Category: review

Seanan McGuire Continues to Steal My Heart [Review]

29 December 2018 / review / 10 Comments
Seanan McGuire Continues to Steal My Heart [Review]

Although In an Absent Dream is the fourth title in the Wayward Children series, each title can technically be read as a stand alone. Beneath the Sugar Sky (#3) builds on Every Heart a Doorway (#1), with narratives set in the present day and in our world. Down Among the Sticks and Bones (#2) and In An Absent Dream (#4) take place in other worlds, sharing the backstories of characters introduced in book one. Somehow, miraculously, I have adored each and every Wayward Children title, in a way that I’ve not enjoyed any other series.

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25 KidLit Annotations: Board Books [Review]

16 December 2018 / review / 0 Comments
25 KidLit Annotations: Board Books [Review]

One of the assignments for my children’s literature course this past term was to write 25 annotations (snapshot reviews between 50 and 150 words) on all sorts of kidlit. It was a great opportunity to delve out of my comfort zone of MG spec fic 😉 Today’s post is the first in a series where I share those annotations by type. Links will be updated as the rest of the […]

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Talkin’ About Tolkien: Tolkien & The Silmarillion [Review]

6 December 2018 / review / 0 Comments
Talkin’ About Tolkien: Tolkien & The Silmarillion [Review]

Tolkien & The Silmarillion  by Clyde S. Kilby Format/source: Hardcover/Purchased secondhandPublished: 1976Publisher: Harold Shaw PublishersLength: 89 pages Genre: Biography★★★★  Yes, this delightful little volume is ‘outdated’, having been published in1976, a year before The Silmarillion. But it remains a valuable read as author Clyde S. Kilby, an Inklings scholar and creator of the Marion E. Wade Center,  knew Tolkien personally and shares intimate recollections of the summer he spent working with Tolkien in 1966 to prepare The Silmarillion for […]

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3 Own Voices Picture Books [Review]

13 November 2018 / review / 0 Comments
3 Own Voices Picture Books [Review]

Princess and the Peas by Rachel Himes In Princess and the Peas, Rachel Himes puts her own twist on Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Princess and the Pea”. This book is #ownvoices for African-American representation. It’s the 1950s in South Carolina, and Ma Sally has begun to worry about her son John marrying a girl who can’t cook as well as Ma. She decides to host a cooking competition – whoever […]

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Reacting to Convenience Store Woman [Review]

9 November 2018 / review / 3 Comments
Reacting to Convenience Store Woman [Review]

Format/source: Hardcover/LibraryPublished: June 2018Publisher: Grove PressLength: 163 pages Genre: Literary fictionTranslator: Ginny Tapley Takemori★★★★    I’m going to try something new in this post. As I was typing up my notes on this book, I realized that there were so many specific bits of the novel that prompted me to think and respond to Keiko, the protagonist. So this is a ‘reaction’ style review, with most of my comments directed to Keiko.  Spoilers abound (if you want […]

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