Ark Angel by Anthony Horowitz (1-71)

Well I found this book by chance but I’m really happy that I did.  My friend loaned it to me for free reading day and it sure has started off very strongly.

The book’s main character, Alex Rider, is a teenager who has been recruited by the British government to become a spy.  He reminds me of James Bond, but a lot younger.  The book starts off with Alex being in a hospital recovering from a gunshot wound he suffered in the last book in the series.  One night when he is walking around the hospital a group of bad guys walk in looking to kidnap the person in the room next to him.  He uses the enviroment to take them all out in extremely creative ways, but ends up getting captured in the end.  Right now I’m at the point where he is attempting to escape from his captors, and it is really intense.  This is definitely my favorite part of the book so far.  I love how he uses his mind and creativity to work through tough situations.  Can’t wait to finish up this book!

A picture of Alex Rider in the movie based on the book.

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton (224-400) Finished

Woah this was a great book!  If I had to rank it in with the other books I’ve already read for English class it would have to be a very close second to Angels & Demons by Dan Brown.  That book is one of my all time favorites and would be hard to beat, but Jurassic Park came very close.

Although the whole book is filled with action with the exception of a few sections that drag on a bit, my favorite part would definitely be the beginning of the book.  I just love how the author jumped from character to character with interesting little stories to get you used to all the characters.  Then he would slowly begin to connect each character to the dinosaurs and the story just took off from that point.

I think the title to the book fits very well, and it is very noticeable because of the movies.  The only downside to the title is that it gives away the plotline a little bit, since you don’t actually find out about the park until you’re well into the book.  But it’s not really that big of a deal.  Another possible title may have been “Trouble in Paradise.”  It is a catchy enough name and it dosen’t give any hints about the plot.

Here is another review of the book.

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton (121-223)

Well the book is still going strong, and it’s making it hard for me to put it down.  The action has really started to pick up and all of the foreshadowing and background info from the first one hundred pages has started to come into play.

Dr. Grant seen with a dinosaur.

My favorite character has to be Dr. Grant, I didn’t really have much choice since he is the main character.  Plus the author made him a very likeable character with a good sense of humor.  He really reminds me of the hero of the previous three books I have read, Robert Langdon.  They both are experts in their fields that are called upon by someone they don’t know to be a special consultant, and then they are sucked into a deeper mystery.  Also they both think very quickly on their feet, and can solve any problem that confronts them in the blink of an eye.  A few other characters that I have grown to like would be Dr. Grant’s wife, because she is also very laid back and smart.  Finally, Tim is also a very likable character.  He is Grant’s nephew, who is very knowledgeable about dinosaurs.

Can’t wait to read more of this great book!

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton (1-121)

After being completely disappointed by the last book my friend and I had chosen for class, (see earlier blogs for more info. on that), I was pretty reluctant to start a whole new book.  But this book has given me all I could ask for and more.  I was drawn in from the very first page and the book hasn’t slowed down one bit yet.  I’ve been reading a few pages here and there over Christmas break and I can never wait until my next chance to dive back into the book.

My reading buddy and I choose this book because the one we wanted wasn’t available to us, so this one just popped out at us.  Also, I have seen the movie that is based off of this book and it was an amazing movie, one of my all time favorites, so I figured that the book would be even better since books usually are.

A dinosaur from the movie

The book is extremely addicting, and it’s a real page turner.  So far the action has revolved around the mystery of a lizard that has been attacking children, and it turns out to be a dinosaur.  Which is kinda obvious if you’ve seen the movie.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants a good read.

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown (406-509) End

I have finished reading this book and I think that Dan Brown has really let me down with this one.  It seems to me that he is just recycling the same plot over and over with a few new twists in each one that make them somewhat exciting.  However, the problem with this book was that even the plot twists he did throw in were not that exciting or shocking.  Out of the whole series Angels & Demons was definitely the best one, because the action was intense and the whole time you were trying to figure out who the bad guy could possibly be.  In The Lost Symbol you know who the bad guy is the entire time, and that takes away a lot of the mystery from the book.

If I were Dan Brown I would change several things about this story.  First off, like I said before, I would make sure I kept the antaganists identity a secret, so I could add to the mystery of the book.  Secondly, I would shorten up the ending.  Brown drags the story on way too far after the climax, and makes it almost a chore to read the ending.  Finally, I would make the Ancient Mysteries something more exciting than what it was.  The whole story surrounded them, and they turned out to be pretty boring, which in turn made the story pretty boring.

If you’d like a different opinion on the book, here is a review from the NY times.

