The Runaways by Holly Webb and Knight's Castle by Edward Eager

Both of these books are middle grade and (surprise!) I read an e-book! You know how often that happens. 

The Runaways by Holly Webb is a WWII story about a young London girl whose mother refuses to evacuate her to the countryside when war is coming. She is a widow and wants to keep her remaining family (two children, one of whom is a teenager) close and needs help running her shop. 

Molly is already upset about her friends leaving when she finds out her mum is going to have the dog and cat put to sleep in preparation for possible bombing. So she packs up, takes the animals, and runs away. 

The cat gets out of her basket and runs back home (which naturally gave the cat lover in me anxiety) but Molly continues on with the dog and eventually comes across two children who are also runaways but from an abusive home. The three travel together until they find a place to settle. But, even that may not end up well. 

Recommended - I thought The Runaways was a very good story, although the writing was occasionally a bit awkward. The occasional awkward sentence, though, certainly wasn't enough to stop the momentum. I felt like you really got a feel for the hunger, the dirt, the grief, and the general horror of war in The Runaways and I'll be watching for more by Holly Webb. 

Knight's Castle by Edward Eager is an older book, the second in the "Tales of Magic" series, copyrighted in 1956. It sat on my wish list for many months (because of last year's book-buying ban) after I read that it was the childhood favorite of an author I admire. 

After I added the book to my wish list, I threw away the interview in which Knight's Castle was mentioned, so I have no idea who recommended it but she said she'd been waiting for it to have it's time in the sun as she thought it was better than Harry Potter. While I'm not a huge fan of Harry Potter, I tend to disagree, but I still enjoyed Knight's Castle.

Knight's Castle is the story of a boy who has a collection of toy soldiers that have been passed down through his family. The oldest one is in terrible shape but when the boy closes his hand around it and makes a wish, he's transported back in time and the way he's positioned the toy soldiers around a play castle is how they are when he materializes in this magical world and the toys become human. 

There's a whole backstory with the boy, his sister, and two cousins. The boy and his sister end up at their cousins' house because something's wrong with their father and he must urgently go to the hospital.The boy is originally transported through time when he makes his wish and then the other children eventually begin to travel back in time with him. But, his wish can't come true until he proves himself worthy. And, he's running out of time.

Recommended - While I wouldn't call Knight's Castle a favorite, I enjoyed it enough to wish I had the entire series to read. I always enjoy time travel and there's a silliness to the book that tickled me. When the soldier's talk, it's like they're trying to speak as if they live in the Middle Ages but they don't quite know how, so it's a bit gibberish and quite funny. I can definitely see how this story would have left an impression on a child. 

©2022 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore

Well, this is unusual . . . a book I finished but didn't really like. That seldom happens since I made a commitment to abandoning books that I'm not enjoying. 

The title character in Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore lives in one part of her life for a single year and then gets swept off to another year of her life and is stuck there, having to figure out where she is, how old, and what's going on in her life. She may live in a 50-something body, one year, and then return to her twenties. The Oona we follow almost always arrives in a time in which a future Oona has lived, so there's a notebook with hints about investments she needs to make (so that she can be filthy rich) but she has a "no spoiler" policy and, except for an often-cryptic note that she leaves at the end of each year, Oona has no hints of what's to come, for better or worse. 

OK, so it's an interesting premise and I know there are plenty of people who enjoyed this book but I had some major issues with it. Chiefly, I didn't like the main character at all. She is too quick to give in to drugs, alcohol, and unprotected sex. I should have stopped at her second life, when she arrives at a club, takes drugs, and has sex in full view of the DJ. Gross. She doesn't even take the time to find out what's going on in her life or if she's dating anyone. But, I kept going. 

I was also disappointed that Oona was so focused on her investments and staying wealthy. She never actually does anything but invest, as I recall. She has no job and  . . . ugh, I thought the "no spoiler" thing was ridiculous. If I jumped from one time period of my life to another, you can bet I would leave myself copious notes. She does eventually start working to improve at a particular skill but otherwise isn't much into learning. That bugged me. 

Meh - I'm sure there were plenty of people who loved this book (It has a 3.86 rating at Goodreads and the friends who've finished it enjoyed it, although one friend did mention that she ditched it when I posted to Instagram). I wouldn't have added it to my wishlist if I hadn't read a positive review or two but it was absolutely not for me and while I don't entirely regret reading it in the hopes that it would improve, a part of me would really like to go back in time and put it in the donation bag at Life #2. This book was definitely not for me. Having said that, I did like the ending because it was exactly how I hoped it would end. And, I did not mind the fact that parts of it were predictable, since much of it was not. 

©2022 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Two Girls, a Clock, and a Crooked House by Michael Poore

When I tossed Two Girls, a Clock, and a Crooked House by Michael Poore into my online cart, this summer, I probably did so because of two words: "time travel". I am a sucker for all things time travel and I have developed a passion for middle grade books, in recent years, as well. Good decision. I adored this tale of two girls, a time-traveling rocking chair, some missing children, and the woman everyone knows as the witch who ate the missing kids. 

Amy's parents are scientists, so they know that the mining that's about to take place in their town will release dangerous chemicals. To try to prevent the mining from happening, they're camping out on a big red X, where the drilling is set to begin. 

Amy has a friend she calls "Moo" because her friend always wears a hoodie with a cow face and ears on the hood. Moo can't move without help and she can't speak. But, Amy hopes someday she'll be able to. In the meantime, she's happy to just visit Moo, read her poems, chatter at her, and take her across the road to watch the wild cows in the pasture. "Mooo," is the only thing Moo can say, another reason for the nickname Amy has given her. 

