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Book Review: The Girl Who Drank the Moon

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The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

The Girl Who Drank the Moon
by Kelly Barnhill(Goodreads Author)

4 out of 5 stars

The good witch Xan is confused when a neighboring town abandons a helpless baby in the wilderness at the same spot every year. She rescues the children and feeds them starlight until she can find adoptive families for them in other towns. But one time, Xan accidentally feeds the baby moonlight instead of starlight, and the child absorbs the magic. So Xan adopts the baby herself along with her Swamp Monster friend and a tiny Dragon, and together they name the baby Luna. When the child grows to be thirteen years old, her magic erupts in unpredictable ways.

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Book Review: Diary of a Mad Brownie

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Diary of a Mad Brownie by Bruce Coville

Diary of a Mad Brownie (The Enchanted Files, #1)
byBruce Coville

3 out of 5 stars

Angus is a Scottish brownie who has been cursed to follow the same family line through the centuries. When the oldest McGonagall dies, Angus has to move to America to find the next branch of the family, and discovers that he has to move in with Alex, a very messy young girl, and her very messy family. Can Angus break the curse and save the family he has sworn to protect?

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Book Review: Deadweather and Sunrise

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Deadweather and Sunrise by Geoff Rodkey

Deadweather and Sunrise (The Chronicles of Egg, #1)
by Geoff Rodkey

4 out of 5 stars

Thirteen-year-old Egg lives with his father, brother, and sister on Deadweather Island, where they work hard on a fruit plantation full of pirates. Egg is surprised when his father takes them on a trip to the neighboring island of Sunrise for a mysterious meeting with a lawyer. They also meet the richest man on the island, Mr. Pembroke, and his daughter Millicent. Egg promptly falls in love with Millicent, but finds himself running for his life in a series of adventures that will lead him back to Deadweather and a legendary treasure.

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Classic Book Review: Phineas Finn

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Phineas Finn by Anthony Trollope

Phineas Finn (Palliser, #2)
byAnthony Trollope

5 out of 5 stars

Phineas Finn is delighted when a political fluke gets him elected to represent his little Irish county in Parliament. Everyone says that he is making a mistake, and he’ll never succeed in politics, but Phineas is young and optimistic and full of energy. He quickly learns the ins and outs of political life in London, especially when it comes to befriending influential people… and their daughters. Lady Laura takes Phineas under her wing, and uses her influence with her father to introduce Phineas to all the right people. Madame Goesler is a wealthy widow with the social clout to bring politicians together at her exclusive dinners, and she also advises Phineas on his political affairs. Violet Effingham is a fabulous heiress and Lady Laura’s dearest friend. She is rumored to be engaged to Lady Laura’s brother, Lord Chiltern, but will Phineas win her heart before the engagement can be finalized? And back home in Ireland, poor little Mary Flood-Jones is a simple country girl who has been in love with Phineas since childhood. Between all these romances, Phineas must decide the future of his political life, or break his heart and his career on the rocks of ignominy.

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Book Review: Magic’s Most Wanted

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Magic's Most Wanted by Tyler Whitesides

Magic’s Most Wanted
byTyler Whitesides

4.5 out of 5 stars

Mason is confused when he opens up an ordinary music box and his entire class and teacher are magically transported to Antarctica. Magix agents show up to arrest him for crimes involving magic, but Mason swears that he doesn’t know anything about magic.
He learns that the world is divided into Igs and Eds (people who are Ignorant or Educated about magic). The only way to access magical power is to be Educated and have the knowledge of what different magical items are capable of doing. If you are Ignorant, you could handle magical items (like a transportation music box) and be unable to use the magic within. But Mason was able to use the music box, therefore the court argues that he must be a criminal with knowledge of magic.

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Book Review: Charlie Bone and the Beast

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Charlie Bone and the Beast by Jenny Nimmo

Charlie Bone and the Beast (Children of the Red King, #6)
byJenny Nimmo

5 out of 5 stars

Charlie is certain that Asa Pike, who can turn into a wolfbeast at night, is being held prisoner by the evil Bloor family. While his friends try to locate Asa, Charlie is disgusted to find that one of his evil great-aunts has married and is abusing her stepchildren. When stone statues begin to come to life, Charlie must do something to rescue the children and Asa. Their rescue plans are complicated by the arrival of a new student, Dagbert, who is endowed with power over water. Dagbert is known as a drowner, and he tries to befriend Charlie in order to spy on him. Lurking in the shadows is a mysterious Red Knight, who could be an ally of the Red King, or even the Red King himself, but Charlie doesn’t know who to trust.

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Book Review: Museum of Thieves

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Museum of Thieves by Lian Tanner

Museum of Thieves (The Keepers, #1)
by Lian Tanner(Goodreads Author)

3 out of 5 stars

Rebellious Goldie is tired of being chained to adults for her entire childhood. The law says all children under the age of 12 must be attached by a small chain to an adult for their own protection, but now Goldie is looking forward to being released from her chain on Separation Day. However, the Blessed Guardians of the City cancel the Separation Day ceremonies, and Goldie cuts herself loose and runs away. She hides in the mysterious Museum, where she learns that she has a unique talent for navigating the shifting rooms and the magic currents that run through the building. The City is in danger, and only a group of benevolent thieves can protect them from the evil within their walls.

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Book Review: The Unchosen One

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The Unchosen One by Amy Sparkes

The Unchosen One
by Amy Sparkes(Goodreads Author)

4 out of 5 stars

Tassie is dismayed to find out that she is The Chosen One, who must recite an ancient spell to stop an evil sorceress named the Shadow from returning. But when she can’t read the ancient language on the ancient scroll, they begin to suspect that someone else must be the real Chosen One. Tassie and her friend Spin, a griffin, set off on a quest to find the real Chosen One and get them to recite the spell and save their island home.

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Book Review: The Lost Road

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The Lost Road and Other Writings by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Lost Road and Other Writings (The History of Middle-Earth, #5)
byJ.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (Editor)

This book compiles some unfinished manuscripts and snippets of stories from Tolkien, along with earlier manuscripts of The Silmarillion, and etymologies of languages and names in Elvish.

The first snippet of a story is an outline of the Fall of Numenor, with three different versions, each slightly different and more evolved.

That dovetails perfectly into the second section which is the unfinished manuscript of The Lost Road, a story about a modern man and his son who have dreams of the ancient past that lead them to Atlantis/Numenor. There they witness the dark days of Numenor when Sauron was spreading his lies and the Numenorians were obsessed with defeating death. A Numenorian father and son much like themselves are debating what to do about the spread of Sauron’s power, and they are worried about spies reporting them to Sauron. But then the manuscript finishes right there, with some notes from Christopher Tolkien about his father’s plans to rework the story, which never came to fruition.

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Book Review: Kenny and the Book of Beasts

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Kenny & the Book of Beasts by Tony DiTerlizzi

Kenny & the Book of Beasts
by Tony DiTerlizzi 

4 out of 5 stars

Kenny is enjoying his life with his family and his best friend, a dragon named Grahame. But their friendship is put to the test when Grahame meets up with his old friend, a manticore named Dante. Kenny is very jealous of their time together and he feels left out as they reminisce about the old days. An evil witch comes on the scene, and Kenny has to decide whether he will stand by his friends, new and old, no matter what his personal feelings may be.

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