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Trick or Treat! by Hayley Down, illustrated by Sarah Vince

Source: Purchased
Hardcover, 24 pgs.
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Trick or Treat! by Hayley Down, illustrated by Sarah Vince, comes with its own little, orange and black flashlight for children to use while reading. This book is best read in the dark as the hidden pictures are easier to see when the flashlight is the only light on the page. My daughter selected this from her school bookfair shortly before Halloween, and its tale came at the right time. The hidden ghouls, skeletons, and more, as the brother fears everything and the sister is scared of nothing that goes bump in the night.

Anyone who came to the house before Halloween or arrived on Halloween for Trick-or-Treating was given a peek at this gem. She pulled it out in the dark living room with her best buddy and her brother to show them what was inside. All us parents heard was ooos and ahhhsss. I assume the other kids liked this one as well.

Trick or Treat! by Hayley Down, illustrated by Sarah Vince, has a nice basic story about exploring the unknown and not letting fear rule your actions. Kids will take to the story and the flashlight fun easily.

RATING: Cinquain

Pizza and Other Stinky Poems illustrated by Amanda Haley

Source: Purchased
Paperback, 32 pgs.
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Pizza and Other Stinky Poems illustrated by Amanda Haley is reading level four (grades 3+; ages 8+), but when read together can be a fun book for kids and adults of all ages. My daughter and I read this during Readathon, and she laughed at the words and the pictures created by Haley. There’s even an old favorite in here that I remember from my own childhood, “Meatball,” and one we still use today “Ice Cream” (“I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream”).

It’s been wonderful to see my daughter pick up books and want to read together, and it is even better when she reads to me. It amazes me how much she has learned in just half a year of Kindergarten. She has books now that she can read on her own, and I know that this poetry book will be a permanent part of her collection.

Pizza and Other Stinky Poems illustrated by Amanda Haley is delightful and plays to children’s interests in food, smells, and silliness.

RATING: Quatrain

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Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris

Source: Purchased
Audiobook, 8+ hrs
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Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris, narrated by Georgia Maguire, is about appearances, told in snatches between the past and present. Jack and Grace have the outwardly perfect marriage, even after a hasty courtship. Jack Angel is the perfect gentlemen, who moves easily within society and displays outward kindness toward even the disabled. Grace is an independent woman whose parents never wanted children, and after having two, they are ready to move to New Zealand and leave them behind. Even as Grace has had relationships in the past, she’s always put her sister, Millie, first because she knows that she will have to care for her in the absence of their parents.

Paris has created a fantastic, psychological thriller in which the reader is as terrified as the protagonist. Even before the conversation between Jack and Grace after their marriage, readers are fully aware that something in their relationship is not right. Jack hovers too much, he answers uncomfortable questions just a little too quickly, and he creates believable, yet oddball solutions to problems.

He is calculating and cold, and Grace is terrified with a perfect veneer of sereneness. She evolves from panicked to resigned and patient. Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris, narrated by Georgia Maguire, is narrated superbly and terrifyingly. Readers are likely to be hooked from the first page into the spiraling disaster of this “perfect” marriage. This one will keep you up at night.

RATING: Quatrain

About the Author:

B. A. Paris grew up in England but has spent most of her adult life in France. She has worked both in finance and as a teacher and has five daughters. Behind Closed Doors is her first novel.

Chimera by Mira Grant (audio)

Source: Purchased from Audible
Audiobook, 16+ hours
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***If you haven’t read book 1, read my review for book 1, Parasite, and if you want to, read my review of book 2, Symbiont.***

Chimera by Mira Grant — this is book 3 in the Parasitology series — narrated by Christine Lakin, is an excellent conclusion to the series, in which Sal Mitchell matures and chooses the side she was always on — evolution and peace. She wants humans and chimera to live together, and while that may not be the ultimate conclusion of this trilogy, it seems as though it might be possible. Lakin does an excellent job of narrating the characters, including the subordinate military personnel, and it’s clear she spent enough time with the book to learn how to nuance them and make them different.

What’s fantastic about this series is its uniqueness, it’s nuanced characters who are both good and bad, as well as the evil masterminds — and yes, there are more than one. Another great part of the series is that it brings to light a number of ethical questions about experimentation, human trials, and corporate greed. It would make an excellent series for discussion, though you may only need the first book for that.

Chimera by Mira Grant — this is book 3 in the Parasitology series — narrated by Christine Lakin, is thrilling, dramatic, and thought-provoking. Grant is a master in this genre, and her plots are twisted and suspenseful. There may be moments where the plots are predictable, but overall, readers will just enjoy the ride.

