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The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley (audio)

January 26, 2016 by

Source: Public Library
Audio, 13 CDs
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The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley, narrated by Rosalyn Landor, was our January book club selection, which I read in December.  Carrie McClelland has been writing for some time and she has lived a life with her characters as most authors do, but in this case, her ancestors begin to speak through her.  A novel about the failed attempt to return the exiled James Stewart to the crown in the spring of 1708 in Scotland, McClelland is pulled in another direction when she realizes that her novel needs a new point of view.  In so choosing Sophia Patterson, her late-night writing takes a very different turn, as she uncovers her own family’s past.  In alternating points of view between Carrie as she meets the owner of a cottage she rents for writing and his sons and Sophia’s point of view, the story of her family comes alive.

The dramatic landscape and winter sea call to Carrie, like it called to her ancestors.  In many ways, Kearsley’s narrative asks whether memories can be inherited through DNA?  It also seeks to touch upon how much of our personalities and inclinations come from the people in our families who have gone before us.  The courage and power of love is palpable in Kearsley’s prose, and her characters face a number of obstacles beyond their control, at least in Carrie’s novel.  The life of an author can be lonely, and Carrie falls a bit quickly in love.  However, the author focuses not only on the romance of these characters in the present and past, the Jacobite Movement is well fleshed out, with intrigue and danger.  Landor is a passionate narrator, and she makes all of the twists and turns believable.

The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley, narrated by Rosalyn Landor, is wonderfully crafted, combining history with romance in a fantastic way.  Landor does an excellent job with the Scottish accents and dialects.

About the Author:

Susanna Kearsley studied politics and international development at university, and has worked as a museum curator.  Her first novel Mariana won the prestigious Catherine Cookson Literary Prize and launched her writing career. Susanna continued her mix of the historical and paranormal in novels The Splendour Falls, Named of the Dragon, Shadowy Horses and Season of Storms. Susanna Kearsley also writes classic-style thrillers under the name of Emma Cole.

What the book club thought:

Everyone seemed to enjoy this book for the most part.  A couple members wanted a bit more of a supernatural element to tie together the past and present storylines.  It seemed like things happened to connect Carrie McClelland with her ancestors’ past, but it is unclear why.  The Past narrative worked better for me, but others didn’t seem bothered by the past or modern story’s disconnect.  It was definitely an engaging story with an expected happy ending, at least expected by most of us.

Filed Under: audiobooks, challenges, fiction, historical fiction, New Authors Challenge, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2015, reviews, sourcebooks Tagged With: , , , ,

Rudy’s New Human by Roxanna Elden, illustrated by Ginger Seehafer

January 22, 2016 by

Source: Sky Pony Press
Hardcover, 32 pgs.
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Rudy’s New Human by Roxanna Elden, illustrated by Ginger Seehafer, is a great way to introduce young kids to the changes that can occur in families as they grow.  This is particularly helpful for an only child who will soon become a sibling.  Rudy has been the smallest member of the family for some time, and he’s used to getting all the attention.  But when a new bundle of joy arrives, there are some adjustments that have to be made.  Rudy needs to learn how to play new games and wait patiently while the new smallest member of the family is taken care of.

Rudy is a cute little dog with some fun facial expressions that will translate well for young kids, as they try to determine what emotion Rudy is feeling and why.  Kids will likely question why Rudy refers to the readers as fellow dogs, but it’s all in fun.  Some of my daughter’s favorite parts were when Rudy smelled the new arrival’s diaper and when he did tricks to get attention, but she also loved that Rudy opened up his heart to let someone new in, learning to be patient, being happy when his name was learned, and sharing in the fun things the new family member could do.

Rudy’s New Human by Roxanna Elden, illustrated by Ginger Seehafer, is a cute picture book that will teach kids about acceptance, patience, and empathy.  This would make a great series of books, given that the narrator is so adorable, and kids seem to love doggies.

About the Author:

Roxanna Elden is a National Board Certified high school teacher currently teaching in Miami. Her book, See Me After Class: Advice for Teachers by Teachers, is widely used as a tool for teacher training and retention. Elden is also professional speaker, providing humor, honesty, and practical advice to teachers and the people who love them.

