Monday, August 31, 2020

Again Again book review

Here is another NetGalley E-Arc book review for you to check out. I am behind on most of my E-Arc's and trying to get caught up.

Again Again
By: E. Lockhart
Random House Children's
Delacorte Press
Romance/Teen and YA
Publish Date 2 June 2020
#AgainAgain
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I have to be honest at first I almost DNF'd this book. I was at 10% and thought oh no what I am reading. I just put it down for the rest of the day to give myself sometime to think about it.
The next day I picked it up and read another 15% and said it really isn't that bad. I just needed to get my head wrapped around the style of the writing she used.
After that I read it fairly quick.
This book is about a young lady who is going into her senior year of high school at a private school. She has a lot going on in her life and she is struggling on how to coop.
She goes through different situations on a certain subject or position she is in. This is where I was having issues but I had to remind myself that we all do this to a point.
She is dealing with her brother being an addict and a break-up and being on academic probation. Because her brother is an addict her parents are living apart so he can get the help he needs.
After getting use to the way the story was told I ended up really enjoying it. 
I liked how it ended because it cleared up somethings and it shows she made progress with her situations. She ended up growing up a lot and finally telling people how she really felt and not holding it inside. 
I recommend that you read this book. I gave it 4 stars.

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Starting From Seneca Falls Book Review

 Middle Grade Book Review

Starting From Seneca Falls
By: Karen Schwabach
Random House Children's
Random House Books for Young Readers
Children's Fiction/Historical Fiction
Publish Date 23 June 2020
#StartingfromSenecaFalls
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This was a great book and I gave it 5 stars. I read this book in one day, it is only 240 pages. It is quick, enjoyable and knowledgeable. 
When I started reading this I thought it was a second book in a series and I found myself checking God Reads to make sure it wasn't. Once I realized it wasn't a sequel I was able to breeze through it.
This book is about the first meeting for Women's suffrage and how it came about in the view of a young girl.
Bridie/Phoebe is an orphan who is sent to help a family for two weeks but ends up running away because the father is mean.
She befriends a another girl, Rose, who is colored. Rose helps her find a job with Mrs. Stanton who has unique ideas. Mrs. Stanton is well off and doesn't care who you are or how important.
She works with Mrs. Cady and others to put together a convention for the women in the town in Seneca Falls, New York. These ladies were important for the start of the rights we have now.
I enjoyed the way the author wrote this story so that the younger reader can get to know how thing about for women.
At the end of the book there is a historical section that tells you more about what was true and what was made up. Most of the events were true and only a few of the people were fake.
I highly recommend that you read this book and have the younger children this even if they are male.


Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Ruthless Gods Review

 Another book review. I was given an E-Arc of this book by Net Galley for a honest review. I am a little behind on all of Arc's. I am trying to get caught up.

Ruthless Gods

By: Emily A. Duncan

St. Martin's Press

Wednesday Books

Teens and Young Adult

Publish Date 7 April 2020

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This is the second book in the Something Dark and Holy Trilogy. This book picks up from it stopped in the first book. There is a lot of action going on and it was a page turner form me. I loved all the action and the adventures they went on. There is some blood and gore so that you have to watch out. I had a great time reading this book.

It is hard to tell you what is happening because it gives away a lot from the first book. There is one death that you really don't see coming and it made me cry. You truly know that there will be a second by the way it ended and I can't wait for it to come out.

All your main characters are back and some old ones with some new ones. Sometimes it is hard to keep track of them but for the most part it is easy.

I highly recommend that you read this book. I gave it 4 stars.

Sunday, August 23, 2020

Well Met Review

 

Well Met
By: Jen DeLuca 

I really enjoyed reading this book. I gave it 5 stars. 
This book is about Emily who is helping out her older sister, April who was hurt in an car accident. 
One day she takes her niece, Caitlin to the first meeting of the Ren Faire that  her high school puts on every summer. Unknown to her she has to volunteer in order for her niece to be able to join. She isn't happy about it but she does this for her niece who really wants to be a part of this faire.
Here she meets other adults in this small town. She also meets the guy who is in charge of the faire and they don't get off to good start. She signs up to be a tavern wench. 
The practices are every weekend until summer starts and then the faire is every weekend for six weeks. There is a lot to do and learn to be prepare for the faire. 
Emily's life is a mess and she doesn't know what to do after her sister get's better. She has come off a bad relationship that lasted five years and never finished college.
Simon the guy who is charge has a lot going on also. He is the high school English teacher besides taking control of the faire. His life hasn't been easy the last three years and he is trying to work everything by himself. He is stuck in a riot and won't ask for help.
The two of them get involved but have some problems. Can they work it out? What will Emily do once her sister gets better? Can Simon ask for help?
I highly recommend that you read this book for all the fun it offers you.

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Clap When You Land Review

 Clap When You Land

By: Elizabeth Acevedo

Young Adult

417 pages

4 stars

This book is told in verse and is her third book. The second one told in verse. This is the second book I have read of hers. I still need to read With the Fire on High. So far I have been enjoying her books. I really like her writing style.

This book is about two 16 year old's who live in different parts of the world. One lives in the Dominican Republic and one lives in New York. Their lives are so different from each other except for one thing. (You will have to read the book to find out.)

Camino who lives in the Dominican Republic doesn't have an easy life. At the age of 6 her mother passes away and she lives with her Aunt. Her dad only see's her in the summer. She does go to a private school which her dad pays for so she can become a doctor. One day she goes to meet her at the airport but his plane never arrives. It goes down in the ocean. What will happen to her now that both parents are died? She has a stalker who was being paid off but now he is upping his game. What will she do? How will she survive?

