Book Journey

Book Journey traveled to Kansas

When in Kansas check out Pages Books and Coffee

304 pages

Cover:  Fantastic!  It is so eye catching the book will sell on cover love! ♥

Twelve-year-old Henry York wakes up one night to find bits of plaster in his hair. Two knobs have broken through the wall above his bed and one of them is slowly turning . . .Henry scrapes the plaster off the wall and discovers cupboards of all different sizes and shapes. Through one he can hear the sound of falling rain. Through another he sees a glowing room–with a man pacing back and forth! Henry soon understands that these are not just cupboards, but portals to other worlds.

100 Cupboards is the first book of a new fantasy adventure, written in the best world-hopping tradition and reinvented in N. D. Wilson’s inimitable style.

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I found this little treasure on one of my favorite blog haunts, The Rabbit Room. I seen it and felt a little “Harry Potter” vibe go through me…. so picked this one up.

Once into the book I did discover that there truly is a Harry Potter vibe to the book…. starting with our main character Henry, who is now living with his Aunt and Uncle as his parents (and I use this term loosely) are being held hostage in another country.

While I found the book good, I felt it dragged a bit in the middle and picked up when the adventure continues within the cupboards.  Oops – did I say too much?  😉

I can see where a Middle Grader (MG) would devourer this book .  N.D. Wilson has a way with words and a gift of imagination that will pull you in to all sorts of  possibilities.   There is so much fun within the pages!  As this book concludes there is a bit of violence and scary parts that a parent may like to take a look at before giving to a young reader of 9 years and under.

This book is a part of a series and I do have books two and three to continue reading them, as the book did hold my interest and I really really want  to want to know whats up with the ____________, why did Henry __________________, who are the _________________, and what will become of the cupboards?

Want to fill in the blanks?  Read the book.  😉

I purchased my copy of this book from The Rabbit Room

Book Journey traveled to San Francisco

Get delicious jam thumb prints at the Piccino Coffee Bar

304 pages

Cover:  Its good… I think it really captures the book

An arresting story about starting over after a friend’s suicide, from a breakthrough new voice in YA fiction.

dear caitlin, there are so many things that i want so badly to tell you but i just can’t.

Devastating, hopeful, hopeless, playful . . . in words and illustrations, Ingrid left behind a painful farewell in her journal for Caitlin. Now Caitlin is left alone, by loss and by choice, struggling to find renewed hope in the wake of her best friend’s suicide. With the help of family and newfound friends, Caitlin will encounter first love, broaden her horizons, and start to realize that true friendship didn’t die with Ingrid. And the journal which once seemed only to chronicle Ingrid’s descent into depression, becomes the tool by which Caitlin once again reaches out to all those who loved Ingrid—and Caitlin herself.

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I picked this book up while I was in Florida at Books A  Million.   Cover and story line drew me in and I was curious to see where this story on teenage suicide would lead.

As the book opened up and I read the first 10 – 15 pages I thought, “The writer has no emotion, it was like everything was just matter of fact – what Caitlin was doing…. it felt – monotone.  And then a new feeling washed over me.  A cold one.

This is grief I thought.  I know grief all too well, and suddenly my appreciation for the book and the author grew in leaps and bounds.  Grief is at times non emotional.  You go through the motions of life, of what you are suppose to – meant to do…. but there is no feeling behind it.  Because – there is no feeling in you.  And this is where I find Caitlin.  And we connect.

I appreciate a book that lets you feel without being told how you should feel.  hold still was just that type of book.  As Caitlin works through her grief, at times seeming so real that tears fell down my face, I could feel the mood of the book lift.

I really could go on and on about the book.   When Caitlin finds a new friend, there is that sense of betrayal to her friend Ingrid who committed suicide.  And then there is the diary which reminded me a little of Thirteen reasons Why (another fantastic book), but this one clearly stood on its own.  Caitlin starts to understand her friend Ingrid more and more through the pages of the diary and reminded me once again how fragile teenagers can be as they deal with growing up, that boy/girl that they really wish would notice them, parents who couldn’t possibly understand, school pressures, friends, popularity….

The more I read, the more impressed I came with the book and have to say this is a fantastic read.  Even as I look at it now for this review, I wish there was more.  It was one of those books that you fall into and befriend the characters, and I miss them already.

I purchased my copy of this book from Books A Million in Pensacola, Florida

Tiziana Manoretti is an only child in her late twenties blessed with loving parents, a promising career, and a best friend who fiercely protects her. When her mother falls seriously ill and the relationship between her parents becomes suddenly strained, a carefully hidden family secret is revealed and Tiziana’s seemingly idealistic world is turned upside down.

After discovering she was born in a Naples orphanage and subsequently given up for adoption, Tiziana sets out for the small town of Gaeta in an attempt to find her birth parents. Meanwhile, her best friend Christopher is sending her mixed messages, causing her to wonder if there is more to their relationship than just companionship. As she becomes intertwined with a handful of interesting characters who help her uncover her past, Tiziana needs to decide whether her feelings for Christopher are deeper than she realizes. She discovers herself and others all while her family’s resilience and love for one another is tested when confronted with a shocking truth.

The answers lie in a box found in a closet in Italy, and Tiziana must determine if she wants to embrace the heartache and the pain from her past in order to learn forgiveness and find peace in the future.

I really enjoyed my time with Tiziana.  This is a book that I read the synopsis of and thought it sounded like a wonderfully intriguing story and guess what?  It was!

I enjoy books that make you feel like you are there – right in the story and that was the feeling I found within the pages of Daughter of Mine.  I could imagine Tiziana’s feeling of despair and confusion as her life goes from near perfect (picture Snow White surrounded by birds and critters) to a turmoil that had to be gut wrenching.

I would not have looked at this book and called it a romance…. but in a way, it is.  Not being a big fan of the romance genre – I have to say I was pleased how this book flowed into that genre, but also was surrounded by mystery.

I found the book to be well written, beautifully detailed in characters and settings.  Daughter Of Mine had a quality about it that made the book feel real to me.

About Laura:

Laura Fabiani has been writing as far back as she can remember, making use of poetry and short compositions throughout her youth to express her ideas and feelings.  One of her early goals in life was to write a novel. She began several of them, but never brought them to completion… until one day her sister asked, “Laura, when are you going to finish that book you once talked about writing?”

That’s when Fabiani finally sat down and began to write where she had left off more than eight years ago, when the idea for Daughter of Mine was sparked listening to her mother-in-law’s stories of her youth in her native Naples.

Italy has always held a special place for Laura Fabiani because her parents are Italian immigrants. Her father is from the beautiful mountainous region of Pescara in Abruzzo and her mother from the romantic city of Rome. In addition, Fabiani’s maternal grandmother came from a noble family in Gaeta, Naples. Fabiani has traveled several times to Italy and stayed in her ancestral home in Rome with her relatives.

When not writing or immersed in study, she divides her time between taking care of her family and sharing in a volunteer worldwide Bible education program. Of all the literature Fabiani has read, the Holy Scriptures have shaped her life the most. She has deep respect for this book that has influenced some of the world’s greatest art, literature, music and has had a significant impact on law. “It teaches us how to live the best life now and in the future,” she believes.

She is currently working on her second novel. She lives with her husband and two children in Montreal, Quebec.

My Amazon Review

I received my review copy from the author, Laura Fabiani.  This in no way has any effect on how I reviewed this book.