Filed Under: challenges, children's fiction, New Authors Challenge, Read in 2016, review copy, reviews Tagged With: , , ,

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondō

January 21, 2016 by

Source: Public Library
Hardcover, 224 pgs.
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The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondō, translated by Cathy Hirano, provides a step-by-step process for her KonMari Method of tidying, which she says should bring you joy and possibly lead to other life-changing moments.  The first step is to discard, and when she says discard, she means get rid of everything that does not bring you joy or has no use.  Discarding should be undertaken by category of items not by room, as many homes stash lotions and hair clips and other items in multiple rooms.  These may sound like daunting tasks, but if the entire household participates, it might take less time.  She says the entire process for tidying the house can take up to six months or more.  Crazy!

Sentimental items like letters from loved ones and photos should be kept for last, because these will be the hardest items to part with and sort through.  All of our clothes should be collected from the various places throughout the house — drawers, closets, linen closets, coat closets, etc. — and placed in piles sorted by tops, bottoms, coats, dresses, etc.  Once they are sorted, you should hold them in your hands, and think about whether they bring joy when you wear them.  They also should be examined for any wear that cannot be repaired and tossed if they cannot be repaired.  This is just one example.  Placing everything in one category into a pile on the floor ensures that you visually see how much stuff you have.  I recently did this with clothes on my own and felt much better once everything was sorted and discarded, but I did this without the help of this book.  Once everything that is to be kept is identified, it needs to be put into its place and when used, it must be put back into its rightful place.

Kondō’s method is very detailed and deliberate.  Each item is held to ensure that the person understands what the item is, what its purpose is, and whether it brings joy.  Some clothes, for example, looked great in the store but not on you when they got home — so these should be discarded.  One piece of advice about lounge wear and that women should wear elegant nightwear to bed struck me as an old-fashioned idea, given that I’ve always found those kinds of bedtime wear uncomfortable to sleep in.  But I may be out of the norm on that one, preferring my t-shirts and shorts or t-shirts and flannel pj bottoms.

While readers will see the points she is trying to make — and it may just be the translation — there are times when the book is too repetitive, which can become bothersome.  Also, there is a mindfulness here that may not translate into American culture like it does in Japanese culture.  Thanking items for serving their purpose, caressing items to ensure they are alive before you take them out of storage, that kind of thing might appear a bit wacky to some.

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondō, translated by Cathy Hirano, has some great ideas about what papers should be saved, how clothes should be folded to maximize space, and how to rethink about the items we keep.  Attachment is something Buddhists talk about letting go of, and in many ways, Kondō is suggesting something similar in they way she focuses on discarding items.

About the Author:

Marie Kondo (近藤 麻理恵) is a Japanese organizing consultant and author. Kondo’s method of organizing is known as the KonMari Method, and one of the main principles is keeping only possessions which “spark joy.”  Kondo’s best-seller The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing has been published in more than 30 countries.  She was listed as one of the world’s 100 most influential people by Time Magazine in 2015.

Filed Under: borrowed copy, challenges, New Authors Challenge, nonfiction, Read in 2016, Reference, reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

You by Caroline Kepnes

January 20, 2016 by

Source: Public Library
Hardcover, 422 pgs.
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You by Caroline Kepnes is creepy, obsessive, and twisted, and Joe Goldberg and Guinevere Beck are certifiable.  This thriller will pull you in and suck you dry, as Beck walks into a bookstore and flirts with the wrong man.  Kepnes has created two downright sinister characters who are perfect for each other and when circumstance brings them together, everyone around them better watch out.  Check your morals at the door with this one; these two are not redeemable, but you can’t help but watch how everything unfolds between them and how it impacts those around them.  Truly one of the unsettling novels out there.  Kepnes’ prose easily draws in the reader, making them wonder who this obsessive man is and why he’s so drawn to this particular girl.

