Friday, January 31, 2014

Unravel Me

Unravel Me
by Tahereh Mafi


Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Dystopian Fiction

Synopsis:  Tick tick tick tick tick it's almost time for war.

Juliette has escaped to Omega Point.  It is a place for people like her-people with gifts-and it is also the headquarters of the rebel resistance.

She's finally free from The Reestablishment, free from their plan to use her as a weapon, and free to love Adam.  But Juliette will never be free from her lethal touch.

Or from Warner, who wants Juliette more than she ever thought possible.

Haunted by her past and terrified of her future, Juliette knows that in her present, she will have to make some life changing choices.  Choices that may involve choosing between her heart-and Adam's life.
From the book jacket

Review:  I could not wait to finish this book and that is not a good thing.  I got so bored with this book and I just couldn't keep reading it.  I almost abandoned it after about 380 pages but I figured I might as well finished it.  The last book, Shatter Me, ended with me wanting to find out what happens next.  This book did not end that way.  I can't read another book where the figurative language takes over and turns one paragraph into pages of metaphor after metaphor.  I also can't read another book with more cross outs.  The last book started out with a lot of figurative language and cross outs but got better so I had hoped that this book would be better but it was definitely NOT!  The first half or more of this book was just a romance between Juliette and Adam and less about the powers they have and the resistance that they were planning.  There was hardly any action in this book and a lot of pity parties.  I will most definitely not read the third book.

Rating:  1 star

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Biblioburro

Biblioburro
by Jeanette Winter

Genre: Picture Book

Synopsis:  Join Luis and his trusty burros, Alfa and Beto, as they travel far and wide to bring treasured books to eager children in the remote villages of rural Colombia.

Based on the inspiring life of a real man and his devoted burro team, here is a book to remind us of the immense power stories have to connect us all.
From the book jacket

Review:  I checked out this book because I had told N2 about a book I had read with my stories about Luis Soriana and how he used his donkeys to take books to children who didn't have access to any books or libraries.  They wanted to read a book about this man so this is the book my library had.  The illustrations are very fun and colorful and reminded me of folk art from South America.  The author writes very simply about what Luis does and tells how Luis got his idea, some troubles he had when traveling to remote villages and what happens when he gets to the village.  I think there could have been more meat to this story, it may have been a little too simplified.  Maybe I felt this way because I had read a more in depth story with my students at school.  The last page does contain more information about Luis Soriana and his Biblioburro.  My kids did enjoy reading about this and had some questions about the book.

Rating: 3 1/2 stars

Serious Farm

Serious Farm
by Tim Egan


Genre: Picture Book

Synopsis:  Farmer Fred never smiled much.  "Farmin' is a serious business," he'd say.  "Nothin' funny about corn."  And so life on his farm was pretty serious.  None of the animals laughed or even smiled.

But everyone has to laugh sometime, and finally the animals decide to leave Serious Farm in search of a more cheerful place to chuckle and graze. Will the animals find a livelier home, and will Farmer Fred ever lighten up?  Tim Egan's seriously silly Serious Farm is a story for all who need a little more laughter in their lives.
from the book jacket

Review: This was a really cute story about animals on a farm who decide that the farm is too serious so they come up with a plan to make the farm a funnier place.  My kids really enjoyed this book and reading all the antics that the animals tried to make Farmer Fred laugh or smile.  They really liked the sheep wearing sunglasses with mustaches on!  I liked the quirky humor in this book and all the illustrations of the farm animals doing silly things.  I think I am going to have to check out other books by this author!

Rating: 5 stars

Monday, January 27, 2014

The Husband's Secret

The Husband's Secret
Liane Moriarty

The Husband's Secret

Genre: Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads):  From the author of the critically acclaimed What Alice Forgot comes a breakout new novel about the secrets husbands and wives keep from each other.

My Darling Cecilia
If you're reading this, then I've died . . .


Imagine your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret - something so terrible it would destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others too. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive . . .

Cecilia Fitzpatrick achieved it all - she's an incredibly successful business woman, a pillar of her small community and a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home. But that letter is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess barely know Cecilia - or each other - but they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband's devastating secret.


Marcie's Review: This was such a captivating book to read - I couldn't put it down!  I had a bit of a hard time keeping the characters straight, but perhaps that's because I was usually reading while distracted by a small child.  Moriarty's strength, I think, is in making her characters seem so real; I could identify, in some way, with almost all the characters, and their thoughts and voices struck a chord with me.  I spent most of the book wondering how on earth she was going to resolve the conflict around the secret, and while I didn't exactly like the ending, it was certainly creative and thought-provoking.

Becky's Review:  I had a hard time getting into this book.  Perhaps I am not in the mood to read books such as this one but I wanted more depth.  While I felt like this book was very well written and engaging, I wanted more which is why I think my feelings towards this book may be based on what I was in the mood for reading.  I really dislike when authors hint at something and dangle the carrot in front of me for a long time before they finally let me in on the secret.  It is really one of my pet peeves in life!  I hate knowing there is a secret but not knowing what it is.  The fact that I knew about the letter that Celia's husband wrote but yet I don't know until half way through what was in the letter drove me nuts!  Once I got into the book, it was a quick and easy read.  Just make sure you are in the mood for the book before picking it up!

Marcie's Rating: 5 stars

Becky's Rating: 3 1/2 stars

The Sisters

The Sisters
Nancy Jensen

The Sisters

Genre: Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads):  In the tradition of Marilynne Robinson’s Housekeeping and Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge, a dazzling debut novel about the family bonds that remain even when they seem irretrievably torn apart


Growing up in hardscrabble Kentucky in the 1920s, with their mother dead and their stepfather an ever-present threat, Bertie Fischer and her older sister Mabel have no one but each other—with perhaps a sweetheart for Bertie waiting in the wings. But on the day that Bertie receives her eighth-grade diploma, good intentions go terribly wrong. A choice made in desperate haste sets off a chain of misunderstandings that will divide the sisters and reverberate through three generations of women.

