Category: brief reviews

Quick Review: I Am Malala and Life After Life

10 November 2014 / brief reviews / 4 Comments
Quick Review: I Am Malala and Life After Life

These two books are about living, about life, about living your life to make a change. I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai Rating: ★★★ [ratings guide] Gives a lot of background and historical context to Malala’s father and her fight for the right to education. I suppose somewhere in the cynical side of the world, people accuse Malala’s father of using her as a prop and they would dismiss this […]

Quick Review: A Snicker of Magic and Escape from Camp 14

21 October 2014 / brief reviews / 0 Comments
Quick Review: A Snicker of Magic and Escape from Camp 14

When I do a quick review post, there’s usually two books and I’m able to connect them somehow, as indicated in the post title. But with these two I can’t manage a connection! A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd Rating: ★★★½ [ratings guide] A very sweet and comforting story, about family and friendship and belonging and magic. I like that adult struggles were included alongside Felicity’s (the narrator) own. […]

Quick Review: Indie Fantasy

12 October 2014 / brief reviews / 0 Comments
Quick Review: Indie Fantasy

I read two indie fantasy novels that recently caught my eyes in the blogsophere. I don’t usually read these sorts of stories, but the premises, reviews and bargain prices of these two prompted me to have a go.   The Word Changers by Ashlee Willis Rating: ★★½ [ratings guide] Cute premise – what avid reader doesn’t love the idea of entering a book? I thought Posy and Kyran were cute, […]

A Quick Review In Disguise: Emberton by Peter Norman

17 September 2014 / brief reviews / 0 Comments
A Quick Review In Disguise: Emberton by Peter Norman

Author: Peter Norman Title: Emberton Format/Source: Paperback/library  Published: March 2014 Publisher: Douglas & McIntyre Length: 295 pages Genre:Um, some sort of literary (see below) Why I Read: Reviewed in local paper; “comic gothic thriller for lovers of books and language”!! Read If You’re: Looking for a strange mystery, interested in the power of language Rating:  ★★★★ [ratings guide] I finished this book just before I left for Japan (end of […]

Quick Review: Into Another Life

10 September 2014 / brief reviews / 0 Comments
Quick Review: Into Another Life

These two books I read gave insight into lives very different from my own, set in different times and countries. Read at the end of July. Moon at Nine by Deborah Ellis Rating: ★★★½ [ratings guide]  I read some of Ellis’ books when I was a lot younger (probably around the target age, maybe a bit younger) but I didn’t really understand them because I had no context in which […]