I Love Percy Jackson Because...

 

Ok. So today we are going to share our book love with the wonderful middle grade fantasy series by the author, Rick Riordan. (Who, for your information, holds the #1 spot on the New York Times Bestseller children's chapter book list for The Red Pyramid.)  

Those of you who didn't read the books and only saw the movie, you don't get to comment this time. :o) The movie was no comparison to this series. For those of you who read the books, I can't wait to hear your comments.

Personally, I loved Percy Jackson for his wit and humor. The voice that comes through in his writing is sooo good. I'd also loved Greek mythology as a kid and really enjoyed how he took what I learned in school and turned it onto its head. He had fun with history and gave it a whole new look. Love his creativity. 

Why do you love Percy Jackson?  

And just to mix things up a bit, name a character--that isn't Percy--that you loved.

One of my favorite characters was Nico di Angelo. Because...well, he was just so dark and awesome.

I Love Lord of the Rings Because...

Last week I started a new series of "I love ___ because..." to find out what you all thought of writing, to get a wide spectrum of opinions of popular stories, so we can all see what works in books.  I found it very interesting to see what the rest of you though about what made your favorite books your favorite. We touched on Harry Potter last week. This time we'll be focusing on The Lord of the Rings. (Which gives me a great excuse to post this picture of Viggo as Aragorn.)

The Hobbit was actually the first epic fantasy that I ever read. Prompted by my husband (who was my boyfriend at the time), I read it expecting nothing. After, fantasy is what I mostly read. Not that I didn't read fantasy before (I read lots of historical romance, so  yeah...fantasy of another kind.)  But The Hobbit was the book that launched my love into reading and writing fantasy fiction.

So back to The Lord of the Rings. I actually procrastinated reading the books until AFTER I started watching the movies. I did, however, listen to the abridged audiobooks while driving to our honeymoon local. (woah...that came across totally geeky...lol). It was between the 2nd and 3rd movies that I picked up and read the books.

I can't say that I LOVE the books. They get pretty long winded at times. I'm not sure I would've liked them as much if I hadn't listen to/seen the story before, but I can now respect the legacy they have become.

So for my answer, I love (respect) The Lord of the Rings, because of the fantastic world Tolkien created.  And I always adore a hero's journey, where even the smallest of people can do amazing things. 

What about you? (And if you've only seen the movies...I'll let you cheat this time.)

I Love Harry Potter Because....

People spend a lot of time on blogs trying to come up with something clever. With something inspiring. We all try to post something that will help our fellow writers and hopefully make them want to come back. The same thing goes with our job as writers. We want to write something that changes the world; or at least, write something that people will love, such as J. K. Rowling did when she wrote Harry Potter. And one of the ways we learn to be a more compelling writer is by studying what other succesful writers have done.

The Harry Potter series is probably not my favorite set of books, but like so many others, I went to Borders on midnight when the last one came out. So what brings a book/series to the point of that kind of devotion? For me, I loved  Harry Potter because of the likable characters, witty writing, and the amazing world she created. She invented a virtual buffet of imagination for my mind.

Now that you know my thoughts, I'd like to open it up to you. I'd love to hear YOUR thoughts and YOUR opinions by responding about the Harry Potter books, more than the movies (though I've enjoyed those as well). Instead of just hearing from one person, I believe we can learn a lot more from the collective opinion of many. 

I love Harry Potter because...