Olympians and Artemis Fowl

My oldest and I have recently read a few books together. That is, we read them independently, but at the same time. Usually he'll read them in the afternoon and right before he goes to bed. Then I'll steal them and read them at night. We've read two books from a series called "Percy Jackson & the Olympians". The first of these, "The Lightning Thief," was made into a movie, which is coming out soon.

The premise of these books is that the Olympian gods are real, they're still kickin', and still siring illegitimate offspring (heroes, demigods, or whatever you like). One of these children, Percy, is the son of Poseidon. Luckily, the illegitimacy seems to be lost on my son. He thinks Percy's mom is married to Poseidon. That's cool. I won't disillusion him. Except for that little piece of immorality, the books are pretty fun. There's lots of good material to familiarize children with Greek mythology, a lot of nonsense to make the storyline tenable, and even a few good family values here and there. They were fun to read. I've realized I need more nonsense in my life, so these books have been great.


Another book we read was called "Artemis Fowl" about a genius of a criminal mastermind (Artemis), modeled a little after Professor Moriarty, who happens to be twelve years old. It also has a healthy dose of nonsense, a large number of likable characters, and a fun, fantastical storyline. I enjoy reading books with my son. It gives me a chance to talk with him about what he has read and get his opinions. And it's nice to just read a bunch of nonsense once in a while.