A whole month!!! Lots of news, good and bad.

Whoa! Can't believe I've been too lazy to post on Blogger for a whole month, nearly two! Lot's to talk about.

First of all, welcome home, Jacoby!

Been really busy for the last month and a half. At school, we've had essay after essay, book after book, project after project! I had to write a 7 page in class essay with no earlier preparation in two hours on the monster in Lord of the Flies, I've got to finish reading 1984 over winter break, and I have to finish a project worth most of my semester grade in the first couple days back to school. We've been working on the same Career project for months!

Earlier this month, I was in my first Fencing tournament! It was awesome. The place it was at was so much more... organized, than the elementary school gym in issaquah, that I go to for lessons. It was a Regional Youth Circuit, and wasn't worth any national points. I did great in the early prelim rounds, winning 2 out of my 4 matches with the people in my pool. Once the real matches started though, I lost my first match to the only other student from my fencing school, 15-14. I had a big lead for a while, but had no concept of clock management and was too aggressive. She took back the lead by one and ran out the clock, while I tried desperately to get back the lead. FAIL. In the end, I got 9th place out of 12, and surprisingly enough, the girl who beat me in my first match, Jade, won in 3rd place. Congrats!

I've read a lot of great books lately. I spent weeks reading through the Belgariad series, and it is fantastic! One of the best fantasy series ever! I started the Mallorean, but just didn't get into it. I finished book one, but then moved onto something new. Today, I went to Barnes and Noble and got three new books. Elantris by Brandon Sanderson, Magician: Apprentice (which I'm now reading) and Magician: Master by Raymond E. Feist. I've heard it's amazing, and it's pretty good so far. I'll find out I guess.

I've also seen a lot of movies in the last two months. I've watched all of the X-Men movies, including the new one, I've watched Star Trek (twice! In the last two days! Awsome!!!), Up, Sherlock Holmes (Good movie!), Old dogs (ok), and 21, the blackjack one. Most of the movies I've seen have been terrific, and I'm excited to go see Avatar tomorrow. Supposed to be fantastic.

Now for the bad news...

Winter break has been very eventful, although that is not necessarily good. Not good at all. I spent the first week being lazy, playing the new call of duty game and ping pong at my dads. We celebrated our first christmas with our dad's girlfriend, Jackie, and her family. That was fun, but afterward, was when the bad started. We couldn't go skiing Christmas day, because Jackie's daughter, Caroline wasn't feeling well. Turned out that skiing was the worst of our problems. That night, Caroline was even worse, so they decided to be safe and take her to the hostpital. She had a Pneumonia that was resilient to antibiotics and one of her lungs was filled with fluid, and the other was half filled. A few more hours of waiting, and she'd have died. Because they couldn't get the antibiotics to work, the weren't sure whether or not she'd be all right. Last night, the antibiotics began working though, and she's gotten a little better, although I haven't gotten the most recent news, because I've been with my mom the last few days. I'm seeing my dad tomorrow though, so I'll ask then. Luckily, they think she'll live, although she'll have to spend the next few weeks in the hospital.

Well, good luck Caroline.

That's all I've got to talk about for now. Sorry I've been gone so long.

TV

Ouch! I'm being eaten alive! The bugs are killing me! Even though I used to live in Georgia, I've gotten used to having no bugs in Seattle! I've been doing a Kayak camp with my cousin, Tilly, and our friend, Yael for the last few days. I'd known I'd been going with Tilly, but I was completely surprised when I heard Yael was coming. We've been going to Camp Judaea for the last 6 years together. She is the daughter of my cousin Michelle's best friend, so that's how she knew Tilly and I. What really surprised me was that she lives in Israel, so it would be an awfully long commute every morning and afternoon. Turns out, she is staying in the US until January, and being homeschooled by her mom.

Anyway, I've been watching more TV lately than I have before. I think it's because I've finally gone to try out new TV shows meant for older audiences than Spongebob. Now, instead of watching those stupid kid TV shows that my brothers watch, I watch some really good shows. The first one I tried out is Lie to Me, on Fox. I loved getting out into some new shows, so I stuck with this show to the end of the season. It's about a guy who can read microexpressions on faces to tell when they are lying. I then tried out a couple of others, including Heroes and Bones. I could never find any episodes of Heroes, so I stopped watching at episode 6. Then I found Bones, and it is the best tv show ever. It is a crime-solving show about a forensic anthropologist who is working with an FBI agent to solve crimes no one else can. I have watched all the way through season 4 in the last 6-7 months, and it is terrific! Sadly, all of the TV shows ended right before I left for camp, so I have to wait until next fall for some new episodes. Luckily, on NBC, I found a new summer show: Merlin. It tells the story of a young Merlin in a Camelot where magic is forbidden by it's ruler, Uther Pendragon. Merlin's duty is to protect the future king, Arther, and often has to use magic to do so. It's unfaithful to the original legend in a thousand ways, but it's still a good show.

