Normal Norman book review

Norman, the orangutan in this book, is not normal. It takes the narrator a while to realize it, but being abnormal is actually perfectly . . . normal. Everybody is their own kind of normal and that is just fantastic.

This book is great, and it got me thinking about my kids new school. They just started at a new charter school that has leveled ability groups for reading and math--which I love--and is the whole reason we are willing to drive miles and miles to take them to school when we literally have their old school inside our neighborhood.

It's not that we didn't like their old school. It's actually a great school! I just wish all schools could adhere to the genius that is ability-groups. It's silly to think that everyone in the same grade should just be "normal" and on the same level.

Check out Norman and all the abnormal gorilla things he does. Like sleeping in a bunk bed and trying to rescue the bananas and oranges from being eaten (because he apparently thinks they are alive.) It's pretty silly and a lot of fun . . . just the kind of picture book I like!

The Chemist by Stephenie Meyer book review

I am not ashamed to admit that I love Stephenie Meyer's books. Twilight? Loved it. The Host? Loved it even more.

Were they cheesy? Yes. Were they long-winded? Yes. Do I care? No! They were entertaining! And guess what? They were hugely popular! That’s why they made them into even cheesier movies okay!? (I like cheesy.)

It’s actually a HUGE pet-peeve of mine how much other writers love to rip on Twilight. It’s so hilarious to me. I’m like, hey! If I can write a book with that huge of a following (however fleeting) I will be stoked! Who cares if her writing doesn’t sound like freaking Shakespeare. Oh and the other complaint I hear all the time is how angsty and whiny Belle is….oh give me a break! She’s a teenage girl, guess what? Teenage girls are whiny, I know this because I was one.

Ok. I feel better now. I can jump off my soap box--enough to rant about her latest book—The Chemist.

As I have already mentioned I am a fan of hers, so when I saw this new book, which by the way I had not even heard a whisper of until I saw it on the library shelf, I was pretty excited!

I admit—I found a lot more complaints about this book than her others. Truth be told, I’m not sure if it is because it’s not as good or if it’s because I read the other ones before I started all my writing training. (I’m becoming one of them. It's so sad. I’m such a hypocrite.)

But the main point is I still really liked it. The good things first:

It follows Meyer's same M.O.—with the whole “falling in love with the enemy thing.” First with the Vampires, then with the evil Aliens, and now with the more contemporary enemy—the interrogator. I feel like Myers brainstorming sessions must go something like this. “Ok. Who is the absolutely least likely candidate for a love interest?” She brings the whole “falling for the bad ‘guy’” to a seriously whole new level with her books. And why is that good? Because it’s different. It’s fun to read about something totally unexpected.

She does a great job handling the complications of having a character with multiple fake identities and fake names.

The beginning and the ending were huge page turners. There were a few parts in the middle that I almost put it down, so there is that, but the majority of the time I was very excited to sneak away and read more more more.

So now the bad things (aka, things to learn from as a writer):

The insta-love. I know, don’t tell me. It’s been too long—but I’m pretty sure Twilight and probably the Host were also heavily-laden with the insta-love but were not going to complain about that today. And honestly, it wasn’t so much the insta-love that was the problem for me, it was the fact that Alex had no real redeeming qualities to love. After reading the whole book I’m still not sure why Daniel fell for her besides the fact that he “liked her face.” Actually, I take that back. Alex was “lovable” because I liked her as a reader but I just never saw or heard Daniels perspective on why he liked her which made his attraction unbelievable, so I learned the importance of showing that.

The bleak middle parts. Not all of the middle part dragged but a significate enough part that I really did consider just putting it down. So the thing I learned about this is just tighter writing. It really is possible to give too many details and drag on about things too much. As fun as it is to set things up for a later Ah-Ha moment—if readers can’t even make it through the set-up there will be no Ah-ha moment to get to!

The gun details. This might just be me, but I just really don’t care about the type of gun she’s carrying around. All guns are the same to me. SIG Sauer? PPK? It means nothing to me. There are probably only about three different gun visuals I have in my head.

There’s this one

And this one

And this one.

Giving me like 15 different gun names is doing nothing for me besides annoying me. It would make sense if she were writing for a different audience—but I think I’m a good sample of her target audience and I’m fairly certain that we just don’t care about the specific details of all that. It’s one thing to mention the gun name like once or twice but I think she threw it in there like a bajillion times. And yes, that is an accurate estimation. Just ask my husband Jona, I never exaggerate on numbers.

Overall:

You should read it. It was fun. All silly rantings aside . . .Stephenie Meyer has a new book out after like 7 years and that is pretty exciting!

The Hundredth Queen book review

First of all, this book is fabulous. I loved it. It made me want to throw aside all other responsibilities and hide in a closet somewhere, devouring it, like chocolate!

The author, Emily R. King is fabulous as well. I've been friends with her on Facebook for a while (and in person for a short time) and something she wrote a while back has really stuck with me and I'd like to address it here.

She posted , "When people repeatedly tell me they didn't think they'd like my book, but they actually really loved it...why does that feel like a backhanded compliment? Why say that at all? Am I supposed to be grateful I changed their mind? This whole being an author thing has good moments, but honestly, a lot of it is just aggravating."

