Book Review - William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream; retold by Georghia Ellinas

A Midsummer Night's Dream; retold by Georghia Ellinas 

(Illustrations: Jane Ray)

Candlewick Press - 2021

(Ages 4-8)

Oh my goodness, I fell in love with this magical, charming story that takes a comical look at love gone wrong in the fairy tale kingdom. Told from the POV of Robin Goodfellow, the one everyone calls Puck, the one who has the ability to make himself invisible and play tricks on both fairies and mortals.  

Even though the story is abbreviated and retold for kids, there are original quotes peppered throughout and the gorgeous illustrations on oversized quality pages that really seemed to make this story come alive and jump off the pages.  Personally,  I think the older children (ages 6-8) in the targeted range would be more enthralled by this one.

This is the second book in the retelling series. I missed The Tempest (2020) but, now have a need to check that one out as well.  A lovely book, be sure to check it out. 

Thanks go to Candlewick Press for sending this gem my way in exchange for my unbiased review.

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - Mary Jane; Jessica Anya Blau

Welcome to First Chapter/Intros, hosted by Yvonne @ Socrates Book Reviews. 

Each week readers post the first paragraph (or 2) of a book we are reading or plan to read. 

Mary Jane; Jessica Anya Blau

Custom House - 2021

1

"Mrs. Cone showed me around the house.  I wanted to stop at every turn and examine the things that were stacked and heaped in places they didn't belong:  books teetering on a burner on the stove, a coffee cup on a shoebox in the entrance hall, a copper Buddha on the radiator, a pink blow up pool raft in the center of the living room.  I had just turned fourteen, it was 1975, and my ideas about homes, furniture, and cleanliness ran straight into me like an umbilical cord from my mother.  As Mrs. Cone used her bare foot (toenails painted a glittering red) to kick aside a stack of sweaters on the steps, I felt a jolt of wonder.  Did people really live like this?  I suppose I knew that they did somewhere in the world.  But I never expected to find a home like this in our neighborhood, Roland Park, which my mother claimed was the finest neighborhood in Baltimore."

What do you think - read more or pass?  I do like a good coming of age story and this seems to have potential.

Book Review - Blush; Jamie Brenner

 

TITLE/AUTHOR:   Blush; Jamie Brenner

PUBLISHER:  G.P.  Putnam

YEAR PUBLISHED: 2021

GENRE: Fiction / Family /Contemporary

FORMAT:  eGalley / LENGTH: 384

SOURCE:  NetGalley

SETTING(s):  NY

ONE SENTENCE SUMMARY:  A story about wine, trashy books and and three generations of strong women.

BRIEF REVIEW:   Hollander Estates and winery, located in the North Forks of Long Island in Cutchogue, NY,  has been a wonderful place for family, parties, day trips and destination events.  Leonard Hollander has spent a good part of his life developing the winery after gaining experience in CA.  He has provided his family with a beautiful home and lifestyle and has groomed his son Asher to learn the business.   Leonard now has a big announcement to make. The winery is in dire financial straights and must be sold otherwise Leonard and his wife Vivian may not have enough money for retirement.  For years Leonard has kept the business operations a "man thing" while his wife Vivian, entertained, looked beautiful and hosted her book club with her like-minded friends.  Leonard even kept daughter Leah in the dark about the operations.  Leah is married to Steven and she and her husband operate a popular cheese shop in Manhattan.  Their daughter Sadie, has had trouble focusing on her senior thesis and needs a break to refocus her priorities.  As these three strong women converge at the winery during the summer,  Sadie discovers some old journals stashed away in the library from years gone by, along with some trashy romance novels by 1980s feminist authors which inspire the women to come up with a plan to take charge and make their input count.  Smart women, good cheese, good wine and trashy books that inspire, do these women have what it takes to save the winery and change their lives in the process?

This is my third summer themed book by the author and unfortunately this one was my least favorite. The story moved very slowly for me ( it took me over a week to finish what should have been a quick read).  Although the story finally came around, I just never connected with the characters and family drama.  I'm guessing my love of good wine just wasn't enough to make this one work for me.  Disappointing.

