Month: May 2023

Book Review: Pride and Prejudice (adapted for younger readers)

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen, adapted by Fern Siegel

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Classic children’s, romance

It’s difficult to know whether to rate books like this based on the story or on the adaptation. I gave the original book 4 stars and liked some aspects of this book better. It does a great job of cutting through the old-fashioned language and getting to the heart of the story. In this case, “telling” instead of “showing” both shortens the length of the story and explains what might otherwise be difficult for younger readers to comprehend or follow.

However, I had some issues with feeling like the book left something out now and then. A couple of times, the text seemed to refer to something that hadn’t been explained in the first place. I could remember it, if vaguely, from my reading of the original book, but it seemed to have been missing from the adaptation. For that reason, I gave the adaptation 4 stars. Overall, I like the idea of this story, but it just seems a little too…I don’t know, maybe bloated? for me. Still, I do think this adaptation more than adequately makes the classic accessible and would recommend this book for children around 8-12, with the extra note that with younger kids, it might be helpful (and enjoyable) to read it with a parent or older sibling/friend.

Find out more about this Pride and Prejudice adaptation

See what I’m reading next.

If you’ve read this book, or read it in the future, feel free to let me know what you think!

Audiobook Review: The Hobbit

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

The Hobbit
by J.R.R. Tolkien
Read by Andy Serkis

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Classic fantasy

I read The Hobbit for the first time 2 1/2 years ago and reviewed it then. I have not listened to the audiobook narrated by Rob Inglis, but I did listen to his narration of the LotR books. As I prepared to go through the series a 2nd time, I decided to try out Andy Serkis’s version, and I am so glad I did!

There are a couple of points that I want to make. It’s no surprise that Andy Serkis does a great job with the different voices for different characters. Though I’ve only seen the movies based on this book a small handful of times, it seemed to me that some of his characters sounded similar to how they did in those movies. It may have been a coincidence (excepting, of course, for his portrayal of Gollum, which is just how you would expect), but Thorin sure did sound like Richard Armitage. Considering that this audiobook came out several years after the movies, I did go into it wondering how much from the movies might seep into it, and since my favorite thing about the movies (which were otherwise just kinda okay, to me) is the music, I was thrilled to hear a few familiar melodies in Serkis’s narration.

I know Inglis’s version has long been a classic narration for some, and I don’t feel qualified to compare them, but I will say that Andy Serkis has done this book justice. It’s well worth listening to, whether you’re an old fan of Tolkein or a newcomer (or somewhere in between).

Find out more about The Hobbit

See what I’m reading next.

If you’ve read this book, or read it in the future, feel free to let me know what you think!

Book Review: The Ferryman

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

The Ferryman
by Justin Cronin

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Sci-fi

Proctor Bennett is a ferryman on the somewhat utopian island of Prospera; his job is to guide people through retirement when their digital monitor says it’s time. But when his own number starts to dip, he knows he’s not ready. Worse yet, he’s started to have some strange dreams, though dreaming shouldn’t be possible. Then he’s tasked with retiring his own father, who says some cryptic things on the way to and at the ferry. Meanwhile, some of the less privileged citizens of Prospera begin to express their dislike for their forced place in society. When all of this comes to a head, the island will never be the same.

I quite enjoyed this book overall. I’ll admit it developed slowly, but there was enough intrigue to keep me curious and coming back to it often. I had my theories, but since I tended to switch from one theory to another, I can’t really claim to have been completely correct in my guesses by the end. The conclusion was tied up pretty well, with a full explanation given, but at times along the way, I found myself seriously lost. The overall feel and style of the book reminded me a lot of Fahrenheit 451. Proctor was mostly a sympathetic hero, but I don’t think there was a whole lot of substance to him through most of the book. 

The book starts out in present tense, then switches between present and past throughout the book. I never did figure out if there was a pattern to that, so I really don’t understand the decision to write it that way. And by the end, though I said it was tied up pretty well, there were a few things, somewhat large but not glaring, that were left unexplained. I wasn’t left with the feeling other books of the type, where the reader isn’t meant to even understand what is going on with the world until part way through the book, have left me with, the feeling that I can’t wait to read it again knowing the truth, to see how things fit together. Maybe that means my guesses were actually close enough that I didn’t feel completely thrown when the truth was revealed. However, that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy the ride. If you enjoy cryptic sci-fi stories of vaguely dystopian futures with something of a twist, you’ll probably like this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for providing me a copy of this book to review.

