Hour 39

Hours Spent Reading: 24
Books Read: 6
Pages Read: 1970
Money Raised: $684
What I'm listening to: the dishwasher. Exciting stuff, I know.

Please remember that I'm reading to raise money for Room to Read, which builds libraries, stocks them with books, and trains people to become their librarians.

The Red Pyramid Rick Riordan

Ok there are A LOT of similarities between this and the Percy Jackson. Couple of kids discover that they're part of an ancient belief system that's still alive and kicking in the modern world and have just a few days to get across the country and save the world, all the while battling mythical forces of badness.

Only instead of Greek gods, it's Egyptian ones.

Carter and Sadie are brother and sister, even though they didn't grow up together. They are descended from Pharoahs and they should be a part of the organization of Egyptian court magicians that's still alive and kicking... but the organization wants them dead, because they also have the spirits of Horus and Isis hanging out in their bodies with them.

But that's all secondary, because Set has kidnapped their father and is about to destroy the world, so he's their bigger worry.

Like I said, there are a lot of similarities with Percy, but I think I like this one better. I like that Carter and Sadie take turns narrating the story, but they're also bantering back and forth in their narration, like brother and sister. It's hilarious and works really well. I also really like how Riordan writes Bast.

There was some controversy about race when The Last Olympian came out. It's worth noting that Carter and Sadie are bi-racial. Carter is darker skinned, while Sadie is lighter skinned. And race is discussed-- Sadie resents that strangers don't think she's related to her dad and brother. Carter dresses like a dork (according to Sadie) because his dad has made sure that he always looks impeccable because people will judge him on appearance. Cops like to follow him around. Riordan is white. I'm white. I love that the blogosphere has been tackling issues of race in books and I would love to hear other opinions on this. I feel like I should say more, but I'm in the middle of a readathon and don't really have time to mull this issues and have only mulled them to this point because I was thinking about them while at work. But, I wanted to mention it so others could talk about it.

Overall though, I liked this better than Percy Jackson and am excited to read the rest of the series.

Book Provided by... my local library

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