Category: Books



There's No Such Thing As Monsters
There’s No Such Thing As Monsters by Michael Yu
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What great pictures! I loved them so much. I loved the story, too. The rhythm falls apart, though, when the title theme is repeated. Still, I think this would have been a favorite for my children and I to read so long ago. This was a great message to all of us that see things with our imagination after dark. That dark coat hanging on the door can look like a person standing there. It has had my heart beating with fear on occasion. 😉

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Children's book: Pete the Amazing Dragon (Fairy tales books)
Children’s book: Pete the Amazing Dragon (Fairy tales books) by Tal Nir
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I love dragons! I love chocolate! How could I resist this free Kindle book? I loved the cover picture, too. The rest was only okay. Sorry. I wanted more and bigger pictures and was annoyed by the writing that had many uncomfortable sentences. Rhyming ‘well’ with ‘well’ well…

When I review children’s books I try to think of what my children would have liked, what would have spawned great conversations, what I would have enjoyed. I think mine would have gone back to books with more and bigger illustrations. I do like the fact that you can get the coloring book. That would have drawn us all into possible addicts of Pete the Dragon. This one just didn’t work well as a Kindle book for me.

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A Charlie Brown Christmas
A Charlie Brown Christmas by Charles M. Schulz
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have always related to Charlie Brown. He is wishy-washy in a debate as he is able to see both sides of the argument and then because of that both side are mean to him. The good side of being that way is that you can pick and chose and grow with your opinion. In the end, he always wins. Heck, the cartoons are headed with his name. That cute little wooden tree wins, too. Of course, for this former tree-book-lover turned Kindle-e-book-lover. tree-hugger, my choice of tree would have been the live potted kind that can be planted outside later. This year my tree was a recycled catalogue folded into the shape of a tree for collecting and displaying a few Christmas/Holiday cards. We don’t have room for trees in our tiny over crowded apartment.

Back to the review. I love the cartoon. Usually the book is better than Hollywood versions. In this case, not so much. I couldn’t read it at all on my Fire. I could barely read it on my Tablet. I didn’t even try on my Second Generation or Kindle Keyboard. There is no text-to-speech available. On those Kindles there is no color pictures. But for the purpose of handing a tablet to the child to listen to the story this stinks! And this book isn’t loanable. The only good way to read it is the PC Kindle. And hey. where is the great music? I miss Schroeder’s piano playing!

Though the Christmas tree, which has become just as commercialized as the rest of what used to be a Holy Day which was borrowed from pagan religions and even the date was changed for Christ’s birth to win over the pagans aligning closely with Solstice. SO let’s instead stay with Peace and Love and respect for our planet as steward. Care for people as Christ did for the woman at the well. The Angel said “Be not afraid.” Fear is what is causing the bigotry and wars. That to me is the real reason for the season: Peace and Love and Be Not Afraid. Possible that was the message of this illustrated book with font too small too read. Great pictures. though!

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The Saving Mars Series
The Saving Mars Series by Cidney Swanson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh. My. Goodness. I love, love, love this series! Oh, how I wish this would have been around when I was a young adult. I think it would have been the motivation I needed to pursue being an astronaut, math skills be damned!

Don’t be afraid to read it if you are a little younger than a “young adult”. I think even as young as a 10 year old could read it as this is a fairly benign story. Still it is a great adventure with space travel and futuristic life on Mars and Earth. I’m 64. I can’t get enough of these books. There are older characters to relate to in the story, too.

Speaking of characters, as much as I love the girl from Mars, Jess, her brother, Eth, is even more fascinating. He is a highly functioning autistic person or maybe he has Asberger’s syndrome. The author never applies a label, which I find refreshing. Eth uses what he knows and plays the role he is assigned in the mission even through his own disabilities. But then the rest of the crews does the same thing. Each character has their own short-comings and strengths. That is why the series works so well.

As I have stated in the reviews of the first two books, I think guys would like this as much as the gals as there are characters they can relate to, and the action and adventure just keeps coming.

On this, the third book for me, I found it a little less action and more setting the stage for more to come. I can hardly wait for the next book, but I have to wait for my next paycheck as I have spent my allotment for books for this month. By the way, this three volume set is still $.99.

I think everyone, especially science fiction buffs will love this series. The author has done her homework and even gives websites for Mars fans to look up all they need to know about Mars and spaceflight. Enjoy!

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Review: The Book Thief


The Book Thief
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Death narrates this wonderful story about a young girl in Hitler’s Germany. That is a sentence I never would have thought of writing. But that is part of the many surprises in this story. If you’ve read Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, you have a vision of Death. Though this book is covering more serious matters, the author brings in wit and wisdom, and shows us all how to care, how to love.

Early baby-boomers and their parents know deeply what happened pre and during World War II. Most books covering this era, with anger and depression and rightly so. This book looks at all of that plus teaches a girl to read and write. Okay, now that sounds like elementary school. And though this could be read to a younger audience the subject matter is quite mature. In fact, it is a great way to introduce to younger people how Hitler grew his army and how people learned to blame others for their problems (sounds a lot like what is happening now in many ways).

