Book Review

Book Review: These Happy Golden Years

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These Happy Golden Years
Little House #8
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
read by Cherry Jones

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Children’s historical classic

Of course I knew that Laura would grow up and this family that started in the Big Woods of Wisconsin would eventually change as some of them moved on, but that doesn’t mean it’s not still a little sad when it happens. Still, most of it was enjoyable, as a few years go by with Laura teaching school and finding other ways to make money to help her family, as well as spending time with Almanzo Wilder, who isn’t dissuaded when Laura tells him there’s no future for them. Unlike another series I read with a young main character, it’s not really the change in Laura’s maturity, motivations, or even location that make this book slightly less enjoyable for me than the rest of the series. I think it had more to do with the somewhat shallowness of the writing, even though I’m used to it by now. In this particular book, with the progression from wanting to be an old maid so she doesn’t have to leave home to happily accepting Almanzo’s marriage proposal, it really would have been nice to get a little more in depth on Laura’s thoughts and feelings. Overall, though, I liked what is essentially the end to the series, since the last one is a departure from the rest of the series.

As before, my enjoyment of the book was greatly enhanced by the audiobook narrator, Cherry Jones, who does a fantastic job, and being able to hear Pa’s fiddle, thanks to Paul Woodiel. If you’ve ever considered reading this series, or have already read it and have occasion to listen to the audiobooks, I say do it!

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Book Review: The Cat Who Saw Stars

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The Cat Who Saw Stars
Book #21
by Lilian Jackson Braun

My rating: 3 / 5
Genre: Cozy mystery

Former crime reporter Jim Qwilleran attempts to spend a two-week vacation in his cabin on the lake, but it turns out to be less restful than staying home would have been. Besides still writing his column and doing favors for friends, he becomes entangled in a couple of mysteries that locals attribute to extraterrestrial “visitors,” though he’s certain there’s an answer closer to home.

Not one of my favorites in the series (though not my least favorite either). The solution to the main mystery came more out of nowhere than it normally does in these books, so it was anti-climactic. Braun seemed to forgo much of the investigating this time, in favor of yet another weather-related local disaster. Add to that the frustration that a death in the book had no resolution of any kind, not even speculation or a mention of the fact that it would have to remain a mystery. It was just dropped. I do like that Qwilleran was able to compare his tendency to half-believe that Koko’s antics helping him solve mysteries could be compared to the locals who firmly believe in UFOs, though he always leaves room for the possibility that everything Koko does is just a coincidence. I’m still enjoying my trip through this series of fairly quick reads and hope the next will be better.

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Book Review: Back to the Drawing Board

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Back to the Drawing Board
McGee and Me! #6
by Bill Myers

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

Oh, Nick, I really feel ya in this story. Not that I’m an artist, not even close, but I definitely know what it’s like to feel threatened by someone who comes along and seems to be better than you at something you felt was your strong point. Quite frankly, everything Nick feels here I have felt before, so this book hit me closer to home than most of the others in the series. The lesson Nick learns—to simply do your best and focus on using your talents and abilities in whatever way God has planned for you, rather than worry about comparing yourself to others—is a good one for everyone and even a good reminder for those who may have learned that in the past. Definitely one of my favorites in the series. McGee, Nick’s animated friend, isn’t as enjoyable on the page as he is on the screen, but I tend to just skim the all-animated sections now. 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.

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Book Review: Facing the Enemy

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Facing the Enemy
by DiAnn Mills

My rating: 2 / 5
Genre: Christian suspense, romance

The sudden death of her previously estranged brother leaves FBI Special Agent Risa Jacobs reeling and questioning her responsibility in the tragedy as well as her faith. Her partner, Gage Patterson, doesn’t understand when she resigns from the FBI to go back to teaching creative writing at a college, but he vows to keep working her brother’s case. But when a student turns in a writing assignment that is a spot-on eyewitness account of her brother’s murder, Risa finally has a lead to pursue and won’t be staying away from the FBI long.

