Top Ten Tuesday: Believe the Hype

This week's topic is books that lived up to the buzz around them. I'm keeping it to books I've read this year because otherwise this list could get LONG!

- meme from That Artsy Reader Girl

Does a book's buzz turn you off a book or make you want to read it more?

Review: Queen of Sorrow

* Book 3 in the Queens of Renthia series *

Queen Daleina has yearned to bring peace and prosperity to her beloved forest home—a hope that seemed doomed when neighboring forces invaded Aratay. Now, with the powerful Queen Naelin ruling by her side, Daleina believes that her dream of ushering in a new era can be realized, even in a land plagued by malevolent nature spirits who thirst for the end of human life.

And then Naelin’s children are kidnapped by spirits.

Nothing is more important to her than her family, and Naelin would rather watch the world burn than see her children harmed. Blaming the defeated Queen Merecot of Semo for the kidnapping, Naelin is ready to start a war—and has the power to do it.

But Merecot has grander plans than a bloody battle with her southern neighbors. Taking the children is merely one step in a plot to change the future of all Renthia, either by ending the threat of spirits once and for all . . . or plunging the world into chaos. - from the publisher.

Since this is the 3rd book in the series, I don't want to give away any spoilers, so instead of my thoughts (I adore this series) here's a list of reasons to read it:
Politics
Queens - all of them are strong powerful women
Idea of Spirits
The creation of the library
Romance
Friendship
Betrayal
Secrets
Bayn
Humor

If you like Poison Study, read this series!

And great news, there's another book coming, so this is not goodbye.

If You Like Pins (16)

With the new picture books I recently purchased for the library collection, several reminded me of Ada Twist, so I made up two pins - one with nonfiction books and one fiction.

Books Showcased: 

Who Says Women Can't Be Computer Programmers?

Poet or Science?

Margaret and the Moon

Joan Procter, Dragon Doctor

Books Showcased:

Izzy Gizmo

Charlotte the Scientist is Squished

What to do with an Idea

Magnolia Mudd and the Super Jumptastic Launcher Deluxe 

Books for Shark Week

Just a few great picture books about sharks and people who study them. 

Review: Let's Pretend We've Never Met

Mattie's family moves in the middle of the school year - much to her dismay. They need to be closer to her grandmother, who's aging. Mattie arrives during winter vacation, giving her time to acclimate to the area and unpack. She meets a girl in the apartment building - Agnes.

Agnes isn't like the friends she left behind - Agnes isn't like anyone she's ever known. Mattie has a great time hanging out with Agnes. And then school starts up again.

Mattie soon realizes that Agnes isn't popular, in fact everyone things Agnes is weird. Mattie isn't sure what to do; more than anything she wants to fit in at her new school. Can she be Agnes's friend and fit it or will she have to choose?

My Thoughts: I really enjoyed this book - I felt terrible for both girls. I loved Agnes's crafty side and her knowledge that she was different but it was ok to be different. I felt terrible for the break up in their friendship - but I loved how things turned out. It's hard being new in school or at work; navigating social events takes work. I also loved Mattie's grandmother - especially her clue game. Their family time seemed like lots of fun. The friendship and family drama make this book a quick enjoyable read. 

Cover Thoughts: Cute
Source: My Library
Library Recommendation: A must have book for school and public libraries - perfect for conversations about friendship, bullying, and inclusivity.

Blog Tour: Who Was

We're stopping today at the Grand Canyon.

It's perfect because just about a year ago, I hiked the Grand Canyon rim to rim. And it was amazing!

Of course, I would have liked to have read this book before hand to learn all about the history of the canyon. I was surprised by the number of animals we saw - lots of mule deer, including a few fawns.

I really enjoyed how this book captured the history of the place - from Teddy Roosevelt to the Native American tribes who live/lived near the canyon to the explorers who shared their knowledge of the land. The illustrations are great, but it's really hard to do any illustration justice of this wonder.  I liked reading more about the wildlife and the geological layers that I saw. I really liked learning more about the river.

What we didn't get to really hike along in the light was the Colorado River - mostly because we got up early to get out before the heat of the sun hit. We were there during a heat wave. Because of the early hour, we did see some bats and lots of moths as they were attracted to the head lamp light. 

