Side note: Do you know how ridiculously hard it is to find horror books released? I trolled through this big list of publishers, went to all the sites I could find..and ultimately sorting on Amazon like this proved to be the easiest way to do it!
Month: January 2016
Cutest/Funniest Animal Gifs of the Week: 1/31
Maybe not quite as cute as last weeks, but still adorable!
As usual none are mine. Didn’t create them. Just found them, passed them on, credited where I found them.
Valentine’s Oops Review (Kids Fantasy)
What’s it about?
When Donovan finds out his best friend’s little sister wants to cast a love potion on him, he knows he has to escape a fate worse than death.
A 1,200-word fantasy short story that is full of silliness.
-Goodreads Synopsis
My Review of Valentine’s Oops
This was a cute short story that was obviously released at the perfect time to capitalize on the title. It had just enough of an edge of fantasy to it to keep a young mind wondering and possibly expounding on the story themselves. Its a bit hard to place exactly what age range the story is aimed at, though. Its simple for the most part, but there are words like “surreptitiously” which you really can’t expect a kid under the age of 9 or so to know.
The only issue I had with it was the fact that every time one of the characters in the book is mentioned, his weight is mentioned derisively. “The fatso” “the fat kid”, etc. I’m just getting to the point where I’m really intolerant of fostering that type of jeering/derision over somebody’s weight. Kids are impressionable, and a kid reading this is going to assume that that is ‘okay’ to say, and lets face it… a lot of kids don’t have parents that care enough to really set them straight and tell them otherwise.
My six year old thoroughly approved of the story, and laughed at the execution of the Valentine’s Oops. We both give the author points for a silly story that had just the perfect injection of fun uniqueness to it.
Side note: Something that’s bothering me. Is “Valentine’s Oops” correct? Or should it be “Valentines’ Oops”??
Click here to find Valentine’s Oops now on Amazon.com
Title: Valentine’s Oops | Author: Emily Martha Sorensen | Publisher: Self-published | Pub. Date: 2016-1-26 | Pages: 12 | ASIN: B01B5BVFT2 | Genre: Children’s Fiction | Language: English | Triggers: None | Rating: 4 out of 5 | Date Read: 2016-1-30 | Source: Received a copy free from the author in exchange for an honest review. | Available on Kindle Unlimited? No.
A Review of One Creepy Street: The Spider on the Web by Lee Jordan
What’s it about?
It aims to teach children to beware of trusting people on the internet.
My Review of One Creepy Street: The Spider in the Web
I completely admire what this book is trying to do. As our children get on the internet at earlier ages all the time, we have to realize that we can’t always be looking over their shoulder. They need to have some basic grounding in ‘truths’ about the Internet, which, unfortunately, includes the fact that you shouldn’t trust people you meet on the Web. Books like this, which aim to put a concept very simply to young readers, are needed.
However, there were a couple things that were off-putting. First – and the only direct criticism of the content of the book- there was a line in the book that talks about how the mother and police officer only found out what was going on through emails the young girl had forgotten to delete. Why would she delete her emails? Doesn’t that infer that she knew what she was doing was wrong? Is that a thought we even want to put in young children’s head? “Its okay, we can just hide it so no one knows we were talking.” Now, if that was something that the Spider told Annica (which I could believe) that’s fine, but it needs to be made more clear.
Now, the illustrations were absolutely awesome. Brightly colored, they definitely capture and hold the attention. On the other hand, and here’s my second thing that I’d change about the book, the font isn’t a great choice. It doesn’t stand out well against the background color its printed on, and while it might ‘look nice’ to some people, it can be a bit hard to read. I initially pulled this up on my phone and could barely read it. It could serve to be a bit darker and easier to focus on.
Also, the rhymes were, at times, a bit of a stretch/ little awkward. It might seem like I’m nitpicking here, but truth is its easy to remember things that rhyme smoothly and simply. Trust me on this. My 6 year old can remember some ridiculous rhymes. If it flowed a bit smoother, it might be more of a ‘fun’ read altogether and encourage kids to come back and re-read it.
Overall, though, a great message and fun illustrations combine to make this a book that many parents should consider getting for their kids.