This is the third DiAnn Mills book I’ve read, and though I did liked the first one, I’m starting to notice a trend in which I don’t get along well with her writing style. I often found myself confused and unable to grasp the meaning in the author’s choice of words. Dialog felt unnatural or stilted, especially during interviews with people involved in the investigations, and characters’ words didn’t always quite line up with each other’s. And sometimes, it seems like there’s subject-verb confusion that should have easily been caught by an editor. It’s a little difficult to explain, but I’ll share one quote that I think is a good example of what I mean. Said by a character: “Running didn’t keep them safe. But fear took over. Still am.” I promise, I’m not leaving anything out that would explain what the “Still am” refers to, or if I did, it’s because what it refers to is so separate from the rest of this quote that I didn’t realize that’s what it was supposed to connect with. And maybe plenty of people will read that line and just keep going, because the intent is clear enough (still am…running, I guess?). But for me, I can’t help but stop short and think, “Huh? Still am what? Huh?” And that takes me right out of the story. And since this is just one example of a lot of different lines that made me scratch my head, hopefully that gives a good enough understanding of why I struggled to get into this story.

The message in the book is good, though, and the main reason I gave it two stars is for the conversation with the psychologist, who I felt asked some good questions and really got to the heart of Risa’s grief, doubt, and self-blame. I wish it could have come a little earlier in the book to spare us some of the angst, but it was still appreciated. The relationship between the two MCs, on the other hand, also confused me. They’ve been partners for five years and are both already in love with each other (secretly) at the start of the story, yet sometimes it seems like they really have a lot to get to know about each other still. The writing assignment angle, which is what really caught my attention in the synopsis and made me want to try another DiAnn Mills book, hoping it would be more like the first one I read than the second, was a pretty big let-down for me. I also struggled with consistency issues in various places. I really dislike giving this low of a rating to any book, and I’ve found myself questioning my own ability to read and comprehend what I’m reading correctly, since I’ve so far been in the vast minority with my thoughts of this book and the previous one I didn’t care for. Please check out other reviews for different opinions, as most of them are positive so far, if you’re interested in the synopsis and/or genre.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tyndale House Publishers for providing me a copy of this book to review.
Publication date: September 5, 2023

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Book Review: Mockingjay

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Mockingjay
The Hunger Games #3
by Suzanne Collins

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: YA dystopian

If I were rating this book by just the story, I’d give it 5 stars like I did the previous books in the series. But the gratuitous violence and death that I feared when I started reading the first book came in full force in this book. Much more death and much grislier deaths than necessary were spread throughout the latter portions of this book, but especially in part 3. And the pods, though of course they had already been in the first two books, but to a much smaller degree, reminded me a lot of the bizarre methods of attack in The Maze Runner series—over the top and completely unnecessary.

The story itself, including the ending, though, I liked. I can understand why some people didn’t, but I totally got it. I always knew this wasn’t going to end in rainbows and sunshine for Katniss after all the horrors she’d been through and the terrible things she’d been forced to do. Her PTSD would have to be more extreme than anything most of us can imagine, which is exactly what I saw in her in those last chapters. Add to that the fact that she still wasn’t really free, and it’s really no wonder she had no real fight left in her. I was still hooked, reading it as often as I could come back to it, which has not been as common for me in recent months, so that must say something.

I still think it’s funny that I was adamant I’d never read this series, yet I ended up loving it. I haven’t watched the movies yet…I suppose I will try to get to that soon. I am already looking forward to reading the series again though.

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Book Review: Ralph S. Mouse

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Ralph S. Mouse
Ralph S. Mouse #3
by Beverly Cleary

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Children’s classic, fantasy

I thought this book would be redundant, considering that Ralph runs away in this book like he did in the previous. And it did start out that way, with Ralph annoyed at his young relatives wanting to borrow his motorcycle and then leaving the hotel. But his experience at school was different enough from his experience at camp that it felt completely fresh. I really liked Miss K and the way she taught and that even Ralph learned some important things from her. The ending to the book, which is the ending to the series, went better than I expected it to. I again find myself wishing that I’d read these books to my kids when they were young, as I think it would have been a fun adventure series to read together.

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Book Review: The Cat Who Sang for the Birds

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The Cat Who Sang for the Birds
Book #20
by Lilian Jackson Braun

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Cozy mystery

Former crime reporter Jim Qwilleran is certain something fishy is going on when an elderly woman’s home is vandalized and then burned down. With an early spring in the offing, birds and butterflies provide some distraction for both man and cat, but that won’t keep him off the trail of a killer.

