwell, is very dangerous. And when Becka's mom sees his demonic power for herself, she and Scott try to convince Becka to get away from Maxwell and his evil powers. Becka won't listen, and winds up in the hospital when she thinks that she can find power over all the world in the headlight of an oncoming train.. Amazing story, awesome action, and a great life lesson. Great book! Also, Becka and Scott star in 11 other books in the Forbidden Doors series.

The Imager (Bloodstone) Chronicles, book 1
The Portal
by Bill Myers
Who knew that the rock Denise found in her old basement would actually be the key to an alternate world? When Denise gives her friend Nathan (who's a selfish brat) a bloodstone for his birthday, he thinks it's the worst gift ever. But when exposed to the light of the full moon, it sends out a distress signal to creatures from another dimension. When Denise and Nathan are sucked away to Fayrah with strange animals that call themselves Aristophenix, Listro Q., and Samson, they explore the new world. They find it's many surprises and dangers as they run into enemies of Imager, the One who creadted us all. Through action, suspense, and near death, Denise and Nathan find out how to fight the devil, and they also learn about the all-encompassing heart of God.. Great moral, great lesson, and great way to teach it. Denise and Nathan star in 3 other books in the Imager (or Bloodstone) Chronicles.

Thanks, Michael. We're always glad to hear from you. Very glad we are to hear from all you other reader guys, too. Keep sending those reviews. Remember that you get a free book for each review you send! (If questions you have, check our post of December 17)

Amazing! Still More Reviews!

Yes, my friends, we have MORE reivews from Michael. This makes a total of eight so far!! Let's see the latest:


The Christmas Genie
by Dan Gutman
When a meteor comes crashing through a school window, and a genie is found inside, he agrees to give Chase and his classmates 1 hour to decide on a wish. I really enjoy Dan Gutman's books and this was the best yet!

The Incredible Worlds of Wally McDoogle, book 9
My Life as Raindeer Road Kill
by Bill Myers
Santa on an out-of-control 4-wheeler? Electrical Rudolph on the rampage? Nothing new for the only walking national disaster area, Wally McDoogle. Wally dreams that an angel named Bartholemew invites him to a birthday party... for GOD! As Wally tries this and that and everything else to make money in order to get the perfect gift for God, he finally bumbles his way into the real reason for the season. I love Bill Myer's books. He's my favorite author. This was awesome! As a side note... Bartholemew reappears in book #28: My Life as a Supersized Superhero with Slobber.

My Weird School, book 15
Ms. Holly is Too Jolly!
by Dan Gutman
When Ms. Holly comes to Ella Mentry School, everything is Christmas related. There is one plus, though. Ms. Holly agrees that 2nd graders A. J., Ryan, and Michael can be Christmas Elvises in the school Christmas play. I love Dan Gutman's books, and this was really awesome. A. J. and his friends star in a brand-new series called My Wierd School Daze.

My Weird School Daze, book 7
Dr. Brad Has Gone Mad!
by Dan Gutman
When Dr. Brad, Ella Mentry School's counseler, picks 3rd graders A. J., Ryan, Michael, and A. J.'s rivals, Andrea, Emily, and Annete for his next expirement, the classmates are in for an adventurous time as A. J. hypnotizes Andrea and winds up climbing the school to save her. I really like Dan Gutman's books, and this is his newest. A. J. and his friends are also in a 21 book series called My Wierd School. Check it out!


Well done, Lee! Since you have written eight reviews, you can claim eight free books!! If you other readers guys want in on the action, click on the Comments tab under this post and send your reviews to us. Read the post of December 18 to find out more. And click on the "Dan Gutman" tab under this post to see what we and your fellow reader guys have said about some of his other books.

The CARLMAN

Awesome! Even MORE Reviews!

Merry Day After Christmas, everyone! It's the CARLMAN, hoping all of you have had a great holiday season so far. I certainly had a great Christmas. There's a Wii system in the CARLMAN'S house!! Oh, yeah! I must have been a good CARLMAN this year!

Well, I've got something else to make the season bright. When I arrived at the library today, there was a messenger droid from Yoda Claws with three new book reviews! Two of them are from Michael, who has already sent us three. (see the December 22 post) The other is from our new friend Elias. Let's hear from Lee first:

Passages, book 1
Darien's Rise
by Paul McCusker
When an old manuscript is discovered at an antiques sale, Jack Allen and John Avery Whittaker are left to decide if it's true. Anna and Kyle, in 1950s Odyssey, get sucked away to an alternate world called Marus. There they meet Darien, a young warrior who is about to marry Princess Michelle. The only problem is, King Lawrence hates Darien because of his popularity. The king tries many a plot to kill Darien, but when Prince George, Darien's best friend, tells Darien about the plot, Darien is able to avoid the schemes. When Kyle and Anna develop supernatural powers from the Unseen One (which who God is known as in Marus), they are able to help Darien become king in the end. There are many great adventures in between, including Darien climbing the side of a moving train, Anna nearly being killed, and King Lawrence going completely insane! Even if you have never heard the radio drama, Adventures in Odyssey, from which this story was taken, it's a great read for anyone and everyone! Also, Adventures in Odyssey now has this book in audio drama form if you don't feel like reading it. Awesome book!

