Callie just adores the theater and jumps at the chance when the school production is announced as Moon Over Mississippi. Callie knows the story well but signs up to be the set designer due to her terrible singing voice. While Callie’s dreams for the set are BIG, the budget is small and Callie thinks of ways to do things the way she has hoped but at a lesser cost.
If the play’s trials and errors was not enough on Callie’s agenda, twin boys start at her school… and errr…. did I mention they were CUTE??? Callie balances her onstage and off stage life cautiously but the drama becomes DRAMA as the cast is selected, emotions and jealousies flare up, props fail, and no matter what…. the play must go on!
Why did I want to read this book? I was honored to have been at Scholastic this past June when Raina Telgemeier read a part of Drama to us. I loved that this was written as a graphic novel and wanted to know the rest of the story.
DRAMA is such a fun read. I really enjoyed the story line and the tiles double meaning. Raina’s graphics add so much as well! It was cool to not only read but see what was happening. The characters acted just as kids their age would… their emotions are a bit over the top as they should be at that age and I just kept turning the pages.
The book touches on real life situations that are not always what you see in a middle grade read. I was impressed to see Raina go there, and go there well. While the subject line may not be for everyone, it is true to school life today and I say kudos for authors who take the road less traveled and at the same time do it age appropriate.
I have only one small peeve about the book and the more I think about it I can’t make up my mind if it annoys me or if it is brilliant on the authors part. It is enough to cause me to create a spoiler page so I can discuss it with others who have read this book. If you have – feel free to follow the spoiler link below and let me know your thoughts as well. 😀
Final thoughts: DRAMA is a really good middle grade read. I think it is a good discussion book for parents and their kids to discuss together. The book handles situations well and respectfully but definitely brings up some great discussion questions I think, for kids to talk about with their parents. I was impressed with Raina’s story and the characters. I am definitely going to read more from this author, and already have my eye on her book, SMILE.
After her husband had passed away, her garden and her thriving plant business is her sanctuary. Between that and her son Isaac, Tilly finds enough to keep her mind busy and to avoid sticking a toe out beyond her own little world. Its safe in Tilly’s world and it is enough.
James Nealy has money to spare and when he wants something… it is just a matter of tossing money at it to make it so. As an in demand software developer he has trouble quieting the activity in his mind, but he has a plan to do just that… by creating a garden. He has seen Tilly’s work and wants her to be the designer even as she doesn’t think she is the right person for the job – after all, she sells plants, she does not design gardens.
And so the story goes, a family emergency creates a new way to escape for Tilly and as she retreats with Isaac to where she grew up she finds that while on the outside things look wonderfully the same – they clearly are not. Her best friend has a secret, her mother is plotting, and an old boyfriend is available and that is a temptation Tilly does not want… but does.
And then suddenly there is the compulsive and attractive James knocking on her door, asking again about an idea he has for a garden…..
As featured in Book Page magazine
Why did I want to read this book? Well… cover love for one! This was offered to me through a TLC book tour and I thought the synopsis sounded fun.
AND The Unfinished Garden was fun… an adventure really. Barbara Claypole White’s characters jump off the page. I was reading this book this past week and while at first it seemed a bit jumbled (those first pages…) do not be discouraged! Suddenly the book was flowing nicely along and I really found myself enjoying Tilly and her strength. While James is not normally the type of character I would find myself drawn to (the impulsiveness, the guilt he carries) I dd find myself waver a bit… it was not a love, but I was able to like him.
The book provided a nice story line that kept me engaged and interested. I am not a fan of romance reads, but this one never felt heavy in that department and I am thankful for that. This book to me was a story about second chances and finding the strength to let go… and in ways that are both sweet and surprising, I think you will find that both Tilly and James are characters with flaws that are endearing because they reflect some of the same flaws we can find in ourselves.
Dak Smyth leads a pretty boring, he actually prefers to spend most of his time in the past, digging through history books and spouting out facts much to his parents embarrassment and his classmates delight to ridicule him. His best friend Sera Frosts however gets him… in fact, if someone to ask Dak, he would tell you that she is an even bigger nerd than he is.
