Lori

I was excited to read this second chapter of Julie Andrews Edwards life as the first was a great read. I remember not wanting to put it down and was disappointed it ended on a cliffhanger-Edwards heading to California and Disney to film “Mary Poppins.”

Unfortunately, this book did not really have the same charm or flow as that first one. While revealing in some ways, others it glosses over to the point where it seems like a dry recitation of facts. It never grabbed my full attention and it was a struggle to continue in places.

I did learn quite about about the actress, her films and her family life, but I doubt I'll be recommending this one to others like I did, “Home.” I suspect at some point, Edwards is planning to release a 3rd memoir of her later years. I will likely pick it up at some point if it comes to be, but unlike the first two, I won't be eagerly waiting for it to be released.

I bought this collection on my own from Amazon to support one of the writers who I know. I read the entire collection so this review unlike many of the others, is for the entire book, not just one short story.

This collection has eight short stories by eight different authors. The writing level within these stories varies by quite a bit. Some of the stories are very good and I enjoyed reading them. The one with Joy, the last one with Izabela, the first story with Lance, the one with the doctor, are the ones off the top of my head. Others were much harder to read and not as enjoyable.

Many of them spent a fair amount of book space setting up the story, but once it reached the denouement, spent about 3 paragraphs wrapping everything up so there was no real explanation of why two people are actually falling in love. You're just supposed to believe that the two characters who have known each other for a few days/weeks are now super seriously in love and all is good after one very quick discussion, who needs to actually know someone, let's get to the kissing.

There were relatively few editing mistakes, but I did spot one “your” instead of “you're” which is one of my pet peeves. I can't remember which short story had that one, though.

Overall, the collection had some hits but more misses.

I just finished reading “The Parker Inheritance” by Varian Johnson. Written for Middle Grade (5th, 6th, 7th grades.) It was touted as a modern “The Westing Game” type mystery. I wouldn't go that far, but it is definitely similar. Follows Candice who is staying with her mother in her grandmother's old house for the summer while their house is being renovated and put on the market to sell.

She makes friends with the boy, Brandon, across the street who is as big of a reader as she is. She discovers her grandmother was fired from her job as city manager for tearing up the tennis courts while on a hunt for clues to the Parker Inheritance. Candice finds the original letter and she and Brandon pick up the chase.

This book take place in a small, Southern town in South Carolina and talks in depth about racism, what being Black in the South during the 50s was like and what being Black in the South is like now along with bullying and LGBTQ topics. It sounds like a lot, but all these issues are very relevant right now and definitely showed me a different perspective.

I will say the LGBTQ story line seemed a little excessive to the plot in a book already doing a lot of heavy hitting. Just felt like it wasn't given as much story time as it needed to really be effective. That being said, the book is over 350 pages long and since it was directed towards middle grade ages, could use a little pairing down so more kids would pick it up.

I would give it 3 1/2 stars out of 5, I do recommend it to read for the POV alone, just wish the mystery part was a little more well done as the characters seem to just know what happened in the flashbacks rather than them finding out through their investigations.

I've been looking forward to reading the final book of the Rose Legacy series and it didn't disappoint. It was a fast paced story that managed to wrap the series up quite well.

I have a few remaining questions (Does Adil finally get home, What happens with Finn and Anthea, Does Anthea get Miss Miniver's approval?) but overall, the big one's are answered and you're not left hanging on what happens next.

Favorite quote: “Don't worry about it! No one likes your mother.” That made me laugh out loud, literally.

When I received this in my Owlcrate, I was excited to read it. The cover is gorgeous, the premise sounded great. I mean, how could a mixture of Phantom of the Opera and Moulin Rouge be bad? Then I read it.

I show 3 stars, but it's closer to a 2 1/2 star rating. The book is a very slow starter. I can tell you all about the amazing clothes Kallia wears. But I have no idea how the magic system works. I have way more questions than answers and while I knew going in that it was book one of two, I really feel like the author wanted everything to be super mysterious and keep everyone on tenterhooks trying to figure out what was going on, to the point where she forgot that you do need to give the reader some hints. You don't have to inform your characters, but when you're 250-300 pages in and the reader still has no clue what is going on, that's a problem.

That being said, the last 100 or so pages do speed up and give you dribbles of information. I do want to know what happens next but will I remember or even care by the time the 2nd book comes out? Eh. We'll see.

My first thoughts when reading this book dealt with confusion. Because while I had finished the fifth book and started and read this one all in one day, the author took much longer (4 or more years) to write it. Within a few pages, there was a big glaring inconsistency between the two books and while it was fairly inconsequential, it was pretty noticeable. At the end of book five, they rescued Blizzard (and the rhino) from the other zoo...while there was snow on the ground and snowing. Also, the school playground was trashed and not fixed. Yet, 8 days later, Noah is walking through autumn leaves in an undamaged playground. A re-read before starting this book would have stopped this from happening and made my overall impression of it much higher.

I did enjoy the book overall. The majority of questions about Mr. Darby were answered. Only one really hanging question about the the kids with the chameleons was left but it really felt more like he was setting it up to make another series with them as the main characters.

The ending itself was good though it had its sad moments. There were some pretty graphic/gruesome descriptions of DeGraff at the end, just as a head's up.

Plus, I'm still confused about why Chick put the bully into this series. He just took up space and the final confrontation had Noah hitting him...because becoming your bully's bully is the right way kids should learn how to deal with one. I'm also confused why Chick had the 4 scouts steal something and made it a big deal and then never mentioned it ever again.