“‘This will sound crazy, but I’m saving it.  For my nursing home list.’
‘You mean bucket list.’
‘Oh, no, that’s totally different.  A nursing home list is a list of things you plan on reading and watching in a nursing home.  A bucket list is more like … visit Nigeria, jump out of an airplane.'” (pg. 8)

Through careful manipulation of social media and a few lucky breaks, this relationship begins to take a life of its own, and while both parties have their demons, it’s clear that they cannot keep away from one another.  Even though you know throughout what will happen in the end, readers will be up late and turning pages in this psychological thriller.  Joe sees himself as a protector, someone charged with saving Beck from predators, but those predators are not who you’d expect them to be.  Meanwhile, Beck loves new things, and this love of wanting and being wanted is something that drives her incessantly.

“‘There’s no such thing as a flying cage, Joseph,’ he said.  ‘The only thing crueler than a cage so small that a bird can’t fly is a cage so large that a bird thinks it can fly.  Only a monster would lock a bird in here and call himself an animal lover.'” (pg. 47)

Joe is her opposite in that he obsesses over old things and continuously covets old books and collects old and broken typewriters.  He’s waiting for social media to overheat and die, he prefers anonymity, but is it only because he feels unworthy or is it because it enables him to stalk and obsess more freely?  He hates pretentious people who live their lives for others and share everything with everyone, but he too is pretentious in that he’s a book snob.  Dan Brown is not a good enough author, and people should be reading Paula Fox, and they should never pretend to read books.

For those who do not like graphic violence or sex, you should stay away.  You by Caroline Kepnes is riveting and disturbing.  What does it mean to be you?  What is your true self and do you share that with everyone or only a special few?  And what if the real you is scary?  Do you share that self with anyone? Lock it up? Or simply let it out?

About the Author:

Caroline Kepnes is the author of You and Hidden Bodies. She splits her time between Los Angeles, California and Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Find her on Facebook.

 

Filed Under: borrowed copy, challenges, fiction, New Authors Challenge, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2016, reviews, Simon & Schuster Tagged With: , ,

Lost In The Woods: A Photographic Fantasy by Carl R. Sams II and Jean Stoick

January 15, 2016 by

Source: Purchased — gift from cousin
Hardcover, 48 pgs.
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Lost in the Woods: A Photographic Fantasy by Carl R. Sams II and Jean Stoick is an adorable story about life in the woods for a fawn left on his own.  A doe must leave her child alone so that danger will not find him, which it won’t because he doesn’t have a scent.  Not only can kids learn about nature and why animals behave how they do, they also can see when it is wise to listen to parents.  The fawn meets a number of other young animals along the way while stretching his legs, and while he does have moments of trepidation, he remembers his mother’s words and remains calm and hides.

My daughter enjoys photographs, particularly ones that are vibrant and have animals.  This is a good book for her because it has a simple story with a lesson, but also eye-catching images that will keep her riveted to the story.  At the back, there are more surprises, as the authors have created a game of find our lost friends, challenging kids to go back through the photographic pages to find animals hidden among the flowers and trees.

Lost in the Woods: A Photographic Fantasy by Carl R. Sams II and Jean Stoick is beautifully rendered.  It’s a wonderful story with sounds and sights to behold, and there are games afoot in the tall grasses for your own young fawns.

About the Authors:

Carl R Sams II and Jean Stoick are professional wildlife photographers from Milford, Michigan. Their images have appeared in hundreds of national and international publications. Honored recipients of the People’s Choice Award for the best of show 11 times at major wildlife exhibits, Carl and Jean were also the first photographers ever to be honored as featured artists at a major wildlife art event.  Find out more about them on their Website.

