Good Books - The Thief

This weeks Good Book is "The Thief" by Megan Whalen Turner:

I was introduced to this book by a good friend a few years back and fell in love with the story. It is the first in a series of 4 books. A part of me hopes there will be more books to come but I'm not sure.

These books are only about 300 pages long and pretty easy reads if you want to pick up something quick to read. The story is about a young thief named Gen, short for Eugenides. The first two books are from his perspective and we as readers only know what he is willing to tell us. Which makes the twists and turns of the story so fun and surprising.

I was looking for some good pictures online for this post when I stumbled upon this interesting find.

It would be fun if they really did make a movie for this book.

They story starts with Gen in prison. He was caught stealing from the King of Sounis. After an unknown amount of time he is taken before the king's chief scribe called a Magus. The magus tells him if he comes with him to steal something for the king, Gen's life will be spared.  Gen agrees and they set out secretly with a small group of men, one of them being Sophos, the king's heir.

The story is set in a ancient Greece like world, only its made sort of timeless in that some of the characters use guns. One of the main forms of religions is the worship a large range of gods. The main godess being called Hephestia.

The king's magus wants Gen to steal a stone called Hamiathes's Gift. The stone being a gift from the gods proving that the person possessing the stone is the rightful heir to the kingdom of Eddis.


The kingdom of Sounis is at war with the kingdom of Attolia. In between the two kingdoms is the mountainous land of Eddis. The King of Sounis wants Hamiathes's Gift so he can lay claim to Eddis and make it easier to attack Attolia. The problem being that the stone lies somewhere in Attolia.

So for the majority of the book Gen and his companions are travelling through Eddis and Attolia.

I love how the adventure unfolds and by the end you find out not everyone is who they say they are. And the tale gets better and better with each book.
The Thief is just the introduction to Gen's character. In the next book you learn so much more about the kingdoms of Eddis and Attolia. And by the forth book you will be surprised at where Gen has ended up.

I recommend these books to anyone. The story telling is quite masterful and keeps you guessing to the end. So if you want a good quick read, I suggest reading these.

Out of Town Visitors

This week has been a rough one. I had a bad cold and the cold medicine I was taking gave me migraines, so I wasn't quite my normal self until around Thursday night. Luckily I felt better by the time my cousins, Holly and Sean, and my Uncle Roger came into town for a visit. They came to see my grandma but also stayed with my parents at their old place. This is how I found them when I came over after work on Thursday.

Uncle Roger, Dad and Sean watching Hercules

Grandma, Mom and Holly playing on their laptops

Grandma wanted to take everyone out to dinner so my Dad suggested the buffet at the Suncoast Casino, located just down the road. So we piled into two cars and headed over. Sadly I didn't get any pictures of dinner, I'm not really a big fan of taking them while everyone is eating.

Afterwards, Sean wanted to go bowling so we went upstairs to the casino's huge bowling allies. I was still just getting over my latest migraine and Grandma was a little tired so we joined Doug at the spectators table while everyone else played a round.

 

Mom and Sean were tied almost the whole game but in the end Sean won.

After working again on Friday, I came back over to see how everyone was. We had a nice BBQ dinner with my parents and then decided to head to a casino down south that reportedly had some Mermaids. So after taking Grandma back home we all piled into my parents car and headed to the Silverton Casino, south of the Strip.

After a few observation, we decide the casino leaned more towards the male community. First walking in you saw the Sports court where you can bet on the current football games going on. Then you got to the aquairum which had the mermaids and at the very end was the hugest sporting goods store I have ever seen.

I seem to be hanging out at sporting good stores lately. Here are some fun photos of us wasting time in the huge Bass Pro Sports store.

 

Uncle Roger and Sean having fun

We almost lost Uncle Roger in the gun section....it was huge

 Lots of stuffed animals.

Big Fish

After awhile we made our way back to the aquarium to watch the sting rays get fed. They had some pretty big ones, the diver would place the meat against the glass and the rays would swim up and gulp the meat down. Here are some shots of the feeding frenzy.

 

Then the whole reason we came to this particular casino was so my cousin Sean could see the mermaids. And he wasn't disappointed. The mermaid was very friendly and seemed to really like Sean.

He was ready to get in the tank and join her. Luckily he couldn't figure out how. She really made his day.

After a fun evening we returned home to my parents. Holly, Sean and Uncle Roger are planning on flying home to Oregon today. So I'm off to hang out with them a little more before they head out. It has been fun. We love having visitors in town. It gives us an excuse to go visit all the things there are to do in this crazy town. So come on down. :)

Good Books - The Black Stallion

I've had a cold since this past Thursday, so this weeks Good Book might be shorter then usual. Today I've chosen a book from my early childhood. It is an easy read for young readers. As a young girl I loved horses and this is the book that really got me into them. It is "The Black Stallion" by Walter Farley:

The title kind of gives away what the book is about. It starts with a boy named Alec who is on a passenger boat in 1941. The boat is crossing the Atlantic traveling to America from the Middle East. Also on the boat is a big black stallion. During the journey the ship wrecks and Alec and the horse are thrown over board.

