Picture Book Review: Kittybunkport

 

The kitties of the town are afraid of the lighthouse, because it's haunted. But they are even more afraid when the light goes out. Chowder and Crackers are elected to go fix the problem. But they are scared.

This was a cute about cats and dogs in Maine. While this is a funny book, it also has a great message about facing your fears. 

Library Recommendation: Highly recommended for your picture book collection

Review: Elizabeth of East Hampton

 

A modern-day retelling of Pride and Prejudice set in Long Island and the Hamptons. 

My Thoughts: I really enjoyed this retelling. It was funny, smart, and thoroughly entertaining. The modern changes worked. Kitty and Lydia are twins, Mary is an activist, and Jane is a teacher. Elizabeth is a surfer. Jane and Charlie meet at a bar and their relationship is adorable. The family owns a bakery where Elizabeth works. She's hoping to be a journalist, but her father's health and her fears are holding her back. The heart of the story is the same.

Cover Thoughts: Cute 

Source: My Library

Library Recommendation: Highly Recommended for your romance section

Why I read it: I'm a sucker for Jane Austen retellings

Hand this to: Raders who love Jane Austen

Review: Finders Keepers Library

 

* Book 1 in the Love in Bloom series * 

For a gardener blessed with a green thumb, Savannah Collins’s life sure seems like it’s all thorns, zero roses. She has no job, no relationship, and no place to live. With nothing but a car full of plants and her new rescue kitten, Savannah heads to Bloom, North Carolina, to spend the summer with her beloved Aunt Eleanor, a retired librarian.

Her aunt shares her love of literature with the Finders Keepers Library, located in her beautiful garden, where anyone can stop by to pick a book or leave a book. When a sudden summer storm destroys the library and many of the roses, it will take a village to get everything ready for the garden wedding that is planned there in just three weeks.

As the entire town joins in to make the necessary repairs, Savannah bonds with their neighbor Evan Sanders over the books that Eleanor has handpicked for each of them, helping them both find healing and self-discovery. Savannah only intends to stay through the summer, but when an unexpected job offer, a sudden health crisis, and a wayward pre-teen push her future in new directions, she has to wonder whether this is the place that she is meant to be—and the family she’s meant to be with. - Summary from the publisher

My Thoughts: I really enjoyed this book. I loved Aunt Eleanor and her garden library. I loved the bookish moments and the reading lists. I enjoyed the second chance romance with Savannah and Evan. June made for some entertaining moments - I felt badly for her. I wanted to wrap her up in a hug. The social media moments were funny. The secondary characters round out this novel, I can't wait to see who is featured in the next book. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series. 

Cover Thoughts: Cute - love the stack of books

Source: My Library

 Why I read this: the author + the 2nd book is a Christmas story

Hand this to: Readers who love Hallmark movies and readers who love books about books

Library Recommendation: Highly Recommended for your romance collection.

Picture Book Review: G is for Gratitude

 

This alphabet book is set up nicely - for a child who can't sleep, they breathe deeply and think about all the good things in this world (which can be hard to do these days). 

I'm not sure which letter is my favorite. I'm fond of Creating, Dogs, Hope, Kindness, Voices, and more. The illustrations are lovely. The characters are diverse. There's so much packed into this book; there's so much to talk about. There's such a great opportunity to talk about feelings and big pictures. 

* Book sent for review

** Highly Recommended for your school and public library collections

Top Ten Tuesday: Longest Books I've Ever Read

 This week's topic is the longest books you've ever read. I've read some long fantasy books. Let's take a look:

The biggest:

1276 pages

I read this in high school for fun and I loved it. Great revenge story.

 

1177 pages and 1016 pages- I hope this series gets finished one day! 

980 pages

896 pages

845 pages

835 pages

835 pages

816 pages

805 pages

What's the longest book that you've read?

Middle Grade Monday: Sunny Figures it Out

* Book 6 in the Sunny series *

Sunny and Tony enjoy spending time together. Sunny's friend Deb has ideas on how dating is done and how the boys should behave. Sunny and Tony try out her advice, but it feels wrong. Is there a right way to date?

