Weekly Reading ( January 28th- February 3rd)

 Trying something new or whether retrying something. I never know what to do on this blog so I am going to try this again. So here it goes. These are the books that I checked out from my local library. Science Verse is a children's book that is from a list of 100 best books for Children. Bird Box  I have heard a lot about and my David watched the Netflix show and had some questions about the show. I couldn't answer them because I haven't read the book or seen the show.  Shadowhunter's and Downworlders are actually essays about the mortal instrument series. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is a book that I have also been hearing a lot about so when I saw it at the library I decided to pick it up.

 These are the two books that I bought and they came in the mail this week. The Little House Traveler is actually three stories in one. I have already read the first two stories but not the third. I bought this book because I have always liked anything about Laura Ingalls Wilder. Girls Burn Brighter I heard BooksandLala talk about on her channel so I decided to buy it.

 This picture and the next one are the books that I started to read this week. The big blue book is about a town in Utah which is longer there. The town is called Garfield, my Father in law grew up in this little town so I wanted to learn more about it. Doctrines of Salvation Volume two is about the beliefs of my church. Shadowhunter's and Downworlders I am listening to in the car as I run errands. Girl in the Blue Coat is about the 2nd world war in Amsterdam. Hailey in Bookland recommended this book.

 I know I have started a lot of books this week. I am a mood reader what can I say. Science Verse is a children's book and a fast read. Bird Box so I can watch the show and answer my son's questions. We Must Be Brave is a book that I need to do a review on. Pamela is from 1001 books you must read before you die. It is also a classic. Blue Lilly, Lilly Blue is the third book in a series that I started last year and would like to finish.

These are the books that I finished this week. As I said earlier Science Verse is a children's book and was a quick read. It is about a little boy falls asleep in science class and has a weird dream abut science. The Last Time I Lied I was reading for Buzzwordathon but didn't get finished. I liked this book and there were a few twist that you really don't see coming and one you can. It is a thriller so I won't go into much detail. Girl in The Blue Coat is a historical fiction about the 2nd world war. I enjoyed it and it is a tear jerkier. The Good Girl I am not to sure about. The book wasn't bad but I really didn't like. I ill go into more detail in my February wrap up.
For the most part I enjoyed all the books that I read this week. Until next time keep reading.

January Wrap Up

I know I haven't been very active on my blogging. I will try to do better in the future. So for the month of January I read 28 books. The status of the books are as follows: 13 male authors, 13 female authors and 2 more than one author. I read 5 middle grade books, 1 fantasy, 1 children's, 1 romance, 6 young adult, 1 memoir, 1 classic, 3 non fiction, 3 short stories, 3 mystery, 2 fiction, and 1 horror book. These books were read in the following formats: 2 e-books, 14 physical, 12 audio, 2 rereads, and 1 graphic novel. Total pages read were 9793 pages. Which means I read roughly 316 pages a day. My star ratings are as follows. 1 stars = 0   2 stars = 0   3 stars = 6  3.5 stars = 6  4 stars = 11  4.5 stars = 1   5 stars = 4. Not too bad in the books that I chose to read. Okay here are the books that I read for the month.

