BOOK NEWS: July 9, 2024

Here are some of the new books out this week:

Books for Kids


Spider-Man: Cosmic Chaos – Book 3 in the Mighty Marvel Team-Up series. Spider-Man teams up with the Guardians of the Galaxy on a new mission. I already pre-ordered this one. I love this series!

Books for Older Kids/Teens/Young Adults


Illinois, Indiana & Ohio: 50 Hikes with Kids – Hikes and nature scavenger hunts you can do with kids in the Midwest.
The Darkness Within Us – A companion novel to the fantastic The Shadows Between Us. Chrysantha’s schemes are starting to pay off when someone tries to steal her inheritance. She can’t have that now, can she? I cannot wait to read this!!
Hearts Overboard – After a very public and humiliating breakup, Savannah tries to change her reputation – and her nemesis says he’ll help. This looks cute!
Heir, Apparently – Sequel to The Prince & the Apocalypse. Wren and her accidental prince-husband and his family and retainers are stranded on a tropical island after a plane crash. I am hoping to read book 1 this summer so I can catch up on this fun-sounding series.
The Umbrella Academy: Young Blood – A prequel book to the Netflix series. When things at home get stressful, Klaus suggests his siblings kick back at a party like normal teens.
The Enneagram for Teens – A book about the Enneagram targeted to teens.

Books for Adults


The Blind Devotion of Imogene (ebook) – Book 1 in a new series. Imogene Taylor is an elderly parolee trying to help her neighbor’s daughter deal with a dead body. This is a quirky sounding story – I can’t wait to check it out!
It’s Elementary (Trade Paperback) – An overwhelmed mom gets coerced into heading up a new diversity and inclusion committee for her daughter’s school. But her increased involvement at the school means she sees the PTA president acting strangely at the same time the principal who ticked the woman off goes missing. This is going to be fantastic!
The Next Best Fling (Trade Paperback) – First in a new Librarians in Love series. She’s in love with his brother who is engaged to someone else – and he’s in love with the fiancée. So they agree to pretend to be a couple and keep their true feelings to themselves. Until new feelings start to develop – for one another.
The Sky on Fire (Hardcover) – A new fantasy novel taking place in a world with dragons!
Sounds Like a Plan (Trade Paperback) – Rival PIs team up when they are set up to take the fall for murder.
Spellshop (Hardcover) – A new book by Sarah Beth Durst. A magic library’s librarian flees to her cozy home town after her library is destroyed – and she starts to build a new life. This sounds precisely like my kind of cozy fantasy novel!
Until Next Summer (Trade Paperback) – A new summer novel from Ali Brady. When she hears the camp where she works will be sold, Jessie decides to have one last hurrah – an adults-only camp where former campers are invited to return. Sounds like another great summer vacation read!

 

REVIEW: Stan Lee by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara

[I received a free electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Quarto Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary and Review


This is a kid-friendly biography of comics-creator Stan Lee. I adored the colorful artwork in this book! The story is kid-friendly with a focus on reading and storytelling, perseverance, and familiar characters from comics, television, and movies.

While Marvel and the MCU isn’t quite at the height it was several years ago, the staying power of the characters Stan Lee created make his story one that endures whether Marvel is churning out blockbusters multiple times a year or fans are returning to “old” favorites.

This would be great for collections of the Little People Big Dreams series as well as other picture book biography collections – and of course for all Marvel/Stan Lee fans.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥*

*♥♥♥♥ = Great!

BOOK NEWS: July 2, 2024

Happy July! Here are some of the new books out this week:

Books for Kids


I Am Jesse Owens (Ordinary People Change the World) –  A picture book biography of Jesse Owens
Stan Lee (Little People, Big Dreams)
– A picture book biography of Stan Lee.

Books for Older Kids/Teens/Young Adults


Faker – A new book from Gordon Korman. The son of a con artist starts to question the life he’s always known – lying, no real friends, and quick departures.
Rise – The youngest of three Valkyrie sisters is the first to sense the coming of Ragnarök.

Books for Adults


Breaking the Dark (Hardcover) – First in a new Marvel Crime series of original stories of Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Daredevil. Jessica Jones is reluctantly pulled into a new case when a mother comes to her for help after her twins return from visiting their father with significant personality changes.
Dog Day Afternoon (Hardcover) – Book 29 in the Andy Carpenter series. Andy helps a young man Marcus has been mentoring who got a dog from the Tara Foundation. I’m super excited to read this one!
Just Playing House (Trade Paperback) – Marley reconnects with the prom date who ghosted her after they slept together when he hires her to be his stylist for a huge new movie. And he’s determined to work with her, even volunteering to stay with her and help her as she recovers from a double mastectomy.
The Love of My Afterlife (Trade Paperback) – Delphie meets the man of her dreams in the afterlife right before he is sent back to Earth. She’s given the impossible second chance of returning to Earth to find him.
The Summer of Yes (Trade Paperback) – A young writer who second-guesses her talents meets the queen of New York businesswomen in a hospital where they both decide to work together to address their regrets. This sounds like a great vacation read!
The Undermining of Twyla and Frank (Trade Paperback) – Book 2 in the Hart and Mercy series. Twyla and Frank are best friends who are spending mid-life serving with the Tanrian Marshalls. They stumble across a mystery with a dead body – and a baby dragon.