Yahaira lives in New York. She is comfortable but not well off. She goes to public school and does well. She has a girlfriend and her mom works at a spa. Her dad is home all year round except for the summer. One day at school she is called into the principle office where her mom is (not dressed like normal) to find out her dad's plane has crashed. There are no known survivors. She is keeping a secret and doesn't know what to do. Mom and her are both hurting and barely getting on. What is her secret? Do they learn to carry on?

I really enjoyed this book. I did have a slight issue near the end but it was easy to figure out. Each chapter had a girls point of view except near the end and then you had to figure out who was talking otherwise a very good book.


Monday, August 17, 2020

The Tea Dragon Tapestry Review

 I have been lucky enough to get an e-arc of the book The Tea Dragon Tapestry. Here is my review.

The Tea Dragon Tapestry

By: Katie O'Neill

One Press

Children's fiction/comics and Graphic Novel

Publish date 27 October 2020

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I love these graphic novels so much. They are beautifully done and I just love the art work. This is the third book in the series. The little dragons produce tea on the top of their heads that you can use to make tea. This story is about a dragon named ginseng. His first owner passed away and he is grieving for his loss. A little girl has been taking care of him and is sad because she can't help get over his loss.

She also likes doing blacksmith work and has a chance to become an apprentice to a famous one and she  is trying to come up with an idea for her test. She does come up with a great idea that not helos her but also her little dragon.

This is a great story and I highly recommend that you try out these graphic novels.

Nauvoo Restored Review

 Here is a book review on Nauvoo Restored.

This is an reenactment of the city. I would also put as a historical fiction. It is 139 pages and full of pictures.

Not everyone is into Latter Day-Saints (Mormon) history but I have always been intrigued by it. I have been a member since 1975 and love to read about the history of my religion. I borrowed this book from a friend because she thought I would like it and she was right.

This book is full of beautiful colorful pictures which have real people reenacting the time period. It is a brief history of life in Nauvoo. Ill. It starts from just before they arrive in Ill. from Mo. It tells why they change the name of the city from the original name. Nauvoo means beautiful. The book shows the hardships and the fun times. 

I just enjoyed reading this book and looking at the pictures. If you get a chance to read this book do so it was fun and educational.

Sunday, August 16, 2020

August Book of the Month Books

 It has been awhile since I posted a book of the month pick. I was able to be with my daughter Tara for our picks this month. If you would like to give them a try here is my link for them. https://www.mybotm.com/0cxpwrpoiqlivn29?show_box=true

I hope you give them a try. Now onto the books.

This is how the books arrive.
This book is from the October 2019 pick. I wanted this book because my library book club was reading it for August. This is what the book cover says.
Young Hiram Walker was born into bondage. When His mother was sold away, Hiram was robbed of all memory of her- but was gifted with a mysterious power.
Years later, when Hiram almost drowns in a river, that same power saves his life. This brush with death births an urgency in Hiram and a daring scheme: to escape from the only home he's ever known.
So begins an unexpected journey that takes Hiram from the corrupt grandeur of Virginia's proud plantations to desperate guerrilla cells in the wilderness, from the coffin of the Deep South to dangerously idealistic movements in the North. Even as he's enlisted in the underground war between slaves and the enslaved, Hiram's resolve to rescue the family he lift behind endures.
This is the dramatic story of an atrocity inflicted on generations of women, men, and children-the violent and capricious separation of families-and the war they waged to simply make lives with the people they loved.
This is a young adult choice that I have read a couple of chapters as a preview that was sent to me. I really enjoyed what I read and so excited to see as a pick for August. This is what the book cover has to say about the book.
If the night sky holds many secrets, it holds Sheetal Mistry's secret the closest. A secret that explains why her hair is the silver of starlight, or why some nights the stars call Sheetal by name.
Stars like her mother, who returned to her place in the constellation Pushya years ago. Since t day, Sheetal has been forced to hide.
But as her seventeenth birthday draws near, the pull from the sky is growing stronger. So strong that Sheetal loses control, and a flare of starfire burns her human father-an injury only a full star's blood can heal.
Sheetal has no choice but to answer the starsong and ascend to the sky. But her celestial family has summoned her for a reason: to act as their human champion in a competition to decide the next ruling house of the heavens.
Desperate to save her father, Sheetal agrees. But nothing could have prepared Sheetal to face the stars' dark history-or the forces that are working to shut the gate between the realms for good.

This is the book that both Tara and I chose for the monthly pick. We read the Escape room together and really enjoyed it so we just had to pick this one. This is what the book cover has to say about the book.

A true-crime podcast host covering a controversial trial finds herself drawn deep into a small town's dark past and a brutal crime that took place there years before.

Ever since her true-crime podcast became an overnight sensation and set an innocent man free, Rachel Krall has become a household name-and the last hope for people seeking justice. Bu she's used to being recognized for her voice, not her face. Which makes it all the more unsettling when she finds a note on her car windshield, addressed to her, begging for help.

The new season of Rachel's podcast has brought her to a small town being torn apart by a devastating rape trial. A local golden boy, a swimmer destined for Olympic greatness, has been accused of raping the beloved granddaughter of the police chief. Under pressure to make Season 3 a success, Rachel throws herself into her investigation-but the mysterious letters keep coming. Someone is following her, and she won't stop until Rachel finds out what happened to her sister twenty-five years ago. Officially, Jenny Stills tragically drowned, but the letters insist she was murdered-and when Rachel stats asking questions, nobody in town wants to answer. The past and present start to collide as Rachel uncovers startling connections between the two cases-and a revelation that will change the course of the trial and the lives of everyone involved.

Electrifying and propulsive, The Night Swim asks: What is the price of a reputation? Can a small town ever right the wrongs of its past? And what really happened to Jenny?

Let me know what you think about these books. Have you read any of them or do you want to read them? 

I hope you give Book of the Month a try. You have five books a month to choose from at a low price with free shipping.