Out of the Silent Planet, Jan. 17, 2010

The evil mad scientist, Dr. Westin, needs a human sacrifice to take with him in his spaceship to the red planet, Malacandra. He chooses Dr. Ransom, an early 20th century British philologist, as his victim. Ransom soon finds himself on a strange planet with strange creatures who are protected by super powered, almost divine, beings. He escapes the evil Westin and seeks help from Malacandra's denizens and their divine protectors. Ransom gradually learns there is much more at stake than his own life and becomes part of a celestial showdown between Good and Evil.

Out of the Silent Planet is C.S. Lewis' first installment in his space trilogy that includes Perelandra and That Hideous Strength. If you like Chronicles of Narnia, you will like Out of the Silent Planet. Join us for a Pig Skull discussion.

Pizza and Mister Monday, Nov. 15

PIZZA PARTY at the Nov. 15 Pig Skull Meeting. We will have a discussion of Mister Monday to go along with the pizza.

"Arthur Penhaligon is not supposed to be a hero. He is, in fact, supposed to die an early death. But then his life is saved by a key shaped like the minute hand of a clock.

Arthur is safe but his world is not. Along with the key comes a plague brought by bizarre creatures from another realm. A stranger named Mister Monday, his avenging messengers with bloodstained wings and an army of dog-faced Fetchers will stop at nothing to get the key back--even if it means destroying Arthur and everything around him.

Desperate, Arthur ventures into a mysterious house--a house only he can see. It is in this house that Arthur must unravel the secrets of the key and discover his true fate" (taken from the back cover of Mister Monday).

Join the Pig Skulls as we gorge ourselves on pizza and great discussion.

Ghost Canoe, Oct. 18

You can't beat Will Hobbs for adventure and mystery. We Pig Skulls have read his Wild Man Island and Far North which lean heavily on the theme of survival in the wilderness. Ghost Canoe is different. It is a Pacific Northwest mystery bristling with an island lighthouse, shipwrecks, Spanish gold, an ancient Indian canoe tomb, whaling, Makah Indians, a secretive "hairy man," unexplained footprints on a desolate beach and murder. Young Nathan MacAllister is determined to piece together the clues even if it means his own death.

The Sword and the Circle, Sept. 20 Meeting

Author Rosemary Sutcliff is a master reteller of classics. We Pig Skulls read her excellent retelling of Homer's Odyssey some time ago. The Sword and the Circle continues this pedigree of excellence and makes the ancient Arthurian legend accessible to readers leery about reading Malory's version.

Learn how Merlin and London's Archbishop make it possible for young Arthur to claim his rightful inheritance as High King of all Britain at a time when Roman Legions have abandoned native Celts and Romans to invading Saxons. See the mysterious Lady of the Lake's hand bestow Arthur with the sword Excalibur. Read about the creation of the Knights of the Round Table and marvel at the knights' many quests. Experience knightly chivalry and damsels in distress.

The Sword and the Circle is the first installment of Sutcliff's trilogy that includes The Quest for the Holy Grail and The Death of King Arthur.

Ender's Game, Aug. 16 Meeting

"Once again, Earth is under attack. Alien 'buggers' are poised for a final assault. The survival of the human species depends on a military genius who can defeat the buggers.

But who?

Ender Wiggin. Brilliant. Ruthless. Cunning. A tactical and strategic master. And a child.

Recruited for military training by the world government. Ender's childhood ends the moment he enters his new home: Battle School. Among the elite recruits Ender proves himself to be a genius among geniuses. In simulated war games he excels. But is the pressure and loneliness taking its toll on Ender? Simulations are one thing. How will Ender perform in real combat conditions? After all, Battle School is just a game.

Right?" (from Ender's Game back cover)

Ender's Game is the first installment of a series.

Seventh Son, July 19 Meeting

"Using the lore and folk magic of the men and women who helped settle a continent and beliefs of the tribes who were here before them, Orson Scott Card has created an alternate frontier America where folk magic works and has colored the entire history of the colonies. It is into this world, amid the deep wood where the Red Man still holds sway, that a very special child is born..." (from Seventh Son back cover).

Seventh Son is the first installment of Card's six-part Alvin Maker series. We Pig Skullers will be discussing this book at our Sunday, July 19 meeting. See ya there!