Click here to find One Creepy Street: The Spider on the Web now on Amazon.com
Title: One Creepy Street: The Spider on the Web | Series: One Creepy Street | Author: Lee Jordan | Publisher: Black Rose Writing (site) | Pub. Date: 2015-4-6 | Pages: 32 | ISBN13: 9781612965253 | Genre: Children’s Fiction (educational) | Language: English | Triggers: None | Rating: 4 out of 5 | Date Read: 2016-1-29 | Source: Received a copy free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Skycastle, the Demon, and Me by Andy Mulberry #BookReview
Title: Skycastle, The Demon, and Me | Series: Skycastle (bk 1) | Author: Andy Mulberry (site) | Publisher: Paw! Print Press | Pub. Date: 2014-3-1 | Pages: 106 | Genre: Children’s Fiction | Language: English | Triggers: None | Rating: 4 out of 5 | Age Appropriate: 6-13 | Date Read: 2016-1-9 | Source: Received a copy free from the author in exchange for an honest review.
Skycastle, the Demon, and Me
Middle Grade ~ If you owe Hell gold but you can’t pay, you’re about to have a bad day!
Jack gets MUCH more than he bargained for when he orders a demon straight from the Underworld. Things go hilariously awry when the demon Brinkloven Crowley the Third, Brink for short, isn’t all what Jack expected.And when Hell comes knocking, Jack’s and Brink’s destinies are tied together in a most unexpected fashion.
WARNING…this book contains a scowling demon, bad decisions, a skeleton key, not foul but hellish language, an ordinary boy and an extraordinary castle. And a whole lot of fun. You’ve been warned.
-Goodreads Synopsis
Skycastle, the Demon, and Me Review
“Not foul, but hellish language” is right. If you are easily offended by the word hell or consider it a curse word for some godforsaken (heh. heh. heh.) reason, then you’ll want to avoid getting this book for your middle-grader. The word Hell is mentioned several times. As a place. Not a curse. A literal place with hell-related objects in it, like hellfire. Just sayin’. Wanted to make that very clear.
Skycastle, The Demon, and Me was a fun, quirky middle-grade read that I thoroughly enjoyed. The shenanigans that Jack gets up to are completely believable (well, other than the whole demon from Hell actually existing) of a boy his age, told with a light touch that just makes you grin. Its as if Jack and Brink are two parts of the same boy. Jack the ‘angel’ (Well, as much of an angel as a boy his age can be), and Brink the other half.
Obviously, in the course of ordering a demon, Jack learns that things like Hell’s customer service tends to suck, demons don’t do what you want them to do, and there’s this whole ‘not being able to pay for it’ thing he’s got to deal with at the same time.
The only thing I didn’t care for was it kind of sequel-baited the end because the cut off leaves you wondering why/how the thing that happened actually happened because there’s zero explanation for it. It just happens. At the same time, we got a complete mini-adventure in the 106 pages, so I’m not going to gripe too much.
This would be a perfect read to intrigue a young kid who isn’t quite into reading who may like the idea of getting to read something a bit ‘naughty’.
Click here to find Skycastle, the Demon, and Me: Book 1 in the Skycastle series now on Amazon.com
Discussion Time (1/29): Why must there be smoochies?
Seriously, what’s the deal with this? Why do so many writers think that we absolutely must have romance in our reads? It drives me nuts in so many cases, because its just not necessary. Like Angelfall, by Susan Ee. That would have been an excellent top-rated read… except that it contains the start of this thing between Penryn and Raffe, which was completely unnecessary.
I’m sorry, but angels came to earth to destroy crap. Killed billions of people. He initially treats her like crap and is vastly superior on a physical sense to her. Now, he could (and does seem to) develop a grudging respect for her that should have stayed right there! Whereas right from the beginning she’s in this love/hate thing. Ee does a good job of dancing around it, and not letting it develop into a big thing, but…but why does it even have to be a thing to begin with? Why do we have to have romances in our books?
(I’m not deliberately picking on Angelfall. I do like the fact that it at least seems to be a slow build romance. Its just the most recent example of it I’ve read.)