And here's another:

The Hobbit
by J. R. R. Tolkien
When hobbit Bilbo Baggins teams up with 14 dwarves and a wizard, they travel together through the countryside and face many hardships, including avalanches, enchanted water, nasty elves, and a guy named Bard. Their ultimate goal? To defeat Smaug, the dragon that has terrorized the mountainside for many centuries, and to gain all the treasure that he has stolen over the years. This was a really good book. It has a prequel, The Simirilian, and sequels, the Lord of the Rings series. A great read!

Now let's see whar Elias has read:

Book Review: Greetings from Nowhere by Barbara O’Connor

I really loved the book Greetings from Nowhere. It was about four people who all had big problems they had to deal with. One of the things I liked about it was that there were numerous protagonists. I liked how each of them had a problem at first, but in the end they decided to forget their problems and have fun and make friends. I think this was an exceptional book since it had a good moral. One thing I didn’t like was that not all of the characters were friendly. One of them stole lots of things. He wasn’t a very good character because he didn’t play a very important role in the story. But overall, it was a very good book.So that is a little bit about the book Greetings from Nowhere. I recommend it to all readers who want a good read.

Thanks, guys! These all sound good. The Hobbit is one of my all-time favorites. (Tolkien and C. S. Lewis are my all-time favorite authors) I must confess I haven't read the other two but they sound good too. Other guys have read and liked another Barbara O'Connor book; if you want to find out which one, click on the "Barbara O"Connor" tab under this post. Good work, reader guys! Keep those reviews coming. Don't forget that you get a free book for each review! Go to the post of December 18 to find out where to pick them up. And go find these books, everyone!

The Return of Commander X

Hi all,

I just wanted to get in one quick last post before the Christmas Holidays. There is an all new Commander X Adventures Online Book/Graphic Novel that is out for the Holidays. I really loved it and wanted to share this early Christmas Gift with you all. So here is some really good general information.


Commander X Adventures by Jay Piscopo and others - Well as last year around the holiday season the most great and awesome Jay Piscopo and friends have released another online Commander X Book/Graphic Novel!!!!!! To read this excellent and latest installment of the adventures of Commander X, all you have to do is click on the title above or go to http://www.captneli.com/index.php the Official Web Page of all things "The Undersea Adventures of Capt'n' Eli." Just click on the cover with the picture of Commander X and Circe. The best part of all this is it is free!!!! All you have to have is an internet connection and if you do not have that at home just come to the library!!!!! If you have yet to read any of the Graphic Novels in "The Undersea Adventures of Capt'n Eli," well you need to check them out from the library or order them for a very reasonable price from the above Web Site. You can find my reviews of The Capt'n Eli Graphic Novels and things about Jay Piscopo at the following locations on our Blog just by clicking on them:

Commander X, The Last Olympian, and Other Cool Stuff

Darth Bill's Picks of 2008

On The Road with Jay Piscopo and The Zen of Finding One's Way

Volume 1

Volume 2

A picture of me with my all time favorite Comic/Graphic Novel Writer/Artist Jay Piscopo!!! (This is from when he visited the PLCMC System from all the way up in Maine this past year!!!!)

Oh back to the online Book/Graphic Novel, here is what is included:
Commander X vs. The Simian Squad ...... Written by Frank Schildiner,
Illustrated by Mike Fyles

First Encounter ...... Written by Frank Schildiner,
Illustrated by Danny Kelly and Robert Caine Jeffcoat

Pin-up: Circe ...... Delfin Barral

Pin-up: Circe ...... Norn Cutson

The Wake of the War-Beast ...... Written and illustrated by Jay Piscopo

Pin-up: Commander X ...... Jay Piscopo

Pin-up: Circe ...... Jay Piscopo

Pin-up: Commander X and Circe ...... Jay Piscopo

Bonus! Commander X Variants by Jay Piscopo


Knight Avenger

Knight Commando

Western Knight

The entire thing was just a gas to read. If you like your adventure high and fueled with excitement, what are you waiting for??????? Give it a look see.