Overall, there were some good parts to the series, but the author never really was able to best the first book which really was a good read. He came close a few times but overall, I wouldn't say I recommend this series.

I enjoyed this until the very end, where the pacing went from 50 mph to 100 in 2 pages. In other words, the author had a steady pace with the story line going on, but at the very end, she decided to push all the action into 2 or 3 pages, it seemed. I think the story would have been better served with more details at the end.

I enjoyed the illustrations and the story line and would recommend it to others. Just know, the ending might not be as satisfying as the rest of the book.

I stumbled across this book and was intrigued as both a sci-fi and cat lover. Unfortunately, it was very hit and miss. Mostly miss for me. There are a few good short stories that are still worth the read but many of the shorts feel like you needed to have read other books in the series to understand what is going on in the short story.

Even one of the stories that I liked the most, “Duty Calls” by Anne McCaffrey, falls into that category. This short was centered around a “brain” and “brawn” pairing, but unless you've read her “Ship Who Sang” series, you probably would be pretty lost as to what was going on.

Some of the stories are definitely dated as well, language-wise and sterotype-wise as well. (Women in fantasy can only be sexy and wear very little clothing/be playthings.)

Overall, unless you're a huge fan of a certain author you know is in this anthology, I'd skip it.

I think I preferred the first book to this one. While the ending was fast paced and enjoyable to read, most of the book was a bit of a slog to get through. I did appreciate the ending message of accepting others no matter how different you are, that you don't have to be friends to be polite and kind.

Since the book's epilogue definitely ended on a cliffhanger (the events of the book are finished, but the author definitely leaves a plot point from book one as well as book two very open), there will very likely be a third book. I liked this one enough that I plan on reading it to find out what happens.

I had never heard of this book before until I read a chapter to the kids I was subbing for. I immediately wanted to go back to the beginning and read the whole thing.

Melody never gives up and always keeps on trying no matter how hard her life is. The book made me laugh; it made me cry. My heart was breaking for her at the ending but she was a much better person inside than 100% healthy people are.

I gave it 5 stars and it really deserves that rating. My only critique is we were not given a final scene between Melody and her mother and I think that gives the book a big disservice considering the last time we see them together.

Even if this isn't your normal type of book, even if you are an adult and don't usually read middle grade books, read this one!

I love to read about magical libraries, so this book caught my eye. It has an interesting premise and is a very fast paced book. It wasn't my favorite, but that had to do more with writing style, than plot. It is definitely written for the younger side of middle grade readers.

Lenora escapes her nanny in the library only to bring notice to herself by the Darkness and to discover the library within the library. She becomes an employee and discovers there is so much to discover. Through her travels and adventures, she becomes aware that she is being targeted by unknown people in bowler hats.

There are a few heavy-handed lessons thrown in here that while are important to learn, could have been given a little more subtly. I think even children would have no problem picking them out.

I still plan on reading the sequel, but this series isn't one that has become an instant classic for me.

While I really did not enjoy book 4 in this series, “The Conference of the Birds” really made up for it. It was fast paced, had you wanting to keep reading and even has a good cliff-hanger ending. Book 4 was really slow paced for me and was a struggle to finish, but this one, I almost had to force myself to slow down so I could enjoy it more!

This was an okay read. The subject was a good one, a girl working for a magic library where one can check out magical items, but I just never connected with the main character, Elizabeth. This wasn't a difficult read, but I did struggle to finish reading it. Mainly because I just didn't care to find out what happened next. The last few chapters do pick up the pace a bit, but overall, not something I'll likely want to re-read.

I don't usually read horror, but this came to me in an Owlcrate box so I wanted to give it a try. I loved it. Could not put it down, thought it was well written. Loved Jane and all her issues. The author gives us hints throughout the book about what is happening but being unfamiliar with Agatha Christie, it probably took me a bit longer than most to figure it out.

Well worth the read and probably one of my top 3 books I've read this year!

The 4th book of The Secret Zoo series, Traps and Specters, was better than the 3rd. The girls had more dialogue and I appreciated the action a lot more.

I did not appreciate the multiple two page chapters about half way through the book (Halloween). I believe he was trying to show multiple points of view rapidly like you'd see in a movie, but it just made it disjointed for me.

I also did not enjoy the flirting between Noah and one of the Defenders. Seemed very awkward and thrown in there just to have some romance. Don't think it helped the story line at all.

This book has the most action so far, three major action scenes which make reading the book go by quickly. There is some sad moments at the end, but they give the reader something to care about and help you to want to read the next book to see how it all resolves.

Overall, I'd say this one is my second favorite of the first four, but it's definitely been a journey getting here.

I really enjoyed the first book in the series and that got me through book 2 where there was very little action. Book 3, this one, has a lot more action, but I'm starting to get frustrated with how the author treats his female characters. The two girls, Ella and Megan, are reduced to side characters that have conversations about how cute their fellow students are and whether or not they want to get married.

While there is a bit of a reason behind the marriage question, it doesn't play very well except to highlight how unoriginal their conversation is and how little effort was given to build their characters past “girl, sister to Noah” and “girl, friend to Noah and Richie.” Very disappointing.

The ending is slightly better at giving the two girls actual dialog and actions, but I'm not sure if that makes up for the conversation in the middle of the book... At this point, I have the last three books in the series to read, but it's going to be hard to get the desire to finish them after this one.