When Sera finds the final piece to Dak’s parents secret attempt at creating a time machine called the Infinity Ring, Daks life gets a whole lot more interesting. After all, how much cooler is it to go back and experience history first hand then read about it hundreds of years later? When Dak and Sera go back in time with Dak’s parents things go terribly wrong… for one thing, when they return Dak and Sera are alone, somehow Dak’s parents are lost in time. And when Dak and Sera are taken away by people who want and need what the Infinity Ring can do… things go from bad to worse.
Now Dak and Sera, and a Historian named Riq are on a mission to go back in time and not only fix what is called a “break” in time, but hopefully find Dak’s parents along the way. First stop… Spain, 1492…. and a meeting with Christopher Columbus!
Why did I want to read this book? I met James Dashner in New York this past June and thought he was hilarious. I enjoyed his quick whit and while I have two of his books on my shelves, I have yet to read them. When he showed us a sample of what was coming up with Infinity Ring and the on line game that goes with it.. I ( a recovering gamer myself…) was sold.
Read at the cabin!
Infinity Ring is a middle grade style read. In the beginning it gave me memories of Narnia, kids traveling to another world, in this case, another time. Yet Infinity Ring is going to speak to todays young teens. The book is fun and moves quickly and holds your attention. Within the book the main characters (all in their teens) solve word and picture puzzles to know what they are supposed to do. I found this highly engaging as I love puzzles and wanted to figure out the clues right along with them!
While the 8-14 year old will enjoy this book, parents can be thrilled that they are getting in a little history as well. Dashner as sprinkled this story with historical facts about the places they visit. When the book is done, the front flap of the book has a secret panel that the reader is to open only after they have finished the book. I can not tell you what is behind the flap… I can tell you that it is super cool. 😀
And finally, I think what is also going to excite the readers is the online game that goes with the book(s) where you can go and work the puzzles out yourself and solve the breaks, just like the characters do in the book!
Not only did I really enjoy the multi dimensions of the book, I love the fact that this will be a series of books that will be written by different authors and continue the story. The book was fairly short but I think that is a good length for the age of the reader and it will leave them wanting more.
Recommended! Can’t wait to read more of Dashner!
**Note I received an ARC of this book while in New York and I am offering that book up for giveaway at this time. Leave a comment here letting me know if you were to go back in time, where would you like to go and why? What historical event would you like to witness? I will choose a winner on Tuesday, Sept. 4
Irene and Nate Live a happy life in Illinois with their two children Bliss and Shep. When Nate is offered a job as a Deputy Sheriff in Oregon, he surprises the family by jumping at the offer and moving them. Irene is angry with her husband’s decision, but the family moves and as they start to get settled into their new life,
tragedy strikes.
During what appears to be a robbery of their home, 15-year-old Shep is shot and killed during this event. The Stanleys fall apart in the wake of this tragedy. The man who shot Shep, Daniel Robbin, is caught and put away for life.
Many years later, Irene receives the letter she has both waited for and dreaded, the announcement of the date that Daniel Robbins will be put to death by lethal injection. Things are not as they once were for Irene and she is not sure that she still feels that Daniel should be executed, a thought she has kept to herself through the years.. .never sharing this with her husband Nate or her daughter, Bliss.
What secrets Irene carries are heavy… but Irene is not the only one to have secrets. The result being a head on crash of emotions and explosive opinions that will leave your head spinning to the very last page.
Why did I want to read this book? My friend and fellow Bookie Angie gave me a copy of this book after she read it and loved it. Angie’s tastes in books usually are god ones that I enjoy too so I was excited to read this book that she said led to great inner thought. Shortly after it was given to me, it was also chosen as our August book club read.
The Crying Tree was a book I picked up and instantly fell into the flow of the read. Told in alternating chapters, I started to understand the flow of the “that was then” and “this is now”. The Crying Tree was a beautiful story of deep family secrets that only build on one another as the story unfolds.
The secrets that can define us is a huge theme in this book and as The Crying Tree opens, page by page secrets are revealed to you, the reader, that are both shocking and thought-provoking at the same time. The deeper you travel within this book, the more you are let in on the secrets of The Crying Tree.
WOW. Oh WOW. That’s my take and I am sticking with it. What I thought I knew about The Crying Tree in the early part of the book was nothing compared to what was revealed as I became a part of the book. Sometimes I don’t know why I do not see what is going to happen next but int his book I did not see it coming and I am so glad I didn’t because the tight grip I had on this book as my mouth hung open in shock…
was…
well… SO WORTH IT.
