Rebecca Hill
Oh my, what a fantastic read! Toby is a young boy, who is taking care of his mother, who suffers from MS. As a carer, he doesn't have many friends, and spends most of his time at home. But things change when a witch crashes into his attic - and Toby is off on the adventure of a lifetime!
This was so much fun, and a great read overall. It was one of those books that pulls you in and refuses to let you stop until you finish the last page. Get your kids reading this summer, and share an adventure that they will not soon forget.
I really held out some high hopes for this book. It sounded amazing! However, I had a really hard time getting into the storyline. There were long dragging scenes, there were areas that really didn't give credence into what was happening, and just added a word count to the book.
I also didn't think the scenes around the senses, the ones being developed by the group, were really enough. That could have been given much more attention.
I enjoyed bits and pieces of the book, as there were areas that really picked up, the characters really meshed, and the story seemed to flow. It was really the chunks that felt almost forced, the over descriptive pieces, and the lack of development in areas that really drew my enjoyment in the book down.
As an overall rating of this book, I would give this a 2.5/5
When Otilla runs away, she isn't sure where she is going. After tromping through the woods, she comes across a beautiful house, which seems to be inhabited by a skull.
Otilla spends the day with the skull, learning about the house, and the person who used to own it. At night, a skeleton terrorizes the skull. After Otilla gets rid of the skeleton, the skull invites her to live at the house.
Super cute little story, with a few little twists. Enjoyable read!
Get ready for the original Game of Thrones! Martin J, Dougherty brings a fascinating view of the Wars of the Roses. You get to see the major players, and the causes of the war. It would not be complete without a king who was unable to rule his own country, a queen who attempted to take over, and unhappy nobles.
Absolutely LOVED this book. Anything with the Wars of the Roses fascinates me, and Dougherty's book does not disappoint! Grab a copy!
The murder of a young woman, found nude on the beach, begins one of the most complex, and intense investigations that San Diego had dealt with.
Fritzie Mann, a vivacious dancer, was found on the beach by a young boy. After alerting his father, who flagged someone down to alert the police, another person had to take a look before phoning authorities (cause lookie-loos are in abundance). Once the investigation got underway, there were problems from the start.
Many witnesses were unreliable, unsure of what they had seen, while others did not want to get involved. The police used many questionable tactics, including intimidation to get the information they wanted, not necessarily the correct information. While the family wanted justice, the police department just wanted a conviction. As the main players came into focus, it narrowed down to two main suspects, and there was not a very strong case against either. What was to follow during the investigation, the trial, and the subsequent questions leave a case today that still has lingering questions.
This was a fabulous read! The book goes through the different aspects of the case, the complexities, hidden players, dubious evidence, and so much more. James Stewart lays out the case and the story of the main suspects, and Fritzie Mann in a way that allows you to connect with them, while drawing more attention to the open ends of the case.
While quite a bit of time has passed since the murder of Fritzie, there are still questions, and questions deserve answers.
True crime lovers - you will enjoy this one! It is a great weekend read!
When Raccoon's house burns down, all the woodland friends wonder how they can help. As they go to their homes, they ponder the predicament, and what they can do.
Each friend offers something small, a bit of kindness, which means more than anything.
This was a super cute read, and I really enjoyed the storyline.
This was an interesting read, told from the perspective of a young lady, who has family at Wounded Knee.
I didn't know much of this area of history, but the book kept me interested, and it is one that I will recommend others to read as well.
These books are a great way to share history with younger readers, and keep them interested as well. Sharing from a story-type setting allows for younger readers to connect more with the characters.
Nubia has often been overshadowed by their powerful neighbors. However, they were a powerhouse in their own right. As they shared a border with Egypt, they were often intermingled with the Egyptian people, but they had a vibrant and rich culture of their own, and left evidence of a rich, and cultured civilization.
Schellinger has done a fabulous job in fleshing out the Nubian culture, tying some of it back to Egyptian influences, and drawing it back.
Great read!
Little Owl and Little Rabbit both enjoy being outside, but they don't know the other exists at first. When they finally meet, they become fast friends, but are sad that they are not able to play together more.
What an adorable story to share with children on making friends with someone a bit different from them. I enjoyed the imagery and the meaning of the book. I look forward to sharing this with my boys.
When Long goes to dragon school, one of the first things they are learning is cooking. Most dragons can breathe fire, but Long only breathes water. He is worried that he is going to fail this part of the school, due to not being able to cook with fire. But he, and the class, are in for a surprise.
Cute story! While we are all unique, we all bring something different to the table, (no pun intended), and add value wherever we are. Loved this!
When it comes to talking to kids about bringing a new baby into the house, everyone is excited, sharing the news. But when miscarriage happens, it can be hard to talk to siblings about the baby they will not get to meet.
This book was a sweet way of sharing that the new baby would not be coming home. Sad, but a good read. Told from the perspective of a brother who was excited for a new baby, I enjoyed this read.