What happens when nothing turns out as you planned? From the Depression through World War II and Vietnam, and smaller events both tragic and joyful, Bertie and Mabel forge unexpected identities that are shaped by unspeakable secrets. As the sisters have daughters and granddaughters of their own, they discover that both love and betrayal are even more complicated than they seem.

Gorgeously written, with extraordinary insight and emotional truth, Nancy Jensen’s powerful debut novel illuminates the far-reaching power of family and family secrets.


Review: I wanted to like this book because it's about relationships between sisters and mothers and daughters, and it takes place throughout the last hundred years of US history.  But it just wasn't for me.

It was very well written, with interesting characters and an intriguing story, but it was so sad, so bleak, and ultimately, so depressing to read.  Even when positive things happened to the characters, they managed to be negative or bitter.  Throughout the novel, I kept hoping that the next generation of women would overcome this history of sadness, but time and time again, it just didn't happen.  It's not that I uniformly dislike sad books, it's that there needs to be something positive, some ray of hope or sense of joy, and this book didn't have that.

Each chapter was written from the perspective of a different character some time in the future from the last chapter, and while this was interesting and could have worked well, I found myself wanting more information about each character before the book jumped to the next.  Perhaps if the chapters were longer, or there weren't such big jumps in the timeline, so that I got to know each character better, I would have liked it more?

Rating: 2 stars

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Prodigy

Prodigy
by Marie Lu


Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Dystopian Fiction

Synopsis: After escaping from the Republic's stronghold of Los Angeles, June and Day arrive in Vegas just as the unthinkable happens: the Elector Primo dies, and his son Anden takes his place.  With the Republic edging closer to chaos, the pair joins a group of Patriot rebels eager to help Day rescue his brother and who offer them passage to the Colonies.  The Patriots have only one request-June and Day must assassinate the new Elector.

It's the chance to change the nation, to give voice to a people silenced for too long.  But as June realizes this Elector is nothing like his father, she's haunted by the choice ahead.  What if Anden is a new beginning?  What if revolution must be more than loss and vengeance, anger and blood?  What if the Patriots are wrong?
From the book jacket

Review:  Oh my, I highly enjoyed this book and I cannot wait to read the conclusion to this series!  I really enjoyed the first book of the series but I liked this one better.  Now that we know the characters, there can be more action.  The characters and their relationships continue to develop but we don't need to know all their background again like we did in the beginning.  In this book you really get to see what the 2 warring nations are-the Republic and the Colonies.  You know much more about them and how they became to be.  I always like when my questions are answered!  The assassination plot was full of action and was quite a page turner and you really didn't know what was going to happen.  Then when June and Day venture into the Colonies you learn about the other part of the former USA are living and how it is so different from the Republic.   I was surprised by the twist at the end and like I said before this book left me wanting to rush out right now to get the third book.  I can't wait to see how this series finishes.

Rating: 5 stars

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Fly Away

Fly Away
Kristin Hannah

Fly Away

Genre: Women's Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads):  Once, a long time ago, I walked down a night-darkened road called Firefly Lane, all alone, on the worst night of my life, and I found a kindred spirit. That was our beginning. More than thirty years ago. TullyandKate. You and me against the world. Best friends forever. But stories end, don’t they? You lose the people you love and you have to find a way to go on. . . .

Tully Hart has always been larger than life, a woman fueled by big dreams and driven by memories of a painful past. She thinks she can overcome anything until her best friend, Kate Ryan, dies. Tully tries to fulfill her deathbed promise to Kate--to be there for Kate’s children--but Tully knows nothing about family or motherhood or taking care of people.

Sixteen-year-old Marah Ryan is devastated by her mother’s death. Her father, Johnny, strives to hold the family together, but even with his best efforts, Marah becomes unreachable in her grief. Nothing and no one seems to matter to her . . . until she falls in love with a young man who makes her smile again and leads her into his dangerous, shadowy world.

Dorothy Hart--the woman who once called herself Cloud--is at the center of Tully’s tragic past. She repeatedly abandoned her daughter, Tully, as a child, but now she comes back, drawn to her daughter’s side at a time when Tully is most alone. At long last, Dorothy must face her darkest fear: Only by revealing the ugly secrets of her past can she hope to become the mother her daughter needs.

A single, tragic choice and a middle-of-the-night phone call will bring these women together and set them on a poignant, powerful journey of redemption. Each has lost her way, and they will need each one another--and maybe a miracle--to transform their lives.

An emotionally complex, heart-wrenching novel about love, motherhood, loss, and new beginnings, Fly Away reminds us that where there is life, there is hope, and where there is love, there is forgiveness.


Review: This book is the sequel to Hannah's novel Firefly Lane which I read quite a few years ago.  While I'd say this one is a stand alone novel, it certainly helped to have read the first book (and would have helped more if I'd read it recently).  I remember loving Firefly Lane, and while I certainly enjoyed this book, I didn't think it was quite as good.

First, the story jumped around in time, since it is told primarily through characters reminiscing about their histories.  This was an effective way to tell a story from multiple points of view, although it took a while for me to get used to.  What threw me off is that occasionally, when the story came back to Tully's point of view, it would jump backwards in time and confuse me.

Second, there were an awful lot of serious issues covered in this book, and at times it felt too heavy.  All the main characters experienced tragedies and addictions, and I just wanted someone to have had SOMETHING happy happen to them.

But, like all of Kristin Hannah's novels, this book is so well-written and so readable that I couldn't put it down, and read the whole thing in two days.  It had me grabbing for the tissues and wishing it would keep going so that I could learn how everyone manages to put their lives back together.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Once Upon a Prince

Once Upon a Prince
Rachel Hauck

Once Upon a Prince

Genre: Romance

Summary (from Goodreads):  Once Upon a Prince, the first novel in the Royal Wedding series by bestselling author Rachel Hauck, treats you to a modern-day fairy tale.

