Robert's Summer Reads

So, I just wanted to share with some of you a few of the books that I have been reading this summer. I have a mixture of adult and children's books to share with you.

Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

   So, I saw the John Carter movie when it came out a few months ago. I absolutely loved it, even though it is now Disney's biggest bomb at the theater. I thought it was a lovely story. The movie pretty much followed the book. Although, there were some minor changes to the story. The story is about a man named John Carter, a nineteenth century Virginina, who is mysteriously transported to Mars. Once there he becomes involved in a war between two Martian cities. I decided to read the book and I enjoyed it as well. Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote this book series before he started on the Tarzan books. If you are a fan of adventure or science fiction stories, you should check out Princess of Mars.


Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick


    I decided to check this book out because it was written by the same author who wrote The Invention of Hugo Cabret. The amazing thing about that book is that the story was told in both pictures and words. I am not talking about a picture book. It had over five hundred pages. Three hundred of those pages were beautiful, hand drawn, black/white illustrations. This book was done in a similar format. However, the difference is that one story was told in pictures and another story was told in words. At the end of the book the two stories come together in an interesting way. Each story focuses on a character who is deaf.  Basically it shows how the hearing impaired deal with the world around them and the prejudices they endure. I would definitely recommend this book.

The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice

   Last summer I read Interview with a Vampire. Click Here for My Review.  
Since I enjoyed it so much, I decided to read the sequel The Vampire Lestat. In this book, Lestat gives an account of his life. In this book you see a Lestat that is much more caring then the sociopath that was portrayed in the first book. This one was not quite as action driven as the first one. Lestat is on a mission in this book to discover the origins of vampires and try to find some sort of reason for his existence. I think Anne Rice is very descriptive and writes in a beautiful language.If you enjoyed the first book in the series, you definitely need to give this book a read.



Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

     Last year I read Cornelia Funke's Dragon Rider. I thought that it was a beautiful story, so I decided to pick up the first book in her Inkheart series. It is about a young girl, named Maggie, who discovers that her father has the ability to read characters out of books. Unfortunately, the last characters he read out were villains and tricksters. Maggie and her father are forced to come into contact with these characters and try to send them back into their own world. I thought that this was a wonderful children's book. I definitely want to read the rest of the series. If you like fantasy, then you should read this book.