The Crying Tree is not a book for everyone, it does deal with hard subject matter, however… I think it is a book that should be read by everyone because it does make you think and look at yourself honestly and say “what would I have done?” A powerful read that will remain on my bookshelves as a reminder to myself as to how powerful the written word is.
BOOKIES THOUGHTS….
The Bookies book club gathered in my home in August 2012 to review this book. I had twenty questions prepared for discussion and our questions brought up such good thoughtful discussion that I had to eliminate about half the questions or we probably would still be reviewing this book.
The discussion was phenomenal… it was hard, truthful, and passionate. We really wrapped ourselves around the idea of forgiveness and how much (if anything) is too big to forgive. Do you need faith in God to forgive? (This was a question due to the fact that Irene starts out as a strong Christian woman but as the book unfolds and a very poor example of a pastor is her “go to for faith” guy… she walks away from her faith.
We also spent time discussing how well in today’s world we know our kids… at the time the book was written (in the 80’s), Irene admits that she did not always know what her children were up too when she was at work or out running errands. She believed they came right home after school, but if she was honest… she did not know that for sure. Those of us in the discussion feel that even with the addition of cell phones, we still can not be sure we know what our kids are doing all the time – and lives if anything, have just become more cluttered with activity.
The overall thoughts from our book club was on a scale of 1-5 ( 5 being the highest), The Crying Tree rated a 4 average.
Of course… we brought food:
Teardrop Salad
Kale chips
Not pictured: Our main dish – “Last Meal” Chicken Yellow Squash hotdish and The chocolate mint pie.
Imagine… you are a newly single mom with three sons. All your boys are wonderful and your son Sammy who just completed 5th grade has been told by his teacher that he scores higher in math skills then she has ever seen.
Then that summer before 6th grade right after a move into a new home, Sammy starts some strange behavior. He refuses to use the bathroom in the house and wants to only go outside to do his bathroom “business”, he also refuses to touch door knobs, and picks up things like silverware and phones with a kleenex over his hand. Sammy slithers against walls, climbs over invisible obstacles, eats and walks with his eyes shut, hops to and from the car, has outbursts for no reason, refuses to bathe, and overall seems to be slipping into madness.
At first Beth Maloney, Sam’s mother, feels it is stress related due to her recent divorce from the boys father as well as the newness and/or strangeness of the new home. But Sammy continues to get worse, unable to visit friends, go to school when it starts, or be left unattended. Beth feels she is going crazy, missing work and visiting dr after dr as they diagnose Sammy with OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) PANDA’s and even tourettes. Later, Sammy gets to the point where he is unable to climb stairs and needs 20 – 40 minutes to get in or out of a vehicle.
This book is the true story of Beth’s undieing strength to find out what was wrong with her son, traveling to many doctor, trying many different options for cures, refusing to let go until her boy was brought back to who he once was.
Why did I want to read this book? I enjoy books about triumph over all odds and this subject matter interests me. My own son in 4th grade was told by his teacher that he had ADD. Being a young mom and having no resources to assist me, I agreed to put our son on the ADD medicine. I remember that school year being a battle as the pills had to be taken at noon but they had to remain in the main office. My son would continuously forget to go at noon to take his pill and then the office would refuse to give it to him because he did not come at the right time even though forgetfulness is a side affect of ADD. *sigh* Once summer came, I took our son off the medicine because it gave him headaches and told him we would see if a teacher said anything in the fall when he started middle school. No one ever said that he had ADD again.
I did not mean to listen to this audio book now. Ok, that sounds harsh, but in fact it is a cool thing. What I mean is last week while mowing the lawn my last audio book ended. The only book I had on my IPOD that I had not listened to yet was this one. I felt I was not in the mood for a non fiction read but felt I could listen to it until I was done mowing for the day. I instantly found myself engaged in the story line. I did not know behavior could change so quickly and I gave Beth a lot of credit for handling it as well as she did. (She admits to coming near to snapping a couple times but really – who wouldnt?)
Sammy’s story is truly incredible. The narrator, Tavia Gilbert did a nice job of reading from Beth’s perspective. She read with such intensity and passion that I had to check to make sure Beth was not reading this herself!