Susanna Truitt never dreamed of a great romance or being treated like a princess---just to marry the man she has loved for twelve years. But life isn’t going according to plan. When her high-school-sweetheart-turned-Marine-officer breaks up instead of proposing, Susanna scrambles to rebuild her life.

The last thing Prince Nathaniel expects to find on his American holiday to St. Simon’s Island is the queen of his heart. A prince has duties, and his family’s tense political situation has chosen his bride for him. When Prince Nathaniel comes to Susanna’s aid under the fabled Lover’s Oak, he is blindsided by love.

Their lives are worlds apart. He’s a royal prince. She’s a ordinary girl. But everything changes when Susanna receives an invitation to Nathaniel’s coronation.

It’s the ultimate choice. His kingdom or her heart? God’s will or their own?


Review: When I picked this book up, I guess I didn't read the jacket closely enough, because I had no idea that this was Christian fiction.  Now, there are some Christian fiction books that I have really enjoyed reading, so I am not penalizing this book simply for being in that genre.  What I found off-putting was the amount of religious fervor that the characters displayed; for example, Prince Nathaniel walked into a church and fell prostrate on the ground praising God, and Susanna lost her job and her home and basically just said she would "give her life to God" and didn't do anything herself to solve her problems.

I ended up putting the book down for a few reasons.  In addition to the issues mentioned above, I felt like the relationship between Susanna and Nathaniel developed too quickly to be realistic, and that Susanna's reaction to the breakup of her 12 year relationship with her boyfriend was completely incomprehensible.  Also, the amount of time spent explaining the history of the Brighton entail and how it would affect the future of the two countries got very very boring.  There was also something about the language that bothered me - the sentence structures and word choices didn't seem genuine to the characters' nationalities (but perhaps they are, and I'm just ignorant).

The premise still sounds interesting to me (although completely reminiscent of The Prince & Me), but I have so many wonderful-sounding books in my to-read pile that I decided I didn't want to waste my time on this one.

Rating: NA

Saturday, January 18, 2014

The Great Fairy Tale Disaster

The Great Fairy Tale Disaster

Author: David Conway
Illustrator: Melanie Williamson

The Great Fairy Tale Disaster

Genre: Picture Book, Fractured Fairy Tale

Summary (from Goodreads):  The Big Bad Wolf is fed up with blowing down the Three Little Pigs' houses. So off he goes in search of a new fairy tale to be in! Wearing the ball gown in Cinderella didn't work because "wolves don't wear dresses!," climbing up the beanstalk and seeing the giant's huge feet scared the wolf, and "yuck" getting kissed by the prince in Sleeping Beauty is not for the wolf at all! As the wolf runs from page to page the whole book of fairy tales becomes a great mixed-up mess! Children will enjoy spotting all of their favorite characters in this hilarious twisted-fairy tale adventure!

Review: The idea of the Big Bad Wolf looking for a place in a different fairy tale is certainly a cute one, and the first couple fairy tales he jumps into deliver surprises and laughs.  But then it gets a little disjointed, and the plot doesn't really go anywhere.  As I was reading it out loud, I found myself wanting to add dialogue so that it would make more sense.  The illustrations are busy and fun!

Rating: 3 stars

The Princess and the Peas

The Princess and the Peas

Author: Caryl Hart
Illustrator: Sarah Warburton

Genre: Picture Book, Fractured Fairy Tale

Summary (from Goodreads):  Lily-Rose May will not eat her peas. Even when her father turns them into the most fabulous smoothies, shakes, or cupcakes, Lily can always tell they are there and turns her little nose up at them. Luckily, the doctor knows exactly what to do. He diagnoses an incurable case of princess-itus and sends Lily to live at the palace. Unfortunately for Lily-Rose May, the perfect food for a princess is . . . well . . . that would be telling!

Review: My girls and I really enjoyed reading this cute book.  My five-year-old thought it was quite funny that the little girl was allergic to peas, and that she got green spots on her face because of that.  They also have a tendency to like books with pink covers, books about princesses, and books about girls wearing frilly dresses - so they were sure to like this one!

I liked this story because it was fun and easy to read (although a few of the rhymes were a little dicey).  And it sends TWO good messages to little girls.  First, that being a princess is not always fun and games; in fact, it can be tedious and boring!  And second, that being a picky eater can lead to problems.  I have enjoyed reading this book each of the 8 times I have read it.

Rating: 5 stars

Fairly Fairy Tales

Fairly Fairy Tales

Author: Esme Raji Codell
Illustrator: Elisa Chavarri

Fairly Fairy Tales

Genre: Picture Book, Fractured Fairy Tale

Summary (from Goodreads):  Parents and children love to play "question" games: Would you eat spaghetti made with gummy worms? Would you wear your clothes backwards all day? Sometimes the answer is "yes" and sometimes it's "no"--but the fun is in the asking. Gifted writer and educator Esme Raji Codell has writtten a book that incorporates fractured fairy tales with this kind of parent-child interplay to create a pitch-perfect combination of bedtime read-aloud and fairytales that will delight children and parents!

Review: This is a very simple story that takes the well-known components of a traditional fairy tale ("Cow?  Yes.  Beanstalk?  Yes.  Giant?  Yes.") and adds in an unusual and modern twist. ("Spaghetti?  NOOOOO!") There is no real plot to the book or sense of continuity between the tales, and the text is so simple that it is boring for an adult to read.  However, the kids loved to chime in with the "yes" and "no" parts, and they certainly enjoyed seeing how the fairy tale was twisted.  However, quite a few of the twists were beyond my 3 and 5 year old's comprehension, like solar panels, disco balls, and even a beauty parlor.  Having to explain these things took away from reading the story.  The best part of this book was the beautiful and funny pictures; we especially loved the Italian restaurant scene.

Rating: 3 stars

Snoring Beauty

Snoring Beauty

Author: Bruce Hale
Illustrator: Howard Fine

Snoring Beauty

Genre: Picture Book, Fractured Fairy Tale

Summary (from Goodreads):  Everyone knows the story of Sleeping Beauty: A handsome prince rescues a beautiful princess from a wicked fairy's terrible sleeping spell.

This story is just like the original. Except for the sarcastic frog narrator, the garlic-scented fairy, and--oh yeah--the princess in this book not only sleeps and snores . . . she's also been turned into a hot-pink and purple dragon!

Certain to charm and delight fairy tale fans across the land, this raucous retelling is anything but a snoozer.


Review: A lot of the humor in this book was beyond my kids' comprehension; for example, I found the characters' names to be really funny, the word plays creative, and some of the illustrations downright hilarious, but my kids didn't notice that at all.  And the fact that they've never heard of a quince didn't help, either.  But they loved the snoring dragon!  The illustrations are almost like caricatures - very different from typical picture books.  With adult vocabulary and a sense of sarcasm, this picture book seems to be geared more for parents than for kids....

Rating: 3 stars

Good Little Wolf

Good Little Wolf
Nadia Shireen

Good Little Wolf

Genre: Picture Book, Fractured Fairy Tale

Summary (from Goodreads):  Once upon a time there was a wolf called Rolf - a good little wolf who liked baking cakes and was always kind to his friends. But real wolves aren't supposed to be good - they're supposed to be BIG and BAD.

Can a good little wolf still be a real wolf?

And will Rolf discover there's something big and bad lurking inside him after all?


Review: This started out as a cute little book about a wolf who chooses to be good, and refuses to be influenced by the big bad wolf who tries to lead him astray.  As I was reading it, I was thinking how it was a nice lesson in being yourself and not giving in to peer pressure.  The pictures are very cute - Mrs. Boggins reminded me of the Grandma from South Park!  But the ending ruined the story for my family.  While many kids would probably find the ending funny, my two sensitive little girls HATED it, and actually told me that we should never read this book again and take it back to the library as soon as possible.

I should add that I thought the ending was funny in a twisted kind of way, and it actually made my husband laugh out loud when he read it.  But I base my picture book reviews primarily on how my kids reacted to it, hence the low rating.

Becky, your kids (and Brian!) might really like this!

Rating: 1 star

Huff & Puff

Huff & Puff
Claudia Rueda

Huff & Puff

Genre: Picture Book, Fractured Fairy Tale

Summary (from Goodreads):  This interactive retelling of the Three Little Pigs story allows the reader to play the part of the big bad wolf. Three interior die-cut holes invite readers to huff, puff, and blow the pigs’ houses down! This fractured fairy tale ends sweetly when, rather than blowing down the third pig’s brick home, the wolf/reader blows out the candles on a cake baked by the pigs! A satisfying and engaging read for every young Three Little Pigs fan.

Review: The illustrations are cute, although the "interactive" die-cut holes don't add any value, and so we completely ignored them.  The text is extremely simple, which might work well for a very young child, but I think my three-year-old was a little bored by the lack of content, and my five-year-old wondered why the author didn't write in complete sentences.  They both did love huffing and puffing, though!

Rating: 3 stars

Attachments

Attachments
by Rainbow Rowell


Genre: Chick Lit

Synopsis:  Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder, coworkers at The Courier, know the newspaper monitors their office e-mail.  But they still spend all day sending each other messages, gossiping about their coworkers, and baring their personal lives like on open book.  Jennifer tells Beth everything she can't seem to tell her husband about her anxieties over starting a family.  And Beth tells Jennifer everything, period.

Meanwhile, Lincoln O'Neill still can't believe that it's his job to monitor other people's e-mail.  When he applied to be an Internet security officer, he picture himself protecting the newspaper from dangerous hackers-not sending out memos every time somebody in Accounting forwarded an off-color joke to the person in the next cubicle.

Lincoln is supposed to turn people in for misusing company e-mail, but he can't quite bring himself to crack down on Beth and Jennifer.  He can't help being entertained-and captivated-by their stories.  But by the time Lincoln realizes he's falling for Beth, it's way too late fro him to ever introduce himself.  What would he say to her?  "Hi, I'm the guy who reads your e-mail, and also, I love you"?

With snapping dialogue and irresistible charm, Rainbow Rowell transforms an ordinary IT guy into a lovable and endearing romantic hero and proves that falling in love never happens the way you plan it.  Written with whip-smart precision and charm, Attachments is a fresh and energetic debut that marks the arrival of an exciting new voice in fiction.
From the book jacket

Review:  This book took me a long time to get through, especially for a chick lit book.  Perhaps I was not in the mood for reading a light chick lit book or perhaps I am outgrowing chick lit books.  This book was easy to put down to do something else, even in the middle of a paragraph.  I didn't have to keep reading it and that to me is an indicator of how interesting the book is.  The book was written in prose when we were reading about Lincoln and in e-mail format when reading about Beth and Jennifer.  I felt like I didn't get to know Beth as well as I got to know Lincoln.  We saw some of her feelings but not as much as I wanted to know about her.  Chick lit books are generally written from the prospective of the female but it this case it was the male character and perhaps that was my biggest complaint with the book, I wanted to know more about Beth.  I liked Lincoln.  He had some quirks and did things that I didn't expect him to do because it came out of nowhere.  I really didn't like the end.  It seemed far too forced and just all around strange.  I can't say more without spoiling the ending.
Oh, I forgot to mention, there is quite a bit of cursing in this book and some unnecessarily.  I didn't like the use of so many f words in the book.  That's one thing that detracts from a book in my mind.

Rating: 3 stars

Friday, January 17, 2014

Once Upon a Golden Apple

Once Upon a Golden Apple

Authors: Jean Little and Maggie de Vries
Illustrator: Phoebe Gilman

Once Upon a Golden Apple

Genre: Picture Book, Fractured Fairy Tale

Summary (from Goodreads):  In this hilarious fractured fairy tale, everything seems to go wrong. Goldilocks lives with the seven dwarfs, a princess kisses a reluctant dragon, and she and her prince rescue the Wicked Witch of the West...until all mischief is sorted out and everyone lives happily ever after. Jean Little and Maggie de Vries' whimsical text and Phoebe Gilman's magical illustrations make this a magnificent feast for anyone who loves a good story — even when it's wrong!

Review: This is the story of a father who makes up a story for his two little kids, and mixes up all the fairy tales, to the kids' delight.  The illustrations are just beautiful, and full of funny little details that my kids love to look at.  They enjoy the story, too, especially because they can help read it by saying "No, No, No!" on every page.  There are a couple fairy tale references that my kids don't understand, and a few that even I don't know - I guess we'll have to start reading more traditional fairy tales!

Rating: 4 stars

Big Bad Wolf is Good

Big Bad Wolf is Good

Author: Simon Puttock
Illustrator: Lynne Chapman

Big Bad Wolf is Good

Genre: Picture Book, Fractured Fairy Tale

Summary (from Goodreads):  Poor Wolf—he’s so lonely! Nobody wants to be his friend.
Not the ducklings, not the goslings, not the fuzzy yellow chicks. “Perhaps it’s because
I’m big and scary,” he thinks. “Perhaps it’s because I’m bad, bad, bad.” Then he has a bright idea: What if he changes his ways and becomes good? What if he does a noble deed?
But, none of the animals will listen when Wolf tries to tell them about his new plan.
They just flee in terror, slamming the door right in his face. Then something really awful happens: one of the ducklings disappears and everybody thinks Wolf has eaten him all up. Can the Big Bad Wolf prove he didn’t have duck for dinner—and bring the lost little baby safely home? A charming and delightfully fractured fairy tale about friendship, and a wonderful example for children that a person can change, with sweet and funny illustrations that will delight youngsters over and over again.


Review:  I imagine that I'm overreacting to this book based on the scary experience my kids had yesterday with a creepy guy in a pickup truck following them down the street....

The Big Bad Wolf is trying to change his image to become a good wolf, but the small animals he interacts with are still scared of him.  While this could be a good lesson for small children, to learn not to judge other by their appearance, I felt like a better lesson is that it is perfectly the right thing to do to run inside the house and slam the door if a scary person comes up to your yard and offers to play with you.  So while I felt sorry for the wolf because he genuinely was trying to be a nice guy, I felt like the small animals were doing the right thing.  But I am probably over thinking this book.

The illustrations were cute, and my kids like the story.

Rating: 2 stars

Cinderelephant

Cinderelephant

Author & Illustrator: Emma Dodd

Cinderelephant

Genre: Picture Book, Fairy Tale

Summary (from Goodreads):  A classic tale with a gigantic twist!

"Cinderelephant, make my breakfast!"
"Cinderelephant, mop the floor!"

Poor Cinderelephant! The Warty Sisters never say please or thank you (how rude!), and when she asks to go to the grand ball, they just laugh. "Whoever would want to dance with YOU?"

Little do they know, Cinderelephant has a Furry Godmouse on her side! And with a little help... and the right pair of shoes... anything is possible.


Review: This is not so much a fractured fairy tale as a simple retelling of the Cinderella story with an elephant as the main character.  It's a fine story with cute pictures (my three year old enjoys the illustrations with Cinderelephant's sparkly shoes), but I didn't love it.  My favorite part of the story was the name "Cinderelephant", and here are a few different plays on words related to elephants being huge, but I felt like the story could have been much more creative. 

Rating: 3 stars

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

The Three Little Pigs

The Three Little Pigs
by David Wiesner


Genre: Picture Book, Fractured Fairy Tale

Synopsis:  Three pigs...
Straw, sticks, bricks...
Huffs and puffs...
You probably know the rest.
It's an old story, and every time someone tells it the same thing happens.

But who's to say it's supposed to?
Who's in charge of this story?
Who gets to decide?
Has anyone asked the pigs?
No?
Well, it's about time someone did.

Here,
thanks to David Wiesner,
is the answer.
From the book jacket

Review: It's hard to decide what to rate this book because if I would rate it on quality of illustrations, this book would definitely rate 5 stars.  These illustrations are AMAZING!  I can't believe how the author has manipulated the pictures.  The pigs mess with the story and end up in different stories.  The pigs start as realistic looking pigs with hair and everything.  They go into almost like cartoon drawings and the pig that is half in and half out of the page is half realistic and half caricature.  But I can't just base the book on the illustrations.  The story was a little hard to read out loud and I'm not sure what age this book is targeted to.  My kids didn't understand what was going on with the book so clearly this book is not for 4 year olds!  But it is a different type of story so one that I would suggest picking up just for the illustrations.

Rating: 3 1/2 stars

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker

Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker
Jennifer Chiaverini

Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker

Genre: Historical Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads):  In Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker, novelist Jennifer Chiaverini presents a stunning account of the friendship that blossomed between Mary Todd Lincoln and her seamstress, Elizabeth “Lizzie” Keckley, a former slave who gained her professional reputation in Washington, D.C. by outfitting the city’s elite. Keckley made history by sewing for First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln within the White House, a trusted witness to many private moments between the President and his wife, two of the most compelling figures in American history.

In March 1861, Mrs. Lincoln chose Keckley from among a number of applicants to be her personal “modiste,” responsible not only for creating the First Lady’s gowns, but also for dressing Mrs. Lincoln in the beautiful attire Keckley had fashioned. The relationship between the two women quickly evolved, as Keckley was drawn into the intimate life of the Lincoln family, supporting Mary Todd Lincoln in the loss of first her son, and then her husband to the assassination that stunned the nation and the world.

Keckley saved scraps from the dozens of gowns she made for Mrs. Lincoln, eventually piecing together a tribute known as the Mary Todd Lincoln Quilt. She also saved memories, which she fashioned into a book, Behind the Scenes: Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House. Upon its publication, Keckley’s memoir created a scandal that compelled Mary Todd Lincoln to sever all ties with her, but in the decades since, Keckley’s story has languished in the archives. In this impeccably researched, engrossing novel, Chiaverini brings history to life in rich, moving style.


Review: This sounded like a fascinating historical fiction novel from an author whose works I have read and enjoyed before.  However, I was disappointed to discover that it read more like a nonfiction book, and that the primary focus of the novel seemed to be Mrs. Lincoln, rather than Elizabeth herself.  According to the author's note, Chiaverini based her work primarily on Elizabeth Keckley's memoirs, and it seems as if she tried not to take liberties with the characters' emotions or dialogues.  But I wish she had!  It would have given the characters more dimension, made them more believable as real people, and made the book much more enjoyable to read.  Having said that, it was quite interesting to read about life during the Civil War and in the Lincoln White House, I just wish it hadn't felt so much like reading a textbook.

Rating: 2.5 stars

A Week in Winter

A Week in Winter
Maeve Binchy

A Week in Winter

Genre: Women's Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads):  Stoneybridge is a small town on the west coast of Ireland where all the families know one another. When Chicky Starr decides to take an old, decaying mansion set high on the cliffs overlooking the windswept Atlantic Ocean and turn it into a restful place for a holiday by the sea, everyone thinks she is crazy. Helped by Rigger (a bad boy turned good who is handy around the house) and Orla, her niece (a whiz at business), Chicky is finally ready to welcome the first guests to Stone House’s big warm kitchen, log fires, and understated elegant bedrooms. John, the American movie star, thinks he has arrived incognito; Winnie and Lillian are forced into taking a holiday together; Nicola and Henry, husband and wife, have been shaken by seeing too much death practicing medicine; Anders hates his father’s business, but has a real talent for music; Miss Nell Howe, a retired schoolteacher, criticizes everything and leaves a day early, much to everyone’s relief; the Walls are disappointed to have won this second-prize holiday in a contest where first prize was Paris; and Freda, the librarian, is afraid of her own psychic visions.

Review: Maeve Binchy is one of my all-time favorite authors, and this is the last book that she wrote before she died last year.  I wanted to love this book, but....  I just didn't.  It's a nice, cozy story about a group of random strangers coming together for a week at a B&B on the Irish coast.  Generally, each character realizes something important about his life during his section of the story, and the reader can see that his life will improve from that point on.  (Cheesy, maybe, but that's one of the things I love about Binchy's novels).  In this book, however, I felt like each character's story was just a little too short; I wanted more information about their lives and where they were going next.  It's not the format - Binchy's Evening Class was also written in this short story type format, and I found that very satisfying - I guess it's just that the book is too short, or maybe needed a more informative ending.  I'm sad that I have to give this book only three stars, but I would recommend almost all of Binchy's other novels over this one.

Rating: 3 stars

Seriously, Cinderella Is So Annoying!

Seriously, Cinderella Is So Annoying!
by Trisha Speed Shaskan
Illustrated by Gerald Guerlais


Genre: Picture Book, Fractured Fairy Tale

Synopsis:  Of course you think Cinderella was the sweetest belle of the ball.  You don't know the other side of the story.  Well, let me tell you...
From the back of the book

Review:  This was Cinderella told from the point of view of the Stepmother.  Of course, she is not wicked in this story. instead Cinderella is an annoying girl who tells stories and talks to animals all the time.  The wicked stepmother had to put her to work (as well as her other daughters) to clean the house.  I think this book is intended to be used in a classroom to talk about point of view.  There are 3 more books written by this author in the same format.  While this book wasn't bad, it just wasn't as good as most other picture books I've read.  My kids were still engaged in the story though.

Rating: 3 stars

Monday, January 13, 2014

The Frog Prince Continued

The Frog Prince Continued
by Jon Scieszka
Illustrated by Steve Johnson


Genre: Picture book, Fractured Fairy Tale

Synopsis:  After the Princess kissed the frog, he turned into a handsome prince and they lived happily ever after... or did they? The Princess can't stand the Prince's froggy habits - the way he hops around on the furniture, or sneaks off to the lily pond. The Prince is unhappy, too, and decides that it would be best if he were changed back to a frog. But finding a witch who will do the job is harder than he expects. They all seem to have other spells in mind...
from GoodReads

Review:  This was a silly book about how the frog prince wanted to turn back into the frog because he was unhappy because happily ever after didn't mean happily ever after.  He found witches from other stories-Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Hansel and Gretel, and Cinderella.  I liked that the illustrator made the Frog Prince look a little like a frog in his drawings.  The illustrations are a little dark and could potentially be scary but my kids didn't mind at all.

Rating: 4 stars

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Little Red Hot

Little Red Hot
by Eric A. Kimmel
Illustrated by Laura Huliska-Beith


Genre: Picture Book, Fractured Fairy Tale

Synopsis: Little Red Hot loves red hot chili peppers.  She eats them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  When her grandmother catches a cold, Little Red makes her a hot pepper pie that will "knock those cold germs right out of her."  But before Little Red shares her pie with Grandma, she meets Senor Lobo-and the pie comes in very handy when the wily wolf tries to trick her into thinking he's her grandmother.
From the book jacket

Review:  This is a fun book to read because it sounds great when read in a Texas accent.  Little Red Hot is a spunky girl who is not easily outwitted.  The wolf tries his normal act of trying to eat both Grandma and Little Red Hot but she is not going to put up with that and she takes matter in her own hands.  It was nice to read Little Red Riding Hood with a girl who can stand up for herself!

Rating:  4 stars

The Diplomat's Wife

The Diplomat's Wife
by Pam Jenoff


Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis:  How have I been lucky enough to come here, to be alive, when so many others are not?  I should have died...But I am here.

1945.  Surviving the brutality of a Nazi prison camp, Marta Nederman is lucky to have escaped with her life.  Recovering from the horror, she meets Paul, an American soldier who gives her hope of a happier future.  But their plans to meet in London are dashed when Paul's plane crashes.

Devastated and pregnant, Marta marries Simon, a caring British diplomat, and glimpses the joy that home and family can bring.  But her happiness is threatened when she learns of a Communist spy in British intelligence, and that the one person who can expose the traitor is connected to her past.
From the back of the book

Review:  I had a hard time getting into this book in the beginning.  I felt like the character's emotions and feelings were lacking.  Marta is rescued from a Nazi prison camp and she is in terrible condition but yet she seems to recover physically fairly quickly and easily.  She has lost everything and everyone and yes, she does talk about where to go next, I just didn't feel it.  I couldn't feel the absolute despair that she should have been feeling.  When Marta meets Paula, I really didn't feel anything about their love at first sight.  I found it hard to believe that she was willing to be intimate with him after 2 meetings and that she was ready to marry him.  The book seemed fairly flat.  But once the action picks up when she goes on a mission for the British government, the book gets better.  I finally believed her feelings during this part of the book and after.  The middle and the end really changed my mind about the book.

Rating: 3 1/2 stars

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy
Helen Fielding

Mad About the Boy (Bridget Jones, #3)

Genre: Chick Lit

Summary (from Goodreads):  Bridget Jones is back!

Great comic writers are as rare as hen's teeth. And Helen is one of a very select band who have created a character of whom the very thought makes you smile. Bridget Jones' Diary, charting the life of a 30-something singleton in London in the 1990s was a huge international bestseller, published in 40 countries and selling over 15 million copies worldwide. Its sequel, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, published soon after was also a major international bestseller. Both were made into films starring Renée Zellweger, Hugh Grant and Colin Firth.

Set in the present, the new novel will explore a different phase in Bridget's life with an entirely new scenario. As Helen Fielding has said: "If people laugh as much reading it as I am while writing it then we'll all be very happy."


Review: Even though Bridget is 51 in this story, and I'm 36, I feel like I've outgrown her. 

When I saw this book at the library, I was SO excited - it made my week!  And now that I've finished it, all I feel is sad.  Sure, there were moments that I enjoyed, especially those where Bridget really seemed to enjoy interacting with her children, or where you could see how her kids were picking up some of her funny habits, or even the sections about her feelings of grief and loss.  But mostly, the twitter-speak and texting dialogues were completely annoying, and all the vomit, fart and lice references were nauseatingly reminiscent of middle school boys.  I appreciated that Bridget still had some of her same neuroses, but she didn't seem to have grown up at all in the past 14 years.  And the fact that she couldn't manage to deal with her life even though she had a nanny, a cleaner, two kids in school full time and no job made her unrelatable to her target audience.

Not v. good.

Rating: 2 stars

Prairie Chicken Little

Prairie Chicken Little
by Jackie Mims Hopkins
Illustrated by Henry Cole


Genre: Picture Book, Fracture Fairy Tale

Synopsis: Out on the grasslands where bison roam, Mary McBlicken the prairie chicken is scritch-scratchin' for her breakfast when all of a sudden she hears a rumblin' and a grumblin' and a tumblin'.

"Stampede's a comin'!"  Mary squawks.

She sets off to warn Cowboy Stan and Red Dog Dan, gathering up her friends along the way.  But before they can get to the ranch, the band of prairie critters is waylaid by Slim Brody the sly coyote.

The rumbling's getting louder.

Will they escape in time?

Review: This was a fun rendition of Chicken Little set on the prairie.  Mary McBlicken, the prairie chicken little, things a stampede is coming instead of the sky falling.  She tells all the other animals and they almost get duped by Coyote Slim Brody.  Of course Mary is wrong that a stampede is coming but I won't tell you what the rumbling and grumbling is.  This was a fun way to introduce kids to prairie animals.

Rating: 3 1/2 stars

Who Pushed Humpty Dumpty?

Who Pushed Humpty Dumpty?
by David Levinthal
Illustrated by Johhn Nickle


Genre: Picture Book, Fractured Fairy Tale

Synopsis: Break-in at the bear family home?  It could only be one dame.

Wicked witch gone missing from her candied cottage.  Hansel and Gretel claim it was self-defense.

Did Humpty Dumpty really fall off that wall, or was he pushed?  Police Officer Binky is on the case. (Did someone call for a toad in a fedora?)

Discover clues, follow leads, get the confession, and solve the crime with Officer Binky in  these deliciously funny noir-style retellings of classic stories.
From the Book jacket

Review:  I thought this book was very cleverly written.  The author tells the story of the various fairy tales but in the format of investigating a crime.  I really liked the noir-style writing as I don't think I've seen that in a picture book before.  Perhaps it went over my 4 year old's heads though.  It was a bit long for them.  Maybe you could read just one story at a time rather than the whole book.  Or maybe this is better for slightly older children.

Rating: 4 stars

Friday, January 10, 2014

Little Red Riding Hood

Little Red Riding Hood
by Lisa Campbell Ernst


Genre: Picture Book, Fractured Fairy Tale

Synopsis: Once again, Little Red Riding Hood sets off to her grandmother's house with a basket full of goodies like delicious muffins and lemonade.  But this isn't the usual Little Read Riding Hood.  First of all, she wears a sweatshirt, not a cape.  Also, she rides her bike across the prairie rather than skips through the woods.  And she doesn't follow a path.  She blazes her own trail between rows of swaying sunflowers.

Of course, there's still a pesky wolf following her around.  He's a vegetarian, though.  He wants to take a bite of those muffins, not of Little Red Riding Hood or her grandma, and he wants to steal the secret ingredient that makes them so delectable.  But Grandma knows howto take care of him.  She's not your usual grandma, either.  Besides, she's had a run-in with a pesky wolf before!
From the book jacket

Review:  I liked how this book was set more in the present day and the author explains why she is called Little Red Riding Hood (she rides a bike everywhere!).  I really love how the wolf is a vegetarian who wants the muffins rather than to eat grandma and Little Red Riding Hood.  This books takes a nice twist on the story and modernizes it and it gives the story a nice happy ending.  This was an enjoyable read.

