ARC

October in Review

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

I read 11 books last month, 1 book higher than my monthly average this year. I’m still a little behind in progress towards my Goodreads goal for the year, due to expecting to read a lot more particularly short children’s books than I’ve gotten to this year. I’ll have to be sure to insert more of those in the next two months.

Here are the books I read in October:

I want to punch you
dresden-1
Sparks
last-chance-7
jurassic-park
tcw-10
librarians-2
captured
rp2-1
tcw-11
Narnia 6
white placeholder

I Want to Punch You in the Face But I Love Jesus by Sherri Lynn (5 / 5)
Storm Front by Jim Butcher (4 / 5)
The People of Sparks by Jeanne DuPrau (3 / 5)
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton (5 / 5)
Quest for the King’s Crown by Robert Vernon (4 / 5)
The Cat Who Talked to Ghosts by Lilian Jackson Braun (4.5 / 5)
The Librarians and the Mother Goose Chase by Greg Cox (4 / 5)
The Captured Bride by Michelle Griep (3 / 5)
Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline (1 / 5)
The Cat Who Lived High by Lilian Jackson Braun (3.5 / 5)
The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis (review pending)

This list includes 1 ARC and 3 re-reads. My favorite book from October was Jurassic Park. I started 2 series, continued 4 series, and finished (or caught up on) 3 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.

*This includes a series I didn’t reach the end of, but decided not to continue reading, after being at least 2 books into the series.

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: Quest for the King’s Crown

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

Quest for the King’s Crown
Last Chance Detectives #6/7*
by Robert Vernon

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Children’s Christian mystery, adventure

Mysterious strangers and very old skeletons launch the Last Chance Detectives into another case, this time searching for treasure!

This series takes place in the mid-90s, though I sometimes think the author takes some liberty with the technology available at the time. Still, this story is fun, with some twists and turns that keep it interesting. There are some things that happen that I feel are unlikely enough to lower the rating by a star, because while kids may not pick up on those issues, that doesn’t mean they don’t deserve a story with a tighter plot. I also think the kids themselves and their personalities take a bit of a backseat to the grander plot, but overall, it’s a good addition to the series. I was leery of new books being written after so long, but now I’m glad to be able to read more about these young detectives from the 90s and really hope the author is planning more, especially considering the tiny crumb we’re given about Mike’s missing dad in this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tyndale House Publishers/Focus on the Family for providing me a copy of this book to review.

Find out more about Quest for the King’s Crown
Publication date: November 8, 2022
*There were 3 books in the series originally, back in the 90s, and then a prequel came out in 2004. For some reason, when the first more recent book was published in 2021, the first one was labeled as book #5 in the series, I guess making the prequel the new #1 and pushing the rest a book later. But the early ones are still labeled as 1-3 in many places, so now it’s just kind of a mess…

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!

September in Review

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

I read 13 books last month, which breaks my highest amount of books in 1 month this year by 1 book. However, the page count was not the highest for the year, which is not surprising, since I read quite a few shorter books this month. But that was on purpose, since I need to catch up a bit to hit my total books read goal by the end of the year.

Here are the books I read in September:

treasure-hunters-7-1
ember
librarians-1
iq-6
ready
sign-of-four
Giver quartet
RP1
millstone
tcw-7-9
treasure-hunters-8
Last Chance 6

The Plunder Down Under by James Patterson & Chris Grabenstein (3 / 5)
The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau (5 / 5)
The Librarians and The Lost Lamp by Greg Cox (4 / 5)
Alcatraz by Roland Smith & Michael P. Spradlin (3.5 / 5)
Ready to Return by Ken Ham with Jeff Kinley (5 / 5)
The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle (3 / 5)
Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry (4 / 5)
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (3 / 5)
Millstone of Doubt by Erica Vetsch (4 / 5)
The Cat Who Went Underground by Lilian Jackson Braun (3.5 / 5)
The Ultimate Quest by James Patterson & Chris Grabenstein (2 / 5)
Revenge of the Phantom Hot Rod by Robert Vernon (4.5 / 5)
Messenger by Lois Lowry (review pending)

This list includes 2 ARCs and 1 re-read. My favorite book from September was The City of Ember. I started 3 series, continued 4 series, and finished (or caught up on) 3 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 Ultimate Quest

/ Kristi / Leave a comment


Treasure Hunters Book #8
by James Patterson & Chris Grabenstein

My rating: 2 / 5
Genre: Children’s adventure

Spoiler notice: The following review may contain some spoilers for the previous books in the series, starting with Treasure Hunters.

