amreading

Book Review: On the Banks of Plum Creek

/ Kristi / 2 Comments

On the Banks of Plum Creek
Little House #4
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
read by Cherry Jones

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

I continue to be amazed that anyone survived life in these conditions, and I continue to be amazed at some of the choices Pa makes. Between the plague of grasshoppers and the dozen blizzards before Christmas, this family defines the “pioneer spirit.” Pa’s decision to borrow against a future wheat crop doesn’t seem wise, but it isn’t even the first questionable thing he’s done in this series. I liked reading about Ma and the two young girls working together to take care of things while Pa was away for months at a time and Laura learning to read. While some aspects of the stories seem to be the same from book to book, the setting and hardships tend to change drastically, keeping the series fresh so far.

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!

Find out more about On the Banks of Plum Creek

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 Valley of Fear

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

The Valley of Fear
Sherlock Holmes #7
by Arthur Conan Doyle

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Classic mystery

Like A Study in Scarlet, this novella is in two parts—the mystery being solved by Holmes and the backstory of the principle character in the mystery. Each part has a bit of a twist near the end. The mystery section is interesting enough, though doesn’t stand out much from the others I’ve read so far. I was spoiled on the twist (people seem to care a lot less about spoiler tags and warnings when leaving a low rating), so it’s difficult to say how I would have felt about it. It didn’t seem particularly inspired, that’s all I can really say. The backstory portion I found interesting and unnecessarily long in turns. It’s very difficult for me to get into the head of someone who is so brutal and uncaring. The twist, though, was probably one of the most surprising twists I’ve read. I did not see it coming and mentally applauded Doyle for the misdirect. I raised the story at least half a star, maybe a full star, just because of that twist.

I have to say that screen writers over the years have really done a number with Moriarty. I am sure I’m not the only person who has read these stories after seeing and hearing about Holmes over the years and imagining Moriarty as a dastardly foil for the great detective, only to realize that book Moriarty is nothing compared to his on-screen counterparts. This book had even less Moriarty than the short story in which he was introduced (“The Final Problem” in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes), and now that I’ve read both stories with the infamous villain in them, I really can’t believe how big of a deal the character became. We really only know he’s brilliant because we’re told he is. There’s no proof given; Sherlock says he’s a criminal mastermind, so that’s all we need to make up stories about his treachery. Anyway, all of that aside, this was a more memorable Holmes story for me, so that’s something (though it has nothing to do with Moriarty).

Find out more about The Valley of Fear

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: Kidnapping Kevin Kowalski

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

Kidnapping Kevin Kowalski
by Mary Jane Auch

My rating: 4.5 / 5
Genre: Children’s fiction

After an accident, Kevin Kowalski isn’t quite the same anymore. But his best friends, Ryan and Mooch, think he can do more than his mom will let him do, and they plan to prove it to him by kidnapping him.

Another book I remember from childhood, I read this again recently so I could discuss it with my daughter. We both enjoyed the antics that the kids get up to in the book and like the friendship displayed. While it certainly isn’t easy for Ryan and Mooch to know how to act around their friend who has some brain damage from a bike accident, I appreciate the narrator, Ryan, in his attempts to learn how to be the friend Kevin needs. There is a moment in the story when a group of older kids are hanging out in the woods near where our main characters are camping, and it gets a little risque, but not graphic. Still, it gave me pause, as I knew my 12-year-old daughter had read the scene as well, and she did say it got a little uncomfortable for her too. Other than that, though, I enjoyed the book, as did my daughter.

Find out more about Kidnapping Kevin Kowalski

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 Mystery of the Candy Box

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

The Mystery of the Candy Box
Beatitudes Mysteries #2
by Elspeth Campbell Murphy

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

When Sarah-Jane is bequeathed a box full of random items, she and her cousins have a puzzle to solve as they try to decipher the clues in the box.

I’ve had this book since I was young and read it many times back then. Reading it now, I can see that it might have contributed to my love of puzzles. It’s more like a scavenger hunt than an escape room, but would still provide some intrigue for the children the book is meant for (maybe around 8-10 year olds). I like the idea of each book in the series being themed after one of the beatitudes, and that it’s not so obvious that you feel hit over the head with preaching. Sarah-Jane’s kindness for the elderly man who left her the box is carried on as he gives the Three Cousins Detective Club a mystery to solve and does a good deed in the end. This is another series of books that are old enough to be difficult to get your hands on them. I’ve never read any of the other books in the series or the related series with the same three cousins, though I do have a couple on my shelf, but I do recommend this book if you can find it.

Find out more about The Mystery of the Candy Box

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!

January in Review

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

I read 12 books last month, thanks to me actually remembering to slip some short children’s books in here and there.

