Best Books of 2010

Here are just a few of the best books that I read in 2010:

-Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. Fabulous book. I wrote a book report on it in February, (so I was still in 7th grade) and got five extra credit points. I think that's because I quoted Brian Regan (he's my favorite comedian) in the report, but my mom thinks it's because I read Jane Eyre while the other kids were reading who knows what. Anyway, I loved this book. :)

-Fablehaven book 5: Keys to the Demon Prison by Brandon Mull. This one was the last one in the series, and it just came out this year. It was really good. If you haven't read the Fablehaven books yet, you ought to. They're good for Harry Potter fans.

-Touch Blue by Cynthia Lord. I loved this book, it was so charming!

-Calamity Jack by Shannon Hale. This one is the sequel to Rapunzel's Revenge, and they are both very good. They're graphic novels, which was kind of fun. I have to say that I was a little bit disappointed by Calamity Jack, (it didn't capture my attention as much as the first one and the plot was kind of weird) but since Shannon Hale wrote it and she's one of my favorites, I have to recommend it. Me and my friend actually got these signed by her at a book signing, which was super fun!

-The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I LOVED this one!

-The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare. I had to read this for school, even though I had already read it before. It's a really good book. Also by the same author is Sign of the Beaver, which I loved and read a couple years ago. This author has written quite a few things and earned a couple of Newberry Awards.

-All seven of The Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling, of course. I read all these for the...I think fourth...time this year, and they are always good! I learn something new every time I read them, the story is so intricate and fascinating!
The seventh movie that came out in November was fantastic, I've seen it three times in all different theaters with some of my friends! Ha ha! Check out my post about the midnight showing, it wasn't very long ago.

-The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. I loved this book, even though it seemed a little long. My dad got all the Lord of the Rings movies for Christmas, but he says I can't watch the movies until I've read the books. (He loves those books.) I haven't found time for them yet, but I'm really excited to read them. Anyway, I loved The Hobbit.

-A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flag. I read this every Christmas, and it's a great book. There's a ton of Christmas books I love.

-The Work and the Glory, book 3 by Gerald Lund. I've only read the first three of these books, because we don't own them all. But I loved, loved, loved the ones I've read.

Okay, this is getting really long, isn't it? I just love books! I'm eager to have another wicked amazing year of reading! Woohoo!

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Just so you know, I really enjoy The Chronicles of Narnia. I think they're so cool. Harry Potter is still my favorite, but these are right up there. Sometimes I don't doubt that Narnia is a real place.

Last night, my family went to see the newest Narnia movie in 3D. I was a little nervous, because I really disliked the last movie, Prince Caspian, for reasons listed below. The first one, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, is one of my all-time favorite movies. It's absolutely fantastic.

Prince Caspian I didn't like because they took all the religion out of it. All the symbolism was gone, and a whole extra battle was added in. It was lame! Frankly, The Chronicles of Narnia are nothing without the religion. There isn't any deep plot line to follow unless you've got the religion, the characters are boring without the religion, and it's really not that exciting of a story without the religion. C.S. Lewis wrote those books for all of the religion and symbolism. I think he wanted to teach us about Christ in a different way. The books are beautiful and fascinating and wonderful with the religion in them, and it shouldn't be removed. That is why I disliked Prince Caspian. (Okay, dislike is an understatement. I was scowling as I left the movie theater, and pretty angry about it for a couple weeks.)
Taking the religion out of a Narnia movie is like taking out the character of Harry Potter in a Harry Potter movie. Stupid.

But this one was much better. A lot more of the symbolism was in there...they didn't go over the part where Aslan helps Eustace go from a dragon to a boy again as much as I thought they should (that part is very symbolic in the book, it's really interesting) but overall it was awesome. Speaking of which, the kid who played Eustace was absolutely perfect for the part. He was just as annoying and obnoxious as the character in the book. It was so perfect!

Anyway, I would recommend this movie. It was cool in 3D, and it was much improved from Prince Caspian. Much. Overall I really enjoyed it. (Reepicheep was one of my favorite characters, he's so cute.)

FOR NARNIA!!! :)

The Old Curiosity Shop

I recently finished this book by Dickens. It wasn't my favorite Dickens -- it's too hard to beat David Copperfield -- but I did enjoy it. He has such a wit! There are characters to love in the book, but the characters that are evil stick around for the whole book, which was a bit difficult for me. And a few characters were just sort of abandoned, which is a bit different for Dickens. Of course, I can recommend it highly. On a side note, I read this book on our iPad. That was different. I liked it more than I thought I would, but I still just prefer good old books. I would not be opposed to another e-reader book, though. There are some advantages.

I also recently read The Promise by Richard Paul Evans. It isn't worth another word in my opinion. Don't bother with it.

I'm now in the midst of A Christmas Carol, and we also watched the new Disney version (it came out last year) the other night. I love that movie! I think it is so well done and for the most part captures the spirit (no pun intended) of the book.