Tag Archives: mystery

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Book Reviews #5-2022

Summer is almost here and I’m still not ready, and already hating the heat. Trying to get all the things together so I can register my kid for summer camp and sign him for the good camps and fun activities here at the library. I’m doing a storytime for older kids at the end of April and so all the picture books I am reviewing this month are from that. 

I will build you a bookcase

I’ll Build You A Bookcase = Te Hare Tu Propio Librero written by Jean Ciborowski Fahey, illustrated by Simone Shin

I love this book! I love that it is bright and colorful, with a diverse cast of characters, and is short but to the point. The book has the text in English on one page and in Spanish on the next. It celebrates reading, and especially reading between parents and kids. The book starts out talking about creating a bookcase library for a not-yet born baby  and reading to babies, and toddlers, all the way up to age 3. It’s got mentions of nonfiction books, grandparents reading to grandchildren, going on adventures while reading, and then constructing little free libraries so everyone else can enjoy books too! It even has tips for How to Read to Your Child in the back. Highly recommended for ages 3-6, 5 stars. 

Lola at the Library

Lola at the Library written by Anna McQuinn, Rosalind Beardshaw

Originally used for a books/reading toddler storytime in Oct 2015, and will be using again for a books/reading for older kids storytime at the end of April 2022. It is a simple story about an African-American preschool child named Lola who goes to the libraries once a week on Tuesdays with her mom – good way to introduce kids to the concept of going to the library and storytime. And the best part is she gets books for bedtime! Recommended for ages 3-7, 4 stars.

Quiet - There's a Canary in the Library

Quiet! There’s a Canary in the Library written and illustrated by Don Freeman

Originally read Dec 2014: Whenever I think of Don Freeman, I always think of Corduroy the bear (which I’ve somehow never read), although I did enjoy his book Fly High, Fly Low. This book was adorable. Although a little long, I think it would be great for a toddler storytime on reading or the library. Cary is a young girl who loves going to the library and picking out books to read, recommended by Mrs. Curtis the librarian. One day, as she is reading a book about the zoo, she imagines that she is a librarian. The first thing she does is have a day that all the animals and birds can visit the zoo. My son loved naming all the different animals in this book and liked that they all liked to read too. Pandemonium almost breaks out when some mice come in the library, but the day is saved by a canary. After accidently shouting, Cary realizes that she is still in the library and picks out a book to read at home. Recommended for ages 2-6, 4 stars.

Re-read April 21, 2022: I’m doing an older kids storytime on books and reading and thought this would be a great addition as most people haven’t heard of it. I would actually recommend it for slightly older kids due to the length, maybe 3-7, 4 stars.

A Book for Escargot

A Book for Escargot written by Dashka Slater, illustrated by Sydney Hanson

Originally read June 2020: Even more adorable than the original book! Escargot is going to the library to get a book on cooking, but wants your help creating cool new snail stories as snails are never the heroes. And totally did it in a French accent! Highly recommended for ages 4-8, 5 stars.

Re-read April 22, 2022 to my son and hopefully other kiddos at a Books/Reading storytime to be done April 30th at one of the branches: You just have to do this book in a French accent, though it is a little wordy so it might turn into generic European or Spanish after a while. I love little Escargot, he is tres adorable! Got to re-read it to my kiddo as he had forgotten about it. 5 stars.

The Little Library

The Little Library written by Margaret McNamara, illustrated by G. Brian Karas

Everyone in Mr. Tiffin’s class is excited to go to the library, except for Jake, who has a hard time when he’s there because he’s a careful reader and has problems with comprehension. I think it’s possible he could have dyslexia, though they never come out and say that. While all the other kids hurry to get a book, he hangs back. The Librarian, Beck (a non binary individual), notices and looks for the perfect book for Jake. He finds an older worn out crafting book called Woodworking for Young Hands and gives it to Jake, who spends many hours doing hands on projects with his grandfather on the weekends. This is the perfect book for him and Jake checks it out over and over again until the end of the school when he learns he must give it back for the summer. Jake decides to help out the librarian by creating and building (with a little help from grandpa) a Little Free Library for his classmates and the librarian, so they can have books to read over the summer. Librarian Beck gifts him with the woodworking book, which he had decided to withdraw from the collection. Recommended for ages 5-9, 4 stars.

El Deafo

El Deafo written and illustrated by CeCe Bell

Originally read April 29-30, 2015: I’ve been wanting to read this one for awhile, especially after it won one of the two 2015 Newbery Honors. This book is the memoir of the author/illustrator CeCe Bell, who lost her hearing after getting meningitis at age four very suddenly. She has to adjust to not hearing and using a giant hearing aid called the Phonic Ear that straps to her chest, under her clothes. She is able to hear everything her teacher says with it and everywhere she goes with it and Cece believes she may have a superpower, and so makes up her alter ego superhero, El Deafo. Really the book is all about acceptance, which is so hard with young kids, especially girls and especially if someone is different. Will Cece be accepted and find a true friend? To find out, read this fascinating biography. Recommended for ages 8+, 4 stars.

Re-reading for Tween Graphic Novel Club (April 17-22, 2022): I picked this for my Tween Graphic Novel Club in April and they also picked it as one of the new additions to our Great Chapter Book Collection at the library. Been a bit distracted this go around so it took me longer to read. Also I found the book really unnecessarily long. I understand that it takes awhile to explain Cece (aka El Deafo) and her predicament, but the story just goes on and on. I feel like it could’ve probably been half the length and still been okay. 3-1/2 stars.

Blood Water Paint

Blood Water Paint written by Joy McCullough

I picked this book for my book club pick for Poetry Month. I have been wanting to read this book since it came out in 2018, as I only knew a little about the artist, mostly just the Judith painting in my Baroque class in undergraduate.  This book is a Young Adult historical fiction verse novel about 17th century Italian Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi who started painting in her father’s painting workshop, where he trained her as his apprentice, in a time when there were next to zero female painters.  She later painted on her own after she was married, and followed Caravaggio’s school of painting with Baroque technique of chiaroscuro (light and shadow). The novel talks about two paintings of hers, Susanna and the Elders, c. 1610 and Judith Beheading Holofernes, c. 1625, especially as they relate to Artemesia and how she changes throughout the verse novel. The sections with stories of these two Biblical women are the only prose sections in the book and the cool part is they are feminist reinterpretations of Susanna and Judith, but taught by her mother before she passed away.

Artemisia was raped by Augustino (Tino) Tassi, another painter her father originally hired to teach her perspective and to get juicier commissions for himself (even though by that point his daughter was doing most of his work for him). Artemisia fought a long hard-wrought trial against Tino Tassi saying he raped her, and won it surprisingly, despite being tortured herself. She had to re-teach herself to paint and she still managed to kick ass with paintings like Judith Beheading Holofernes, and actually put herself and Tassi in the painting as characters. I very much enjoyed this book, despite Tino’s seriously sketchy behavior not only to his wife and sister in law, but also to Artemisia. Highly recommended for ages 15+, 5 stars.

Dial A for Aunties

Dial A for Aunties (Aunties #1) by Jesse Q. Sutanto 

There is an author’s note at the beginning of the audiobook that explains the author’s nationality, Chinese-Indonesian and why she chose to speak the way she did (or more specifically the way the aunties spoke) in the book. As Peter (on semi-hiatus) wrote in his August 21, 2021 Goodreads review, “The shifts in language between Mandarin, Cantonese, Indonesian, English, and even the use of emojis, provide the perfect opportunity for comic dialogue, with misinterpretations, insensitivity, and regular point-scoring. Elements of slapstick comedy are vividly drawn with laugh out loud scenes and antics.”

First things first, this murder mystery rom-com book was freaking hilarious! Everything that could’ve gone wrong did and then some. Risa Mei did a great job as narrator about getting the right about of panic for a young twenty-something who just wants to impress her demanding family, and her aunties were my favorite part! The story is a little disjointed in the way it kept jumping back and forth between Meddelin’s college days and the present day story, but the past definitely has an impact on the present. It’s a bit like Crazy Rich Asians but way funnier and more relatable. Plus I heard Netflix is planning on adapting it into a movie, so very excited for that! I also can’t wait to listen to book two!

Meddelin, Meddy for short, Chan studied photography in college where she met Nathan, the most perfect boyfriend ever. No seriously, I kind of want to date him. Only she can never take him home to her demanding aunties and mom, because she feels so much pressure to be perfect ever since all her male cousins and relations have left home. She does the only thing she can think of and breaks it off with him.  Meddy instantly regrets it at that moment and every day during the nearly four years since she’s done it. She’s now the photographer for her family’s wedding business. There’s also First Aunt, the eldest and usually the most authoritative, and she is their master baker. Second Auntie is the hair and makeup lady who is always practicing weird poses of Tai Chi and hates everything her older sister does, her mom is the florist, and Fourth Aunt is a semi-professional singer. All of them fight and try to one-up each other, which makes for some interesting conversations.

Her mother and aunties try to set her up with a guy her mother met online (pretending to be Meddy of course) and she thinks, “What the hell, why not?”. Turns out the guy is hella skeevy and she accidentally kills him and then brings the body home, having no idea what to do with it and her mother and aunties step up because they’re all family. They all have a billionaire’s Chinese-Indonesian wedding to help with the next day on a nearby island (they live in California) so the body goes in a cooler and they’re gonna sort out where the dig a grave later. Only things don’t happen the way you would think and start getting more and more outrageous the more you dive into the story. Will they be able to get rid of the body? To find out, check out this uproarious book! Recommended for ages 16+, 4 stars. 

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Dandy, Planting Stories, and Chapter Two is Missing!

These three books were taken from this list of books I plan on reading and reviewing on here this year. I grabbed these three picture books last week before I left work for New Years and read two of them the first day of the year and saved the last one to read with my son.

Dandy

  • Dandy written by Ame Dyckman, illustrated by Charles Santoso: My son and I have been reading Dyckman’s books for a couple years now and love Wolfie the Bunny and this book seemed in the same vein as that, so I knew I wanted to read it. It was a very cutesy and understatedly hilarious book about what really matters in life. Sweetie, Daddy’s only child, has made a friend who just happens to be a weed named Charlotte that her dad wants to get rid of, which he tries to at every possible opportunity. When his daughter is off at swim practice, him and the other dads finally get the chance for revenge against the weed, only to have it foiled by an adorable drawing of Sweetie and her friend, and he makes a grave mistake. But he more than makes for it in the end. The illustrations by Charles Santoso are excellent and hilarious. Highly recommended for ages 5-9, 5 stars.