Filed Under: challenges, children's fiction, New Authors Challenge, purchased, Read in 2016, reviews Tagged With: , , ,

Dickey Chapelle Under Fire: Photographs by the First American Female War Correspondent Killed in Action by John Garofolo

January 14, 2016 by

Source: LibraryThing Early Reviewers
Hardcover, 136 pgs.
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Dickey Chapelle Under Fire: Photographs by the First American Female War Correspondent Killed in Action by John Garofolo, which includes a foreword by former Washington Post war correspondent Jackie Spinner, is dedicated to the brave men and women who serve the United States, which also includes those war correspondents who risk their lives right alongside those with the weapons to uphold freedom.  Their weapons may be different — pens and cameras versus guns and grenades — but both serve their country and the cause of freedom with devotion.  In the foreword, Spinner indicates that when Dickey Chapelle died in Vietnam, she died as a Marine because that’s how the marines who were by her side thought of her.  She started her career young, present at the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa in WWII, experiencing the reconstruction of Europe after WWII, and traveling to nations in which rebellions were bloody and devastating before she reached the front lines of the Vietnam War in her 40s.

“I grew up in the heartland of the United States.  I believed that I could do anything I really wanted to do and I still believe it. … But I am going to condition it.  You can do anything you want to do if you want to do it so badly you’ll give up everything else to do it,” Dickey Chapelle said. (Fire in the Wind by Robert Ostroff)

Georgette Louise Meyer, later known as Dickey, was born in Wisconsin and she dreamed of flying.  While she did eventually take flying lessons against her parents’ wishes, she wasn’t that great at it.  She was great at telling stories and seeking out those stories around military installations.  Her passion for stories led her to flunk out of MIT, and while she did return home and later moved to Florida, she soon found herself in New York City at age 18, writing for Transcontinental and Western Air (TWA) in the publicity bureau.  Taking photography lessons on the side with Tony Chapelle led to a new career and husband.  She soon became a war correspondent during WWII so that she could travel with her husband, a WWI veteran who re-enlisted.

“The wreckage resulting from man’s inhumanity to man … was the litany I wrote and the subject I photographed.  And the magnitude of relief devised never matched the magnitude of the suffering caused,” said Chapelle in What’s a Woman Doing Here?

Garofolo has selected and organized Chapelle’s photographs in such a way that they will have readers running the gamut of emotions.  Among the WWII photographs, Chapelle captures not only the immense suffering of a solder caught in a fire during a mine explosion — he was severely burned — but she also highlights some of the happier moments for soldiers, like when they received mail from home or were able to finally shave after gunfire stopped.  The moments when soldiers are smiling or doing mundane activities are those that remind us that these soldiers are people, not machines.  Not all of her work was on the battlefront, Chapelle also found herself drawn to relief work in a variety of countries, and this work still placed her in a great deal of danger, including her own capture by Russians near the Austria-Hungary border.

Dickey Chapelle Under Fire: Photographs by the First American Female War Correspondent Killed in Action by John Garofolo is a book dedicated to the memory of not only Chapelle’s body of work, courage, and dream of flying, but also to the women and men who suffered greatly in wars and conflicts across the globe — whether they were soldiers, nurses, or refugees.  My first book for the Best of 2016 list.

About the Author:

John Garofolo is a former entertainment industry executive and veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom. A commander in the US Coast Guard Reserve, he has more than twenty-five years of active and reserve military service and taught at the Coast Guard Academy. Thanks to a grant from the Brico Fund through the Milwaukee Press Endowment, he has written a stage adaptation of Dickey Chapelle’s life. John earned a PhD from the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts and lives with his wife and daughter in Southern California.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m calling this my Nonfiction Book about WWII:

Filed Under: 2016 World at War Reading Challenge, challenges, Library Thing Early Reviewers, New Authors Challenge, nonfiction, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2016, reviews Tagged With: , , ,

2016 War Reading Challenge

January 8, 2016 by

warbirdIn the interest of timeliness; we’ve decided to let the War Through the Generations Reading challenge be empty this year.

Instead, we want to invite everyone to join Becky’s Book Reviews‘ World at War Reading Challenge.

Click on the image below and find out the details. There’s bingo and a wide variety of ways to participate.

Have fun in 2016 with this challenge — I’ll be joining (not sure which books yet).

We’ll see you again in 2017!

Filed Under: announcements, challenges Tagged With:

2016 Poetry Challenge

January 7, 2016 by

In 2015, you were challenge to read 1 book or poetry or 20 individual poems.

This year, I wanted to provide a couple options.