Other Reviews:

RATING: Quatrain

About the Author:

Born and raised in Northern California, Mira Grant has made a lifelong study of horror movies, horrible viruses, and the inevitable threat of the living dead. In college, she was voted Most Likely to Summon Something Horrible in the Cornfield, and was a founding member of the Horror Movie Sleep-Away Survival Camp, where her record for time survived in the Swamp Cannibals scenario remains unchallenged.

Mira lives in a crumbling farmhouse with an assortment of cats, horror movies, comics, and books about horrible diseases. When not writing, she splits her time between travel, auditing college virology courses, and watching more horror movies than is strictly good for you. Favorite vacation spots include Seattle, London, and a large haunted corn maze just outside of Huntsville, Alabama.

Mira sleeps with a machete under her bed, and highly suggests that you do the same.

Raccoon on the Moon and Other Tales illustrated by David Semple

img_3746Source: Purchased from Usborne Books
Hardcover, 144 pgs.
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Raccoon on the Moon and Other Tales, illustrated by David Semple, is a set of stories in the Phonics Stories series for young readers.  With my daughter beginning Kindergarten this year, I wanted to get some more books focused on phonics, and this one looked cute, especially since my daughter loves animals and outer space.  Since this book arrived in the house, it has been part of the evening reading ritual before bed.

Each night she picks a story from the list, and we read it.  If we have time, she begs for a second story. The illustrations are clear, brightly colored, and fun!  Kids will love these stories and, after several readings, they will be reading along with you.  In the final pages of this collection of stories, there are puzzles for kids to complete — from finding which words rhyme or which words in the sentence are the wrong one given the context and image.

Our favorites in this collection are Raccoon on the Moon, Llamas in Pajamas, and Mole in a HoleRaccoon on the Moon and Other Tales, illustrated by David Semple, is a fun collection to help young readers learn new words, take adventures with fun animal characters, and read long with their parents.

RATING: Cinquain

***For those on Facebook, I’ll be having a book party for Usborne on Oct. 21. I can invite you if you are interested, though we have to be friends on Facebook***

The A.B.C. Murders by Agatha Christie

Source: Audible
Audiobook, 6 hrs.
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The A.B.C. Murders by Agatha Christie, our August book club selection, is narrated by Hugh Fraser and is the 13th book in the series.  Despite being so far into the series, it was refreshing to read a murder-mystery that was more intellectual in nature. Hercule Poirot is being taunted by the serial killer working his way through victims based on the alphabet, and beside his victims, he leaves the ABC Railway Guide open at the name of the town where the murder has taken place. Arthur Hastings, a longtime friend of Poirot, is excited to be working with his friend after a long time, and this book is told from Hastings’ point of view for the most part. The other narration is a third-person narrative created by Hastings’ reconstructions of other eye-witness accounts. Christie creates another mysterious layer this way because readers will always partially doubt the validity of those recollections.

The first three murders occur with little evidence of who the killer is, but once the killer decides to make an enemy of Poirot, he is bound to make mistakes. There also is a certain complexity of motive here, in which it is obscured again and again by other events and things that occur. While Hastings is in awe of his friend’s ability to solve cases, Inspector Crome is less than a fan. It’s interesting to see these two opinions face off, and it forces the reader to wonder is Poirot a super-detective or is he a man that gets lucky. Like many mysteries, the truth is somewhere in the middle.

The camaraderie between Poirot and Hastings is great, and the pace is spot on, even as the murders seem as though they will never be solved. A careful reader or listener can see the clues and figure out who the killer is, but Christie is adept at throwing in obstacles to obscure the truth. Hugh Fraser was a good narrator for Hastings, though at times some of the other characters got a bit muddled in the reading. The A.B.C. Murders by Agatha Christie is a well written mystery that will have readers guessing and re-assessing.

RATING: Quatrain

About the Author:

Agatha Christie is the best-selling author of all time. She wrote eighty crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and several other books. Her books have sold roughly four billion copies and have been translated into 45 languages. She is the creator of the two most enduring figures in crime literature-Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple-and author of The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theatre.

Snow White and Rose Red by Patricia C. Wrede

Source: Purchased
Kindle, 288 pgs.
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Snow White and Rose Red by Patricia C. Wrede, which was our July book club pick, is a retelling of a fairy tale.  In this rendition, the tale is set in England, and the characters are a bit modified.  Wrede says in the afterword that the original fairy tale had gaps and characters appeared and disappeared, leaving their motivations out of sight for the most part.  Here, Wrede contrives to make motivations fit the story, which mirrors the original very closely.