When the Kidd kids’ parents are kidnapped, it’s up to Bick, Beck, Tommy, and Storm to find the treasure that the kidnappers are after first, so they can save their parents.

I have hung in there for 8 books, but I think this is where I call it. I’ve grown weary of a family of treasure hunters that no longer keeps the treasure (and acts like that’s always been their m.o., even though it wasn’t that way in the early books of the series). Of the oldest son who treats every woman close to his age like an object. Of the sister who remembers everything she ever heard, smelled, or saw going back to when she was 4 years old. Of the twins that fight over stupid things at ridiculous times. Of every single person that the characters meet ultimately betraying them. It’s just…not fun anymore (it wasn’t fun by the third book, really).

In this book in particular, we also have Storm (the super-smart sibling with the “photographic” memory) flirting like Tommy does, and it made me roll my eyes. I also did not care for the “he/she/they” reference to God in a book meant for kids. I really don’t feel comfortable recommending this book or its predecessors to any age group, and I will not be continuing this series, which does appear to have another book being released at some point in the future. However, there are far more positive reviews for this book than negative, so I’m in the minority (I’m used to it). Please do check out other reviews for the book if you’re interested.

Thank you to Netgalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for providing me a copy of this book to review.

Find out more about The Ultimate Quest

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: Millstone of Doubt

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

Millstone of Doubt
Thorndike & Swann Regency Mysteries #2
by Erica Vetsch

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Christian historical mystery

Both fledgling agents for the crown, Lady Juliette Thorndike and Bow Street runner Daniel Swann individually need to figure out their roles and places in the spy network as well as their “normal” lives. When Juliette’s best friend’s father is killed, Juliette is told to stay out of the investigation, but Daniel plunges headlong into it. Meanwhile, Juliette is still in the middle of her debut season, and Daniel’s lifelong patronage by a mysterious benefactor will soon be coming to an end, leaving him in an unknown position. How will they navigate these difficult situations and deal with their growing feelings for each other?

I may have rated this book a star less than the previous book in the series, but I still really enjoyed it. The overall world that Vetsch has set up in this series and the one it’s connected to, Serendipity & Secrets, is one I really hope I don’t have to leave any time soon. Juliette learning to become a spy, using her training in real-world settings while trying to get over her weaknesses, but still having to act the role of a debutante, is a fun mixture. Daniel’s combining of his police work with spycraft isn’t as much of a stretch, but it still allows for some panic moments as he tries to keep his secret. There was also a great moment when Daniel’s friend and co-worker Ed gives him a little speech about the goodness of God, even when we don’t see it in our lives, that I really liked.

The mystery was overall good. I liked the different paths they went down trying to solve it; mystery is a favorite genre of mine, and this one was enjoyable. I did guess who the killer was pretty early on, but wasn’t 100% sure I was right until a while later (but before it was revealed). There was another mysterious aspect unrelated to the murder that I also figured out early on, but I still liked the way it played out. The story slowed down enough in the middle that I detracted a star, but overall, I really liked this book. I highly recommend it for fans of this genre and time period, whether you like romance or not, though that aspect is more in focus in this book than the previous.

I received a free review copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest unedited feedback.

Find out more about Millstone of Doubt

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!

August in Review

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

I read 8 books last month, which is a tie for my lowest number of books in a month this year. Not my lowest amount by page count, though, so that’s something. I’m a bit behind in keeping up with my reading goal for the year, but I don’t think I’ve been reading nearly as many children’s books as I expected. I may need to slip some of those in over the next month to bring my total back up. As to the quality of the books I read last month…as you can see from my list below the cover pictures, it was not a great month for reading. Here’s hoping September will be better in more ways than one!