What kind of message are we sending? Oh, yes, girls can be strong, have common sense, and be able to do lots on their own…but that’s not enough. There has to be at least ONE love interest, and preferably two. Wwwwwwwwwhhhhhhhhhhhyyyy? Why is this a thing? Especially in young adult books. Why do we need to write it in constantly that unless you’re gaga for a guy and he’s gaga for you – your story is incomplete? These characters are in their teens/twenties! At that age, I barely knew if I liked boys or girls or both! Heck, I was more obsessing over the latest singer’s abs and then dealing with college than I was worrying about finding my happily ever after!
I was talking to my friend, and between the two of us we could only come with one book that contained a male and a female main character where there wasn’t some sort of undercurrent going on, and that was one I just recently read!
Now, I know somewhere along the lines I’ve read a couple other books where it wasn’t all lovebirds and such, but its so much rarer than it should be. There’s a main male character and a main female character and they’re friends. That’s it. That’s all you get from them is …they’re friends. They work fantastically well together, they tease and respect each other, and there’s not even a hint of the need for smoochies! And you know what? This was a fantastic book! Valentine (the girl) kicks butt. She saves the day on more than one occasion. She even rescues the guy (Paul). She also forms a relationship with his kid. Not because she wants to get in his pants, but because she realizes the kid (who spends most of the book hospitalized) is lonely and needs a friend. Great book.
In one of my other favorite books, there’s definitely a romance in it – but my favorite relationship? Its not the romance one. Its the one between the cop and her (male) mentor. They rag each other, care for each other, will go to the wall for each other …and there is not, nor has there ever been, a hint of romance there.
So, yeah, when you’re reading the Young Adult books especially, have you ever taken a step back to wonder why we feel the need to put romance in everything? I’m not saying its a bad thing to have it in there, but its in basically every bloody book! How many books have you read where the first thing you talked about in your review was the romance? the love triangle? If you took that portion of things out of the book, would they be different? Would you like them more or less?
Talk to me!
-Lilyn
The Glooming Review (Urban Fantasy Thriller)
The Glooming Synopsis: The end of the world is finally here. And it will be nothing like what you’d expect.
All over the earth, strange and horrific events begin to unfold. A US combat team in Iraq comes under attack from mystical forces, an anthropology professor has an eerie encounter at Stonehenge, a runaway teen finds a very strange pet in Arizona, a young orphan in Siberia meets a terrifying old woman, and a pair of NYPD detectives discovers the ghastly doings of a supernatural cult.
A large and diverse group of characters struggle to survive as civilization begins to collapse all around them. As each one realizes their true potential, every one of them must go through a personal, danger-filled journey in order to turn back the sweeping tide of chaos and destruction that threatens the entire world as we know it. Many will die, others will be corrupted, and the remaining few will be the humanity’s only hope.
For the old gods have returned to cleanse the earth, and their revenge will be swift and merciless. – Goodreads Synopsis
Continue reading “The Glooming Review (Urban Fantasy Thriller)”
I have this thing for Coffee Mugs…
Its not something I talk about much, but my friends on Facebook are used to seeing me post pictures frequently with “Please? I want!” underneath it. I was trolling for funny mugs last night and thought I’d share some of my favorites 🙂
I actually have a more nicely decorated version of the one on the left, and just got the one on the right.
I *had* this one, until my boyfriend put it in the dishwasher and it messed up the change-y stuff on the outside. Side note: The 6 year old refused to come near me when I had it out.
I want THESE!
(As usual, pictures take you to Amazon if you click on them.)
Which one’s your favorite? I like the “For Fox Sake” the best. hahahaha.
This WWWeek in Books: Back on the Full-Length Horse!
WWW is from Sam over at Taking on a World of Words, and this is also combination post as This Week in Books by Lipsyy is essentially the same thing.
What I’m Currently Reading
Progress: 20% | Opinion So Far: After the non-entity that was Brilliance, I made the decision to get this (since it had audio free via KU) as an audiobook to listen to. Best. choice. ever. The story itself is already keeping my attention better than Brilliance, but the audio makes it something I spend my time on commutes listening to. | How’d I Get it: Kindle Unlimited | Format: Audiobook | Check me out on Goodreads.
Progress: 50% | Opinion So Far: A bit more serious than its predecessor, but not bad | How’d I get it: Library | Format: Paperback | Check me out on Goodreads.
What I’ve Read This Week
(The links to GR should be working this time! Click on the covers!)
What’s Up Next?