The language used here to mimic Elizabethan times but, in so doing, the dialogue was very stilted and hard to engage with for a good portion of the book.  While the language may have been to authenticate the time period, some of it was off in terms of usage and slowed the pace of the tale considerably.  However, her use of John Dee and Edward Kelly as the wizards in the town of Mortlak, who cause harm to the world of Faerie, was inspired, though even just Kelly would have been enough here.

Rosamund (Rose Red) and Blanche (Snow White) are the daughters of the Widow Arden (forest) who live on the outskirts of town near the land of Faerie, and while they tend to stay outside the forest and only use the herbs found within its borders for good, they have skills that other townsfolk only speculate about.  It is there in the woods that they find all manner of plants, including elecampane, which is native to central Asia.  Is this the work of the fay?  Or a miscalculation on Wrede’s part?  It’s unclear.

Wrede also relies on the continuation of “work” over several dayson more than one occasion without going into depth about the failed experiments, etc. This also slows the pace of the fairy tale down.  Snow White and Rose Red by Patricia C. Wrede is a satisfactory retelling of a well-known fairy tale, but what is unclear still is the motivations of one set of evildoers — the fay.  While the mortals clearly seek fame and fortune in their magic renderings, the fay involved in the spell-casting seem to have muddy reasoning for their part in it.

RATING: Tercet

About the Author:

Patricia C. Wrede was born in Chicago, Ill., and is the eldest of five children. She started writing in seventh grade. She attended Carleton College in Minnesota, where she majored in Biology and managed to avoid taking any English courses at all. She began work on her first novel, Shadow Magic, just after graduating from college in 1974. Patricia received her M.B.A. from the University of Minnesota in 1977.  Patricia finished her first novel in late 1978, and she has since published 12 books.

Saris and a Single Malt by Sweta Srivastava Vikram

Source: Purchased
Paperback, 46 pgs.
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***I consider Sweta a friend and her book is on tour with Poetic Book Tours.***

Saris and a Single Malt by Sweta Srivastava Vikram is highly emotional and raw.  It is clear that her mother’s sudden passing left a void in her life, and she was adrift with anger, despair, and confusion.  She spent time with family in India, people who she viewed as vampires (sucking the life from those around them for gossip), but respected her mother enough not to say anything.  There is a delicate balance in grief — when we want to cry out and shout out despair, we must be respectful that others are grieving in their own way as well.  At the same time, there are those who continue to lack compassion or empathy, making the grieving process even more difficult.

This collection made me cry on more than one occasion as I thought about those who have left my life — some suddenly, some after long illness — and each time the grieving process was different and difficult. My nana passed at a critical time in my life as a college student, and I carried a lot of guilt about her passing before I could make it to the hospital to see her after my classes. I procrastinated that day, wanting to eat dinner and rest after a trying week of classes and wanting to avoid the sadness of seeing her with tubes everywhere in an ICU where germs were kept at bay as much as possible. When I arrived just after she left this world, I was tormented by guilt. I wanted to know why she left before I got there. Sweta’s poem, “Why Didn’t You Wait for Me?” struck a chord. Can they see us after they have passed? Can they send us signs? I think it’s possible, and whenever I see a ladybug, I think of her.

From: JFK: Terminal 4 Airport Lounge (pg. 4)

At first I try to hide the fact,
but any passerby could look inside me
and tell it was fake calm that I was drinking
at the airport lounge in a wine glass.
But, inside that one glass,
I could become invisible.
Inside one sip of wine,
I could whisper my fears.

Like love, grief is an emotion that bonds us. Through these poems and mini essays, Vikram show us the entire grieving process and how it tears us down so we can rebuild ourselves. Saris and a Single Malt by Sweta Srivastava Vikram is a tribute to a wonderful woman, who may have lived differently than her daughter, and while it comes after her passing, it signals to us to cherish those we have. We need to pay closer attention to our now and less to the past. We need to be better about showing our appreciation in the now, rather than when it is too late.

RATING: Quatrain

Other reviews:

Guest Posts and Interviews:

About the Poet:

Sweta Srivastava Vikram, featured by Asian Fusion as “one of the most influential Asians of our time,” is an award-winning writer, five-time Pushcart Prize nominee, Amazon bestselling author of 11 books, writing coach, columnist, marketing consultant, and wellness practitioner who currently lives in New York City. A graduate of Columbia University, she also teaches the power of yoga, Ayurveda, & mindful living to female trauma survivors, creative types, entrepreneurs, and business professionals. Sweta is also the CEO-Founder of NimmiLife, which helps you attain your goals by elevating your creativity & productivity while paying attention to your wellness.