After Amy is hit by lightning on her way home from Moo's house, she develops the ability to see the spirit within people and trees and even rocks and water. She's also suddenly able to hear Moo's thoughts. When they go for a walk and get lost in the forest — the forest in which the child-eating witch is known to live — they find a crooked old house that's unoccupied. Amy and Moo can communicate nonverbally and they can also see time. So, they decide to travel through time by tying a bunch of old things to a rocking chair (the effect of the time each object has been around, added to each other object's time is cumulative — eh, just read the book for the explanation).

Back in the 1980s, they find out the true story of a missing boy named Oliver, the other two children who disappeared, and the witch. But, can they get back to their own time? And, what will happen with the huge machine called Duke and the big red X? Will Amy's parents get smushed by a giant digger? 

Highly recommended - I could not put Two Girls, a Clock, and a Crooked House down and didn't get much sleep, last night. I imagine I'll return to it when I'm in the mood to for light-hearted time travel. As a child, I would have read it over and over and over again for the time travel, wit, magic, and sweetness. As an adult, I figure there's no sense kids should have all the fun. Of course, there's an environmental message but it's also a tale of family, kindness, and friendship. 

Funny thing . . . I did not recognize the author's name but I loved this book so much that I looked up the author when I closed the book. He's only written three books but — surprise! — it turns out I've read one of the two grown-up novels he's written and I was every bit as unable to put it down as I was this one. I love his wacky sense of humor and wild imagination and I hope the author will write more books for children. This book is special, in my humble opinion. 

Side note: I read the other book by Michael Poore, Reincarnation Blues, while on vacation in South Africa. And, even after getting up at 4AM to go "on safari" (if that's the right way to describe driving around a national park to see the wildlife), I couldn't put the damn book down at night. My memories of South Africa are inextricably tangled up with my memories of Reincarnation Blues because of that. And, that's not a bad thing, since I found the book so entertaining and the time change meant I couldn't sleep, anyway. I am definitely going to want to hunt down a copy of Michael Poore's third book. 

©2021 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Throwback #2 and #3 - The Chaos Loop and Out of Time by Peter Lerangis

These two reviews describe the second and third in the Throwback middle-grade trilogy by Peter Lerangis. I've reviewed the first book, here:

Throwback by Peter Lerangis

In Throwback #2: The Chaos Loop, Corey finds out he had a great uncle who died just before the end of WWII and that his maternal grandmother and grandfather met after her escape from Europe to South America. Corey's best friend Leila's family was also affected by the Holocaust. When Corey decides to try to help facilitate the failed attempt on Hitler's life (a bombing attempt that failed because of timing), Leila agrees to go with him. 

Reminder: Corey is a "Throwback", a rare time traveler who can cause changes in history. Leila can time travel and so can Corey's grandfather, but neither of them are Throwbacks. In The Chaos Loop, Corey's grandfather can no longer time travel because it can change your DNA if you travel too much and he was starting to sense changes in his body. 

Corey ends up going back to three separate time periods. He sees Hitler during his days as a struggling artist and homeless man in Austria, as the Fuhrer well into WWII, and, right before the war ends, Corey meets his great uncle. Will Corey be able to change time and save millions of lives? Will he be able to continue traveling through time without it turning him into some kind of strange creature? 

Highly recommended - I thought the first Throwback book was only so-so, although I enjoyed the adventurousness of it. But, The Chaos Loop was full of action-packed tension and I finished it within a couple days. In each of the books, I learned something new about history but I especially enjoyed learning about the bombing attempt on Hitler's life. I knew it happened but have never read any of the details, before. 

Warning: There are spoilers for The Chaos Loop in the third book's description, so skip down to the recommendation line on the third book's review if you want to avoid knowing what happens in The Chaos Loop but want to read my general thoughts about Throwback #3: Out of Time. 

Second warning!!! - Skip down to the recommendation line and don't read the review of Throwback #3: Out of Time if you don't want any spoilers for The Chaos Loop!

In Throwback #3: Out of Time, the worst possible thing has happened. Corey has suddenly turned into a wolf-like creature and his actions during previous time travel have messed things up in the present. Now, his grandmother never met his grandfather, his mother doesn't exist but his dad has a son by the woman he married instead, and his paternal grandfather is married to someone else. Corey shouldn't even exist! But, he does, as a mangy animal who can talk, and Leila oddly remembers him. Normally, when someone changes time, the people who exist in the new timeline are unaware that things were ever different. But, Leila is somehow able to always remember the other threads of time. 

Corey and Leila go looking for help from his grandfather and he doesn't remember a Corey at all, just a grandson named Gregory. But, he has some ideas and another time traveler has offered her help. After they figure out the only way that it's even remotely possible to change Corey back is to restore the timeline, Corey and Leila go back to WWII and also to the 19th century to talk to Frederick Law Olmsted, the landscape architect who designed Central Park. 

Will Corey and Leila be able to figure out how to restore time? Or is Corey stuck in the body of an ailing wolf-like animal for the rest of his life . . . which might not be long. 

Highly recommended - Wow, what a wild ride. Out of Time is a rollercoaster that kept me on the edge of my seat. I read it in a single evening, which is very unusual for me. I just couldn't bear to put it down. I had to find out what was going to happen! And, I have to say, it was one of the best finales of any trilogy I've ever read, satisfying yet surprising in some ways. I loved it and would recommend this whole series to any adventure-loving child or grown-up. 