Here are the books I read in August:

asoue-13
freedom
seven-letter
Treasure Hunters 6
treacherous
AP3
debutante
Trapped
white placeholder

The End by Lemony Snicket (2 / 5)
Freedom’s Song by Kim Vogel Sawyer (3 / 5)
A Seven Letter Word by Kim Slater (3.5 / 5)
All-American Adventure by James Patterson & Chris Grabenstein (2.5 / 5)
A Treacherous Tale by Elizabeth Penney (2 / 5)
The Mummy Case by Elizabeth Peters (2 / 5)
The Debutante’s Code by Erica Vetsch (5 / 5)
Trapped in Hitler’s Hell by Anita Dittman with Jan Markell (review pending)

This list includes 2 ARCs. My favorite book from August (by FAR) was The Debutante’s Code. I started 1 series, continued 1 series, and finished (or caught up on) 3 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.

*This includes a series I didn’t reach the end of, but decided not to continue reading, after being at least 2 books into the series.

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: A Treacherous Tale

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

A Treacherous Tale
The Cambridge Bookshop Series #2
by Elizabeth Penney

My rating: 2 / 5
Genre: Cozy mystery

American Molly Kimball loves her life in Cambridge, running the family’s old book shop, dating the most eligible bachelor in the area, and meeting the author of one of her favorite books growing up. But when a man dies outside the author’s house, Molly finds herself thrust back into the darker side of the picturesque town, once again trying to prove the innocence of people she cares about.

I wasn’t completely sure how I felt about the first book in the series but felt it was worth pressing on when the second came out. But I think I can better express why I probably won’t continue on after this. To start with, the main character, Molly, is just so weak. Personally, I prefer my mystery detectives to be less papery-thin and more willing to push through disturbing situations. She all but falls apart every time she has a sudden flash of inspiration about the case. Her friends and family are always noticing the unhappy expression on her face and coddling her as she tells them the sudden realization.

And speaking of those realizations, half the time they are pretty obvious things for her to suddenly realize. Like Molly herself, the mystery was also weak, especially to me as the reader, because the narrator practically spoon-fed me every bit of information, even making detailed connections for me (some of them more than once), so I certainly couldn’t help but follow along (or, in some cases, get ahead of her). And including the entire text of the fictional book involved in the story was a good idea in theory, but in the end, I didn’t see how it really added to the story. I kept expecting it to provide some kind of major insight for both Molly and me. I also kept expecting some kind of surprise twist about what was REALLY going on, because it was pretty bland and simple overall. This makes it all the more unrealistic that the police can’t figure out who really did it and need Molly to lead them to the bad guys. Even the brilliant ex-MI-5 agent needs Molly to tell him that they should keep a discovery a secret, so as not to alert the bad guys to the discovery (after which Molly proceeds to tell everyone she knows about it).

In the end, what I did like about the first book didn’t give me as much enjoyment this time. Everyone that Molly likes is almost too perfect (especially her boyfriend), and the few people she doesn’t like are mostly alike in their flaws and are thrown under the bus. The descriptions of every meal or snack eaten and every outfit worn dragged the story down for me. I am confident in saying that there are a lot of people who will enjoy the setting, characters, and mystery in this book/series more than I do, but for me, it’s over.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me a copy of this book to review.

Find out more about A Treacherous Tale
Publication date: August 23, 2022

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: Freedom’s Song

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

Freedom’s Song
by Kim Vogel Sawyer

My rating: 3 / 5
Genre: Christian historical romance

When an escaped indentured riverboat singer and a widowed homesteader with a young child to care for meet, they seem to have just what each other needs—she a place to stay and earn some money for a trip to her family in New York and he someone to care for his toddler so he can work. But will it be that simple, especially when a sinister force are lurking out there somewhere?

That synopsis doesn’t cover everything going on in this book, but it is the bulk of it. There are also the escaped slaves that Fanny travels with for a time, but since they are gone by around 30% of the way through the story and don’t have much of a conclusion, their part in the story feels a bit like it’s disconnected from the rest. In the end, I can’t help but wonder exactly why Sawyer chose to include them. I guess to add to the theme of “freedom” throughout the story, but it seems a bit heavy-handed at that point. None of that is bad, necessarily, and it does give the reader some early insight into Fanny’s character, so at least there’s that.

As for the main characters, Fanny and Walter, both of them seemed a little too “good.” Neither of them really had any faults that were brought out in the story, aside from the faux faults perceived only by themselves, that anyone with a more objective view would easily tell them they were silly for considering a fault. Walter was a little less confident than he’d once been, and I suppose Fanny doesn’t know how to be a homesteader, but it’s more endearing than anything. Both of them drove me nuts with the periodic mental berating over mistakes and bad choices that they thought must mean that God wouldn’t want to hear from them anymore.

