The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart by Stephanie Burgis

A little info about why I've posted two covers for my review of The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart:

1. The cover at left is the UK cover and the one I have. The book has already been released in the UK and I opted to order a copy from Book Depository, partly because I liked the UK cover better and partly because I wanted to go ahead and read it, rather than waiting for the American release. Having read the book, I can tell you that both illustrations fit the text. I do prefer a the lighter, more cheerful coloring of the UK cover, so I'm happy with my purchase.

2. The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart has not yet been released in the US but the release is coming, soon, so it's undoubtedly available for pre-order, although I haven't looked. The cover at right is the US version. Because I'm in the US, I thought it would be appropriate to include both covers - the UK version I've purchased and read and the US version that is soon to be released. UPDATE: The US release date is May 30!

The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart is the story of Aventurine, a young dragon whose scales have not yet hardened. Until a dragon's scales have hardened, it is not safe in the outside world and the hardening of scales takes many years. So, Aventurine is pretty much stuck in a cave perpetually and she's bored. Her siblings have discovered their passions and are perfectly happy in the cave, but Aventurine wants to see the world and is frustrated by her inability to leave.

When she gets the chance Aventurine escapes from the cave. She doesn't plan to stay outside long or get herself into trouble, but she encounters a food mage who gives her some enchanted chocolate and poof! she is transformed from dragon to human. Not only has she been tricked by a wily mage, she is also unable to return home. Dragons fear humans and know them to be a danger, although an angry dragon can clearly harm a human, as well. When one of her family members flies nearby, Aventurine gets a good sense of what it's like facing an angry dragon when he aims at her with his flaming breath. He will never believe she's really a part of his family.

With no other choice left to her, Aventurine goes into the nearest village in search of her new passion, chocolate, clothed in an outfit that looks like her former dragon scales. She's helped by a young thief, but can Aventurine trust her new friend? When she decides that she wants to become an apprentice to a chocolatier, will she be able to overcome rejection? Will any of the chocolatiers ever accept her? And, when dragons begin to swoop over the village, can Aventurine stop the villagers from killing her family? How will she ever convince her family that she's a human, now?

Recommended - What a creative story. Aventurine is a strong, fearless heroine who becomes a fish out of water when she's turned human. But, after discovering her passion, she goes for it. She is going to become a chocolatier and she is going to find a way to save the village and her family. You know it when each of these things are coming, but it's still a delight to find out how she'll accomplish everything she needs and desires to do. Although there were some portions that I thought dragged a bit, I enjoyed the friends Aventurine made along the way, her courage and determination, and the ending. The one thing that I thought was not obvious: Would Aventurine remain a human or find a way to transform back into a dragon? Would she be a dragon chocolatier? I'm not going to give that away but I will tell you I found the ending satisfying.

©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.

Hoot and Honk Just Can't Sleep by Leslie Helakoski

In Hoot and Honk Just Can't Sleep, there's a storm. Two eggs are on the ground. Two moms take them back to their nests. But, the eggs have been switched. Hoot, who has ended up with a family of geese, is a baby owl who can't sleep during the nighttime and goes exploring. He finds some other owlets and realizes he's found his home. Honk is a gosling accidentally living with an owl family. He thinks the owl diet is revolting and can't sleep during the daylight hours. He goes exploring, just like Hoot, and discovers some fellow goslings. Honk has also found his home.

Using very simple words and light rhyme that is occasionally a tiny bit awkward until you become accustomed to its unique rhythms, Hoot and Honk Just Can't Sleep tells about a mixup that is undone by its own victims. A cute story that I can see having a long usage span. Because the wording is simple and rhythmic, Hoot and Honk Just Can't Sleep is a good option for very young children who aren't quite ready to sit still for long. But, eventually, they're going to want to know about the weird owl diet and why owls are up at night and geese during the daytime, so the book also provides a good opening for discussion about nocturnal and diurnal animals, as well as the diets of different birds.

Recommended - A fun book with vibrant illustrations, simple language, and plenty of room for discussion, for classroom or home. Or, you can just enjoy it without looking for an excuse to teach a lesson (I was always all about the learning opportunity).

Both of my children attended camp at our local zoo and this book reminded me of the time my youngest son dissected an owl pellet and had such a violent allergic reaction that he had to be removed from the room. He was grinning when I picked him up. Did I know that owls swallow creatures whole and then eventualy cough up their bones? No, I did not. Owl pellets, he told me, were very cool and a little gross. He was not really fazed by the allergic reaction. No biggie; he learned something fun. I love that.

©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.

Big Little Hippo by Valeri Gorbachev

I've read Big Little Hippo by Valeri Gorbachev several times because my first impression was not a positive one. The youngest in a hippo family is unhappy because everyone is bigger than him: his parents, her brothers, the giraffe, crocodile and elephant that live nearby. Little Hippo is feeling small until he discovers a beetle that has ended up on its back and is lying there helplessly. The beetle is grateful and so is his family. When they thank Little Hippo they say, "Thank you, Big Hippo!" Suddenly, Little Hippo feels big and goes running around, shouting that he's big now. His mother says, "You are a Big Little Hippo now!"

Okay, so my immediate thoughts: Loved the illustrations but I wasn't sure there was any point to the story. But, sometimes my first impressions are not reliable when it comes to children's books; that's why I always read them at least twice. I also wondered what a child would think, so I took the book along with me when we met up with my son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter in Oklahoma. Unfortunately, the little one was sick. But, my daughter-in-law read Big Little Hippo to her and she sat still throughout the reading. That's a good sign, although nothing is definitive when you're reading to a kid with a fever who is kind of stumbly - and yet, she's an active child, even when sick, so I still took it as a positive.

After reading Big Little Hippo a couple more times, I slowly began to think about its uses. First, the book is one about the concepts of big and little (or large and small), which are important early lessons. So, it's useful for teaching the concept of size. Second, if you've got a child who is unusually small or large, you can use it to show that size is relative and fairly meaningless. Third, the entire hippo family is shown in the final panels, so you can introduce "medium" to the size order concept. And, finally, everyone loves a book with bright, cheerful illustrations and I think the illustrations in Big Little Hippo are marvelous.

Recommended but not a favorite - I was not going to recommend Big Little Hippo at all after the first reading, but I changed my mind. I do, however, recommend that you peer inside the book at a bookstore or online (if possible) if you're concerned. The story itself is a simplistic one but I think it has applications for teaching, in particular, even if I think the story itself is a bit flat. The illustrations are superb.

©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.

Monday Malarkey

Recent arrivals (top to bottom):

• The Alice Network by Kate Quinn and
• Same Beach, Next Year by Dorothea Benton Frank - both from HarperCollins for review
• Ella Who? by Ashman and Sanchez and
• Dance is for Everyone by Andrea Zuill - both from Sterling Children's Books for review
• The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors by Daywalt and Rex - purchased 

I feel kind of weird about that children's book purchase, but I heard it was funny and there's nothing I like more than an excuse to laugh. Not pictured is another book I bought, a YA called Just Fly Away by Andrew McCarthy, the actor best known for his 80s movies. I enjoyed his travel memoir a couple years ago, so I figured it would be fun to see how his YA turned out. As I recall, he was writing the YA at the time his first book was released.