While Qwilleran spends a lot of his time suspecting a certain person/company of dirty dealings, I had a different culprit in mind, and even fingered a henchman for that culprit, for reasons that I thought were rather obvious. But where in the previous book, I thought that the predictability of the stories in this series were beginning to make it less enjoyable for me, I didn’t mind figuring a lot of the mystery out early this time. I think that’s because the story itself—the plot and even the characters—was all more engaging and enjoyable this time. Plus, Qwilleran’s reason for suspecting who he did makes perfect sense in the context of the rest of the series, and I actually enjoyed the way he ranted ineffectually against the perceived villain. Overall, I felt that it was one of the better books in the series.

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Book Review: Carry On, Jeeves

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Carry On, Jeeves
Jeeves #3
 by P.G. Wodehouse
Read by Kevin Theis

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Classic British humor

After getting past the stories in this collection that I’d already listened to (though with a different main character), I think I enjoyed this collection a little more than the other two so far. Though I have to admit that, while at first I thought it was great that one of the stories was written from Jeeves’s perspective, I found that I didn’t like that story as much. It was still interesting to get his perspective on the schemes he gets up to for Wooster and his friends.

I now wish I’d read this article sooner, as it recommended newer readers to skip My Man Jeeves, since the stories in that collection featuring Reggie Pepper as the narrator were re-written with Wooster and Jeeves in this collection. Because I didn’t want to listen to the same basic story again, I skipped them this time, but I do think I would have appreciated them more if I’d read them here for the first time. That’s just a little PSA to anyone else new to the series. If I do re-read any of these someday, I’ll definitely skip My Man Jeeves, or at least the Reggie Pepper stories. I will, however, probably stick with the Kevin Theis narration, because I’ve really been enjoying it!

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Book Review: Beyond the Grave

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Beyond the Grave
The 39 Clues #4
by Jude Watson

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Children’s mystery, adventure

Looking for a clue in Egypt involves a lot of sand and a lot of mistrust. Though that’s to be expected when you’re trying to outsmart some of the smartest people in the world, who also happen to be related to you. Amy and Dan Cahill have been attacked by fellow clue hunters and betrayed by false allies. But when a message from their dead grandmother, whose death started off the clue hunt, leaves them wondering if they can even trust her now, will they succumb to becoming like their nasty relatives themselves?

This was my favorite book in the series so far. It was still filled with some of the same zany antics and cheesy dialog from the previous books, but I really liked the way the story unfolded. Dan and Amy had some serious sibling things to work out between them, and Nellie, their au pair, really took a step up in my estimation too. I appreciate more and more the scenes shown now and then from the perspectives of various opponent Cahills, as we get to see that they’re more than just evil villains. And frankly, I’m glad the Holts weren’t in this one, because so far, they’re just an annoying family of meatheads. Maybe some future book will give me a different view of them though.

You know what I would love? A recap of what clues have already been found, because when I think back on the previous books, I’m not sure I can accurately remember which things they found were official Clues and which things were clues to the clues. But while I’m not sure that the mystery and clue part of these books actually make any kind of logical sense and would really work out in real life at all, I’m still enjoying the ride and look forward to continuing the series.

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June in Review

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I read 9 books last month, which would definitely had been more if I hadn’t spent the whole month on one audiobook. But then, June also had my first VBS as director (along with my husband), so that might have taken away some of my reading time too. It’s not a bad number, though, especially considering how this year has gone so far.

Here are the books I read in June:

aftk-cover
mcgee-4
mv-4
catching-fire
tcw-19
dragonback-1
doon
WivesDaughters
love-is-the-point

A Fire to Kindle by Daniel Dydek (3 / 5)
Skate Expectations by Bill Myers (5 / 5)
Hunt for Jade Dragon by Richard Paul Evans (4 / 5)
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (5 / 5)
The Cat Who Tailed a Thief by Lilian Jackson Braun (3.5 / 5)
Dragon and Thief by Timothy Zahn (5 / 5)
Doon by Carey Corp & Lorie Langdon (1 / 5)
Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell (5 / 5)
What If Love Is the Point? by Carlos PenaVega & Alexa PenaVega (4 / 5)

This list includes 2 ARCs and 1 re-read. My favorite book from June was Catching Fire. I started 1 series, continued 4 series, and finished 0 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.