Review: Fighting Words

Fighting Words
Fighting Words by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A heart-wrenching and beautifully told story about a little girl and her older sister and the importance of telling your truths, standing with each other and the power of standing up. Really beautiful.

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Review: The Couple at Number 9

The Couple at Number 9
The Couple at Number 9 by Claire Douglas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this fast paced but also character-driven mystery. Well written and quite the story.

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Review: A Prayer for the Crown-Shy

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy
A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another gem. In fact, I might have liked this one even more than the previous one. Monk and Robot continue their adventures as they go back into town, meeting different people. I love these books.

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Review: All the Acorns on the Forest Floor

All the Acorns on the Forest Floor
All the Acorns on the Forest Floor by Kim Hooper
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am a fan of Kim Hooper. I love her writing and I love her characters. I loved these interconnected stories all within the theme around motherhood, pregnancy, infertility.

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Review: People Who Knew Me

People Who Knew Me
People Who Knew Me by Kim Hooper
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’m a big fan of Kim Hooper, all of her books seem to speak to me. I enjoy her characters and her writing. This, her debut, is no exception.

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Review: These Silent Woods

These Silent Woods
These Silent Woods by Kimi Cunningham Grant
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

absolutely beautiful quiet book about a dad and his daughter who live in the woods as runaways until an event causes them to have to reconsider everything. really, really beautiful story about friendship, family, sacrifice.

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Review: Professor Everywhere

Professor Everywhere
Professor Everywhere by Nicholas Binge
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Unlike anything I’ve read. Hard to even put into words what this book is about, it’s about so many different things. If you like unusual books that mix origin of words with science and a fast paced mystery, you will enjoy this insane story. I loved it.

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Review: The Museum of Rain

The Museum of Rain
The Museum of Rain by Dave Eggers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

beautifully crafted short story about an old man visiting a site he’d started years ago with a group of children. loved it.

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Review: When She Was Good

When She Was Good
When She Was Good by Michael Robotham
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Even better than the previous one because we finally get to see what happened to Evie!

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Review: Good Girl, Bad Girl

Good Girl, Bad Girl
Good Girl, Bad Girl by Michael Robotham
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I had never heard of this series but I swallowed both of the books in one shot. I cannot wait for the third. Fantastic character development. Well written and interesting. Highly recommended.

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Review: A Psalm for the Wild-Built

A Psalm for the Wild-Built
A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“You’re an animal, Sibling Dex. You are not separate or other. You’re an animal. And animals have no purpose. Nothing has a purpose. The world simply is. If you want to do things that are meaningful to others, fine! Good! So do I! But if I wanted to crawl into a cave and watch stalagmites with Frostfrog for the remainder of my days, that would also be both fine and good. You keep asking why your work is not enough, and I don’t know how to answer that, because it is enough to exist in the world and marvel at it. You don’t need to justify that, or earn it. You are allowed to just live. That is all most animals do.”

What a gem of a book! It’s unlike anything I’ve read before. I don’t even know how to describe it. I’d read that this book felt like a hug and it really does.

“We don’t have to fall into the same category to be of equal value.”

I had a hard time getting into this book for some reason but once I did, it captured my heart and I loved every moment I spent with it. What a gift.

“Do you not find consciousness alone to be the most exhilarating thing? Here we are, in this incomprehensibly large universe, on this one tiny moon around this one incidental planet, and in all the time this entire scenario has existed, every component has been recycled over and over and over again into infinitely incredible configurations, and sometimes, those configurations are special enough to be able to see the world around them. You and I—we’re just atoms that arranged themselves the right way, and we can understand that about ourselves. Is that not amazing?”

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Review: Lonely Castle in the Mirror

Lonely Castle in the Mirror
Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Something drew me to this book and I wanted to read it the moment I saw the cover and read the blurb.

This is the story of seven children who find their mirror shining one day and can go through the mirror to a castle where a “wolf girl” tells them that they can visit this place until the beginning of the next school year (which is march in Japan) between the hours of 9-5 every day. They are looking for a key and then a wishing room. Only one wish will come true but that one wish will absolutely come true.

Each of these kids is not going to school. They are all struggling in their own ways. The story is told from the perspective of Kokoro who has been bullied and has quit going to school as a result.

The story is poignant, beautiful, unpredictable and so very full of love. I did not put it down once I started reading it and I will continue to think about it for a long time.

with gratitude to Erewhon/Hachette Book Group and edelweiss for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

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