Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

The picture is tiny because this is the only one I found of the version I read (Signet Classics)

10 Stars

From CliffsNotes (the first paragraph):  Jean Valjean, after spending nineteen years in jail and in the galleys for stealing a loaf of bread and for several attempts to escape, is finally released, but his past keeps haunting him. At Digne, he is repeatedly refused shelter for the night. Only the saintly bishop, Monseigneur Myriel, welcomes him. Valjean repays his host's hospitality by stealing his silverware. When the police bring him back, the bishop protects his errant guest by pretending that the silverware is a gift. With a pious lie, he convinces them that the convict has promised to reform. After one more theft, Jean Valjean does indeed repent. Under the name of M. Madeleine he starts a factory and brings prosperity to the town of Montreuil.

And that's all you get for a summary of the story.  The book is 1200 pages long so I'm not going to pretend that I can adequately sum it up for you.  All you really need to know is Jean Valjean is da bomb.  What do you know?  Maybe I can adequately sum it up.

Victor Hugo is known to wander in his writing but it is so amazing to watch him tie all the meandering together.  However, somewhere around page 800 or 900 I started getting mad at him every time he would go off into the woods of his literary mind to give more details about French history.  The action was finally picking up and I just wanted to know what was going to happen!  For this reason, I don't know if I would read the unabridged version again but I could definitely read an abridged version at some point.   

The story is fantastic, the characters are unforgettable, and the writing is stupendously brilliant.  If you haven't read it, you should.  So says I.

Harry Potter, 1-4

(okay, so this is books 1-6 but whatevs. Just though we would enjoy some different covers for a change)

10 Stars

Okay, I usually don't give anything 10 stars, but I've been listening to the Harry Potter books as I work around the house and I may be a bit prejudiced. If I were to grade each book individually, I would have different stars though. For example, Book Two would be more like a 7 - it's always been my least favorite. Book Three would get a 9, and so on. But as the whole, the series gets a round 10. I'm excited to listen to the Fifth and Sixth again since I only read them once when they came out and hardly remember anything about them. What do you all think of the Harry Potter books?

October Sky, or Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam

10 stars

Summary: NASA engineer "Sonny" Homer Hickam accounts his childhood and high school years as he and a group of misfit boys follow their dreams to reach space and build amateur rockets against all odds.

Review: I absolutely loved this book. I couldn't put it down, even while we were on our vacation to Disneyland. Homer Hickam has such an honest and humorous writing style that I laughed out loud several times. I even have to say that I got a little teary in some sections. It had a more novel-like feel rather than an autobiography. It was also one of those feel-good books that you put come away from feeling like you are a better person for reading. Like Homer Hickam, you come away from the experience feeling like you are empowered to do anything if you work at it. A thoroughly enjoyable read.

-Amy

Fly by Night by Frances Hardinge

10 Stars

Mosca Mye is born in a world terrified of the awesome power of words. She is both blessed and cursed by a literary father who teaches her to read--and then dies, leaving her an unwanted orphan. When she encounters the questionably articulate Eponymous Clent, she can't help but be drawn into his world of the unanswerable. But perhaps she gets in deeper than she expected when asked to spy on a powerful Guild by an even more powerful duchess. Her exploits lead her and her gander (yes, she really does have a pet gander) into treachery, a Guild war, and a terrible propensity for her world's history to repeat itself.

I, like Anthony, will probably not give a lot of reviews with ten stars, but wanted to start off on a good note. I just read this book for the second time. Seeing as how the first time I read it was only just over a year ago, that alone should say something.

Frances Hardinge is a genius! As difficult as it would be to create a world so dependent on words and actually be able to do it justice with your own, she pulls it off completely. She really is a master storyteller--one of those who makes you want to run out and finish that book you've begun writing, while at the same time making you completely despair of ever being a good writer. Now, that being said, she does have a taste for the slightly macabre, so I wouldn't recommend her for the very young or very squeamish. (Though, truthfully, this is not as apparent in "Fly by Night" as in her "Gullstruck Island." Another excellent read, but slightly creepier, and probably more a 9 than a 10 for me.) The characters in this book are outstanding and very memorable. The plot keeps you guessing, but doesn't lose you. She spins a beautiful web of words throughout. Even the names she chooses have world's of meaning, without giving anything away. If you haven't yet read at least one of her books, you really ought to. And if you only ever read one of them, it really ought to be this one.

Winnie-The-Pooh by A. A. Milne

10 stars!

I won't be giving 10 stars to many books, but I feel Winnie-The-Pooh deserves it. I have read Winnie-The-Pooh many times and plan to read it many times more. Besides being funny, whimsical, and insightful, I feel like there is something timeless about Winnie-The-Pooh that will never get old.

Since the book is short and so well known, I don't feel like I need to summarize it. Just read it! And read The House At Pooh Corner while you're at it. They won't take much time, and they can be unbelievably enjoyable. Read them yourself. Read them with your significant other. Read them to your children. You won't regret it.