Books finished since last Malarkey: 

• The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors by Drew Daywalt and Adam Rex - Yes, I thought it was funny. And, I also think my cats need to stay in the room when I read to them. 
• Ella Who? by Linda Ashman and Sara Sanchez 
• Dance is for Everyone by Andrea Zuill
• The Marriage Bureau by Penrose Halson

Last week's posts:

• April Reads in Review, 2017 (One month's reads, in brief)
• Mister Monkey by Francine Prose and a Fiona Friday pic on the Wrong Day (book review; cat photo)
• The Marriage Bureau by Penrose Halson (book review)

I don't normally post on the weekends because the spouse objects to weekend blogging but we had a busy morning and were both beat on Saturday afternoon, so I had a little down time in which to write a blog post on Saturday and then Huzzybuns opened up a second blogging opportunity by leaving town on Sunday. I was pleased to have time to knock out a couple reviews, since I've got such a backlog of books that need reviewing. Fortunately, a good portion of them are children's books, which I can quickly reread, and some are personal reads for which there's no hurry. It's just a matter of sitting down, now and then, and knocking a few out.


Currently reading:

• No Man's Land by Simon Tolkien - After writing that I was reading this book, last week, I picked up The Marriage Bureau by Penrose Halson and couldn't put it down. So, I just returned to No Man's Land, last night, and now I'm completely immersed at about 1/3 of the way in. 
• Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit - Huh, I thought this was a feminist read. Maybe it's because Solnit is known for Men Explain Things To Me? So far, it's all political, with only the occasional remark specifically about women. But, I'm really enjoying it. Hope in the Dark was written during the second George W. Bush administration but it is extremely applicable to what we're experiencing under the Trump administration for reasons I won't go into. Because it's one of the books Isabel spilled my drink on, a couple weeks ago (did I tell you about that?) I'm marking it up wildly with a pen instead of delicately labeling quotations with flags. Solnit's writing comes off as scholarly (maybe she is a scholar; I don't know because I skipped the cover info) but it's accessible, if a bit wordy, and I appreciate her "light at the end of the tunnel" encouragement. 

In other news:

I can't think of any other news. Same old, same old, around here. I'm really enjoying my reading, lately. I'm pretty sure I mentioned that Adam, the protagonist of No Man's Land, had already shown himself to be heroic when I was 18% of the way into the book. He's a terrific character. My only problem with the book, so far, is that the dates are not clear. It almost feels as if Adam has gone through 7 years of growing up in 18 months. So, I would have liked a little bit of clarity - and yet, I set it aside for a while, so maybe I simply blanked on the timing. At this point, I'm guessing it's about 1910. There was recently a scene in which Adam got a ride in a Rolls Royce and the author said his scant possessions were put in the copious trunk. That sounded off to me, somehow, so I looked up Rolls Royces made in 1910. First of all, it's set in Great Britain. A trunk is a boot. So, it's been Americanized for U.S. publication, if the author is British. Second, there doesn't appear to be any such thing as trunk space, unless there's an exterior vessel for carrying possessions, and none of what I'm seeing is "copious". But, whatever. It's a good book. I love the depth of characterization and a lot has happened in roughly 150 pages. This book is definitely going to stick with me, I'm sure of that.

OK, I've babbled enough, now. Happy Monday!


©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.

The Marriage Bureau by Penrose Halson

It was 1940 and, since the Nazis did not invade, many evacuees had returned to the cities, where they learned to pick their way with caution through pea-souper fogs along the blacked-out streets. [...] The first to be called up for military service were fit and able men of twenty and twenty-one, the single before the married. Many rushed to the recruiting office, while more timorous young men hurried to the Marriage Bureau in hopes of putting off the evil hour.

~ from Advance Reader Copy of The Marriage Bureau, p. 124 (some changes may have been made to the final print version)

The Marriage Bureau: The True Story of How Two Matchmakers Arranged Love in Wartime London is a nonfiction book, written with light-hearted verve, about two women who decided to start a matchmaking service in London in 1939. The idea was proposed by one of the women's uncles, Uncle George. Audrey (who later changed her name to Mary) decided it was a terrific idea because there were so many women like her, already declared "on the shelf" in her 20s after failed engagements. She convinced her friend Heather to join her.

The Marriage Bureau describes both the business method and the "mating", beginning mostly with stories of the surprising crowd of clients, their interviews, the impact of war on the desire to find a spouse, and how they were matched. Because the business was set up in London just before war broke out and continued in London (apart from one brief move to the countryside), you get a good sense of the wartime atmosphere, including tragedy -- enough so that when V-E Day arrived and there was celebrating in the street, I got a little teary. The story ends with the 10-year celebration of the business in 1949.

Highly recommended - I particularly recommend The Marriage Bureau to lovers of romance. You will find some satisfaction in reading about the pairing of couples if you're a romantic at heart, even though their stories are told with little depth as the author describes the requirements each desired in a spouse, how a match was chosen, maybe a date or two, then the happy note or visit expressing thanks when a couple became engaged. I chose the book because of the time period and I was not disappointed. Although war itself is only the setting, you definitely get a sense of wartime London, how the bombings and blackouts and rationing effected the English. Occasionally, tragedies and business difficulties are described but most of the focus is on the happy stories, so those who normally can't handle WWII reads should be fine with it.

The Marriage Bureau includes a "P.S." section with additional information, including a meet the author page and lengthy list of requirements given by various clients and some brief comments made about the clients by those interviewing them, both divided by male and female. There are also photographs but the ARC doesn't include them so I'm considering eventually chasing down a finished copy. I really did love this book.

Side note: Some of the clients' stories and the additional material are worth the price of the book for writers. There are a lot of interesting ways you could use that material as inspiration for fresh storytelling, particularly character development.

©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.

Mister Monkey by Francine Prose and a Fiona Friday pic on the Wrong Day

One of the first things that came to mind when I closed Mister Monkey was, "I need to read more by Francine Prose," not because I fell completely in love with the book (although it's sharply written and clearly the work of a pro), so much as the fact that reading Mister Monkey made me intensely curious about what else Prose may have written. I know I've seen the covers of some of her other books and found them intriguing but they looked so serious, by comparison. And, Mister Monkey is definitely light. One of the cover blurbs calls it "darkly humorous and brilliantly observant", an apt description.

The title of the book is also the title of the fictional children's musical around which the plot revolves. In Mister Monkey, the musical, a chimpanzee is being defended after he's accused of stealing. The lawyer, dressed in a rainbow-colored wig and a purple suit with a too-short skirt, is the first character whose story is examined. Margot, the actress who plays the chimp's lawyer, had a promising start but her career has stalled and she is beyond her prime. On the day in which the novel opens, things change. She receives an anonymous letter from an admirer and Adam, the boy who plays the chimp, does something so shocking that it changes the way the musical is presented.