Worth mentioning: The first book, which I didn't like as much, did get lower ratings. So, my opinion is a common one. But, I bought the entire trilogy based on the ratings of the latter two and the fact that time travel is totally my jam. I'm so glad I trusted my instincts on this purchase. 

©2021 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Throwback by Peter Lerangis (Throwback #1)

All Corey Fletcher needs to travel through time is an artifact from the past. After Corey time travels by accident a couple times, he discovers that the ability to time travel runs in the family and sets out on a mission to save his grandmother, who died on 9/11 in the collapse of one of the Twin Towers. 

But, then something goes terribly wrong and Corey ends up stuck in 1917, hunted by a street gang, and befriended by a cowboy named Quinn. In order to end up back home, Corey will have to find an artifact from his own time. Will Corey be able to find his way home?

Recommended but not a favorite - I liked Throwback but didn't love it. However, I'm a big fan of time travel so I checked the ratings on this series before buying them and the latter two in the series have better ratings than the first book. So, I'm really looking forward to them, in spite of the fact that I wasn't thrilled with Throwback. 

All three books from the Throwback series were purchased when I placed that Husband-approved book order, a few weeks ago. I'm determined to make it to the end of the year without making any more book purchases at all. 

©2021 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

A Tokyo basement café that stays cool and comfy all the time, a ghost who occupies a chair except during bathroom breaks, and 4 people who need at least a few moments to visit with someone important to them. In the small café in Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi you can travel through time if you're willing to follow the rules. And, the rules are strict. 

As each of 4 people travel in time for understanding, reassurance, or a glimpse of someone they love, a change takes place but always in the heart of the person who traveled through time. 

What an incredibly satisfying, heart-warming book, absolutely lovely. 

Highly recommended - One of my favorites of the year, so far, I absolutely loved this Japanese time travel (a translation). I honestly don't want to say too much about it because I loved the experience so much. I closed Before the Coffee Gets Cold with happy tears.

©2021 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Vintage 1954 by Antoine Laurain

I'm a big time travel fanatic, counting Jack Finney among my favorite authors, so when I read that there was a time travel aspect to Vintage 1954 after reading The Readers' Room, also by Antoine Laurain, I knew I must read it. 

In 1978, a Frenchman who saw a UFO in 1954 and has been teased about it ever since drinks a bottle of wine, goes for a walk, and never returns. In 2017, the owner of an apartment complex in Paris, two of his tenants (including the great-grandson of the man who disappeared), and an American staying in an Airbnb in the building all share a bottle of wine and return to 1954. What does a UFO have to do with their trip through time and will they ever be able to return home?

Highly recommended - A lovely, quirky, upbeat story. I absolutely loved Vintage 1954. I'm always besotted with time travel but I particularly loved the fact that there was a unique twist with the UFO and adored the sweet friendship that grew between the four people who unexpectedly travelled through time together. 

My thanks to Gallic Books publicist Meryl Zegarek, who sent me a copy of Vintage 1954 after I mentioned that I'd added it to my wish list!!

©2021 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Mini Reviews - In Another Time by Jillian Cantor, The Roundhouse by Louise Erdrich, and Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

More minis! And, all of these were excellent, all from my own shelves. Although Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is an ARC, I didn't receive it from the publisher.


I just wandered around my house, looking for In Another Time in all the usual places for books I've read but not yet reviewed, and then it came to me . . . oh, I put it on the favorites pile. I loved In Another Time that much.

Hanna is Jewish; Max is not. When they fall in love in 1930s Germany, Max is worried about the growing anti-Jewish sentiment and Hitler's rising power. He wants to marry and leave the country. But, Hanna's musical education is too important to her and she's not concerned about Hitler. She thinks the Nazi party's rise is a passing phase.

In 1946, Hanna finds herself alone with no memory of the past 10 years of her life. Though she doesn't seem to know about it, the reader knows that there was a time portal in Max's bookshop. Did Max send Hanna into the portal and save her from the Nazis? If so, how did she lose her memory and what happened to Max? Why isn't he there with her?

Highly recommended - An utterly captivating and unique WWII story with a sci-fi twist. I went into the reading of In Another Time blind and was pleasantly surprised by the time travel aspect. I love a good time travel book. You don't know the truth of what happened till the end. Cantor kept me guessing all the way through the book.

The Roundhouse by Louise Erdrich is a book that I bought and read at the request of a friend who wanted to hear my thoughts. I love it when that happens (a valid excuse to acquire a book I wanted to read, anyway). It's a book that was once offered to me for review but I presume I wasn't aware of how fabulous Louise Erdrich is, at the time.

When a woman is brutally raped and beaten, she is so traumatized and depressed that she can't talk about the rape and retreats to her bed. The police investigate but don't seem to be getting anywhere and her teenage son, Joe, is unwilling to accept the lack of progress.

Determined to solve the crime himself, Joe begins to investigate between biking around with his friends and working at his uncle's store.

Highly recommended - The crime is truly shocking but even more appalling is the fact that the raped woman is the wife of a judge and even he can't make sure that when a suspect is found he remains behind bars. Joe, meanwhile, is a fascinating character because he is so beautifully drawn. The story is told from his point of view and besides being very angry and confused about the crime and lack of progress by police, he's a typical teenage boy who is not a little obsessed with women and food, which took me back to the days when I had teenage boys of my own sticking their heads in the fridge all day long. I was very impressed by the authenticity of Joe's point of view.

