4.5 Stars. Oh my goodness. This was so much fun! But it also had a lot of depth. And just look at that gorgeous cover!I loved Amari. She’s a fighter. Life is hard and unfair for her, largely because of things completely outside her control, but she keeps hanging in there. Cruel adults or mean girls, she meets each challenge the […]
3 Stars. The title and the official synopsis led me to believe that I was going to read a book centered on Queen Lakshmi of Jhansi, “India’s Joan of Arc.” Imagine my surprise when I started reading chapter after chapter describing Sita’s life in a small village. It was interesting enough but I honestly chose the book to meet the […]
Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl invited us to share ten books with nature on the cover this week. If you asked me to describe what kind of cover I like, I would tell you that I don’t like human figures or cheesy stock photos. I also don’t particularly care for covers that have flowery […]
4 Stars. What a cute little book! I read it in about an hour but I enjoyed myself immensely. Nathaniel is a fairly complex character. He’s a timid little thing but Aunt Phil pushes him to face his fears. He has a kind heart that leads him to befriend creatures that Aunt Phil dismisses as pests. Most living things will respond […]
Welcome to my weekly update for May 9, 2021! Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there! We celebrated early with my in-laws last week. It was nice to spend a long weekend with them. I won’t be seeing my own mom today but we’re planning to see her and the rest of my […]
3 Stars. I expected something like The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, which sets the bar awfully high. There’s a superficial similarity in the plot summary but that’s as far as any resemblance goes. There’s plenty of action to kick off this trilogy but it’s action that doesn’t seem to be relevant to the main story. I didn’t know […]
3 Stars. I really liked the first half of the book. Charlotte is feisty, if a bit too practical, and she’s creative in addressing the mill’s myriad problems. I wondered how the author was going to weave Rumpelstiltskin into the tale but she did it beautifully. The village of Shearing, like any self-respecting small town, is full […]
Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl invited us to share our ten most recent reads this week. I’m writing this on Wednesday so it will be out of date by the time it posts, but here’s my current list! Links for books that I haven’t reviewed yet go to the Malaprop’s bookstore website. Welcome to […]
Welcome to my weekly update for May 2, 2021! As you read this, my husband and I should be spending the weekend with his parents. We’ve all been vaccinated and they’re only a two-hour drive away. It felt safe to us and the CDC says it’s okay too. We’ve had lunch with them a couple […]
Hosted by Books Are My Favourite and Best on the first Saturday of every month, this meme asks us to start with one title and create a chain of bookish connections to see where it takes us. This month, to commemorate Beverly Cleary’s death in March, we’re starting with Beezus and Ramona, the first in the Ramona books. I actually […]
4.5 Stars. I’ve struggled a little lately with a bit of a reading slump. I can usually break out of those by reading a few quick fantasies. This book should not have worked for me right now but it absolutely did. I know very little Indian history so I didn’t know anything about this emperor, his wives, or even this period in […]