There was also a 3rd perspective in this story, that of the riverboat owner who had indentured Fanny, as he tries to track down a singer to replace her. I don’t think his story really added to the book, and it culminated in a climax that was far too easily resolved. And speaking of Fanny’s indentured state, I think maybe the author should have spent some time going over some of the less-known and less-quoted parts of the Bible, like the book of Philemon.

Kim Vogel Sawyer does write very well, and I really enjoyed the glimpses at different parts of life and parts of the country in 1860 that were presented in this book. However, various parts of this book just didn’t sit right with me, though I’m sure that many other readers of Christian historical romance will be less bothered by what stuck out to me and will enjoy this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and WaterBrook & Multnomah, for providing me a copy of this book to review.

Find out more about Freedom’s Song

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!

July in Review

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

I read 10 books last month, and I’m slowly getting behind on my Goodreads challenge. Fortunately, there’s still a lot of the year left. I’m struggling to have quiet time to read these days, as for some reason, my family just always seems to be around and wanting to tell me things. That’s probably actually a good problem to have though.

Here are the books I read in July:

iq-5
asoue-11
treasure-hunters-3
trapp-family
asoue-12
lemoncello-pre
pirate
treasure-hunters-4
Narnia 5
Treasure Hunters 5
white placeholder
white placeholder

The Windy City by Roland Smith & Michael P. Spradlin (4 / 5)
The Grim Grotto by Lemony Snicket (3.5 / 5)
Secret of the Forbidden City by James Patterson & Chris Grabenstein (3.5 / 5)
The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria Augusta von Trapp (4 / 5)
The Penultimate Peril by Lemony Snicket (3 / 5)
Mr. Lemoncello’s Very First Game by Chris Grabenstein (4.5 / 5)
The Pirate Bride by Kathleen Y’Barbo (3 / 5)
Peril at the Top of the World by James Patterson & Chris Grabenstein (2 / 5)
The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis (review pending)
Quest for the City of Gold by James Patterson & Chris Grabenstein (review pending)

This list includes 1 ARC. My favorite book from July was Mr. Lemoncello’s Very First Game. I started 0 series, continued 5 series, and finished (or caught up on) 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: Mr. Lemoncello’s Very First Game

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

Mr. Lemoncello’s Very First Game
Mr. Lemoncello’s Library prequel
by Chris Grabenstein

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

Long before Kyle Keeley and his friends played their first Lemoncello game, Luigi Lemoncello was the 6th child in a family of 10 kids, struggling to stand out from the rest in some way. At thirteen, Luigi already loves games and puzzles (maybe a little too much, according to some people), and in this book, we get to read about his “origin story.” From his first and worst idea for a game to the one that started it all, Luigi gets inspiration from his family, his friends, and a unique carnival barker, whom Luigi emulates as he begins to let his own colorful personality shine through.

First of all, it’s strange to think of Mr. Lemoncello as “Luigi.” But that didn’t stop me from thoroughly enjoying this book! It was a lot of fun and a fresh entry into a series that I overall enjoy but does tend to be formulaic. There are puzzles just like the other books in the series have—nothing groundbreaking, but it’s fun to solve them alongside the characters. I particularly enjoyed the puzzle box storyline, though, especially inspiration that the professor/uncle got from Luigi, which I picked up on way faster than the kids, but I think readers of the age group this book is meant for might see it as a twist.

I loved seeing elements of the older Mr. Lemoncello from the rest of the series getting their start in this book, and at least one other character from the series also appears in this book (though I didn’t connect it until I went back and scanned through Mr. Lemoncello’s Great Library Race to remind myself of what was said there about how he got his start). One thing that bothers me a little is that there is a major character in this book who, by all appearances, seems to be connected to a major character in the main series, but I can’t see any hint of that connection in any of the books. But it’s too much of a coincidence for there to not be any connection, so I would have just liked to somehow know the relationship there. Overall, though, solid entry to the series. I wasn’t sold on it when I first saw it announced, but that’s mostly just because I would rather see a continuation of the main series, given how book #5 left off. Hopefully that’s still coming, but in the meantime, I very much recommend this book for kids and those who are kids at heart!

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Children’s Books for providing me a copy of this book to review.

Find out more about Mr. Lemoncello’s Very First Game

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!