Anyway, hopefully I won't get too addicted to TV again. I'll try to spend more time posting instead.

I'm back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm finally back from camp, and I've got a lot to talk about. My brother is nagging me to go on the computer right now (I'm in Savannah, at my grandpa's and I don't have my laptop), but I promise that I'll write about camp, DC, and whatever I meant to talk about before I left ASAP. I'll write a post later tonight.

I'm so glad to be back on Blogger!

Happy birthday, Ezra and Jordan!

Whoa. Sorry I haven't posted in so long. I've been really busy with end of the year projects and such. I've got a lot to talk about over the next few days before I leave for camp for a month and a half.

But for now, I'd like to say Happy Birthday to my brothers, Ezra and Jordan. Ezra's is today, and Jordan's was on May 26. Happy Birthday!!!!!!!

Tag! I'm IT!!!

I got a tag from Bettina to answer some questions about books! This is the first time I've been tagged for something, so tell me if I'm doing something wrong... or right.

Tell me about the book that has been on your shelf the longest...

On my dad's shelves, of which we've got four huge full ones (he had to give a bunch away when we moved to Seattle), I have no idea. We have hundreds of really old ones. He just told me that he thinks that he's had some old copies of the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit for the longest.

On my shelves, I have a few books of my dad's that are really old, but of mine, I think that they are either The Guardians of Ga'Hoole series, the Young Wizard series, or some old Harry Potters. I remember reading Ga'Hoole in 3rd Grade, Young Wzards in 4th Grade, and the Harry Potters are just pretty old, and I'm not sure how long we've had them. Oh, and we've got some old Spiderwick books from when I was in 4th grade too.

Tell me about a book that reminds you of something specific in your life (i.e. a person, a place, a time, etc.)...

Hmm... This is a tough one. I'll go by the examples...

Person: I'm gonna trave back to the Young Wizard series by Diane Duane from the last question. For those who don't know what it is, the first book is called So You Want To Be A Wizard, and it is about a girl who, running into the library to escape from bullies, finds a book called So You Want To Be A Wizard. You know how there are those guide books for little kids, like So You Want To Be A Doctor, or stuff like that? Well, that was the kind of book Nita found. She takes it home, does what it says, and of course, she's learning how to be a wizard. I remember that this book got me into that same habit a long time ago. For maybe a year or two afterwards, whenever I found a guide book about wizardry or stuff like that, I would always get it and try to follow the instructions, hoping that somehow, against all odds, I'd become a wizard. It never worked, of course, but that main character reminds me a lot of myself, and how gullible I am a lot. Of course, it's not gullible if it's true. So, I guess it's only me. ^_^

Place: The Spine, in Eragon. Of course, where I went, it was sort of the opposite. Instead of mountains, it was a ravine. Close to Kathryn's house, if you go down her road, there is a huge ravine, covered in ivy, thorns, and loose dirt. One day, we decided to try to go down there, and it was hard to get there, but once we got there, it was almost like a sanctuary. No people, tons of wildlife, and pure quiet, other than a trickleing stream. That is how I always pictured the Spine. As a place where no one would venture because of the possibility of danger, but upon arival, there isn't much danger at all.

I'll skip time. I can't think of anything for that one.

Tell me about a book you acquired in some interesting way (gift, serendipity in a used book store, prize, etc.)...

I have a lot of books, and it's very difficult to remember the story of each one. There are a lot I got from my dad, one of his old ones, like the Belgariad, Ender's Game, and Calvin and Hobbes, there are a lot I got as birthday presents, some I had to get for school, and some I just happened to come into possesion of, but I think the coolest way I got a book was the ARC from J Scott Savage for Farworld: Water Keep. I was going crazy over it! I read it three times in a month, and wouldn't put it down. I was just eexcited to know an author.

