Evanlyn

Which character from the Ranger's Apprentice series are you?

Evanlyn Evanlyn is really Cassandra, the stubborn princess of Araluen. She is familiar with politics and military strategies, but not survival skills, until she gets her hands on a sling, then she provers herself to be a skillful fighter.

by

If you've never read the Ranger's Apprentice series this will mean nothing to you, but I think my two very favorite characters in Ranger's Apprentice are Horace and Evanlyn so I liked the test. *smile*

Well Bye,
®achel™

The Laughing Cavalier!

 

I LOVED this book!

The Laughing Cavalier by Baroness Orczy is the story of the ancestor of the Scarlet Pimpernel(Percy Blankly).
If that means nothing to you than don’t worry about it. The only thing I’m saying is that if you’ve read “The Scarlet Pimpernel” you were actually reading the third book in the Scarlet Pimpernel series not the first. 

The Laughing Cavalier is the first book in a series of fourteen books.

1. The Laughing Cavalier
2. The First Sir Percy
3. The Scarlet Pimpernel
4. Sir Percy Leads the Band
5. I Will Repay
6. The Elusive Pimpernel
7. Lord Tony's Wife
8. The Way of the Scarlet Pimpernel
9. Mam'zelle Guillotine
10. El dorado
11. Sir Percy Hits Back
12. The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel
13. A Child of the Revolution
14. Pimpernel and Rosemary

So far I’ve only read the first three.

But let me tell you about “The Laughing Cavalier”.

Diogenes(the hero) lives on the streets of Haarlem, Holland. He lives for adventure and spends his time seeks it out.
On new year’s eve 1623 he finds the adventure of a life time while trying to help a desperately poor spanish woman and her father.
Diogenes helps the lady by paying, with the last of his money, for a place where she and her sickly father to stay.
His noble actions are witnessed by two men. One a outlaw and the other the son of wealthy man and the brother of a very sweet and troublesome lady.
These two man have a problem and they see the answer to their problem in this man with no real name but a kind heart.
The problem?
Well, these two man have a plan to kill the Prince of Orange and the second man’s (his name is Nicolaes Beresteyn) sister (the sweet lady), Gilda over heard the plan.
Nicolaes and his friend, Stoutenburg (who is in love with Gilda and is the true villain of the story) hirer Diogenes to kidnap Gilda.
Diogenes needs the money, and sees the adventure that could come from this, so he keeps his thoughts about how Nicolaes should be treating his sister to himself and takes the job.

And so Diogenes begins he lively adventure!

Genres: Adventure/Historical Fiction
Don’t let the ‘historical fiction’ scare you off. I have never been a very big fan of what people call “Historical Fiction” but this was a really good book. 

Copy right: 1914
Yes it is a rather old book and at times it’s a little heard to understand what is going on, especially if you’re not used to this style of writing, but it is funny and if you will just take your time and believe that it is a really good book you can learn to like the style.
It’s more of a challenge and everyone needs a challenge ever once in a while. Not to mention that it makes it more fun to finish!            

B.T.W.
The prologue is a little strange but don’t be scared off by it; nothing bad happens.

The First Sir Percy is also about Diogenes; it's the sequel and it is really good too. (I'll review it soon.)

One last thing:
Not everyone is going to like this book. 

Well Bye, 

®achel™

What Teddy Said

"When you play, play hard; when you work don't play at all." 

~Theodore Roosevelt~ 

 

"In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The next best thing you can do is the wrong thing. the worst thing you can do is nothing." 

~Theodore Roosevelt~ 

"It is not the critic who counts. Not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause. Who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat. "

~Theodore Roosevelt~ 

"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat." 

~Theodore Roosevelt~

I found in a boy scout quote book and really liked them. Loved them.

Well Bye,
®achel™

I wanted to write and finish a book!

 "If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. 

Now put the foundations under them." 

~Henry David Thoreau~

I've been trying to finish a book for years. Any book; small, big, it really didn't matter just finish something! Starting is easy but finishing is much, much harder.
Last March Jess told me that she had found a company that publishes books and they were having a contest. It was free to enter and all you had to do was write a complete book. 
I hardly even listed to what she was talking about and when she was done I said 'yeah that sounded was cool, but I wasn't going to do it'.
The next week we went on vacation to a lake house. (The first week of April.) The day after we got back I started writing. I wrote non stop all through April and May. At night I fell asleep while typing words in my head and, I'm not kidding, while I walked my dog every thought I had was slowed down because I was mentally typing every letter of every word. (Fortunately I didn't do that while I was talking).
Anyway I kept at it and for the first time ever I finish! Thanks to a lot of willing family members who helped edit and edit and edit. I entered it in the contest in June. And I didn't win. I didn't come close!
But I had finished and that was the best thing I could have done.
Daddy bought a printed copy of my book for me because he is an awesome Dad! And the next week I started on another book. Erin walked in and asked me what I was doing; when I told her she looked surprised. "Again?"
I stared at her for a moment then asked her what she was doing.
"Playing the violin."
"Again?"
She understood what I was saying.