Margot is just the first protagonist, though. As the book progresses, it segues from featuring one character to another, then another, then another. So, you see what happens between Adam and Margot from at least four different viewpoints. I wasn't sure exactly what the author was trying to accomplish when she began switching the POVs, but eventually I realized that the book was being laid out like a chain, with each new protagonist a link in the chain. In the end, Margot's story is nicely wrapped up. Unfortunately, I was expecting every temporary-protagonist to get a similar conclusion and it really didn't feel like I got that, although you could say that the end of the musical is an ending for everyone.

Recommended - While I wasn't entirely satisfied with the conclusion because I expected everything to be wrapped up with a nice bow, I'm pretty sure the author's intent was to circle back to Margot and conclude her story; and, in that she succeeded. Plus, the book is definitely entertaining and I want to read more by Prose, now that I've gotten a glimpse of her writing, so Mister Monkey is a thumbs-up.

Side note: I love that cover. When I received the book, my impression (based on the cover) was that it would be a light-hearted story. Also, I just like the way it looks, nice and bold. The cover of Mister Monkey definitely fits the tone of the book, so I think it's a success, all-around.

And, now a Fiona Friday on the Wrong Day photo, which is entirely due to the fact that I mistook Friday for Thursday. I figured it out when I woke up and realized my husband was either late for work or it was Saturday.

It looks like Izzy was taking a selfie and she might have if my finger hadn't already been on the shutter release.

©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.

April Reads in Review, 2017

April reads:

27. Momotaro: Xander and the Lost Island of Monsters by Margaret Dilloway - A boy who is small for his age discovers that he is a Momotaro (a boy who came from a peach and fights evil) after his father's disappearance. And, the world is depending on him to save it from the horrifying monsters that want to take over. I wasn't the right reader for this book but I'm sure my kids would have loved this adventurous book if they'd read it during their youths.

28. Elly and the Smelly Sneaker by Leslie Gorin and Lesley Vamos - A book that takes the Cinderella story and turns it upside-down. Elly's family coddles her but what she wants most is to play baseball. When her fairy godfather grants her wish, she's thrilled. But, Elly only has till noon before she returns to her former outfit, leaving behind a smelly sneaker as the only clue to the identity of the team's baseball star. My favorite of the children's books I read in April.

29. The Rain in Portugal by Billy Collins - Clearly, Billy Collins is a well-traveled man because a good portion of these poems were written on his travels. Maybe he travels specifically to find new material? Hard to say. As usual, I found his poetry charming and relatable, but the fact that so much of it was written in and about various places around the globe made it seem a bit more uppity than expected.

30. Tequila Mockingbird by Leo Cullum - A book of animal cartoons from the New Yorker. I bought this book at a local college book sale and read most of it while waiting for a seat in a restaurant with Kiddo reading along over my shoulder. It helped pass the time very nicely.

31. Sammy's Broken Leg and the Amazing Cast that Fixed It by Judith Wolf Mandell - A children's book that describes the experience of breaking a leg, from the pain of being injured through the setting of a cast and the long, boring days without being able to move around much. A great book for children who are going through medical frustration of any kind, I would think. I'll donate this one to my doctor's office after I've reviewed it.

32. The Legion of Regrettable Supervillains by Jon Morris - Just like it sounds, a book about comic book supervillains that spans about 7 decades. "Regrettable" because most were not around for long and had either dubious skills or strange reasons for becoming villainous. The author has a sly sense of humor that makes the book a joy to read. Also, it's heavily illustrated, often with readable panels from the original comic books that give you a nice glimpse into the dialogue between villains and heroes.

33. The Day I Died by Lori Rader-Day - A handwriting expert is tasked with helping the local sheriff find a missing child. But when her own son disappears, she not only has two completely separate cases to unravel but also must confront the horrors of her past and accept the possibility of a much different future than she anticipated. I liked this story, although occasionally it did seem odd that the heroine couldn't put together some pretty obvious clues.

34. Little Known Tales of Oklahoma by Alton Pryor - Probably the worst book I've read in years. I learned a few things, but this self-published book of facts read like the author had written his research on recipe cards and then typed directly from them without even worrying about order. Or spelling. It was probably particularly easy for me to spot errors since I'm an Oklahoman but the book was in desperate need of an editor.

35. The Plague by Albert Camus - My classic choice of the month, a fictional account of an outbreak of Bubonic Plague in French Algeria, which is told from the POV of a doctor and some other men trapped within the city walls during the crisis. Focused on the emotional impact and the logistics of dealing with a plague, rather than the gory details, The Plague is a little slow but the writing is stellar.

36. My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem - A unique, rather hodge-podge memoir in which Steinem talks about how her childhood on the road naturally fed into her travels as a journalist and speaker who campaigned for women's rights. Lots of fascinating history, some fun tales (the stories told to her by taxi drivers were very entertaining) and some terrific insight on culture made My Life on the Road a favorite of the month and the best of my feminist reads, so far. I laughed, I cried. Wonderful book.

37. Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast by Josh Funk and Brendan Kearney - When Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast find out the syrup container is almost empty, they race through broccoli forests and across mashed potato mountains to get to the last drops. But, will either of them make it in time? A delightful romp through an imaginative refrigerator interior.

38. Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast: The Case of the Stinky Stench by J. Funk and B. Kearney - Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast are back, this time tasked with helping Inspector Croissant discover the source of a nasty smell in the fridge. Even more fun than the first book, with a few clever puns that made me laugh out loud.

39. How to Train Your Lion by Tammi Sauer and Troy Cummings - When a little boy orders a kitten but receives a lion instead, the lion comes with a set of instructions. "Try very hard not to look like a zebra," for example. By the 14th step, the little boy has discovered his lion is "the purrrr-fect pet".

40. Mister Monkey by Francine Prose - When things start to go awry in a children's musical called Mister Monkey, what will happen? A unique story that's written like links in a chain as it follows one character, then switches to another character who shared the first protagonist's scenes, and so forth. I hoped the chain would come full circle and the ending wrap up all their stories neatly and that's not quite what happened, although the ending was upbeat.

Quite a pile there, but they're mostly either light reads or children's books (even lighter). The few exceptions were, of course, my feminist and classic choices, the book of supervillains, and the two novels. I'm hoping for a bit more depth in May, but I'm happy that the influx of children's books provided an enjoyable mental break and reassured me that my reading is going just fine, since this year has been kind of a rocky one.

©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.

Monday Malarkey

I'm running a little late, today, because my mouse batteries decided to die and there were no AAA batteries lying about. I kept trying to will them to appear, but it didn't work. I had to drive to the store. Bummer.