  • Haiku Level: read 1 book of poetry or 20 poems
  • Cinquain Level: Read 2 books of poetry, including Wet Silence by Sweta Vikram or a collection of poems by Emily Dickinson
  • Sonnet Level: Read 3 books of poetry, including Sweta Vikram, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, or Ted Kooser
  • Rondeau Level: Read 4 books of poetry, including Sweta Vikram, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Ted Kooser, or haiku poems
  • Villanelle Level: Read 5-10 books of poetry, including 2 of the following: Sweta Vikram, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Ted Kooser, haiku poems, Yusef Komunyakaa, Walt Whitman, John Amen, Arlene Ang, or another poet you’ve always wanted to read.

PoetryChallenge

Grab an image below for your blog:

 

 

 

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PoetryChallenge_Med

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Link to your signup post in the comments!

 

 

Link your reviews here:

 

Have a great time this year!

Filed Under: challenges, Poetry Reading Challenge Tagged With:

2015 Challenge Wrap-Up

January 6, 2016 by

Every year, I check my blog to see if I met my reading challenge goals.  I was a little late in doing so this year, but I did want to see how I did.  Some years I am better at keeping track throughout the year, but this was not one of those years.

I’ll list the books for each challenge and link to the reviews below.

2015 Poetry Reading Challenge (Goal is to read 1 book or 20 individual poems):

  1. Joy Street by Laura Foley (review)
  2. Silent Flowers: A New Collection of Japanese Haiku Poems edited by Dorothy Price (review)
  3. WET by Toni Stern (review)
  4. Crow-Work by Eric Pankey (review)
  5. Doll God by Luanne Castle (review)
  6. Paradise Drive by Rebecca Foust (review)
  7. The Robot Scientist’s Daughter by Jeannine Hall Gailey (review)
  8. Pictograph: Poems by Melissa Kwasny (review)
  9. Vessel: Poems by Parneshia Jones (review)
  10. Medic Against Bomb: A Doctor’s Poetry of War by Frederick Foote (review)
  11. Banned for Life by Arlene Ang (review)
  12. Free Air: Poems by Joe Wenke (review)
  13. Remember the Sun: Poems of Nature and Inspiration by Melanie Simms (review)
  14. The Antigone Poems by Marie Slaight (review)
  15. Looking for Potholes by Joe Wenke (review)
  16. Double Jinx by Nancy Reddy (review)
  17. Pride & Prejudice: Retold in Limericks by Seamus O’Leprechaun (review)
  18. Lost and by Jeff Griffin (review)
  19. The Book of Goodbyes by Jillian Weise (review)
  20. Ohio Violence by Alison Stine (review)
  21. Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems selected by Paul B. Janeczko (review)
  22. Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine (review)
  23. Changes: A Child’s First Poetry Collection by Charlotte Zolotow (review)
  24. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson (review)
  25. Red Sox Rhymes: Verses and Curses by Dick Flavin (review)
  26. Goodnight Songs: A Celebration of the Seasons by Margaret Wise Brown (review)
  27. Wet Silence by Sweta Srivastava Vikram (review)
  28. Dark Sparkler by Amber Tamblyn (review)
  29. The Same-Different: Poems by Hannah Sanghee Park (review)
  30. The Uncertainty Principle: Poems by Roxanna Bennett (review)
  31. Strange Theater by John Amen (review)
  32. Teacher’s Pets by Crystal Hurdle (review)
  33. All the Words Are Yours: Haiku on Love by Tyler Knott Gregson (review)
  34. Underdays: Poems by Martin Ott (review)
  35. National Geographic Book of Nature Poetry: More than 200 Poems With Photographs That Float, Zoom, and Bloom! by J. Patrick Lewis (review)

2015 War Through the Generations – Read Any War (read any # of books about any war):

  1. After the War Is Over by Jennifer Robson (review) WWI
  2. War’s Trophies by Henry Morant (review) Vietnam War
  3. The Secret of Magic by Deborah Johnson (review) WWII
  4. The Trigger: Hunting the Assassin Who Brought the World to War by Tim Butcher (review) WWI
  5. Medic Against Bomb: A Doctor’s Poetry of War by Frederick Foote (review) Iraq Wars
  6. The Mapmaker’s Children by Sarah McCoy (review) U.S. Civil War
  7. The House of Hawthorne by Erika Robuck (review) U.S. Civil War
  8. The Cherry Harvest by Lucy Sanna (review) WWII
  9. The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli (review) War in general
  10. The Great War: Stories Inspired by Items from the First World War illustrated by Jim Kay (review) WWI
  11. Mireille by Molly Cochran (review) WWII
  12. Crooked Heart by Lissa Evans (review) WWII
  13. The Last Summer at Chelsea Beach by Pam Jenoff (review) WWII
  14. The Race for Paris by Meg Waite Clayton (review) WWII
  15. The Small Backs of Children by Lidia Yuknavitch (review) Bosnia War
  16. Longbourn’s Songbird by Beau North (review) WWII

2015 New Authors Challenge (read 50 New-to-Me Authors):

  1. Jewel Kats
  2. Henry Morant
  3. Deborah Johnson
  4. Mallory Ortberg
  5. Andy Miller
  6. Tony Stern
  7. Lorna Schultz Nicholson
  8. Dora Levy Mossanen
  9. Tim Butcher
  10. Rebecca Skloot
  11. Luanne Castle
  12. Mallory Kasdan
  13. Danielle Paige
  14. Jan Hahn
  15. Rebecca Foust
  16. Melissa Kwasny
  17. Parneshia Jones
  18. Frederick Foote
  19. Joe Wenke
  20. Melanie Simms
  21. Natural History Museum
  22. Marie Slaight
  23. Greil Marcus
  24. Nancy Reddy
  25. Jeff Griffin
  26. Seamus O’Leprechaun
  27. Erika Robuck
  28. Abigail Samoun
  29. Jillian Weise
  30. Jo Nesbo
  31. William Todd Rose
  32. Alison Stine
  33. Lisa Pliscou
  34. Paul B. Janeczko
  35. Claudia Rankine
  36. Charlotte Zolotow
  37. Jacqueline Woodson
  38. Richard Torrey
  39. Jo Baker
  40. Richard Fairgray
  41. Jonathan Lethem
  42. Margaret Peot
  43. Jim Kay, various
  44. Mi-ae Lee
  45. Ae-hae Yoon
  46. Judith Fertig
  47. Robert C. O’Brien
  48. Cassie Premo Steele
  49. Maria Grace
  50. Hee Jung Chang
  51. Molly Cochran
  52. Bryan Ballinger
  53. Lissa Evans
  54. Matthew Jervis
  55. Kim Norman
  56. Dick Flavin
  57. Gillian Flynn
  58. Geert de Kockere
  59. Susan Andra Lion
  60. Rachel Simon
  61. Meg Waite Clayton
  62. Lidia Yuknavitch
  63. L. Shapley Bassen
  64. Amber Tamblyn
  65. Hannah Sanghee Park
  66. Roxanna Bennett
  67. Bella Forrest
  68. Nuala O’Connor
  69. Anna Llenas
  70. Lauren Redniss
  71. Lisa Maggiore
  72. Martin Ott
  73. Joe Hill
  74. Anne Margaret Lewis
  75. Catherine Bailey
  76. Maggie Stiefvater
  77. Jean P. Moore
  78. Linda Ashman
  79. Beau North
  80. Terry Border
  81. Kate Louise
  82. Clement C. Moore
  83. Kimberly Knutsen
  84. Ree Drummond
  85. Alexander McCall Smith
  86. Jussi Adler Olsen

That’s it for me in 2015; now I have to really start thinking about 2016 challenges.

There will be a poetry reading challenge announcement soon!