My copy of The Roundhouse was published by Corsair, a British publisher. In the US, the publisher is HarperCollins and the cover is quite different.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford is one of those WWII books that I have wanted to read for years. Why didn't I get to it, before now? I have no idea.

The story of Henry Lee, a Chinese American, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet goes back and forth between 1986 and the 1940s. In 1986, Henry finds out the Panama Hotel at the corner of Seattle's former Japantown has a basement full of luggage left there by Japanese-American citizens who were rounded up and sent to internment camps after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

In the 1940s, Henry and Keiko Okabe, a Japanese American, are outsiders at an elementary school and lovers of jazz who become fast friends. When people begin to panic after Pearl Harbor, worried that Japanese Americans will side with the Japanese, Henry's father forces him to wear a button saying he's Chinese to prevent trouble with authorities. His father dislikes Japanese people and insists that Henry stay away from Japantown. But, Henry values his friendship with Keiko and wants to help her in any way he can.

Back in 1986, Henry gets permission to search through the luggage to see if he can find a prized possession that he gave to Keiko. Henry is widowed and was happily married but he has never forgotten Keiko. Will the discovery of the luggage lead Henry to finally seek out Keiko? What drove them apart, years ago?

Highly recommended - A lovely and, yes, bittersweet story about friendship, music, racism, and the power of memories. So lovely. I didn't realize Jamie Ford is such a romantic. I expected something a little different, less sweetly touching. I'm glad I finally got around to reading Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet and I will definitely read more by Jamie Ford.

©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Mini Reviews - Here and Now and Then by Mike Chen, Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers by Sara Ackerman, and Angel in a Devil's Arms by Julie Anne Long

More minis! I've put my favorite of the three at the top, just in case anyone decides my reviews are boring and can only get through the first. It is soooo good.

Here and Now and Then is about Kin Stewart, a man who was a time-traveling agent till he got stuck in the past for 18 years. Although it was against the rules to get involved in the time period he visited, after getting stuck in the 90s Kin got a job in IT, married, and had a daughter, Miranda. But, now he's back in 2142 and traveling through time again could kill him. When Kin figures out a way to email Miranda and then finds out her life is in danger in the timeline he's left behind, can he come up with a way to save her? Or, will he have to sacrifice himself trying?

Highly recommended - I loved the world building in Here and Now and Then but the main thrust of the story is about the importance of family, which I also loved. In fact, I loved the book so much that I immediately pre-ordered Mike Chen's next book, which is due to be released on the 14th of January (one week!!!) so I'm probably going to drop everything and read till my eyes pop when that arrives. The new book is called A Beginning at the End. I love Chen's titles.

There are some references to Dr. Who (although nothing overly exciting), hence the painting of the TARDIS in the background. And, that little car in the front is called a "car of the future" — it was a gift from my eldest and since they have flying cars in 2142, I thought it was appropriate.

Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers by Sara Ackerman is about a woman whose husband has disappeared and whose daughter is traumatized. It's the 1940s and America is at war. Violet and her daughter Ella are just trying to survive after the disappearance of Violet's husband, a year ago. Ella knows what happened to him but she's terrified and unable or unwilling to speak about what she saw. Violet doesn't know what's wrong with Ella, although it's not for want of trying to get her to open up.

When finances become tight, Violet and her friends come up with the idea to open a pie stand and sell pie at the local encampment of soldiers nearby on Hawaii's Big Island.

There's a lot going on in Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers. Some soldiers Violet and her buddies befriend start hanging out at the house she shares and Violet becomes attracted to one of them but doesn't know quite how to behave. Is her husband alive or dead? She's devoted to her husband but it's nice to have the comfort of a kind man. Other things happening: a neighbor of Violet's with Japanese ancestry is arrested and then Violet is accused of spying. And, the soldiers have a pet lion cub whom little Ella becomes attached to.

What happened to Violet's husband and why does Ella refuse to talk about it?

Recommended but not a favorite - I had mixed feelings about Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers. I liked it but I didn't love it. And, yet, I would definitely read more by Sara Ackerman so maybe the timing was wrong. I did love how it ended.

I read and loved the first book in The Palace of Rogues series by Julie Anne Long, Lady Derring Takes a Lover, but I don't know if anyone offered me the second book (I may have deleted an email offer when I was shutting down intake of review books). When I heard it had been released, I ordered Angel in a Devil's Arms because I so enjoyed Lady Derring's story.

Lucien Durand, The Duke of Brexford, was thought drowned in the Thames a decade ago but now he has returned to London in search of revenge. And, he's staying at The Grand Palace on the Thames.

Angelique has a painful history. It's only since her unusual partnership with Lady Derring, now happily married and still running The Grand Palace on the Thames with Angelique, that her life has become secure and comfortable. The last thing she needs in her life is another man to use and discard her. But, after a single kiss with Lord Bolt, she is conflicted and Lord Bolt's heart is lost to her. Can Julien convince Angelique that she's safe with him?

Recommended - Angel in a Devil's Arms didn't stick with me in the way that Lady Derring Takes a Lover did but I enjoyed it. My very brief Goodreads review says I thought it had great characters and a fantastic ensemble cast, most of whom are likable, but I thought the author occasionally lost the plot in this particular installment. I also said I loved it. So, I'll keep reading this series.


©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Gertie Milk and the Keeper of Lost Things by Simon Van Booy

"So we're in London," Gertie said, looking around at the men in dark suits and women in tall feathery hats. "Have you been here? Where is it?" 