Recent arrivals (top to bottom):

• Goodnight from London by Jennifer Robson and
• The Marriage Bureau by Penrose Halson - both from HarperCollins for review (I can't resist anything with the word "London" in the title or a London setting and both of these are London books)
• 5 Worlds: The Sand Warrior by A. and M. Siegel, X. Bouma, M. Rockefeller, and B. Sun - a middle grade graphic novel from Random House Children's Books for review
• Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast by Josh Funk and Brendan Kearney,
• Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast: The Case of the Stinky Stench by Funk and Kearney, and
• Caring for Your Lion by Tammi Sauer and Troy Cummings - from Sterling Children's Books for review

Exciting arrivals! If you've been around for a few years, you may recall that I used to read children's books to my cats. The newer kitties (who aren't so new, anymore) are not necessarily the best listeners, so I sometimes just sit on the couch and read aloud to nobody. My husband has walked in on me reading aloud to myself and he thinks it's hilarious. Well, whatever works. I love children's books and it's always best to read them aloud because that is, after all, how you read them to children. I'll keep working on my cat audience, though. Sooner or later, they're bound to give in and pay attention.


Books finished since last Malarkey:

• My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem 
• Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast by Funk and Kearney
• Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast: The Case of the Stinky Stench by Funk and Kearney
• Caring for Your Lion by Sauer and Cummings
• Mister Monkey by Francine Prose

You could be forgiven for assuming Mister Monkey is a children's book title, especially coming on the heels of a bunch of books about royal grain products conquering mountains of potatoes and dastardly smells in the fridge and a book about training a lion, but it is not. I just thought I should make that distinction.


Last week's posts:

• Fiona Friday on the Wrong Day - Sleepy girls (cat photo)

That's right; I couldn't even manage to post Fiona Friday on the right day, much less write a book review or two. I hope this week will be more productive, blog-wise, because there comes a point that the backlog gets a little overwhelming and I'm on the verge of arriving at that point.


Currently reading:

• No Man's Land by Simon Tolkien 

This is my second attempt at No Man's Land. The first time I opened it, I kept rereading paragraphs. It wasn't the book; it was me. Too tired? Not the right book for the moment? Who knows. No Man's Land is very accessible. But, it really jumped out at me, when I picked it up again and had no problem at all with it. I remember thinking that first page was practically gibberish, the first time. But, of course, it wasn't. It was fine. I know that happens to other readers but it still strikes me as strange that two readings could have such dramatically different results. I'm not far into the book (maybe 40 pages?) but I like the writing. It has a richness that I know I'm going to enjoy digging into.

I haven't got any other books going, so I'll sift through my piles, tonight, and see what nonfiction title appeals to me.


In other news:

We had interesting weather, this weekend. It was almost cold on Thursday night, pleasantly cool on Friday, and then Saturday it grew hot, then muggy, then fiercely windy. Sunday, storms blew in from the west, tornado sirens went off, and we lost power for 3 or 4 hours. The tornadic weather began early enough that I wasn't fully awake. I got dressed because you really don't want to be in your pajamas when the heroic firefighters dig you from the rubble -- and shoes are a necessity -- threw 4 pillows on the rug in the laundry room (our "safe room") and curled up on the floor. I was asleep when Husband told me the storms had passed and it was safe to come out. As it turned out, those sirens were no joke. A "moderate" strength tornado (EF-1) touched down a couple miles west of us. Our neighborhood was a bit of a mess and one of our neighbors got a very big tree through the roof of their house -- no injuries, thank goodness -- but we missed the worst of the storms. My biggest worry is always that I can never talk the cats into coming into the safe room. This time, they wandered in and out; the sirens went off not once but several times. Had I lunged for a cat, though, she would have gone right back out the door and left me behind in a cloud of fur. So, I didn't try.

How was your weekend?

©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.

Fiona Friday on the Wrong Day - Sleepy girls

©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.

Monday Malarkey

How to make the words "Happy Monday" sound odd when paired with a book cover:

Recent arrivals:

• The U. S. Armed Forces Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Survival Manual by Dick Couch

Weird arrival, eh? A friend recently posted about his purchase of potassium iodide tablets for radiation emergencies (he is understandably freaked out by Trump's posturing and Kim Jong Un's escalation of hostilities, in response) and one of his friends posted in reply that he'd bought potassium iodide tablets, as well, but also the above book, a straw that filters toxins from water, and a gas mask. Naturally, I zoned in on the book. Can't hurt to know what to do in the event of some sort of attack or a cloud of radiation heading your way, right? The U.S. Armed Forces Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Survival Manual was my only arrival, last week, and it was a purchase. 

Books finished since last Malarkey:

• The Plague by Albert Camus

Only one book finished, last week, and that came as no surprise. I knew the two books I was reading would take me some time to get through. The Plague is focused on feelings and relationships and what becomes important to people when faced with the likelihood that they or their loved ones will die, so it wasn't often as gruesome as it could have been. Still, I occasionally had to take breaks from it. I also fell asleep without reading at all, twice (very unusual) and since I usually only read at night, I probably read a bit less than I do in a more normal week. 

Last week's posts:

• You'll Grow Out of It by Jessi Klein (book review)
• A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (book review)
• A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline (book review)
• The Mermaid's Daughter by Ann Claycomb (book review)
• Fiona Friday: Her own yoga mat (cat photo)

Clearly, last week was a good blogging week. That's because I actually pre-posted reviews, for once. I don't normally do that because I don't have the patience to sit long enough to type a full week's worth of posts, but I had other things to accomplish, last week, so I knew I needed to write a bunch of posts at once or I wouldn't likely post at all. I'm still a month behind on reviews, but last week's posting certainly put a nice dent in the backlog.


Currently reading:

• My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem
• Mister Monkey by Francine Prose

I misplaced Mister Monkey, last year, but finally located my ARC about a month ago, and it looks like it's going to be a nice, light read -- which I needed, after reading The Plague. I'm still enjoying My Life on the Road but I think I'm only about halfway through with it. I also started a book of Maya Angelou's poetry (the complete works, I think) but the first section was kind of a downer, so I set it aside and haven't returned to it. I may not finish it during National Poetry Month (this month) but I plan to pick that back up, this week.


In other news:

I watched two movies based on books, this weekend.

 A Man Called Ove has made it to Amazon Prime. It's another Swedish movie with subtitles, so Husband was in and out of the room while it was on. He's not into subtitles, although the movie clearly interested him. I thought it was handled very well! Since I read the book so recently, I knew exactly what was missing from the movie. For one thing, the cat's role was smaller than I thought it should have been. Once Ove takes the cat into his care, it goes absolutely everywhere with him, in the book. Not so in the movie. Maybe they thought it would be too much trouble trying to get a cat to sit still in a car. At any rate, I thought the movie was every bit as touching as the book and I did exactly the same thing as I did with the book -- sat with tears streaming down my face for the last 10-15 minutes.

I happened across Ella Enchanted while flipping through the movies that have just been added to Prime. Like A Man Called Ove, I've read the book. Unlike A Man Called Ove, the movie is way different from the book. The spell cast on Ella hasn't changed but the movie is goofy, with a modern bent: a medieval shopping mall with an escalator, music by Electric Light Orchestra and Kenny Loggins, etc. It's fun, but very, very silly. On the plus side, since Ella Enchanted is probably the Gail Carson Levine book I like the least, there was no dismay over Hollywood damage to a favorite. I just enjoyed the silliness.