Filed Under: 2015 War Through the Generations - Read Any War, announcements, challenges, New Authors Challenge, Poetry Reading Challenge Tagged With: , ,

The 5-Minute Brain Workout for Kids by Kim Chamberlain

January 5, 2016 by

Source: Sky Pony Press
Paperback, 416 pgs.
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The 5 Minute Brain Workout for Kids by Kim Chamberlain, illustrated by Jon Chamberlain, is a great activity book for kids ages 7 and older, and includes games, puzzles, and teasers that will keep kids brains active and developing outside the classroom.  But what’s great is these activities don’t feel like school work, even though they will be learning new words and how to spell them, learning how to concentrate, and establish their own goals.  However, the book also can be used as a fun additional activity in the classroom and with family.  From alliteration to spelling and definitions, kids will learn new words and how to use them and when.   As kids, parents, and teachers move through the levels (1-10) in the book, the games and puzzles will get harder.

Puzzles in the book are those with specific answers, while games are those activities that may have more than one “right” answer, allowing users to be creative and to do games more than once.  The book contains 37 types of exercises and three bonus puzzles at the end, and the answers are in the back of the book to help parents and teachers.  Throughout the book, kids will notice a blue-tongued lizard named Ra, which is based on the authors’ pet lizard at home.

Although this book is aimed at kids older than my daughter, we had fund giving some of the games and puzzles in level 1 a try.  One of her favorites was the “Word Line” where she was given a saying from Kermit the Frog to follow in the word jumble using only 1 line.  It was fun to teach her how to look at the phrase and look for each letter in each word and follow it to the end.  She liked how it made a “snake line.”  The simple anagrams were tough for her, as she’s only learned how to recognize a few words.  We did the train words together, and she seemed to enjoy discovering new animal words in the jumbles.

The 5 Minute Brain Workout for Kids by Kim Chamberlain, illustrated by Jon Chamberlain, is a book I’ll be holding on to for her when she’s in Kindergarten this fall.  We’ll start again, and as she goes through school, I’m sure she’ll be doing more of these puzzles on her own.  It will be a good way to see how she’s developing.

About the Author:

Kim Chamberlain has been writing and creating activities, games, and puzzles since childhood. The author of Five-Minute Brain Workout as well as communication skills and activity books, she has a master’s in linguistics. She worked with teenagers for many years and is a volunteer reader/writer for college students. She is an award-winning international professional speaker and was founding president of a professional speaker’s association chapter. She lives in Wellington, New Zealand, with her husband, Jon, their two children, and their pet lizard.

About the Illustrator:

Jon Chamberlain has been drawing for a long time, collaborating with his wife on several book projects and for his own enjoyment. He worked exclusively in inks and watercolor until recently, when he acquired a drawing tablet and consequently relearned how to create digitally. He is a professional IT geek, comic book aficionado, and collector of old science fiction novels. He resides in Wellington, New Zealand.

Filed Under: challenges, New Authors Challenge, Read in 2016, Reference, review copy, reviews Tagged With: , ,

The Absent One by Jussi Adler-Olsen (audio)

December 30, 2015 by

Source: Public Library
Audiobook, 12 CDs
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The Absent One by Jussi Adler-Olsen, narrated by Steven Pacey and translated by K.E. Semmel, is the second book in the Department Q series — though you don’t have to read the previous one to follow along with this one — and Detective Carl Mørck is leading the new department with his assistant Assad in Copenhagen, Denmark.  This department’s focus is cold cases, reopening them to find new clues with fresh eyes, and what Mørck finds is a little more is disturbing.  Reviewing a case of murders from 1987 that involved a gang of young men and women, the detective, Assad, and his new assistant Rose Knudsen are forced to reassess their world view and the motivations of killers.

Adler-Olsen creates a set of murders that are not only over-the-top, but the perpetrators are as well.  Their hyped-up sense of pleasure from beatings, killings, and torture is reminiscent of the television show American Horror Story.  Some of these killers come from the upper echelons of society, and like those before them, they believe they are untouchable because of their place in society and what they have accomplished.  It’s clear that these accomplishments are not enough to sustain their attention or satisfaction; these are men and women who are dissatisfied with their success and are seduced by the dark side (pun intended).  Despite these absurdly crazy characters, and the absent one from the murderous gang who seems to stay enough on the radar to attract the attention of Detective Mørck but not her cohorts, the story has great tension and a layered revealing of events that keep readers hooked.