My Thoughts: Yes, this is historical fiction for middle grade readers, but the dating moments are too funny. Deb is very opinionated and shares her thoughts freely. I love the romance books that Sunny reads. Both Sunny and her mother struggle with finding their place and I love that they're going through this together and supporting each other. It's funny reading stories about the lack of technology: passing notes and landlines. I loved how this one ended. The Sunny graphic novels are fantastic reads that deal with universal topics that kids are still figuring out today.

Cover Thoughts: Cute

Source: My Library

Library Recommendation: A must have series for your school and public library 

Mood Board

 Yesterday, I reviewed The Love Haters (review: here)

Today I'm sharing a mood board for the book:

Review: The Love Haters

 

Katie's gotten herself into a pickle. Her company is laying off people, but her boss asks her to go film a promotional video for the Coast Guard. Katie can't swim. But she takes the job anyways: fake it until you make it. Right?

She doesn't realize that the hero she will be filming is her boss's brother. 

Hutch can't believe his brother sent someone else to film the promo video after all the work he put in making sure his brother's company won the bid. He's determined to just get through it, but life has other plans.

Katie gets swept up by his Aunt Rue and swept off her feet (literally) by Hutch's great dane. Life didn't used to be so complicated, but everything spirals out of control. Can Katie sort everything out before it's too late?

My Thoughts: I loved this book. I love how Katie became more relaxed as she spent more time with Hutch and Rue. I loved Rue and her friends and how they included Katie in their plans. The brothers' relationship was interesting - but I felt badly for Hutch and I wanted to shake Cole. The dog was adorable and a scene stealer. Funny and charming, this book was the perfect summer read. 

Cover Thoughts: Charming

Source: My Library

Library Recommendation: Highly recommended for your romance collection.

Children's Book review: The Children's Illustrated Book of Tarot

 

I've always been fascinated by Tarot Cards but I don't know too much about them.

This book takes the reader through the Major Arcana cards (22 of them) in a fun, easy, and understandable way to learn. 

The Layout: Each spread has a charming illustration, information about that card, and asks a question that will help understand the card. 

There are so many great questions, it's hard to pick a favorite, but I think I'll choose:

I love how the magician is about creating and the question is what did you create today.

For me, creating pieces of art, usually in the form of painting but sometimes card making or jewelry making fills my well. It's generally a peaceful activity and makes me feel better about myself and the world. I love that this card asks about creating something. 

This is the last painting I've created, and I wasn't pleased with it. It was for a work event paint night. I had the sky going well and then I messed it all up. The sky is supposed to be lighter. 

What have you created lately?

* Book sent for review 

Review: Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

 

I know that I'm late to the party on this book.

My niece recommended it and I'm very happy that she did.

So here are seven reasons why I loved it:

1. Hollywood - I adore these stories

2. Feminist Icon - this was a fun story with a woman who went after what she wanted

3. The way the story was told

4. the book deal

5. Monique's story

6. The Romances

7. That ending...

Picture Book Review: Just One Wave

 

Liam's happy his family is headed to the beach - but he wants there to be waves. But the waves are calm and quiet today. Liam and his sister play and have a great time. Liam comes up with a solution before they leave.

This is a cute book about two siblings playing at the beach. It's cute and fun and the perfect summer read. 

Top Ten Tuesday: Book Recommendations: Middle Grade Mysteries

 This week's topic is book recommendations. I'm picking middle grade mysteries/thrillers. 

 

 

Have you read any of these?

Review: Hurricane Heist

 

* Book 2 in the Sherlock Society * 

There's a hurricane coming. School is starting up soon and Alex is worried that it will be the end of the Sherlock Society. The storm brings back memories of Alex's grandfather from 1964. He was helping his father with the hardware store deliveries. They went to a hotel where his Grandfather was friends with the Bell Captain, Doc. 

A movie was being filmed at the hotel. After the storm passed through in 1964, Doc went missing along with several pieces of jewelry. The storm in the current day damage the hotel and a body is discovered. Alex's Grandfather's not surprised when it turns out to be Doc. He knew his friend never stole the jewelry and ran off. But years later, the trail is cold. Doc was the only suspect. Can the Sherlock Society figure out what really happened all those years ago?