My future daughter-in-law arrived toward the end of the movie and she said, "It's cute, but nothing like the book." Nod, nod. We agreed that The Two Princesses of Bamarre is a better book and one we'd like to see made into a movie.

In other movie news, we've been watching our local listings for Their Finest to show up in a local theater and it's finally within driving distance, if you don't mind driving 3 1/2 hours to see a movie (it's in Memphis and New Orleans), but hasn't arrived locally (down to a 30-minute drive). So, we may take a jaunt to Memphis, soon. We both really want to see the movie. I was on the list to get an ARC of the book it's based on, by Lissa Evans, but that never showed up and it turns out I already have a copy of the British printing, which I'd forgotten I owned. So, I'm also hoping to read that, soon.


©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.

Fiona Friday - Her own yoga mat

What do you mean, "You're doing it wrong?"

©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.

The Mermaid's Daughter by Ann Claycomb

The Mermaid's Daughter by Ann Claycomb is a retelling of the original fairytale "The Little Mermaid" by Hans Christian Andersen and, as such, is a bit dark. Kathleen lives with constant stabbing pain in her feet, like she's walking on glass. The pain is only soothed by immersing her feet in water and this same problem has been passed down for generations. No physical cause has been found and there's concern about her mental health, as Kathleen comes from a long line of women who have taken their lives after giving birth to a daughter.

Kathleen and her partner Harriet, aka "Harry", are studying to become opera singers. Kathleen's father is a composer. Her mother drowned herself by walking into the sea with rocks in her pockets when Kathleen was quite young.

When Kathleen and Harry spend a week vacationing in Florida, the sea begins to call out to Kathleen when she steps into it. Will she give in to the call of the sea and drown or try to stop the call by taking her life in some other way, like the women before her, or is there a way to break the spell? To find out Kathleen decides to travel to Ireland, the place of her birth.

My reading of The Mermaid's Daughter was one of those rare experiences in which I felt torn, partway through the book. It dragged for a time and I became weary of Kathleen's drama. She is, of course, in horrible pain so she has good reason to be a bit melodramatic. She's also an opera singer; drama is her life. At one point, I considered abandoning the book. But, I couldn't do it and I think that just goes to show you how compelling the book was, the fact that I continued even though I found the reading a bit slow. And, it was well worth sticking out. In the end, all the little strands of the story -- the opera, the father who is a composer, Ireland, the call of the mermaids -- come together brilliantly. I was a little stunned by how much I loved the book, after I'd considered giving up on it!

Highly recommended - Because the book is so dark and Kathleen's drama/Harry's patience can get on one's nerves, I can imagine even people not going through a slump might tire of The Mermaid's Daughter too soon. But, it is definitely worth sticking out. I loved how everything came together in the end with a touch of magic and the way, as you close the book, you realize, "Wow, all those things that I thought were filler . . . every bit counted." I was impressed.  I also liked the way Kathleen's homosexuality was just a part of the characterization. In fact, it helps her relate to another character who is crucial to the plot, in the end, a further example of how every little bit counted. There are a few sex scenes and you know I'm not a fan of those, but they were not overly graphic so I just skimmed a bit. Also, I adore that cover and the further I read, the more I realized even the cover is absolutely fitting to the story.


©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.

A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline

A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline is about Christina Olson, the subject of Andrew Wyeth's painting Christina's World. I've always loved the painting and thought of the subject as a young woman enjoying the land, feeling free in the Great Outdoors. It wasn't till I read about Christina, a couple years ago, that I realized the subject was a real person, not just a random model. And, it wasn't till I read the book that I noticed certain details.

Christina lived outside a small town on the coast of Maine and her world was truly limited almost entirely to the area around the house. Stricken by a crippling disease in her childhood, Christina's limbs became deformed. The disease was progressive, later causing her a great deal of pain and robbing her of her ability to walk. Eventually, she dragged herself wherever she wanted to go.

A Piece of the World takes you through Christina's life, describing her illness, her relationships with the other members of her family and how they all gradually either died or went off to live their own lives, the brother who sacrificed aspects of his own life to care for Christina, and her friendships with Andrew Wyeth and his wife. The painting itself isn't actually mentioned till nearly the end of the book, when it's painted. But, by then the reader knows the artist and his subject well enough to feel a depth of meaning in its details.

Recommended - While not as engrossing as Orphan Train, A Piece of the World is a fascinating read. I enjoyed learning about Christina, Andrew Wyeth, and the setting of the painting Christina's World. The tone is haunting and generally melancholy. Christina was not a happy person and her life was difficult, even excruciating. But, Christina Baker Kline's writing is lovely and I'm very glad I read A Piece of the World. I'd recommend saving it for when you're okay with a melancholy read if you're affected by the tone of a book.

Side note: My F2F group loved Orphan Train so much that they've been eagerly awaiting the author's latest work. I'm not sure whether or not I'd recommend it as a discussion book, so I asked our group leader if she'd like to borrow my copy to judge for herself and she replied with a very enthusiastic "yes". If we end up eventually discussing it, I'll post about the discussion (but that would be after it comes out in paperback).

Bonus: There's a copy of the painting in the back of the book. I kind of wish I'd flipped ahead and realized it was there as I was reading the description of it, but it's nice to have a copy of the painting! I've loved it for many years. Reading about Christina may have changed the way I see it a little bit, but it also made the painting even more special.

©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.

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

This time I'm going to keep my review as short as possible (a relative term, that word "short") because A) It appears that everyone on the planet read this book before me, and B) I can't remember B. Oh, well. There was a reason but I forgot what it was.

At any rate, I bought A Man Called Ove and it arrived literally the day before someone recommended it as a selection for F2F discussion. I bought it partly because a friend told me Ove was a curmudgeon. Having had a bit of experience with curmudgeons, I'm aware that they can be misunderstood and, in the long run, more likeable than you might expect. Just because you're a little grumpy doesn't mean you don't have a heart. And, that was definitely the case with Ove, a widower who has decided to take his life so that he can join his wife in the Great Beyond (my wording).

We talked about quite a variety of topics at the F2F discussion. One of our members passed around a page listing all the ways the name Ove can be pronounced. It turns out there pretty much isn't a right or wrong way. Even within Sweden, the name is not pronounced the same by everybody. This came into play during the discussion as one member mentioned how the name is pronounced in the movie and some of us stuck with the movie pronunciation while the rest just decided to go with whatever way we'd pronounced it in our heads as we read.

We talked about how the book begins a bit slapstick but then takes a more serious turn. And, we talked about the neighbors, Ove's personality, specific scenes and what they revealed about the main character, how and why he might have been misunderstood and whether or not we liked him. The one thing we didn't talk about -- and I didn't realize this till the next day -- was the cat. And, I thought the cat was rather crucial, actually. Also, I liked the cat because it was a cat and I'm a cat person, but that's neither here nor there. What I loved most about A Man Called Ove was the fact that it's the kind of book in which a group of strangers form a kind of surrogate family, which just happens to be my favorite kind of book.

