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Book Review: Percival Keene

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Percival Keene by Frederick Marryat
Percival Keene 
by Frederick Marryat

5 out of 5 stars on GoodReads


Percival Keene is the “natural-born child” of the noble Captain Delmar, who refuses to acknowledge his illegitimate son. Percival joins the Navy as a young midshipman, determined to make his true father proud of him and gain his approval.

This book has adventure, pirates, duels of honor, shipwreck, and battles against the French. I loved the action and the fast-paced writing style. The plot is woven together really well, and every new situation has a fascinating outcome. The characters are all so interesting and brave, and I loved the close, trusting relationships they formed.

Percival is the perfect main character, taking action, carefully calculating his next move, emotional at times, and craving connection to his true family. He is incredibly brave in the face of danger, and very intelligent.  Continue reading →

Non-Fiction Review: Journal Me Organized

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Journal Me Organized by Rebecca Spooner
Journal Me Organized: The Complete Guide to Practical and Creative Planning 
by Rebecca Spooner

5 out of 5 stars on GoodReads


I got so many wonderful and creative ideas for my planner from this book! I love how the information is organized, with chapters about different planning methods, notebooks, styles, and supplies, along with ideas for doodling, creating lists, using watercolors and acrylics, brush lettering, and even making your own notebooks from scratch.

The beauty of it is that you don’t need fancy paints, pens, or notebooks to use the ideas in this book. You could just as easily set up a planner or bullet journal in a simple lined composition notebook from the dollar store. And the author gives tips about how to set up in a plain composition notebook versus a dot grid notebook.

I love all the different styles of daily, monthly, and yearly spreads! Whether you want a minimalist style or an artistic style, there is something for everyone. Continue reading →

Book Review: Lost Kitties Collector’s Guide

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Hasbro Lost Kitties Collector's Guide by Maggie Fischer
Hasbro Lost Kitties Collector’s Guide 
by Maggie Fischer

3 out of 5 stars on GoodReads


This collector’s guide give the details of every Hasbro Lost Kitties toy, along with their bio, their favorite food, their hobbies, motto, life dream, and a hilarious meme for each kitten. The book includes various half-page kitty memes and a poster in the back that says “You have cat to be kitten me right now.”

The illustrations are bright and colorful, and the memes are full of silly misspellings and puns. Each kitty is different and the designs are adorable!

Although most of them are cute and fun and innocent, I found a few slightly questionable kitties with weird bios. For instance, there is Drizzle, the kitty with an OCD paranoia of germs who is constantly bathing. He’s “gripped with the inescapable horror that [germs] are everywhere and on everything. Drizzle once downed a whole bottle of bubble mix because he thought it was just super-clean soap, and farted bubbles for three days.”
Another kitty, Peekerz, is terrified of open spaces, and stays inside her cardboard box all the time. Continue reading →

Picture Book Review: Lost Kitties #NOMZ

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Hasbro Lost Kitties Level 3 Squad Goals by Maggie Fischer
Hasbro Lost Kitties Level 3 Squad Goals: #NOMZ 
by Maggie Fischer

4 out of 5 stars on GoodReads


The Lost Kitties are having some eating issues. Some kitties only want to eat fish, others make their hot sauce way too hot, and one kitty can’t get his toaster to work. From tacos to fancy caviar, these hungry kitties need their tummies filled with delicious food!

The illustrations are bright and colorful with adorable kitty characters on every page. I thought the reading skill level was perfect for young readers, and the chapters are short and fun. I liked the silly little problems that the kitties face, and how their kitty friends join in to help solve their difficulties together.

The only part that I didn’t like was the story about Stuffs, the kitty who works as a food critic. He is known for his reputation as a fancy eater, but his secret favorite food is French fries. He gorges himself on massive amounts of French fries. At one point, he eats “…twelve extra large cartons of fries” in one sitting.

Continue reading →

Picture Book Review: Lost Kitties #ADORBS

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Hasbro Lost Kitties Level 3 Squad Goals by Maggie Fischer
Hasbro Lost Kitties Level 3 Squad Goals: #ADORBS 
by Maggie Fischer

4 out of 5 stars on GoodReads


These cute little kitties are into all sorts of hijinks, pranks, and kerfuffle…
Nap-kin can’t find a decent place to nap.
Bon-bon keeps baking and baking, but the kitties tummies are never full.
Francis gets a crick in his tail that only some relaxing yoga can undo.
Prankster Pants mixes sugar into the soap and it attracts a garden full of butterflies.
Memez is practicing for a music contest, but his dance moves are uninspiring until the dancing kitties tell him that the “best dance moves are the ones that make you feel like yourself.”

I love the cute storylines and funny little dramas! The illustrations are full of bright colors and hearts and rainbows. The writing is perfect for this reading level, and the fun comedy and short chapters keep it interesting.
Continue reading →

Book Review: Queste

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Queste by Angie Sage
Queste (Septimus Heap, #4) 
by Angie Sage

4 out of 5 stars

A disgruntled old ghost has rigged the Questing Stone draw, sending Septimus on a suicide mission against the rules of Magyck Apprenticeship. No matter what Septimus does, he cannot escape the deadly Queste, and he ends up dragging Jemma and Beetle along with him through dangerous forests, and across deadly cliffs, to face the dreaded Foryx monsters and find the secrets of Time.

The world-building gets more and more phenomenal with each book in this series, as we discover further depths of magic and fantasy.
I love how twisty the plot is, where every small detail can have a huge impact on the story. I love the interesting and complex characters and how they all interact.
I am growing to love Beetle’s character more and more through this series, and I loved that he played a more central role in this book.
Jemma and Septimus are fantastic characters, as always. Nicko and Snorri also make an appearance from the depths of Time, and magic surrounds everything they do.

Loving this series!