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Book Review: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

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The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
Barbara Robinson

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

When the Herdmans, all six of the rowdiest, meanest, unruliest kids in school, volunteered to be in the Christmas pageant, everyone was sure it would be the worst pageant ever. One thing’s for sure—it will be unforgettable.

This is yet another well-known children’s book that was around when I was a kid, yet I didn’t read. I remember some of my sisters talking about it, though, and since I definitely read a lot back then, I don’t know why I didn’t read it. I picked it up this year because my daughter was looking for a Christmas-themed book to read for school, and I like to read what she does so we can discuss it. It’s a short read, but so very good!

After a chapter describing the antics of the Herdman children so we know how terrible they are, the book gets going with the narrator’s mom having the annual church Christmas pageant fall into her lap. The narrator, by the way, never has a name, which is quite uncommon, at least in my reading experience. As the Herdmans join the pageant and try to get a handle on their parts and motivations behind them, it’s clear that they’ve never been exposed to this (or probably any) biblical account. Though this is not specifically a Christian book, it presents a scenario that can really make you think. The Herdman children’s antics seem to me to be a cry for love and attention, and rather than turning up their noses and wagging their tongues, the people of the church should have taken the opportunity to teach them about God. I appreciate the patience the narrator’s mom has with them (though that did wane sometimes), even if it is only just so she can prove she can put on a great pageant.

I know these kids are fictional, but I found myself left with a profound feeling of hope that someone would take them under their wing and teach them more about Jesus. I suppose that that alone means that Barbara Robinson did a great job with the characters and emotions in the book. If your upper-elementary child, even a little older than that (my daughter is 12) it looking for a good Christmas book this season, consider checking this out. Some parents are concerned about their kids reading about the unpleasant things the Herdman kids do, but they’re definitely shown in a negative light. A conversation after reading to discuss the bullying is probably a good idea anyway. If you’re interested in the book, I say definitely read it (it won’t take long).

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Book Review: The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

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The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes #4
by Arthur Conan Doyle

My rating: 3.5 / 5
Genre: Classic mystery

Part of me thinks that I need to make sure to start spreading out the shorter stories within one collection. But another part of me wonders if that would help. One of the things that’s starting to wear on me with these stories is the way most cases are presented the same way—a big info dump to explain the case to Holmes and/or Watson. Sometimes, the person telling the story will share dialog from someone else, and I often find myself asking how the person could be so precise in telling the story. And then there was at least one of these stories where the person telling the story related dialog from someone else who was also relating an event that included further dialog. There came a point where my mind was completely muddled and I couldn’t remember who was talking. When you’re 3+ deep in quotation marks (“‘”You astound me!”‘”) to get the story across, it’s getting a little ridiculous.

Some of the cases were still intriguing, while others were a bit more obvious. I think I’m starting to get the hang of Doyle’s pattern with these cases, though that doesn’t mean I can figure them all out before the end. I think what surprised me the most was the introduction of Professor Moriarty, whom everyone knows as Holmes’s arch-rival. But that story was more about Holmes trying to escape the man, with his brilliance and nefariousness only told to us, not really shown in any way. He’s dangerous and worthy of Holmes’s attention only because Holmes says so. I have no idea if the man will appear in any other stories, but to be honest, this one was kind of a dud for me. I did question partway through this book whether it was worth continuing. I think I will, as I don’t think I can really judge the entire character without reading everything Doyle wrote about him. But when I come to the next short story collection, I’ll probably take my time with it.

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Book Review: Addie McCormick and the Stranger in the Attic

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Addie McCormick and the Stranger in the Attic
Addie McCormick Adventures #1
by Leanne Lucas

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

When Addie sets out to liven up her summer, she meets a new neighbor and an old neighbor and stumbles onto a mystery.

