book reviews

Classics Review: Framley Parsonage

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Framley Parsonage
Framley Parsonage by Anthony Trollope

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Mark Robarts, the vicar at Framley Parsonage, has a seemingly perfect life. He has the patronage of the great Lady Lufton, and the friendship of her son, Lord Lufton. He has a darling wife, Fanny, and lovely children, and everything a man could want on a moderate income.

But Mark becomes involved with the “wrong” sort of people, gamblers, debtors, and disreputable gentlemen of society. Mark’s kindness is taken advantage of, and his generosity lands him in a difficult money situation, which will be his ruin unless his high moral standards can eventually be his salvation. Continue reading →

Book Review: The Secrets of Ordinary Farm

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The Secrets of Ordinary Farm
The Secrets of Ordinary Farm by Tad Williams

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Lucinda and Tyler are back for the summer at their mysterious Uncle’s farm. Lucinda is determined to become closer to the dragons, but with all the adventure and wild mystery going on, she barely has time to visit the dragons, until one of them reaches out to her in a surprising way.

Tyler continues his feud with the crusty Colin Needle, and both of them are snooping around the farm, spying on each other, desperate to find the secrets of the farm before the other. Continue reading →

Book Review: The Road To Yesterday

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The Road To Yesterday
The Road To Yesterday by L.M. Montgomery

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This collection of Montgomery’s short stories is not really her best work in my opinion, but still well worth the read. All the stories are connected distantly to Gilbert and Anne Blythe, since characters in each story are vaguely acquainted with the Blythes, and their names are mentioned in passing, or they play bit parts in the story. After a while, this started to annoy me. It just distracted from the main story, by bringing in other characters from a separate story, who had no real business or impact in the main story.

A few of the short stories had some structural problems in the plots, I though, and a couple of times people in the story seemed to act out of character. But these places were very few and most of the stories are wonderful, and delightfully funny! A couple of them are melancholy and have a healthy dose of pathos mixed in too.

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Picture Book Review: The Awkward Owl

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The Awkward Owl
The Awkward Owl by Shawnda Blake

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Adorable children’s book with lovely pictures, about an awkward owl who doesn’t have the confidence to fly well until a little girl shows some love and believes in him! I love the cute artwork and the sweet little story about believing in yourself. It’s really funny too, because the owl goes crashing into things sometimes!

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Book Review: The Dragons of Ordinary Farm

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The Dragons of Ordinary Farm
The Dragons of Ordinary Farm by Tad Williams

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Tyler and Lucinda are dismayed that they have to spend the summer at the farm with their mysterious Uncle Gideon, whom they have never met. But when they arrive at Ordinary Farm, they find it full of mythical beasts and other-worldly people. The secrets go deep, and the past will threaten everyone on the farm, unless Tyler and Lucinda can navigate the mysteries of Ordinary Farm, warding off attack from the outside before it collapses from within. Continue reading →