Find out more about The Ferryman

See what I’m reading next.

If you’ve read this book, or read it in the future, feel free to let me know what you think!

Book Review: Battle of the Ampere

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

Battle of the Ampere
Michael Vey #3
by Richard Paul Evans

My rating: 3.5 / 5
Genre: YA sci-fi adventure

Spoiler notice: The following review may contain some spoilers for the previous books in the series, starting with The Prisoner of Cell 25.

Michael Vey is separated from the rest of the Electroclan after the destruction of the Starxource plant in Peru. While the electric teens and their normal friends attempt to escape and regroup, the Elgen are licking their wounds and dealing with a change in management—a change that Michael and his friends are determined to reverse.

I think that part of the issue with this book is that the title doesn’t really come into play until the last quarter (or less) of the book. This is similar to the first in the series, The Prisoner of Cell 25, where Cell 25 is a really minor part of the book. But at least there, we have the initial world building, the introduction of the main character and him learning about the Elgen and the other electric teens. Here, the bulk of the book is the Electroclan trying to get free of the jungle and their pursuers, then a little bit of a battle, as promised in the title, at the end. Maybe that’s the reason that the book came down half a star for me, compared to the first two. I still enjoyed it, but I think it didn’t really deliver on what it promised.

I did like the introduction of a new character and that, though a love triangle seemed to be in the offing, Evans went a different way. I also appreciate that Hatch is more of a background villain this time, rather than being a big part of the story. I felt he was a little over the top in the previous book, but fortunately his extreme villainy then allows both the electric teens and the reader to be fully aware of how dangerous he is without needing it pushed on us so much.

Something that really didn’t sit right with me in this book is the emotional maturity displayed by these teenagers. Various difficult situations happen, even some serious tragedy, and I feel like the characters handle these things in ways that don’t seem realistic for their age (around 15), and they display empathy that many adults haven’t mastered. Saying more would give spoilers, and it’s not necessarily a major flaw in the book, but it did strike me as strange. Overall, though I liked this book just a little less than the first two, I still read it quickly and look forward to the next.

Find out more about Battle of the Ampere

See what I’m reading next.

If you’ve read this book, or read it in the future, feel free to let me know what you think!

Book Review: The Not-So-Great Escape

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

The Not-So-Great Escape
McGee and Me! #3
by Bill Myers & Ken C. Johnson

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Children’s Christian fiction

Most of us who grew up in a Christian home know all too well the feeling when our friends were allowed to do something that we weren’t allowed to do, whether that be going somewhere, watching something, listening to certain music, etc. Most of us didn’t set up a Ferris Beuller-like contraption to try to fool our parents, but that’s the charm of the main character in this series. Fortunately for me, I didn’t have a friend who goaded me quite like Louis does with Nick, but of course the lesson to learn here is that Nick still should have said no. It’s a good short story overall, though McGee, Nick’s animated friend, isn’t as enjoyable on the page as he is on the screen. These books may not be easy to find anymore, but if you do have the chance to read this book or procure it for an 8-10-year-old child, I recommend it.

Find out more about The Not-So-Great Escape

See what I’m reading next.

If you’ve read this book, or read it in the future, feel free to let me know what you think!

Book Review: Evil Genius

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

Evil Genius
The Smartest Kid in the Universe #3
by Chris Grabenstein

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Children’s adventure

12-year-old Jake and his scientifically enhanced, super-smart brain may have a rival when the latest batch of ingestible knowledge jelly beans are stolen. And if that isn’t bad enough, Jake has reason to believe that his artificial knowledge could wear off at any moment. Can Jake and his friends outsmart both new and old foes and recover a treasure that’s been lost for centuries?