My Thoughts: Another winner for James Ponti. This series is fresh and fun - with lots of action and danger. I enjoyed the dual timelines - and how they connected. I tore through this book. I didn't want it to end, but I also couldn't put it down. I love the way this team solves mysteries together - especially how they divide and conquer with research. I adored the new members and can't wait to read more about them. Have the announced book three yet? I hope many more books in this series are planned. 

Cover Thoughts: Fantastic

Source: ARC sent for review

Publication Date: September 2nd

Why I read this: I loved the first book. Plus I love the author's books

Library Recommendation: A must have middle grade series for your school and public library collections

Hand This To: Readers who like Thrillers

Mood Board: All Paths Lead to Paris

 Yesterday, I reviewed All Paths Lead to Paris (Read it here if you missed it). And today I'm sharing a mood board I created for the book. 

I have been to Paris once during my college years and I would love to go back.

This was so much fun to make! I might have to make more of these.

Review: All Paths Lead to Paris

 

Aurie is a fashion designer trying to graduate college and figure out her life. She's fake dating her best friend, a musician on the rise. While fleeing the paparazzi, she meets a boy. They have a photo of them snapped together and it's blowing up their social media. Her manager decides to do damage control. It turns out Kylian is good at math.

Math is something that Aurie struggles with, but she'll have to pass a math test in order to graduate high school. Kylian agrees to tutor Aurie in math and Remy in English. With all the rumors about the trio swirling, Aurie and Remy can't afford to make any more mistakes. 

My Thoughts: I really liked this book - but I had a hard time getting over the fact that paparazzi cared about a fashion influencer. I loved the tropes: fake dating, best friend, and love triangle. I really loved the behind-the-scenes moments of being an influencer and what that meant for Aurie and her future. I loved the moments in the bakery and the moments with Aurie's siblings. I'm so looking forward to the author's next book - what city are we going to explore next?

Why I Read This Book: I loved the author's previous book plus Paris!

Tropes: Fake Dating

Source: My Library

Library Recommendation: Highly recommended for your school and public library's collection. 

Hand this to readers: fake dating trope, Paris, and influencers 

* Come back tomorrow for the mood board!

Review: If We were a Movie

 

Rochelle needs a job this summer - for her application. She has great grades and extra-curricular activities. But her application to her dream school is missing something. She can't afford to not boost her college application. 

When a job opportunity comes up at a nearby movie theater, she takes it even though she knows her arch nemesis works there. What she doesn't realize is that Amira is in charge of the workers. That's not ideal, but Rochelle is willing to try.

She goes home exhausted from work. Rochelle realizes how much she likes her job but then discovers that the theater isn't making enough money. How can she help save the theater? 

My Thoughts: I really loved this romance. I like reading about summer jobs. And I love the enemies to lovers trope. I loved the friendship moments and the romance moments. The banter was fun. There was a sabotage element to the book - which added another element to the story. I loved how everything turned out for the theater. This was such a fun summer romance. 

Tropes: Enemies to Lovers 

Source: My Library

Library Recommendations: Highly recommended for your school and public library collection

Review: Tiffany Girl

 

Flossie Jayne, a beautiful budding artist who is handpicked by Louis to help complete the Tiffany chapel. Though excited to be an independent New Woman at a time when most of the fair sex stayed home, she quickly finds the world is less welcoming than she anticipated. From a Casanova male to an unconventional married couple and a condescending singing master, she takes on a colorful cast of characters to transform the boarding house into a home while racing to complete the Tiffany chapel and make a name for herself in the art world. - Summary from publisher.

My Thoughts: I really loved the first half of this book; it showcases a lot of work at Tiffany. I loved those moments. The second half of the book focused more on her relationships. Not that they were bad, but that I read this book for the Tiffany parts, and I wanted more of those. Instead, the second half glossed over her work.

How it influenced me: Because of this book, I make treks to see Tiffany windows in Nantucket while there on vacation. After reading this, I appreciated the windows so much more. I mean, they are gorgeous, but reading about the section of glass heightened the experience.  

Windows of St Paul's:

Aren't they stunning?

I love it when the book world spills over into real life.