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The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood: Book Review

I seriously did not think I could love an audiobook performance more than I love Katherine Kellgren's narration of the Bloody Jack series by L. A. Meyer. And then she narrated The Mysterious Howling. Holy cow. I am in awe of Ms. Kellgren's talent! Old men, teen girls, simpering married women, wolfish children howling at the moon, she went at all of them with gusto and I loved every minute of it! Miss Penelope Lumley has just graduated from the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females. She has no family but her headmistress encourages her to apply for a position as governess to three children at Ashton Place. She seems perfect for the job since she is (obviously) a bright student and (not so obviously) an animal lover, a trait specifically requested of job-seekers in the advertisement. Miss Lumley sets off for her interview, finds herself hired on the spot, and soon learns that the three children given to her care were found in the woods within the past week. They have apparently been raised by wolves and don't speak a word of English between them. But a Swanburne girl is more than a match for any task and Penelope sets about teaching them a love for poetry, phrases of polite conversation, and the fine art of ignoring irrepressible squirrels. I loved these characters. Miss Lumley simply doesn't see that she might have an impossible job before her. She has been hired to teach these children and teach them she will. When Lady Ashton gives her ever more Herculean tasks to accomplish, she simply tackles them the best way that she knows how. She genuinely cares for the children and has their best interests always at heart. The children, Alexander, Beowulf, and Cassiopeia, are little scene-stealers. They are remarkably intelligent,…

In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak: Book Review

Young Mickey hears a noise deep in the night and finds himself falling into the Night Kitchen, where he has to help the cooks get the milk into the batter. What a fun little book! I never read much Sendak when I was little for some reason, so this was completely new to me. The illustrations were tons of fun, of course. The kitchen is set against a "skyline" of boxes of cake mix, tall salt shakers, and an elevated bread train. They're perfectly whimsical for this book. I imagine children would love the story of little Mickey saving the day. I know I did! How much fun is it to imagine that only you can accomplish something important while the world, including your parents, is sleeping? It should also be a great book to read aloud. It's short and to the point and rhymes just enough to roll off the tongue. I highly recommend this one to parents with young children as a fun little bedtime story. Apparently some parents and even librarians are/were upset that a few pictures depict Mickey nude. I was a little taken aback myself when I saw it and knew that had to be the reason the book shows up on banned/challenged lists. After thinking about it, I decided that most kids are probably going to giggle, think the book is even more fun, and move on. It's perfectly innocent. Heck, if I want to get all analytical, we can talk about Mickey shedding his normal life of pj's and bedtime for the more illicit, and therefore more enjoyable, world of being up in the night and saving the day, all things kids probably aren't supposed to do. It represents freedom to them, even if they can't articulate that. View an excerpt. Buy In…

The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan: Book Review

Percy Jackson finds himself entering a camp of Roman demigods near San Francisco with only the vaguest memory of who he is. The Romans accept him and he finds himself on a quest with Hazel and Frank, a couple of other demigods. They must make their way to Alaska, "The Land Beyond the Gods," defeat a giant, win back the Roman standard, and free Thanatos, aka Death. All in about four days. No sweat. As much as I loved reading Percy Jackson in print, I have to say that I love listening to Joshua Swanson's narration of this spin-off series even more. He sounds as excited as I feel to find out what's going to happen next. He does a great job of voicing all the different characters, and he makes all these smart alecky demigods sound as smart alecky as they really are. I can't recommend this series on audio highly enough! I do really like this series so far. I seem to have never reviewed the first book, The Lost Hero, but I did enjoy it. I mostly listen to audio books in the car but I had to bring this one in the house with me and listen as I cooked or cleaned or even just got all my stuff ready for the next day. I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen next. Percy sounds a little older and wiser in this book. He's kind of filling a big brother role for Hazel and Frank. He's been on enough quests to know how it works, even if he has lost his memory. He doesn't dominate the other two; he acknowledges that Frank is the leader and he lets Frank make the tough calls. I respect him for that. He's still hilarious though and I…

The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde: Book Review

Welcome to an alternative England, where characters from nursery rhymes investigate nursery crimes and the investigation is more focused on getting a good story than on getting a correct conviction. Jack Spratt and his new partner, Mary Mary, have just been assigned to investigate the death of Humpty Dumpty. But this seemingly straightforward investigation is not all it's cracked up to be. (Sorry, I don't know if that even made sense, but I had to work it in somehow.) I really enjoyed this. Something about the feel of a hard-nosed detective story contrasted with using characters from nursery rhymes just really amused me. And it was an unpredictable whodunnit on top of everything else. If you don't take yourself (or your books) too seriously, you would probably enjoy this. I have also really enjoyed Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series, so if you enjoyed those, you'll probably also like this series. Reviewed October 13, 2007 Read an excerpt. Find author Jasper Fforde on his website, Twitter, Facebook. Buy The Big Over Easy at Malaprop’s | Better World Books Friday Flashback Reviews are a weekly feature here on The Introverted Reader. These are old reviews I wrote on GoodReads. Thanks to Angieville and her Retro Friday Reviews for the inspiration and encouragement! I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop's, my local independent bookstore located in beautiful downtown Asheville, NC; and Better World Books. I will receive a small commission at no cost to you if you purchase books through links on my site. My opinions are completely my own.

Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple: Book Review

Bernadette Fox is an...eccentric...mother and wife living in Seattle. Her daughter, Bee, is an excellent student and has asked for a family cruise to Antarctica as a reward for earning all A's (or her school's equivalent) throughout her middle school career. Bernadette and her husband, Elgin, can't think of a reason to say no so the planning begins. Bernadette is in a fragile place mentally due to a Huge Hideous Thing that happened when she was still living in L.A. The stress of planning the trip, or having her virtual assistant in India plan it, added to the stress of the terrible parents at Bee's school and the general anxiety Bernadette experiences every day prove to be too much; Bernadette disappears. This book is a collection of emails and other ephemera as Bee tries to figure out where her mom went. This was hilarious but it was also so sad at the same time. The parents at Bee's school were horrific beyond words. One in particular took helicopter parenting to an entirely new level. No wonder poor Bernadette calls them "the gnats." She tries her best to just lie low and let them do their thing but they won't let her. All parents must be joiners! All parents must volunteer in the classroom! All neighboring parents must keep their backyards in the condition that chief helicopter mom dictates! Holy cow. Bernadette herself was an enigma. I liked that she just kind of gives the other parents the finger but it was obvious that something just wasn't right with her. She would go on huge rants about how she hates Canadians and 5-way intersections, both of which are apparently innumerable in Seattle. She seemed to be most honest in emails with her virtual assistant. She chose a house that used to…

Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison: Book Review

Georgia Nicolson is fourteen and full of typical fourteen-year-old girl drama. Through her hilarious diary entries, we learn about her disastrous attempt at plucking her eyebrows, her fantasies about a guy she calls the Sex God (even though she doesn't seem very clear about what sex actually involves), her fights with friends, and her triumphs at school. Oh my gosh. I giggled all the way through this, feeling about 14 myself. Georgia just cracked me up. My poor husband couldn't get me to put it down and had to listen to me laughing and snorting to myself as I read. Oh, Georgia, you did my poor downtrodden, immediately post-Grapes of Wrath heart good. I recognized Georgia, and I think most of us will. I know some girls bypass the giggly, boy-obsessed stage completely, but I was not one of them. I was quiet about it, horrified at the idea that a boy might actually think I liked him, even if it was true, but at home I had my magazines and my walls were pretty much wallpapered with photos I'd ripped out of them and pinned up. My poor parents had no idea what happened. And that's where Georgia is in life. She comes across as pretty fearless. I was first shocked by some of the things she did but then I would giggle away again. It's all pretty harmless though. I don't know if I would like Georgia in real life (she's the type who would immediately tell a boy that you liked him), but on the page, I adored her. She is irrepressible, funny, insecure, sarcastic, and a nightmare of a teenage girl. Teens and adults who can relate and who aren't afraid of Georgia's crude sense of humor should absolutely pick this up. It was just what…

Don’t Look Down by Jennifer Crusie: Book Review

Lucy Armstrong is a director who makes dog food commercials--by choice, not lack of talent. Her ex-husband has asked her to come in and finish directing an action flick that he's coordinated the stunts for. The real director has just died with only four days of shooting left to go. She reluctantly agrees. Things get interesting when she shows up on the set and finds out that her star has hired a stunt double. But not just any stunt double. Meet Captain J. T. Wilder of the Green Berets. Wilder is smokin' hot and attracted to Lucy. Despite obvious distractions, the pair are still aware that something weird is happening on this movie set. They set out to find out what it is, and to find out more about each other. This was a quick, mindless read featuring gorgeous people. But this was an odd hybrid of chick lit and military novel that didn't exactly work for me. I don't really read military books, so why do I want my chick lit served up with military stuff? There was too much of the men focusing in on the women's chests and legs, and I never really understood what was going on, even at the end. Maybe I read through too fast, but it felt like a lot of loose ends were left. Lucy's niece, Pepper, was cute, and I liked that Lucy was a strong character. Other than that, this book was pretty forgettable. Reviewed February 26, 2009 Side note: Jennifer Crusie's book, Bet Me was one of my top ten reads of 2012. Read an excerpt. Find author Jennifer Crusie on her website, Facebook, and Twitter. Find author Bob Mayer on his website and Facebook. Buy Don't Look Down at Malaprop’s | Better World Books Friday Flashback Reviews are…

Naked Came the Leaf Peeper by Brian Lee Knopp: Book Review

4 Stars. Zany, unpredictable, and hilarious are probably the best words to describe this Western North Carolina tale. Written by 12 local authors, each getting a chapter, this seems to be a competition to see which one can throw the biggest curveball out for the next author to catch. They each did an [...]

The Wayside School Collection by Louis Sachar: Book Review

Wayside school is just a little different. The builder built the school sideways, so it's 30 classrooms stacked on top of each other. Mrs. Jewls's class is on the 30th floor. That makes for a long hike for her students. The students at Wayside are a little different as well. One boy has a literal compulsion to pull a girl's braids. One student sleeps all the time. Everyone calls a new kid by the wrong name and he never corrects anyone. One new kid shows up wearing a raincoat and there's a huge surprise when he takes it off. The teachers at Wayside are a little different too. The first teacher is horrible and when she disappears, the students get a teacher who is just as wacky as they are. Yes, life's a little different at Wayside, but that's the way they like it. I can remember my 4th grade teacher reading the first book to my class. We thought this was the funniest thing ever! I had high expectations going into it, and I wasn't really let down. It wasn't as funny to me now as it was to my 9-year-old self, but I can definitely see why I loved it back then. Don't get me wrong--it was still hilarious, but I found myself giggling or smiling instead of laughing out loud. I wasn't too sure about Louis Sachar as the narrator at first. He's not terribly exciting but he grew on me. He has an earnest voice that perfectly set up the crazy things these kids did in all seriousness. I felt the first book was the best but the other two were worth checking out as well. The end of the second one got waaaay weird and ended in a not-very-happy place. I was surprised. But readers…

Ava’s Man by Rick Bragg: Book Review

4 Stars. My uncle has been telling me for--oh, years now, that I just have to read Rick Bragg. I do take his recommendations seriously, but my to-read list is out of control and I'm just now getting to him. How I wish I had listened to my uncle earlier. I will not be waiting years to read more of Bragg's work, that is for sure [...]