fiction

Book Review: I Am Number Four

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

I Am Number Four
Lorien Legacies #1
by Pittacus Lore

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

John Smith (not his real name) has been on the run most of his life, hiding on Earth from a race of beings that destroyed his home planet, Lorien, and killed almost everyone on it. He and others escaped and came to Earth to bide their time, waiting until they could fight back and try to reclaim their planet. But the Mogadorians are also on Earth and are tracking down John and the other Legacies, whose developing powers will allow them to fight back. They can only kill the Legacies in order. The first three are dead, and John is Number Four.

This is one of those kinds of books that I can understand why some people think it’s trite, but I enjoyed it anyway. Though the book is long, I read it fairly quickly, due to it being action-packed and easy to read. I think what I appreciated most about this story is that the characters are overall pretty well developed, and I really liked the different relationships. “John” and Henri, his non-Legacy protector from Lorien, have a father-son-type bond. They don’t always get along, but they respect and care about each other. Though John moves often enough that he doesn’t generally form lasting relationships, the connections he makes with other teens at his new school adds to the story. I personally didn’t care about the romance, but I figure that’s because I’m an adult, whereas teenagers might enjoy it more.

The world-building in this novel is also intriguing and easy to follow. Though some information is clearly left unexplained, it just left me wanting to continue the series to learn more. And one particular clue that’s given at a few points in the book has a great culmination that I can’t explain without spoiling the moment. I was absorbed in the book all the way through and have already recommended it to my 14-year-old daughter. If you enjoy sci-fi without a lot of complex world-building, especially in the YA range, you should consider reading this book.

Find out more about I Am Number Four

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: Murder on the Links

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

Murder on the Links
Hercule Poirot #2
 by Agatha Christie
read by Hugh Fraser

My rating: 3.5 / 5
Genre: Classic mystery

When Poirot is summoned to France by a man that is already dead when he arrives, he attempts to detangle a twisty mystery. This story threw me a couple of times. At least once, I thought the mystery was solved, only for it to take another turn. I don’t know if that’s because I was listening to the audiobook and maybe missed something or if they were intentional twists. There were so many potential answers to the mystery that seemed to be real and then were later shown to be false, though, that I’m certain I will look back on this story and either not be able to remember who the actual culprit was or remember it wrong. I’m also not a fan of the insta-love trope that happens with Hastings in this book. It’s a bit of a stretch to believe that this woman made such a big impression on him in the small interaction they had, though it weirdly seems to be a common trope in fiction written in this general time period.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Hugh Fraser and thought he did a great job. I don’t know that I’ll read this entire series in the end, but I certainly plan to keep going.

Find out more about Murder on the Links

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: Fortunately, the Milk

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

Fortunately, the Milk
by Neil Gaiman
Read by the author

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

I’ve always been intimidated by Neil Gaiman, and at this point, I’m pretty sure I’ll never read any of his adult books. But when I heard about a children’s book written by this famous author, I thought it would at least give me a chance to see what all the fuss is about. Though it’s a bit chaotic and I listened to the audiobook, thus forgoing the pictures almost entirely, I appreciated the cleverness of the story. For one thing, I always like it when time travel is done well and connections are made at different parts of the story where the time traveler(s) interact with themselves in big or small ways. For such a short story, this happens a few times, and I think it’s a great introduction to well-done time travel stories for kids. I also enjoyed the running joke from the title, with the innocuous breakfast milk playing such a large role in the story. It’s a ridiculous, goofy “dad story” through and through, and I appreciated Gaiman’s narration. Though I’m sure kids would be much better off seeing the pictures and perhaps hearing their own dad (or other parent) read it to them.

Find out more about Fortunately, the Milk

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: Al Capone Does My Shirts

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

Al Capone Does My Shirts
Tales from Alcatraz #1
by Gennifer Choldenko

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Middle grade historical fiction

Moose Flanagan’s family moves to Alcatraz in 1935, where his dad will be working as a prison guard. Now Moose has to get used to a new school, keep his sister out of trouble, and deal with strict rules imposed by the prison warden, whose own daughter does whatever she can to break them.

I’d heard of this book and seen it around for a long time before deciding to read it. I expected something pretty light, maybe a little goofy or immature. And while it’s not exactly heavy, it’s definitely deeper than I expected. Moose’s sister, who is a few years older than him, is autistic, in the days before it had a name and when kids with autism were given a lot of different diagnoses. She tends to live in her own world, and sometimes that means fits of anger that can’t be controlled. Moose is left with Natalie now and then, and eventually his mother asks him to take her everywhere he goes. On top of that, his mother grasps at every possibly cure for Natalie that she hears about, in a way that is detrimental to her own mental health.

