KIKI STRIKE: INSIDE THE SHADOW CITY

This is a book narrated by a girl named Ananka Fishbein, when the story starts she is twelve years old living in New York City. One Saturday morning she happens to glance out of her window and sees a huge hole that has swalowed part of a park. Leaning out to get a better look she sees a tiny thing caked with much that jumps out of the hole and waves to her. She stuffs her feet in snow boots and throws on a coat, running out into the street to see what the mysterious hole contains. What she has stumbled apon is a huge secret, a city under New York, but she has no idea how big.

Recruted by the mysterious Kiki Strike - who seems to have been able to bypass all social protocals in her school by not being one of the Rich Girls or one of the Scholarship Students, like Ananka, whose great-grandfather invented... top control pantyhose but left the money in a trust fund that provides his family with a top notch education and nothing else, but who outsmarted himself (none of his descendants share his love of money, prefering to stay in school all their lives) - to join a group of girls called the Bank Street Irregulars, Ananka discovers that Kiki was the one who jumped out of the hole and that the other four girls were recruited to help explore the city Ananka and Kiki rediscovered - the Shadow City - and the six are sucked into an adventure none of them could've dreamed of. This book is an amazing debut novel by Kirsten Miller, the plot twists amazingly and, like all good books, it has a conspiracy theory surrounding it - 'is Kirsten real?' fans ask, 'does Ananka really exist?' If you've already read it make sure to check out the homepage and Ananka's Diary!

DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW IF YOU CAN'T STAND LIBERALS AND/OR DEMOCRATS, BECAUSE THIS BOOK IS BY ONE!

LIES (and the LIEING LIARS that tell them)
by Al Franken

This book is pretty good, my only problem with it is that it's an adult book, so rating? I dunno... okay, fine. R. Because there were parts I had to skip. So there.

Anyway, this was a book about the Republicans and the Conservatives in the US of A (or if one of my comments was true, the U S of Weird). And he is an extremely Liberal Democrat. So there's a bit of name-calling. But I did like (quoting from the back of the hardcover)
"HOMELAND SECURITY
"Ashcroft spent $8,000 to drape the naked breast of the Spirit of Justice statue because he didn't like being photographed in front of another boob...." Franken has a better idea: "Use it to fight terrorism!!!" (Ibid)

What do I think of it: I'll give it three stars. ***. Lol.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (US Edition; UK Edition: Philosopher's Stone) by Joanne Kathleen Rowling.

If you haven't read her! shame! shame! SHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMEEE!!!!!!!!!

Person: Now, Cosima, don't intimidate the nice people who may be using this review to decide if they should read it!

*grumbling* Oh, all right.
Anyway.

Series: Harry Potter

Book: 1

Suggested Rating: PG

Review: W00t this book is wonderful! I'd forgotten since the last time I had read it! W00t! Thank God(s) for J K Rowling!

Now, Cosima, Give the nice People who May or May Not be Reading Your Blog a Review: Okay. SO. Harry Potter is this kid who lives with his aunt, Petunia Dursley (nee Evans); his uncle, Vernon Dursley; and their son, Dudley, who is, in fact, a dud. And looks like a pig in a blond wig, never mind what the person who plays him in the movies looks like.
Harry has a lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead. According to Aunt Petunia, he got it in the "car crash" when his parents died, and "Don't ask questions."
Speaking of the Dursleys: They are absolutely foul to him, although they pamper Dudley. But! one day he gets a letter. A letter written on parchment. A letter, I said. But when the Dursleys tear it up and say it was wrongly addressed to him, despite this in green ink:
Mr. H. Potter
The Cupboard Under the Stairs
4 Privet Drive
Little Whinging
Surrey
(Oh yeah, I forgot, they make him live in the under-stairs cupboard, along with spiders which are fond of his socks.)
He gets more, addressed to him in "the smallest bedroom", since he was moved into the one where Dudley keeps his broken stuff. So, after an unfortunate incident with him stepping on his Uncle's face and a repaired alarm clock, [sarcasm] our dear Vernon [/sarcasm] nails the letter slot up, with the result that more are pushed in the sides of the door, which he nails up.
So, they are rolled up inside each of the two dozen eggs that the befuddled milkman hands Petunia through the bathroom window, of all places.
But the twenty, thirty, FORTY, fifty... that come through the fireplace! Vernon turns purple, rips out half his copious moustache, and said to pack some clothes and go.
So they end up on a hut on the rock, in the sea.
And there, our dear Harry finally gets his letter.
It is an invitation to a world he has never dreamed of.
Friends, Harry is a wizard. A darn good one.
What will happen to him?
Reader, it is your destiny to find out.

Yours in bookworm-ish-ness,
The Book Worm Reviewing.

Some Favorite Authors To Tide You Over

Since I'm reading books thoroughly (in other words, two or more times) before reviewing them, I'm afraid I can't review yet. To tide you over, though, I've got a list of some random authors that are really, really good, or are at least notable enough to pop into my head at no notice whatsoever.
Toodles.

J. K. Rowling
If you haven't read her, shame on you! Shame!

Patricia C. Wrede
A little too obscure to merit the shaming, but if you like fantasy, magic, cats, dragons, lemons, soapy water, and humor, her Enchanted Forest Chronicles are for you.

Christopher Paolini
Absolutely amazing. Especially since he started his debut series when he was fifteen.

Eoin Colfer
What can I say? He rocks. He's Irish. Read his books. NOW!!

The Silent Miaow (I don't know if I spelt that right.)
This is acutually a book, but it's still quite good. It's by a cat.

Lemony Snicket
Join the mystery, unravel the conspiracy. Or just read the books.

Cornelia Funke
She's German. She's good. Read now!

Kirsten Miller
Her debut, Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City, is a must-read, a modern Harriet the Spy with a whole city at stake. There's also a blog based on the book-- check out Ananka's Diary!


That's it for now. All of these people, including or excluding LS and/or tSM depending on your viewpoint, write fiction.