Shannon
I loved this book and read it several times as a child. It's just one of those “nice” books. Like Little Women or Anne of Green Gables, it's not exciting, and maybe it's not a “grown up” classic, but the characters and journey of the story are worth reading. I've read Ballet Shoes once or twice as an adult and it definitely holds up. I ended up very involved in theatre through high school and college, so perhaps this book is why, and reading Ballet Shoes over again now makes me feel like I'm in those shows again.
I thought this was a fun book. I've always been a book lover, so I liked the concept based in the magic of the written word. I was also a theatre major so I liked the bits about reading aloud and tasting the words as you say them.
I read this book 10 years ago, and thought that I remembered it, but I really didn't. I think I was confusing it with one of the author's other books. I'm surprised that I didn't remember more, as I'm also the eldest of three sisters.
I recently got my first DSLR camera and have taken a few private photography lessons. My instructor recommended Scott Kelby as a good author for photography books and this is the first one I picked up. Very good, practical information that gave me a lot of good ideas about how I can improve my photos.
While not quite as good as the first book in this series, I really liked it. I enjoyed the inclusion of George Darling whom I assume Molly is going to marry and Wendy will be their daughter, etc. This is turning out to be a fun and enjoyable series.
I had an old hardcover copy of this book that had belonged to my mother. I read it many times as a child and I loved it.
I read the first one and was able to immediately read this recently released sequel, which is great. But now I think I'll be waiting for another volume. Good quick reads, got me out of my reading slump.
Christmas Shopaholic was a super funny Christmas themed book, but also had some touching storylines. I really identified with the struggle to help another mom who is going through a hard time.
Becky's adventures were as outlandish and funny as ever, but not so unbelievable that it made me doubt her ability to pull it off in the end.
I relayed quite a few of the funny bits to my husband, and he laughed out loud too. Christmas Shopaholic really seems to have recaptured the charm of the earlier books. All of the characters felt like old friends I was catching up with after a long time.
Christmas Shopaholic came out in 2019, but for some reason I didn't read it until this year. I don't know why, but I just wasn't in the mood for it. I feel a little silly for not reading Christmas Shopaholic sooner, but I'm glad I read it this year. Looking back at my reviews for the previous two Shopaholic books, I definitely thought that was the end of the series, and I wasn't looking for a continuation. I was definitely wrong! Christmas Shopaholic was a delight and a wonderful book for getting in the holiday mood.
I don't think I can rate this book yet. I just finished this book and I'm not sure what to think. I liked it, but I was definitely thrown by the ending!
It's probably more honest and accurate a story than most books in which the main character doesn't die, but whoa.
I was surprised by how quickly they left the city, and expanded the world, by how quickly they were able to get somewhere else and the answers, but I guess that wasn't the main story.
Interestingly enough, finding out about the experimental aspect of their city made me even more curious about how it worked. For example, did most people marry quite young? Tris' mother chose to join a faction with her father, and I imagine they married relatively soon. That tidbit along with the emphasis on producing the next generation makes me imagine that it was common for people to pick a faction and then get married in the next couple years.
My mind is still reeling about Tris really dying. I'm not happy about it of course, but it was quite powerful and felt true to the story.
Did this book see an editor at all? Pretty much nothing happens until the last quarter of the book. It could've been half as long, and that's being generous.
I finally read this book, I don't know why it took so long to get to it, but it was great and now I'm anxiously awaiting the next one. Cliffhangers. More like cliff... not hanger.
Halloween vibes! Great Halloween themed witchy contemporary romance. Fast and funny with a tiny bit of mystery/suspense and a few steamy scenes. Cozy paranormal romance?
I loved this book. It was a great end to the “trilogy” and I think I like The Infernal Devices more than The Mortal Instruments series, though of course they are somewhat intertwined.
Book Lovers was an ideal summer read. My favorite part of Book Lovers was the many excellent book references and book loving quotes. Books are the best, aren't they? The funny writing in Book Lovers hooked me from the beginning, and I loved the characters and sister relationship. This book gave love to both small towns and big cities, and had a satisfying frenemies-to-lovers type romance.
Another adventurous Gallagher Girls book. It had been a while since the previous book in the series so for the first couple of chapters I was still trying to remember what had happened last, but I got back into the groove of this series pretty easily and it was a fun book. I expect there will only be one more to this series.
This was another fun and fantastical book. It got down to the point a bit quicker than the first one, and I think it moved a bit quicker. It's obvious there's alot of the story left, but overall it was a good continuation of the series.
I loved If The Fates Allow by Rainbow Rowell. This wonderful little story really spoke to me. It was such a relatable tale of our times. It took place during Christmas 2020. If the Fates Allow captured so accurately the struggle of having holidays and managing family during the pandemic. Another unexpected point of this story that I really connected to was the Nebraska grandfather. I was born and raised in California, but my grandfather was from Nebraska. He died about ten years ago, and while he was pretty different from Reagan's grandfather, there were some things that reminded me of him.
When I read the line “He started carving the turkey with an electric knife that was probably older than she was.” I definitely had an emotional response.
I loved this short story so much. It really resonated with me and my pandemic response. I highlighted so many bits. My family was definitely Reagan for the last, like, 20 months or however long it's been. I really identified with the struggle to keep my own family, plus the extended family, safe. I read it before Thanksgiving, which was my first family gathering since the pandemic started. I a little nervous, and reading If the Fates Allow felt too close and raw at first, but in the end it was very cathartic.
Did you know that Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas was a wartime song about not being together on Christmas? The original Judy Garland lyrics are
Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Let your heart be light
Next year all our troubles will be out of sight
Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Make the Yuletide gay
Next year all our troubles will be miles away
Once again as in olden days
Happy golden days of yore
Faithful friends who were dear to us
Will be near to us once more
Someday soon we all will be together
If the fates allow
Until then, we'll have to muddle through somehow
So have yourself a merry little Christmas now
You will be amazed at how simple this bread is to make, and how great it tastes! Excellent book with lots of bread recipes to try.
I read and loved Alechia Dow's The Sound of Stars, and The Kindred takes place in the same “world”, but it seems to happen earlier chronologically. I say “world”, because The Kindred is a sci-fi fantasy with other planets, galaxies, and alien species.
I waited too long to finish my review, and here's what I had written:
I liked that the cheerleaders weren't mean girls, they were real friends.
To add to that, The Kindred was a creative book with great characters and great sci-fi/fantasy elements, plus some political drama.