Planting Stories

  • Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpre written by Anika Aldamuy Denise, illustrated by Paola Escobar. I had obviously heard of Pura Belpre before as a librarian, but didn’t know anything about her. This charming biography gives you the low-down on why she came to America, how she met her husband, how she was the first Latina to publish folk stories from back home in Puerto Rico (like Martina the Beautiful Cockroach which I had first read after I finished library school though Carmen Agra Deedy’s version), and how this influenced storytelling in libraries. I loved the idea of “planting stories” and can’t wait to share this one with my book club. Highly recommended for ages 7-10, 5 stars.

Chapter Two is Missing

  • Chapter Two is Missing! written by Josh Lieb, illustrated by Kevin Cornell. I really wanted to like this one as it looked over-the-top dramatic and fun, but it was so long it dragged and lost my interest. My son loved it though. The narrator is here to tell us that “Chapter Two is Missing!” and Milo the book’s janitor needs to do something about it, and help him find the chapter. The narrator has already hired Detective McGarrigan, and helpfully provides her information several times. Will they be able to catch the culprit who did it and recover the missing chapter? It gets an extra half star because my kid liked it so much he actually read it out loud to me. Recommended for ages 6-9, 3-1/2 stars.
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The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper

The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper

The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick

Published: May 3, 2016

Sixty-nine year old Arthur Pepper is a lonely routine-driven man who has just reached the first anniversary of his wife Miriam’s death. He is not dealing with it well. While going through some of her things to donate to the charity shop, he finds a mysterious charm bracelet and decides to investigate it to figure out its significance to his wife. In doing so, he discovers not only the truth about his wife’s past but also more about himself and what he is capable of.

I first picked this book up because the blurb reminded me a little of Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson (which I loved), not so much for the story but because they are  both older men who are starting their life over again after the death of their spouse and changing the way they think. I loved Arthur’s character and the transformation he goes through. It gives me hope. Arthur is depressed at the beginning of the book, trying to sort through his emotions on the anniversary of his wife’s death and not really succeeding. There’s a quote from near the end of the book where Arthur is thinking about the past year and says “The past twelve months of living alone, of devising his strict routines, had made the color fade from his life.” I thought that was a really good description of what depression feels like. There’s also a great quote where he talks about missing Miriam: “He could smell her perfume, something with roses and lily of the valley, and it made him want to nestle his nose in the nape of her neck, just one more time please, God.” The quote makes me wonder if that’s how my grandfather secretly feels about my grandmother when he misses her.

When Arthur finds the bracelet, he is reluctant to learn new things about his wife. I enjoyed reading about how Arthur ends up discovering so many more new things about himself, instead of just his wife’s past, and how much he is still in love with his wife, despite everything. I especially liked the part of the story in London with Mike and the guy with two girlfriends. The ending made me cry, not in a bad way, but in a sweet way. This is especially true when Arthur reads the note from his wife and sees that she thinks that “he is quiet and kind. He is steady and he loves me. We share a quiet kind of love.” So he realizes that she didn’t just settle for him but truly loved him for who he was, especially because he of who he is. Sigh. Who doesn’t want that? 5 stars.

Disclaimer: I received this book as an Advanced Readers Copy from the Harlequin publishers in exchange for my honest review.

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Black Rabbit Hall

Black Rabbit Hall

Black Rabbit Hall by Eve Chase

To be published: February 9, 2016

The book starts off with a teenaged girl named Amber talking about the end of her summer vacation in Cornwall at her family’s house, nicknamed Black Rabbit Hall. The next chapter fasts forward to more modern day times with a young bride named Lorna and her fiancee Jon who are searching for the perfect spot to get married, and come across Pencraw Hall (aka Black Rabbit Hall). She cannot explain why but is somehow drawn to the old crumbling house, deciding that it is the perfect place (despite her fiancee’s misgivings) and is invited by the house’s owner to spend a few days there. From here the story jumps back and forth between the 1960s and modern times to tell Amber and Lorna’s story.

The Alton family, made up of Amber and her twin brother Toby are the eldest, followed by a younger sister named Kitty and a brother named Barney. Their parents are happily married and everything is as it should be when they head from Cornwall to London to their ancestral home of Black Rabbit Hall, where they always spend their entire summers. That is until tragedy strikes and their world is turned upside down. Lorna is fascinated with the house and its history, remembering that this was the house that her own recently-deceased mother used to take her to when she was little. However, as she becomes obsessed with learning about the house and the Alton family’s past, she is estranged from her own family. 3-1/2 stars.

It’s hard to believe this is the author’s first book. I thought it was rather good for a first attempt and thankfully the chapters are clearly labeled so you’re not confused when it jumps back and forth in time. I personally liked the gothic feel to the book, which reminded me of Emily Bronte and Daphne Du Maurier. The story keeps you in suspense for most of the book and makes the house almost another character in the book. I think my biggest gripe was that the story went on for way too long, and I nearly gave up on reading it because it was so slow in the beginning. Lorna’s character was a bit whiny and predictable, but at the same time you felt sorry for her. I liked the 1960s story the best, especially Amber’s mother and Peggy.

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Children and Young Adult Book Review Nov 2015

Hi everyone! Long time no see (my fault I know). These aren’t all the children’s and YA books I’ve read in the past couple of months, but a selection of ones I liked, as they tend to be the ones I read most often. It’s not been good for the last couple of months for reading in general. I’ve been in a bit of a slump in regards to personal life/health and reading, but those things are starting to get sorted out so I should be more on track in the future. Hopefully everything will be better in the New Year. I’m looking forward to reading more ARCs (Advanced Readers Copies). There’s a bunch of good ones coming out in February and March, so should be fun in January and February. I’m currently listening to the end of Insurgent by Veronica Roth, and although I enjoy it, Tris’s character is really pissing me off because despite how strong she was in the first book, she’s so whiny and pathetic in this one. I love love love Tobias though!! Everytime I try to start a new book, I keep getting distracted by the entire Kamisama Kiss manga series, which I started reading in October. I’m nearly finished with it, just have 5 more volumes to go. I just started a new ARC called Georgia by Dawn Tripp, a historical fiction about Georgia O’Keeffe as she has been a bit of an obsession of mine as well ever since I really learned about her and her art in the summer.

Children

Keats’s Neighborhood: An Ezra Jack Keats Treasury

Ezra Jack Keats characters

I have been in love with Ezra Jack Keats’s work ever since I saw an exhibit about him at University of Southern Mississippi about eight years ago. So when I got the chance to check out this collection of ten stories, I jumped. His stories are a little bit dated, but I just love the characters and stories, they are so relatable and fun. The introduction was written by Anita Silvey and there are stories from famous children’s book author/illustrators like Eric Carle, Reynold Ruffins, Jerry Pinkney and Simms Taback documenting their experiences with the Keats himself. There is also Keats’s booklist and a biography of the author/illustrator in the back of the book . The first book is the Caldecott-winning book A Snowy Day (1962), which I just love and have reviewed before. Next is Whistle for Willie (1964) about Peter (the African-American child from A Snowy Day) who wished he could whistle and tried so hard to do so and practiced so much, that by the end of the book, he can! His parents and Willie the daschund are so proud of him. A Letter to Amy (1968) is the 3rd book and is again about Peter. This time he decides to write a letter to his friend Amy to invite her to his birthday party, and plans on mailing it, but it blows out of his hand during a rainstorm and he ends up chasing it all over the place. In the process he kind of upsets her because he runs in to her, but won’t let her see the letter because he wants it to be a surprise. He thinks she will not come, but she does and makes his birthday party special because of her presence. The fourth and fifth stories are Peter’s Chair (1967) and Goggles! (1969), both of which I have reviewed before. The sixth story is a new one to me, called Jennie’s Hat (1966). It is about a young girl named Jennie who is waiting for a hat from her aunt, but when it arrives, she is disappointed because it is such a plain hat. She imagines the kinds of things she could have on a hat, and then goes outside to feet the birds. She was still thinking about hats the next morning when she observed the women with colorful flowered hats outside her window and at church. As soon as she gets outside wearing her plain hat, all the birds bring “red and violet flowers, and leaves, colored eggs, and a paper fan” as well as “pictures of swans and pink valentine” and decorate her hat. She is delighted with her new hat now! Hi, Cat! (1970) is the next book, and it is kind of a weird one. It is about Archie, one of Peter’s friends, gets into a giant paper bag puppet named Mister Big Face. He is attacked by a cat who bursts through once side and Archie goes through the other. Then they try to do a “tall dog show” but the cat interrupts again. This was probably my least favorite story. Apt. 3 (1971) is the next story and it is about Sam and his little brother Ben who live in an apartment building in the city and hear someone playing a sad harmonica song but can’t figure out who it is, so they wander around the building trying to figure out who it is. Eventually they discover that is is the blind man in Apt 3 who was playing and he plays some more “purple and grays and rain and smoke and the sounds of night” (great way to describe the colors of the sound of music). The ninth story is with Louie, the kid with the bag on his head, and is called Louie’s Search (1980). It was another of the really weird stories. Louie goes searching through his neighborhood and sees a truck with furniture on it. A music box falls out of the back of the truck and the owner (a man named Barney) jumps out and accuses Louie of taking it. He eventually apologizes, and lets Louie keep the box. Barney takes a shine to Peg, Louie’s mom, and keeps coming back to visit her. Eventually he marries her. The last story was Pet Show! (1972) and involves Peter and his friends Archie and Roberto. They see a sign for a pet show and go to collect their pets. Everyone stands in a line and gets “a prize for something.” Archie comes up with an original pet and also gets a blue ribbon. Recommended for ages 3-7, 3-1/2 stars.

Lego Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (DK Readers L2) by Emma Grange

This book is a very basic introduction the the movie “The Empire Strikes Back,” but is great for parents who have just introduced Star Wars to their kids. The kids will love it because it has Legos and Star Wars. Recommended for ages 4-7, 3 stars.