The author did a great job of making me feel connected to the characters in such a way that I felt a lot of emotions while reading the book. I was annoyed with the warden’s daughter, her schemes, and her dad’s refusal to see the truth about her. I both felt for the mom who didn’t know how to deal with having a daughter with mental issues and wanted to give her a stern talking to sometimes. And Moose himself is just trying to be a kid in very unusual circumstances. Though Al Capone is kind of obsessed over throughout the book, it seemed like he was to be more of an abstract figure than anything. But without giving any spoilers, he actually does have a more active part by the end, in a moment that actually made me let out a gasp and made me really intrigued about the next book. I’ve already recommended this book to my 13-year-old daughter, who might be on the top end of the age group for it, but I think she’ll like it. I also recommend it for other pre-teens and young teens as well as any adults who enjoy younger-audience books.

Find out more about Al Capone Does My Shirts

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 Secret of the Old Clock

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

The Secret of the Old Clock
Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #1
by Carolyn Keene
read by Laura Linney

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

Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys were household names in my house growing up, though for some reason, I didn’t read much of them. Maybe they felt dated to me even then, but now I’m ready to see what I missed. While, yes, Nancy’s life is shown to be a bit too perfect in this series opener, it somehow feels about right for the time period. I also don’t think I really ever realized that these books were intended for pre-teens, 9-12-year-olds, rather than older teens or young adults like I assumed, considering the age of the main character. In that light, the not-terribly-deep mystery makes a little more sense. I do like that Nancy’s desire to find the missing will is driven by her compassion for those who are in need and had been promised part of the inheritance, but it also seems to me like she just can’t help but want to solve the puzzle. I can understand why Nancy was a role-model for young girls for decades, why the series lasted for so long, and why it even inspired a lengthy series of video games (many of which I’ve played). Laura Linney was a great choice for narrator, as she brings the smart, young, wholesome young woman to life quite well. I don’t know that I’ll have the endurance for 100 books, but I do plan to continue the series.

Find out more about The Secret of the Old Clock

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: Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Circus Clown

/ Kristi / 1 Comment

Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Circus Clown
by David A. Adler

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

My now-adult son read some of the Cam Jansen books when he was young, and I remember him quite liking them. I had never read any, so this was my first Cam Jansen book. I have to say, I understand the appeal. Though this is written for kids, the mystery is engaging—not too easy or too hard. And Cam Jansen herself is an interesting character, with her quirk of making a camera sound whenever she wants to store or recall a memory (hence her nickname: “Cam,” short for “Camera”). Set against the backdrop of a circus, this illustrated book would definitely be a fun early mystery for young readers.

Find out more about Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Circus Clown

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: A Noble Scheme

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

A Noble Scheme
The Imposters #2
by Roseanna M. White

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Christian historical mystery

Gemma Parks keeps to the shadows in her capacity as newspaper columnist writing about high-society functions, which is also useful for the investigative team she’s part of, the Imposters. The Imposters normally work for the wealthy, charging a lot of money for their services, but when a working man begs their help to find his kidnapped son, they can’t refuse. Unfortunately, this case puts Gemma in close proximity with Graham Wharton, one of the other Imposters, with whom she used to have a relationship before something went terribly wrong, and she’s been avoiding for almost a year since. Graham, for his part, hopes that this case will end both with a return of the boy to his parents and a return of Gemma to his side.

I loved this second book as much as the first, with the focus turning from Marigold and Merritt to Graham and Gemma. Marigold’s brother Yates, leader of the Imposters, again provides the third POV for the book, and I was happy to continue seeing his side of things. In the first book, we’re given allusions to something causing a rift between Graham and Gemma, but no details. I knew that would be brought out in this book, then, and I was a little annoyed when the “why” was danced around for over 1/4 of the book. Little hints were dropped, maybe even big ones, but I definitely missed the big picture until it was plainly stated (actually, I was spoiled by a review on Goodreads, so be careful what you read). When I did realize the full story, I understood completely why it was held back for so long. It broke my heart and made the journey for these two so much more than I imagined (I suppose what I imagined was an almost humorous tiff that just needed a quiet moment together to put to rights). The progression of their story brought tears to my eyes more than once, and I love the way their views of God were just as big a part of it as were their feelings for each other. Rather than a twisted idea that Graham’s reunion with God was somehow dependent on him (re)gaining the love of a good woman, which I’ve sadly seen in other Christian books, I felt this book had its priorities straight. That’s all the more I’ll say on this subject to avoid spoilers.

