I was putting away a few new additions to my home library when I decided to read a couple of paragraphs in one of them because I’d heard so much about it. I didn’t put it back down until I finished it. It’s well written, the story engaging, the characters ones you immediately care for. Basically, its core components were everything a good book should have, and then some. Continue reading
A lot of readers and bloggers are delving into their libraries and ARC’s for some appropriate reading this October. But, and I have no idea why, my inner goblin just wasn’t feeling it. So I pulled out some classics and a variation on a theme, and found my Halloween mojo. Continue reading
The story leaves strong impressions that last with you long after you put down the book: that the Minotaur symbolizes much more than a creature who is half man, half beast. That perhaps, this is a redemptive tale. Or demonstrates the struggle in dealing with the duality inside ourselves. Continue reading
It’s books like these that allow me to offer a solid example when defending, and recommending young adult fiction to adults. It may not satisfy the older portion of the age range who tend to like the popular dark fantasy or steampunk, but for those wanting a good mystery – this is just the book. Continue reading
I guess the best endings are the ones that make you emotional in some way: mad, happy, sad. They should evoke an emotion so strong it lingers long after you’ve finished reading it. This book will not disappoint in that regard. Continue reading
This book is about primarily about friendship, but its more important aspect is how children learn to cope with fear and loss: both emotional and physical. One of those ways is through creativity and imagination. Terabithia then comes to be more than an imaginary kingdom. It’s symbolic of a greater purpose.
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She dreams of the ocean. Something she’s never seen and many tell her doesn’t exist. As long as she’s lived, she has only known a world surrounded by a forest containing a fate worse than death – literally.
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The Girl in the Green Raincoat is a perfect book for someone looking for an enjoyable weekend read. I like those. I like picking a book off my shelf that I know will allow me to sit, relax, snuggle up to the cats and a cup of cocoa and let the story take over. Continue reading
This is a modern and chilling horror story crammed in to a deceptively small package. Just as Shelley did with Frankenstein, it leaves you questioning what point was the author trying to get across. This is not a bad thing. Is this purely for entertainment? Is it a lightly veiled commentary on society? Is it a horror story or social science fiction? Perhaps both. Continue reading
This collection of sixteen stories surprised me. Not the quality so much as the diversity. If anyone has ever wondered, or perhaps doubted the power of the short story form, Joe Hill at times masters it, and then makes it jump through flaming hoops. Continue reading
For some like Purvis, Martha, and Andrew, they search not only to escape this sense of being lost, but to find a place where they truly belong. However as Ron Cooper shows us, ultimately it is not about belonging and finding peace, it is the journey that helps us discover many things, the most frightening of which is that this journey can be dark and ugly and may not end in a way you expect. Continue reading
Oh a whim, I downloaded this from the library for my eReader. I’d heard great things about the book, and I wasn’t disappointed. I only wish I’d know it’s the first book in a planned trilogy. It would have made the ending a bit easier to take. And I would’ve waited to read it. Continue reading
Usually, I pay no attention to what’s written on a book jacket. But the reader, my husband, says this is nearly dead on. Especially the “unbelievable” part. In fact, many times while reading this story I heard him mutter, “How can these guys still by alive?” Continue reading
This story is a lot stuffed into a small package. Don’t let the page count fool you, this book will make you think – and feel, like you’ve read a substantial tome. Continue reading
There is a lot of angst in this book. Much of it related to relationships both personal and familial as well as toward gender and identity. Pretty powerful stuff. Let me tell you, this is not a light read. But I enjoyed it. Even though I struggled a bit to understand the depth of the father-son relationship, which is what this story is primarily about. Continue reading