"It's in far western Europe, capital city of an island that's known for bad weather, horrible food, and people who are exceedingly polite--when they're not trying to invade your country." 

~p. 145

***This review may contain some spoilers. Please skip down to the rating if you're concerned!!***

I've read several middle readers, lately, and I have to tell you I'm impressed with the quality of the reading material. Gertie Milk and the Keeper of Lost Things by Simon Van Booy is the most adventurous of the books I've read, lately, and if you've hung around my blog for any length of time, you know I love a good adventure. It's also a little bonkers - such an imaginative world!

Gertie Milk doesn't know where she is or where she came from. She doesn't even know her own name until she sees it embroidered on the gown she's wearing. All she knows is that she's on a beach and needs to get to high ground before the ocean swallows her. It's a challenge climbing to the top of the island she's on, but once she gets there she is taken in by a man named Kolt, who lives in a very strange house that is both filled with and surrounded by things that have been lost. He is a Keeper of Lost Things and the Keeper's job is to care for these lost items and return them when needed, as directed by a large, dusty, magical book. He is the last of the Keepers but he's not sure why, although the Keepers have an enemy called the Losers.

When Gertie discovers a key in her pocket, Kolt tells her she is a Keeper, as well. To return items, she and Kolt will travel through time and face all sorts of challenges, meet a new friend called Robot Rabbit Boy, and glimpse history. But, the Losers are out to stop the Keepers from doing their job, forever. And, Gertie will be torn when she finds out the truth about her past.

Highly recommended - What a crazy and fun adventure! As I was reading Gertie Milk and the Keeper of Lost Things, I kept thinking to myself, "I would have loved this as a child and would have read it over and over again." As an adult, I appreciated learning a little history that I was unfamiliar with (I'd never heard of Mercedes Gleitze, who swam across the English Channel). And, I love a book with a young heroine. Adventurous children's books tend to skew male in the hero role; the more female protagonists making decisions, the better. I also loved the fact that Gertie is both in charge and emotional, brave but afraid, smart but flawed. Not everything is wrapped up but I don't recall it being such a cliffhanger that it put me off. Gertie Milk and the Keeper of Lost Things is the first in a series and I'm looking forward to the next book.

Cover thoughts: I love the cover of Gertie Milk and the Keeper of Lost Things! It not only contains elements of many of the interesting things about the book (so the cover image is relevant to the content), it's gorgeous and eye-catching and even looks a little three-dimensional from certain angles. Very cool!


©2017 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Time and Again by Jack Finney

Time and Again by Jack Finney
Copyright 1970
This edition: 2014 by Touchstone - Fiction/Time travel
Source: Simon & Schuster

I've been a Jack Finney fan for most of my adult life and have read absolutely everything I've managed to acquire by him. Time and Again is time travel classic I read quite a while ago and I've always meant to reread it but just haven't gotten around to doing so. When I was asked to review a reprint with a fresh, pretty cover, I jumped right on the bandwagon. I don't need a new copy but I figured it was a good excuse to reread the book.  

Brief synopsis:

Simon Morley is an artist at an advertising agency in New York.  He's not thrilled with his job or his life but he considers it comfortable and adequate. When he's approached about joining a government experiment, he's hesitant. Then, he hears the details. He will move into New York City's historic Dakota building -- a building that dates back to the late 19th century -- where he'll dress in clothing appropriate to the year 1882 and use self-hypnosis to transport himself to the past.

Simon has a lovely girlfriend who runs a failing antique store and there's a mysterious letter in her possession. Because of this mystery, Simon decides he wants to go back to the day the letter was mailed and observe as it's posted. Will Simon succeed at traveling to the past? What will he find there?

My thoughts:

I recall thinking the pacing in Time and Again was slow when I read it long ago and, yep, I was right.  There's a lot of detail. Finney himself admitted to becoming a little over-enthusiastic while doing his research. The net result is a book that is believable in its detail but a little bit slow off the block because Finney spent a great deal of time on set-up, explaining the government program and how it works before Simon finally manages to travel back in time.

It's not a spoiler to say that Simon succeeds.  The book wouldn't have been a time travel classic had its protagonist not managed to travel through time, after all.  But, there the questions begin. Can one travel through time without causing any damage to the present timeline? When Simon returns again and again, and discovers that he is not only more content in the past but also finds himself drawn to one of the women in the boardinghouse where he lives during his travels, what will happen?

Highly recommended - Still a favorite after all these years. While it takes awhile for the story to really crank up, once Simon begins to get involved in the past, his experiences become utterly fascinating. I felt transported back to 1882 and imagined myself traveling along with Simon, dressed in a wine-colored gown with a big, feathered hat. Time and Again is that kind of book.  I remembered less than I thought I recalled about the book but my memory was accurate to the general storyline so it was fun revisiting and living through the experience of Time and Again a second time. I absolutely love the way the story ends.

Side notes:  

• One of the few things I remembered from the story was reading about the Dakota, a building that was so far out in the country when it was built that people said, "You might as well go to the Dakotas," it was so far away from the city. So, its name was actually a nickname based on that remark. The Dakota is on my wish-list of places to see on a future trip to New York City. 
• Time and Again is illustrated with photographs and illustrations of New York City in the late 19th century (although not all are strictly from 1882), which adds to the fun. 

