Month: April 2017

REVIEW: Princess Juniper of the Anju by Ammi-Joan Paquette

REVIEW: Princess Juniper of the Anju by Ammi-Joan Paquette

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Princess Juniper is torn. She knows her home kingdom of Torr has been attacked and her father, the king, has probably been taken prisoner. She would love to head home and save the day – if only she knew how!

But more than half of their horses have been stolen. Maybe, if they can recover the horses, they would be in better shape to mount a rescue. And maybe by then she’ll have a plan.

The search for the horses will lead Juniper to her mother’s people, the Anju. Once she finds them, she’ll have to decide where her place is – in Queen’s Basin with her small group of subjects; in Torr, rescuing her father; or with the Anju, the family she has never known.

 

Review

This is such a fun series! The characters from book one are back, but we get to see Juniper and Cyril the most in this story – and that’s awesome. The new Anju characters are a fantastic addition.

I loved seeing Juniper wrestling with her place and her role with the Anju. This is an identity story but it is also a story about leadership and power and how to use both responsibly.

In some ways, this is an interlude. The story ends up only dealing with the big crisis in Torr in only small ways – they find a spy ring, they wrestle with the role of the Anju in a possible retaliatory strike, and Juniper wonders from afar what is happening in her kingdom. But all those pieces set up the third book – Princess Juniper of Torr – nicely. And the Anju pieces made for a terrific story on their own.

This is a satisfying sequel to Princess Juniper of the Hourglass. I am looking forward to book three!

Rating:♥♥♥♥

BOOK NEWS: April 11, 2017

Posted on by Jaymie

Happy Holy Week! Hope you have some time this week to celebrate Easter with your family and maybe even enjoy some reading time! Here are some of the books releasing this week.

Books for Older Kids/Teens/Young Adults

Star Wars Adventures in Wild Space: The Heist – Book 3 in the Wild Space series
Curiosity House: The Fearsome Firebird – Book 3 in the Curiosity House series about a group of special orphans who have been raised in a  museum of oddities
In Over Their Heads – Book 2 in the Under Their Skin series by Margaret Peterson Haddix where a set of twins are trying to save the world.
Bridget Wilder: Live Free, Spy Hard – Book 3 in the Bridget Wilder mystery/spy series. Book one of this series, Bridget Wilder: Spy-in-Training is on my TBR.
My Life as a Ninja – Book 6 in this Wimpy Kid-esque series
One Hundred Spaghetti Strings – A girl cooks her way through a difficult year of family upheaval.
Pick Your Poison – Book 5 in the  Ruby Redfort mystery series. I’ve only read the first book in this series, but it was a terrific mystery.
Willows vs. Wolverines – Boys vs Girls prank war at summer camp
Alex & Eliza – A fictionalized account of the romance between Eliza Schuyler and Alexander Hamilton.
Duels and Deception – A young woman and her law clerk are kidnapped as the villain tries to sully the young woman’s family name.
Literally – Annabelle, the character in a new novel, tries to assert her independence from her author.
Spindle Fire – Half sisters and princesses star in this Sleeping Beauty-ish tale.
Unearthly Things – A contemporary spin on Jane Eyre.

Books for Adults

Alice and the Assassin – First book in the Alice Roosevelt mystery series. Alice Roosevelt is one of my favorite historical figures, so I am curious to read this mystery.
Dangerous to Know – Book 2 in the Lillian Frost and Edith Head mystery series that takes place in 1938 Los Angeles
The Good Byline – First book in the Riley Ellison mystery series where trouble starts with writing an obituary
Kale to the Queen – First book in the Kensington Palace Chef mystery series which starts with a body in the royal kale beds
One Perfect Lie – The latest from Lisa Scottoline is a thriller about a local baseball coach and the families and kids he influences every day. This sounds amazing.
Star Wars: Thrawn – Backstory of Star Wars’ Grand Admiral Thrawn
What’s Your Creative Type? – Identify your creative motivation type

REVIEW: Perfect by Cecelia Ahern

REVIEW: Perfect by Cecelia Ahern

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Celestine North is on the run. She’s been branded “Flawed.” She’s hiding from Judge Crevan who is desperate to find her – or to find the evidence he thinks she is hiding.

The judge will stop at nothing to get what he wants. He harasses the Flawed to get them to sell Celestine out. He arrests her grandfather. His desperation grows every day.

Several powerful people seem interested  in helping Celestine – but who can she really trust? Will anyone stand for what is right? Or are these people only out to secure more power for themselves?

 

Review

I loved book one,  Flawed, in this dystopian duology. If you haven’t read it, you should. I highly recommend it.