Like in the previous book, the case the Imposters work on isn’t a huge mystery, at least in regards to the culprit(s) involved. However, there were certainly facets to the villainy that were kept back and revealed at moments that allowed for suspense and even more emotion. The climax maybe got a little over-dramatic for my taste, but not even enough for me to lower my rating, because of how much I loved the book as a whole. I’m excited to see the next book in the series has already been announced; I love the synopsis so much, and I think that giving us little glimpses of Yates on the way to “his” book really heightens the anticipation of that third book. I highly recommend this book for fans of Christian historical mystery (this is set during the Edwardian era in London).

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

Find out more about A Noble Scheme

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: World of Warcraft, Vol. 1

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

World of Warcraft, Vol. 1
written by Walter Simonson
illustrated by Ludo Lullabi

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Fantasy graphic novel

I have not played the MMORPG World of Warcraft in a while, but for many years, I played it a ton. One early quest line I’ve always remembered was “The Missing Diplomat,” which (spoiler alert) ended up being a search for clues about the missing king of Stormwind! I also remembered that it didn’t really have a satisfying ending, though it may have continued at a later time that I somehow missed. Of course, King Varian Wrynn is eventually reinstated and plays a role in later expansions, but I only ever heard bits of what happened to him while he was missing. Then we found a series of graphic novels at a library sale that tells that entire story. I’m not normally a graphic-novel reader (I struggle to follow the action), nor do I normally want to dive very deep into the lore of WoW that takes place outside of the game. But some of the storylines involved in quests in the game have intrigued me in the past, and this is one of the biggest ones, so I gave it a go.

All of that being said, I enjoyed my time reading this graphic novel. This is only part of the story, 1 of 4 volumes, and the mystery of why Varian is in this situation (far from home with a lost memory) is barely touched on in this volume. However, the end promised more to come. I think a lot of why I liked the book, though, is because of the references to and images of people and locations that I remember from my days playing the game. Though I’m an Alliance player and this was mostly on the Horde side, it still brought up a lot of nostalia. There are quite a few fight scenes that were difficult to follow (though based on other reviews, that might have been an issue with the book, not me), so I generally scanned until the end to see who won, who lost, and who was injured. And while I know this is common for this genre/game, that doesn’t mean I don’t still dislike the way females are portrayed (seriously, the harpies are practically naked).

Overall, though I can’t say whether anyone who hasn’t played WoW as much as me would appreciate this graphic novel at all, for those who do or have played the game, especially back in vanilla days, this might be worth checking out.

Find out more about World of Warcraft, Vol. 1

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: Henry Huggins

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

Henry Huggins
book #1
by Beverly Cleary
Read by Neil Patrick Harris

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

This book might be a bit dated, but Henry and Ribsy are a fun duo. In the intro, Beverly Cleary explains that she wanted to write a story that wasn’t all grand adventures, travels, heroics, etc. for the regular boy, and I think she did a great job of that. Certainly most of what happens in this book wouldn’t be remotely possible today, which is kind of sad, but that makes books like this all the more classic and worth reading. No surprise that Neil Patrick Harris did a great job narrating the book, and I believe I will enjoy visiting a simpler time as I listen to the rest of this series in the coming weeks.

Find out more about Henry Huggins

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: Twister and Shout

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

Twister and Shout
McGee and Me! #5
by Bill Myers

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

This is one of the titles in the series that my family owned as a video when I was a kid, so I know it pretty well. I certainly can’t say that nostalgia didn’t influence my enjoyment of the book, but I also think that the fear involved on both sides is well represented. The parents, who have traveled 2 hours away from home, struggle with the lack of communication with the kids left alone, when a nasty storm comes through. And the kids, left alone for the night as the wind picks up and the discussion turns to tornados, try to be brave and take care of each other (after being at odds earlier in the evening). The subject of putting our trust in God even at the most scary times is discussed on both ends, both by those who do trust God and those who don’t. I have to admit that I’m getting a little annoyed at McGee’s ridiculous ego, which I guess is meant to be funny, and maybe it is for kids, but it’s starting to wear on me. Still, overall, I really enjoyed the book. Though these books may not be easy to find anymore, 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 Big Lie

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!