Shannon

This was another fun book in the Shopaholic series. Every time I think a book must be the end of the series, it looks like there's an opening for another one. Mini Shopaholic was full of crazy mishaps and elaborate plans, just like all the others.

A few things though. When I first started reading this series I think I was 19. Now I'm 27 and married. There were quite a few times when I wondered why she didn't just tell Luke something. I also wonder why all Becky's money seems to be separate.

All in all, I enjoyed the book and look forward to “Shopaholic in Hollywood” or whatever it will be.

This was a super fun read. It was kind of like a teen Ocean's 11. The characters were likable and it was a great story. Actually, I liked this book so much that I read it a second time almost immediately.

I never marked this book as “reading”. My bad.

This has nothing to do with how good the book was, but this is the second time I've been reading a Riordan book thinking that it was the last in a series only to realize near the end of the book that it's clearly not the end of the series.

I enjoy this series, and liked this book too.

This was a wonderful fantasy adventure story. It felt classic and modern at the same time. I have read the original, but I've seen enough adaptations and things that I feel like Peter Pan is a modern fairy tale and this is a great treatment of it.

It was a really fun origin story, anyone who has even the least knowledge about Peter Pan will recognize how things are falling into place. The pirates, the island becoming neverland, etc. I felt connected to the character of Peter, and I loved the original character of Molly as well as the fun original elements of the Starcatchers and “star stuff”. I felt truly sad when Peter found out that he was not going to grow any older. I also liked that they never said how old he was, and implied that he was never really sure of his actual age anyway.

This book was really delightful and I look forward to reading the next book in the series.

Pumpkinheads is a sweet story about two friends spending their last Halloween in a pumpkin patch. This really must be the world's best pumpkin patch, based on all of the different food stands and attractions that were shown or mentioned. It was the Disneyland of pumpkin patches.

Pumpkinheads was my first graphic novel. I bought the Kindle version of this book by Rainbow Rowell two years ago, but had not read past the first couple of pages. So this review is a response to reading a graphic novel in general just as much as it is a review of Pumpkinheads as a story. Possibly more. This is different for me. I'm very auditory, and to me, books are about words.

Reading Pumpkinheads, a graphic novel, was a little confusing at first. I had to read the word bubbles in the right order. I had to really look at the pictures to see what was going on in the story. These might seem like silly or obvious things to point out, but these were the little differences that were, for some reason, hurdles to the very idea of my reading a graphic novel.

I got used to the different format pretty quickly, and soon stopped noticing that I was looking at pictures at the same time that I was reading words. To me it felt a little bit like watching a movie with subtitles. Since all of the text is dialogue, I could also compare it to reading a play. But with pictures. It was also pretty fast to read. Much faster than a traditional novel, because of course there is far fewer text on each page.

Fun fact; I started reading this while watching Star Trek: The Next Generation with my husband. At the end of the book, in the acknowledgments, the authors talk about bonding over their love of Star Trek: The Next Generation. True story.

I read this all in one day and it looks like I never even marked it as “currently reading”. I was hooked, and couldn't put it down! If it hadn't been 3:30am I would've started the next one immediately. I'm waiting to find out that Jace and Clary aren't proper siblings for some reason and I have several theories on the matter. I noticed that they both have star shaped scars on their shoulder blades. Something different runs through Jace's veins according to the fairy queen. The inquisitor knew something was up, but in dramatic information teasing fasion, died before we could find out. Valentine was, I'm sure, about to say “I didn't mean Jace” when he told Clary about her mother's first child. I could complain that these tactics are a bit contrived but they're working on me and I'm anxious to read the next book in the series.

This is my first of this type of “fae book” I think. I'm not sure if it's quite what I expected. Some parts seemed a bit too adult to me for a young adult book. I loved all the classical quotes before each chapter. I feel a little undecided about my opinion on this book. Maybe I'll have more of an opinion after I read the next one.

Not as good as the series.

The books are still quick reads but the series is starting to feel a bit slow. It's the third book and it's only taken a few months in the timeline of the story.

Another fun book. I'm enjoying this series.

I've read this book a few times as well as doing the play in high school. Reading Jane Eyre in the breaks got me through summer school Algebra and kept my head from exploding. I think what I like most is the characters, but I also love the writing style.

It seemed I was working on this book for a long time, but never marked it as currently reading. It was easy to let a while go by between stories. I couldn't quite remember where some of them were supposed to fit in the rest of the story. But I like Jem.

I was in such suspense through this book, and when Clary found out for sure that Jace wasn't really her brother, I called out “Finally!” aloud and my husband looked at me funny. This is definitely my favorite “urban fantasy” so far though I must say I haven't read many of them and I'm not sure how fond I am of the genre in general. I was completely hooked on this whole series and read it all in the span of a few days, compelled to keep going.

Not quite as good as the early books in the series, but Guinevere was super excited to have a new one. Still good overall, and a great series to enjoy together with my daughter.

Love triangles/rhombus. Delicious tropes. Dramatic irony.

Ends like there's one more book.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, but I really liked it. It had a unique setting and the characters were very real, especially the sibling dynamic. Overall this is a fun book with good characters and fantasy elements.

A hopeful book about seeing the good in people.  

I read this but didn't review it. I had a 3 month old at the time, so maybe I should reread it. I remember that I did manage to finish it in 2 days even with the baby.

Another light and fun read by Sophie Kinsella. I couldn't figure out how she would get me to like where I thought the story was going, but in the end I did. I enjoyed the main character and there was just a bit of mystery.

I love this book. Pun intended. All of the sections for each type of love are excellent, but the Agape/Charity section is the crowning jewel. I quote from this book often, and I think it really helped me to understand and think more in-depth about different types of relationships.

My favorite of the Anne books. I love the college years, the many proposals, and of course the thrilling last few pages!

This was a wonderfully presented graphic novel that told George Takei's personal story of his experiences at Japanese internment camps during WWII. It was also a memoir of George Takei's life after the war. The story from young George's perspective was really affective. As a parent with young children, it was especially impactful to read about how the children viewed the experiences with innocence, many times thinking things were fun adventures. And how much the parents worked to keep it that way.

This is a subject that's really underrepresented in US history. In my high school classes in the late 1990's in California, it wasn't hidden or ignored completely, but it was kind of a side note. I remember one conversation about it in class. We asked our teacher why they would do this to Japanese Americans, but not German Americans. I've been told a family story that my 2x Great Grandfather was German, never learned to read English and received the newspaper in German. He lived in Iowa. During WWII he had to register as a “resident alien”, but that was it. No one labeled him an enemy or relocated his family.

These recent-history stories are so important, and the personal memoir is so impactful. They Called Us Enemy continued past World War II, and included stories from George Takei's life including meeting and marching with Martin Luther King Jr, and being cast on Star Trek.

One of the most unique YA fantasy endings I've read. I was not expecting what happened!

Good fantasy adventure. Great story with Biblical allusions, historical references, and plenty of imagination.

I read this in school in junior high. It's okay, but I'm just not into the “wilderness kid” type books. Why are so many required reading in school?