Gluey: A Snail Tail by Vivian Walsh and J. Otto Siebold

Gluey is a carpenter snail who lives on top of a charming little house, which he owns and takes care of. One day, a lonely rabbit named Celerina discovers the house and moves right in. She breaks one of her favorite vases and is amazed to discover it fixed the next day. Gluey starts fixing all her broken things, but she thinks it is magic and no one believes her when she tells them. So she decides to invite all her friends to a party at the house. Gluey finally manages to introduce himself to Celerina and she thinks he is a pest and hurls him into the meadow. He cracks his shell and discovers the Wee people, who not only help him repair his shell but reveal the truth about his house. Celerina’s party gets out of hand and the house and all her things end up getting broken, but with a little magic, they live happily ever after. Honestly, I would probably give this book 2 stars for the story but I rather liked the quirky illustrations, so it gets an extra one. Recommended for ages 4-7, 3 stars.

Alvin Ho: Allergic to Camping, Hiking, and Other Natural Disasters (Alvin Ho #2) written by Lenore Look, illustrated by LeUyen Pham

Alvin Ho

I absolutely love Alvin Ho! He is so hilarious. He is still scared of everything, and now he is scared of the dark, forests, and peeing in the dark as well, which is definitely not going to be to his advantage when his dad decides to take him camping with his sister Anibelly. His brother and sister try to prepare him by using dad’s emergency credit card to buy some high-tech camping gear. Alvin tries to make lists and ask “What Would Henry Thoreau Do?” in this situation. We get to see more of his alter ego, Firecracker Man who is not scared of anything, deal with being outside in the dark, as well as how he can escape things (like bears – which he is also scared of) like Harry Houdini. Alvin gains a new friend, who also has an alter ego, and Alvin survives camping with his help. My favorite part of this book was definitely his dad when he got super frustrated at his kids for accidentally getting him stuck in a tree and finding out about their unauthorized purchases and starts cursing Shakespearean style (something I had forgotten from the previous book). Highly recommended for ages 5-8, 5 stars.

The Key That Swallowed Joey Pigza (Joey Pigza #5) by Jack Gantos

The last book in the Joey Pigza series, in this volume, we see an older and mature Joey. He’s kind of had to be, since his father abandoned them again at the end of the last book after getting a face lift, and his mother was left alone to take care of Joey and Carter Jr., his baby brother by herself. Both him and his mother adore Carter Jr and believe he is the redeeming Pigza because he is not “messed up” like the rest of his family. Joey’s mom loses Joey’s medication, has a breakdown while suffering from postpartum depression and leaves Joey and his brother alone in the house and forbids them to open the door to their father. Joey has to stop going to school to take care of his brother, and make sure no one finds out that him mom has left them alone. The only person he has to get through things with is his on-again off-again blind girlfriend Olive, who is one of the few people who doesn’t lie to him. Will he be able to cope? Can he find some of his medicine? When will his family go back to being a normal family? To find out, read this exciting conclusion to the series. Recommended for ages 9-12, 4 stars.

Children and Young Adult

God Got a Dog written by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Marlee Frazee

page from God Got a Dog

I knew when I picked up this book of poetry that it was pretty much guaranteed to piss people off, which is of course why I had to show it my mother (an Episcopal priest) to get her view on it. She thought it was very fairly blasphemous, but could understand the humor and cleverness as well. The book is a series of sixteen poems, taken from an earlier work by Rylant, describing God doing a variety of normal things, like owning a nail salon, getting a dog, and getting arrested. I liked it because it didn’t show God as your typical omnipotent old man with a long beard, as most Christians like to see him, but he was a female nail salon owner, he was a small child, and got things like a nasty head cold. God was more human, had faults, and doubted him/herself which is a lot easier for me to identify with than the other version we commonly see. The author took only a day to write the book, which is crazy because some of the poems are really good. As someone who occasionally writes poetry and frequently goes back and changes things around days afterward, writing something perfect in one day is really miraculous. The book is geared towards ages 9-12, but I think it could be great for any age. 4 stars.

Smile written and illustrated by Raina Telgemeir

Telegmeir-Smile

I picked this one up mostly because I wanted to read Drama as it was a banned book, but figured I should read this one first as I figured it was her first book. Smile is the story of the author/illustrator in middle school. At the very beginning, she accidentally loses her two front teeth and has to have them re-attached but they come in shorter, so she has to get braces and head gear to correct the problem. She has a harder time than usual dealing with everything and the book follows her through middle school and into high school, where she ends up with a different group of friends than she started with, has a long-standing unrequited crush, survives an earthquake and falls in love (unexpectantly) with the Disney movie The Little Mermaid. Recommended for ages 10-14, 5 stars.

As someone who had both braces and headgear in middle school and with the book set during my childhood, I completely adored this book and could totally identify it. She’s a little bit older than me, but growing up in the 1990s is about the same whether it was at the beginning or end of the decade. I can’t wait to read Drama next!

Drama written and illustrated by Raina Telgemeir

Drama

Callie is a middle school girl who loves theater, but can’t sing or dance, so she loves working on the sets behind the scenes and dealing with props. Her school is putting on a musical “Moon Over Missisippi” and she wants to make the sets worthy of Broadway. Her personal life is crazy too. She embarrasses herself in front of her crush at the beginning of the book, but then meets two brothers who also like theater and want to be friends with her. What’s a girl to do? Check out this creative and realistic look into middle school life. Recommended for ages 10-14, 5 stars.

It was worth the wait. I could identify with the female lead character so I just loved this book. I was a theater nerd wannabe in high school because our drama teacher was very biased to only pick certain people and even though I kept trying out and could sing and dance, I never got a part. So I painted sets at community theater musicals instead, and those guys turned out to be even cooler. The graphic novel was hilarious and a bit goofy, but full of interesting twists and turns and a surprise ending.

The Hollow Boy (Lockwood & Co. #3) by Jonathan Stroud, narrated by Emily Bevan

The book, narrated by Lucy Carlisle, starts out with Lockwood & Co investigating a string of murders at a local boarding house and their ghostly connections. The reader finally learns the truth about Lockwood’s sister Jessica and get more of a glimpse into Lockwood’s past and personality. Because of their success described in the previous book, The Whispering Skull, Lucy, Lockwood and George have been taking way too many cases and getting burned out. Lockwood decides it is time to hire a part-time assistant, and promptly hires the super-efficient and perky Holly Munroe. Lucy takes an immediate dislike to her. One important case that falls in their lap are bloody footprints found in a townhouse, and the solving of this case leads to them being involved in the main part of the book, a giant ghost outbreak that has been taking place in Chelsea for the past two months. Will the team be able to overcome their differences and work together to solve the Chelsea outbreak? Will Lucy ever tell Lockwood how she really feels? Recommended for ages 10+, 5 stars.

OMG I freaking loved this book! I found out about it by accident as I subscribe to Jonathan Stroud’s author thing on Goodreads and he mentioned that was coming out soon. I thought it was a totally unrelated book to this series, and was shocked that I hadn’t heard anything about it before (as I really have been loving this series). Emily Bevan did a great job with the narration, really capturing Lucy’s character (which was brilliantly described by the author) and her angst about the whole situation with Lockwood. The build-up during the main parts of the story was incredible and really kept me hooked on the story all the way through. The Whispering Skull was one of my favorite parts, as it was always snarky comments about Holly Munroe with Lucy. The only thing I didn’t love was the cliffhanger ending and making me wait for another year before I find out what happens to everyone.

Young Adult

Kamisama Kiss Vol 1-5 written and illustrated by Julieta Suzuki

Kamisama Kiss

From top left: Mizuki, Tomoe, Nanami, Kurama, and Kotesu and Onikiri (the Onibi-warashi)

I picked up this manga series because I enjoyed the hell out of the anime show, but was frustrated when it ended because it was right in the middle of the story. Plus I was curious if the story was more developed  in the manga (it was a little – Tomoe definitely liked her sooner). I have this crazy attraction to anime shows with fox or fox-like demons (i.e. Inuyasha) and this show is no exception. I’ve not read mangas for awhile, with the exception of Library Wars, and I’m enjoying this manga series a lot. Hence why I have read so many volumes back to back. It gives you slightly different glimpses into the characters that you don’t get with the show, plus the show only lasted two seasons, so I’m hoping I’ll get more back story to better understand it. The main storyline is so crazy and gets more unbelievable as it goes on, but I think I love the silliness of it. They are fun easy-to-read quick stories. Each volume has a glossary in the back to explain the different Japanese terms used in the volume and the honorifics, suffixes added to the end of a word to explain the relationship of each character. It is a little difficult to explain things especially in the beginning, but bear with me and it should make sense. Warning: this will be a really long review. In fact it is so long, I’m gonna have to break it into four sections spread out over a couple monthly book reviews posts.

In Volume One, we are introduced to the main character. Nanami Momozono is a totally normal 16 year old girl who has a dad with a serious gambling problem. Because of his addiction, she is evicted from their apartment and is now homeless. She is resting in a park when she sees a man being attacked by a dog and rescues him. The man, who she later finds out is Mikage, thanks her and gives her a kiss on the forehead. He tells her she can stay at his house, as he is no longer there. She thinks this is odd, but goes to find it anyways as she has no place else to go. Once at the house, which is actually a shrine, she meets Tomoe, a fox demon (a yokai) acting as shinshi (a servant/familiar) to Mikage, the land god (tochigami or kami), who has been missing for 20 years. He refuses to work for her and leaves to go to the underworld. At first, she refuses to be the kami, but later relents. Nanami quickly realizes, however, that she will need help and has to go find Tomoe with the two Onibi-Warashi  (spirits that help out at the shrine). She essentially tricks him into becoming her shinshi and they seal the contract, literally with a kiss. The next day she wakes up to find things changed at the shrine, and Tomoe is incredibly angry at her for having to serve a human girl instead of a real kami. But he is determined to make her worthy and starts trying to train her in her duties as tochigami. A retainer of Mikage’s, a Catfish yokai named Himeko of Tatara Swamp wants to come and pay her respects to the new tochigami, but Tomoe doesn’t want Nanami there because he thinks Himeko will try to become the new land god in her place. At first Nanami relents, but later decides to join the conversation after she thinks Tomoe is in danger. Himeko wants Nanami’s help in wooing a young human man named Kotaro, but doesn’t want to appear as a yokai. Nanami agrees to help and Tomoe makes Himeko look like a human girl, so she can meet Kotaro for the first time in ten years. They end up hitting it off and Nanami is pleased. Recommended for ages 14+, 4 stars.