This story does a great job of exploring what it’s like for the Flawed to live day to day – the rules about what they can eat, how many can be together in a group, the curfews, etc. Then there are the complications – no one can help them because they would be arrested for assisting the Flawed.  If the Flawed bus is shut down, those on board are in danger of breaking their curfew and suffering consequences. Flawed who become pregnant have their children taken away and tagged “Flawed at Birth.”

The story also does well with building suspense as Celestine makes more connections with people who may or may not be trustworthy. Her romantic interests are explored and resolved. Her family grows and changes in response to Celestine’s choices in the first book and then again in this one. And as you watch them change, you also get to see how society starts, slowly, to change around them.

I wasn’t sure if this book would wrap up the story or if it was going to be a transitional book before a third and final volume. This unknown kept me  braced for some major backstabbing or some huge reveal that would launch the story off once again as this one started to wrap up. While there was plenty of suspense and some backstabbing, everything wrapped up in a pretty satisfying way.

Definitely read these in order. Definitely read this one if you already read Flawed. There is some language in the book. (Flawed does contain some difficult-to-read scenes for Celestine’s branding.) Many thanks to the publisher, Macmillan, for providing an electronic review copy for me to read in exchange for an honest review. I enjoyed reading Perfect!

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: Fudge and Jury by Ellie Alexander

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Jules and the gang at Torte are showcase vendors for the Chocolate Festival. And while they are preparing for the event, they are also renovating Torte, installing a new inventory/payment system, and considering an expansion into the property below their store. It’s a LOT for Jules to juggle! But when a fellow festival vendor has an allergic reaction and dies at her booth, Jules will make time to find a killer!

Review

The Bakeshop Mystery series is one of my favorite cozy series right now! I love the relationships with the Torte family. The setting is interesting – and their offerings sound delicious! I never need time to warm up to the story or the characters in these books. It comes immediately and naturally.

The mystery in this one was great. The chocolate festival was a fantastic setting, allowing new players to be introduced – and adding lots of yummy food discussions. I felt a little unsettled at the end of the mystery (this is the reason I didn’t give this a 5 star review) – I kept waiting for a new layer to the solution, but it never came. A couple of the other possible culprits still seemed sketchy to me at the end so I wasn’t 100% on board with the solution. I wanted a bigger, more detailed confession, maybe, but the author went a different way. Maybe it will come back in a future book.

One of the things I love with this series is how the author includes ongoing things with the characters and the business. She does an excellent job of keeping those pieces balanced with the larger story of the mystery for each book. I am already looking forward to book 6, A Crime of Passion Fruit (releasing this summer )

Rating: ♥♥♥♥½

REVIEW: Jack and the Geniuses: At the Bottom of the World by Bill Nye and Gregory Mone

REVIEW: Jack and the Geniuses: At the Bottom of the World by Bill Nye and Gregory Mone

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Jack and his siblings, Matt and Ava, are former foster kids, emancipated and living on their own. Jack and Ava are twelve; Matt is fifteen. Ava and Matt are geniuses. Jack is smart in his own way. They have a social worker who checks on them weekly, but otherwise, they are on their own. Until they meet Hank.

Henry Witherspoon is a famous scientist and inventor. He’s so impressed by the kids , he invites them to join him on an expedition to Antarctica. It’s an opportunity of a lifetime for the kids. But when they get to the South Pole, one of Hanks’ friends on the base has gone missing. Jack starts nosing around for clues and information. Did the scientist dart off on a whim as she had done before? Or had she made a scientific breakthrough that someone else wanted to keep hidden?

 

Review

This book was all sorts of fun! First, it’s a mystery at its core. The case was interesting, and the sleuthing was believable.

Second, it’s a unique setting. I learned all sorts of things about Antarctica while I enjoyed a great story.

Third, since Bill Nye the Science Guy is one of the authors, there’s great science material in the story and in the end materials (plus an experiment!)

Fourth, there’s Jack. I loved Jack! As the “normal one,” people in the story didn’t expect much from him. But Jack is smart in his own ways. Even with a lot of baggage (several failed foster placements), he’s a personable, confident kid. He knows who he is and where he fits in with his siblings. And he contributes most of the humor in the story.  I’m not sure the emancipation of twelve-year-olds is believable, but it was easy to look past, and the story is worth it! This is a smart, funny and all around FUN story. Can’t wait to read more!! (Book 2 will be out later this year.)

I received an electronic copy of this book from the publisher, Amulet books, in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, Amulet, for the opportunity!

