Random Musings of a Bibliophile

Look! It's a review. I actually had enough time to read a whole new to me book and write about it. Things are getting back to a normal here, people. I became a fan of N.D. Wilson's writing after the release of his very first book Leepike Ridge . I am an enthusiastic fan and pusher of both his 100 Cupboards  trilogy and Ashtown Burials series. His latest book, The Door Before , is billed as a prequel to the 100 Cupboards , but it is also a prequel to the Ashtown Series as well. Hyacinth Smith has a gift. Her father refers to it as a green touch. Hyacinth just knows she can coax life from growing things making them larger and bigger-giving them the power to reach their full potential. Hyacinth's family has always traveled around, staying in other people's homes and doing odd jobs. Now they finally have a home of their own, but the family is splitting up. Her older siblings are going to a special camp for children in the Order her parents are a part of. Her parents are...

I'm back again! Hopefully more regularly this time. This move has taken more out of me than the last one did for sure. But we are in our new house and almost completely unpacked. I still need to get a library card. It is on my list of things to do today, but hopefully the reviews will start again soon. In the meantime, it's the second Friday of the month so here is the Future Favorite Friday post for October! Varian Johnson's Great Greene Heist duo is a favorite in our house. I'm excited about his latest upcoming novel.  The letter waits in a book, in a box, in an attic, in an old house in Lambert, South Carolina. It's waiting for Candice Miller.  When Candice finds the letter, she isn't sure she should read it. It's addressed to her grandmother, after all, who left Lambert in a cloud of shame. But the letter describes a young woman named Siobhan Washington. An injustice that happened decades ago. A mystery enfolding the letter-writer. And t...

Here is a round up of all the books I chose not to finish, adult reads, and favorite reads of the last three months. The DNFs (with links to my reasons why on Goodreads): Love, Ish  by Karen Rivers Windfall by Jennifer Smith Adult Reads (with links to Goodreads reviews): Beauty Like the Night  by Joanna Bourne (historical romance) Rogue Desire   by various (contemporary romance) The Watchmaker of Filigree Street  by Natasha Pulley (mystery, steam-punk, historical) The Best of the Best (links to my reviews): Beauty Like the Night   by Joanna Bourne Emperor of Mars  by Patrick Samphire An Uninterrupted View of the Sky by Melanie Crowder

Top Ten Tuesday  is a Meme hosted by  The Broke and the Bookish This week's TTT topic: Books That Feature Characters Who.... I'm back! Finally. Kind of sort of. I'm still in the transition process. We close on our house this week and get our stuff soon after. Then comes the unpacking. But I'm getting in more time for reading again. (Stay tuned.) In the meantime, this week's Top Ten Tuesday was one I couldn't pass up. When I saw this week's topic, I immediately though of my favorite kind of heroine: The "Difficult" Female. Who finds these fine ladies difficult? Usually the people in their stories angry that they won't fit in the nice neat boxes they want to stuff them in. And they won't go quietly into them either. I find it strange that many times readers  don't like these heroines either, probably because they are my everything. Difficult Woman: The Queen of Attolia Who Finds her Difficult: Pretty much everyone else in...

Here are some shorter musings on recent reads First Class Murder  by Robin Stevens This delightful series continues to make me smile. Hazel is coming in to her own so nicely and I can't wait to see how that affects her relationship with Daisy. I can already see more strain starting to develop. I hope that it eventually leads to more growth on Daisy's part. Meanwhile, I love the callbacks to classic mysteries and was delighted to see my two favorites from book two make cameos. Alexander was a great secondary character addition in this as well. I can not wait for the US to catch up to where the series is in the UK! If you haven't experienced these wonderful MG books and are a fan of old fashioned mystery stories, start with Murder is Bad Manners . The Daybreak Bond  by Megan Frazer Blakemore This is an enjoyable sequel to last year's [book:The Firefly Code|26073153]. It answers a lot of questions brought up in the first book and has the continued adventure of the Fi...

My family is moving. Again. I did this just a little over three years ago. Fortunately this time it looks as though we will be staying in the same place for a while. In the mean time, things around here might slow down a little. Or a lot. In addition to the regular moving things, school just started. I can't exactly let that slide even a little bit or we will have a TERRIBLE year. It will be almost impossible to get them back on track if I let things slide even a tiny bit. And even more, moves in my husband's business happen fast. From the date we found out until he reports to work is six weeks, but I want the kids there for homeschool co-op so we really only have a five week turn around really. And we need to find a house. I'm excellent at handling day to day stress. And even slightly extra stress. I've moved every 2-5 years my whole life so I'm actually pretty good at it. But there are several factors about this move that have ratcheted the stress up eve...

This is a feature I am starting to highlight upcoming books I'm particularly excited about. If you would like to join me, you are welcome. Please just link back to this post in your own. I've included a Mr. Linky at the bottom. Right now I'm only going to do it the 2nd Friday of the month, but I'm open to doing it more often if there is enough interest. I can't believe I haven't featured this book on the blog yet. I love Jason Reynolds. I have every book he's written and I adore every single one of them. The man is fiercely talented. This one sounds like it could become my favorite book of his so far. We are getting so many Jason Reynolds books this fall though it feels like drowning in riches. (This, Patina , and the Miles Morales Spiderman book. Woo-hoo!) A cannon. A strap. A piece. A biscuit. A burner. A heater. A chopper. A gat. A hammer A tool for RULE Or, you can call it a gun. That’s what fifteen-year-old Will has shoved in the back wai...