I would think that anyone who has a child who has been diagnosed with OCD could relate well to this book – to Beth’s celebration of the small triumphs and the sheer downfall when habits returned after feeling it may be over.
I am personally fascinated by the Romanova’s and wonder if
I may enjoy this one more than Camryn as I love Historical Fiction!
~Sheila
Anastasia’s Secret is a book written by Susanne Dunlap. Anastasia Romanova is the daughter of the very last Russian tsar during the first World War. Anastasia’s family is used to a quiet existence, with occasional outings outside the palace. But when the revolution that builds up to World War one begins, her quiet, sheltered life with her family is torn apart. Her sisters, Olga, Tatiana, and Maria, her brother Alexei, her mother Alexandra and father Nicholas are all forced to move from palace to palace, under heavy guard, to stay out of harm’s way. Anastasia is always with her best friend, the boy she loves, Sasha. Sasha is a sympathetic young guard she met when she was just twelve years old. Their bond is strong, and he helps her in every way he can without drawing attention to himself. But, as the uprisings happen more and more often, will Anastasia’s family make it through the war? Or will they become yet more casualties?
A family surrounded by mystery….
I thought this book was….okay. It was slow moving, and at parts a little dull. I did like the way the author really portrayed Anastasia’s pain throughout the book; I felt like I understood her. The ending is really sad, and abrupt. But, you can’t change history. I read the epilogue, and I advise you to read it as well. It gives you a little more detail about what happened to Anastasia and her family. I would recommend this to anyone who like historical fiction.
Camryn is 13 years old, and enjoys reading YA books of the fantasy and romance genre. A few of her favorite books are “Hourglass” by Myra McEntire, “The Other Countess” by Eve Edwards, “Hush, Hush” by Becca Fitzpatrick, “The Immortals” series, the “Marked” series and the “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” series. When she’s not reading she enjoys watching Gilmore Girls or going to book sales for more books to add to her ever-growing collection.
Born in Ethiopia, Samuelsson was three years old when his mother walked him and his sister 75 miles to be treated for Tuberculosis. Once they arrived at the capital city of Ethiopia, Addis Adapa, Marcus’ mom died on the disease, but Marcus and his sister were treated and recovered. Now orphans, they were both adopted by a middle class family that lived in Sweden.
And this is where Marcus started to learn about food. His new Grandmother Mormor took Marcus under her wing and showed him how to cook and to use everything. She made everything herself and taught Marcus that nothing went to waste. Fresh baked bread was served the first day with lunch and dinner, on the second day it was good for toast, and then after that it was good for croutons and breading for battered fish.
As a teen Marcus first applied to work at a McDonald’s but was turned down for employment due to his color. (How funny to think that now one of the most famous chefs in the world was once denied to flip burgers and shake salt in fries…)
As years went on Marcus worked in restaurant after restaurant learning the kitchen as well as the back of his hand. He loved to try new things together and soon Head Chefs were looking to his for new menu ideas and new flavors. Eventually Marcus was given opportunities to travel back to Ethiopia to learn the flavors of his home land.
When he was Head Chef at Aquavit he earned a coveted three star rating for his cooking in the New York Times that sent him forward in huge strides, including being on several Top Chef TV shows, and cooking for the White House.
Marcus’s story is not all up hill, there are times of career crisis, emotional happenings, law suits, and eventually he is led to opening his current Restaurant the Red Rooster in Harlem.
Marcus first hand lets the reader know the price of ambition, the cost of wanting perfection, the battle to be respected by his peers, and ultimately his road to finding the restaurant of his dreams.
Fish Tostadas
Why did I want to read this book? I first seen this book in a Shelf Awareness email. Oddly, although I do not have the patience to cook, I love reading about those who do and succeed. Marcus’ story from Ethiopia as a lost boy to the Big Apple as a household name was one I wanted to know more about.
Yes Chef delivered everything I hoped it would. Marcus tells his story in an honest and humble tone from beginning to end. My copy of this book is covered in little post it arrows where I marked how he prepared truffles (you add them to the sauce at the very end so as not to cook all the flavor out), and his Spanish breakfast (ripe tomatoes peeled and then crushed on toast adding a grind or two of black pepper), and how to make a lobster lasagna. When curing duck breasts Marcus would soak then in a large pan of salted water with a plate weighing them down for 6 hours.