I love it when I'm in the middle of a good book and no matter what I'm doing, always, at the back of my mind is the thought of that book and I look forward to when I can go back and read a little more of it.
Writing is just like that for me. I always know, at the back of my mind, that I have a story waiting for my; and the best part is I get to decide exactly what happens next!


Well Bye,
®achel™
 

My 10 favorite books from 2012

 

1. The Last thing I remember by Andrew Klavan is AWESOME! It is the first book in 'The Homelanders' series. Charlie West wakes up strapped to a chair just in time to hear some guy give the order for his death. The Last thing Charlie remembers is an ordinary day with is friends as a 18 year old guy with a dream of joining the U.S. Air Force. He went to sleep in his won bead and woke up like this.
 

2. The Long Way Home by Andrew Klavan is the Second book in 'The Homelanders' series and is Epic! Charlie has the Police and a grope of Terrorists after him and he needs answers. Mainly what happened during the year of his life that he can't remember. So he heads home to three faithful friends, Beth Summers and and incredible Karate teacher. (This book is the funniest in the series!)

3. The Truth of the Matter by Andrew Klavan is the third book in 'The Homelanders series. Charlie finds the man he needs to answer all his questions just before the man is killed. Charlie is surrounded by Terrorists and every time he tries to get away a memory flash knocks him out of things just long enough for hims to get deeper into trouble. This book is amazing and I loved every bit of it, especially the end, (the end is really sweet).

 

4. The Final Hour by Andrew Klavan is the fourth and last book in 'The Homelanders' series. Charlie is stuck in Abingdon State Prison. All he wants is to get out and stay out. His memory is finally back and he knows he has to get out and get to New York before... Well I cant tell you! You have to read it for yourself.

5. The Laughing Cavalier by Baroness Emmuska Orczy. If you like 'The Scarlet Pimpernel' you will like this book. Their are 14 books in the Scarlet Pimpernel series and this book is the first. (the Scarlet Pimpernel is the third but it was written first). The Laughing Cavalier is the prequel to the Scarlet Pimpernel and it (the Laughing Cavalier) is followed by it's sequel "The First Sir Percy" then you go on to The Scarlet Pimpernel.
The book is set in the Netherlands 1623-24. It is a little hard for me to summarize the plot so I'll just tell you a few things that I like about it. The Hero(the Laughing Cavalier) has grown up his whole life on the streets. He goes by the name of Diogenes and he has to buddies who are always with him and he is just always good.
He is asked one day to kidnap a young lady by her brother. He needs the money because he gave hims money to a poor lady and her father to help them out of the cold so he says he'll do it without asking any questions.
Then so much happens that I get to confused tell you about it all. Somewhere in their he gets attacked and hit in the head with a pair of ice skate. ( That really stood our for me). But it is a really good book that is and in the end he saves the girl that he kidnapped.

6. If We survive by Andrew Klavan. This book is really great! Four kids left their homes to go on a uneventful summer missions trip to central America and all goes well until a revolution breaks out in the country.
Will Peterson thought he had problems at home but that was nothing; now he has men shooting at him from every side and their only ally is a young veteran who has longs his faith in everything and everyone.
The last part of the book had my heart betting double time. I loved this book! 

7. Crazy Dangerous by Andrew Klavan is Crazy. Now I know that sounds corny but it is.
Sam Hopkins, at sixteen, is tired of being the P.K. (Preacher's Kid) so he decides to do something  different the only thing is that his want to always do right gets in the way and before long he gets wrapped up in a mess that no one will believe but he know to be true.
I'm not a big fan of mystery tip books. (Books that I don't know whats going on and what the hero has to do to stop it.) This book I was confused the whole time and couldn't figure out what was going on. But after it was all out in the open I really liked the book.

8. Erak's Ransom by John Flanagan is a fantasy and fantasy are not my favorites as far as category  goes, but I really like John Flanagan's books. The Rangers Apprentice series are really fun! This is the fifth book in the Rangers Apprentice series but it was written seventh so their is a 7 on the cover but you are supposed to read it before number 5 and 6.(Just so you know.) This book has Horace, Evanlyn, Gilan, Erak, Halt and of course Will so it is really sweet, funny, exciting books! John Flanagan is funny and his characters are so real I love every one of them.

