2016

Bewitching: The Kendra Chronicles

I have no idea how Bewitching: The Kendra Chronicles landed in our library stacks but it did. When I realized it was a sequel to a book I hadn’t read, I almost didn’t read it. But, TW said I didn’t need the first one and I believed her. She was right. It was a perfectly fine book to read without having read the first one.

It started a little slowly but I ended up enjoying it. I didn’t absolutely love the insertion of “fairy tales” from Kendra’s life but I didn’t hate it either. I may even some day read another book from this series.

Bewitching: The Kendra Chronicles Read More »

Three Graphic Novels

Let’s see… which graphic novels (all Cybils shortlisters) did I read? Oh yea…

Courtney Crumrin: Volume 7 … hated it. Didn’t finish it. At first, I thought it was because I’m way behind on this series, (I think the last one I read was 4), but based on the reviews — a whole lot of series fans just didn’t like this one. I’m glad it wasn’t just me.

Next, Dragons Beware!. I love Claudette and her friends. Absolutely love them.

Last, but not least, Baba Yaga’s Assistant was really good. I didn’t expect much from it, I’m not a very big Baba Yaga fan, so this really exceeded expectations.

Three Graphic Novels Read More »

The View from Mount Joy

We were in need of an audiobook and we’d either read everything that caught my eye or we would probably never want to read things that caught my eye. The View from Mount Joy looked like something we might have read and it looked like something we probably wouldn’t hate, so I grabbed it.

I mostly liked it. TW hated the main character but I thought he was OK. He was flawed and douchey but that’s how teen boys and men can be. It’s part of their societal makeup but he mostly overcame all of that. Mostly.

All in all, a perfectly fine audiobook while we waited for Maisie Dobbs to arrive.

The View from Mount Joy Read More »

The Walls Around Us

Here’s a Cybils shortlister that I didn’t love. I didn’t hate it, but it just didn’t grab me the way I had hoped. From the reviews of The Walls Around Us, I might be the only person who didn’t just absolutely love it.

It’s dark, it’s ghost story-like, it’s beautifully written — it just didn’t work for me. It might, however, work for you. Try it and let me know.

The Walls Around Us Read More »

Slasher Girls & Monster Boys

Thank goodness for the Cybil Awards. Slasher Girls & Monster Boys is something I probably never would have picked up on my own. I like horror, but I don’t read a lot of YA horror and I certainly don’t read short story YA horror. If they’re all like this, I should change that.

This is some of the best storytelling and the best writing, PERIOD. Read it.

Slasher Girls & Monster Boys Read More »

The Forgotten Room

Having read everything Willig has written and most of what White has written (though only a little of what Williams has written) it’s hard for me to believe that I did not know The Forgotten Room existed until I stumbled across it on the “new arrivals” shelf. WTF?

I was a little worried about it — would it be really obvious as to which author wrote each section, particularly once I realized there were three women across three time period? (It wasn’t.) Would it be jarring to move from White to Williams to Willig? (It wasn’t.)

I really enjoyed the story but admit to spending an inordinate amount of time tracking the lineage and saying, that can’t be right because INCEST and stuff like that. lol

The Forgotten Room Read More »

The Southern Education of a Jersey Girl

I have no idea where I saw The Southern Education of a Jersey Girl but it caused me to reserve it at the library almost immediately.

It was ok. I didn’t hate it. Most of it. I even really, really enjoyed the pregnancy test parts. Laughed out loud, a lot. I probably would have liked it more if I had known a single thing about Jamie Primak before I read it.

The Southern Education of a Jersey Girl Read More »

Four Graphic Novels

Readathons, even #fakereadathons, mean I get to spend some time catching up on graphic novels and these four were excellent. All four of them.

Roller Girl was awesome. I loved everything about it. I hope there are more Roller Girl books.

Next, I read March Book 2 and it was good, obviously, because John Lewis, y’all.

After that, Sunny Side Up. Poor kid. This was well written and well drawn. I didn’t expect much from it and was very pleasantly surprised.

Last, but not least, Honor Girl. Loved it. And, shockingly, I loved the ending. Some people probably didn’t – those “I want a happy endinggggg.” kinds of people. Nope. It ended exactly as it should have.

Four Graphic Novels Read More »