Alec is able to grab hold of the horse and is dragged to a deserted island. They are the only survivors and soon have to rely on each other to survive.

During their time together, Alec tames the stallion and they become friends.

Eventually they are rescued and taken home. Alec adopts the horse and with the help of his neighbor they train Black to be a race horse.

 

The story is simple and fun for young readers. I love the development of friendship between Alec, Black and old Henry.

This is just the first book to a long series of books involving Black and Alec, but it is my favorite. And if you are looking for a quick read. This is a good one. It was also made into a cute movie in 1979.

 

Pictures of My Parent's Place

Okay I was finally able to get over to my parent's new place today. I helped my mom clean the kitchen cabinets. The previous owner didn't see the need to do so after packing up and moving out. I think we wiped out 20 years of grim out of some of them. Meanwhile my brother set up some shelving in the garage.

Here are some pictures of the new place. It's pretty empty, since they are waiting for the painters to come paint the inside at the end of the week. Then we will start bringing more stuff over.

From the street the house doesn't look that big, can't even see the front door.

What you see walking into the front door. Yes, the tree is real... my parents are still deciding where to put it.

Looking up the stairs

The Dinning Room and a peek into the Family room

Mom and Saydie in the kitchen, off the Family Room

Looking back at the Front Door from the Family room

Back door being guarded by Saydie

Backyard, all the rocks are going to become "fake grass"

Side yard, windows to Front Room

Back inside, hallway off Front Room, leads to a spare room, full bathroom, laundry room and garage

Top of the stairs looking at Front Door

Hall leading to Doug's room, Dad's den and bathroom

Walkway leading to Master Bedroom and Mom's sewing room / playroom

Doug in his new room at the front of the house. It's properly known as a F.R.O.G. (front room over garage) in South Carolina

Master Bedroom at the back of the house windows overlook the backyard.

Just a peek into the Master bathroom

I love this house, the place is so open and airy. I'll have to show some more pictures after it's painted. They are painting a couple accent walls blue. Should look pretty nice.

Good Books - The Neverending Story

One of my favorite childhood movies is "The Neverending Story." The idea of a book actually being real and the reader being a part of the story always intrigued me. So imagine my excitement when I discovered that this movie was based on a book by Michael Ende, a German writer.

Originally this book was written in German but later translated into English by Ralph Manheim. And when comparing the book to the movie, the book is much much better. The movie only covers the beginning of the book.

The story begins with a boy named Bastian Balthazar Bux who finds himself running away from some bullies to hid in an old bookstore. In the store he meets a the store owner Carl Conrad Coreander and discovers a large old book titled "The Neverending Story".

 Bastian "borrows" the book and procedes to read it in the attic of his school.

He soon discovers that this book is very different from any other book he has ever read. He finds himself getting carried away in the story.

The book tells of a land called Fantastica where stories are real and anything can happen. This land is ruled by the Childlike Empress who is seen only by a chosen few because she lives at the top of a tall Ivory tower.

Her land is endangered by "The Nothing". Bits and pieces of Fantastica are disappearing like they have never existed. In the movie it depicts "The Nothing" as a great storm, that strips the land until nothing is left.

"The Nothing" is being helped by a giant wolf creature called the Gmork.

The AURYN

The Empress asks the help of a young warrior named Atreyu to stop The Nothing. He is given the AURYN to protect and guide him. He starts on his adventures and meets a luck dragon named Falkor and many other people.

Falkor the Luck Dragon

After going through many trials Atreyu discovers only a human child can save them. And Bastian relizes that they are talking about him. That by him giving the Empress a new name he can save all of Fantastica. He reluctantly does so and is brought into Fantastica.

The Empress tells Bastian that the more wishes he makes in Fantastica the bigger Fantastica will become. So for his first wish he wished to be strong. A beautiful forest formed out of the nothingness, and he soon forgot he was ever weak. He then wished he was brave and the forest was replaced by a vast desert where he meets a fierce lion, and he forgot he was ever scared.

The more wishes he made the more he forgot, but the more amazing his adventures became.

For most of the book Bastian has adventures in Fantistica and is helped by Atreyu and Falkor. And it is only with their help is he ever to make it home again without loosing himself in Fantistica.

This book has so many great story's many of which end with the line "that, however, is another story and shall be told another time," making it one big book of Neverending Stories.

I encourage anyone who is a fan of the movie to sit down and read the book because they will not be disappointed. I wasn't, I just wish that someone who is a fan would remake the movie using more of the story from the book. I think that would be so cool.