Sarah

I thoroughly enjoy Harris's Sookie Stackhouse books and picked this up for a light summer mystery. I didn't realize that this was first published twenty years ago, apparently before Harris learned to write. Real Murders was poorly written, with shallow characters, way too much passive voice, and plenty of telling instead of showing, as my middle school English teacher would say. I'm actually surprised that this was ever published.

I listened to this not realizing that it is a children's book, but it was sweet and enjoyable in typical McCall Smith style.

I couldn't quite believe the book was over at the last page! What a cliffhanger. Another excellent installment in the series with strong characters and an interesting addition/fleshing out of the fantasy world. I'll have to start the third one right away!

A fun, fast, and interesting read, especially with all the hipster “back to the land” ideas in the air these days. Kimball gave up life in NYC for the most farm-y of farm lives, and it was not an easy transition. There's plenty of dirt, blood, sweat, and tears, not to mention exhausting and never-ending work, but the payoff is a connection to and knowledge of the food you put in your mouth.

I quite enjoyed the first in this historical mystery series! Well crafted, with an excellent narrator for the audiobook.

This is an excellent writer's inspiration and companion. King tells the story of his own career and offers a “writer's toolbox” for the would-be author. An engaging and insightful book.

This was quite fun and charming - great for kids apart from the stripper pole :)

This book made it pretty clear that I would make a good French mother and a terrible American mom. For those who have not heard this book reviewed to death, it relays the experiences of one American journalist and new mother navigating the world of French parenting. Druckerman covers the period from birth to kindergarten and explores cultural differences between American and French parenting in terms of sleeping, eating, discipline, and education. I think one of the failings of Druckerman's book is that she has little firsthand knowledge of life as an American mom. Druckerman relies on correspondence with friends and brief personal observations, mostly in New York City, to compare the the different cultural parenting techniques. As everyone else has observed ad infinitum, French parents have plenty of advantages unavailable in the States, all of which make having children as well as a work-life balance a lot easier. Nevertheless, speaking as a non-parent and someone who feels that children should not take over one's life, most of Druckerman's “French” parenting advice sounds like common sense to me.

I love this series, especially listening to the audio version. Lecat is an incredible narrator and her soft accented voice brings these stories to life. My one complaint is the misleading title - the story revolves around construction of Phuti and Grace's house, a mysterious stranger visiting the detective agency, and a crisis at the orphan farm. As always, I can't wait for the next installment!

This is magical, charming, and ageless. Lyra, a young orphan raised by scholars at Oxford, becomes entranced by the mystery of “Dust,” a strange phenomenon about which no one seems to know anything definitive. Along with her constant companion, a daemon named Pan, Lyra sets out for the North in pursuit of the mystery, avoiding the Gobblers, befriending the Gyptians, and determined to save the children kidnapped for unknown (but surely nefarious!) purposes.

Everyone should read this lyrical, almost myth-like tale. A fantasy as compelling as Narnia and better than Harry Potter!

I do love this series - it's fun and enormously engaging, and I find myself talking to Jacky (mostly saying, “No! Think before you act!”), but I found some of the allusions to assault rather disturbing and too casually handled. That's the only qualm I have with the book - otherwise, these are a rollicking good read, with well-developed characters and even a bit of a history lesson :)

Another excellent youth-lit book! This has all the classic elements of good kids books - orphans, mysteries, treasure, bullies, and orphans who outsmart the bullies. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

This is a book of people stumbling through life, suddenly finding themselves in places they never thought possible. A liberal arts grad finds herself a librarian in a small town, befriending a boy whose religious parents forbid most literature. And then she sort of kidnaps him. This was an odd book. I felt set up for disaster, but instead the ending was mild and non-confrontational. Maybe I missed something, but I'm not quite sure what others saw in this book.

I am a sucker for traumatic youth books - you know the type, where you need to read with a tissue in hand in sympathy with the poor, outcast, tormented protagonist. This book takes the outcast theme a step farther, allowing the reader access into the mind of Auggie, a little boy with a severe facial deformity. As he enters 5th grade after years of sheltered homeschooling, Auggie has to navigate the uncertainties of being the new kid when no one treats him like the boy next door. The book switches perspectives, so we understand Auggie's sister's point of view, as well as those of his classmates. Very well-done lesson on compassion and understanding.

So much fun! I cannot wait to start the second book in the series. This is Treasure Island meets Swiss Family Robinson meets...some book where a girl passes as a boy in order to be accepted into a male-dominated profession. At any rate, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Excellent. I finished this book in a few days and hardly wanted to put it down. It's fast-paced for a novel about a sleepy southern town, with unusual characters and a little mystery to keep you guessing.

I was expecting another dynamic classic along the lines of Harry Potter - something genre- and age-defiant. I was disappointed. This book was average, in my opinion, and rather predictable for those readers over 13.

Excellent novel about a girl who feels very real, with mixed and conflicting emotions, a girl who ultimately wants to be appreciated for the clever and creative girl she is. Refreshing, although I felt that the end dropped off quickly after an engrossing build-up.

Yay! Anna Pigeon is back in the national parks where she belongs (loyal fans should skip Barr's last Pigeon novel, Burn, set in New Orleans). This book goes back in time to explore the incident that turned Anna on to NPS law enforcement in the first place. Barr always does a great job of balancing setting and character, and here she explores the very American tourists amid the wonders of Lake Powell and Glen Canyon. A great, engaging audiobook, even though Barbara Rosenblat, who voiced Anna in all the previous books, is here replaced by Joyce Bean.

A useful compendium of audiobooks for lots of different tastes. Some of the recommendations missed the mark with me (Florence of Arabia, for example) but others I agreed with. It's a useful resource for those of us who go through 1-2 audiobooks a week and know the importance of a good narrator.

Fantastic. Seriously. Schmidt has a gift for dialogue and capturing young voices. A little six degrees of separation - it turns out that the author taught children's lit to my friend Laura!

This was recommended to me as a funny, satiric audiobook. I never really got invested in it, and almost bailed toward the end. This was the definition of a “meh” book.

There was a definite lack of good PCT memoirs out there, and I'm glad Strayed came along to fill the void. This is nothing like Bryson's A Walk in the Woods (about the Appalachian Trail), although the authors share the endearing and relatable ineptitude of first time thru-hikers. Wild is much more than a big trail memoir. Strayed is trying to escape a lot in her hike - the death of her mother, divorce, and addition - and the book explores her struggle to come to terms with her former life and the day to day realities of life alone on the trail.

Lots of great pictures for different styles, all of which feel modern and fresh.

This was incredibly readable - I finished it in a day. It has some Potter-esque elements, but takes place during the Cold War. The end drops off a bit, or this would be a contender for a new classic.