Highly recommended - Heartwarming, sometimes funny, simply a wonderful story. Everyone in my F2F group enjoyed A Man Called Ove. Some found it a little sad but most found it uplifting and enjoyed getting to know Ove, a crotchety old man with a big heart. I loved A Man Called Ove enough that I want to read everything Fredrik Backman has written. At the same time I'm a little nervous about reading his other work because I loved Ove so much. It's worth mentioning that we all thought the translation was brilliant and several of us agreed it's a book we'll revisit. If you're one of the rare people who haven't yet read A Man Called Ove, go forth and purchase. It's definitely worth owning.

©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.

You'll Grow Out of It by Jessi Klein

I don't particularly like writing negative reviews, so I'll keep this one as short as I can and be sure to tell you what I liked about it . . . which wasn't much, but you know. I try.

You'll Grow Out of It by Jessi Klein was recommended to me when I asked for feminist title suggestions on Twitter. I looked it up and found that the reviews were mostly positive and the blurb claimed it was funny. At the time, I was coming off two depressing books in a row, The Handmaid's Tale being one of them, so "funny" was definitely appealing. And, it did start out well. Klein described herself as someone who never quite grew out of the tomboy stage, coining the term "tom man" to describe a grown-up tomboy.

But, then the essays segued into what the author, a comedian, is apparently known for (I was unfamiliar with her): tales of her sex life. There is probably very little I like less than reading about someone's sex life and I have, in fact, skipped a lot of books that were described as humorous for just that reason (even though I enjoy humor). I don't even like fictional sex scenes unless, of course, what happens in the bedroom is relevant to the plot. I'm not a prude; it's just a personal preference. So, the fact that a good portion of You'll Grow Out of It is dedicated to stories about various boyfriends was a guarantee that I wasn't going to love the book. Had I known about Klein's style of comedy, I would have avoided it entirely.

Having said that, I thought the book had its moments. I enjoyed reading about Klein's search for her wedding dress. I think most married women can probably relate to that experience in some way. I also loved it that she compared that particular shopping experience to the feeling she gets when she tries to explain why she doesn't find Brad Pitt appealing - primarily because I don't find Brad Pitt appealing and nobody gets that. I also occasionally enjoyed her descriptive capacity. If she'd avoided using it on body parts, I would have appreciated it even more.

Neither recommended or not recommended - Not for me, but as I was reading You'll Grow Out of It, I thought of a couple friends who would probably enjoy it. If you dislike reading about someone else's sex life, avoid it. I also found the "not a girly girl and not attractive" theme somewhat disingenous. Klein had a lot of boyfriends, plenty of girlfriends to call or get drunk with when a relationship ended, and an affection for designer clothing. Those all sound pretty girly to me. Also, I looked her up. The wedding dress she said her friends turned their nose up at was gorgeous and so is she. Once you've seen what the author looks like, the whole concept of being not girly enough just seems ridiculous.

Again, I laughed a couple times and enjoyed her descriptive capacity to a certain extent. So, while this book is not for me, I would not tell people not to read it. I would say it depends entirely upon your taste in memoirs/essays. I would also definitely not classify this book as a feminist read at all because it doesn't deal with feminist issues, unless you consider "not looking girly enough" an issue. I do not. To me, feminism is about everyone, women included, having the same rights in work and in general daily living. While in some professions that may apply to such issues as dress code (forcing women to wear high heels, for example), that didn't appear to be the case.

©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.

Monday Malarkey

Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a terrific weekend. Mine was uneventful, but I did get in some nice reading time. Wahoo for that!

Recent arrivals:

• The Explorers: The Door in the Alley by Adrienne Kress - from Random House Children's Books for review
• BBC Dr. Who Coloring Book - from a blogging friend who knows me well!

Books finished since last Malarkey:

• The Legion of Regrettable Supervillains by Jon Morris
• The Day I Died by Lori Rader-Day
• Little Known Tales in Oklahoma by Alton Pryor

Good reading week. The Legion of Regrettable Supervillains is tremendous fun and I liked the uniqueness of the heroine in The Day I Died (she's a handwriting analyst). Little Known Tales of Oklahoma was terrible, but it's a very thin book so I opted to finish it and I did learn a few things. But, the overall effect was like reading a book composed of someone's research notes on recipe cards after they'd been dropped. Literally, some of the paragraphs needed to be swapped. Still, I had a fun reading week. Unfortunately, I tried to start this week's F2F discussion book and it didn't click. So, I'll be quiet during discussion if I make it to this week's meeting.

Last week's posts:

• The Almost Sisters by Joshilyn Jackson and a Fiona Friday pic [book review + cat photo]

Currently reading: 

• The Plague by Albert Camus - My classic selection for the month. I'm 1/3 of the way through and enjoying it but occasionally a bit grossed out. 
• My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem - I am loving this book so much that I've elevated Steinem to the category of "People I'd like to have dinner with if I could choose anyone in the world". 

In other news:  

I haven't yet read the book, but we had a lonely Easter (no family came - not even Kiddo, who is about a 3-hour drive away) so Huzzybuns and I decided to buy taco fixings and watch a movie while we ate the end result. We found The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared. I don't even own a copy of the book, but I've been curious about it for years. And, I didn't realize there was a movie! It's loads of fun, although Husband did wander off because he got tired of reading the subtitles.

I think I may have mentioned that last week I was shut down for a few days when I got a pop-up claiming my computer had been hijacked. It took three attempts to shut down my windows and then I just set the computer aside until Husband came home from travel and confirmed that the message was a fake. Fortunately, we had two separate back-ups, but it still gives you an uneasy feeling when a message like that appears. On the plus side, I had a really productive week. Not having access to a computer makes an amazing difference in how one's time is used. Last week's computerless days and a story from My Life on the Road have got me thinking about changing how I do things (not to impact the blog, I should add). I periodically take social media breaks but I'm thinking about taking a break but still using Facebook and Twitter to update blog posts - just not visiting FB and Twitter, otherwise, because I like the way my time opens up when I avoid social media. Anyway, still thinking about that. We shall see.


©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.

The Almost Sisters by Joshilyn Jackson and a Fiona Friday pic

I realized what I most enjoyed about The Almost Sisters when I wrote the brief description of it for my March Reads in Review: its complexity. There's a lot going on in The Almost Sisters.

Leia is a successful illustrator of a graphic novel series who's been pushing men away for a long time. You don't find out till well into the story what caused her trauma, but she has good reason for her hesitation to commit. At a comic convention, she has a one-night stand with a man who was dressed as Batman and then promptly loses touch with him. But, it turns out her encounter has left her pregnant.

Leia steels herself to tell her sister about her pregnancy, only to find herself stepping into the middle of a marital meltdown. Similarly, she goes to her grandmother's house to help out and discovers that the timing is just not right. Her grandmother is suffering from a form of dementia and it's stressful enough just dealing with the everyday. When a secret that has been tucked away in her grandmother's attic comes to light, the situation is further complicated.