Mouth watering yet?
And in between pages of mixing seasonings and different flavors is Marcus’ story. Growing up and moving out… restaurant experiences that are detailed from where he got it right, and from when he should have been fired and by grace he was not. And then into Marcus’ life as the one doing the firing and trying to find kitchen held that understood the demands of a kitchen, one employee even telling him,
“You can ask me to be on time, iron my shirt, shave or not to wear sneakers, but you can’t ask them all of me… it’s too much.”
~Page 309 Yes CHEF
Yes Chef was interesting and a fun book to read that I will refer to again and again. Marcus is a true story of battling against the odds, fighting prejudices and coming out on top. His tips on food throughout the book are things I want to try, things I would have never considered, but when I read Yes CHEF, I felt inspired.
Highly recommended to lovers of memoirs, cooking related books and success stories… I loved this book.
Marcus’ fried chicken served at Red Rooster
marinate chicken in coconut milk (I would use chicken breasts not whole chicken, but that’s me)
cure in lemon
steam it and bone it
fry in day old oil
serve with greens, sweet potato fries, buttermilk dressing and hot sauce and pickled watermelon rind
This review is part of Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth Fish Reads
32 year old Caddie Winger had been raised by her grandmother since she was 9 years old, after her mother had died. Now, Nana is no longer as strong as she used to be, and Caddie finds that the roles has reversed, and now she is the caretaker. When Nana falls and breaks her leg she insists on going to an assisted living home, much to Caddie’s objections. Now, suddenly Caddie finds herself living alone for the first time since college.
When visiting the home to see her Nana, Caddie meets a whole cast of interesting characters, that not only occupy some of her lonely time, but also teach her life lessons that are priceless.
Why did I want to listen to this audio? Title. I love summer. If the title is going to have the word “summer” in it, I am going to take a closer look… 😀
*sigh* This is going to be hard review, mainly because I just really never connected with Caddie at all. The story was basic, nothing profound or original that spoke to me. While a sweet story, and funny at points (I did really enjoy my time in the assisted living home with that crack group of characters!), there were no big “ah ha” moments for me…
and maybe, that is not important.
But….
in this case, the book needed something to glue it together… and either I missed it or it wasn’t there (both… are possible.) Goodbye Summer is a fine story and as long as you are looking for just a good read that passes a beautiful summer time with a marginal main character but a cast of fun background characters who even in an assisted living home are working on their bucket lists (I do admit.. I like their style) then Goodbye Summer can fit the bill.
Camryn stops in again with another YA read that has captured her heart!
~Sheila
I Now Pronounce You Someone Else
I Now Pronounce You Someone Else is a shorter novel written by Erin McCahan. Bronwen Oliver has never really related to her parents. She doesn’t look like them, she doesn’t act like them. Because of this, she developed a make believe scenario in which her name is Phoebe Lilywhite, and she was switched at birth with the real Bronwen Oliver. She and her best friend Kirsten have been doing this for years. Bronwen was dating Chad Dykstra, but the relationship was never serious and was ended. Bronwen is a senior in high school, preparing for college. At a coffee shop with Kirsten, she meets an adorable friend of her brothers, Jared Sondervan.
As the summer progresses, Bronwen falls for Jared, hard. And vice versa. But when Jared proposes, and Bronwen accepts, she’s not sure she made the right decision. As Bronwen figures out her feelings, she can’t help but wonder what she would do, were she Phoebe Lilywhite.
I really liked this book. I always love a good love story, and this one was sweet. It was well written, and the plot moved fast enough but not too fast. You learn lots of things about Bronwen that makes her seem more real, and I always see from the point of view of one character, usually the dominant one. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a novel with twists, turns, and a good ending.
Camryn is 13 years old, and enjoys reading YA books of the fantasy and romance genre. A few of her favorite books are “Hourglass” by Myra McEntire, “The Other Countess” by Eve Edwards, “Hush, Hush” by Becca Fitzpatrick, “The Immortals” series, the “Marked” series and the “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” series. When she’s not reading she enjoys watching Gilmore Girls or going to book sales for more books to add to her ever-growing collection.