Whoa!!! There was one other one I forgot! For my Bar-Mitzvah, my friend Alex tried to send out for a signed copy of Warriors from Erin Hunter. He sent her a letter, and thought she'd just passed it off or didn't get it. In fact, she didn't get it until two months later, when she sent back a signed copy of Eclipse (Warriors, not Twilight), and a letter back. He gave me both, the letter which is on my wall with the rest of my book related posters, and the book, which said, "Happy Bar-Mitzvah, Brian! Erin Hunter". I was freaking out over that one. I'm such a bibliophile, or I guess a better way to say it would be to say book fanatic, or book freak. Or Bookworm.

Tell me about the most recent addition to your shelves...

The most recent edition... I haven't been to a bookstore in a while, cause I've been rereading a lot of books lately. It was either Hunt for the Dark Infinity by James Dashner or The Demigod Files by Rick Riordan. Both were terrific, but DarkIn was more story like. It was terrific, by the way, if I haven't already posted about it. (Wow! I haven't!!!)

Tell me about a book that has been with you to the most places...

Like Bettina, I haven't been many place. I'd have to say that Eragon has been the most places. It's been to camp a few times, it's been to NY, Savannah, Atlanta, Seattle, Florida. Being my favorite book, I carry it around a lot. It's never been out of the country though.

Tell me about a bonus book that doesn't fit any of the above questions...

Hmm... I could do my favorite book, which would be Eragon, I could do the book I'm anticipating most right not, which would be Warriors: Sunset (5 days) or The Last Olympian (May 5, I think), I could do most read book, which could be Eragon, Harry Potter, Charlie Bone, or Lost Years of Merlin, there are a lot of possiblilites. I'll just go with all of that for now.

Oh, and I tag:

Anna, (and if they happen to read this, J Scott Savage and James Dashner) ^_^ Everyone else has already been picked!

The New Haircut: The Weirdest Hundredth Post Ever!

I have a positive and a negative, or, in more exact order, a negative and a positive. First, as you can see, I got a haircut. Shoot. I've had really long hair for such a long time, and now, it's all gone. Kathryn was really smug (not sure if this is the right word) about it. She has been trying to talk me into getting a haircut for months. I hate haircuts...

And on a more positive note, sort of, the only good thing about my new haircut is that, it means that this is Bookworm's 100th Post! Hooray!

Over the Fence Library-Upcoming Fantasies

Hi guys. I just wanted to tell you that I've finally decided to get rid of Over the Fence Library (I never posted there anyway) and make a new site, Upcoming Fantasies. There, I'll talk about upcoming YA or MG fantasy books that I'm excited about. I'll also say when their released, and any other news I can find about them. However, after I read it, I'll post more on it here, at Bookworm.

Types of Magic

In fantasy books, there are a lot of different types of magic. Some have names, and some are just called magic. In the Harry Potter world, there are a lot of types of magic. There's potion-making, transfiguration, charms, curses, hexes, divination, apparition, and magical creatures/plants. (If I'm missing any, feel free to tell me.) Some other kinds of magic (with names) that I know of are necromancy, scrying, sorcery, summoning, and, of course, alchemy. Then, there are other types of magic without names, just called magic. There are those dealing with elements, the "will and the word", magical items, concentration/imagination, and science. (If I'm missing any, please tell me. I'm sure I am.)

I want to find out how each of them are different, what they do, and how they work. I need as much help as I can get so if you find any information on one, please email me at briantillinger @ cs.com. I'll post on a type of magic whenever I get new information on one, so please help out. (Wikipedia is actually a usable source when it comes to this kind of stuff, because none of this is really fact.)

A few that I'm most interested in learning about are necromancy, which I think is the reanimation of corpses, alchemy, and summoning. However, I want any info on any one of them.

Also, I'll post a list of the types of magic on the sidebar.

Not Quite Home

I just got back from camp, but I'm staying in Savannah, Georgia for a week until it's time to go home! Now I'll be able to keep posting, so keep checking back!

Goodbye!!!

I am going to camp for about the next month, and they have no electronics. I will be back on July 15th. I'll post on all of the stuff at camp next month. Also, there are a few scheduled post, so keep checking back!

Bye!

Oops.

Sorry about those two posts disappearing. I moved them to June 20 so that my brothers wouldn't see it until I'm at camp. Check back then to see the post.

FARWORLD WRITING CONTEST

I just finished reading my ARC of Farworld: Water Keep last night and it was phenomenal. I cannot wait for book 2. Sadly, I'll have to.