Volume Two: Nanami is thinking about school when she finds out that Kurama, a superstar idol is going to attend her school, so she decides to go back to school. Tomoe embarrasses her by making her wear a silly hat to cover the mark of the tochigama on her forehead, so yokai don’t try to kill her and take her job. She gets rather upset after Kurama and Tomoe are bullying her, and Kurama can’t figure out why she is not fawning all over him like everyone else has been doing. Tomoe is watching over Nanami from outside the school when he discovers that Kurama is actually a Tengu, a proud yokai with wings. My favorite part is probably when Tomoe turns Kurama into a ostrich and he goes running through the school. The goddess of thunder, Narukami-hime decides she will take Tomoe for her shinshi and become the new land god. So she goes to Nanami’s school to intercept her and when Tomoe comes to her school, she uses a magical hammer (named “the mallet of good luck”) and turns him into a child. He is even cuter than he normally is, if that is actually possible, and he can’t use his powers. Narukami-hime takes Nanami’s mark and becomes the land god. She can’t take Tomoe to a human doctor, so she takes him to Kurama’s house and tries to nurse him back to health, but he goes back to the shrine and Narukami-hime. Nanami goes to rescue him and tricks Narukami-hime into making her the land god again and turns Tomoe back into his normal self. Recommended for ages 14+, 4 stars.

Volume Three: This volume is where we first meet Mizuki, the white snake shinshi. She saves him from being tortured by some of her classmates, and he puts a red mark on her arm, essentially announcing his intention to marry her. Tomoe is, of course, outraged when he finds out what she has done and decides to come to school to protect her. Nanami is kidnapped by the white snake and brought to his shrine, which is in a hidden dimension (which makes it difficult for Tomoe to find her later). Nanami tries to escape, but is trapped there. She quickly discovers that Mizuki’s water goddess Yonomori has left since she is no longer needed by the local people and he has been alone for many years, waiting for her return. Tomoe finally finds the water shrine and rescues Nanami. She feels sorry for Mizuki and promises to watch the plum blossoms bloom with him when he gets lonely. Nanami gets sick and Tomoe must transform himself into her likeness to take her place at school. The funniest thing in this one was Kurama hitting on Tomoe because his version of Nanami is more “girly”. Tomoe fights a monster that is attacking girls in the locker-room. While Tomoe is at school posing as Nanami, she is at home being visited by Mizuki, who is trying to convince her that Tomoe is not all he appears to be. He takes her soul back in time to see the real Tomoe, as he was 500 years prior. Recommended for ages 14+, 4 stars.

Volume Four: Kurama talks to Tomoe on the roof of the school about being careful with Nanami in case she falls in love with him. Tomoe doesn’t believe this to be true. Kei, a friend of Nanami tell her that she should act cute around Tomoe to show she likes him. So on the way home, she and Tomoe go to the aquarium and then go to the top of the a tower to see the view of the city. She confesses that she is falling in love with him, but he rejects her and she starts crying and falls off the building nearly killing herself before she allows him to touch her so he can save her. He vows not to touch her again after that. To cheer her up, her friends Ami and Kei, invite her to the beach. Tomoe and Mizuki aren’t invited, but come anyways, and Tomoe says he can’t go in the water. Ami is pulled into the water and starts drowning, so Nanami begs Tomoe to save her, which he does begrudgingly. A man named Ryuu-ou, who calls himself the Dragon King (god of the ocean), steps out of the water and captures Tomoe, saying that 500 odd years ago Tomoe stole his right eye (which grants immortality). Nanami begs Ryuu-ou to free Tomoe, but he says he won’t unless she can get him his eye back in two days. She goes to Mizuki and asks to use the time-bending incense burner to go back in time and get the eye. While in the past, Nanami sees the real reason for his stealing the eye was because he was in love with a human woman who was ill. She can’t steal it from a dying woman, and so goes back to the present to see the yokai Isohime to get her to take from inside her own body (she discovers this a little before she saw the human woman). Isohime tries to kill her but Nanami is saved by Mizuki, who becomes her familiar. Nanami was obviously shocked at the turn of events, but went with him to rescue Tomoe at the Dragon King’s palace. According to the Kamasama Hajimamashita (the Japanese title of the show) wikia, “Nanami spoke to him [Tomoe] about going back to the past and that it was okay even if he doesn’t accept her. Nanami hugged Tomoe while saying she won’t ask for anything in return anymore. After letting go of the hug, she told him that even if he doesn’t face her, that won’t change the fact that she loves him and that is enough for her, then finally asking for them to go home together”. Tomoe is, of course, pissed off that Mizuki is joining them as another shinshi. Recommended for ages 14+, 5 stars.

Volume Five: This one is mostly about Tomoe still being pissed off that Mizuki has joined the household and being really vocal about it. The best part is when they are at the Summer Festival and Nanami uses her god voice talent (basically because she is a god, she can command them to do things for her) to force the two of them to hold hands until they can be nice to each other. Mizuki is just happy that he is not alone anymore. Nanami decides to hold a festival at their shrine to let local people know that it is not haunted and scary as everyone thinks it is. She is determined to dance the Kagura, the lion dance, a very complicated sacred dance done by shrine maidens (priestesses of Shinto shrines). But learning it turns out to be a total challenge because Nanami is completely uncoordinated but determined to prove everyone wrong and make Tomoe proud of her. Otohinko, the wind god and a friend of Mikage,  shows up and turns things on their head for awhile. He decides that Nanami must be graded as the new kami and proceeds to screw with her by creating a fake Tomoe to trick her. Despite this, Nanami ends up dancing the Kagura perfectly and butterflies (Mikage’s symbol) dance all around her. Recommended for ages 14+, 5 stars.

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Those We Left Behind

Those We Left Behind

Those We Left Behind (DCI Serena Flanagan #1) by Stuart Neville

To be published: Sept 22, 2015

Ciaran Devine was convicted at age twelve of savagely murdering his foster father. He confessed soon after being captured by the police. His brother Thomas, who was also covered in blood, was found at the scene of the crime. DCI (Detective Chief Inspector) Serena Flanagan was the only person Ciaran would talk to, but she always doubted his quick confession. It is seven years later and Serena Flanagan has just returned to the police force after battling breast cancer, and everyone wonders if she can still do her job. The Devine case of the Schoolboy Killer is about to come back to haunt her.  Ciaran is being released from the juvenile detention center to a hostel, where he will live with other recently released juvenile offenders. He is excited to get out and see Thomas again. Daniel, the son of the murdered man, has had his life completely turned upside down by the brothers, by Ciaran, who murdered his father, and by Thomas, who alleged that he was being sexually abused by his foster father. Will Serena be able to figure out who actually committed the murders? To find out, read this exciting book. 4 stars.

This was one of those “Read Now” books on Netgalley, and I picked it because it was a story about a child involved in a brutal murder, and I always find those fascinating (yes I know that’s a little morbid, but true crime from a psychological viewpoint is always thrilling for me). The last thriller I read was well-written, but ended too abruptly. This one was about 1000% times better, although I did have nightmares about stabbing people while I was reading this book. The author was really good at keeping the reader in suspense about who the true killer was and why he did it, and I was left guessing until the end. I love a book that will keep you on your toes like that. I thought it was interesting that the author included the son of the foster father as a major character, though he was a disaster waiting to happen. I was a little uncomfortable with Serena and Ciaran’s relationship, as well as that of Ciaran and his brother Thomas, but I guess that was part of the point.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publishers Soho Crime on Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

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August Book Reviews 2015

I have been rather busy reading for the last month or so. I am on a bit of a tight schedule at the moment because of so many good-looking ARCs (advanced reader’s copies) coming out in the next couple of months. I’ve finished the book club selection for August early, Colum McCann’s Transatlantic, which I rather enjoyed. I just started an ARC called Ophelia’s Muse by Rita Cameron, about the Pre-Raphaelite model Lizzie Siddal and the artists of that group, which is pretty amazing so far. I will review both of these next month. I should be pretty busy with ARCs until the new year.

The cool new book news I have is that I’m about to be in charge of a Tween Book Club, which I discussed previously a bit in the first paragraph here. It has finally been named Page Turners. We will be reading Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins first, then Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo, and finally The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. All were books that I loved, so I figured they would be good books to start with. If it goes well, we’ll be continuing it in the new year and I can pick some books I’ve not read yet.

On to the book reviews. I rate books from 1-5 stars, 1 being the lowest. I will include illustrations from the children’s books I enjoyed.

Children

Digger Dog written and illustrated by William Bee Digger-Dog-interior-3

I found this book for my Toddler Dog Storytime and just adored it, though the story does get pretty repetitive, especially if you are reading it out loud. The kids loved the fold-out pages. Digger Dog loves to dig up bones but can’t seem to dig this one up, so he gets progressively bigger diggers to help him. It would also be a good book for a Construction Storytime. Recommended for ages 2-6, 4 stars.

Stanley the Farmer written and illustrated by William Bee

I discovered this book after browsing the children’s section for more William Bee books. He’s done a series of Stanley books and my son just loves this one. The illustrations are simple but really stand out. Stanley has a farm and has decided to plant some wheat. The book goes through all the steps needed to plant, take care of and harvest wheat. Recommended for ages 2-6, 3 stars.

Sea Rex written and illustrated by Molly Idle Sea Rex

I love these books because they are so expressive and fun, plus the illustrations are always great! I got so excited when I saw the latest one at a local bookstore and immediately reserved a copy at the library. This installment sees the two children and their dinosaur friends going to the beach to play in the water and sand and leads to some interesting adventures. Recommended for ages 2-6, 4 stars.

Dragon Stew written by Steve Smallman, illustrated by Lee Wildish

I originally picked this book up to use as a back-up book for my Toddler Dragon Storytime but decided not to use it because it was a bit too long. But I figured my son would think it was funny because it mentions poop and burning bums (he did). A group of Vikings are bored and don’t know what to do, until one suggests getting a dragon and making dragon stew. They have no idea how to do this, but go for it anyway. I loved that the dragon is very posh drinking tea with a little top hat and bow tie! He naturally objects to being cut up into stew and attacks them, setting their bums on fire. They decide rather quickly to do something else. Recommended for ages 3-6, 3 stars.

Dinosailing written by Deb Lund, illustrated by Howard Fine

Since we had read the second and third book in this series, it made sense to go ahead and read the first book. This one was not as good as the other two. Our intrepid group of dinosaur adventurers decide to get a ship and go sailing, but things aren’t as easy as they originally thought. They hit a squall and all get nausceous and decide they have no more sea legs. They are happy to return to their families. Recommended for ages 3-6, 2 stars.