Overall, this is a simple adventure story with a somewhat unique resolution. Throughout the story, though, there’s the addition of Addie, whose father was once a preacher and has recently started working at a local Christian radio station, trying to figure out how to tell her new friends about the God that her parents have helped her to know, without pushing those friends away. This conundrum is near and dear to my heart, because my own daughter has struggled with this in the past as well. And Addie living out in the country, far from her friends, brings back memories of my own childhood.

I read a few of the books in this series when I was a kid and still own #7 in the series. Reading this book again after all these years has made me wonder if this series might have provided some inspiration for my own attempts at writing when I was around 10-12 years old. I can’t say for certain, but one story I started and never finished bears some remarkable similarities to this book (not that I was plagiarizing, mind you). All of these connections I have to the story may have led me to be a bit more biased than normal, but I enjoyed this quick read. Though these books may not be easy to find anymore, if you do have the chance to read this book or procure it for a 10-12-year-old child, I recommend it.

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November in Review

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I read 9 books last month, which, I’ll be honest, was not ideal. Looking back over my monthly reading wrap-up posts from a majority of this year, pretty much every month I mentioned that I was getting behind in my Goodreads reading goal for the year, and that it was at least partly because I set the goal with the intention of reading a decent number of short young-audience books (like, 200 pages or less). I kept putting most of those off, and now I’m down to my last month and find myself needing to read 15 books this month to make my goal. I know it’s just a personal challenge, but it’s very difficult for me to let myself fail something like this, especially when it really is within my power to hit that goal. I just need to make sure to finish a book every 2 days. That may mean I’m reading a lot of kids’ books this month, but so be it.

Here are the books I read in November:

dresden-2
lightning
librarians-3
mv-1
little-house-1-1
Giver quartet
Little House 2
devonshire-1
Addie 1

Fool Moon by Jim Butcher (3 / 5)
Lightning by Dean Koontz (5 / 5)
The Librarians and the Pot of Gold by Greg Cox (3 / 5)
The Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans (4 / 5)
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder (5 / 5)
Son by Lois Lowry (3 / 5)
Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder (5 / 5)
The Sisters of Sea View by Julie Klassen (3.5 / 5)
Addie McCormick and the Stranger in the Attic by Leanne Lucas (review pending)

This list includes 1 ARC and 2 re-reads. My favorite book from November was Farmer Boy. I started 3 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.

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: Farmer Boy

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Little House in the Big Woods
Little House #2
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
read by Cherry Jones

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

Continuing my first ever read-through of this series, I enjoyed this book even more than the first one in the series. Almanzo is an endearing, hard-working boy, and I love how badly he wants to be just like his dad. I find Laura Ingalls Wilder’s focus on how much food the Wilders had, as well as the variety of food, to be interesting, considering that her family in the previous book had just enough. The Wilders still worked hard for their food but this was clearly a comparatively wealthy family. And the ending, involving Almanzo deciding what to do with his sudden windfall, made me tear up. That thread of story culminating in such a great moment at the end is what elevated this book to be a new favorite for me!

My enjoyment of the book was greatly enhanced by the audiobook narrator. I’m still really loving Cherry Jones’s performance in this series, as well as the fiddle music now and then, though it’s not as prevalent was it was in the previous book. I highly recommend this book and series so far, for adults and kids alike.

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Book Review: Son

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Son
The Giver series #4
by Lois Lowry

My rating: 3 / 5
Genre: Children’s dystopian, fantasy

As a teenage Birthmother, Claire produces her first child of the three that are expected of her. But there are complications, and she is unceremoniously ejected from the job she’d been assigned. She begins to long for her son and will stop at nothing to find him again after he is taken from the community by Jonas, the recently appointed Receiver.

Well…what a strange, uncertain journey it has been through this series. In some ways, it seems like Son decently ties up the three books that come before it. In other ways, it seems like Lowry had no idea where she was going and took a rambling route to the end. I tend to assume that Lowry wrote The Giver without intending any follow-up. Then, considering how many years passed between each successive sequel that came out, I wonder if she had an ultimate plan in mind for this series, or if she just wrote each book as it came to her and tried to build on the previous. It would make more sense to me if the latter were true. Either way, though, I do appreciate being able to see more of the escapees from the first book. On the other hand, the existence of innate magical powers in quite a few people, in a series that started more as sci-fi than fantasy, is rather confusing.