©2014 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

The River of No Return by Bee Ridgway

The River of No Return by Bee Ridgway
Copyright 2013
Dutton - Historical-Contemporary Fiction/Time Travel
452 pp.

Going back to my 2007 Q/A format for this review.  I must confess it blows my mind a little to realize just how long I've been doing this blogging thing.

What led you to pick up The River of No Return? It was that beautiful cover (posted by the author, a Twitter friend) that led me to the book's description and from there it went straight onto my wish list.

Summarize the plot but don't give away the ending: Lord Nicholas Falcott was about to be killed on a battlefield during the Napoleonic War when he was ripped away from the battlefield and lapsed into unconsciousness.  Awakened 200 years later in London hospital, he found that he'd jumped forward in time.  A representative of the Guild, a secret organization of people who have jumped forward on the "River of Time", informs Lord Falcott what's happened to him and then he is spirited to a facility in Brazil, where he is trained to live in the modern world, told where he may and may not go and given plenty of money to start his new life as Nick Davenant.

But a second shadowy organization works in opposition to the Guild and after 10 years of living in the United States, Nick is summoned by the Guild.  He is needed to help find an unknown talisman, figure out what has gone wrong within the time stream of the future and prepare to fight the opposing Ofan.  Back in his own time period, Nick becomes reacquainted with Julia Percy, a neighbor whose grandfather was able to manipulate time.  But, Julia is in danger.  A distant relative has inherited her grandfather's estate, he believes she knows the secret to her grandfather's ability, and he has a dangerous temper.

What did you like most about The River of No Return?  I love time travel, in general, and I was very fond of the two main characters.  It was fun to follow Nick back to his home in Regency England and I liked the slow unfolding of the plot, revealing that something has gone wrong.  I also loved the fact that there were characters who had jumped from a variety of other time periods.  Just getting a glimpse into where they had come from and how they lived was kind of a kick.  There is also an element of romance but it's not dominant, which is how I prefer romance in a book.

Thoughts about the plot:  This is my kind of book.  I love escaping from reality without that escape become so ridiculously far-fetched that it's beyond my grasp.

Share a favorite scene from the book:  My favorite scene is actually a spoiler and I don't want to ruin the read for others so I'll just tell you I really, really enjoyed the scenes that involved the manipulation of time.  I could easily visualize them as movie scenes -- and, in fact, similar has been done but I still think it would be fun to see The River of No Return made into a movie.

In general:  As per my 2007 format, I'm going to rate this book (surprise!).  It's a 4/5, which means I really enjoyed it.  I loved the characterization, found much of the dialogue plausible and entertaining (especially the parts during which Nick confused the modern speech he's practiced for 10 years with his old Regency lingo - some of the Guild's discussions were a yawn) and absolutely loved the paranormal/time travel aspect.

I did, however, come away from the read feeling that it was missing something, but I wasn't sure exactly what, hence the delay in reviewing. I needed to give the "missing something sensation" some thought.  In the end, I decided it was the fact that there was a good bit of telling in regard to the River of Time.  I would have liked to travel in time a bit more, rather than reading Guild talk about the time stream and taking that single jaunt back to the one time period.  That's obviously just a personal preference.  And, there were a few repetitive phrases unique to the author, which I found annoying.  While the ending was not as firmly wrapped up as I like, it wasn't cliff-hangery enough to frustrate me and I will definitely want to read the next book in the series.

My thanks to Bee Ridgway for kindly having her publicist send a replacement copy when the copy sent by a friend was stolen in transit.

©2013 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Mini reviews - Titanic Remembered by Alan Ruffman, Wall and Piece by Banksy and An Unexpected Angel by Janet K. Halling

Time for a few more quickie reviews.  All of the following were recently added to my home library.

Titanic Remembered:  The Unsinkable Ship and Halifax by Alan Ruffman is the official guide and souvenir book from the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic.  I haven't been there; it's just one of those books that popped up in the recommendations at Paperback Swap when I was looking up other Titanic titles, last year.  Because it's a guide book, Titanic Remembered is quite thin at 70 pages but I must say I was totally impressed.  Titanic Remembered is loaded with photographs and tells the story of the Titanic from the Halifax, Nova Scotia end of the story.  

Since Halifax is the place from which recovery ships were sent and where the bodies were buried (those that weren't buried at sea, that is), a good portion is about the process of recovery, identification and burial of bodies.  It was a lot more complex than I'd ever considered.  There are some interesting stories about individuals, both among the perished and survivors (not necessarily the most commonly described victims and survivors) and a few unique tidbits about the collection of souvenirs by those involved in the recovery efforts, as well as a few illicit photos.  Photos of bodies and/or the unloading of them was strictly forbidden but people are sneaky devils.

I found Titanic Remembered surprisingly gripping and the book definitely piqued my interest in the maritime museum.  Highly recommended to those who are not squeamish.  There are a couple photos of dead bodies . . . only a couple.  

Wall and Piece by Banksy was a gift to myself -- you know, one of those cases of, "Three gifts ordered and one tossed in the cart for myself."  For those who are unfamiliar with Banksy, he's a "street artist" from England who uses pre-made templates to quickly paint his works of art on various walls, bridges, billboards and other surfaces.  Since graffiti is considered an eyesore and is often illegal, most of his artwork has been quickly washed away.  I thought it would be fun to get a book of photographs of Banksy's art -- and it is definitely art, not just a bunch of messy fat lettering, like you often see under bridges and on the sides of trains.

