Carson Reads

The Notebook is Sparks' first ever-published novel! It deals with the forbidden love of two who had a young and passionate love when they were growing up but were separated for several years. Now that Noah is back and Allie is engaged to someone else, what is going to happen! Ah!

Originally published as a series of pamphlets to teach money-smarts, The Richest Man in Babylon is a series of short vignettes that take place in Ancient Babylon! The main character's name is Arkad and he has a lot to say about personal finance!

When first opening the book it might seem like the pages are just filled with word vomit, but the message held within the pages is a beautiful one! I struggled a bit with this book's writing style and the number of times that it jumped around, but I do believe some important things can be gleaned through the chaos.

TRIGGER WARNING- Sexual abuse, and trauma are VERY prevalent in this book, Ms. Yanagihara holds nothing back and describes awful things in horrible detail.

I'm sure we all know the climax of the tale of Achilles, but do you know his true story? This was the first novel published by Madeline Miller, who, by the way, has her master's in Classical Studies. The book is GENIUS, I so thoroughly enjoyed it. It is narrated by Achilles' chosen friend, Patroclus, and tells the story of their boyhood all the way through to the battle of Troy. I loved this book.

The series finally wraps up, thank goodness! The last two chapters of this book are the best by far. I am so excited to be done reading and talking about this series. If you have been following along, you know I have some issues with it! But it was good to see Percy and the gang join forces and finally conquer evil.

Dare I say that this is my favorite of the series? It feels like Rick Riordan is finally done throwing in more characters into the mix so the plot can settle and the action starts to pick up! That being said, there are still the classic Percy Jackson tropes and cheesiness oozing on some of the pages, but I came to the realization that it might come off that way to me only because I don't have the imagination necessary to fully enjoy. (Maybe?? Idk it's hard for me)

What is up crazy kids, this week we are talking about the third of five Percy Jackson books!! (Why are there so many), in my most humble opinion, I think that this book is the weakest of the series. It feels like a ramping-up period for the bigger plot of Kronos slowly rising to more power. Nothing major major happens but more characters are introduced and the plot continues to thicken.

The second installment to the Percy Jackson series! Similar to the first but the plot thickens here a little bit. New characters are introduced and new adventures present themselves! We meet Tyson, who turns out to be Percy's half-brother, and we see into the overarching plot of the entire series. Luke is trying to bring back Kronos, the head titan, and overthrow the gods! Sheeeeesh.

The Lightning Thief was one of the first "big chapter books" I read back in elementary school. I remember LOVING it. Since 2021 I have been trying to reread my entire bookshelf and that includes rereading this children's book hahah. I learned very quickly that it just does NOT hold up like Harry Potter or The Hunger Games do.