Tag: Books

Book Review: The Doll People

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Juvenile, Reviews3 Comments

I happened across The Doll People by Ann M. Martin and Laura Godwin in my library’s audiobook section and thought it looked to be some light entertainment.  It was–and it wasn’t.  Rarely have I been so completely and clearly of two minds about a book!

The Doll People is about a family of dolls, particularly little girl Annabelle Doll, who are all alive unbeknownst to their humans (of course).  A family heirloom, the Doll family and their elegant house have been passed through several generations of daughters.  Two plot threads dominate the book: Annabelle’s decision to search for her Auntie Sarah Doll, who went missing forty-five years ago, and the arrival of a new, modern family of dolls who do things differently–but may provide a new friend for Annabelle.

When I read kids books now, I often have a sense of seeing something I might not have as a kid myself…but not usually to the extent that I did here.  I feel like I read this book on two completely separate levels.  On a kid’s level, it’s a light, entertaining read.  Annabelle is a likable heroine who goes through some character growth becoming more daring (and dragging her reluctant family along).  There are a few expeditions and adventures, threats from the family cat and the danger of being caught by humans, and the fun of making a new friend.  And of course, there’s the magical idea of a whole world going on when the humans turn their backs.

And then there was the other level.  Reading this as an adult, some aspects of the book became deeply horrifying.  Continue reading “Book Review: The Doll People” →

Blog Hop: Grateful Reading

On By cherylmahoneyIn Blog Hop2 Comments

book blogger hopThis week’s Book Blogger Hop question: Would you take a book with you when you go to your family’s Thanksgiving gathering/dinner?

Absolutely!  Though I should clarify by saying that it would be very unlikely I would actually read it.  I just bring a book everywhere, all the time.  And there might be a suitable reading opportunity somewhere in a day-long Thanksgiving gathering.

In recent years I’ve fallen into a semi-tradition of reading Terry Pratchett over Thanksgiving weekend.  I think it started when I read Hogfather one year (a little early, as that’s his Christmas satire, but it was almost seasonal) and now I’ve been carrying it on just for fun.  And perhaps it’s appropriate–laughter in general and Terry Pratchett in particular are something to be grateful for.

Happy Thanksgiving, all my American readers–and a lovely day to all the international ones too!  I am grateful you are here. ❤

Book Review: Life After Life

On By cherylmahoneyIn Reviews1 Comment

I just finished another parallel universe book, and…am not quite sure how I feel about it!  Life After Life by Kate Atkinson was strikingly different from my previous reads in this area–striking mostly because it seems like it should be exactly the same!

Ursula is born in a snowstorm in England in 1910.  She dies at birth.  She is born again into the same life and survives until she dies in a drowning accident as a child.  She is born again, again into the same life, and this time is rescued from drowning and goes on to an uninspiring career in government intelligence until dying from a gas leak in the late forties.  She is born again…and so on, and so on.

This may sound remarkably like another recent read, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August.  It is–and isn’t.  Ursula does retain some memory of her previous lifetimes, but unlike Harry’s total recall, her memories (mostly) exist only in the form of deja vu and sudden premonitions.  Sometimes they help her avoid a disaster or make a better choice, but she doesn’t have Harry’s full awareness of what’s happening.

So why do I feel mixed about this one?  This is one of those odd duck books that I genuinely enjoyed reading, while being very clearly aware of a lot I actually didn’t like about it.  Let’s unpack that. Continue reading “Book Review: Life After Life” →

Blog Hop: Reading Off to Sleep

On By cherylmahoneyIn Blog Hop2 Comments

book blogger hopThis week’s Book Blogger Hop question: When you settle in for the night with a good book, do you read until you can’t stay awake or simply have a nightly page goal?

Actually, neither!  Just about any time I settle down to read, but especially at night, I’m looking more at a timeline than at a page goal.  I know what time the light should go out, and I read until then–and I usually try to settle down to read about half an hour before then.  Very prescribed and ordered, I’m afraid!  And I suspect this is not a surprise to the people who know me well off-line…

Though it does sometimes surprise people that I don’t stay up late reading.  I get into books and I occasionally read page-turners, but it’s been a long time since I stayed up later than planned because I couldn’t put a book down.  I remember the last time that happened (a few years ago now)–it was Jane Eyre.  Probably not cited as a page-turner all that often!  But it’s a book I really love, and I was reading it for the first time.  I had watched a movie version, and I was eager to keep reading and see how the book wrote some of the moments I had seen in the movie.

What do your bedtime reading habits look like?  Assuming you have any–but many readers seem to!

Launch Day! The Lioness and the Spellspinners Is Out!

On By cherylmahoneyIn Novel News4 Comments

Lioness Cover - SmallI’m so excited to tell you that my latest novel is now available: The Lioness and the Spellspinners, book 4 of my Beyond the Tales series.

I’ll be off to my writing group tonight with cake to celebrate.  And I hope you’ll consider heading off to buy a copy.  🙂  Get it here: Kindle or Paperback.

If you haven’t read the other books, you can still begin here with the series.  If you really want to start at the beginning, you’re also in luck–the Kindle edition of my first book, The Wanderers, is free today through the weekend!

Read more about Lioness here, check out an excerpt, and come back to the blog in the next couple weeks for my Blog Spin with more about the book and the stories behind it.