1. The Children's Blizzard, 1888 By: Lauren Tarshis (reread) 5 stars

2. The Keeping Quilt By: Patricia Polacco 4 stars

3. Fight or Flight By: Samantha Young 4 stars

4. Z for Zachariah By: Robert O'Brien 3.5 stars

5. Hey Kiddo By: Jarrett J. Krosoczka (graphic novel) 5 stars

6. The Last Life of Prince Alastor By: Alexandra Bracken ( e-book and review up) 4 stars

7. Joseph Andrews By: Henry Fielding (classic and audio) 3 stars

8. The Story of Mankind By: Hendrik W. VanLoon (Newbery award) 4 stars

9. Emergency Contact By: Mary H.K. Choy (Audio) 4 stars

10. A Dance With Dragons By: George RR Martin (audio) 3 stars

11.Little House In The Big Woods By: Laura Ingalls Wilder (reread) 5 stars

12. Unique Stories and Facts About LDS History By: Dan Barker  4 stars

13. Toil and Trouble By: Jessica Spotswood and Tess Sharpe (audio) 4 stars

14. Empress of All Seasons By: Emiko Jean 5 stars

15. The Owls have Come To Take Us Away By: Ronald L. Smith (e-book and review up) 4 stars

16. The Revolutionary War By: Bart McDowell 4.5 stars

17. Doctrines of Salvation Volume 1 By Joseph Fielding Smith 3 stars

18. Miss Kopp Just Won't Quit By: Amy Stewart 4 stars

19. The Husband's Secret By: Liane Moriarty (audio) 3 stars.

20.Everything Eventual By: Stephen King (audio) 3.5 stars

21. Doctor Sleep By: Stephen King (audio) 3 stars

22. Through Blood, Through Fire By: Cassandra Clare (audio) 3.5 stars

23. Blackberry Pie Murder By: Joanne Fluke 4 stars

24. Cast Long Shadows By: Cassandra Clare (audio) 3.5 stars

25. Every Exquisite Thing By: Cassandra Clare (audio) 3 stars

26. W.A.R.P The Reluctant Assassin By: Eoin Colfer 3.5 stars

27. The Last Time I Lied By: Riley Sager (audio) 4 stars

28. The Good Girl By: Mark Kubica (audio) 3.5 stars 

I hope you give these books a try. As you can see I had a wide variety and enjoyed them all. Until next time keep reading

The Owls Have Come To Take Us Away Review

                                                                 
The Owls Have Come To Take Us Away
By: Ronald L. Smith
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Children's Book Group
Clarion Books
Children's Fiction
272 pages
Publish date 19 February 2019
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This is a book I wouldn't normally read. I am not too much into sci-fi. I do have to admit that it was well done. I couldn't believe how quick I was able to read this book. Before I knew it the book was done. Ronald draws you into the story and you just can't put the book down. I did give this book 4 stars only because growing up in a military family and being married to a military man he didn't give honest details on the base housing and military life. Otherwise I really enjoyed this book.
The book is about a 12 year boy, Simon, who is into UFO's and aliens. He believes he is being used as experiments by them and can't believe that his parents won't believe him. He is able to confide to his friend and his brother's girlfriend. The story continues on and is really good. Is Simon truly being used as an experiment by the aliens? Do his parents ever believe in him? Why does he believe that he is seeing aliens whom he calls Grays.
I recommend this book for your middle schooler to read. You can even read it aloud to a 3rd grader and have some great talks about this subject.

Prosper Redding: The Last Life of Prince Alastor Review

                                                                
Prosper Redding: The Last Life of Prince Alastor
By: Alexandra Bracken
Disney-Hyperion
Children's Fiction                     448 pages
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I was lucky enough to receive this book as an ARC through Net Galley. I read the first book last year and really enjoyed it. This is the finally book in the duology. She did not disappoint me in this last book. I really can't go to much into this book because it is the conclusion to the series.
We continue our adventure with Prosper and Alastor. They are going after Prosper sister who was kidnaped by Alastor sister into the downstairs realm. We get to see how they continue how to work together and some new friends they make in this world. I gave the book 4 stars. I recommend that you read this duology to your children or read yourselves.

To Live Here, You Have To Fight Review

                                                                
To Live Here, You Have To Fight
By: Jessica Wilkerson
University of Illinois Press
Nonfiction (Adult), Politics            
Publish Date 30 December 2018              280 pages
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There is no way to sugar coat this book. This book was really boring. The author did a lot of research to back up her findings. In fact the last 22% of the book ha all of her sources.
At first I thought the book was going to be great because she started off with a story that got me hooked and I couldn't wait to find out more about the person and her life. Then it went into facts about the Appalachian Mountains and the miners and the women.
I struggled reading this book. I came real close to DNFing it. The only two reasons I didn't is because they wanted my honest review on this book and the author did a lot of research to write this book.
I gave this book 1 star and unless you are into a book that only really goes into fact then read it but otherwise I don't recommend this book.

The Lying King Review

                                                                  
The Lying King By: Alex Beard
Greenleaf Book Group Press
Children's Fiction  60 Pages
Pub. Date 4 September 2018
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I really like this book. The pictures are great and the story is cute. It is real easy to read and I think children will like this story. A child will learn a lesson from this story about lying.  Don't want to give too much detail because it is a short book. It is about a warthog who lies. I recommend this book for your personal library. I gave it 4 stars.

House of Dreams: The Life of L.M.Montgomery Review

                                                                    
House of Dreams: The Life of L.M. Montgomery
By: Liz Rosenberg
Candlewick Press
Children's Nonfiction              352 pages
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This was a great book. It is already out for you to read. It was wonderfully done and I am grateful that I was given the chance to read this for review. It is a biography about the author of the Anne of Green Gable books. I learned a lot about the author that I didn't know much about. I didn't realize that she went by her middle name and had a rough childhood. I also learned that her books are based a lot on her life. I highly recommend that you read this book. I would have read this book in one setting if I didn't have a lot of other things happening this month.
The author of this book draws you in and you just don't want to stop reading.
I gave this book 5 stars and I will be buying this book to keep on my shelves.