The Absent One by Jussi Adler-Olsen, narrated by Steven Pacey and translated by K.E. Semmel, is a well paced thriller with bits of comedic banker between Mørck, Assad, and Rose that will leave readers wondering about what they missed in book one if they start here.  This seems like a series readers will get sucked into without really knowing how.  The unusual characters, the foreign setting for U.S. readers, and the noir quality of the situations will entice readers to enter Adler-Olsen’s world cautiously.

About the Author:

Author Jussi Adler-Olsen began in the 1990s to write novels after having followed a comprehensive career as publisher, editor, film composer for the Valhalla-cartoon and as bookseller.

He made his debut with the thriller “Alfabethuset” (1997), which reached bestseller status both in Denmark and internationally just like his subsequent novels “And She Thanked the Gods” (prev. “The Company Basher”) (2003) and “The Washington Decree” (2006). The first book on Department Q is “Kvinden I buret” (2007) and the second “Fasandræberne” (2008). The main detective is Deputy Superintendent Carl Morck from the Department Q and he is also the star of the third volume, “Flaskepost fra P” which was released in the fall of 2009 and secured Adler-Olsen ”Readers’ Book Award” from Berlingske Tidende-readers, the Harald Mogensen Prize as well as the Scandinavian Crime Society’s most prestigious price ”Glass Key”. The fourth volume in the Department Q series, “Journal 64” was published in 2010 and he was awarded the once-in-a-lifetime-prize of “The Golden Laurels” for this in 2011”. In December 2012 the fifth novel was published, “Marco Effekten”.

Photo Credit: Eric Druxman

About the Translator:

K. E. Semmel is a writer and translator whose work has appeared in Ontario Review, Washington Post, World Literature Today, Southern Review, Subtropics, and elsewhere. His translations include books by Naja Marie Aidt, Karin Fossum, Erik Valeur, Jussi Adler Olsen, Simon Fruelund and, forthcoming in winter 2016, Jesper Bugge Kold. He is a recipient of numerous grants from the Danish Arts Foundation and is a 2016 NEA Literary Translation Fellow.

Filed Under: audiobooks, borrowed copy, challenges, fiction, New Authors Challenge, Penguin, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2015, reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

National Geographic Book of Nature Poetry: More than 200 Poems With Photographs That Float, Zoom, and Bloom! by J. Patrick Lewis

December 24, 2015 by


Source: Media Masters Publicity
Hardcover, 192 pgs.
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National Geographic Book of Nature Poetry: More than 200 Poems With Photographs That Float, Zoom, and Bloom! by J. Patrick Lewis is a wonderful collection of poems and corresponding photographs that will engage younger readers.  The collection includes poems from the greats like Langston Hughes, Billy Collins, Emily Dickinson, and many others, but there also are less known poets included.  Paired with photos of scenes, geological formations, close-ups of insects and animals, and the moon, these poems take on a new life.  The collection also includes some fantastic Haiku, which are short poems that younger readers can follow along with easily.

The collection also includes some visual poems, like “Two Falling Flakes” by Douglas Florian, and prose poems that read more like stories.  Youngest readers will enjoy listening to their parents read the poems as they look at the full-color, glorious pictures of nature.  Parents can use this book as a jumping off point to explore nature with their children, to take photos together and compare perspectives, and to take up the pen and paint word pictures.

National Geographic Book of Nature Poetry: More than 200 Poems With Photographs That Float, Zoom, and Bloom! by J. Patrick Lewis will delight readers of all ages with the stunning photographs and poems, encouraging readers to investigate the natural world around them, to take trips outside their urban areas, and to learn more about the natural world.  Poems often provide unique perspectives on emotion and human interaction, but like Haiku poems, words can offer surprising realizations about the connections we don’t immediately see between ourselves and nature.

About the Editor:

J. Patrick Lewis is an American poet and prose writer noted for his children’s poems and other light verse. He worked as professor of economics before devoting himself full-time to writing in 1998.  Visit his website.

Filed Under: challenges, poetry, Poetry Reading Challenge, Read in 2015, review copy, reviews Tagged With: , ,