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown (203-405)

Well after a pretty slow start, just like all of Dan Brown’s other books, this story is finally beginning to excite me.  Malakh trapped Langdon in a coffin and drowned him alive.  What a horrible way to die!  Even though we are meant to believe that Langdon has died, I highly doubt that Dan Brown actually killed off the main character that easily.  I mean, this series without Robert Langdon would be like an Oreo cookie without the delicious cream filling that we all love so much.  I’m predicting that Katherine will discover the Ancient Mysteries, and that they will tell her a way to bring the deceased Robert Langdon back to life once more.  I really hope he isn’t dead for good anyways.

The Capitol Building in Washington D.C., where the story takes place.

One other prediction I have is that in the end of the story Robert Langdon and Katherine will actually find the Ancient Mysteries.  But they will choose to keep the a secret in order to protect the rest of the world from them.  Since in the wrong hands they could most likely be used to do extremely bad things.

Well I hope I’m right about my predictions, and I’ll keep you all updated on the story as I go along!

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown (1-202)

Well here we go, another new book and another new literary adventure!  I have chosen this book for a few reasons.  First of all, I read the first two books in the series, The Davinci Code and Angels & Demons, and I really enjoyed reading them.  I became hooked on the characters, and writing style of Dan Brown.  So reading the third book in his series was pretty much a no brainer.  Secondly, the book was recommended to me by a friend who said it was just as good, if not better than the first two books in the series.  I sure do hope they happen to be right!

When I first started to read the book, I was somewhat disappointed in the beginning.  It starts off just as the other two books in the series do, with a phone call from a random person summoning Langdon to some far away place because of a mysterious happening.  But the book quickly heats up when a symbol is left in the middle of an important room in Washington D.C.  Which sends Langdon on his newest adventure.  I can not wait to see where this one will take him, hopefully it’s just as thrilling and educational as the previous books.

Angels & Demons by Dan Brown (421-569)

I’ve finished up reading this book, and I am definitely satisfied with it.  The ending was very exciting, and definitely surprised me.  I really did not expect for the bad guy to be who he was.  Also, the numerous plot twists in the last 100 or so pages were really shocking.  One part that I would change about the ending would be how the antagonist survives a helicopter crash.  The whole scene is very unbelievable, and it kinda makes the book turn more into a completely fictional story, instead of a believeable thriller.  But other that that I wouldn’t change a thing about the book.

I was also happy that one of my two predictions did end up coming true, but my other prediction ended up being way off.

I would say that the best part of the book would be when Langdon fights the Hassasin in a fountain in the middle of Rome.  The whole scene is very exciting, and the way Langdon survives is amazing.  Other parts that I liked would be when Langdon is trapped in an airtight vault, and has to figure out a way to escape before he suffocates.  The only part that somewhat disappointed me was the ending.

If you were thinking about possibly seeing the movie Angels & Demons, here is the Trailer.  Angels & Demons Trailer

Angels & Demons (318-420)

I’m pretty sure that I’m right in the middle of the climax of the story right now, and I had a really tough time stopping where I did.  I can’t wait until the next time I get to pick up my book so I can dive back into this suspenseful story.  Lately when I’ve been reading I’m almost feeling nervous for the characters, such as Langdon and Vittoria.  Robert Langdon, the main character, has recently been in several near-death situations, that make me wonder whether he will live or die.  I can feel my heartbeat speed up whenever I’m reading these situations.  Very few books make me this excited!

As for what is believable in this book, I believe that CERN is a real institute, and all of the historical mentions, such as the statues and churches Langdon is searching for in Rome, are also real.  Additionally I can believe that there is a secret society called the Illuminati.  However, I highly doubt that this organization could penetrate so deeply into the Vatican, and I don’t think that they’d be able to kidnap and kill so many important figures as easily as they did in the story.  Finally, I find the whole concept of antimatter unbelievable.

 

Here is another review of this book if you’d like another point of view on it.

 

Angels & Demons (203-317)

This book has really taken off now!  It started off slow, then got a little better, but now I hate to put it down at all.  Robert Langdon and Vittoria Vetra discovered that an ancient group, called the illuminati, were determined to destroy the catholic church.  Literally.  My favorite parts of the book are when Robert Langdon gets a clue that will help find the Illuminati in time to save the church, but he dosen’t know what it means.  Then he will go in to a brainstorming mode, and go through all of his memories and knowledge to somehow come up with an answer to the riddle, which leads Vittoria and him one step closer to figuring out the over-all question.

This is St. Peters Square, located in Vatican City. Much of the action so far in the story takes place here.

I’ve also got a few more preditions about the remaining parts of the book.  I’m guessing that Kohler, the director of the organization CERN, will end up being the head master of the Illuminati.  He seems like a cold type of person, who had a bit of a grudge against religion in the beginning of the book, so that may be why he wants to destroy the Catholic church.  He also has the resources that would be needed to pull off the attack.  He is a genius, has access to amazing technology, had access to the antimatter, and he is very well connected.  I also think that in the end of the story Langdon and Vittoria will end up being a couple, because the book is starting to hint that they like each other.