Here are the books I read in January:

diamond
tcw-14
Keep Moving
old yeller
lost-world
mv-2
7.5 Deaths
hunger-games-1
dresden-4
sound
Candy Box
Kowalski

The Diamond of Darkhold by Jeanne DuPrau (4.5 / 5)
The Cat Who Wasn’t There by Lilian Jackson Braun (4.5 / 5)
Keep Moving by Dick Van Dyke (4 / 5)
Old Yeller by Fred Gipson (3 / 5)
The Lost World by Michael Crichton (4 / 5)
Rise of the Elgen by Richard Paul Evans (4 / 5)
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton (5 / 5)
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (5 / 5)
Summer Knight by Jim Butcher (4.5 / 5)
The Sound of Light by Sarah Sundin (4.5 / 5)
The Mystery of the Candy Box by Elspeth Campbell Murphy (review pending)
Kidnapping Kevin Kowalski by Mary Jane Auch (review pending)

This list includes 1 ARC and 4 re-reads. My favorite book from January was The Hunger Games. I started 1 series, continued 4 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 Hunger Games

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

The Hunger Games
Book #1
by Suzanne Collins

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: YA dystopian

I didn’t want to read this book. I never planned to and was content with knowing nothing more about it than the basic premise. (I’ve never seen any of the movies either.) The main reason I stayed away is due to an aversion to heavy violence and death, and of course a book that involves a couple dozen teenagers being forced to kill each other is going to have plenty of that. I finally decided to read it after my son (who has seen the movies, but not read the books) tried to tell me that I might not be giving it a fair assessment, and of course, he was absolutely correct. And I did struggle still early on in the book, considering walking away because I was dreading what was to come. But I stuck it out, and boy, did I not expect to like it this much.

I appreciate the simple writing style—no pretension, no unnecessary words—and that made it easy for me to keep going when I didn’t want to face what was to come (yes, I am as much of a wimp as it sounds). And as the story unfolded, I realized I was empathizing with the tributes so much that my own pulse sped up in certain moments, during action or even just anticipating what was to come. And yet, in the end, I can say that the “violence for the sake of violence” that I anticipated from the book wasn’t there. Instead, we only see what Katniss sees, which is only what’s necessary to advance the plot or show her character.

The characterization and plot are a huge high point for me. Katniss’s attitude and motivation are consistent, and I really felt for Peeta throughout the book. Even the characters that it would be easy to hate end up being well-rounded and sympathetic. I wasn’t thrilled with the love triangle being set up, but at least it was a fairly minor aspect, as was the “romance” in general. While I can’t pretend to appreciate the world Collins has set up in this book, I do like that the book drew me in and made me want badly to see this system dismantled. I have unintentionally managed to avoid much in the way of spoilers for the rest of this series (or maybe I heard plenty of spoilers but just didn’t know what they meant at the time and don’t remember them now), so I am going forward with no idea what to expect, but with hopes for what I’d like to see firmly intact. All I can really say for recommendation, since I’m sure most people who are going to read this have already done so, is that if you’re like me and don’t want to read it because of reasons I mentioned, I suggest you reconsider.

Find out more about The Hunger Games

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: Summer Knight

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

Summer Knight
The Dresden Files #4
by Jim Butcher
read by James Marsters

My rating: 4.5 / 5
Genre: Paranormal mystery

Professional wizard Harry Dresden is recruited by the Winter Queen of Faerie to solve a murder, which ends up having bigger consequences than he originally imagined.

This book had all of the good of the previous ones in the series with almost none of the not-so-good. The stakes are high, Harry seems stronger and less generally unlucky, and the side characters are interesting and different. I like the way Billy and the werewolves sort of act as disciples of Harry’s, but also come in really handy when he needs help. And the humor…it was one of the things that first interested me in this series, and it seemed doubled in this installment. I chuckled quite a few times, and there was one particular moment during the climax that I had to back up and hear again. It’s one moment that I can say for certain would not have been as funny if I’d read it, rather than listening to it. James Marsters is a great narrator, and that moment in particular was brilliant.

There was a lot less sexual content in this book than previous ones, which I appreciated, though it still seems like most of the women characters, large or small, are just there to be leered at in text. If you’re interested in the series, I highly recommend the narration by James Marsters.

Find out more about Summer Knight

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 Sound of Light

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

The Sound of Light
by Sarah Sundin

My rating: 4.5 / 5
Genre: Christian historical romance

American physicist Else Jensen is living in Denmark, working at a lab when the Germans invade the country. After several years of occupation, she is recruited by a local resistance group to help print an illegal newspaper. Inspired by the local legend of the Havmand—the merman—who is said to ferry news to and from neighboring, neutral Sweden, Else does what she can to help. Meanwhile, she has no idea that the Havmand himself lives at her boarding house and is the very man she has a crush on. Henrik is hiding many secrets and has never wanted to share them more than when he begins to fall for Else.