Rating:♥♥♥♥♥

BOOK NEWS: April 4, 2017

BOOK NEWS: April 4, 2017

Posted on by Jaymie

Happy April and Happy Spring! Lots of terrific books coming out this week. Let’s take a look:

Books for Kids

Balderdash: John Newbery and the Boisterous Birth of Children’s Books – Picture book biography of John Newbery, advocate for children’s literature.
Be Quiet – Rupert the mouse wants to star in a beautiful, wordless picture book, but his friends won’t stop yakking!
Frankie – Two dogs try to figure out how to get along together. Looks darling!
Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors – This backstory of the epic competition between Rock, Paper and Scissors is from some of the best and brightest in the world of picture books. I can’t want to read this one!
Night Night Groot – Rocket and Groot have to save the galaxy before Groot can finally go to bed. This looks darling!
Pout Pout Fish Far Far from Home – I discovered the Pout Pout Fish books when I was doing book fairs with Scholastic. Cute story line. This is the latest addition to the series.
Splatypus – A lonely platypus goes “SPLAT” no matter what he tries to do. Look at that cover! I have to see this one in person – looks terrific!
Rosie Revere’s Big Project Book for Bold Engineers – An activity book tied to the terrific Rosie Revere picture book.
Star Wars Prequel Trilogy Graphic Novel – I have seen the GN for the original series that goes with this one for the prequels and it is gorgeous! I would love to own both of these. Our family would get a lot of use out of them.

Books for Older Kids/Teens/Young Adults

Chester and Gus – Chester has only ever wanted to be a service dog, but he fails the test. Then a family adopts Chester to help their autistic son, Gus, but Gus isn’t anything like Chester has trained for. But Gus is now his person, so Chester is determined to figure out how to help him! Adding this to my list for certain.
First Class Murder – Book 3 in the Murder Most Unladylike/Wells and Wong mystery series. This one takes place on The Orient Express. This looks like a fantastic mystery series for kids!
The Forgetting Spell – Book 2 in the Wishing Day series. Darya approaches her Wishing Day with trepidation after the impact of her mother’s wish ten years ago and her sister’s wish last year.
Guys Read: Heroes & Villains – Love this series of short stories with boys in mind (but totally appropriate for any reader!). This theme sounds terrific to me! Ten original stories.
I Funny School of Laughs (April 3) – Book 5 in the I Funny series by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein
Jack and the Geniuses: At the Bottom of the World – Three orphans and their benefactor head to the South Pole to judge a contest and find a missing scientist. This was a terrific series launch! I will be posting a review of this here tomorrow. Check it out!
Journey Across the Hidden Island – Twin princesses encounter monsters on what was supposed to be a pretty routine journey. Now it is up to them to save their kingdom.
Magic in the City – Two boys from Canada and their cousin in London stumble onto three magical objects that take them on an amazing adventure.
Panda-monium – Book 4 in the Teddy Fitzroy series. I haven’t read any of these, but they sound terrific – mysteries at the zoo! I think I have to add these to my TBR list.
Prisoner of Ice and Snow – A girl gets arrested on purpose in order to try to break her twin out of jail. Sounds like a great adventure!
Speed of Life – After losing her mother 8 months earlier, Sofia is still grieving, but her friends are ready for her to “move on.” Sofia reaches out to an advice columnist for help. There are a couple girls in my life who recently lost their dad. I’d love to read this and see if it would be a good resource for them when/if they need it.
The Titanic Mission – Second book in the time travel Flashback Four series by Dan Gutman
Who Are the Rolling Stones? – Biography of the Rolling Stones
Who Was Princess Diana? – Biography of Princess Diana.
Alex, Approximately – A twist on You’ve Got Mail. I loved it!! You can read my review here.
Geekerella: A Fangirl Fairytale – Elle wants to win a cosplay contest for a reboot of her father’s favorite scifi show. Darian wants nothing more than to be in the reboot, but the fandom seems to have written him off completely. Maybe Elle can change all that. Yep, this one is definitely in the shopping cart!
Gem & Dixie – Sisters with a complicated family situation take a road trip where one has to determine how far she will go to save herself from their past. This is getting rave reviews online.
Inconceivable Life of Quinn – Daughter of a prominent politician is pregnant – and she doesn’t remember ever having sex. Could this be another virgin birth? Interesting premise. I’d read this just to find out what really happened.
Letters to the Lost – A girl writes letters to her mother and leaves them at the cemetery. A boy doing community service there reads them and responds. Soon they are exchanging letters even though they are “strangers.” Except they aren’t. Can’t wait to read this one!
Perfect – Sequel to the awesome Flawed, about a dystopian society where people are punished for deception, bad decisions and other examples of flawed character. I am reading an ARC of this (Advanced Reader Copy) right now! I’ll post a review of this later this week.
Pretty Fierce – The daughter of two assassins who have disappeared is targeted by hit men.
Royce Rolls – Bentley Royce’s family, stars of uber-popular reality TV show, is on the brink of destruction. It will be up to Bentley to save the show in order to save the family, but a car accident throws a wrench into the plan.
Zenn Diagram – A math whiz who can read people’s emotions from their possessions or even their own skin meets a boy who she can’t read like everyone else. But there is a link between the two of them that could tear them apart. Romance and suspense with hints of the paranormal. I already pre-ordered this one!