....and by the way if anyone wants to buy me something for Christmas, I really want the Commander X: Barbary Knight Action Figure. Ka-pow and Unguard,hahahhahahahhahahhahhaahhahahahahahhahhahahahhhahhahah....

Well Happy Holidays all and peace on Earth and in the Heavens,

Bill

Very Excited I Am! Our First Review!

Yes, reader guys, Yoda Claws is very happy to publish the first review of our Holiday Reading Giveaway. It's from our new friend Augustin:

Name of book:Esio Trot Author:Roald Dahl

What it is about: It began with a man named Mr. Hoppy who was in love with his neighbor whose name was Mrs. Silver. But Mrs. Silver was in love with someone else, her pet tortoise which was named Alfie. Finally Mr. Hoppy thought of a plan. Mrs Silver was always wanting Alfie to grow bigger.So Mr. Hoppy went to the local petshop and purchased several tortoises. When Mrs. Silver went to work the next day, Mr. Hoppy replaced Alfie with another larger turtle. So this went on until the fake Alfie couldn't get his shell through the opening of his little house. Finally Mrs Silver noticed him and called Mr. Hoppy down to look at him. It was while they were having tea together that Mr. Hoppy gathered up the courage to ask her if she would marry him. "Of course I will" she said. "After all it was your magic words that made him grow" Mrs Silver said. So they got married and lived happily ever after.

Submitted by Augustin De Piante

Many thanks, Augustin! Very happy you have made me. Come to the Imaginon or Matthews or Mint Hill library and get your free book. Or live out of town you do? Call Carl, give him your address, and get it to you he will. (his number is in the post under this one) MORE reviews from you guys I hope to get!

Doubly Excited I Am! MORE Reviews!

Wow! Tremendously great you guys are! I, Yoda Claws, have just received three new reviews from another new friend, Michael:

The Missing: book 1
Found
by Margaret Peterson Haddix
When Jonah Skidmore and his friend Chip find out they're adopted, they and Jinah's sister, Katherine, are caught up in a bizarre series of incidents, leading up to the fact that they and 34 other kids were taken from different places in history by people from the future and put on a time machine disguised as a plane. 13 years later, in a clever scheme brought about by the people from the future, 35 of the kids and Katherine are gathered together and travel through time when Jonah offers to fix time for the people of the future. Now he, Chip, Katherine, and one of the kids on the plane named Alex must do that in the 15th century. I enjoyed this book very much. I love time travel, and this is a must-read book for any and every time travel fan out there!

The Doom Machine
by Mark Teague
When aliens capture some people from Earth, they are in for a surprise. Using a machine that can make holes in time and space, they travel to numerous planets, from Hellebeezia to Arboria, and finally to the ultimate destination of Skreepia.In the end, the people from Earth escape with the help of a friendly skreep (the aliens who live on Skreepia, that is), and with the space-time machine, they return to Earth 10 minutes after they left on a journey that took months. I personally think that this is the best book that I have read in my entire life. I loved the time travel content, and I also enjoy books about aliens. So to me this was the perfect combination.

Left Behind--the Kids, book 26
The Beast Arises
by Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim Lahaye with Chris Fabry
After the Rapture occurs, four kids realize their mistakes and believe in God, and they are determined to face the Earth's last days together. Now, in the 25 books later, three of them remain. The Antichrist, Nicolae Carpathia, has been killed by the sword, as predicted in the Bible. As Carpathia's organization, the Global Community, burns downevery believer's house they can find (because they blame the believers for every bad thing that happens), they trace one of the kids and her new friends to her new hideout (they destroyed the old one). As the girl, Vicki, and her friends prepare to take off, they find that their car won't start. Hiding, they must wait for the GC to come and leave, hoping that they won't find them. Meanwhile, in New Bebylon (the city Nicolae created), the other two kids, Judd and Lionel, witness first hand Carpathia raising from the dead and coming back to life. Carpathia is now inhabited by Satan himself. As Nicolae gives his "I Am God" speach (which everyone who's not a Christian believes), the exect halfway point of the 7-year Tribulation is reached, and the kids must now face even worse: The Great Tribulation. I enjoy this series very much. Their are 40 books, and if you're scared of the Rapture, the authors have a bunch of other great Christian books just wairing to be read! An excellent piece!

Thanks, Michael! Come by Imaginon or Matthews or Mint Hill to get your free books! (since you sent 3 reviews, you'll get 3 books!) Look forward to hearing more from you, we are. Other reader guys, check out these books you should. Carl read Found and liked it--you can see his review here. The second book in that series is out now and it's called Sent. (Read that one Carl has not) AND you are now the front runner for our special prize package. Keep up the good work and let's hear from MORE of you reader guys!