Orion and the Dark written and illustrated by Emma Yarlett

Orion and the Dark

I picked this up for my son while browsing in the library because it looked intriguing, and it was. The book is about Orion, a little boy with a very active imagination, who is scared of everything. He is especially scared of the dark, and one night he gets so fed up that he screams that he “wishes the dark would just go away.” Instead of that happening, it turns into a physical manifestation and invites Orion to explore his fears to see what they really are. After a while, Orion realizes that he has nothing to be scared of and gains a best friend in the process. Both my son and I really enjoyed this book, and it had fabulous illustrations that really drew you into the book. Recommended for ages 3-6, 4 stars.

The Conductor by Laeticia Devernay

I’ve been trying to find more wordless picture books for my son, so I leaped at getting this one. The problem is , I just didn’t connect to it. It is about a conductor who climbs up a tree in a forest and makes all the leaves turn into birds and fly off the trees. This goes on for many many pages until all the leaves are gone. Then he climbs down and buries his baton in the ground, where it sprouts and turns into a tree. Recommended for ages 3-6, 2 stars.

Goat in a Boat written by Lesley Sims, illustrated by David Semple

This was one of a group of phonic learner beginner books we had gotten in to the library but the illustrations were funny, so I decided to give it a chance. My son loved it. The goat likes to eat oats, but wants something different for dinner. So he decides to go fishing in the moat with his best friend Stoat, but Stoat is busy. So he goes by himself and starts catching only suits of armor someone has dumped there, and his friend Stoat joins him later in the boat. They see an approaching army but can’t shout loud enough to be heard (and Stoat can’t shout at all because of his sore throat), so the resort to banging on the armor. The guards finally hear, raise the drawbridge and the two friends save the day. Plus they get fish for dinner. Recommended for ages 3-6, 3 stars.

Bee Makes Tea written by Lesley Sims, illustrated by Fred Blunt Bee Makes Tea

I love this phonics reader with rhyming text and precious illustrations! The story is so cute. A Bee is making a birthday tea for her Queen Bee, but she can’t get it all down to the beach. So her friend Ant and his friends help out, but her giant birthday cake doesn’t make it out of the house, before falling apart. But Ant saves the day when he suggests she make the broken up cake into a bee-shaped cake, which of course the Queen loves. I love doing all the voices for this book and my son liked helping saying some of the lines in a tiny bee voice. Recommended for ages 3-6, 5 stars.

Llamas in Pajamas written by Russell Punter, illustrated by David Semple

Another phonics book with cute illustrations, this one was a cute story about four llama friends who get together for a sleep-over. They decide to stay up and tell each other spooky stories, but are frightened by scary noises that the house makes when their grandmother comes to bring them a midnight snack. Recommended for ages 3-6, 3 stars.

Wolfie the Bunny written by Ame Dyckman, illustrated by Zachariah OHora

Wolfie the Bunny

Dot and her Bunny parents come home one day to find a baby wolf on their doorstep. Dot warns them “He’s gonna eat us all up!”, but they are just taken by how cute he is. This becomes her refrain for the rest of the book, and she seriously doesn’t trust little Wolfie. He is raised with the Bunny family and fed carrots, growing bigger every day. One day he eats all the carrots and Dot must go to the store to get more, but Wolfie wants to go with her. She is about to put the last carrot into her shopping bag when Wolfie puts on a scary face and Dot is convinced that he is finally gonna eat her. A large bear has decided to make Wolfie his meal and Dot stands up for him. They are a lot closer afterwards. I loved the illustrations. This is a great book to read to children who have recently gotten a younger sibling, or experience a bit of sibling rivalry. Recommended for ages 3-6, 4 stars.

Is There a Dog in This Book? written and illustrated by Vivianne Schwartz

I discovered this book by accident at the library while browsing, although I knew about the author/illustrator from reading her stuff before. My son loved this very interactive lift-the-flaps book about three cats, Moonpie, Andre and Tiny, and a dog they find and befriend inside of the book. I loved doing the voices for each of the three cats. Recommended for ages 3-6, 4 stars.

There are Cats in this Book written and illustrate by Vivianne Schwartz

There are Cats in This Book

I liked the third book in the series so much, I hunted for one of the first two books and this is the book I could find. I really like Ms. Schwartz’s stuff as it is very original and funny. Like Is There a Dog in This Book?, this book is the story of the three cats, Moonpie, Andre, and Tiny and their adventures with the reader throughout the book. They play with yarn, go fishing (sort of) and play with pillows. Again, the voices were fun to do and my son liked to do them too. It was a fun and silly book. Recommended for ages 3-6, 4 stars.

I Will Take a Nap! written and illustrated by Mo Willems

How can you not love a book about naps! This one was totally silly and me and my son had a lot of fun with it, especially all the sound effects. Gerald just wants to take a nap, as not taking one is making him tired and cranky (I know the feeling). He dreams that his friend Piggy has woken him up, and of course over-reacts to this happening. She decides to take one too, but is so loud that Gerald cannot nap. With turnip-headed animals and singing stuffed animals, this book is a lot of fun. Recommended for ages 3-6, 5 stars.

Regards to the Man in the Moon written and illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats

I picked this book up because I love Ezra Jack Keats’ work and I needed a book for a Moon Preschool Storytime. It’s not exactly what I’m looking for, and would be better for a more general Space Storytime. Louie and his parents are planning a journey “right out of this world” on his ship the Imagination I, which no surprise, runs on lots of imagination. Early the next morning, him and a girl named Susie blast off into space seeing seeing all kinds of planets and galaxies. Eventually they bump into two of their friends, Ziggie and Ruthie, who have followed them into space but ran out of imagination and are now stuck. They manage to make it through an asteroid field and back home again. Then of course, all the kids want to take off on adventures of their own. Recommended for ages 4-7, 4 stars.

Children and Young Adult

The Ancient Persians written by Virginia Schomp

I had originally set this out as an additional book for a Kids Cafe I had done on the Ancient Assyrians and Persians, but it looked cool, so I picked it up for myself. I’ve been fascinated by the Persians for a while now, and I’ve tried (and failed) to read “The Shahnameh (Persian Book of Kings)”, so I thought this might be a better introduction to Persian literature. The book gives a small introduction on the Persian empire and its early history until the 7th century CE. It talks about the teachings of Zarathustra, the prophet of the Zoaroastrian religion, which was one of the first monothesistic ones in the world, and influenced Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism and Islam. The book features the Persian Creation story and the Triumph of the Light over the Dark, the First Sin, and four epic hero tales from the Shahnameh (an epic poem on ancient Iranian myths and Zoroastrian traditions). The back of the book has a Glossary of terms used in the book, a breakdown of the major texts used in the book, a booklist and websites to explore and find out more information. Recommended for ages 8-12, 4 stars.

The Right Word: Roget and his Thesaurus written by Jennifer Fisher Bryant, illustrated by Melissa Sweet

I’ve been wanting to read this for awhile. It won a 2015 Caldecott Honor and the 2015 Sibert Medal. I adored this book and its illustrations, done by the same team that did the Caldecott Honor-winning book A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams, about the famous American poet. The illustrations really helped the book come alive and do look as though a child wrote them out and included snapshot illustrations of his life throughout the pages to bring everything together. Peter Roget loved lists. He began making them early, after the death of his father. He was a shy child and started writing a book with these lists at age eight. When he was a teenager, scientist Carole Linnaeus was developing his classification system for plants and animals, to make them easier to study, so it seemed natural for teenage Roget to continue his lists as well. He was a bit of a genius, entering medical school early and was only nineteen when he graduated. He decided to become a tutor for awhile in France, before coming back to England to become a doctor to the poorest families in Manchester. He finished his book in 1805 and used it daily. He joined scientific societies and was asked to give lectures, and he used his book to help him with those talks. He married late and had a couple of kids and eventually published his Thesaurus in 1852. The publication of the text has been continuous and updated since 1869 by Roget’s family. There is an author and illustrator’s note in the back of the book, along with a bibliography and further reading materal list. I would love to own this book.  Recommended for ages 8-12, 5 stars.

Wideness and Wonder: The Life and Art of Georgia O’Keeffe by Susan Goldman Rubin

Ok, so I’m a late Georgia O’Keeffe convert. I knew about her art of course, but had never really studied it until I decided to do a presentation on her for Kids Cafe. I found her art and life fascinating once I started researching her, so I decided I wanted more information and got this book for that purpose. I liked that she decided early to become an artist, but changed her mind based on personal illnesses, but then decided she wanted to do it full-time. And this was a time when very few women had a career, and even fewer were unmarried. Though she did eventually marry Alfred Stieglitz and he helped publicize her name, I like that she didn’t let him hold her back and started painting more and more original works like her famous flower painting, and the abstracted desert landscapes with animal skulls. I no longer believe her works are hyper-sexualized like some people believe because they look like women’s genitalia, but yes they were rather sensual. For a woman who was competing with dozens, if not hundreds of men that were artists during the same time period, she did really well for herself and was famous during her own lifetime. I really enjoyed this book and would love to add it to my personal collection. Highly recommended for ages 9-12, 5 stars.

Adult

Lamp Black, Wolf Grey by Paula Brackston

The Murderer’s Daughter by Jonathan Kellerman

Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson

Major Ernest Pettigrew is, above all, about manners, respectability, and having a stiff upper lip. He lives alone after the death of his wife a few years before, in the small village of Edgecombe St. Mary. His brother Bertie recently passed away and the Major has been feeling a bit adrift. Right after receiving news of his brother’s death, he inadvertently blurts it out to Mrs. Ali, the local corner shop owner, who he’s never spoken to before. As the Christian Science Monitor review says, “He strikes up a friendship with Mrs. Ali, the widowed local shopkeeper, and they bond over Kipling [which made me want to read more of the author] and the loss of their spouses. It doesn’t hurt that Mrs. Ali is a lady of quiet thoughtfulness and innate dignity – whose tweedy neighbors don’t even see her because she is Pakistani and runs a shop.” The book is the story of their friendship, which eventually grows into love and shows that everyone has a chance at finding happiness, no matter your age. Highly recommended, 5 stars.

