Do you ever judge a book by the cover?

I sure do. I know that is a classic saying that we have heard and it is true. The problem is, we all judge books by their covers. When we see something that looks good we want it. This is true whether it is a book or a video game.

One book that I made the mistake of judging by its cover was The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp. I love this book. At first when it was recommended to me a few years ago I wasn't too excited to read it. The title did sound exciting but the cover of the book looked cheesy and not very interesting. Boy was I wrong. This book was absolutely extraordinary. The good thing is that they improved their book covers and made them much better over time as new books came out in the series. The original book cover is on the left and the new one is on the right. The right does a much better job of showing how the book is an extraordinary adventure. That cover screams excitement to me. Below are book number 2 and 3 covers.


Here is a quick summary of book one in the series. Alfred Kropp is the last person you'd think could save the world. But when this oversized underachiever gets roped into a suspicious get-rich-quick scheme, his life takes a turn for the extraordinary. Little does Alfred know he has been tricked into stealing Excalibur — the legendary sword of King Arthur — and the most powerful weapon ever wielded by man.

With an ancient order of knights in hot cars, thugs on motorcycles, and a mysterious international organization following his every lumbering step, Alfred undertakes a modern-day quest to unravel a thousand-year-old mystery and return the sword to its rightful place.

39 Clues Series

39 Clues. This book series is sure to get you hooked. The best part about this book is how fast they wrote it. One of the worst parts about reading a series is waiting a year for each additional book to come out. For example, it took me 5 years to read the Percy Jackson Lighting Thief series. It was worth the wait but it took a long time. With this new series, 39 clues, they came out with a new book in the series about every 4 months or so. There are a total of 10 books and they all were released in about 2 years. Another interesting part of the series was the amount of authors they had. They had multiple authors, totaling 7 in all. This a small summary of the books.

The Cahills are the most powerful family the world has ever known. Grace Cahill, the matriarch of the family, left a challenge in her will for her surviving relatives. They can either take one million dollars or the first in a series of Clues that will reveal the source of the family's power. It's Cahill vs. Cahill in a race to beat the competition and be the first to assemble all 39 Clues. Read The 39 Clues books to follow fourteen-year-old Amy Cahill and her eleven-year-old brother Dan as they travel the world to hunt for the Clues. Each of the ten books comes with 6 game cards and reveals important information about the Cahills, including the location of one Clue.

The Alchemyst

This is a new book that I have not yet read. Occasionally I will post books that I haven't read yet. I did earlier on the blog with the books about the kids in Disney Land. This book series was recommended to me by one of the librarians at my school. She is from England and always has excellent books to suggest. I also am interested in this book, because the author is from Ireland. The last books I read with an Irish author, Eoin Colfer, was the Aretemis Fowl series which became one of my all time favorite series. The author of this new series is Michael Scott but it is not the actor thanks goodness. Here is a brief review of the book for you to read to get a quick idea about the book. This book comes highly recommended and I can't wait to begin myself. Enjoy.

Sophie and Josh are working at their jobs when a very mysterious man named Dee comes for a book called the Codex. Sophie and Josh witness Nick and Perry, the owners of the store, using magic, and discover that Nick is not a bookseller, but is the ancient alchemyst Nicholas Flamel being kept alive by making the elixir of life (a secret from the Codex) for him and his wife Perry (Perenelle). Both he and Perenelle can use magic. Nicholas needs the Codex back to make the elixir of life again, or he and Perenelle will age rapidly and die before the month's end. Also, if Nicholas does not retrieve the Codex, Dee will summon the Dark Elders to destroy the world and return to an age in which humans are but slaves and food.

The Gideon Trilogy

Here is a book that I read last year that I am sure you will enjoy as I did. This is an interesting book. It is your classic time travel book where people go back in time. The biggest twist in this one is a the young boy doesn't return with the others when they are rescued. He is left centuries before his time alone. He grows up to be an adult always hoping they will come back for him. Meanwhile the others immediately come back but to the wrong time and find him as an adult. How will they figure it all out? You'll just have to read to find out. This is a trilogy and it all gets figured out with many twists you will never see coming in three books. As a side note, if you like history you will absolutely love this book as it is a historical fiction based in England. Enjoy and here is a brief overview of the book. I included 2 book covers as it has changed since the first release. I actually like the art work of the new books better than the first release.

Two twelve year-old children are the innocent victims of NASA-funded research into anti-gravity and dark matter that goes terribly wrong

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Peter Schock and Kate Dyer are catapulted back to 18th century England where they have to survive highwaymen, cutpurses, thief-takers and ... The Tar Man

An encounter with an anti-gravity machine catapults Peter Schock and Kate Dyer back to the 18th century and sets in motion a calamitous chain of events.

While a massive police hunt gets underway to find the missing children in the 21st century - in 1763 a hardened criminal, the Tar Man, steals the anti-gravity machine and disappears into the London underworld.

Stranded in another time and forced to chase the Tar Man to his lair, Peter and Kate find a friend and guide in reformed cutpurse, Gideon Seymour. Gideon does every thing he can to help them, but will his dark past catch up with him before the machine is recovered?

The first book in a fast-paced series, The Time Travelers is a thrilling new adventure that is set in a world of highwaymen, thieves and cutpurses. As Peter and Kate explore the awesome possibilities of time travel they find themselves wondering whether it might be mankinds worst nightmare.

Diary of a Wimpy kid.

Am I ever excited to post about this book. This book is good for any level of reader. I personally like it because it is so funny and is a light read. I pick this up when I have a few minutes and read 5 or 10 pages. This can be easily done in about 10 minutes or less. The only thing I suggest is that you don't try anything in this book that you know would bug me in class. ;) There a total of 5 books, not including the movie version or the do it your self version. I included this picture to the right of book one.

It’s a new school year, and Greg Heffley finds himself thrust into middle school, where undersized weaklings share the hallways with kids who are taller, meaner, and already shaving. The hazards of growing up before you’re ready are uniquely revealed through words and drawings as Greg records them in his diary.

In book one of this debut series, Greg is happy to have Rowley, his sidekick, along for the ride. But when Rowley’s star starts to rise, Greg tries to use his best friend’s newfound popularity to his own advantage, kicking off a chain of events that will test their friendship in hilarious fashion.

The Ranger's Apprentice

I have decided to post about a book series that over the last few years has become my favorite series. The series is called The Rangers Apprentice. This book is middle aged themed mixed with just a bit of fantasy. Here is a brief summary obtained from http://www.rangersapprentice.com/
Meet fifteen year old Will, a foundling who is convinced that his father died a mighty, warrior in battle. As choosing day commences, when young men and women become forever bound to a vocation, he hopes against hope to honor his father's legacy and be selected for battle school training. Instead, he's inducted into the ranks of the mysterious Ranger Corps. At first a reluctant recruit, Will gradually becomes drawn to the skills and secret ways of the Rangers.
They have always scared him in the past, the Rangers, with their dark cloaks and shadowy ways, The villagers believe the Rangers practice magic that makes them invisible to ordinary people. And now 15-year-old Will, always small for his age, has been chosen as a Ranger's apprentice. What he doesn't yet realize is that Rangers are the protectors of the kingdom. Highly trained in the skills of battle and surveillance, they fight the battles before the battles reach the people. And as Will is about to learn, there is a large battle brewing. The exiled Morgarath, Lord of the Mountains of Rain and Night, is gathering his forces for an attack on the kingdom.
I am positive you will enjoy this series. It is amazing in that it has you on the edge of your seat the whole time. Sometimes the suspense is too much and you will be forced to put the book down and take a break. Good luck. I will preview each of the other books in the series soon.