I admit I was a little nervous about hiking (and camping) but it wasn't too bad. Although we won't talk about bathrooms.

Here are some photos:

Start of the trip

On the way down

Close to the Cottonwood Camp Ground

Between Cottonwood and Bright Angel Camp Ground

This is call the Box - you don't want to get stuck here between 10 and 2 because it gets SUPER hot

Mule Deer near Bright Angel Campground

The Colorado River - we would hike over the bridge in the dark the next morning.

It was LONG!

The corkscrew in between Bright Angel Campground and Indian Garden

Hiking Out

We made it out!

View from the Top

10 Things You Need for Hiking the Grand Canyon

A Camera

Sunscreen

Water

A Hat

Snacks

Good Hiking Shoes

Someone to Hike with you

Sunglasses

Comfortable Shoes.

A Plan

Top Ten Tueday: Sensory Reads

This week's topic is sensory reading memories - books you read that have very specific memories attached. This one might be hard for me, I read so many books and I often don't remember details about reading them. We'll see how it goes...

- meme from That Artsy Reader Girl

My dad told me about this series after reading an article in the newspaper about the third book coming out. I grabbed the first one from the library. I started it - I remember thinking in the first chapter that it was good but nothing special - until I reached the last bit of the first chapter. I got goosebumps. I was hooked.

I read this book during my study halls senior year of high school. I would sit in the stacks on the hard floor and pull books off the shelf to read. I loved this book. It's the longest book I've ever read but it was full of action.

Tears every time I read this book - you know at what part.

I remember wanting to read this book because Sarah wrote a YA historical romance that I adored. I hadn't read to many romance books until this point, but I loved this book. It was funny, sweet, and charming. I'm happy to read anything Sarah writes.

This book make me want to write my own "hot chocolate book" - and I wrote one about a girl in Vermont who lives on a Christmas tree farm and has trouble with her boyfriend. Hot chocolate books make me feel warm and fuzzy inside - just like hot chocolate. 

This book (and the rest of the series) made me crave donuts like there's no tomorrow.

This cozy series made me want to get my palm read - still haven't done that yet.

Laughter. Lots of Laughter for this series

Made me want to take ice skating lessons

Made me want to go horse back riding!

Review: Death in the Stacks

* Book 8 in the Library Lovers series *

Lindsey and her staff are getting ready for their annual fundraiser - a night of dinner and dancing in the library. It's supposed to be a magical night - and it would be in her board president wasn't trying to insult everyone.

Olive Boyle just took over as the library board president. She has a talent for making everyone's life miserable. She's threated the library, Lindsey's job, and spoke ill of Paula. After the dinner, her body's discovered in the stacks with Paula leaning over it.

Lindsey knows that Paula didn't kill Olive, even if she does have a secret past. While Lindsey vowed not to investigate, she's reluctantly pulled back in; she must figure out who murdered Olive before things for the library turn really bad.

My Thoughts: I love this series and I loved this book even more because of the crossover with characters from other books series by the same author. It was charming to see everyone in the small Connecticut town. I loved seeing old friends. I really enjoyed the mystery here - with Olive's terrible personality there were many suspects. The personal lives of the sleuths are also great - I love seeing where Lindsey lands. I also really like Emma and Robbie together. Another fantastic chapter in the series! Can't wait for the next book.

Cover Thoughts: Charming, as usual
Source: My library
Library Recommendation: This cozy series about libraries is a must have for public libraries.

Movie Review: Safe

To be honest, I haven't read the book, so I don't know how it compares to the show.

But, the show was good. It's only 8 episodes.

The people were terrible human beings who did terrible things.

The show was intense with lots of characters, lots of drama, lots of layers, and lots of plot twists.

It was a binge worthy show - one that you didn't want to stop watching until you uncovered all the answers.

Watch if you enjoyed Broadchurch.

If You Like Pins (15)

I haven't done one of these in a long time. But my goal this year for work is to diversify our picture book collection. I recently bought a bunch of new picture books about inclusion. Someone came looking for one a few days ago - and they were all checked out. Which is both great and terrible at the same time - great because we needed the books in the collection and people are finding them, but terrible because they weren't immediately available.

Here are some of the books: