I usually wait a few days before writing a review of a book. I like to let the dust settle, allow my initial reactions to form themselves into coherent thoughts. But I couldn’t wait that long with this book. It’s been no more than half an hour since I finished reading, but I had to get my feelings out somehow! So the following thoughts may be slightly less than coherent.

Ruin and Rising is the third book of a YA trilogy. I’m not a huge reader of YA novels, mostly because of the angst and drama they usually include. Also because I am sick of the whole dystopian thing. It’s been done. And if you don’t have anything new to add to it, then let’s just leave it alone for awhile. But Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha series isn’t really dystopian. It stands apart from a lot of YA out there, mostly because of its Russian-flavored setting. It’s refreshing and different, and gives you a whole new realm of culture and history to explore.

The plot is full of twists I never saw coming. I love it when I think a book is predictable, and then it makes all of my expectations crumble into dust. There are quite a few characters to keep track of, but they are all unique and full of personality. Bardugo includes just the right amount of comic relief, usually in the dialogue between her characters. And the comic relief seems to come naturally from the characters and their interactions, instead of feeling forced into the story. Since this is the third book in a trilogy, a lot is expected of it. And Bardugo most certainly delivers.
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When I read the last page of Ruin and Rising, my overwhelming feeling was a desire to start back at book one and read the entire series through again. I reread books I like fairly often, but there are very few series I can think of that have produced such a desire in me. Harry Potter, of course. The Chronicles of Narnia. The Anne of Green Gables books. All of the series, in other words, that I would classify as some of my favorite reads of all time. Now I’m not sure I’m quite willing to add the Grisha series to that category. But I can say with certainty that I will be rereading this series in the future. Maybe even more than once.

Find it on:​ Goodreads  |  Amazon  |  Better World Books

(Warning: This review is going to be rather rave-like.)

Everything about this book is amazing. Seriously, everything. I don’t say that often, so you know it’s true.

I do have to temper that, however, by saying that this book may appeal to only a small audience of bibliophile word nerds, like me. So if that description applies to you, then by all means, read this book.

Ella Minnow Pea (say her name out loud, and you’ll get a hint of the wordy wonders to be found in this book) lives on the island of Nollop, off the East Coast. The island was founded by Nevin Nollop, the creator of “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.” He’s so looked up to on the island, in fact, that they have created a monument to him and his amazing sentence. And then one day, the Z falls off. The Nollopian High Council declares that the letter Z is henceforth banned from use in speaking or writing. Since the novel is an epistolary novel, you can imagine how that affects the story. And then when you discover that Z is just the first of the letters to fall, you can look forward in delight to the language hijinks that will ensue. And let’s give Mark Dunn all the credit he’s due – this must have been a progressively difficult book to write.

Let me repeat that this book is amazing. Hopefully I’ve convinced you of that. The word geek in me was jumping up and down at each page, and surely I can’t be the only one who was affected by this book in this way.

Word lovers unite, and join Ella Minnow Pea!

Find it on: Goodreads  |  Amazon  |  Better World Books

The Big House can be encapsulated in one word: summer. Catching fireflies. Swimming in the ocean. Racing sailboats. Reading on rainy days. Walking everywhere barefoot. Fishing in the early morning. Family. Long days that run together. The sort of summer you remember living as a kid and have had a hard time recapturing as an adult.

George Howe Colt perfectly captures that feeling in The Big House. His family has owned a house (a big one!) on Cape Cod for several generations. Every summer, his extended family would spend a month there, living that idyllic summer life. Reliving those memories is a part of this book.

But mixed in with those memories is the bittersweet feeling of saying goodbye. Colt’s family can’t afford the Big House any longer, and they are being forced to sell it. Colt has come out for one last summer with his wife and children, looking for closure. But how can you say goodbye to such a huge part of your life, the only place you really consider home?

Colt’s The Big House is a book that spans the lifetime of this beloved house. He describes the building of the house, the hurricanes that have hit it, and the good, the bad, and the ugly of the family that has inhabited it for nearly a hundred years.

Anyone can find something to connect with in this book, whether it’s the summer life or the family arguments or the difficulty of saying goodbye. For a little while, you become part of the family and part of the life of the Big House.

Find it on: Goodreads  |  Amazon  |  Better World Books

I've read a lot of books lately, but haven't written many reviews. In order to catch up a little, I thought I would challenge myself to put my thoughts succinctly. One sentence of summary, one sentence of review. We'll see how well this works. (I tend to be a wordy person. . .)

Completely unplanned, I happened to read two books set in the 1990s practically back-to-back. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the 90s doesn't seem to be a very common setting. I really enjoy reading books set in the 90s because it reminds me just how far we've come in the past 20 years. Even though I lived through these changes, it's hard to see it in perspective unless we're reminded what life was like back then.

My Salinger Year by Joanna Rakoff is a nonfiction memoir, although it really reads like a novel. Fresh out of grad school, Rakoff lands a job at a literary agency in New York City. But not just any agency - they have the reclusive J.D. Salinger as one of their clients! Through Rakoff's experiences, we get a look not only at how literary agencies worked at the time, but also what life was like in NYC. We run the gamut from one of the fanciest hotels to her little apartment that didn't come with a sink - or heat. Rakoff does a fabulous job of recreating the atmosphere of NYC in the 90s, as well as telling a story full of books and authors.

Find it on: Goodreads  |  Amazon

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell is really set on the cusp of the new millennium. Lincoln works for the IT department of a newspaper. It's his job to monitor employees' computer and email usage, which means reading other people's emails. This leads to a slight addiction to reading the emails sent between Beth and Jennifer. Which leads to more than a slight crush on Beth. What exactly are the ethics in a situation like this? (It's also Lincoln's job to prepare for Y2K - remember that panic that was all for absolutely nothing?) In a book that's told half through emails, it's amazing how Rowell can make her characters leap off the page. Just like the YA novels I've read by her, I swear that Beth and Jennifer and Lincoln have to be living their lives somewhere in this world right now.
Rowell leaves you guessing to the very end, but you never stop cheering for these characters who have become your friends.

Find it on: Goodreads  |  Amazon  |  Better World Books

I recently read two books set in the Victorian time period. (Well, sort of. One took place in an alternate world, so it was kind of hard to tell, but the culture seemed Victorian.)

A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan was published in 2013. The Last Bookaneer by Matthew Pearl was published in 2015. And yet, they both read like they were written in the late nineteenth century. Published as contemporary novels. Written as Victorian ones. An intriguing paradox.

A Natural History of Dragons is the first volume in the memoirs of Lady Trent. It tells of her childhood and marriage, but most importantly, it tells of her passion for dragons. Women at the time were not supposed to be passionate about dragons. They were supposed to host parties and do needlework. Somehow, she convinces her husband to take her along on an excursion to see dragons in the mountains of a nearby country. And that's where danger and politics and greed enter in.

I love dragons. And I especially love a well-developed world where dragons make sense. A Natural History of Dragons has both of those things. The dragons are simply another type of wild animal, just like lions or deer. It's just that very little is known about them scientifically. That's a perfectly plausible set up for a world full of dragons. Because the book was written in a more Victorian style, it seemed occasionally slow-paced. But there was plenty of intrigue (and dragons!) to keep you invested in the story, all the way to the very end.

The Last Bookaneer by Matthew Pearl takes place just before the first international copyright laws come into effect. Which means, for the time being, whoever gets to an author's manuscript first can make a tidy profit. These are the bookaneers, and the two most famous of them are racing to get Robert Louis Stevenson's next novel, supposedly his masterpiece. Of course, Stevenson didn't make it any easier for them by moving to Samoa, an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Again, the Victorian style set me back a bit here. For a book that is essentially about pirates, it was rather less. . . swash-buckling than I would have expected. We hear the story from the bookaneer's companion, told to his young friend several years after the adventure. The story probably would have had more impact being told directly as it was happening. Even so, I enjoyed the concept of book pirates. I enjoyed learning about the island of Samoa and Robert Louis Stevenson's time there. It's an unusual book, made even more so by its style of narration. Even with that quirk, it was still a pretty great adventure.

There have many books, both fiction and nonfiction, written about the life of William Shakespeare – despite the fact that we don’t know all that much about his life. Was he even the playwright he is claimed to be? How could a lowly glover's son become the most famous playwright of all time?

Jude Morgan tackles that question, and answers it in a perfectly plausible fashion. Shakespeare comes to life on these pages, with all of his restlessness and passion to be on the stage and to be writing for the stage. Despite that, this book really doesn't spend much time on the writing of the plays. Instead, it focuses on Shakespeare’s relationship with his wife, Anne, who was left behind in Stratford while he ran off to London. Not an easy relationship, to be sure. Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson make cameo appearances. And Will Shakespeare himself becomes a sympathetic, but flawed, man. If you want a version of Shakespeare’s life that could have been the real one, then this is the book for you.

Find it on: Goodreads  |  Amazon  |  Better World Books

Find it on: Goodreads  |  Amazon  |  Better World Books

Cora Diehl has come home to the family farm in Montana, only to have her life turned upside down. Her father has a stroke, and then it turns out that he isn’t really her father. Soon, Cora’s summer plans include the Grand Tour in Europe with her newly discovered half-siblings.

I loved this book from page one. First of all, it’s Christian historical fiction, which means I don’t have to worry about swearing. And the characters turn to God to help them through their struggles. Extremely refreshing!! Secondly, Cora is strong in her faith and strong in herself. Yes, she goes through a lot of soul-searching to discover who God means her to be. But in each of those struggles, she is very relatable and real. And who of us hasn’t wished we could have gone on the Grand Tour, spending months in Europe seeing all the major sights?

This is the first book in a trilogy, and I can’t wait to see where Cora and her family travel next and what God brings them along the way.

Find it on: Goodreads  |  Amazon  |  Better World Books

I just finished reading Lost Lake, which makes the fifth book I’ve read by Sarah Addison Allen. (I’ve read – and own – all of hers except for First Frost, her newest, which I’m dying to get my hands on.) I loved Lost Lake, and it’s got me thinking of all of the reasons why I love Sarah Addison Allen’s books. There are many, so I decided to make a list:

1. My discovery of Allen is a library browsing success story. I picked The Girl Who Chased the Moon off the shelf because I loved the title. And I quickly became hooked on the author.

2. She was my introduction to magical realism, which I can now claim as one of my favorite genres. Magical realism basically means that the story could happen – except for that hint of magic that makes almost anything possible. The possibilities are so intriguing, and Allen handles them so well.

3. Her stories are about relationships, but not necessarily the romantic kind. Yes, romance is often part of the story. But more importantly, her books are about families. Building and repairing the connections that mean the most.

4. Her characters are quirky. I think Devin from Lost Lake may be my favorite character of hers yet. But everyone has a little quirkiness. Sometimes that’s because of the magic, and sometimes that’s because the character is just weird.

5. Her characters have real heartaches. Whether it’s the loss of a loved one or a difficult childhood, her characters have lived through some real challenges and are coming out stronger on the other side.

6. The locations sometimes provide the magic in and of themselves, and I want to visit them all!

7. Allen’s writing is delicate. That’s the best word I could find to describe it. It’s gentle, with just the right phrase on every page. It’s never crude or harsh. It creates the atmosphere that pervades each of her books.

I could probably keep going on, but I think I’ll rein myself in here. I have thoroughly enjoyed every book I’ve read by Sarah Addison Allen, and I hope you have – and will – enjoy them as well!

I read The Last Dragonslayer, the first book in this series, nearly a year ago. I tried to write a review of it then, and couldn’t get beyond the first sentence (which, if you’re curious, was, “The Last Dragonslayer is the book I have always wanted to write.“). I read The Song of the Quarkbeast, the second book in this series several months ago. And there it sat in my review-to-be-written pile.

I’m not finding it hard to write reviews because I didn’t love the books. Because believe me, I LOVED these books. It’s just – how do you review, let alone describe, something that Jasper Fforde has written? The quirkiness is overpowering.

Find The Last Dragonslayer on:  Goodreads  |  Amazon  |  Better World Books
Find The Song of the Quarkbeast on:  Goodreads  |  Amazon

The Underneath is the story of one dog, two kittens, a giant alligator, and a vengeful snake. It’s not a cute book, like I expected a book about kittens to be. Instead, it’s very serious, tackling some big issues like love and forgiveness. It’s a story that matters, one not to be taken lightly.

I can’t say as I really enjoyed the writing style. The author tended to repeat the same phrases over and over, and it often made it feel like the plot wasn’t really going anywhere. However, this writing style is really what creates the atmosphere of the book, drawing you into the bayous of Texas.

This is a good, literary book. I can see plenty of merit in it. The story is well-written and well-told. But I didn’t find it especially gripping, and I honestly don’t think many kids would either. It’s almost as if the author is trying too hard to be profound. 

Why would kids enjoy this book? Good question. The kittens are cute and all, but I honestly would have been bored reading this book as a child.

Why would adults enjoy this book?  The writing. Appelt’s writing is musical and really paints a picture of the world she is trying to create.

Find it on: Goodreads  |  Amazon  |  Better World Books

Ivan is a gorilla. His best friends are an elephant and a stray dog. People come to visit him and watch him every day. But he’s not in a zoo. Instead, he lives at a mall, where he’s known as the One and Only Ivan, Mighty Silverback. He draws pictures which are sold in the gift shop. And he tries to forget his former life in the jungles of Africa. When Ruby, a baby elephant arrives at the mall, Ivan decides that, for her sake, he must find a better life for both of them.

Ivan narrates his own story, and that’s what makes this book so powerful. We see the world through his eyes; we see humans through his eyes – the good and the bad. We see the moment when he takes charge of his own future. We see the love he has for his friends. Ivan reminds us of the glimpses of humanity that every animal has.

Why would kids enjoy this book?  The characters: Bob the stray dog’s commentary on the happenings in the zoo is always amusing. Ruby is adorable and relatable, elephant though she may be.

Why would adults enjoy this book?  Adults will get more out of the treatment of animals message, as well as Ivan’s backstory. There is a lot of wisdom in Ivan’s view of the world and humans that can be found in this book.

Find it on: Goodreads  |  Amazon  |  Better World Books

The Graveyard Book tells the story of Nobody Owens, a young boy adopted by the inhabitants of a graveyard. The rest of his family was murdered when he was a baby, and the murderer is still after him. Staying in the graveyard keeps him safe. But once he’s explored and learned all about the graveyard, staying inside is not enough for him anymore. If you liked Gaiman’s Coraline, then you will like this book. The two have much in common – the slightly creepy atmosphere, real characters and unreal characters, heroic deeds that save the day. The Graveyard Book felt a little less focused to me, covering a wide range of Bod’s experiences instead of just telling the main thread of the story. But it turns out that it all comes together in the end, as one would expect from a master of storytelling like Neil Gaiman.

Why would kids enjoy this book?  It’s creepy! It takes place in a graveyard, for goodness’ sake. No zombies, but plenty of ghosts to enjoy and get to know.

Why would adults enjoy this book?  The atmosphere that Gaiman creates really draws you in, and actually makes this book less scary than it could have been. Being friends with ghosts that lived hundreds of years ago means that there are snippets of history dropped in here and there. And Bod is a wonderful kid, always trying to do right for himself and those around him. 

Find it on: Goodreads  |  Amazon  |  Better World Books