The third book in a sequence (not officially a series) about men and women in various parts of Europe who work to resist the Germans in their area, I’ve liked every book along the way, and this one is no exception. There were a few moments when I struggled to fully understand the main plot, times when an aspect of the plot seemed to be tied up, and I’d wonder what else was meant to happen in the time that was left in the book. I enjoyed the story enough that it didn’t bother me, maybe just confused me a little. I should have realized that the final goal was basically safety (and that’s as much as I’m saying).

I appreciated the development of the relationship between Else and Henrik and that it didn’t come across as the main point of the story. I prefer a subtle romance, not that this one was super subtle, but it was more to my liking. After reading several books in recent years written by people who were part of a resistance group in their country (the main ones being in Holland), I seriously questioned Henrik’s decisions about how he kept his secret, or rather when he revealed it. And for the same reason, I was bothered by how Else acted at one point when Henrik insisted on continuing his work, though that was more an intentional aspect of the character than a flaw in the characterization or plot. But that part of it didn’t quite have the same feel as the memoirs I’ve read, which caused a little dissonance in my mind. Still, it may not have made for the best fiction if it was too realistic. In the end, I enjoyed the overall story, and recommend it to anyone who likes historical fiction from this time period in the Christian romance genre.

Thank you to Netgalley and Revell for providing me a copy of this book to review.
Publication date: February 7, 2023

Find out more about The Sound of Light

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 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle (re-read)

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
by Stuart Turton

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Mystery, thriller

See original review here.

I don’t normally write a new review when I read a book I already reviewed on my blog. But this is a special case. The first time I read this book, I gave it 3.5 stars. I like it, but had enough issues to lower the rating. This time, though, I enjoyed the ride so much more! I think that’s partly because I already knew the ending was going to be not only really interesting, but also contain more of an explanation than I had originally expected. It allowed me to enjoy the journey more. Similarly, with a better understanding of how the narrator’s 8 days were going to unfold, I wasn’t as impatient for it to get going. And because I knew it was going to have some brilliant time-travel mechanics, I loved watching out for those and seeing the plot play out. I can’t imagine what the storyboarding for this book must have looked like.

I also knew enough to start skimming the somewhat lengthy descriptions much earlier, which I think made for an easier read for me. The manor is old and crumbling, rain makes things wet, got it. Let’s get to the action! And even though I’d read it before, I’d forgotten the couple of twists along the way—and this time, I was more invested, so they got me even more than they probably did the first time (I doubt I’ll forget about them after this, but that might just depend on how long I wait to read it again, which I do expect to do someday).

I think there’s another reason that I liked it more this time, though, and that has to do with me, not the story. I read this book at the very beginning of my push to getting back into reading regularly, after losing the habit for close to 20 years. I’ve now been reading daily for over 3 years, and I think my own tastes and how I enjoy a story have changed. I don’t even normally have much desire to re-read a book that I rated below 4 stars, but since my original rating was based as much on the book’s atmosphere as anything, while I did really like the plot, it still made my re-read list. And I’m sooo glad it did, because it’s now one of my favorites!

Find out more about The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle*
*This is the US title. The book is elsewhere titled The 7 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle.

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: Rise of the Elgen

/ Kristi / 2 Comments

Rise of the Elgen
Michael Vey #2
by Richard Paul Evans

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: YA sci-fi adventure

Michael Vey isn’t exactly an ordinary kid. For one thing, he has Tourette syndrome. For another, he produces electricity like a taser. And he’s not the only one with electric abilities. Together with some of the other teens like him, and some without powers, Michael sets out to rescue his mom from Dr. Hatch and the Elgen.

I both enjoyed and was annoyed by this book. For plot and intrigue, I give it a thumbs up. For characterization and writing style, I give it a thumbs down. The story itself kept me interested, and I sped through it. Evans has some interesting ideas involving the electric powers and how they can be used by both sides (though there are some aspects I’m not sure are completely thought out—for example, if Zeus’s electric powers are sapped, wouldn’t water not affect him so much? How does Ian’s echolocation allow him to read printed text?).

However, the group of hero teens generally fall into two categories—the boys are strong, alpha males who just want to flirt and smash. The girls are silly creatures that think fluffy animals are cute (except for the rats). The only exceptions to these stereotypes are Michael himself and his best friend Ostin. And then there’s the bad guy, who makes me feel like Evans did a study in how to do one better on the evils of Nazi Germany. The things they do are just over the top evil, it’s disturbing. As for the writing, I hate to say it, but it made me feel like I was reading my own early attempts at writing as a 12-year-old. I rolled my eyes several times at the immaturity. I know this is written for a younger audience, but that doesn’t mean it has to be quite so silly.

In the end, though I wrote down several notes of things that bothered me, I look back and mostly see an exciting, fast-paced book (which might be interesting, since I’ve read several reviews that say this book was slower than the first). While the downsides are the kind of thing that I don’t expect to get any better in future books, as long as the good parts are still there, I look forward to seeing where the story goes from here.

Find out more about Rise of the Elgen

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!