Bilbo's Birthday!

Well its Bilbo's birthday, today! Or at least today was the day that The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien was released back in 1937. My Grade Four teacher, Mr. Fitzgerald read the book to us. That was the first I ever heard of it. And sadly, I had to miss a week of school and was incredibly disappointed that I wouldn't get to hear that part of the book. Where was I going? What could be more important than The Hobbit? Oh, we were going to Disneyland. I still remember being on the plane thinking, "I wonder what's happening in The Hobbit, right now." Of course that book led me to Lloyd Alexander's The Book of Three and, well, to many more books. Thanks Tolkien!

Here are a few books I recently finished:
Skybreaker by Kenneth Oppel. This was the second time I read it. Probably my favourite Oppel book. The perfect followup to Airborn.
The Great Stink by Clare Clark. A murder mystery novel for adults set (mostly) in the sewers of Victorian London. Very well done. You'll never, ever get the description of the sewers out of your head.
His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman. I'd already read the books, but listened to the audiobooks. They're excellent. I'm still disappointed by the third book, but overall one of the strongest fantasy series I've read. I'm excited about the movies because I want to see what they do with the material.

Art