Rating: 4 stars

The Three Swingin' Pigs

The Three Swingin' Pigs
by Vicky Rubin
Illustrated by Rhode Montijo


Genre: Picture Book, Fractured Fairy Tale

Synopsis: Satch, Mo and Ella are the coolest cats (er, pigs) around.

When Wolfie shows up for Big Pig Gig, ready to eat some meat, the pigs can smell him-coming and they have a plan.  Can these three swingin' pigs win Wolfie over with their vivacious vocals and toe-tapping tunes?

Review:  I thought this book would be really fun because it was about pigs playing music and the three little pigs.  But it really did not live up to my expectations.  I liked how the illustrator brought in other fairly tale characters through the backgrounds in the pictures.  Noah liked pointing out ones he could find.  But the story left me wanting more.  I don't' know why the wolf had to have bad breath-it seemed like the author just needed to add something with juvenile humor to the story.  It didn't seem to add anything to the story.  I also think the author was trying to be funny but I didn't find anything funny nor did my kids.

Rating: 2stars

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Best Books of 2013 - Marcie

Here are the best books that I read in 2013 in no particular order.  Becky, you should read some of these!

Wonder by R.J. Palacio
Wonder

A young adult novel about a middle school boy with a cranio-facial abnormality attending school for the first time; the main character is wonderful, sympathetic and funny, even in the midst of his troubles.  You can read my review here.

When We Were Strangers by Pamela Schoenewaldt
When We Were Strangers
This is the story of a young Italian woman who immigrates to America in the 19th century; the characters are beautifully portrayed and the descriptions are so real you can almost smell them!  You can read my review here.

Until I Say Good-Bye by Susan Spencer-Wendel
Until I Say Goodbye: A Book about Living
A heartwarming and uplifting memoir about a mother diagnosed with ALS that will remind you to choose joy every day.  You can read my review here.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
Code Name Verity
A young adult novel about the friendship between two British girls during World War 2; the first sentence drew me in, and I could not put the book down.  You can read my review here.

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore
A fun and enjoyable read about quirky characters solving a book related mystery.  You can read my review here.

The Red Kimono by Jan Morrill
The Red Kimono
A beautifully written account of the Japanese internment during WWII, as told through the eyes of children.  You can read my review here.

The Rook by Daniel O'Malley
The Rook (The Checquy Files, #1)
This is a really intriguing mystery/science fiction book that I couldn't put down.  You can read my review here.

Love Anthony by Lisa Genova
Love Anthony
A moving novel about the mother of a boy with autism; I loved this book and would recommend it to anyone.  You can read my review here.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple
Where'd You Go, Bernadette
A quirky, funny and almost soap-opera-ish novel about a Seattle family, I found myself laughing my way through the book just waiting to see what crazy thing would happen next.  You can read my review here.

How to Bake a Perfect Life by Barbara O'Neal
How to Bake a Perfect Life
This book about a woman running a bakery read so quickly and easily, yet still made the reader think about the difficult issues the characters had to face.  You can read my review here.  

The Lost Wife by Alyson Richman
The Lost Wife
I could not put this beautifully written novel down!  It's the story of a couple separated by World War II, but primarily focuses on the Jewish woman's experience in the Terezin concentration camp near Prague.  Becky also included this book on her list of favorites, you can read her review here.  You can read my review here

The Whole Golden World by Kristina Riggle
The Whole Golden World
What's interesting about this book is that I didn't really like any of the characters, and I found the subject matter disturbing, but I still loved reading it.  It would make a great discussion for a book club!  You can read my review here.
The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom
The Kitchen House
This story about family relationships painted a dark picture of slavery in the south around the turn of the 19th century.  While it certainly was a little depressing, I couldn't put the book down, and read eagerly to see what would happen next.  You can read my review here.
Becky limited her list to her top 10 books, but I had no such compunction!  I had a list of maybe 7 or 8 books that were my clear favorites, and when I broadened my search to try to get to 10, I ended up with 13.  The interesting thing is that my favorites cover a wide variety of genres and topics.

Monday, January 6, 2014

Best books of 2013-Becky

Here are the best books that I read in 2013 in no particular order (some of the books I read for the 2nd time in 2013 so I included those as well!)

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

This book's imagery and fantastical plot just grabbed me.  It was equally good reading it the second time.  You can read my review here.

The Lost Wife by Alyson Richman
I loved the beautiful love story set in Nazi occupied territories.  The characters are so well written!  You can read my review here.

Sister by Rosamund Lupton
I loved the suspense in this book!  I also liked the format of a letter written to her missing sister.  You can read my review here.

The Heart of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker
This was such a unique story (and beautiful!) that left me wanting to discuss the book with someone.  You can read my review here.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
This was such a well written young adult novel that was quite emotional.  I really loved the quirkiness of this book!  You can read my review here.

Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler
This is a story of unexpected friendship.  The chapters switch between characters and you really get to know both of them very well.  You can read my review here.

The Queen of Water by Laura Resau and Maria Virginia Farinango
I loved reading about the culture and Virginia's story.  This is a quick read and very captivating.  You can read my review here.

I'll Be Seeing You by Suzanne Hayes and Loretta Nyhan
This book is entirely written in letters from one army wife to another.  It's amazing how much feeling you can get from letters.  You can read my review here.

The House Girl by Tara Conklin
I'm a sucker for historical fiction and this one is a great one about slavery and the relationship between a slave and master.  You can read my review here.

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
Like I said before, I love historical fiction.  This book is another historical one but also jumps between the past and present day.  I really enjoyed reading about the friendship between a teenager and elderly woman and how they helped each other.  You can read my review here.  

I told myself I would limit this list to 10 but there were more I wanted to put on!  I would have included Divergent by Veronica Roth (I read it for either the 2nd or 3rd time this year and still loved it), Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys (a story about what happened in Russia during WWII), and Legend by Marie Lu (dystopian young adult fiction-now 3rd on my list of best dystopian series) if I had more room.