I felt there were some weak areas in the book, even outside of the broader questions of simply what on earth is going on in this world. For example, I have a difficult time believing that Einar could really memorize so well the climb up the cliff that he had done only once, and an even more difficult time believing that the path up had not changed since the years before that Einar climbed it (plants should have grown, rocks might have crumbled, etc.). For that matter, since Claire’s reason for not leaving the seaside town by boat was her fear of the water, what was Einar’s? Why would he not just sail away, rather than attempt such a long, arduous, dangerous climb?

While I appreciate the storylines that Lowry does tie up in this book, I really wonder if we would have been better off left with The Giver as a standalone novel. On the other hand, many people like the series overall. It seems like the kind of thing you either love or hate. Though I’m personally in the middle somewhere, so maybe not. My final recommendation, though, is to read The Giver, if you haven’t already, and maybe just leave it at that, unless you’re really curious.

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Book Review: The Sisters of Sea View

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The Sisters of Sea View
On Devonshire Shores #1
by Julie Klassen

My rating: 3.5 / 5
Genre: Christian historical romance

Sisters Sarah, Emily, Viola, and Georgiana Summers agree (some more reluctantly than others) to turn their seaside home into a guest house to provide income for the family. They originally came to Devonshire in the hopes of curing their ailing mother, and then their father died. Now it is up to them to care for their mother and keep the family together.

I have mixed feelings about this book. After reading and enjoying the Tales from Ivy Hill trilogy by the same author, I was looking forward to another series of books with a sort of ensemble set of main characters. I did expect some romance, but there was a lot more in this book than I thought there would be. Then again, there are four women that need to find love, so it makes sense that one would find it in this book. However, I would have preferred a little more time spent developing the relationship. I also felt a little uncomfortable at the amount of skin shown in this book. Various male characters were without some or possibly all clothes multiple times when the women (or at least the one that would have any interest in that man) were there to see it. There’s a lot of blushing and thinking about broad shoulders and bare chests. That is not needed for romance, and for me, at least, it’s not welcome.

While the main characters were decently interesting, I think the side characters were the real gems in this book. The guests staying at Sea View, mainly, but also the elderly woman that Viola reads to, Major Hutton’s friend and brother—all of these people I hope to be able to see more of in the future books. Viola is the most dynamic character in this book, and I appreciated seeing the development to her own personality as well as her relationship with her family. Major Hutton, I felt, was weakly drawn. His friend and family members talk a lot about how gruff and ill-tempered he is, but I found him to be just a little unhappy (which is understandable, given his current circumstances) until suddenly he’s randomly an outright jerk for weird reasons. I get what the author was trying to show us about him, but it felt inconsistent.

Overall, I felt this was a rocky start to the series, but I have enjoyed the other books I’ve read by this author. And I definitely have interest in the world Klassen has set up in this book, so I’m looking forward to continuing the series in the future. Based on past experience, I have good reason to believe that most fans of Regency-era Christian romance will enjoy this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bethany House for providing me a copy of this book to review.
Publication date: December 6, 2022

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Book Review: Little House in the Big Woods

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Little House in the Big Woods
Little House #1
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
read by Cherry Jones

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

I have never read this series, though I did watch the show when I was younger. I think I always assumed it would be boring to read, though. I can’t say for sure it wouldn’t have been when I was younger, but I completely enjoyed it now. This in-depth look at life for an American pioneer family through the eyes of a little girl is full of heart, teaching the reader about how pioneers had to work almost constantly in order to have enough to eat throughout the year, a place to live, and warmth in the winter, forget toys and luxuries. I appreciate how, even when the kids are punished, their parents clearly still love them and make sure they know it. Despite the hardships and all of the work they had to do, it was a simpler time that, in some ways, we’re all the worse for losing.

