Don't ask why, but I decided to sign up for the 50 Book Challenge towards the end of term (which sucks for me because that means I have less time to do it in).
Anyway, here's a list of the books I've read so far:
Julius Caesar and his Foul Friends by Toby Brown
I bought this book back when I was in the British Museum, but didn't finish it until the end of term. (Yeah, I'm not much of a reader nowadays.) When I had to write down my reflections on the book (the forms for the 50 Book Challenge have a space to write down reflections for some reason) I wrote "I FINISHED A BOOK!!!"
The Word Spy by Ursula Dubosarsky
This book was pretty interesting. Not only does it tell you the history of our crazy language, but it does tell you fancy names for stuff like misheard lyrics (mondegreens) and why those names are what they are. For example, "mondegreens" are called that because someone misheard "laid him on the green" as "Lady Mondegreen," and "spoonerisms" are called that because a guy called Reverend Spooner used to talk like that all the time unintentionally.
Update: I'm now reading the sequel, The Return of the Word Spy.
Alpha Beta by John Man
This book was also interesting but sometimes it was hard to follow. It probably didn't help that I have a memory like a sieve and so couldn't remember what I'd read on the previous page.
The Guardians of Ga'Hoole series by Kathryn Lasky
So far, I've read the first 12 books. It's about owls who, after being taken from their homes and losing their parents, find their way to the Great Ga'Hoole Tree where they learn all sorts of skills to help them fight forces of evil in the owl kingdoms, among which is a group that believes that one type of owl is more pure than another. I think I pay too much attention in English because I keep thinking about references to different texts and symbolism and random stuff like that. For example, the Pure Ones believe that Tyto alba Barn Owls are superior to other kinds of owls. Other kinds of Barn Owls like Sooty Owls are allowed to be part of the Pure Ones, but they are given menial jobs and are sometimes sacrificed during another owl's Special or Tupsi ceremony where one owl has to kill another. The whole idea of one type of owl being better than another reminded me of the racism and even genocide during WWII (I'm probably being a bit extreme here though), and the Special/Tupsi ceremony reminded me of what each boy has to do when they become of age in Prentisstown in The Knife of Never Letting Go.
Update: I've finished reading the whole series, as well as A Guide Book to the Great Tree... wow.
Birds of Prey and Other Feathered Friends by Denny Robson
The first page had an albatross on it.
ARGH!
God save thee, ancient mariner!
Why lookst thou so?
With my crossbow,
I SHOT THE ALBATROSS
...or something.
Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can't Avoid by Lemony Snicket
Some of these really are quite true.
And I love the metaphors he uses.
Du Du Xiong series by Bing Ge
I decided to borrow a few Chinese children's books from the library. I've read two books from the Du Du Xiong series so far: Wo Zhangda-le (I'm grown up) and Bi Jian Zhan Ge Da Paopao (not exactly sure what this title means but it has something to do with big bubbles). Each book is made up of four or five short stories with little poems and comics in between, and every story has a moral of some sort: for example, the moral of the first story of Bi Jian Zhan Ge Da Paopao is not to be a fussy eater.
Update: I've now also read Qise Weijin, another book in the series of 6.
Le jour comme de nuit by Valérie Guidoux
Argh- so many French words that I had to look up, but there were lots of pretty pictures...
Angry Aztecs by Terry Deary
I'm amazed. There used to be people out there that are more barbaric than the people in my Creative Writing class! (Ben and your zombie hedgehogs, I'm looking at you...)
Alex Rider: The Gadgets by Anthony Horowitz
There is so much chemistry in this book! Too much science in the morning!
Quidditch Through the Ages by J.K. Rowling
Woohoo! A book that's so thin it doesn't intimidate me at all!
Bangbang Tianshi
I was proud of myself for not having to look up too many words despite this one being in traditional Chinese. There wasn't really much of a plotline, though perhaps I shouldn't be too critical because this is, after all, a children's book.
Caomei
This book took me forever to read because it's in traditional Chinese and my traditional Chinese dictionary is even more annoying to use than my simplified Chinese one. The pictures were really interesting though.
