” We accept the love we think we deserve”
As I’m listening to this audio in my car and I had to pause it, for what she said, really hit me hard. This comment not only applies to Charlie’s sister, whose boyfriend in the novel abuses her, but to many relationships in novels and in reality. What a powerful statement.
4.5 stars Realistic Fiction
What was that?!? This story was crazy good! This novel had some weird twists to it that I wasn’t expecting. Although, I really didn’t get to know the main characters very well in this novel, I really enjoyed it. I liked that there weren’t a lot of characters in this novel. My initial thought was that Susannah was a person who liked to be taken care of and that her husband Max, preferred it that way. Susannah has a teenage son that she leans upon.
The family has just moved into their new home which came with Max’s new job. As Susannah returns home from a run, she finds a note on their door which alarms her and she phones Max who is traveling for work.
Flashing back, we get the story of Max, who took to the streets at age sixteen. Max’s story is quite interesting and we learn a lot about him.
As the stories converge, Max believes that he knows who left the note that Susannah found on the door. Max attitude of “taking care of it” seems to relax Susannah, who has been upset about the note. How he does that, is another issue. The story becomes intense at times, as events surrounding this couple, become puzzling and unexpected. The author does a fantastic job throwing in twists and turns and I was left wondering who was safe.
This was a great suspenseful novel with a lot of anticipation throughout it. It also was a quick read.
5 stars YA
I have to say that this novel had the most unique characters I have read about in a long time. Their actions and just their names had me shaking my head quite a few times as my head and my heart were battling it out. My heart quickly took control in the second half of the novel as all the pieces of the novel came together. Just like A.S. King’s other novels, this novel had some terrific messages to tell.
There were quite a few characters to keep track of in this novel but they were worth it. I kept a cheat sheet as I read so I could keep them all separate. Some characters stood out more than others and I took a liking to a handful of them.
There was The Freak, who watched individuals from a distance. She left her dysfunctional family and now, she just wanders. People like her, I think, know more than what we give them credit for. She comes and goes as she pleases. From some of the things that she says, I think she’s different. There was also The Shoveler. I really felt sorry for this guy. New to town, he hangs out with his neighbor who is single. The Shoveler lives with his mom but he’d really like to know who his dad is, I mean he’d REALLY like to know. After shoveling with his neighbor one day, he decides that his neighbor has a lot of shovels and he takes one. He shovels with the shovel and he ends up carrying the shovel around with him, hence the name.
There is Loretta who I feel, lives in her own little world. Inside her lunchbox, she keeps her own little sideshow and she spends hours with these little guys. She also must keep them fed. Loretta also has a side business which she runs simultaneously while working on Sunday nights at the Arby’s drive-up. This girl just cracked me up! The last character I would like to talk about is Marla. Marla was the grandma and my heart broke for her. She tried so hard to be perfect and for what? The holidays and her house, she tried to make everything just right. She also tried to show everyone what a caring person she was and it was wearing her down. No one noticed, no one cared, and she knew it and it upset her. I wanted to reach inside the book and just hold her as she searching around her room trying to find a place to sit, searching for somewhere she could relax without disturbing “her perfect” room, where was her happiness?
Here were all these individuals, these people who seemed to be doing their own thing without any clear connection to others around them. It was interesting how once, one connection is made, the other individuals in the novel fall into place. I loved page 326, this whole page spoke to me and I had to read it a few times as the emotions were raw and real.
It started out as a strange novel but A.S. King again provided us with another fantastic novel. Not everyone will enjoy this novel, but those who do will enjoy King’s talent.
Finger Puppet Books
Hug Me Little Bunny: Place your two little fingers inside the white soft sleeves as your two fingers become Mama Bunny’s arms in this board book.
Mama Bunny takes the hand of her little one as they go about their day in this little board book. With her loving arms, she helps her little one find food and she also helps them fall asleep. There are a few other activities during the day that the two of them do together. On the last page though, Mama Bear’s arms are doing their most important job ever, they are giving her cub loving! I thought this book had sweet illustrations and I loved the facial expressions. Lovely book. 5 stars
Hug
Me Little Bear: What a cute concept. Place your two
little fingers inside the brown soft sleeves as your two fingers become Mama
Bear’s arms in this board book.
Mama Bear takes her little cub on a variety of activities
inside this book from dancing, to cooking, to tickling. On the last page
though, Mama Bear’s arms are doing their most important job ever, they are
giving her cub loving! This is a cute book with entertaining illustrations
highlighted with bold text that will leave you smiling. 4.5 stars
5 stars children’s
I thought this rhyming kid’s book was cute. It begins with ten little mummies deep underground in an old tomb and they are basically bored. One of them suggested that they go outside and play and thence, the countdown begins as one-by-one the group of ten dwindles down. I liked the variety and the unique ways the mummies disappear for example: one gets heat stroke, one tries to paint the Sphinx, one gets adopted by baboons, one gets unraveled, and then, one ropes a hippo and takes a ride, plus there are many others. The ending is funny and cute too. The illustrations are comical, colorful and entertaining to look at. A fun book to read.