This book immediately made me think of my best friend, who is also Pakistani, and made me want to share this with her, as I know she could identify with parts of it. It is a hilarious but honest look at following your heart no matter what others may say, and I really loved it. I have seen first-hand how small English villages and towns can sometimes react towards foreigners, and it isn’t always pretty, so the author’s descriptions of that part of the story were pretty accurate although not pleasant. I liked the secondary story about Mrs. Ali’s nephew and his love troubles. It was a little hard to believe that this was the author’s first novel as I thought it was rather good.

Lord John and the Private Matter (Lord John Grey Book #1) by Diana Gabaldon, narrated by Jeff Woodman

It is 1757 and Lord John Grey is in turmoil. The major has witnessed something shocking about his cousin’s betrothed Joseph Trevalyn and is trying to decide what he should do about it, to avoid a scandal. Meanwhile, the British army has asked him to investigate the murder of a possible traitor, an officer in his company. He soon discovers that the two events are linked and must figure out how. 5 stars.

This book was my first foray into her spin-off books and she does not disappoint. I had always liked Lord John’s character in the Outlander books and was happy to learn of this second series. I read this one before the short story Lord John and the Hellfire Club, so I was a bit confused at some mentions of the previous story, but gathered enough not to be completely lost. This one was jam-packed full of intrigue, spies, secret relationships, prostitution (both male and female), and multiple mystery murders. The book definitely delves into the seedy underbelly of London of the eighteenth century and its relation to the outer more respectable parts of the city and its inhabitants. While it doesn’t tell you too much more information than you already might know from reading the Outlander books, it was enough to keep me thoroughly interested and wanting to read more.

Lord John and the Hand of the Devils by Diana Gabaldon, narrated by Jeff Woodham

This book is a collection of Novellas of the in-between stories in one collection, namely Lord John and the Hellfire Club, Lord John and the Succubus, and Lord John and the Haunted Soldier. Jeff Woodham is again the narrator and thank goodness because he definitely makes the books a pleasure to listen to, even when the story isn’t all that interesting. I was not really a fan of the Hellfire Club, it was just too weird and way too short. The Succubus story was better and we really got to know Stephan von Namtzen, the dashing Hanoverian commander. The Haunted Soldier required you to have read the second book Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade to really have any idea what was going on in the novella. Overall, I would give the collection 3 stars.

Lord John and the Hellfire Club (Lord John Grey #0.5)

It is the autumn of 1756 and Lord John has finally returned from temporary exile in Scotland. He witnesses the murder of a recent acquaintance named Robert Gerald. At the request of a relative of Gerald’s, Lady Lucinda Joffrey, he agrees to look into who murdered Gerald and find out who is trying to slander the poor dead man. He quickly discovers that the man to question is Sir Francis Dashwood, and Lord John gets himself invited to a party at Dashwood’s house. It is here that Lord John discovers the truth about the Hellfire Club and George Everett’s (a man from Lord John’s past) possible involvement in Robert Gerald’s murder. 2 stars.

Lord John and the Succubus (Lord John Grey #1.5)

It is 1758 and Lord John is an English liason officer to the Hanoverian army in Germany. He is also in charge of local issues in the town he is stationed. A young Hanoverian and an English soldier have been killed and the locals are blaming it on a succubus, a demon female who seduces men and claims their seed. Needless to say, this has severly spooked the armies. Lord John is staying at the castle of a local noblewoman named Louisa, Princess von Lowenstein, who is trying as hard as she can to flirt with him. He is also trying not to fall for another nobleman, Captain Stephan Von Namtzen, also staying at the castle and the head of the Hanoverian troops. Will he be able to discover who the succubus really is? 5 stars.

Lord John and the Haunted Soldier (Lord John Grey #2.5)

It is 1759 and Lord John has been brought up before the Commission of Inquiry after the battle of Crayfeldt at the end of Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade, as a cannon exploded and the officer in charge of it was beheaded right in front of Grey. Some of the members of the commission are trying to blame Grey for the explosion saying he was negligent and others say that it was his half-brother Edgar who manufactured the powder, but Grey soon realizes that there are other forces at work behind the scenes. Will he be able to find the culprit in time? 2 stars

I’m not actually sure who the Haunted Soldier is supposed to be. My gut tells me it is Captain Fanshaw, but Lord John kept seeing ghosts too, so I’m not sure. This one was rather slow, and if you didn’t read the previous book, you would be pretty lost. But the volume did tell the reader more about Lord John’s family, and I thought the side trip to discover Philip Lister’s wife was interesting as well.

Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade (Lord John Grey #2) by Diana Gabaldon, narrated by Jeff Woodham

It is 1758, and John’s mother is getting re-married. This has dredged up memories of his father, the Duke of Pardloe, who was found dead and charged as a Jacobite rebel seventeen years before. After pieces of a missing diary of his father start showing up, Lord John is nearly killed twice. He seeks the help of Jamie Fraser, who is working as a stablehand at the house of a friend of John’s family for the truth about his father’s possible Jacobite connections. It is the middle of the Seven Years’ War and Lord John and his brother Hal (the Earl of Melton and commander of the company) are with the army fighting with the Prussian army. Will Lord John be able to find out the truth about his father? 4 stars.

Diana Gabaldon wasn’t kidding when she said that this book is all about honor. Of course, men in England have been obsessed about this for ages, so it’s not surprising. For those following the Outlander series, this book is set during the time that Jamie was a prisoner in England, although he is a minor character here. I would just like to say “Yay, about time for Lord John Grey to have a love interest!” Though of course, Gabaldon almost completely ruins it by figuratively getting rid of him by the end of the book. I was so happy to see Stephen Von Namzten again and wished that him and Lord John would get together (Gabaldon is such a tease with their relationship!).

The Custom of the Army (Lord John Grey #2.75) by Diana Gabaldon, narrated by Jeff Woodham

This was an odd book. It started out in 1759 with Lord John attending an electric eel party in London (who knew such things existed!?!), went through a bit of trippy dream sequence in which he is involved with a duel. The story ends with with an army promotion to Lieutenant Colonel and on his way to Canada to bail out friend Charlie Carruthers who is being court-martialed under ridiculous circumstances. The scenes with the Native American Manoke were quite hilarious, and I enjoyed those immensely. Lord John arrives in Canada in time to participate in the Battle of Quebec with General Wolfe. This was thankfully a short novella, as I had listened to all the previous books back to back and needed a bit of a break from his story. 3 stars.

I Am Livia by Phyllis Smith

Livia is the daughter of a Roman senator loyal to the republic. He knows about the plot to kill Julius Caesar, but does not take part in the actual stabbing. Livia is married to at age fifteen, and has a rather loveless relationship with her husband Tiberius Nero, even though she does bear him two children, Tiberius and Drusus. Octavianus (aka Octavius) is Caesar’s adopted son, and wants to take revenge on those who murdered his adopted father. Livia finds herself strangely drawn to Octavianus, even though he is her family’s political enemy and proves himself as a personal enemy over the years. After Octavianus has gotten rid of all his adopted father’s killers, and also rids himself of Pompey and Mark Antony, his next move is to marry Livia. She has to ask her current husband to divorce her so she can be with Tavius (as she affectionately calls him), even though she is pregnant with her second son by Tiberius Nero. The story ends just as Tavius becomes emperor of Rome. 5 stars.

I have been fascinated with Livia ever since I watched I, Claudius in college. So when I saw this book at the library, I had to read it. It was almost completely different approach to her, as compared with Robert Graves’ example, especially as this book ends before Octavianus becomes Emperor Augustus and that’s where the book/series started. It seems she was an incredibly smart and shrewd woman who lived an incredible life during a period of immense change in the Roman Empire. I’m honestly surprised that she managed to survive as she did given all the crazy circumstances she managed to live through, especially that fire in Greece. Her relationship with Tavius, as portrayed in the book, was intriguing to say the least. I rather enjoyed this book and would be interested in reading other books by the author.

Heritage by Sean Brock

I had originally seen Sean Brock on the PBS series The Mind of a Chef and so I knew about the kind of cooking he did. As a Southerner, it is always fascinating for me to see how others interpret the cuisine, and he definitely has an interesting approach. He is big on heritage ingredients, especially those around Charleston, so you have an emphasis on things like Carolina Gold rice, benne seeds, heritage beans and other veggies. And the man is not afraid to use bacon and other pork products, which are staples in Southern cooking. So when I heard about this cookbook, I definitely wanted to check it out (it’s been on to-read list forever). I finally grabbed a copy from the library. A lot of the recipes are really ingenious, with several takes on classic dishes. Mostly I’d rather go to one of his restaurants to have the food because I’m sure I couldn’t really recreate his masterpieces at home, even with instructions. I did however want to try the Chilled Fennel Bisque with Citrus-Cured Scallops and Almond Oil, Cornmeal-Fried Pork Chops with Goat Cheese-Smashed Potatoes and a Cucumber and Pickled Green Tomato Relish, Stone Crab with Cucumber Juice, Fennel Jelly, and Raw Apple (which gets the award for the most creative looking), and Grilled Tilefish with Asparagus Broth and Oyster Mushrooms. He also had a couple of recipes for pickled veggies and eggs that I wanted to try as well. 4 stars.

In Her Kitchen: Stories and Recipes From Grandmas Around the World by Gabriele Galimberti The author/photographer decides to take a trip around the world. His grandmother worries that he will not eat well and makes him his favorite dish before he leaves, Swiss Chard and Ricotta Ravioli with Meat Sauce. He tells her not to worry and he will eat well. He goes to 60+ countries and visits with and gets recipes from 60 grandmothers and includes their picture, recipe, and story in the cookbook. It was an interesting concept and I had originally wanted to read it as an ARC, but didn’t have enough time to do so. There were three or four recipes in here that I would want to make again. 3 stars.

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Come Hell or Highball

Come Hell or Highball

Come Hell or Highball (Discreet Retrieval Agency #1) by Maia Chance

To be published: Sept 15, 2015

Set in the early 1920s in New York City, socialite Lola Woodby’s philandering husband Alfie has finally died and the book opens up at the funeral. She is, of course, glad to be rid of him and looks forward to spending his money. Unfortunately she is stopped in this pursuit by his slimy brother Chisholm, who now has ownership of her house, and the knowledge that Alfie left her completely bankrupt and in debt. She sets herself up in Alfie’s secret love-nest with the only staff member who stood by her, Berta, her Swedish baker and her Pomeranian. She decides to take up the offer from one of Alfie’s girlfriends to rescue a film canister from one of her former friends. But everything is not as it seems and she soon notices a man following her. He is a private investigator named Ralph Oliver. What does he want? Are they hunting the same thing? Will she be able to find the film canister and gain back some of her respectability? To find out, read this highly entertaining mystery. 4 stars.

