3.5 out of 5 stars
When their father dies, the younger siblings feel cheated out of their inheritance. The two young sisters, Selendra and Haner, have to rely on their wealthy relatives to support them, but the younger brother Avan decides to sue his relations in an attempt to get back the inheritance. Their older brother Penn is caught in the middle because he is a parson and heard his father’s last words on his deathbed. Selendra goes to live with her brother Penn and his wife at the parsonage, but the noble lady who controls the estate doesn’t approve of her son’s flirtation with pretty Selendra.
fantasy
Book Review: Princess of the Midnight Ball
Princess of the Midnight Ball (The Princesses of Westfalin Trilogy, #1)
by Jessica Day George
Galen comes home from the war and gets a job as gardener in the royal palace gardens. There he meets the twelve princesses and hears rumors that they wear out their dancing slippers every third night. Noble princes come and go, each trying to solve the mystery, but they all fail. The king agrees to give Galen special permission to investigate the mystery, and Galen discovers that the princesses are held under a strong enchantment, forced to dance for the King Under Stone and his twelve sons.
Continue readingBook Review: On the Shoulders of Hobbits
On the Shoulders of Hobbits: The Road to Virtue with Tolkien and Lewis
by Louis A. Markos, Peter Kreeft (Foreword)
This book explores the classical virtues and vices through the lens of Lord of the Rings and the Chronicles of Narnia. Although they may be fantasy, these stories guide us to live a life of virtue. As the characters in fiction represent virtues such as courage and faith, we can be inspired to follow in their footsteps in our own life stories. They teach us to fight for justice, to cling to hope, and live with temperance.
Continue readingBook Review: Wizards at War
Wizards at War (Young Wizards, #8)
by Diane Duane (Goodreads Author)
Kit and Nita return home from vacation to discover that the very fabric of wizardry is unraveling. As dark matter expands in the universe, reality begins to bend and the older wizards start to lose their wizardry. It’s up to the younger wizards to find a way to combat the growing darkness. Kit and Nita find some clues which suggest that the evil Lone One is creating the dark matter in order to distract them from something it wants to keep secret – a special weapon that could win the war.
Continue readingPoetry Review: The Adventures of Tom Bombadil
The Adventures Of Tom Bombadil
by J.R.R. Tolkien, Pauline Baynes (Illustrator)
This collection of poems set in the world of Middle Earth is a perfect companion to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien wrote these poems as if they had been written by Bilbo, Frodo, and Sam and included in the Red Book along with all the stories of their adventures. It’s really interesting to see how each poem is written in a slightly different style depending on who is supposed to have written it.
Continue readingBook Review: A Book Dragon
4 out of 5 stars
Nonesuch is a dragon without a treasure. When his grandmother dies, she leaves behind a substantial treasure of gold and jewels, but it doesn’t really feel quite right to Nonesuch. He goes through a transformation and discovers that he can shrink down to the size of an insect if he doesn’t eat much, or he can grow larger again if he eats more. He is curious about humans, so he shrinks down and flies into an abbey where a monk is painstakingly writing and illuminating a prayer book. The monk is inspired by the sight of a tiny dragon and begins to draw him into the margins of the book. When a thief threatens to steal the precious book, Nonesuch knows that he has found a treasure he will guard with all his heart. But he is trapped along with the book in a strong box and can’t get out for centuries. When he emerges into the modern world, Nonesuch must find new ways to navigate the world of men and protect his treasure.
Continue readingBook Review: The Perilous Gard
The Perilous Gard
by Elizabeth Marie Pope
5 out of 5 stars
Kate Sutton is banished from the Queen’s court and forced into house-arrest at a remote castle with Sir Geoffrey Heron as her guardian. There Kate hears wild rumors about fairy folk and dark magic in the forest and caves surrounding the castle. There is a holy well that seems to grant healing and good fortune to those who drop money into it, but a child was lost down the well and Sir Geoffrey and his brother Christopher warn Kate to stay away from the area. Despite their warnings, Kate begins to suspect that something evil is lurking about the castle and she starts to ask questions about the mysterious fairy folk. She learns of their terrible tradition to commit a human sacrifice in order to gather the power of a human life to sustain their spells.
Continue readingBook Review: Losing the Plot
Losing the Plot (Losing the Plot #1)
by Annaleise Byrd
4 out of 5 stars
Bookish Basil has to help his sporty neighbor Terry with his reading skills, and the two sit down to read the Grimm’s Fairy Tales. When Basil starts fiddling with a special bookmark that matches the book cover, Gretel jumps out of the book pages! She begs them to return with her to the fairy tale world to rescue her brother Hansel, who has been kidnapped. If they can’t return Hansel to his story, the whole fairy tale world might collapse under the plot hole.
Continue readingBook Review: The Golden Dream of Carlo Chuchio
The Golden Dream of Carlo Chuchio
by Lloyd Alexander
3 out of 5 stars
Carlo finds an ancient map to a long-forgotten treasure and sets out on a journey into faraway lands to search for the fortune. Baksheesh offers to work as his servant and guide him from the coast into the inland city and beyond through the desert. They are also joined by Shira, a girl running away from slavers, trying to return to her home in the mountains. Their caravan is attacked by bandits, and they get lost in the desert. Carlo is mistaken for a foreign prince and held for ransom. Through all their adventures, Carlo wonders if the treasure is even real or worth all this trouble.
Continue readingBook Review: Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow
Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow
by Jessica Day George
4 out of 5 stars
When the woodcutter’s daughter is born into a large family, her mother is so disappointed at having yet another girl that she refuses to give the child a name. The girl is simply called “the pika” (which means “girl”) or referred to as “the lass”. When she is grown, a mysterious polar bear comes to their cottage and begs her to live in his ice palace for a year. Knowing that he must be under some kind of enchantment, the lass agrees to go with him. She is sure that she can break the curse he is under, and she investigates the mysteries of the ice palace. But every time she asks the servants questions, she is putting herself and them in danger.
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