The Arranged Marriage by Jehanne Dubrow

Source: Gift
Paperback, 57 pgs.
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The Arranged Marriage by Jehanne Dubrow reads like mini-memoirs of marriages on the rocks, marriages marred by abuse, marriages that require covering up.  These arrangements are made consciously and sometimes with little say by the women engaged in them.  Much of the truth about these women is concealed, but even that concealer is thin and, in many cases, see-through.

“Wait long enough and anything takes on a
sheen of sharpness. Mustn’t leave her hands
untied. She could stare the whorl from
fingertips. Cut him with her eyes.” (from “All the Sharp Things”, pg. 7)

In “The Handbag,” the speaker examines the contents of a wife’s purse at the back of the closet and how it hides things from her husband.  She leaves to buy groceries, and while her husband may control what is purchased, there are so many possibilities outside that she can take advantage of if she so chooses.  Does this woman choose to go to the police station?  Does she read and improve her mind away from her husband? The possibilities are endless.

In “House of the Small Dictatorship”, cigars are clipped, pages of a newspaper are opened, and many other things get done without the husband lifting a finger. But the woman’s efforts are rarely mentioned. In “Domesticated Fowl of the Sula Valley”, birds fly away and the girls are given little explanation. Dubrow uses this poem to shed light on many of the missing girls and women and how their fates are never known. Even as these compact poems resemble the cloistered lives of these women — some controlled by their spouses — they also espouse a sense of hope in between the lines.  A freedom they can see but that they will need the courage to take ahold of it.

The Arranged Marriage by Jehanne Dubrow is harrowing and sad. The poems leave an indelible mark on the reader, and her verse is chock full of imagery that surprises. Many of these poems will be long remembered, a lasting testament to the women who have suffered — many in silence.

RATING: Cinquain

About the Poet:

Jehanne Dubrow is the author of five poetry collections, including most recently The Arranged Marriage (University of New Mexico Press, 2015), Red Army Red (Northwestern University Press, 2012) and Stateside (Northwestern University Press, 2010). She co-edited The Book of Scented Things: 100 Contemporary Poems about Perfume (Literary House Press, 2014) and the forthcoming Still Life with Poem: Contemporary Natures Mortes in Verse (Literary House Press, 2016). Dots & Dashes, her sixth book of poems, won the 2016 Crab Orchard Review Series in Poetry Open Competition Awards and will be published by Southern Illinois University Press in 2017.

Hidden Bodies by Caroline Kepnes

Source: Audible/Gift from Friend
Audiobook, 13+ hours;
Hardcover, 448 pgs.
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Hidden Bodies by Caroline Kepnes is the second in a series of books about Joe Goldberg, a serial killer who is no stranger to love, obsession, and death.  If you haven’t read You, you need to because without reading it, you miss way too much.  I read this in hardcover and listened to the audio — the narrator of the audio, Santino Fontana, owns the role of Joe Goldberg and that of Forty.

***Spoilers for previous book***

Goldberg loves books and considers himself a writer, and after killing his latest girlfriend, he finds himself in love with a new girl who loves books and is eager to play games, like he is.  However, when Amy, who met him through a fake credit card, screws him over, Joe has little choice but to leave his bookstore managerial post in New York to head out to California to take care of her.  Along the way he gets sucked into the California dream of fame and fortune and finds himself opening social media accounts, something he would never have done in New York.

He meets Love and falls in love, but she has a twin named Forty who sucks the life out of everything with his addictions and his tantrums. Then, there is Milo, the third twin. At the same time he’s living the high life, he sees Amy and tries to catch her and fails and gets tangled up with a star-struck actress wannabe. His tangled web nearly unravels several times, as the story gets more twisted up and the body count rises. Readers will want to check reality at the door, you just have to go along for the ride.

Written and Directed by Joe Goldberg
Love is laughing and clapping and I hug Forty and shake his hand and thank him but he tells me not to thank him. ‘This was all you, Old Sport!'”

Joe is a character you love to hate.  He is creepy, calculating, and scary, but he’s also logical and rational and makes you want to believe he’s doing the right thing and helping the larger world. Kepnes’ story is twisted and crazy, but there is some great humor in these encounters, particularly when Joe corners police officer Robin Fincher who has his own Rolodex of celebrity encounters. Joe is in a city where everyone is obsessive.

Hidden Bodies by Caroline Kepnes makes readers wonder just how many obsessive and self-obsessed people are in the world and how on Earth people like Joe don’t kill more of them for us. Joe has evolved — somewhat — in this book, but don’t expect him to become a Boy Scout or a hero.

RATING: Quatrain

Other Reviews:

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.