First off, I loved the title, time period and the fact that the main character is a curvy girl down on her luck. The book played out like a 1930s comedy mystery, like Nick and Nora Charles, complete with cocktails. I loved the witty repartee between Lola, Berta, her cook and Ralph. I also liked the fact that she usually had to rely on Berta to keep her head above water and from rushing into things. Lola has great fashion sense and an extreme love of chocolate, and a was bit fluffy-headed. And yes, the characters are a bit stereotyped, like the goofy lug who works for his gangster boss but has a soft spot for Berta, the aristocratic British butler who makes a great highball, the nosy female reporter who is always in the right place at the wrong time, and scheming film stars. For me that was part of the charm, and it does make for a fun romp into the glamorous twenties.

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The Murderer’s Daughter

The Murderers Daughter

The Murderer’s Daughter by Jonathan Kellerman

To be published: August 18, 2015

Grace Blades has survived a lot, but she is in now a respected adult psychologist who specializes in helping adult victims of violent crimes. At age five, she watched one parent kill the other and then kill themself. She was moved to a multitude of crappy foster homes between ages 5-11 before she finally found some good people to actually take care of her. The book switches back and forth between Grace’s past and the present day. Because of her crazy past, she is a bit of an adrenaline junky, which includes one-night stands. The two days before her vacation she meets a man and has an encounter with him. The next day he shows up as her last patient, having discovered her after reading an article she had written about the family members of murderers. That night he is murdered and the police come knocking on her door as her business card was found in his shoe. The killer is now after Grace, and she needs some answers fast. Who is this man and why is his killer targeting her? Who in his family is a murderer? To find out, you must read this book. 3 stars.

I honestly don’t read a lot of thrillers. I mostly picked this one up because the premise sounded interesting and I love a good mystery. Plus I figured it would be interesting as it is about a female psychologist who witnessed the violent murder-suicide of her parents at a young age, and I enjoy books that make you think about why people do what they do. I didn’t find out until after I started that the author is a noted child psychologist, who wrote a book on violent children, which is exactly what this book is about. As other reviewers have said, I enjoyed learning about Grace’s past and her figuring out who Roger/Andrew was and what her connection to all of it was. I honestly didn’t mind that Grace was a bit cold, despite being totally loving towards her patients, and I can even understand the andrenaline junkie thing after what she went through. My biggest problem with this book was the flow and the ending. In my opinion, everytime it went back to the present, the storyline kind of slowed down and lost a bit of the interesting momentum built up with her back story. The ending was annoying because the author kept building up and up to the climax and then it just wasn’t a satisfactory ending.

Disclaimer: I received this advanced reader’s copy book from Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine on Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

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July 2015 Book Reviews

It seems I am finally getting some reading done this month, although the majority of it is picture books as I’ve been reading up a storm to my son, averaging about 20 books checked out at a time. In actuality, I’m rather behind on reviews (as per usual) and have included some I read a couple months ago, but forgot to review. I’m re-reading The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin for book club this month (here is my original review for it, under the adult section). I’ve been devouring Outlander books and will probably start reading #6: A Breath of Snow and Ashes soon. I also started reading Diana Gabaldon’s spin-off series about Lord John Grey as I was always pretty curious about him in the original series. I’m now listening to Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade, which is book #2 in the series, again narrated by the fabulous Jeff Woodman. She has written a bunch of novellas, and I’ve read 0.5, 1, and 1.5 in the series as well (reviews to follow next month).  Plus there’s always the possibility of getting to know a bit more about Jamie Fraser, with him being Lord John Grey’s obsession. I’ve been getting a little burned out on ARCs of late, but have just started a new one, Lamp Black, Wolf Grey by Paula Brackston, which I am enjoying.

On to the book reviews. I rate books from 1-5 stars, 1 being the lowest. I will include illustrations from the children’s books I enjoyed.

Children

Quack and Count written and illustrated by Keith Baker

I picked up this cute counting book as part of a Toddler Duck Storytime. It is unique in that instead of just counting 1-7, it actually does a little simple addition as we follow the seven little ducks playing and finally flying off together. Recommended for ages 2-5, 4 stars.

Little Monkey Says Good Night written by Ann Whitford Paul, illustrated by David Walker

Little Monkey Says Good Night

I picked this story for my Toddler Storytime on Circuses. My son loved this book, which is all about a little monkey who won’t go to bed until he’s said goodnight to the whole circus. This includes the ringmaster, the strong man, the elephant , a horse, the clowns and a lion. Then he says goodnight to his momma and agrees to go to bed after saying goodnight to himself. Recommended for ages 2-5, 3 stars.

1-2-3 Va-Va-Vroom!: A Counting Book written by Sarah Lynn, illustrated by Daniel Griffe

Ok I really read this book awhile back, as I bought it for my son at one his daycare’s book sales. He dug it out today while we were sorting out library books to bring back to the library and we sat down and read it. If there was a slightly larger book, it would be great for storytime. The counting is from the laps around the race track and the race is between three friends in rhyming text. I’m glad the little girl won, though all three of them share in the celebration. Va-va-vroom is the refrain and one my son and I like to say together. Recommended for ages 2-5, 4 stars.

Duck Dunks written and illustrated by Lynne Berry

Another book I used for my Toddler Duck Storytime, this was a fun little book, though a bit long for the toddlers. In rhyming text, it tells the story of a family of small ducks who go to the beach and play and swim and have a great time. Recommended for ages 2-6, 3 stars.

Dinosoaring written by Deb Lund, illustrated by Howard Fine

My son is obsessed with this rhyming book about flying dinosaurs. We’ve read it pretty much every other day for two weeks now. The book, another in the series of dinosaur adventures, is about nine dinosaurs who all manage to squeeze into what I think is a C-130 Hercules (the biggest transport plane there is). They can’t seem to get it off the ground, but after a few tries, manage to do so. They are in the air when they see that an Air Show is going on, so they start doing tricks like hanging from a trapeeze and dancing on the wings. Everything is great until the plane goes into a spin and the dinosaurs must parachute to safety. They vow never to be so reckless again, and try out tame things like sports, reading and cooking. That is until they find something new to do. Recommended for ages 2-6, 4 stars.

An Octopus Followed Me Home written and illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

A book I plan on using for a Pet Toddler Storytime and an Octopus DiscoveryTime for Preschoolers, this is a cute take on pets. A young girl brings an octopus home and wants it to become her pet, but her father says no. She has already brought home a literal zoo full of animals and her father can’t take anymore pets. So she must say goodbye to her octopus, and they are both sad. It is fun to do the dad’s voice, which kind of sounds and looks like a 1950s dad with pipe and slippers. Recommended for ages 2-6, 4 stars.

Goodnight Already! written by Jory John and illustrated by Benji Davies

Goodnight Already

Immediately when I first discovered this book at the library, I thought it sounded like my husband and I when my son refuses to go to sleep, so naturally I had to bring it home. Bear just wants to go to sleep, but his neighbor Duck is wide awake and wants to talk with him. Bear keeps trying to sleep and Duck keeps popping up, scaring him and keeping him awake until he finally goes back to his house and falls asleep. Bear on the other hand, is now wide awake. I absolutely love the illustrations as well. Recommended for ages 3-7, 4 stars.

Olivia Goes to Venice written and illustrated by Ian Falconer

I didn’t think I would like this book because it is set in Venice and I have a sort of aversion to that place, but it was cute. Olivia and her family go on a vacation to Venice, and spend the whole time eating a lot of gelato, trying to hide from the billions of pigeons in St Marks Square and trying to stay afloat in gondolas. Recommended for ages 3-7, 3 stars.

Olivia and the Missing Toy written and illustrated by Ian Falconer

Olivia and the Missing Toy

This was my son’s favorite Olivia book so far, and I think it’s because it was a little creepy and he could sympathize with Olivia’s predicament. Olivia has to get ready for soccer practice, but hates her green uniform. She wants a red one and asks her mom to create one for her. She does and Olivia has to wait for it to be finished. After waiting forever, she realizes that her favorite toy is missing. She goes shouting to her brothers asking after it and looks under everything but can’t find it. Then one dark and stormy night, she hears a strange noise and realizes that her dog Perry has chewed it all up. She is of course devastated, but decides to fix it even though her daddy promises to buy her a new one (much to her mother’s consternation). She decides she doesn’t want a story about dogs that night, but she can’t stay mad at Perry forever, and he ends up sleeping in her bed that night. Recommended for ages 3-7, 3 stars.

Olivia Forms a Band written and illustrated by Ian Falconer

Olivia and her family are going to go to a fireworks show, and Olivia decides that there should be a band there. She tries to get her family involved, but no one is interested, and so she creates a one-pig band to accompany the fireworks. The funniest part about this book is how she gets the instruments and all the sound effects for the instruments themselves. Recommended for ages 3-7, 3 stars.

Olivia Becomes a Vet written by Alex Harvey, illustrations by Jared Osterhold

An easy-reader spinoff of the Olivia TV show, in this volume Olivia goes with her friend Julian to the Veterinarian’s office to see what is wrong with his pet lizard. After the visit, she decides that it would be cool to be a Vet and tries to practice on her own dog. Recommended for ages 3-6, 3 stars.

Won Ton and Chopstick: A Cat and Dog Tale Told in Haiku written by Lee Wardlaw, illustrated by Eugene Yelchin

Won Ton and Chopstick

Won Ton is the only pet in the house until one day his adversary arrives in the form of a puppy, which the kids call Chopstick. They do not get along and the puppy just annoys him as Won Ton keeps getting blamed for the puppy’s mistakes and his boy does not want to spend as much time with him. After awhile though, they warm up to each other and Won Ton realizes that Chopstick isn’t that bad, Then Chopstick reveals his true name. My son loved this one as much as the first, probably more because it had a dog in it, which he can identify with because we have one at home. I just love that he will sit through a poetry book with me, plus its a cute story. Recommended for ages 3-7, 4 stars.