Either way, now that I've finished, I'll post the rules of my contest for someone to win a copy of Farword from J Scott Savage. Starting today, I'll be having a Writing Contest. Since Farworld is a fantasy book and because I love reading fantasy, to enter, you must write a short description of any fantastical creature. It can either be one that already exists (that doesn't mean that you can copy the description out of the book that the creature's in) or it can be one that you make up (I prefer those. Much more original.) The paragraph that I like the best wins a copy of Farworld. To send me a paragraph, email it to me at briantillinger at cs dot com. (Sorry, just piece that together.) You can send me the paragraph any time between today, June 7th, and some time in early July (I'll post the exact date soon.) You get that long because I'll be at camp for most of that time. In the email, you must also include your name and your blog URL. Also, it would be helpful if you would post a comment saying that you sent the paragraph.

Also, sadly there are rules about where the ARC can be sent. It can only be sent to adresses in the US or Canada. (Those aren't my rules. Scott said that they couldn't be sent to anywhere other than the US or Canada.) Luckily, J Scott Savage also said that he would hold a contest sometime for people in other countries to win one. Well, those are all of the rules. Good Luck!

Percy Jackson and The Olympians: Battle of the Labyrinth

1. Sorry I haven't posted in the last week. I've been really busy with stuff. I have a culture project to do. I have Karate lessons. I have bar-mitzvah lessons. My Grandma Alice is visiting. Plus all of my normal homework.

2. Today was amazing!!!

We went to see Cirque du Soleil: Corteo. For those who don't know what Cirque is, it is a huge French circus group that does amazing stunts in a very theatrical way. It was so cool! My favorite acts were thier trapoline act, thier person in a wheel act (I don't know what it was called,) thier human trapeze act, and their juggling act. The rest of the show was still amazing!

3. Finally, today I finished Battle of the Labyrinth, by Rick Riordan. It was great! Now, there is only one more book in the Percy Jackson series, which started with The Lighting Theif, which I read again 3 days ago. 2 days ago, I finished it. Yesterday, I got Battle of the Labyrinth. It was a great book, but had a really twisted ending. I don't want to give away any spoilers, but I'll give a little synopsis. In the 4th book, after being chased by deamon cheerleaders, meeting an old human aquantince, and finding out that not only the lost god Pan, but the key to Kronoses victory over the gods might be hidden in the labyrinth, Percy is thrown back into the war, fighting for his life through an unsolvable maze. The gods face more betrayal and need Percy, Annabeth, Tyson, and Grover to find Deadalus, the inventor of the labyrinth before Luke does. Also, Annabeth is given a mysterious prophecy about the quest and Percy is having more dreams, about Luke and Kronos, Nico, son of Hades, and Deadalus and the truth of his past. This book is even more exciting then the other books. I can't wait for the next book!

4. Tomorrow, I am going to see The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.

5. I hope my brother Ezra is having a great trip! He is taking a trip to Virginia to visit his best friend, Brett.

Vizu Poll

I have decided to take J Scott Savage's example and use Vizu to make a poll. It may have been a little more complicated, but it turns out much better than the Blogger polls. I did my first Vizu poll on James Dashner's "The 13th Reality." (If your making a Vizu poll, avoid using the " sign. I doesn't turn out well. I had to redo my poll to fix it.) I highly suggest using Vizu polls instead of Blogger polls. They work and look much better.

New Warriors Books

Hooray!!!

Warriors: Outcast is finally here! I had pre-ordered it and it came yesterday, along with Warriors: Warrior's Return, Eragon, Fablehaven, and The Sword of Shannara (I know I spelled that wrong!) I read all of Warrior's Return on the drive to a Mariners game last night (they were out of Free Ichiro Bobble Heads when we got there.) I started Outcast on the drive to the ski slopes today. I am really excited. I've been waiting for a while.
I am still reading The Hobbit and I have just finished the chapter "Queer Lodgings." It was a really good chapter! I can't wait to see why the next chapter is called "Flies and Spiders." I have a pretty good idea though. I should have a post saying that I've finished Outcast (or The Hobbit) in a day or 2.

Poll Closed

Thank you for voting on my poll. The question was

Have you ever visited any of the links on my blog?

80% (8 people) voted for Yes, I have.
20% (2 people) voted for No, I haven't. (It was actually supposed to say, No, but I will.)

So many posts!

This will be my last post of March (or so I think.) I have reached my 29th post this year and my 47th post overall! Not really that much, but it's a lot for me!