Since this is a book written by Banksy, there is also some text.  Unfortunately, the text doesn't lend a lot of insight into the artist and/or reveal context for the vast majority of the paintings.  However, there was enough to satisfy me.  I don't necessarily agree with Banksy's philosophy that if someone advertises it's a one-way street and people have the right to respond (by painting a response directly on the billboard), but I learned a little about why he paints certain images like rats and some of the meaning behind the themes in his artwork.  As the title indicates with a cute bit of word play, he heavily emphasizes war and peace.   Occasionally, I didn't get what he was trying to say and those were the times I yearned for a bit more text to explain what Banksy was attempting to portray.  But, in general, I loved Wall and Piece.  If you're a Banksy fan, Wall and Piece is worth owning.  Highly recommended with a warning that those who are picky about grammar may occasionally cringe.

Quote on the back of the book:  "There's no way you're going to get a quote from us to use on your book cover."  -- Metropolitan Police spokesperson

An Unexpected Angel by Janet K. Halling is a drawing win from Holly at 2 Kids and Tired Books.  It's a Christmas book that plays on the Dickens classic, "A Christmas Carol" and the movie It's a Wonderful Life.  

Ellie hates everything about Christmas.  After working late on Christmas Eve, she stops to pick up some groceries and snaps at the clerk who attempts to engage her in conversation.  She's not interested in talking.  She just wants to be alone.  

But, the clerk turns out to be an angel with an unexpected surprise in store for Ellie.  Instead of the quiet Christmas Eve she's become accustomed to, she is tossed into the past.  Ellie doesn't stay in one time period.  Just as events begin to resolve and her purpose clarifies, she's yanked from one time period and flung into another.  You never know where Ellie will end up next and the reasons she's tossed about don't fully come together until the end, although it's made clear, early on, that Ellie's hatred of Christmas and drive are related to a tragedy in her past.  

I absolutely loved An Unexpected Angel.  When I first began the reading, I thought it was going to be a typical, sappy Christmas story, but that thought only lasted a handful of pages.  While the theme was common, I absolutely loved the sensation that one was traveling through time in An Unexpected Angel and I found the resolution deeply meaningful.  One for the keeper shelves, a lovely little Christmas story with heart.  Keep tissues handy when you read this one.  Highly recommended. 

I gave all three of these books 5 stars at Goodreads. 

On an unrelated note:  I have no idea how to resolve the problem with those huge gaps between paragraphs of text, one of the new problems with the updated Blogger interface.  There are simply times I cannot remove air space, even by going into HTML mode, where it ought to be apparent that there's a large gap.  If you're aware of a solution, please let me know!

©2013 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

11/22/63 by Stephen King

11/22/63 by Stephen King
Copyright 2012
Gallery Books - Fiction/Time Travel
849 pages

I need to get going on reviews and 11/22/63 is the freshest in my mind, so I'm just going to start there and work hard at emptying that messy sidebar.

Everyone surely knows what 11/22/63 is about, right?  If not, the short version is, "Guy who is dying recruits high school English teacher to finish the job he is unable to complete: Save Kennedy from assassination by traveling through a time portal that leads to a specific date in 1958."  Upon every return to the past, history is reset and anything the time traveler has accomplished is undone.  When the time traveler returns to the present, a mere 2 seconds have passed -- regardless of how long he spent in the past.

My thoughts: 

I'm not as thrilled with 11/22/63 as most people.  I enjoyed it but I thought it dragged a bit and I can't say I was in love with either Jake or the love of his life, Sadie.  Stephen King lived through this time in history and I've been told it's spot on, as far as lingo.  But, I was a little bemused by the amount of swearing.  Would Sadie not have called him on his frequent use of the F-word?  I didn't think it was so common back then.  That was my only real complaint, though, apart from what I considered pointless love scenes.  There was never a time that I felt like giving up on the book, so it must have been compelling enough.  I really only loved the last 150 pages or so, but you really have to read the entire book to get to the exciting part and make sense of it.

The bottom line:

Liked it; didn't love it.  Good storytelling, a bit too detailed for me in some regards but with an incredibly exciting ending.  Since I never felt all that much love for the two characters in the romantic subplot, what may be an emotional ending to a lot of people just didn't resonate with me.  There were definitely things I related to and enjoyed; I love time travel and I thought King's unique spin on the butterfly effect and the "rabbit hole" (time portal) was creative and plausible.  I did think he tried a little too hard to be clever with word play and sometimes that got on my nerves.

©2012 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

Copyright 1979

Beacon Press - Fiction/Time Travel

264 pages

25th Anniversary Edition, published 2004, contains a reader's guide

Dana is loading the bookshelves in her new house when she becomes dizzy and suddenly finds herself by a river in a forest. She saves a boy from drowning, is frightened by a man aiming a gun at her and then reappears in her home, wet and shaken. But, it's not until she finds herself pulled out of her own home a second time that she realizes she's being called back in time to save her ancestor. And, only fear will take her home.

Being called back to the time of slavery whenever her ancestor, Rufus, is in trouble is bad enough. Each time years pass and Rufus is older. But, each time she also ends up staying longer. And then her husband is pulled back in time with her. Dana is black and Rufus is a white slave owner. Dana's husband, Kevin, is white. But, he's a stranger to the Maryland plantation where Dana must stay and there's only so much he can do to help her.

Dana's appearances in pre-Civil War Maryland become more terrifying and dangerous the longer she stays and the more time goes by. Because each time she's called back, Rufus has become a little more like his cruel, slave-beating father. She can't kill Rufus or let him die, no matter what he does to her, because she will cease to exist. Instead, she must keep saving a man who deserves to die and watch out for herself as much as possible until Rufus becomes father to the child Dana knows will continue the family line.