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The Diary of Emily Dickinson by Jamie Fuller

Source: Purchased
Paperback, 224 pgs.
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The Diary of Emily Dickinson by Jamie Fuller is an ambitious project that recreates the life of Emily Dickinson, a hermetic poet from Amherst, with her poetry and from the letters that remain from her life.  Fuller has done her research, which is clear from the annotations that accompany poems and diary entries.  But what’s disappointing is that Fuller’s diary entries — while they mirror Dickinson’s style — do little to extrapolate from the letters or poems to create something new.  Readers will want a fictionalized Emily to be more revealing, not more obscure than what she left behind.

“A captured bird mutes its tune.” (pg. 95)

There are gems in some of the diary entries that allude to Emily’s views on marriage and how it would interfere with her poetic work.  She has been called to write poetry, and while she does household chores, she clearly had greater leeway with her family than she would with a husband or children of her own.  In this way, Fuller has called attention to an age-old problem many women face when they marry — how do you balance the expectations of being a wife and mother with your own dreams and desires.  This would be particularly difficult in Emily’s time.

The prologue is the most creative bit about the book in which Fuller describes the how the diary came to be saved when so many letters were burned by Emily’s sister.  After reading through the poems you remember, you wonder what do the diary entries add.  Unfortunately, they add very little and leave readers wondering if they should have spent their time reading her poems, creating their own narratives for Emily alongside what facts are available from the letters that have survived.

The Diary of Emily Dickinson by Jamie Fuller had potential, and while readers know that Emily was a hermit for much of her life and lived with her family and her poetry, Fuller has not taken the creative leap to bring us into the mind of a poet.  The novel feels flat and two-dimensional.  The saving graces here are Emily’s own poems and the annotations from letters and facts discovered in the historical record.

RATING: Couplet

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Totally Gnarly, Way Bogus Murder of Muffy McGregor by Teddy Durgin

Source: Gift
Paperback, 212 pgs.
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***I want to disclose that I’ve known Teddy a very long time and he’s my co-worker and friend, but this has very little influence on my review of this novel.***

The Totally Gnarly, Way Bogus Murder of Muffy McGregor by Teddy Durgin is a mystery novel chock full of 1980s movies, music, and nostalgia.  Sam Eckert is a 15-year-old boy living in Laurel, Md., and he’s one of those boys who is on the outside looking into the popular crowds.  Since entering high school, he’s experienced bullying and lived an ordinary life, even as his friend and crush Barbara makes her way to the in-crowd via Muffy McGregor.  Summer 1986 is Sam’s time to make something happen, and he figures if he takes a job at 16 Plus, he’ll have a chance to interact with Barbara and maybe get her to go out with him.

Chip Roundtree and Buddy Bradford are his best friends — the ones that trade movie quotes and other pop culture moments.  When a explosion rocks the Laurel Center Mall, Sam is thrust into the center of a murder mystery.  Who killed Muffy McGregor, the most popular girl in high school?  Was it her jock boyfriend, Brent, or was it a jealous friend, like Barbara, or maybe it was someone no one knew?  Sam decides to team up with Private Investigator Rabinowitz to solve the murder after a newspaper article about her death hurtles him head first into popularity.

Durgin certainly has a firm grip on the 1980s, and his movie references are spot on, and make this mystery funny in several places.  He’s adhered to the culture of the time and references stores that are no longer in business.  Readers will see how much life has changed for teenagers, but also how much it has stayed the same.  His characters are quirky and fun, but they also must deal with real-life issues like bullying and how to interact with the most popular kids in school without looking like total buffoons.

Readers will have to suspend disbelief that a private investigator would allow a teenage boy to help him solve a murder, but in Sam’s case, even if Rabinowitz had not taken him along, he would have likely done it on his own.  It also seems as though Sam’s friend, Buddy, disappears almost entirely from the narrative.  Despite these quibbles, the novel is a quick read for the poolside this summer. The Totally Gnarly, Way Bogus Murder of Muffy McGregor by Teddy Durgin is a satisfying trip into the 1980s, and the mystery is well crafted. I do hope that there are future installments.

RATING: Quatrain (really this is 3.5 for me, but I round up)

TeddyDurginPicAbout the Author:

Teddy Durgin is a devoted film lover and a trained journalist who has reported on the entertainment industry since 1997. He runs Teddy’s Takes, a movie review subscription service, which is equally as amusing as this book and is a mere $20 for Baltimore-Washington area subscribers who attend free preview screenings he sponsors and $12 for those elsewhere.  He’s also a writer for several newspapers and journals, as well as a senior editor at SmithBucklin.