First let me clarify that these are books I read in 2011; I don’t believe any of them were actually published this year. I noticed that I have gotten ridiculously stingy with my 5-star ratings. Four! That’s all I gave out! And two of those were re-reads! I’ll be changing one or two ratings because some books that really stand […]
Hanna Heath studies and restores rare books. She is offered the chance of a lifetime when she is contacted by the United Nations to restore a rare illuminated Haggadah at the end of the Bosnian War. Hanna manages to pull out a few clues to the book’s history. As she follows up on the clues, […]
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved Major Pettigrew from the book by Helen Simonson. I don’t always do well with military types. I look all meek and mild, but the minute I’m given anything that even remotely resembles an order, I dig in my heels. That’s not really the best way to […]
Twelve-year-old Odd doesn’t quite fit in with the rest of his village. He crushed his leg when he was younger and that’s left him with a limp. He’d rather be carving alone in the woods than hanging out in the hall with the other villagers fighting and telling stories. His stepfather is just awful. So […]
Dr. Montague, a researcher into paranormal activity, has rented the fabled Hill House for the summer. The house has a reputation for being haunted. Very few people have managed to stay in it for more than a night. In order to sort of help the house do its worst, he invites people to stay with […]
I tried, but I give up. The first story, “Santa Land Diaries,” was great. Sedaris’s tale of working as a Macy’s department store elf is hilarious! Those people who inevitably make the news every Black Friday by pepper spraying and punching their fellow shoppers? I think they all go to Macy’s at Christmas. Sedaris writes […]
This book is the one that Hermione inherited from Dumbledore. It contains the “Tale of the Three Brothers” that was told in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It also contains notes about each story written by Dumbledore and J.K. Rowling. I’ll be honest here. True, morbid, Brothers Grimm fairy tales are just not my […]
Deryn Sharp is one of the main characters in the Leviathan series by Scott Westerfeld. I’ve only read the first two. She’s about 15 or 16 and she’s one of those characters who are perennial favorites among female readers–a girl disguised as a boy. I wonder why we do like them so much? But that’s […]
Twinklestar, the last reindeer, panics in a thunderstorm and sends Santa’s caravan plunging toward the ground. After making sure everyone is okay, Niklas Goodfellow, the last real Santa, realizes that he has come to earth in a territory controlled by the evil new head Santa, Gerold Goblynch. Niklas is on the run from Goblynch and […]
Gumdrop Coal has gotten the axe. Founder of the Coal Patrol, those elves who deliver coal into bad little kids’ stockings, Gumdrop is out on his ear when Santa decides that every child deserves a real gift on Christmas. Gumdrop takes it hard. His methods might be harsh, but he believes they’re fair and they […]
Colleen at Books in the City is hosting the Immigrant Stories Challenge again this year. The goal is to read any kind of book featuring an immigrant experience. These books do not have to center around the US–people immigrate all over the world. This was one of my favorite challenges last year, so I’m signing […]