And, here is where I go off the rails and admit that I waited too long to review this book. So, I don't remember the characters or details as well as I'd like. But, I do remember that what's important about The Almost Sisters is the relationships. Grandmother, who is known as "Birchie", has a best friend who lives with her. Birchie is white, her best friend is black and they have been hiding that secret in the attic for decades. Leia is white, Batman is black, and since Leia is currently stuck in Alabama, she can't help but ponder the difficulties her unborn son will face as a child of mixed parentage. Not to mention not knowing how to find his father, even if she wanted to.

Again, so much happens in The Almost Sisters that it's hard to fit in everything that's probably worth sharing, so I'm just going to skip ahead to the bottom line.

Recommended - Bittersweet, uplifting, mysterious, and a little romantic. I liked the fact that there were so many strands to this story but what I really enjoyed most about The Almost Sisters was the relationships between Birchie and her bestie, Leia and Birchie, Leia and Batman, and the way Joshilyn Jackson tackled the complicated world of racism in the South. Jackson handled racial issues with grace and a depth of understanding and the result is seriously heartwarming. I got a bit teary at least once. I found The Almost Sisters a rather slow read, but one can't judge based on the speed of my reading, this year. It's just been another weird reading year. The book is a good one.

And, since it's Friday . . .

I don't know what the appeal is, but I have to be careful about setting down the iPad. Izzy thinks it's hers.

©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.

Monday Malarkey

Today, I have an unexpected 2 stacks of books because our recent trip to Oklahoma led to a bunch of purchases and their arrival was followed by the purchase of a small pile at a local college's annual Book Bazaar (which is oddly shrinking -- it used to be held in a gym and this time it was held in an alleyway between college buildings . . . weird).

Arrivals, top to bottom:

• The Five Civilized Tribes by Grant Foreman
• Daltons! The Raid on Coffeyville, Kansas by Robert Barr Smith
• Oklahoma Place Names by George H. Shirk
• Little Known Tales in Oklahoma History by Alton Pryor
• Oklahoma: A History by W. David Baird and Danney Goble
• Cocoa Beach by Beatriz Williams - from HarperCollins for review
• The Spectacular Sisterhood of Superwomen by Hope Nicholson - from Quirk Books for review
• Sammy's Broken Leg and the Amazing Cast that Fixed It by Judith Wolf Mandell - from the Cadence Group for review

So . . . the Oklahoma history books were all purchased, mostly secondhand. I took a photo of the bookshelves at the place I bought Daltons! and then looked up less expensive versions at home because I couldn't afford to buy so many books at $19.95 a pop, but at used-book prices, no problem. I chose the book about the Dalton Gang as my full-price purchase because I've always wondered a little about what happened to the Dalton Gang, having been to a graveyard in Kansas where at least one of the people who worked for the Daltons was buried. His grave said he was a "cow camp cook for the Dalton Gang". My mother used to drag me along to graveyards when she was studying geneology, in case you're interested.

Stack #2, top to bottom (all purchased at local book bazaar):

• Germinal by Emile Zola - Finally! A bit late for the readalong, I'm afraid, but I'm happy to have a copy. 
• The Doctor and the Devils by Dylan Thomas
• O. Henry Memorial Prize Stories of 1943, ed. by Herschel Brickell
• The History of the German Resistance, 1933 - 1945 by Peter Hoffmann - Not as intimidating as it looks, fully 1/3 of the book is dedicated to references/bibliography. 

Not pictured: 

• Tequila Mockingbird by Leo Cullum (because it's in the "books finished this month" pile -- this is how we keep organized). 

As usual, I lingered over the literature and history tables. They were small, this time, and I have to wonder if the school opted to get rid of all the books they used to store and start from scratch because I would guess there were maybe 20% the quantity of books that they used to sell -- and they seem to have shut down the book bazaar for a couple years. I suspect they were tired of storing books between sales and decided they needed to narrow down the number they carried. At any rate, I still managed to find plenty and I'm always, always excited to find anything about WWII. And early-to-mid-20th Century short stories are perennial favorites.


Books finished since last Malarkey:

• Elly and the Smelly Sneaker by L. Gorin and L. Vamos
• The Rain in Portugal by Billy Collins
• Tequila Mockingbird by Leo Cullum
• Sammy's Broken Leg and the Amazing Cast that Fixed It by Judith Wolf Mandell

Elly and the Smelly Sneaker is a book that turns the Cinderella story on its head and I absolutely loved it, so watch for a review of that one (it's a picture book). Of course, I had to read some poetry because it's National Poetry Month, so I've been hanging onto The Rain in Portugal for April reading since Christmas (it was a gift from Kiddo). Billy Collins is always worth the wait. Tequila Mockingbird is a book of animal cartoons from The New Yorker that I found at the book sale. Kiddo (hanging over my shoulder) and I read most of it while we waited for a restaurant table at one of the few places we consider worth the wait and I finished it up at home. Sammy's Broken Leg is also a picture book. So, all short books and that's fine. I think this last couple of weeks have provided me with a nice mental break. I'm reading better than I have been most of the year, at any rate. Fingers crossed it lasts. Sammy's Broken Leg arrived in terrible condition, unfortunately. I love to pass on most of the children's books I review but this one is such a mess that I'm not going to donate to the local school system, as I'd hoped, because they ask specifically for new or like-new books so that every child will get at least one at the end of the year. Battered books won't do. I'll find someone to give it to, though.


Last week's posts:

• March Reads in Review, 2017 (One month's reads, in brief)
• Fiona Friday - Happy in the window (cat photo - and not the first with that title; the cats love it when I'm able to open the windows).

Currently reading:

• The Day I Died by Laurie Rader-Day - A mystery in which the woman trying to find a missing child and his mother is a handwriting analyst.
• The Legion of Regrettable Supervillains by Jon Morris - A book about comic book villains who didn't stick. I can't even begin to tell you how fun this book is. The author has a sly sense of humor. 
• My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem - The chapters are long but the storytelling is excellent. I'm enjoying My Life on the Road much more than I anticipated. But, it may take me a while to get through. 

In other news:

I want to read everything and I want to read it all right now.  Does that ever happen to you? Sometimes I start one book, then another, then another, till I'm only reading bits and pieces of everything -- and it's always because I'm just feeling ravenous for books. Funny how those times contrast with the slumpy ones.

Happy Reading!


©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.

Fiona Friday - Happy in the window

©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.

March Reads in Review, 2017

March Reads:

18. The Last One by Alexandra Oliva - The only book I've managed to review (so far), The Last One is about a participant in a survival reality series who doesn't realize the series has ended after a deadly pandemic strikes. You can click through the link to read more, but since writing about this story I noticed that there's a real-life reality series that sounds almost exactly like the one described in the book. I saw it advertised while I was in Oklahoma. Boy, was I surprised.