The Lighting Thief, June 14 Meeting

"Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school...again. And that's the least of his troubles. Lately, mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy's Greek mythology textbook and into his life. And worse, he's angered a few of them. Zeus's master lightning bolt has been stolen and Percy is the prime suspect.

Now Percy and his friends have just ten days to find and return Zeus's stolen property and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. But to succeed on his quest, Percy will have to do more than catch the true thief: he must come to terms with the father who abandoned him; solve the riddle of the Oracle, which warns him of betrayal by a friend; and unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves" (taken from the back cover of The Lightning Thief).

Some interesting notes for the Pig Skulls: in The Lightning Thief Percy has ten days to find Zeus's stolen thunderbolt. This turns out to be June 21, the Summer Solstice. June 21 was the original meeting date for discussing this book. June 21 is also Fathers' Day and the birthday of one of our Pig Skull dads!

Gregor the Overlander, May 17 Meeting

"When eleven-year old Gregor follows his little sister through a grate in the laundry room of their New York apartment building, he hurtles into the dark Underland beneath the city. There, humans live uneasily beside giant spiders, bats, cockroaches, and rats--but the fragile peace is about to fall apart.

Gregor wants no part of a conflict between these creepy creatures. He just wants to find his way home. But when he discovers that a strange prophecy foretells a role for him in the Underland's uncertain future, he realizes it might be the only way to solve the biggest mystery of his life. Little does he know his quest will change him and the Underland forever." (from Gregor the Overlander backcover).

Piggy Boots

I've heard of "pig in a blanket" but this little porker has other ideas. Cinders as a piglet didn't like getting her feet dirty. Her owners outfitted her with children's boots. She was one happy pig.

Soldier's Heart, April 19 Meeting

Soldier's Heart tells the story about 15 year-old Charley Goddard from Minnesota who joins the First Minnesota Volunteers in 1861 to fight the "Rebels" and prove he is a man. Charley's dreams of adventure, excitement and glory are quickly throttled by the brutal, bloody reality of fighting at Bull Run and Gettysburg. He quickly matures into manhood but it is not the manhood he envisioned. This is a short book, yet its quick pace and vivid details of battle contribute to the sense of authenticity. The horror of battle is real. The lingering sadness of soldier's heart (shell shock) is also real.

The Captain's Dog, March 15 Meeting

Dogs, history, Lewis & Clark, canoeing, hunting, fishing, camping and swatting skeeters--The Captain's Dog bursts with all this cool stuff. The doggy point of view is a unique and entertaining way to present this important historical event. Author Roland Smith does a good job of fleshing out excerpts of Lewis' journal with Seaman's doggy recollection of a united team of superbly-led men braving uncharted territory, starvation, disease, numbing cold, doubts, disappointment and depression to find the fabled Northwest Passage. There is an interesting aside weaved into the story featuring White Feather, a mysterious crow that appears at odd moments only to Seaman. This reminds me of the equally mysterious ravens in Will Hobbs' Far North. There are some funny moments such as Seaman marking his territory (it's a guy thing) and his encounter with a cat that is bigger than any cat he has ever seen ("It's not natural!").

Far North Discussed At Feb 15 Meeting

What a great story. A bush pilot and his plane plunge over a thundering waterfall stranding two teenage boys and an old Dene Indian in Canada's desolate Northwest Territories. It's only because of the old Indian and his old Indian ways that the two boys learn how to cope with 60 below zero temperatures, near starvation and some mysterious ravens. The boys learn respect for the old ways and the old people who desperately desire to pass on their ancient wisdom.

Crispin, Jan. 18 Meeting

"Set in 14th-century England, [Crispin] begins with a funeral, that of a village outcast whose past is shrouded in mystery and whose adolescent son is known only as 'Asta's son.' Mired in grief for his mother, the boy learns his given name, Crispin, from the village priest, although his presumably dead father's identity remains obscure. The words etched on his mother's treasured lead cross may provide some clue, but the priest is murdered before he can tell the illiterate lad what they say. Worse, Crispin is fingered for the murder by the manor steward, who declares him a 'wolf's head'—wanted dead or alive, preferably dead. Crispin flees, and falls in with a traveling juggler. 'I have no name,' Crispin tells Bear, whose rough manners and appearance mask a tender heart. 'No home, no kin, no place in this world.' How the boy learns his true identity (he's the bastard son of the lord of the manor) and finds his place in the world makes for a rattling fine yarn. Avi's plot is engineered for maximum thrills, with twists, turns and treachery aplenty, but it's the compellingly drawn relationship between Crispin and Bear that provides the heart of this story. A page turner to delight Avi's fans, it will leave readers hoping for a sequel." (Publishers Weekly, vol 249, issue 22, p88)