Published in 1979 and still relevant -- a book that really makes you think. Not perfect because there were some times the wording pulled me out for a moment and occasionally I thought Dana got away with more than I could fathom a black woman getting away with in the time of slavery, but that's just my opinion. Highly, highly recommended.

Bottom line: Excellent writing and a rocking fine central dilemma make this an amazing and timeless read. I think this book would be a great book club read. There's a lot to ponder and discuss.

In other news:

Only one book has arrived here in the last week or two: Goodbye Darkness by William Manchester (from PBS). Otherwise, nada. I even went to Borders and came out empty-handed, although that's partly their fault for not bothering to send me the weekly coupon. They should know I'm a sucker for coupons, by now. It's all in their computer.

Jeane of DogEar Diary asked me if I have any more photos of the fox I snapped in Colorado and asked to see more. I do. But, I figured I might as well have a little fun and went dashing off to look at more possibilities for photo effects (something I've spent a lot of time playing with, this week). In the process, I found PhotoFunia -- a wonderful free photo-effect website -- and opted to turn one of my favorite fox photos into a colored sketch. It was a little too subtle for me, so I saved it and added some shadow to give it a little more punch. I love the end result, which looks like it was torn out of an old book:

I'm still reading Doomsday Book by Connie Willis but hope to finish that, today, and then return to the books in my sidebar. Not much else is going on! I really do need to clean house, but the city pool had a broken pump, yesterday, so Kiddo has continued to hang out with me and we're having fun. Well, okay, we're having fun when he's awake. Boy, that kid likes to sleep.

What are you reading, these days?

Bookfool, too busy to moan about not being in Australia

©2010 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post at Bookfoolery and Babble, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix - mini review

Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Copyright 2008

Aladdin Paperbacks - YA/Sci-fi/Time Travel

314 pages

This will just be a quickie review because I'm pressed for time. Found was my first Margaret Peterson Haddix book. It begins with a prologue that describes the mysterious appearance of a plane. Angela DuPre, on her first day of work at an airport, sees a plane appear out of nowhere. Nobody saw it land. There's no record of its existence. Inside the plane, Angela makes a surprising discovery that will change her life.

After the prologue, we switch to Jonah's world. Jonah and his friend Chip have begun to receive odd letters. The first: "You are one of the missing." The only connection they can find is that both Jonah and Chip are adopted. Joined by Jonah's sister Katherine, they decide to search for clues in Jonah and Chip's adoption records in order to find out what the cryptic messages mean. I'm going to defer to the cover blurb, here:

When they begin to investigate, they find a vast conspiracy that reaches from the far past to the distant future--one that will take them hurtling through time. They don't know who to trust, or which shadowy faction to believe. Can Jonah and Chip discover the secrets of their pasts before the conspiracy catches up to them?

Found is the first in a series and I found it incredibly absorbing. The pages absolutely flew. It unfolds slowly, with the author dropping just enough clues to keep things mysterious without driving you nuts. The ending got a little bit confusing; I had trouble figuring out whether anyone could be trusted at all and understanding the motives of the people on each side, but then it eventually became clear and . . . the ending is a cliffhanger. (muffled scream)

4/5 - A little bit confusing toward the end, but otherwise wonderful. The concept of time travel is cautiously dangled for a while and then you're thrown into action head-first as the book races to its conclusion. One point off for the the confusing bit and the cliffhanger ending.

I'm a sucker for time travel, so I feel compelled to continue this series in spite of being somewhat annoyed at the way it ended. I hate cliffhangers because I don't like the feeling that I'm going to have to buy another book (my library sucks -- I buy) but this one was so enjoyable that I'd rush out and buy a copy right now, if it was available in paperback. The cover above is, unfortunately, not the cover I've got. "Unfortunately" because I have a thing for airplanes. My copy has a vague-looking cover of 4 people running toward a cave. There was no hardback available where I bought mine.

In other news: She's catching up! She's catching up! 17,636 is my word count on the Nano, as of tonight. Wahoo! Not bad for having started back at zippo on Day 9, eh?

Books, books, books? Well, no: I've only received two review books, this week, and that's a good thing as I'm shifting things in my office to prepare to paint and emptying the closet and, and, and . . . ugh. Too much, too much. I've been working on purging, but it just hasn't been enough and that means I'm going to have to declare a moratorium on review books. I'll write a review policy up, as soon as possible. It will say, "Sorry. I can't review for you."

Okay, yeah, I'll make a few exceptions. In particular, I am really enjoying the Christian books and want to continue reading clean novels and uplifting nonfiction, so I'll probably continue to review those sporadically. And, I adore the occasional history book. I would probably sell my left foot to get more YA books because I love 'em, love 'em, love 'em and our YA section at the local library is beyond pitiful. Is it me or are YA books the hardest to come by? Otherwise, nope. No more tours, no more accepting books that are offered to me by email. I'm going to dedicate 2010 to reading what I want to read when I want to read it and clearing out the excess.

Remember How to Lower Your Cholesterol with French Gourmet Food? I'm going to post the pork chop recipe we fell in love with (a new favorite in this house) soon and review the nutrition part later because my husband keeps walking off with the book!!! So, stay tuned for that. We've been eating very well since this book arrived.

Gotta go. Mucho tired, here. Miss visiting your blogs.