Books for Adults

All By Myself Alone – For fans of Mary Higgins Clark, here is her latest mystery that takes place on a cruise ship. I love mysteries like this! Clark leans more towards suspense/thriller than I usually read, but the premise of this one might grab my attention anyway!
Caramel Crush – Book 9 in the Cupcake Bakery Mystery series. I loved the first book in the series and would love to get back into it!
Dying on the Vine – Book 2 in the Kelsey McKenna Destination Wedding Mystery series. Mysteries, weddings, and travel – sounds great!
A Frying Shame – Book 3 of the Deep Fried Mystery series
Invitation – Book one of the Harbringers series. Frank Peretti. Angela Hunt. Bill Myers. Alton Gansky. With those authors, how could I NOT read this one!! Looks like there are four stories, one by each author, with the same core characters. This one is already in my Amazon cart!
Of Books and Bagpipes – Book 2 in the Scottish Bookshop Mystery series
Silence of the Jams – Book 2 in the Down South Cafe Mystery series. I enjoyed book one, The Calamity Cafe and I’m looking forward to this one!
Town in a Maple Madness – Book 8 in the Candy Holliday Mystery series. I haven’t read any of these yet, but this series sounds terrific.
An Unseen Angel: A Mother’s Story of Faith, Hope and Healing after Sandy Hook – A mother shares her journey after the shooting at Sandy Hook (Newtown, CT) in 2012.
A Colorful Way of Living: How to Be More, Create More, Do More the Vera Bradley Way  – An inspirational book from one of the founders of Vera Bradley. Personally, I am looking to do LESS and strive LESS, but I still want to read this.
The Evangelicals: The Struggle to Shape America – A history of Evangelical American Protestantism, from the Puritans to the 2016 election season.
The Gatekeepers – I have never been more fascinated by politics than I have in this past year. This book, looking at the work of Presidential Chiefs of Staff, sounds interesting!
The Gospel According to Paul – The latest from John MacArthur looks at passages from Paul’s writings that sum up the gospel of Jesus Christ
Hallelujah Anyway: Rediscovering Mercy – The latest from Anne Lamott where she looks at finding meaning in life.
I Love You with All My Butt – The funny things kids say! I follow this artist on social media and I can’t wait to see this in person. This title cracks me up every time I read it.
Life’s Work: A Moral Argument for Choice – A Christian doctor shares his story of conviction to help others through the “service” of providing abortions. This stands opposed to my own interpretation of scripture, but I am curious to read how this gentleman reconciles his work with his faith.

 

 

So, what are you adding to your TBR list this week?

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD: April Fools’ Day

Posted on by Jaymie

Happy April Fools’ Day! I have never loved this “holiday,” especially as a teacher. But I do like to READ about pranks and pranksters. Here are a few prankster books to enjoy this month:

My Lucky Day – Hilarious picture book about a hungry fox who finds a pig on his front porch. How lucky! By the time it is all over, though, it just might be the pig who is the lucky one!

 

 

 

 

April Fools’, Mr. Todd! – I haven’t had a chance to read this one yet, but I LOVE Judy Moody. This early reader series with Judy and her friends is perfect for kids in lower elementary grades who are growing as readers and are ready to try some longer stories. The illustrations are full color and fantastic. I can’t wait to read this one!

 

 

 

The Terrible Two – A prankster arrives at his new school ready to show the other kids his skills. But there is a pretty impressive prankster already there. Is this school big enough for TWO master pranksters? I get a huge kick out of this series by Mac Barnett. There are two books already with a third slated for 2018. Great for fans of the Wimpy Kid books.

 

 

 

The Last Boy at St. Edith’s – This book about the only boy at an all-girls school (the school tried to go co-ed and it didn’t work, but his mom teaches at the school, so he is stuck) who tries to prank his way to expulsion is on my TBR! I’ve been trying to get to this one for awhile. This might be the perfect time to read this one!

 

 

 

 

Codename Zero – A prankster is recruited to help a secret government agency. This is on my TBR, too, This is the first book in a series. I love books where the grown ups have to seek out a kid to save the day!