We Pig Skullers will discuss Crispin at our Jan. 18 meeting.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas Dec. 14 Meeting

Nine-year-old Bruno and his family move from Berlin after Hitler puts Bruno's dad in charge of a barb-wired camp in Poland. Bruno doesn't understand why the children in striped pajamas on the other side of the face aren't allowed to play with him. Bruno secretly makes friends with Schmuel; a boy on the "other side." Bruno learns many things from Schmuel but not quite enough.

We Pig Skullers will discuss The Boy in the Striped Pajamas at our December 14 meeting.

The Amulet of Samarkand Nov. 16 Meeting

"Nathaniel is eleven years old and a magician's apprentice learning the traditional arts of magic. All is well until he has a life-changing encounter with Simon Lovelace, a magician of unrivaled ruthlessness and ambition. When Lovelace brutally humiliates Nathaniel in public, Nathaniel decides to speed up his education, teaching himself spells way beyond his years. With revenge on his mind, he masters one of the toughest spells of all and summons Bartimaeus, a five-thousand-year-old djinni, to assist him. But summoning Bartimaeus and controlling him are two different things entirely and when Nathaniel sends the djinni out to steal Lovelace's greatest treasure he find himself caught up in a whirlwind of magical espionage, murder and rebellion." (from The Amulet of Samarkand backcover).

The Amulet of Samarkand is a great blend of adventure, magic and humor. Jonathan Stroud is a wonderful writer. We Pig Skullers will discuss this book November 16.

Pig Skull Billboard Appears In Georgetown, KY

The Pig Skull Book Club billboard featuring Pig Skullers Norm and Ben went up late July 2008 on Cherry Blossom Road near Wal-Mart.

New Artemis Fowl Book--The Time Paradox

"Artemis must travel back in time to find a living specimen of a now-extinct species of lemur whose brain fluid holds the cure to his mother's life-threatening illness."

Black Potatoes June 15 Meeting

"In 1845, disaster struck Ireland. Overnight, a mysterious blight attacked the potato crops turning the potatoes black and destroying the only real food of nearly six million people. Over the next five years, the blight attacked again and again. These years are known today as the Great Irish Famine, a time when one million people died from starvation and disease and two million more fled their homeland.

"Susan Campbell Bartoletti tells the compelling story of men, women and children who survived against all odds: they defied landlords and searched empty fields for scraps of harvested vegetables and edible weeds, walked several miles each day to hard-labor jobs earn meager wages and to reach soup kitchens, and committed crime just to go to jail where they were assured a meal. Black Potatoes is the story of the heroes among the Irish people and how they held on to hope." (from Black Potatoes back cover)

We Pig Skullers will discuss Black Potatoes at our Sunday, June 15 meeting.

The Pig Scrolls

"Behold Gryllus, a smarty-pants former crewman of the storied Odysseus, transformed by Circe into a swine--and perfectly content to stay that way. Until, that is, the pushy prophetess, Sibyl, informs Gryllus that the world's in grave danger--the gods have gone into hiding, terrifying monsters are on the loose, and all of creation is seriously out of whack. The only one who can save it is...a talking pig."

Author Paul Shipton has master's degrees in philosophy and classics. He says that working on The Pig Scrolls "...gave me a chance to revisit a world I have always loved--that of ancient mythology and history. And of course, in order to research the character of Gryllus fully, I was forced to eat a huge number of pies." We Pig Skullers will discuss The Pig Scrolls at our May 18 meeting.

Pig Skulls Eyeball Cyclops

We Pig Skulls went eyes-to-eye with bad ol' Cyclops and emerged victorious. Our Feb. 17 discussion of Mary Sutcliff's The Wanderings of Odysseus was a robust one. It's hard to go wrong with cyclopi (plural?), witches, warring gods, big bags of wind, and assorted bad guys all trying to break your bones or ship. These are some of the books we've read since our February 2007 creation. Happy 1st birthday Pig Skulls!