Tag: Books

Book Review: The Whisper (Riverman Trilogy)

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Reviews, Young AdultLeave a comment

I recently reviewed The Riverman by Aaron Starmer, which left me with a very disappointingly ambiguous ending.  So naturally I went swiftly on to the recently-published second book, The Whisper.  I liked the ending better…but had mixed feelings about the book on the whole.  Spoilers to follow for the first book because it’s pretty unavoidable!

The Riverman was about Alistair and his friendship with Fiona, who tells him a strange and impossible story of traveling to Aquavania, where kids can create entire worlds with just their imaginations.  Alistair mostly believes that Fiona is inventing an elaborate metaphor, including the shadowy Riverman who stalks Aquavania, in response to dangers threatening her in the real world.  The Whisper blows apart that uncertainty between fantasy and reality, when Alistair follows Fiona into Aquavania.  Fiona has been taken by the Riverman, also called the Whisper.  Alistair chases through worlds, trying to find and fight the Whisper, hoping to find and rescue Fiona in the process. Continue reading “Book Review: The Whisper (Riverman Trilogy)” →

Book Review: Harry Kitten and Tucker Mouse

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Juvenile, Reviews3 Comments

As far as I know, my book today is pretty obscure–but you may have heard of its more famous literary sibling, The Cricket in Times Square.  George Selden wrote seven books about Chester Cricket and his friends, and Harry Kitten and Tucker Mouse serves as a prequel to Cricket.

The book opens with a very young Tucker Mouse lost on the streets of New York–so young that he hasn’t even chosen a name for himself yet.  When he bumps into a tabby kitten, he’s ready to fight…because that’s what cats and mice do.  But Harry Kitten offers him a crust of sandwich instead, and the two become fast friends.  Together, they roam New York looking for a home, from the basement of the Empire State Building to manicured Gramercy Park.  But nowhere feels right until they find the bustle of the Times Square Subway Station.

This is an utterly charming series.  Chester Cricket doesn’t appear in this story, but I love Harry and Tucker.  Harry is always so calm, so reasonable, while Tucker is dramatic, anxious and avaricious–and usually the source of humor.  They’re one of my favorite literary friendships, all the more so because it’s between two traditional enemy species.  And their quest for a place to belong is perfectly familiar for humans too. Continue reading “Book Review: Harry Kitten and Tucker Mouse” →

Book Review: The Animal Family

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Juvenile, Reviews1 Comment

In another read for the Once Upon a Time challenge, I picked up The Animal Family by Randall Jarrell, illustrated by Maurice Sendak.  It’s an old book and a Newbery Honor, but I’d never heard of it until recently.  It’s a short book, fable-like and charming.

The story centers around a hunter who lives all alone beside the shore–until one day he hears a mermaid singing.  He coaxes her ashore by singing back.  She learns his language and eventually comes to live with him.  Together, they find and adopt three orphans: a bear, a lynx and a human boy.

This is a sweet little story about family and home, and very different people (creatures) coming to understand and accept each other.  What might be most surprising is what doesn’t happen–the mermaid never becomes human.  She comes onto land to live with a human man, and certainly she and her life change, but she doesn’t give up who she is.  In fact, the book largely slides right over the practical problems of a mermaid on land, which in some ways is slightly bothersome (I mean, how does she even get around?) but I think is worth it in the end. Continue reading “Book Review: The Animal Family” →

Reading Challenges Update

On By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations2 Comments

A little past the quarter-mark of the year, time for a check-in on reading challenges.  I’m being more laid-back this year and trying something different.  Just two challenges this year, the Reread Challenge and the…well, it doesn’t have a name, but there is a scorecard below.

For the Reread Challenge, I’ve been diving into lots of beloved rereads (21, in fact), so I’ll just remark on some of the more notable ones.  I reread (almost) the entire Tillerman Cycle (so good), The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Good Omens, Hatchet and its sequel, Golden and Grey, the first three books of the Little House on the Prairie series, and Jane of Lantern Hill, the very last L. M. Montgomery novel I ever read and which I had previously only read once.  So far, I’m having a lot of fun revisiting old friends, and definitely plan to continue.

As to my unnamed Reading Challenge, here’s the scorecard and the results for the first few months of the year:

Goodwill Librarian Reading Challenge

  • A Book That Became a Movie: The Martian by Andy Weir (at least, they’re making a movie…)
  • A Book Published This Year: The Boy Who Lost Fairyland by Catherynne M. Valente
  • A Book with Nonhuman Characters: Stitching Snow by R. C. Lewis (droids instead of dwarfs!)
  • A Funny Book: Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett
  • A Book by a Female Author: Loads of them, but Phoenix Island by Charlotte Paul was the first of the year.
  • A Mystery: Ordeal by Innocence by Agatha Christie
  • A Book with a One-Word Title: Unbound by Jim C. Hines
  • A Book of Short Stories: Clockwork Fairy Tales, edited by Stephen L. Antczak and James C. Bassett
  • A Non-Fiction Book: The Year of Living Biblically by A. J. Jacobs
  • A Book from an Author You Love that You Hadn’t Read Yet: Beyond the Farthest Star by Edgar Rice Burroughs
  • A Book a Friend Recommended: The Moonspinners by Mary Stewart
  • A Book at the Bottom of Your To-Read List: The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
  • A Book You Can Finish in a Day: Fairest by Marissa Meyer
  • A Book From Your Childhood: Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
  • A Book Set Somewhere You’ve Always Wanted to Visit: Loose Chippings by Thomas Gerald Wheeler (England and Wales)
  • A Book with Magic: Ahem.  We’ll go with A Question of Magic by E. D. Baker, because of the title
  • A Book by an Author You’ve Never Read Before: Again, loads, but the first was Who Is the Doctor? by Graeme Burk and Robert Smith? [sic]

And that is…a lot!  17, in fact, putting me well on track to hit 50 by the end of the year, just mathematically.  But I think I’ve accounted for the easy ones, and it’s going to be harder to do many of the rest…  For now I’ve made it only new reads (except “book from my childhood”) and haven’t put any book in multiple categories.  I’d like to stick to that, but I’ll see how strict I feel as the year goes on.

And…that’s all for now, folks!  🙂  Did you have any reading challenges or goals this year?  How are they going for you?

Book Review: The Fairy’s Return and Other Princess Tales by Gail Carson Levine

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Juvenile, Reviews1 Comment

I’m a huge fan of Gail Carson Levine’s Ella Enchanted, and I consider her clever twists on fairy tales to be literary ancestors of my own writing.  Among my favorites of her books are The Princess Tales, six very short novels, which I bought combined into one (400-page) volume, The Fairy’s Return and Other Princess Tales.  I reread these before the Once Upon a Time Challenge began, but it’s still an appropriate time for a review!

Set in the Kingdom of Biddle, each story riffs on at least one fairy tale, but always with Levine’s gift for bringing a practical eye to silly situations.  The stories are loosely connected, but all stand on their own too.  I thought I’d take this story by story…

“The Fairy’s Mistake” – The fairy Levana is just trying to follow tradition when she enchants kind Rosella to produce jewels every time she speaks–and when she enchants Rosella’s nasty sister Myrtle to spew toads and bugs with every word.  But it all goes wrong when Rosella is carried off by a prince who doesn’t care if she exhausts herself speaking as long as he gets the jewels, and Myrtle uses her new powers to blackmail the villagers and get everything she wants! Continue reading “Book Review: The Fairy’s Return and Other Princess Tales by Gail Carson Levine” →