My friend/neighbor both a book reader and elementary teacher highly recommended this one. She teaches 5th grade and swears by this book so I felt I had to read it. It is a sweet story that involved lots of tears and can see why she requires her class to read it together. Read More »
I Read a Lot of Books
I read a lot of books. Sometimes I review them.
The Zodiac Legacy: The Dragon’s Return by Stan Lee and Stuart Moore
In my quest to find engaging books for my own kids to read as they get older… I keep reading middle grade or YA books, even though they aren’t my favorite genres. I just want to let you know up front that if you like the aforementioned genres, you’d probably give this book a higher grade than I did. Read More »
The Song of the Quarkbeast: the Chronicles of Kazam Book Two by Jasper Fforde
Jasper Fforde loses no steam with his followup to The Last Dragonslayer. In the last book we discovered a few things. The Mighty Shandar is kind of not a nice person. Jennifer is a berserker. Big Magic is back. Read More »
The Last Dragonslayer: The Chronicles of Kazam Book One by Jasper Fforde
I have a love/love less relationship with Jasper Fforde. One of my favorite books ever Shades of Grey (not to be confused with 50 Shades of Grey) was written by Jasper Fforde. I started out strong with the Thursday Next series, and loved the Nursery Crime series and was fully expecting to read all the books in the Shades of Grey series, only there have been no more books. Read More »
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place Book 5: The Unmapped Sea by Maryrose Wood
Okay, I’ma ’bout to get nit-picky. Between books four and five they changed the style and design of the cover art which is no surprised as they changed artists. They also went from the deckle edge paper to regular old straight edge paper… UGH. It appears from her website that future releases of the books will have different cover art most likely using the current artist. I am not a huge emoticon user, but let me describe my face right now. I am frowning. My eyebrows are furrowed. Basically, my face is the annoyed emoticon. Read More »
Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by Margaret Sidney
I find this sort of book a bit difficult to review. It wasn’t meant for an adult, and not meant for this century so as I read I am wondering what a modern day kid might think about this book. I can assure you, as a modern day adult, I found this book more than a little sappy and more than a little lame. Read More »
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Interrupted Tale by Maryrose Wood
It is no secret that I have been a fan of this series of books. Sadly, this is the fourth book meaning there are only two more to go. When I think about where these books could be taking me, I get excited, and that is exactly what books should do.
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Unseen Guest by Maryrose Wood
I’ve said it before, and I will say it again. These books are charming. I am really looking forward to reading them to my kids in a few years. One thing I enjoy about these books is that there is an underlying mystery that prevails through each book and the reader gets little bits and pieces each time. The reader gets just enough information to start making speculations that are either confirmed or debunked in subsequent books. Read More »
Into the Mist by Patrick Carman
If any of you are Land Of Elyon fans, you might be sorely disappointed in this review. I had never read, or heard of these books, and I don’t generally read a lot of YA Fantasy. For those in the know, this is actually the fourth book in the series, but not really. Read More »
The Mysterious Benedict Society and The Perilous Journey by Trenton Lee Stewart
When I think of the Mysterious Benedict Society books the words that come to mind are charming and whimsical. The second installment only increased my enjoyment in the series. This novel begins where the last adventure ended. Read More »
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
I am always on the lookout for good children’s literature. I enjoy kids books that tackle interesting concepts without getting heavy handed and overly preachy. A children’s book should also be fun. Neil Gaiman’s book mingles fantasy and adventure with a bit of silliness. Read More »
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood
Can you tell a book by its cover? All I know is when I saw the cover illustration which sports three children and a pale governess, I was sold. My husband commented on how nicely bound the book was, and he IS the authority in this house, as he did take a class on book binding in college. More than a nice cover, The Mysterious Howling is a fun, feel good story about how a little love and understanding can make even the most daunting situation, rewarding. Read More »
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
THIS is the kind of middle grade novel I love to read. The largest difficulty I encounter in the middle grade novel is that the author feels a need to dumb it down. Or when they try to be clever, they oversell it. The Mysterious Benedict Society was a refreshing change. Read More »
The Search For WondLa by Tony DiTerlizzi
Against my better judgment I picked up this book. I’ve promised myself that I wouldn’t start a new series that wasn’t already complete. I get tired of waiting for new books to come out and then re-reading to remember what happened… hence one of the reason I have sworn off the Wheel of Time Series until it is finished. Alas, I am pleased that I rarely listen to my better judgment. The Search for WondLa was what I have been searching for in a middle grade novel. Read More »
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
I remember the first time I ever encountered this book. I was in second grade and Mrs. Jordan (who wasn’t a very engaging out loud reader) read this book to the class. At the time, I did feel that this was a great book, and upon re reading… I think I liked it even more. Read More »
The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall
This is nearly a perfect book for kids. There is a bit of action, drama, and romance, couple this with an engaging family pet, and you have the recipe for good old fashioned fun. This reminds me of what kids books were before Harry Potter, those highly politicized memoirs of slave children or Native Americans, gossipy girls, and vampires. Birdsall has written a book that recalls to mind the joy of youth, and the innocence of a summer vacation with new friendships. There is nothing sinister, nothing lurking, no misplaced moral compasses. Read More »