It’s time! Our Cosplay Fashion Runway is right around the corner. When is it? Well here you go:

Cosplay Fashion Runway
CANCELED

Cosplay is a hobby where people create handmade costumes that celebrate their favorite characters from anime, manga, television, film and comic books. Here are a few photos with examples of cosplay in action:

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Empire of Ivory (Temeraire book 4) by Naomi Novik

In the first Temeraire novel, His Majesty’s Dragon, England is at war with Napoleon and the French. William Laurence is an ordinary ship’s captain in His Majesty’s Navy. That is until his crew captures a French ship harboring a dragon egg. When it hatches the young dragon imprints upon Laurence, which forces him to become the dragon’s caregiver and pilot. He must leave the Navy and join His Majesty’s Aerial Corp, an air force made entirely of dragons and their crews. The first book in the series follows Laurence and his dragon, Temeraire, as they get used to being part of the Aerial Corp and help to defend England from an invasion. The second book’s adventure finds the duo traveling to China, Temeraire’s country of origin. The third book picks up where the second book ends and covers their return trip to England by land. They finally make it back to England at the start of the fourth  book only to find a mysterious dragon plague has decimated the Aerial Corp. They must sail to Africa in order to find a cure. There they encounter a hidden nation where humans and dragons are equals. Although they try to make a good first impression the first contact turns sour because of England’s continuing involvement in the slave trade. Laurence is taken prisoner and the hidden empire begins to muster an army to raid the coastal ports England has established. Temeraire must save Laurence and find the cure for his dragon brethren.

I really enjoy this series. It reads a lot like an old swashbuckling, high seas adventure, except with dragons. The series’s prose captures the historical time period extremely well. It has the right mixture of detail and action that creates for a semi-quick read. I really enjoy how each book in the series provides greater insight on dragons and their culture. Dragons are just as complex and intelligent as humans, although humans in the western world tend to treat them as they would a horse or a ship. I would recommend this series to anyone who likes dragons, or historical high seas adventure. It is appropriate for advanced readers, 14 and up.

Posted under a librarian reads, review

Melinda and the Wild West by Linda Weaver Clarke
5 Stars

A young schoolteacher moves to the west to teach school. She endures many trials but becomes stronger in the process. It is tough to find a sweet, clean romance. I enjoyed finding a book without anything inappropriate, yet it still had sweet love scenes between the characters. I love reading love stories with some adventure and that is what the author has done in this book. I really worried when Melinda got caught in the blizzard, but it turned out to be one of my favorite parts. This book is fun to read over and over because it leaves you with “warm fuzzies”! It is a great book that I would not be embarrassed to recommend to a friend or anyone.

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Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules by Jeff Kinney
4 Stars

I really liked this book. It shows lods of humor! The book is about Greg Heffley’s everyday life. After his brother found his first diary, Greg had some bad times. Greg usually gets into trouble because what he thinks is funny isn’t really funny. Like the time where his friend, Rowley, was sleeping over. Rowley kept kicking a pillow. Greg decided to put a dumbell in the pillow as a prank. The next few days went downhill because of that. Greg also is in a bit of trouble when his brother, Rodrick, threatens to expose a really embarrassing story about Greg. Greg has to be careful or else the whole school will know! Rodrick is always getting Greg into trouble.

Greg also has to deal with his little brother, Manny. Manny remembers all the bad things that Greg did when Greg was little, and Manny chooses now to bust Greg. Greg has alot to deal with. I chose this book because I liked the first book alot! It really tickled my funny bone! I recomend this book to anyone who loves to laugh!

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Exit Point by Laura Langston
4 Stars

The book Exit Point was SUPER interesting. I enjoyed the book because it draws you in starting at the first chapter and all the way up to the end. I would have liked to see how everything ended out. The book really touched my heart and makes you wonder if there is really a person that watches over you like Wade is to Logan. The book was AMAZING. I would like to read it again.

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Puddlejumpers by Mark jean & Christopher C. Carlson

Wow, I really enjoyed this book. This is definitely one of the better books I have read this year. It reminds me a lot of of a really good bedtime story. It does a great job of balancing its fantasy with the thrill of very present danger. The villains are just described enough to be really creepy if you have a good imagination, and are just the right amount of bad, which means entirely bad. The heroes, an orphaned reprobate and a irascible tomboy, are in over their heads, and might not make it out alive as they try to stop the incarnation of evil. It sounds like fun doesn’t it?

Ernie Banks is an orphan who is constantly getting into trouble. He gets one last reprieve when he is sent to work on a farm instead of being sent to Juvenile Hall. Ernie isn’t a bad kid, just stubborn, fiercely independent, and loathes authority. No wonder he is in constant trouble, right? He has lived his entire life in an orphanage and only has a crystal acorn that he wears around his neck as a mysterious sign of his origin. Unbeknownst to him, Ernie is actually a participant in a war between Puddlejumpers and Troggs. Puddlejumpers are small creatures much like pixies or brownies, who live deep underground, care for mother nature, and can teleport themselves to the Up Above by jumping through puddles. Troggs on the other hand seek destruction, misery, and the enslavement of all puddlejumpers. Fortunately there can be an end in the battle between the two, because Ernie’s birth was actually foretold in Puddlejumper lore as a child who would be destined to journey to the heart of the Most Dark and make it rain. On top of all this Ernie will also face himself, and discover where he came from and where he belongs.

Like I said above, I really enjoyed this book. Another aspect I liked was that the novel deals deals with environmentalism tangentially, and never in a preachy or ham handed way. The environmental message is there (if you look for it) yet the story is never sacrificed to get this issue across. It’s more of a tacit suggestion. The book is appropriate for all ages, and would recommend it for everyone. It’s a great read.

Posted under a librarian reads, review

The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
This book deserves 5 stars

This book is a futuristic novel about a boy named Matt who is a clone. When he realizes that the people who created him only want his death, he knows he has to escape to survive. This book really made me stop and think.

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