9. Call of Duty by Steven Wilkins is a really really great biography of General Robert E. Lee. Everyone should read this book! (Although you'll like it more if your a southerner.)
The part where Stonewall Jackson died and the part where Lee surrendered to Grant were so sad. It is an amazing book and if you haven't read it you are missing out.

 10. Writing Fiction For Dummies by Randy Ingermanson and Peter Economy is the last book on this list but this was one good book! If you have ever wanted to write a fiction book you should read this book. I liked every pit of it. I took notes the whole time I was readying it and because of that fact it took me a really long time to finish; but it was worth it.
If you have never dreamed about writing your own book, well, then, first of all you are missing out, but I don't think you will like this book. Sorry.
If you have had that dream; read this book.

Well that's ten really good books I read in 2012. I loved them all and you might too.

Well Bye,

®achel™

The Homelanders!!!

 

  "Charlie West just woke up in someone else's nightmare."

These books are AWESOMELY AMAZING! 

The Homelanders by Andrew Kalavan

 THE LAST THING I REMEMBER

THE LONG WAY HOME 

THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER

THE FINAL HOUR

I still cant believe how much I liked these book. 

They are in first person with Charlie West, an eighteen year old all American boy, as the narrator. Andrew Klavan did an amazing job; the books really seem like they were written by a teenage boy.
I laughed so much while I was reading these books because all the goes through and he is still keeping the character of a teenager. I can see Charlie telling the story the whole time.

Erin, Jessica and I stood in the kitchen the other day while we were supposed to be cleaning and resisted lines form these books; laughed so hard my stomach hurt. And I'm smiling right now while I think about them. 

But in spite of the funny parts they are really intense. The best books are the ones that keep you up way to long at night when you are supposed to get up at six the next morning and the Homelanders  did that for me. My knees shake when I get really nerviness or excited and my knees shock a lot through the Homelanders series. 

If you don't like Action/Adventure, or you don't like eighteen year old boys, or you don't like books modern day books then don't read them. My tastes, more than likely, are different than yours so just because I like them doesn't mean you will.
Now that we have that out in the open I'll go back to parsing my favorite books.    

Book 1 The Last thing I remember is awesome! It is the first book in 'The Homelanders' series. Charlie West wakes up strapped to a chair just in time to hear some guy give the order for his death. The Last thing Charlie remembers is an ordinary day with is friends as a 18 year old guy with a dream of joining the U.S. Air Force. He went to sleep in his own bead and woke up like this.

Book 2 The Long Way Home is the Second book in 'The Homelanders' series and is Epic! Charlie has the Police and a grope of Terrorists after him and he needs answers. Mainly what happened during the year of his life that he can't remember. So he heads home to three faithful friends, Beth Summers and and incredible Karate teacher. (This book is the funniest in the series!)

Book 3 The Truth of the Matter is the third book in 'The Homelanders' series. Charlie finds the man he needs to answer all his questions just before the man is killed. Charlie is surrounded by Terrorists and every time he tries to get away a memory flash knocks him out of things just long enough for hims to get deeper into trouble. This book is amazing and I loved every bit of it, especially the end. (The end is really sweet.)

Book 4 The Final Hour is the fourth and last book in 'The Homelanders' series. Charlie is stuck in Abingdon State Prison. All he wants is to get out and stay out. His memory is finally back and he knows he has to get out and get to New York before... Well I cant tell you! You have to read it for yourself.


The Characters in these books are incredible. Beth Summers is really sweet and I understand why Charlie likes her. Mike is really cool and is always the good guy for everything. Josh, Rick and Miler are soooo funny that when ever I need a good laugh I read the parts with them. And of coarse Charlie is AWESOME!

Any way I think you are starting to get the picture that I really like these books! So I'll let you go now and read them.


Well Bye,
®achel™

 

It's own accord

"Some people seem to think that I began by asking myself how I could say something about Christianity to children; then fixed on the fairy tale as an instrument; then collected information about child-psychology and decided what age group I'd write for; then drew up a list of basic Christian truths and hammered out "allegories" to embody them. This is all pure moonshine. I couldn't write in that way at all. Everything began with images; a faun carrying an umbrella, a queen on a sledge, a magnificent lion. At first there wasn't anything Christian about them; that element pushed itself in of its own accord." 

~C.S. Lewis~  

 

 

 

This was just something I found while reading a book called 'finding God in the land of Narnia' and liked it. 

 

Well Bye, 

®achel™