If your child loves dinosaurs, then they are going to LOVE this book! It is a super cute story on how paleontologists excavate dinosaur bones, where they look, how they transport them, and put the skeleton together.
I absolutely LOVED reading through this book. It was a fun and interactive way to teach kids a bit about a scientific field, while having some fun at the same time. There are fun facts throughout as well, providing even more information on a level that younger readers can understand.
Well done and tops the list of favorite reads for the year!
If you love true crime, then you are going to LOVE this book! I enjoyed reading through the different cases, as the techniques that were used to solve them. Many of the cases I was familiar with, but the background that was given, and the many different steps that were taken was truly eye-opening.
Highly recommend this read!
Akhenaten and Nefertiti are two names that are synonymous with Egyptian history. While Tutankhamen and his treasures have eclipsed the couple, the heretical pharaoh and his wife have remained, in large, untouched for years. What we know, or thought we knew, is challenged in part through this book.
John and Colleen Darnell dive into the lives of the couple, from before Akhenaten changed his name and moved his capital city, to their treatment of the major gods and goddesses of Egyptian religion. The fundamental shift that occurred during his reign was massive. For decades, it has been the common assumption that Akhenaten did nothing with his military, letting Egypt crumble as he focused on his religious shift. But evidence presented in this book shows otherwise.
The Darnell's take us through Akhenaten's father briefly, and the lineage of Nefertiti (although still somewhat uncertain), and through their reign, into that of their daughter, and eventually that of Tutankhamen.
This was a really interesting read, and I enjoyed it. While I don't agree with all of the theories put forward in this book, I found that the majority of them do make sense, and deserve some deeper dives into study and research. As someone who has loved Egyptian history for many, many years, this book brought some interesting new information forward, changing the way we think about the reign of Akhenaten, and the eventual demise of the religion of Aten itself.
Get ready for a book that is going to jump you through a few timelines, and leave you wondering what could have been.
Grace Darling is the lighthouse keeper's daughter. She loves her life on the island, the quiet and the seclusion. One night is going to change all of that with the shipwreck that happens close to their lighthouse. She is thrust into the limelight and gains notoriety that she does not want. She was doing her job and preferred for it to be left as such.
Matilda Emerson is a woman in disgrace. Pregnant and unmarried, she is shuffled out of Ireland to a distant relative in America. As their tenuous relationship progresses, Matilda learns that there is much more to Harriet than she first thought - and she is determined to learn the truth.
This was a fabulous book and one that I truly enjoyed reading! The timelines are laid out easily enough so that you don't get lost, and the stories intertwine neatly, leaving you satisfied at the end. I enjoyed the twists and turns (not sharing those, you have to read for yourself), and the threads that pull neatly together to reveal the stubborn courage of these women - and their connections to the lighthouse.
Inital review was shared via the blog on beforewegoblog.com, and the rating we had was out of 10. You can see the full review of the team there.
So, off the cuff – Romance is not my usual genre of reading, but this sounded like a cute, easy read – so I figured, why not? It was that, cute. There was nothing that was just drawing me back to read it, so I took my time with the book, not devouring it in one sitting.
The heroine, Elinor, I will admit was a bit lacking in some areas, but so were many of the characters. It seemed to sort of wander in the center of the book, before returning to a somewhat more tangible read. Elinor, though, for her faults, is trying to be what everyone expects, until she is pushed to a breaking point. Enter the dashing hero, and a rather peculiar scholar.
This follows a lot of the same lines as many romances. Girl meets guy, develops a crush, and so on and so forth. One of the fun parts of this book for me was the dragon, Sir Jessamyn. He was rather cute, and a bit of the savior of the book.
For the romance lovers out there, this is one that you will enjoy.
Out of 10, I give this book a 5.
When it comes to general practicalities, Miss Mildred Percy is the standard. She looks after her sisters' children, keeps to herself, and never does anything out of the ordinary. However, all of that is about to change with the arrival of a letter.
When she is informed of an inheritance coming her way, she is unsure of what to expect. What she didn't expect was a large trunk full of random odds and ends – things that her uncle apparently treasured, but she was unsure as to why he thought of leaving them to her. Truth be told, she was not even sure she remembered much about the gentleman.
Nestled in the trunk, there was a large stone – but she is about to discover that it is more than just an odd piece of rock – it is an egg. A dragon egg to be exact.
With the arrival of a dragon, she is drawn into a friendship and conspiratorial silence with the village vicar, who is helping her to hide Fitz, the beloved dragon, and his darling housekeeper, who is helping to feed the new arrival.
She is about to discover that there is more to this inheritance than she figured and learns a few things about herself as well.
Oh, my goodness! I absolutely LOVED this book! I had a tough time putting it down, although life did intervene enough to make me impatient to get back to reading. This is one book that I highly recommend. It is a fabulous adventure, and I look forward to reading the next book in the series (which is currently sitting in my audible cart), to learn more about this grand adventure that is beginning.
