Books

Book 83: The Red Pyramid (The Kane Chronicles #1) – Rick Riordan

Although I enjoyed this book, it was not as good as the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. The Kane Chronicles does have potential but this first introduction seemed too much like an adaptation of the first with slight twists. Regardless of this, it was a fun read and I enjoyed the quick action and Egyptian Mythology. And give me some magic, some ancient history, and coming of age tales and I’m happy for a quick read.

In The Red Pyramid we meet Carter and Sadie Kane, two siblings that soon find out they are anything but normal. The are descendants of the pharaohs of ancient Egypt, and with that comes various dangers and responsibilities. I won’t go into the story too much because it’s hard to talk about any of it without revealing more than I should, but when they were younger, their mother died leaving their father and grandfather to raise them. You find out why they are raised separately towards the end of the story and it is interesting.

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Books

Book 66: The English Patient – Michael Ondaatje

I could be predictable and say the story is about the English patient, as the title suggests, or any of the main characters, but it’s not. It’s not even about living through World War II. To me this novel is about survival.

It is about surviving the inner demons that haunt each of us. Although the brutal acts of the war make appearances, and the heinous acts against humanity in the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki provide a hauntingly severe backdrop to the novel’s conclusion, the story focuses more on the internal struggle of the four characters. And to this effect, there is a quote in From Boys to Men that sums up my thoughts on this book: “I always remind myself: stories haunt you, and memories. Not people.” (252)

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