Finally finished this one. I think I was on it for at least a month. I did, however, stop to read something else right while I was in the middle of this one. I just had to. I had an overload of information. Another non-fiction read for me. I really did love the story part of the book. Bryson and his overweight friend Stephen Katz decide to hike the entire Appalachian Trail which is from Georgia to Maine. They would have to hike 2,100+ miles through many states to reach their goal. When he talked about their hiking, I was completely enthralled with the book. He does some sort of a sense of humor, but not as much as everyone told me. I don't think I laughed at loud once through the book, so I was a bit disappointed. The other half of the book was about historical facts of the AT and other stories of how people came across bears, or died different ways hiking through different parts of the trail. I did find a bit of the book to be boring since most of the book was historical facts, but if anything this book made me want to hike more than I do. I would not ever try to hike the AT, just because I can't lift heavy things without hurting myself. I followed Bryson quite well so his writing was pretty straight forwards and easy to read. I guess I'm getting more and more picky of what I like when it comes to books, but I'm still open to read all different kinds. Anyway, 3 stars for this one too.
I was half way through one book and had to put it down because I grew tired of it and I was handed this one, so I started it right away. I've heard good reviews of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files (which he is known for) and when I looked up his Codex Alera series I got mixed reviews. Since I haven't read any of his books, I could not expect anything with this series and see what I thought about Butcher without any prior knowledge.I really enjoyed the storyline of Tavi, the only boy of his kind, without a fury (poor kid) and Amara, the girl Cursor. I found myself getting excited to find out that the next chapter was about one of those characters. There were some good fighting scenes and a lot of character development (many had names that started with B). I got to one extremely good chapter, involving Tavi and the Keepers (around chapter 30). Sadly that was the only portion of the book where I couldn't put it down. I guess I'm not into books that deal with politics and war. I liked the way Butcher used magic in this book and you grow to love certian characters over others. I didn't like that one guy basically died twice and then was brought back to life both times. Even though I liked that particular character, I thought it would have been okay to let one of the main characters die (since this book has 10, and that's probably exaggerating a bit). Just the fact that there is so much going on and nothing terrible happens to anyone is a bit unbelieveable even if it is a fantasy. Butcher also liked to discribe everything completely. He seemed to want you to have no say in what his world is like. That is okay, really. Some authors do not want you "messing up" with how their characters/surroundings look. Audrey Niffenegger is like that as well and I enjoyed her books. And with that, I give it eh, a 2.7-3 stars. I really wished the whole book was more like that one chapter, then it wouldn't have taken me 3 weeks to read this.
I read this one a few months ago. I haven't gotten around to posting it just because of a life changing decision, but all is well now and I can finally get back to what I love doing. You know me, I love books for 12 year olds. If only there could be this much action in adult books then maybe I would enjoy them more. I choose not to see this in theaters just because of the reviews and really since the book was good I just don't want to ruin it. I really hate that many children don't like reading, especially young boys. I can almost guarantee that any 10-12 year old boy would love this book. There is plenty of excitement, good friendships, and epic battles to make them want to read the rest of the series. 4 stars
Finally finished this one. I think I was on it for at least a month. I did, however, stop to read something else right while I was in the middle of this one. I just had to. I had an overload of information. 