I can completely get what she means about taking it as a backhanded compliment and also how frustrating such words can be. But I would venture that perhaps one of the reasons why those people didn't think they'd like it is because . . . well . . . there just aren't that many fabulous books out there. So when they read it and discovered that it is actually very well written, has a wonderful fast pace and is full of delightful romance . . . they were genuinely surprised. And I'm guessing that surprise usually had nothing to do with Emily R. King as a person and more just books in general. It's sad but the market is so over-saturated with books, and there are just not that many amazing books out there. I mean, sure there are good books along with the not so great and even crappy ones but there aren't that many amazing books like The Hundredth Queen. 

So there you have it. Now that I have sufficiently hyped the book up--go and read it--with the usual expectation you hold for "most books" out there, so that you can be pleasantly surprised and delighted with this gem. 

Books my 9 year old loves

My son Noah just gobbles up books. It make my author-heart so proud. School got out less than three weeks ago and he's already read 6 books. (I may be a tad bit jealous.) . . . And now we need to take another trip to the library. 

His favorite books are fantasy/adventure type books, so if your child is into those here are some more they might like. I've also included a very helpful synopsis/review from Noah (my nine year old) for each one.  

The Familiars

Noah: "It's a book about magic that's just like awesome and most books are about wizards that have magic but this is about animals that have magic . . . but also wizards . . . but animals use the magic more."

Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher

Noah: "It's a book where dragons are real. Its about a boy who's suddenly in this place and he finds this shop that's a magic shop and he finds this things that glows on all sides and later on he finds out its a dragon egg and then later on he has to let it go."

Beyonders

Noah: "It's a mixture of fun adventures and magic." (And this is all he has to say after reading three books of about 500 pages each. No but really, this one has been one of his favorite series.)

The 39 Clues

Noah: "It's like a mystery book but its also not exactly a mystery book . . . it's about magic, well kind of. And it's like an irresistible mix of mystery and magic."

The Candy Shop War:

Noah: "It's the only place where wizards make magical candy."

Sky Jumpers

Noah: "There's two so far but the series is still getting written. Also, it's in the future and it's just a place where there's a gas that can kill you in one breath but if you hold your breath gravity goes slower inside of it and people save their city using the power to go through it." 

So there you have it. Take it from a nine-year old, these are books you simply cannot live without. Especially if you like magic . . . well kind of. 

I Am Otter book review

Have you met Otter? He is pretty much the best. We discovered him at the library the other day when we picked up his first book.

We were seriously laughing out loud. Otter is so lovable and super silly. Imagine Curious George but with more personality. It will make you want to go out and get yourself an otter so you can be an otter keeper . . . although that might be a bad idea because according to the author, Sam Garton, the one time he met one in real life it bit him. But that's okay because you can still enjoy the silly antics of the cartoon otter in book form as well as on the internet. I've discovered he has more books, which we are very anxious to check out and a website narrated by Otter himself with all kinds of fun things like his Diary and a little game called Dress Otter. It's a definite must see.

Junkyard book review

I've started to drive my kids a little crazy. I'm always stopping to check things in our picture books. Like if the author and illustrator are the same person.

"Mom! Keep reading!"

"So sorry. Mommy has to do her book research."

I've discovered most of my favorite books are authored and illustrated by the same person. #Lifegoals. (Long term time life goals.) Maybe by the time I'm ninety I will have reached that summit. That's okay though. As I always tell my kids, we are always growing and learning and it is never too late to learn something new.

So then I keep reading, but I have to stop again and see who published it . . . and when . . . and study the author bio in the back . . . etc . . . etc . . .

My poor children.

It's worse with books I particularly like, such as this one: Junkyard by Mike Austin

We just love robots at our house and these munching machines are seriously huggable. It's a really sweet story where the machines eat all the junk and clean up the junkyard to make it into a fun and beautiful playground. It could be a great story to teach about recycling or earth day or really just to enjoy the adorable pictures. I especially like all the thumbprints worked into the art. All of my kids 3, 6 and 9 loved it.

Bob and Flo book review

We read a lot of picture books at my house. We used to just read our same books over and over because I had banned myself from the library. I was soooo bad at returning books. Belonging to the library was like being part of an expensive monthly book club where I didn't even get to keep the books. But reading the same picture books over and over was boring and the library beckoned to me.

So I went back . . . cautiously. And I discovered an awesome thing! The library elf!

I know what you're thinking. No, this is a not an elf that comes to your house and finds all your missing library books. (Although, if anyone ever finds one please send it my way.) This elf automatically renews checked out items when they are about to be due. It keeps doing this for as long as a book is eligible to be renewed. It also sends texts or email reminders for when things are going to be overdue. What?!? I know. It's amazing. So now I almost never have late fees (hooray!) but I do still occasionally end up "buying" books that I can't find or that accidentally get left out in the rain. But for all the books I check out, I figure I'm still getting the better end of the bargain.

Such as with this delightful book.

Of all the many books we read before bed, Bob and Flo, has been one of our favorites. It had us laughing out loud. Plus it has the added benefit of being a super fast read for those nights when the longest story you want to read is something like: "Once upon a time there were people. They were tired, so they went to bed. Goodnight!" 

So go check it out! (But don't forget to return it!)