The Paddington Treasury for the Very Young written by Michael Bond, illustrated by R.W. Alley

Paddington

After watching the Paddington movie that came out this year, and because my son and I loved it so much, I decided it would be good if I could find a Paddington collection of books to read. This one was perfect for my son as the illustrations were huge and not very much text for him to get bored with. The series is so stereotypically British but with a fun kid twist. Paddington is a Peruvian bear whose elderly aunt can no longer take care of him and ships him to England to be cared for. He arrives at Paddington station, which is how he gets his name, and is adopted by the Brown family. He has an affinity for marmalade, and can usually be seen with his nose in a jar of the stuff. He is always getting into trouble for simply misunderstanding the situation. The book features 6 classic picture books: Paddington, Paddington at the Palace, Paddington at the Zoo, Paddington in the Garden, Paddington and the Marmalade Maze, and Paddington the Artist. My favorites were the original story of Paddington, Paddington at the Palace and Paddington the Artist. The illustrations were fabulous, this artist being one of two who have illustrated the series. Highly recommended for ages 3-7, 5 stars.

Red Knit Cap Girl and the Reading Tree written and illustrated by Naoko Stoop

Red Knit Cap Girl and the Reading Tree

Red Knit Cap Girl and her friend White Bunny are reading in the forest when their friend Squirrel says she has something to show them. She shows them a hollow tree and Red Knit Cap Girl decides this would be the perfect place for a reading nook. She and her animal friends gather together some books to add to the nook, her friend Beaver adds a bookshelf and soon they are all sharing books together. Soon it is a great place for everyone to gather and read! Owl makes a sign for it, and it becomes a library. Great book for sharing at a Books and Reading storytime! Once again, there is an adorable story and even better illustrations done on wood by the fabulous Ms. Stoop! Recommended for ages 3-7, 5 stars.

Edmund Unravels written and illustrated by Andrew Kolb

Edmund Unravels

Oh my goodness! This book is so freaking cute. It’s about a ball of yarn named Edmund who starts off small and has to constantly be wound back up into himself by his parents. But he yearns to explore the world outside, and eventually grows old enough to do so. He visits all sorts of places and does all sorts of things that his parents would be surprised about, but eventually finds himself missing home. Soon thereafter, he is pulled back up “three very familiar steps” and back into the embraces of his family who put him back together again (figuratively and literally). It is such a great book about family and needing to unravel and recharge every now and then. Plus the most adorable illustrations ever! Highly recommended for ages 3-7, 5 stars.

Big Words for Little People written by Jamie Lee Curtis, illustrated by Laura Cornell

I figured this would be a cute book that would teach kids important words and it did in a way, but not as effectively as I thought it would. I did like the upbeat attitude of the book though, but my son just didn’t connect to it. It teaches kids about words like cooperate, respect, patience, and being considerate. Recommended for ages 4-7, 2 stars.

 

Young Adult

The Stranger by Albert Camus

About a Girl (Metamorphoses #3) by Sarah McCarry

Rebel Mechanics by Shanna Swendson

 

Adult

To Have and Have Not and Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

Drums of Autumn (Outlander #4) by Diana Gabaldon

After landing in Georgia at the end of Voyager, Jamie, Claire, their nephew Ian and the crew make their way to North Carolina to Jamie’s uncle’s house, after witnessing one of the Ardsmuir prisoners being hanged in Charleston. They rescue an escaped prisoner named Stephen Bonnet. Jamie and Claire end up dining with the Governor of North Carolina, William Tryon and he offers them land in exchange for services later. Bonnet and a group of pirates later robs Jamie and Claire on the boat ride down the river to Jamie’s uncle’s plantation River Run, taking Claire’s gold ring (the one from Frank) and the gemstones they liberated from Geillis Duncan in Voyager. They make it to River Run, only to find out that Jamie’s uncle has died and his blind wife Jocasta is running things. They stay there for awhile until Jocasta tries to make Jamie the heir to the plantation, which precipitates them leaving to find the land promised by Governor Tryon. They find a likely spot up in the mountains and begin creating a home there with the help of local Indians. Jamie asks one of his former crewman Duncan Innes to go find as many of the former Ardsmuir prisoners and their family who had re-located to the colonies and invite them to the newly established “Fraser’s Ridge” community. Fergus, Marsali and their family settle there as well.

In the modern world of 1969, Brianna has discovered information on Jamie and Claire’s death in 1776 and time-travels back to Scotland in 1769 to try to save them. She of course doesn’t tell Roger this and he finds out after the fact and immediately tries to find her in the past. He ends up taking a boat piloted by Captain Stephen Bonnet, and inadvertantly meets and saves his ancestors, the wife and child of William Buccleigh MacKenzie (illegitimate child of Douglal MacKenzie and Geillis Duncan). Brianna and Roger eventually make their way to North Carolina, and meet up to consummate their relationship and have a hand-fasting ceremony, which temporarily marries them to each other. Then they have a huge row and get separated. She discovers the man who has her mother’s ring and goes on a quest to find it, getting herself raped in the process. She finally manages to find Jaimie, who brings her home to Claire and they spend some time bonding and getting to know each other. Roger eventually makes his way to Fraser’s Ridge, where Jamie tries to beat him up for knocking up his daughter and sells him to the Indians. Once Brianna finds this out, she is very pissed at her dad, who says he will go rescue him, but they lose Ian to the Mohawks in the process. Eventually Roger comes back and promises to raise Brianna’s son as his own, no matter who the father is. 3-1/2 stars.

Frankly I thought the beginning part of this book was a little tedious, though being attacked by a guy you helped save was an interesting touch. For some reason, when I was reading the part about Roger taking the boat led by by Stephen Bonnet I totally missed the connection until much later after the rape. Lord John had an interesting role in this book, and one that led me to try out his spin-off series of books. I was so glad that Brianna and Jaimie finally got to meet, as it was so sad that Jaimie has all these kids he can never see. Although, I will say that I found Brianna to be pretty annoying in this book as she’s so flighty, makes stupid mistakes that she should know better about as a “modern” woman, and is kind of a dick to Roger (who bless his heart has been so bloody patient about everything). Roger I felt bad for, especially in regards to getting beaten up by Jamie and then held prisoner by the Mohawks. I will be interested to know more about him in the next book.

The Fiery Cross (Outlander #5) by Diana Gabaldon

The book starts where Drums of Autumn left off, at the Gathering at Mount Helicon in the fall, with Brianna Fraser preparing to officially wed Roger MacKenzie and Jocasta Cameron (Jamie’s aunt) about to marry his friend Duncan Innes. Only Brianna and Roger’s wedding ends up happening due to some political reason to do with Jocasta Cameron, and Jamie also makes sure to have Brianna’s son Jeremiah baptized. Everyone returns to Fraser’s Ridge and Jamie goes home with a letter from William Tryon that he must set up a militia to combat the Regulators, a group of men not obeying King George of England’s laws (think of them as the precursors to the American Revolution). Luckily they end up not having to fight anyone and head back home rather quickly. In the spring of the following year, Jamie, Claire and the family head to River Run to finally celebrate the wedding of Jocasta and Duncan, though that almost doesn’t happens as well as someone tries to sabotage it. Jocasta reveals the truth about what she knows about “the Frenchman’s gold”, the money King Louis XV sent to Charles Stuart that never arrived to save the 1745 Jacobite Uprising, which both Jamie and Claire had been part of. A few months after the wedding, the militia is summoned again by Governor Tryon and this time a battle does occur between the King’s forces and militia and the Regulators at Alamance. Jamie and Roger have been tracking Stephen Bonnet so they can entrap him, and they almost get him at the end of this book. Jamie is almost killed by a boar (seriously Gabaldon?!?) and Ian returns in time to save him. 4 stars.

Roger sure got the rough end of the stick in this book. We learn more about him and his parents, but he is almost killed at the Battle of Alamance, and I was a bit mad when I thought he might never sing or talk again. It seems all MacKenzies, with the exception of Morag and Roger, are conniving backstabbers. Brianna is less annoying in this book, just a regular mother complaining about her child and not getting to spend enough time with her husband (the plight of all young mothers really). Ian finally came back, yay!! And he brought back with him the journal of Robert Springer, known as Otter Tooth in the 18th century, who was a Native American time-traveler (who we first heard about in Drums of Autumn).  The whole thing with Jamie, Claire and the poisonous snake was seriously bad-ass! I can’t believe the nerve of Phillip Wylie, when he tries to put moves on Claire and Jamie actually though she encouraged him. The demise of Stephen Bonnet is deliberately hazy, so guess we’ll have to figure out if he actually did die in the next book. Definitely looking forward to reading the next book in the series after I finish a few others first.

Not My Father’s Son by Alan Cummings

I have always liked Alan Cummings as an actor, and I had heard that this book was coming out and was good, so I decided to give it a go. Not even counting that the cover has a ringing endorsement from one of my favorite authors, Neil Gaiman. It was a bit hard to read as Cummings’ father was very abusive to his sons and wife, and basically treated them like crap while he went around with many women during the course of his marriage to Alan’s mother. The narrative switched back and forth between the present (2010) and Alan’s childhood. Naturally because of the abuse, Alan and his father did not have a very good relationship. So after not speaking to each other for sixteen years, his father drops the bombshell that he may not be his father and that his mother had an affair, which set the stage for his father’s indiscretions. Also in the present, Alan is on this show called Who Do You Think You Are?, which is a genealogical show which investigates an ancestor. He wants to know the truth about his maternal grandfather, Tommy Darling, who mysteriously shot himself in Malaysia in the 1950s. The conclusion to the book was a bit surprising, and there were many twists and turns in the story to keep the reader interested. Reading about Mr. Cumming made me watch more of his shows, and this is what got me hooked on my current favorite show, The Good Wife. 4 stars.

The book had some great quotes, like this one on pg 124 where he describes what it means to be child-like, which I get described myself a lot like so I could identify, “Child-like, I realized, tends to mean open, joyous, maybe a bit mischievous, and I am happy to have all those qualities.” He played a drag queen in the 1970s in South Africa for the show Any Day Now, and afterwards had this to say about women on pg 182: “For yes, being a woman, even one with a penis and for the purposes of drama, really made me feel that women have been coerced into a way of presenting themselves that is basically a form of bondage. Their shoes, their skirts, even their nails seem designed to stop them from being able to escape whilst at the same time drawing attention to their sexual and secondary sexual characteristics.” Also, any person who has had to go through emotional or physical abuse should check out the letter he sent to his father the last time they spoke sixteen years before, on pgs 186-187, as they do (I think) accurately describe the pain he felt.