What a crazy read. I absolutely adore A.S. King’s novels and when I heard she had a new one coming out, I signed myself up to get it as soon as the library got their copy. I’m about halfway through the novel and the characters in this novel are the most interesting and unique individuals, I have read about in a long, long time!
I can’t wait till the story comes together because that is going to be interesting to say the least. I just finished reading about Marla. Marla is a grandma and she’s been married to Gottfried for 50 years. I really think that Marla has too many hangups for being close to 70 years-old. She wants everything to be so perfect yet it seems no one really cares besides her. She tries so darn hard at everything: the perfect house, the perfect present, the perfect hiding spot for Easter eggs and then she gets upset when no one notices or makes a big deal out of it. I just want to hug her and tell her to stop and chill. “Marla, what makes you happy? Don’t try to impress others, what do you want?”
Oh, what a interesting novel, I just can’t stop thinking about it. Then, someone has quite the operation going on at the Arby’s drive-up window. You don’t need to meet someone in a back alley anymore. It happens on Sunday, just say the right words through the Arby’s speaker as you order your food, pay the money and pick up for sack of goodies. Back to reading…
5 stars YA
If you have read Speak, you know how Laurie can write. You know that she writes from the heart and what’s real, and this novel is no exception. This novel is not one that can be power-read at least, not for me. Laurie talks to us now about her own personal life, about her own issues and her stories are no different.
You can’t help but feel the emotions that are present in each of the pieces that Laurie writes. There were a few pieces that I reread as they really spoke to me. I enjoyed the whole novel but I felt that her work in the second part of the novel was exceptional. These poems felt emotional charged and the energy flowing through them, surged. A fantastic novel by Laurie and I appreciate that she shared a personal side of herself with her readers.
4 stars Nonfiction
I’m glad that I listened to an audio of this novel, as some of the medical terms and jargon that was used, I know that I would’ve had a hard time pronouncing had I read the novel. I enjoyed listening to this novel as Dr. Seward recalls his medical practice and he shares stories about working in the ER.
Seward describes some of his most interesting cases that he has had the opportunity to experience in his lifetime. These cases are not always his most successful cases but they’re ones that meant something to him. The novel teaches, the novel shows you what it is like to be on the other side of the table, and the novel shows you the emotions, that are not only one-sided. Great book and a short one also.
4.5 stars Childrens Graphic Novel
I really liked this graphic novel and I have a feeling by looking at the cover of it, many children will not be picking it up. The cover is really not very attractive. Inside this cover, there’s eight, great, short stories about living in China during the mid-1970’s.
I liked how the author gave a first-account of her life in China as a young child. The novel begins with her younger sister getting the opportunity to attend school since only one child per family was allowed. I thought it was interesting the difference between a family name and a given name and how they used them. There were many things inside this novel that I thought were interesting as I read them.
I appreciated how the author included some history into the novel both personal and historical. I feel that the novel includes a great deal of information and I learned quite a bit about China from reading this it. The information presented wasn’t all personal in nature, but included the traditions and routines of the country and her family’s involvement in them.
The graphics were easy to follow, they were at-the-most-part big and the text was easy to read. I thought the colors used in the text, just like the cover, was a bit on the drab side. There were a few pages that were colorful, but most pages carried an olive green or dull yellow tint to them. I can’t say enough about the content of this graphic novel, it was excellent. Pick this graphic novel up for the content and for the illustrations, imagine your own color in it. 4.5 (.5 off for the color issue)
5 stars Childrens picture book
Poor Carl! Carl was living a happy, content life until one day a field mouse came upon him and asked Carl a question which he didn’t know the answer to. Carl never knew why he did, what he did but now, the question was out there and he needed an answer.
Carl talks to many animals as he makes his journey. Crawling over many miles, Carl’s tone begins to change as his journey is beginning to take forever. Everyone that Carl is talking to seems to know their purpose except for Carl. Finally, when Carl hears the cry of a beetle, he gets the answer to his question.
I love how the author put this novel together. It’s not a fact-telling story, it’s a story about helping others and being part of a larger picture. It’s about a community, about being needed and how each individual is important. I liked the simplicity of the illustrations. They were beautiful to look at and I enjoyed watching Carl as he traveled over the fields.
One Chapter 