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Showing posts from May, 2016

Mini Reviews: Fancy Nancy, Mia, and Cake Soup

I'm reading so many books lately, especially picture books so I'd thought I'd review a whole bunch in one go.
Nancy will have to do some fancy footwork to resolve her predicament in this latest Fancy Nancy story for beginning readers. Much to her dismay, Nancy has been chosen for the relay team in this year's Field Day at school. Despite her many natural talents, Nancy isn't much of a runner. She's afraid of letting her team down—especially after finding out that an unkind (that's another word for mean) girl in her class is on the team too. With a little help from her dad, Nancy tries her best, stands up for herself, and makes a new friend.


It was lucky for me when I found a sort of chapter book version of Fancy Nancy. Perfect for first graders and me of course. Fancy Nancy and the Mean Girl emphasized how you need to stand up for yourself instead of letting someone make you feel like you are less.

I forgot how much Nancy is into vocabulary so I got a surpr…
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My Faire Lady by Laura Wettersten

Standalone. Simon and Schuster (June 2015) Own
Rowena Duncan is a thoroughly modern girl with big plans for her summer—working at the mall with her best friends, taking trips to the Cape, date nights on the beach—until she catches her boyfriend making out with another girl. Heartbroken, she applies to an out-of-town job posting and finds herself somewhere she never expected: the Renaissance Faire.

As a face-painter doubling as a serving wench, Ro is thrown headfirst into a vibrant community of artists and performers. She feels like a fish out of water until Will, a quick-witted whip cracker, takes her under his wing. Then there’s Christian, a blue-eyed stunt jouster who makes Ro weak in the knees. Soon, it’s not just her gown that’s tripping her up.

Trading in the Internet and electricity for stars and campfires was supposed to make life simpler, but Ro is finding that love is the ultimate complication. Can she let the past make way for her future?

Rowena (like Rowena Ravenclaw) is mopin…
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Library Loot #2

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire fromThe Captive Reader and Linda from Silly Little Mischief that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library.


I got a ton of manga this week. I happened to be searching for books late at night at my library's website like I do. I saw that not only were there suddenly a bunch of Tokyo Ghoul books but Noragami books too. 6 Tokyo Ghoul and 13 Noragami books. I gasped with pure delight and ordered a whole bunch. I also gasped and dropped everything as I was searching for books and saw Switch which is the last book in the Savvy series. I wanted to reread the Sea of Tranquility so I can write an accurate review because I died of happiness while I read it. Then, I know everyone has been reading Saint Anything so I impulsed borrowed it.


Noragami 2 - Noragami 3 - Noragami 4 - Tokyo Ghoul 1 - Tokyo Ghoul 2 - Tokyo Ghoul 3 - Tokyo Ghoul 4 - Tokyo Ghoul 5 - Tokyo Ghoul 6 - Switch - Saint Anything
What books have …
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Mini Review: That's Not Hay in my Hair by Juliette Turner

Standalone. Zonderkidz (March 2016) NetGalley
New York City life had crammed sidewalks, gasoline-filled puddles, and angry taxi drivers, but Juliette enjoyed the towering sky-scrapers, the half-block walk to school, and the restaurant smells wafting into her bedroom. She had never cared for a horse, let alone a long-horn, when her mother announced their imminent move to a 300 acre ranch in Texas, where they would be caring for three horses, five dogs, twenty-five longhorns, and a cat … all by themselves.

Juliette couldn’t help feeling excited, even though she’d have to climb a hill to get a bar of cell-phone service. Soon she was running from bats and snakes, rescuing a calf from a twenty-foot ditch, medicating ponies, and having adventures so crazy it’s hard to believe they’re for real—but it all happened exactly how it’s written.

Get ready for side-splitting laughs, heart-wrenching tears, and surprising life lessons learned down on the farm and shared by fourteen-year-old Juliette Turn…
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Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen

Scarlet #1. Walker Childrens (Feb. 2012) Own
Will Scarlet is good at two things: stealing from the rich and keeping secrets - skills that are in high demand in Robin Hood's band of thieves, who protect the people of Nottingham from the evil sheriff. Scarlet's biggest secret of all is one only Robin and his men know...that she is posing as a thief; that the slip of a boy who is fast with sharp knives is really a girl.

The terrible events in her past that led Scarlet to hide her real identity are in danger of being exposed when the thief taker Lord Gisbourne arrives in town to rid Nottingham of the Hood and his men once and for all. As Gisbourne closes in a put innocent lives at risk, Scarlet must decide how much the people of Nottingham mean to her, especially John Little, a flirtatious fellow outlaw, and Robin, whose quick smiles have the rare power to unsettle her. There is real honor among these thieves and so much more - making this a fight worth dying for.
Robin Hood is know…
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Book Beginnings #1: Switch by Ingrid Law

Book Beginnings is hosted @ Rose City Reader. The goal is "to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires."  - Rose City Reader


Ingrid Law delivers another heartwarming story about the magic of friendship and the power of family in this companion to her Newbery Honor winning Savvy.

Gypsy Beaumont has always been a whirly-twirly free spirit, so as her thirteenth birthday approaches, she hopes to get a magical ability that will let her fly, or dance up to the stars. Instead, she wakes up on her birthday with blurry vision . . . and starts seeing flashes of the future and past. But when Momma and Poppa announce that her very un-magical, downright mean Grandma Pat has Alzheimer’s and is going to move in with them, Gypsy’s savvy—along with her family’s—suddenly becomes its opposite. Now it’s savvy mayhem as Gypsy starts freezing time, and no one coul…
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The Magical World of Foodie Books

Chocolate, cupcakes, strawberries, and whip cream. All of which can make my mouth water when I read about them in books. There are so many great books out there with or without recipes that showcase delicious imagery of mostly baked goods. Since I've been on such a foodie bender with cooking shows I thought I would find some scrumptious books and quotes that we can all drool over.




Delicious Stories


Other than the three quote worthy books above, here are some other foodie books I've read that you might enjoy:

Meet Your Baker: A mystery centered around a baker in her family bakery called Torte. If you like small towns, recipes at the end of your book, and cozy mysteries you might just like Meet Your Baker.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake: A really odd book with a main character with an unusual power to taste the emotions of the person who made what she's eating.

The Cupcake Queen: Small town, enemies, friends, a cute boy, and a cupcake shop all rolled into one.


Cake: Love, …
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