Right from the start I found I cared for Death and the other characters. But most of all I loved the quirky writing style. I have read in other reviews that the style was distracting, but I found it was necessary. We need to take the subject lighter so that we can live with the girl in her own innocence. The turn of a phrase in this author’s writing kept me highlighting all over the place. Markus Zusak is amazing!

This Kindle version was given to me for a birthday gift from my friend, Yve. Thank you so much! I picked up the audio version from the library, hence breaking up my current reading list. I loved the narrator of the audio, Allan Corduner. He acted the parts and kept me interested. Though this was the library Overdrive version, I think I will use this month’s credit to get the Audible copy. That’s how much I loved the combination. I plan to read this again. As for the movie? I am not sure I want to watch it yet. I am too in love with my own imaginary movie.

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Review: Defying Mars


Defying Mars
Defying Mars by Cidney Swanson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This series is so much fun, so exciting, that I read book 1 and this book 2 straight through. Then I was stranded without book 3. Yikes! As luck would have it the boxed set came on sale for $.99 so I picked it up and started to read the #3.

The first three are still on sale:

It is often the case that a sequel isn’t as good as the first book. In this case I think this one was even more exciting. I read until 4 in the morning just to see what would happen. The characters and worlds are well built and believable. In this book we get to know more about the support team and the depth of the antagonist.

So far in the series there are no cliffhangers. The reason to keep reading is that you care about the characters and worlds. Cidney Swanson’s writing style works for me. I had already read the Rippler series by her, and I think Saving Mars is even better.

Though this is considered Young Adult I think anyone could read it and have a great adventure. And it isn’t just for teen girls. I think guys of all ages would like this, too. All you need to be is a science fiction fan to love it!

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Review: Saving Mars


Saving Mars
Saving Mars by Cidney Swanson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh my! I finished this book two days ago. Why haven’t I written a review yet? Because it was so good I couldn’t wait to read the next book. Oops! I have no self-control when it comes to good books!

If you love science fiction with a spot of fantasy thrown in this is the book for you.

It fit all my criteria for my recent reading goals. This had a strong main character, who happened to be female. This character was flawed as were the other folks that people this novel and its planets. This story is quite accessible to male readers, too. And though I tagged it as Young Adult, I think any age would love it. It may have a few concepts too strong for little ones, but even those could be conversation starters. I would say this is easily rated G. Not to mention this old lady LOVED it!

All that said… As I mentioned before, I have book two already started, but I worried. I didn’t have book three. Today I saw that the box set of the trilogy was $.99. Grabbed it! Hope it is still on sale tomorrow for the rest of you! Sorry I am so late to let you all know.

Now back to reading.

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The Ripple Trilogy Books 1-3
The Ripple Trilogy Books 1-3 by Cidney Swanson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

After reading the first book, I found I wanted to read the rest of the series. Luckily, this three book deal came out for $.99 so I grabbed it up and continued reading. I have to admit that the rest of the series was even better than the first book. Much more exciting! I cared more deeply for the characters. I found myself skipping meals to see what could happen next.

Lately, I have found myself bored with YA books. They seem to have similar themes regardless of sub-genre. Teen angst thrown onto another planet or fantasy world. AND, why is it called Young Adult when it should really be adolescent girls? AND where are the books like this for older adults? We don’t even have a genre unto ourselves. Anyway, I have been reading these YA books as there were few strong-fem main characters in my youth. It was the boys that got the adventures and had to solve the problems. I am so happy that today’s young women are able to find gems like these written by Cidney Swanson. By the way, I think guys would like these books, also, as there are scenes from both of the main characters’ points of view.

Oh, the intrigue! I felt my palms sweating toward the end. What if this could happen? I would hope there are smart people out there who can outsmart any ‘bad-guys’ that may pop up in real life. Great writing. It was so much fun!

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Review: Viktoria


Viktoria
Viktoria by Kim Dallmeier
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I don’t know what to think about this book. There were promising threads of plot I wanted to see pursued but instead the story seemed to stay wrapped up in relationship angst. In many ways I found it depressing.

The parts about spirits/ghosts I found interesting. The part about the pagan/spiritualist school was interesting. Now maybe these threads will be caught up into the next book in the series–there is a next book, isn’t there?

Now that I am writing this I see that I do want to see what happens next. Guess I will have to look up book two.

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Review: Rippler


Rippler
Rippler by Cidney Swanson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

From the moment I started reading this book I was hooked. It starts in the middle of the action, a new talent and a new fear. Who wouldn’t want to be invisible? But when there are people out to kill you or trap you for your genes, is anywhere safe?

There were a few things that made me unsuspend disbelieve when the main character’s running mate turns out to be a fellow rippler. What are the chances of that? But the story keeps going, and I was brought in running for my life with the characters.

This is a YA and as such there is a bit of the angst of teens, but not as much as other YA’s contain. And there is a tiny bit of romance but gentle and not quite as quite as squishy as the average YA. Instead it keeps you going wondering what was going to happen.

I was happy that there wasn’t a cliffhanger. But the reason I didn’t write this review when finished was I found that the trilogy was on sale for $.99 so then I started reading book two. Oops. I am enjoying it, too. 🙂

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