19. The Almost Sisters by Joshilyn Jackson - Leia is in her late twenties, single, and a successful graphic novelist who has had bad luck with men. When a one-night stand with a man she knows only as Batman (at a comic convention) leaves her pregnant, Leia's excited but concerned, knowing her child will be mixed race. Add in a sister whose marriage is falling apart and a grandmother in the South who is suffering from dementia and Leia has more than her fair share of challenges to deal with. More on this one, later! A lot happens. I particularly liked the way Jackson dealt with racial issues.

20. You'll Grow Out of It by Jessi Klein - The memoir of a comedian (with whom I was unfamiliar), recommended to me as a feminist read, so I guess I could count it as a challenge read. The essays were more focused on her sex life than any feminist notions, though, and at times I found the details revolting enough to skip the end of a chapter. That's extremely unusual for me; I'm not a page-skipper. I laughed a few times, but this book was definitely not for me.

21. A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman - This description may be a spoiler - skip if you're concerned, please!!! The story of a widower who has decided to kill himself so he can join his wife in Heaven and how, after a few comical mishaps and some friendly persuasion, his neighbors and a stray cat become his second family. A Man Called Ove was my F2F group's March selection and I think everyone loved it. Oddly, we never got around to discussing the cat.

22. A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline - One of the books on my mental "most anticipated" list, the story of the subject of the painting "Christina's World" by Andrew Wyeth. While not quite as compelling as Orphan Train (it's hard not to compare), Kline's writing is lovely and I enjoyed getting to know Christina, her brother, the artist, and his wife.

23. The Mermaid's Daughter by Ann Claycomb - Kathleen comes from a long line of women who took their own lives after giving birth to a single daughter and she has, herself, faced a lifetime of pain. She and her partner, Harriet (aka "Harry") deal with it as best they can. But, when Kathleen and Harry take a trip to Florida and voices call to Kathleen from the ocean, will she too succumb to the curse of her mermaid ancestors? Again, lots of story, here. I really enjoyed this unusual book and look forward to reviewing it in greater detail.

24. Big Little Hippo by Valeri Gorbachev - Little Hippo is smaller than everyone, it seems - everyone in his family and even most of the animals who live nearby. But, when he encounters a tiny beetle, he realizes he's not so little, after all. Fabulous illustrations but a weak storyline made this one just a so-so read, in my humble opinion. However, my 2 1/2-year-old granddaughter did sit through the entire story.

25. Hoot and Honk Just Can't Sleep by Leslie Helakoski - Hoot is an owlet and Honk a gosling. When their eggs are switched, they end up with the wrong parents. Hoot lives with a diurnal family of geese and Honk with a nocturnal owl family. Fortunately, they're able to find their way back home when their inability to sleep with the rest of their accidental family members leads to a bit of wandering. A super cute, rhyming story.

26. The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart by Stephanie Burgis - Aventurine is young enough that her dragon scales haven't hardened, forcing her to remain indoors. Tired of being cooped up in the family cave, she decides to go exploring. But, when a food mage tricks her into drinking enchanted chocolate, she is turned into a human. And, being human isn't as easy as it appears. A charming middle grade story.

There's no contest, this month. My absolute favorite book was A Man Called Ove. Before I even opened the book, I knew it was a story about a curmudgeon. I know some people find Ove perplexing or even annoying because of that, but there have been plenty of curmudgeons who shared my world and I find them every bit as amusing (and transparent) as Ove's wife and neighbor did. He's a great character and that particular type of novel - a story in which a group of strangers form an unexpected family unit - is my absolute favorite.

I also enjoyed The Last One, A Piece of the World, and The Mermaid's Daughter. The Almost Sister was very good but I did find it a bit slow. And, I liked The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart a lot, but occasionally disliked the style of writing, which suits MG readers better than it does an adult. Hoot and Honk Just Can't Sleep is adorable.

I liked but didn't love Big Little Hippo, which has a somewhat pointless storyline, in my humble opinion, but awesome illustrations. The storyline may not a problem for small children, but my granddaughter was sick when she sat through it, so we couldn't really gauge her interest level.

I really did not enjoy You'll Grow Out of It. There were moments that the author made me smile or even chuckle a bit, but they were few and far between. The most common reaction I had was "Eww!" Too much information about the author's messy sex life and a theme about not being particularly girly that came off as insincere. I will say, though, that as I was reading I was aware that I know people who would probably enjoy the book. I just wasn't the right audience.

That pile looks pretty good, in hindsight, although it sure seemed like a slumpy kind of month - possibly because I didn't get to all of the books I intended to read. I've folded some over into April. Wish me luck getting to everything!

©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.

Monday Malarkey

Recent arrivals (top to bottom)

• Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal - from HarperCollins for review
• Shadow Man by Alan Drew - from Random House for review, via Shelf Awareness
• The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck - from HarperCollins for review
• Elly and the Smelly Sneaker by Leslie Gorin and Lesley Vamos - from Sterling Children's Books for review

The Women in the Castle has been on my mental "most anticipated" list since I heard about it in the fall, so I'm particularly excited about that title. I also bought a book about the Dalton Gang, while we were in Oklahoma (we went on a road trip, last week) but I don't know where I set it down, so I'll add that to next week's pile.



Books finished since last week's Malarkey:

• Big Little Hippo by Valeri Gorbachev
• Hook and Honk Just Can't Sleep by Leslie Helakoski
• The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart by Stephanie Burgis
• Momotaro: Xander and the Lost Island of Monsters by Margaret Dilloway

All children's books, the first two picture books and the latter two Middle Grade. I figured a little extremely light reading might be a good idea after weeks, if not months, of being slumpish. Good decision. I feel better about my reading, after last week. Hope it lasts.


Last week's posts:


None! Well, apart from Monday Malarkey. We drove to Oklahoma on Wednesday and returned on Sunday, so I'm just getting back into the swing of things. It was nice stepping away from the internet for a week (except Twitter - I sort of am addicted to Twitter).


Currently reading:

• My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem
• The Legion of Regrettable Supervillains by Jon Morris

I just started both of these books this morning and am enjoying them enough that I would have liked to spend the day in bed, reading. Probably should have. I had the "worn out from traveling" and "up all night due to massive thunderstorm" excuses.


In other news:

I have so far only managed to review one of my March reads, so I have a little catch-up to do, but I'm not worried. I seem to remember everything pretty well. I may go ahead and do my monthly round-up, first. We shall see.

I didn't manage to read either a feminist book or a classic in March, but I've already gotten a start on Gloria Steinem's book and I think I have my classic for April picked out. So, hopefully, I'll manage to read both of those, this month. It occurred to me that I might want to start staggering my personal challenge reads, since I get so many ARCs - feminist reading one month, classic the next. At any rate, I don't feel like my personal challenges are written in stone, so I'm happy if I get to them and I'm not going to fret if I don't.

I was unable to load photos, last night, but things are working fine, now, so here's your picture postcard of a great blue heron (courtesy of Husband; I was driving) from Oklahoma:

©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.