Poor Jake is really put through it in this installment. He used to be a fun-loving kid who had no real worries. Now, not only does he have to deal with dark-side counterparts, but he’s devastated over the possibility of losing his intelligence. This book has a few more plot lines than previous ones do, so there’s kind of a lot going on for not a very long book. Because of that, I feel like Jake’s friends don’t get as much “screen time” in this book. On the other hand, at least that means I didn’t have to deal with as much of Kojo’s Kojak references. But the multiple plot lines also provide two different main villains (and several smaller ones), and there is a lot of anti-climax involved. Still, in the end, the book was fun. I’m getting to like Jake more and more with each book, and I hope there’s more to come. For the first time in this series, I cannot tell you what my daughter thought of the book, because she hasn’t read it yet. I’m very interested to hear what she thinks, but in the meantime, I’m confident recommending this book and series for kids around 8-12 years old.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Children’s Books for providing me a copy of this book to review.
Publication date: May 16, 2023

Find out more about Evil Genius

See what I’m reading next.

If you’ve read this book, or read it in the future, feel free to let me know what you think!

Book Review: Blood Rites (DNF)

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

Did Not Finish: Blood Rites
The Dresden Files #6
by Jim Butcher
Read by james Marsters

My rating: DNF, no rating
Genre: Paranormal mystery

I’ve never DNF’d a book this far into a series, but I had to. I’m also calling it quits on the series, which I’ve rarely done this far into a series either. Though I mostly enjoyed the previous books, I commented about the amount of sexual content in each of my reviews. Jim Butcher’s main use for female characters seems to be as sexual objects, and their body parts are described often and in far too much detail. This makes me uncomfortable both as a woman and as a Christian.

So you can imagine my discomfort and frustration with this book that has a main setting of a porn movie set. At the 26% mark, I realized that just wasn’t worth it. I have enjoyed James Marsters’s narration, which might be the only reason I continued as long in the series as I did, but that’s it for me.

Find out more about Blood Rites

If you’ve read this book, or read it in the future, feel free to let me know what you think!

April in Review

/ Kristi / 4 Comments

I read 7 books last month, the same amount as March. My reading hasn’t really picked up yet, but at least I’m pretty much caught up on reviews. I wrote a lot of them in April, since I had to write reviews for all of the books I read in March too. I’m very relieved to be caught up. I do hope my reading picks up soon, but I’m not stressing about it.

Here are the books I read in April:

ralph-2
edelweiss
little-house-6
yonwood
ramona-2
TCW 17
McGee 3
white placeholder
white placeholder

Runaway Ralph by Beverly Cleary (3.5 / 5)
Code Name Edelweiss by Stephanie Landsem (4 / 5)
The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder (5 / 5)
The Prophet of Yonwood by Jeanne DuPrau (1 / 5)
Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary (5 / 5)
The Cat Who Blew the Whistle by Lilian Jackson Braun (4 / 5)
The Not-So-Great Escape by Bill Myers (review pending)

This list includes 1 ARC and 0 re-reads. My favorite book from April was The Long Winter. I started 0 series, continued 5 series, and finished 1 series. My ever-changing short list of to-be-reads, as well as a flag for the book I’m currently reading and an ongoing list of those I’ve read and posted about can be found here.

I’m also keeping my Goodreads page updated with a more extensive list of to-be-reads. Despite my almost too-long TBR list, I’m always looking for more to add. Feel free to offer suggestions of your favorites or just recent reads you enjoyed.

Book Review: The Cat Who Blew the Whistle

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

The Cat Who Blew the Whistle
Book #17
by Lilian Jackson Braun

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Cozy mystery

A nostalgic train ride turns into a case of fraud as the train’s owner disappears with millions of dollars deposited in his credit union. Using clues dug up by his Siamese cats, former crime reporter Jim Qwilleran will have to weed out the important facts from the distractions.

This book brought back what I like about the series, set back in Moose County and involving a lot of the old favorite side characters, as well as a few new ones. Like in at least one previous book, a play being prepared at the nearby theater becomes somewhat intertwined with the book’s plot. It’s enough to make me wish I’d read more Shakespeare in school (but not enough to make me want to read it now). There’s some excitement here and there, and while it’s not the most interesting story overall, I really didn’t find myself bored while reading it. The pseudo-supernatural elements that usually involve Koko’s abilities to unearth clues, predict tragedy, or even know the exact moment of a death, are turned up a notch in this book, maybe causing higher suspension of disbelieve than some would prefer. In the end, though, it’s a solid entry to the series.

Find out more about The Cat Who Blew the Whistle

See what I’m reading next.

If you’ve read this book, or read it in the future, feel free to let me know what you think!