Nick and Amy’s marriage started out just as you would hope, two people deeply in love. Nick was handsome and care free, Amy was beautiful and the “Amy” behind her parents ‘Amazing Amy’ book series which left Amy with quite a little nest egg…
but things are not always as they seem….
As years go by, things change for the happy couple. Amy gives the majority of her money back to her parents when they hit financial difficulties, then both she and Nick lose their jobs in New York. Nick’s mom is sick and his dad has Alzheimer’s so the couple moves back to Missouri to be close to his parents and start over. Amy uses the last large chunk of her inheritance to help Nick and his twin sister Margo purchase a bar.
Now, on their five-year anniversary a very different couple has emerged from where Nick and Amy started. They can not seem to connect any more and that morning Nick leaves for his bar, only to receive a call shortly after from a neighbor saying something seems wrong at Nick’s home, the door is wide open, the cat who is never allowed outside is on the front step. Nick comes home to find the living room tore apart, the iron left on, and Amy missing.
As a closer look is taken, and with the help of the clues that Amy left for Nick as she does every year to find his anniversary present, Nick soon becomes the prime suspect. Having his own secrets, Nick works with his sister trying to get to the bottom of what happened to Amy.
but things are not always as they seem….
As the story unfolds…. there is more than meets the eye and a very twisted tale unfolds which really shows that you never know what goes on behind white picket fences and closed doors.
It looks like Gone Girl is in the works to become a movie starring Reese Witherspoon. That is a movie I want to see!
Why did I want to read this book? Angie from my book club and from By Book Or By Crook, was gushing about this book and wanted to discuss it with others who had read it. Angie has pretty good book choices so to hear her gush made me want to read the book too. I ordered it immediately.
How does one describe Gone Girl? At first it came off as a well written mystery… and it is, but it is also more. I think I may need to quote Alison from Alison’s Bookmarks here, where in her review of this book she said simply, “Holy S_ _ _.” Yup, that can really sum it up! 😀
So now… here is my review as best as I can put it hours after finishing but still staring at the book cover with a wild eyed look of “What the…”
Gone Girl is as I said a mystery. No scratch that… it is a thriller. But also – not your run of the mill thriller (enter scary man stage left) but add PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER to the mix. Yup… it is a little wacky but oh so good!
This is one of those books that are hard to review because it is so masterfully put together you (I) do not want to give anything away that is best for the reader (you) to discover on your own. Which.. leaves me in the awkward position of saying pretty much…
nothing.
Let me put it like this, what you think you know… you don’t. When you think you have it all figured out (like I did by page 111), you don’t. You are not even close to the crazy that is happening up in here. When I told my friend Angie how much I was loving it she asked “are you on part 2 yet?” and I responded., “There’s a part 2?????” I flipped ahead about ten pages and sure enough… the book has a part two, and as long as I am sharing… also a part three.
Gone Girl is one of those books you do not want to put down. I read that first day I picked it up as long as I could into the evening until I felt my eyes droop and I had to stop. A rarity for me, I read this while standing at the grill the next evening, instead of listening to an audio book. Folks… this just does not happen. 😯 In fact, I spent the better part of two days reading this book in every spare moment I could squeeze out and my thoughts on it went something like this:
“WHAT?”
“Noooooo….”
“That can’t be, ri… oh. It is.”
“NO WAY!”
“That’s crazy!”
“That’s brilliant!”
“Oh no he didn’t!”
“OH NO, she didnt!”
Yes, this is my review of Gone Girl. Fantastic. Perhaps, the best book I have read in 2012 so far. It is different than anything I have read before, well through out and now I am seriously curious about author Gillian Flynn’s state of mind (kidding, kidding… I think…). So well thought out… so amazingly put together… I am still sitting here in awe and on my way to see what else she has written. The more I think about the author Gillian Flynn and how she worked in this story line between other story lines and had me thinking one thing but should have been another… and well, lets just say from this post forward Gillian Flynn will be known to me as “The Great And Wonderful Gillian Flynn”.
RECOMMENDED!
*Note: Occasional crude language, nothing over the top (I hate that), but it is there and I want you to be aware.
Also, those of you who have read this and are DYING to gush,vent, rage, chat, ask questions about the book, I have fueled up and dusted off the SPOILER PAGE – let’s talk details!!!! Click below! 😀
Book Journey 