My enjoyment of the book was greatly enhanced by the audiobook narrator. Cherry Jones did a fantastic job, and I am so happy to know that I can stay with her through the whole series. On top of that, whenever Pa played the fiddle in the book, we get to hear it! And Cherry Jones sings along when the lyrics are in the book, making for a beautiful listening experience! If you’ve ever considered reading this book, or have already read it and have occasion to listen to the audiobook, I say do it!

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Book Review: The Prisoner of Cell 25

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The Prisoner of Cell 25
Michael Vey #1
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. In the space of a few days, Michael discovers that he’s not the only one with powers and that there are sinister forces that are looking for him. When his mom is kidnapped, Michael has to go on the offensive while figuring out what his powers can do.

I enjoyed this story overall. The writing was nothing special, but the story is interesting. I think I liked Michael’s powerless friend, Ostin, most. I kept imagining him as Ned from the more recent Spider-Man movies. Hatch is a sufficiently interesting bad guy, who I assume majored in psychology, because he really knows how to manipulate people. Though I do think he makes some obvious errors when trying to break one of the characters, so that was a little off-putting. It might just show how completely deranged he is though.

For as atypical as Michael is supposed to be, he sure seems to bring a lot of tropes and cliches to the book. For example, he has a crush on the cheerleader and can’t talk right around her. He’s also scrawny and victim to some intense bullying, yet is able to understand their motivation super quickly and easily, which is definitely not likely to happen in a situation like this. But while most of the characters don’t get a lot of development and there’s an amazing coincidence involving two kids with powers that happen to go to the same school that is never explained, the story overall moves along quickly and kept my attention. The climax may have been a little on the easy side, but I don’t mind that, especially in a book for a younger audience. The story this first book sets up is intriguing, so I’ll definitely be continuing the series.

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Book Review: The Librarians and the Pot of Gold

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The Librarians and the Pot of Gold
The Librarians #3
by Greg Cox
read by Therese Plummer

My rating: 3 / 5
Genre: Fantasy adventure

The Librarians and their guardian are put on the trail of a member of the Serpent Brotherhood, who is trying to track down a pot of gold that went missing in Ireland in the 5th century, right about the time that St. Patrick banished all of the snakes from Ireland. Can they outwit a serpent, a banshee, and some leprechauns to save a life and solve a centuries-old mystery?

Let me start by saying again, as I did for the previous books in the series, that I love The Librarians. I think the show is better than it has any right to be, and a large part of that is due to the great casting. The movies were good as well, but I think the show really took the overall story world to a new level. I’m glad to be able to read these books, though I wish they were a little more clear about where they fit into the series. This one pretty clearly happens after the end of season 3, though beyond that, I can’t say for sure. And while the book does attempt to give some basic understanding of the overall setting and backstory of the Library and the Librarians, I think this book is best read by someone who has seen at least the TV show. Knowledge of the movies isn’t really necessary for this book.

Now to the story itself. I liked that the Librarians mostly worked together in this book; the way they play off each other is a big part of why the show is so good. I didn’t care for the first chunk of the book that dealt with the end of an ongoing case. While that kind of thing is common in an episodic format like this, it seemed to drag on way too long. I just wanted to get onto the main story. Something I noticed more in this book is that the characters aren’t coming through all that well. I think the reason I thought they were before was simply because I’d watched the show recently and could apply the recent memories of their personalities to the book. But the further I get from watching the show, the more I realize that, absent of knowledge of the show, the characters are fairly 2-dimensional. Add to that the way that the audiobook narrator tends to make everyone sound like they’re almost always scared or unhappy in some way, and it just wasn’t a very enjoyable read. In the end, the next time I go back through the Librarians movies and series, I’ll probably read through these books again along the way; however, I’ll most likely read them myself, instead of listening to the audiobooks. Though the books aren’t as good as the show overall, I do think that fans of the show who are sad it’s over might enjoy having the extra “episodes” from these books.

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