fiction

Book Review: Chivalrous

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Chivalrous
Chivalrous by Dina L. Sleiman

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This was a nice fluff read, but I wasn’t really impressed or entertained. The plot is trite and predictable, the characters are obvious, and the writing tells instead of showing.

This is the story of Lady Gwendolyn, who longs to fight as a knight and sneaks into a tournament. She is wary of romance, because her father is a mean old tyrant, but she learns to love the low-born Sir Allen. Meanwhile, Sir Allen is determined to prove that despite his low birth, he is just as noble of heart as the other knights. Typical Medieval stuff, and utterly unoriginal. Continue reading →

November Reading

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Book Review: Winter

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Winter
Winter by Marissa Meyer

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

 

Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.

Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won’t approve of her feelings for her childhood friend—the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn’t as weak as Levana believes her to be and she’s been undermining her stepmother’s wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that’s been raging for far too long.

Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters? – GoodReads Description

 

I loved this book so much! It’s the perfect conclusion to the series. I was so involved in this book, and now I’m having trouble pulling my mind and heart out of Lunar world. What is reality? How can I go back to my life after this? Continue reading →

Book Review: The Mysterious Edge of the Heroic World

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The Mysterious Edge of the Heroic World
The Mysterious Edge of the Heroic World by E.L. Konigsburg
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Amedeo Kaplan has a secret, a dream: More than anything in the world, he wants to discover something — a place, a process, even a fossil — some treasure that no one realizes is there until he finds it. And he would also like to discover a true friend to share these things with.

William Wilcox seems like an unlikely candidate for friendship: an aloof boy who is all edges and who owns silence the way other people own words. When Amedeo and William find themselves working together on a house sale for Amedeo’s eccentric neighbor, Mrs. Zender, Amedeo has an inkling that both his wishes may come true. For Mrs. Zender’s mansion is crammed with memorabilia of her long life, and there is a story to go with every piece. Soon the boys find themselves caught up in one particular story — a story that links a sketch, a young boy’s life, an old man’s reminiscence, and a painful secret dating back to the outrages of Nazi Germany. It’s a story that will take them to the edge of what they know about heroism and the mystery of the human heart.

This is the story of Amadeo, who wants to discover something that will bring him fame. When he begins working for Mrs. Zender, he hopes to find a treasure of some kind among her dusty old things, but he is also looking for friendship. Egh. I disliked this book intensely, but I can’t muster up enough emotional reaction to it to actually say I hated it.

The plot moves sooooooo slow. I kept waiting and waiting for something to happen. Finally, towards the end of the middle, they find the drawing, and finally finally after a long drawn-out bunch of nothing, we find out the mystery of the drawing, which is another long bunch of extra stuff that I didn’t really care about. The end was so incredibly under-whelming. Continue reading →

Book Review: The Gingerbrood

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The Gingerbrood
The Gingerbrood by Brent Vernon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I can’t say enough about how much I love this book! The story is perfection itself; I laughed and actually cried a tiny bit and I really cared about those cute little ginger guys. This book puts me in a Christmas mood! Those little gingerbread men are so full of courage and resourcefulness and spunk. I just loved seeing them run for their lives and outwit the hungry people trying to eat them.

The ending was absolutely beautiful! It is rare that I see so delightful and meaningful an ending in a simple children’s book. And all in rhyme too! The rhyme is exactly right, telling the story in a fun and lyric way. (And I’m picky about poetry and rhyme.)

I cannot get over how bright and gorgeous the illustrations are! It really draws you into the story, and makes you love the characters. Each little guy in the gingerbrood has their own personality, their own little voice. They are so adorable!

I can’t wait to read this book out loud to some little kids!

Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher/ author in exchange for a free and honest review.

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Review: King Henry VI, Part 3

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King Henry VI, Part 3
King Henry VI, Part 3 by William Shakespeare
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was starting to get bored with the Henrys, but this one revived me a bit. There were some especially rousing speeches, and I didn’t completely hate every character.

I feel like every situation and scene was gone through twice. Twice Edward is on the throne and Henry is forced to compromise or flee. Twice Henry is on the throne and Edward is fleeing. Twice they summon all their allies to send soldiers. Twice somebody sends to France for soldiers. Twice Henry is thrown into prison in the Tower, then Edward is thrown into prison as well with the Archbishop. Two big battles where half of everyone is killed. Two different scenes where young boys are killed. So much back and forth. Ugh. I feel like I read the same play twice. Continue reading →

Book Review: Great Stories of Suspense

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Great Stories of Suspense
Great Stories of Suspense by Ross Macdonald
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I only read three of the stories out of this book. One by Agatha Christie, a Miss Marple story I had read before, “What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw”. It’s longer than I remembered, and I think I liked the TV version better. I do love that very iconic scene of the old lady witnessing a murder through the windows of a train into another passing train car.

I read one by Dashiell Hammett, “Fly Paper”, that was the very “shoot ’em up, Joe” type of stuff I have come to expect from the author of The Thin Man. Nobody writes about private detectives like this author! His style is very clipped and to the point, which is perfect for a short story.

Then I read “The Landlady” by Roald Dahl, which was extremely short, rather obvious, but written in his inimitable style. I love how he never actually comes out and says what is happening in the story, but leaves the reader to draw their own conclusions. He really is a master at telling a whole story with half an actual story.

All in all, a great collection of stories!

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Book Review: The Snow Spider

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The Snow Spider
The Snow Spider by Jenny Nimmo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

On Gwyn’s 9th birthday, his grandmother tells him he may be a magician, like his Welsh ancestors. She gives him five gifts to help him–a brooch, a piece of dried seaweed, a tin whistle, a scarf, and a broken toy horse. One blustery day, unsure what to do with his newfound magic, Gwyn throws the brooch to the wind and receives a silvery snow spider in return. Will he be able to use this special spider to bring his missing sister, Bethan, home? THE SNOW SPIDER spins an icy, sparkly web of mystical intrigue that sets the stage for the next two books in this outstanding trilogy!

 

I was absolutely enchanted by this story of a young boy searching for his lost sister. Gwyn discovers that he is a magician, and he can use his magical abilities to call his sister, Bethan, back home. She has been missing for four years, and Gwyn’s family is broken by her loss. Through a series of magical encounters, Gwyn searches for his sister and discovers his own powers.

The setting is in the Welsh countryside, which immediately gives a sense of legend and myth to the story. The magic system that Gwyn learns is very wild and mysterious. The magic seems to work more on instinct than by any rules or definite actions. If Gwyn wishes for something and focuses on what he wants, his magic will go out into the world and bring something back to him that will help him accomplish his goals. That is how Gwyn first releases the Snow Spider, and gains her help in his quest for his lost sister. Continue reading →

Book Review: Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library

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Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library by Chris Grabenstein
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this book about a group of children who participate in a lock-in at their local library and have to solve puzzles to find their way out and win a grand prize! I love books about puzzles, and this one reminded me of The Mysterious Benedict Society, at least in the puzzle and codes aspect of the story.

The codes and mysteries are truly delightful to unravel, and I loved the setting in the fascinating library! This library has holograms and a reading rotunda and a dome that lights up with clues. There are museum displays and game rooms, entertainment consoles and fountains and statues. I could really imagine myself in this incredible library along with the characters! Continue reading →