Reviews

I haven't been posting reviews - yikes!  I've been reading SO MANY good books lately.  Enjoy!

The Babies and Bunnies Book by John Schindel and Molly Woodward (Board Book)

This book is ridiculously adorable. Just like a bunny, you will squeak with happiness the whole way through its simple text and beautiful photographs. And then you’ll read it again and share it with everyone you know who likes bunnies and babies. Which is everybody!

Let Me Call You Sweetheart by Mary Lee Donovan and illustrated by Brizida Magro (Picture Book)

Language lovers, rejoice! Here is a picture book that will delight your heart. Though the book is dynamite and easily stands on its own, the icing on the cake is the extra page at the end, which gives explanations and translations. My favorite term of endearment, which I’ve been using for my dogs and husband since reading this, is a made-up endearment. It’s SMOO <3.

I Don't Want to Be Quiet! by Laura Ellen Anderson (Picture Book)

You won't be able to resist reading aloud this fun book about listening. Though Anderson provides plenty of great moments that require quiet, she also demonstrates at the end that there's a time and place to be loud. In the right setting, loud can be great! I also love the moment when the little girl gets completely immersed in the internal noise created by reading a good book.

The Goose Egg by Liz Wong (Picture Book)

Henrietta loves quiet and routines. When she bumps her head and discovers the resulting goose egg is a real goose egg, she feels completely unprepared to raise a gosling. But Henrietta is a maternal soul with the ingenuity to reinvent herself up as a goose to properly raise her gosling. Adorable, simple, and very clever! The illustration of Henrietta painting herself as a goose will bring you happiness for days!

Goodbye, Old House Margaret Wild and illustrated by Ann James (Picture Book)

A nice balance of saying goodbye to your old home and hello to your new home. The illustrations are a joyful combination of acrylic paint and brush and ink drawings that sometimes speak just as clearly as the text. A simple and perfect book for those dealing with saying goodbye to a beloved home.

Turtle Boy by M. Evan Wolkenstein (Juvenile Fiction)

Will has a lot going on.  He has a chin condition that prompts teasing and also makes it difficult to eat.  He’s preparing for a surgery for this condition and is terrified about it because he lost his Dad due to complications from a minor surgery.  

He is also preparing for his bar mitzvah, which involves volunteering his time with RJ, a terminally ill teen who is a few years older than Will.  Will begins completing items on RJ’s bucket list, and in the process of doing this, Will really blossoms and matures (and becomes a more likeable character by the end of the book).  

Though I didn’t love the main character (I found him a little selfish and whiny), Wolkenstein builds a complex and heartbreaking world that is impossible not to get immersed in.  The writing is terrific.  RJ’s character is a hoot.  And there are so many interesting details to this story.  Turtles! Drums! Exciting friends who don’t give up on Will, even when he gets in his own way!  

I listened to Turtle Boy, which is read by the author, and it’s one of the best audiobooks I’ve listened to.  The author does a great job with subtle voice changes for characters, but he’s not over the top.  RJ is also a drummer and he teaches Will how to drum, so there are plenty of drum scenes, and they’re phenomenal.  After reading this, I have two wishes.  One, for Wolkentstein to narrate more audiobooks.  And, two, when he’s not doing that, I would love for him to write another book.  

A Light Beyond the Trenches by Alan Hlad (Adult Fiction)

Bittersweet, immersive, and fascinating. I appreciated the author’s note explaining the factual elements of the story, which I won’t spoil for you. Though the setting is bleak and sometimes horrific, I found comfort in the characters and their relationships with each other. I admired Anna’s career change from war nurse to assisting with and eventually training guide dogs for soldiers blinded during WWI. It’s a slow read that balances the comfort of family with the tragedy of war. I was wholly unprepared for the twist at the end, which prevented me from putting the book down until it was over. Historical fiction fans and dog lovers, this book is for you!

Love & Vermin by Will McPhail (Adult Nonfiction - Comics)

Hilarious, mostly inappropriate, uncomfortably but beautifully relatable, and profoundly, absurdly clever.

My favorite:

In the Company of Witches by Auralee Wallace (COZY MYSTERY 💙)

I am new to the cozy mystery genre and have read the first books of only a few series. I have always thought I’m the perfect reader for this genre – I almost lose my mind every time I come across one of their signature punny titles. I love them so much. I also love cozy settings, little to no gore, and am usually surprised by book endings. However, I haven’t found just the right cozy mystery until now. 

The Company of Witches has a few of my favorite things – a bed and breakfast setting, witches, a mystery with many layers, and a nosy crow and black Maine Coon cat that seem to understand just as much as the humans. 

Brynn is a witch who can communicate with the dead. But she’s struggling with whether to continue using her magic after her husband passes. Along with her aunts and uncle (a kitchen witch, garden witch, and clairvoyant), she helps run her family bed and breakfast. You know where this is going, right? You are correct! One of their guests is murdered – yikes! And Brynn gets completely wrapped up in solving the murder because…You guessed it! Her Aunts are instant suspects! 

While the mystery is the focus of the story, I appreciated that there were smaller stories happening. There are lots of characters too, but they are added a little at a time. There’s a fine line between enough characters to keep things interesting and a deluge of characters that require me to draw family trees and maps. I’m excited to read the second in the series and am also looking forward to my next cozy mystery series with renewed hope and excitement.

And I must include these two incredibly inspirational books: 

At Play in the Garden of Stitch by Paula Kovarik and Visible Mending by Arounna Khounnoraj