book review

Book Review: The Hotel Balzaar

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The Hotel Balzaar by Kate DiCamillo

The Hotel Balzaar
by Kate DiCamillo (Goodreads Author), Júlia Sardà (Illustrator)

4.5 out of 5 stars

Marta longs for her father’s return after the war. Her mother works as a maid in the hotel, and Marta spends her days wandering around the hotel being quiet as a mouse. When a mysterious Countess with a parrot arrives at the hotel, she promises to tell Marta seven stories, but the stories are not quite what Marta expected. They seem to have no proper ending and no meaning. But Marta keeps listening, hoping that somehow the stories will point the way to her missing father.

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Book Review: The Puppets of Spelhorst

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The Puppets of Spelhorst by Kate DiCamillo

The Puppets of Spelhorst
by Kate DiCamillo (Goodreads Author), Julie Morstad (Illustrator)

5 out of 5 stars

An old sea captain purchases five puppets from a shop window (a king, an owl, a girl, a boy, and a wolf), propelling them on an adventure to find their purpose. Each puppet has their own dreams and desires. The king wishes to hear beautiful music and respected. The wolf wants to bite and chase. The boy dreams of accomplishing some great deed. The girl longs for beauty under the moonlit sky. The owl advises them with wise words.
When the puppets become the property of two little girls, they think they will find their purpose in acting out a story with the children, but the obstacles they face are greater than they can ever imagine.

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Series Review: The Princess in Black 1-3

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The Princess in Black Triple Smash!: Three Books in One

Shannon Hale, Dean Hale, LeUyen Pham (illustrator)

5 out of 5 stars

The Princess in Black (The Princess in Black, #1)

Princess Magnolia has a secret identity as the Princess in Black. At home, she wears frilly pink dresses and glass slippers, but then she changes into her monster-fighting black outfit and charges to the rescue when monsters attack the land. The monsters sneak out of the underground monster land to try to eat the goats, but the Princess in Black has the ninja skills to beat them back!

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Book Review: The House on the Strand

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The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier

The House on the Strand

by Daphne du Maurier

1 out of 5 stars

Dick Young agrees to take an experimental drug that his friend Magnus has been developing in his lab. Magnus claims that the mind, under the influence of the drug, will time travel back to the 1330s, while the body stays in the present. Dick becomes obsessed with the people he meets back in history, taking more and more of the drug to continue visiting the past, even when it puts him in danger and he becomes addicted to the drug. He ignores his family and the responsibilities of his life, focused only on acquiring more of the drug so that he can discover the fate of the beautiful Lady Isolda in Medieval Cornwall.

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Book Review: Burning Beauty

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Burning Beauty by Temple Bailey

Burning Beauty
by Temple Bailey

4.5 out of 5 stars

Virginia is overshadowed by her selfish brother Rickey, who is convinced that he has the genius to write a bestselling book. He potentially sells the manuscript to a famous editor, Michael McMillan, who is smitten with the lovely Virginia. But Virginia is also being wooed by rich Anthony, who impresses her with his fancy country estate. Virginia must choose if she will marry for money or for love, but her brother’s selfish concerns take precedence and Virginia runs away from both her suitors in order to take care of Rickey.
Rickey is obsessed with a wealthy socialite called Marty that he dubs his “silver witch”. She is his muse for a new book, but she is just toying with him. He barely notices the sweet Mary Lee who truly loves him.

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Book Review: A Wizard of Mars

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A Wizard of Mars by Diane Duane

A Wizard of Mars (Young Wizards, #9)
by Diane Duane (Goodreads Author)

5 out of 5 stars

Wizards have been pondering the “Mars problem” for hundreds of years, searching for a message that may have been left by a long dead and forgotten Martian race. Kit is especially obsessed with exploring Mars and looking for answers. When he discovers a mysterious magical presence, he is swept into a series of encounters that change his very identity, and sweep him away from Nita and all his friends. Nita is desperate to find him, and she has to navigate through an ancient prophecy to fight for him and for Earth against the warlike Martians.

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Book Review: DragonFire

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DragonFire by Donita K. Paul

DragonFire (DragonKeeper Chronicles, #4)
by Donita K. Paul (Goodreads Author)

5 out of 5 stars

In this fourth book of the series, Kale and Bardon have been married for three years, but they are forced to go on separate quests and they do not like being apart for such a length of time. Kale goes with her father to recruit as many dragons as they can, to fight in the war against the evil wizards. Bardon is sent to shore up the defenses along the coast against an attack of monstrous octopi. They will both be tested beyond their endurance in the midst of this war, but they trust in God to keep them safe and bring them together again.

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Book Review: Bunns Rabbit

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Bunns Rabbit by Alan Barillaro

Bunns Rabbit
by Alan Barillaro

5 out of 5 stars

Bunns is a rabbit born with short ears. Her parents worry that the superstitious rabbits in the warren will reject her, and they are right. The entire family is going to be evicted from their burrow, because the other rabbits think that Bunns will bring bad luck on the whole meadow. Bunns runs away on her own, hoping that with her gone, her family will be allowed to stay safely in their home. She meets the Spirit Fox who sends Monarch butterflies to lead her through the forest, where she will be tested. If she is found worthy, the Spirit Fox may grant her a wish.

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Book Review: Esperanza Rising

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Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan

Esperanza Rising
by Pam Muñoz Ryan

5 out of 5 stars

Esperanza is used to living on a wealthy ranch in Mexico with her family. She has always had servants and beautiful clothes and pretty dolls. But when her father is murdered by bandits, they lose their home and all their wealth. Esperanza and her mother travel to California where they get work as harvest laborers. Now Esperanza lives in a tiny shack in a migrant camp, and she has to work hard and learn new skills to survive. Her mother teaches her to have hope, but Esperanza gets more and more discouraged as some of the other workers strike and there is sickness and poverty all around. Eventually, Esperanza has to find her own hope from within, and find the strength to embrace a new kind of happiness.

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Book Review: The Good Soldier

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The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford

The Good Soldier: A Tale of Passion
by Ford Madox Ford

1 out of 5 stars

DNF at page 62.
John Dowell tells the story of how he discovered that his wife had been having an affair with another married man for years. Mr. Dowell and his wife, Florence, meet Mr. and Mrs. Ashburnham at a European spa where they strike up a casual friendship that continues for nine years. They meet again each summer in Europe and spend their vacation together. Edward Ashburnham seems like a good fellow, trustworthy and decent, but he has a history of adultery and debauchery that he keeps secret.

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