RATING:  3/5

Book Review - The Maidens; Alex Michaelides

 

TITLE/AUTHOR:   The Maidens;  Alex Michaelides

PUBLISHER:  Celadon Books and Macmillan Audio

YEAR PUBLISHED: 2021

GENRE: Fiction / Psychological Thriller

FORMAT:  audio / LENGTH: 9 hours 19 min.

SOURCE:  NetGalley

SETTING(s):  Cambridge, England

ONE SENTENCE SUMMARY:  A dark engrossing psychological thriller with a surprising climax.

BRIEF REVIEW:   Mariana Andros is a group therapist in London who is still mourning the loss of her husband Sebastian the prior year. She also has a patient who has been stalking her.  One day she receives a panic call from her niece Zoe who attends the university in Cambridge.  Zoe's friend Tara has been brutally murdered .   Mariana is Zoe's guardian and wants to be with her so she drops everything and takes a train to be with her niece. 

The murder of Tara is reminiscent of a Greek tragedy  and Mariana learns that Tara was a member of a secret campus group called "The Maidens."  It's a select group of beautiful, confident young women led by the popular and handsome Professor of Mythology, Edward Fosca who  soon becomes a prime suspect.  Mariana begins to snoop around and then another girl is dead, murdered in the same brutal fashion.  Mariana is sure Professor Fosca is involved somehow.  The local police are getting annoyed by Mariana and tell her to stay out of their business but, she's not giving up that fast. Then one day she receives the same type of postcard with a Greek tragedy quote as the other dead girls had received and, things heat up from there leading up to a surprising and satisfying ending.

There were several things I loved about this book. It had several suspicious characters, and number of red herrings to throw the reader off track. It also had a couple of familiar characters from The Silent Patient as well, but, this could certainly be read as a stand alone novel.  The audio book was fantastic with dual narrators: a female for Mariana's third person POV and a male voice of a deeply disturbed, possibly psychotic (unknown) man with troublesome childhood memories.  Although this one took a bit to get going, a slow-burn,  it quickly escalated into high gear. I was blown away with the final reveal.

I loved this author's last novel The Silent Patient so I couldn't wait to try this one.  If it hadn't been for the graphic events involving sheep and then a family dog, this would have been a perfect read for me. Why do authors need to spoil a good book by introducing a shock factor involving animals? I felt I had to take off a star because of this.

Thanks go to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for allowing me to download this audiobook  at no cost in exchange for my unbiased review.  

RATING:  4/5

3 new Book Reviews - delights for children - Annie Lumsden: Girl From the Sea; David Almond - Sweet Pea Summer; Hazel Mitchell and Atticus Caticus; Sarah Maizes

 

Annie Lumsden, The Girl From the Sea; David Almond

(Illustrations: Beatrice Alemagna )

Candlewick - 2021

(ages 7-10)

Annie Lumsden is 13 years old and she hasn't been to school for a while, she isn't like most other children at school. Her hair seems to float like seaweed as she move about, her thoughts seems to drift to the wonders of the sea.  Since she has trouble confusing her letters and her numbers, her artist mother teaches Annie from their little beach house by the sea.  Annie loves listening to all of her mother's stories about her artwork but, her favorite tales by far are ones about the sea.  One day, it's a stranger that is new to the area who helps Annie to understand how special she really is,

I loved that this story features a girl who is different from her peers but, she isn't overwhelmed by her differences and rather in a good place it seems.  I loved the relationship she had with her mother who was so supportive of her daughter's uniqueness and her creature-of-the-sea qualities.  A good store and positive message and lovely illustrations that add to the mystery within the story.

Sweet Pea Summer; Hazel Mitchell (author/illustrator)

Candlewick Press - 2021

(ages 4-8)

When a little girl's mother must be hospitalized, Grandma and Grandpa have her father bring her over to spend the summer with the them.  Hoping to take her mind off her mother, they try to get her interested in gardening, both flowers and vegetables.  The sweet peas were always a beautiful garden addition and they hoped to enter them in the flower show this year but sweet peas were not doing well. The buds were falling off, the girl tried everything she could think of to help them: umbrellas for shade, covering them at night for cooler temps and just the right amounts of water too.  Soon came the day of the flower show and the hard work had paid off - it was her bluest ever sweet peas that won the prize. They also served as a perfect welcome home gift for her mom.

Sweet story, lovely illustrations and an overall summer perfect story.

Atticus Caticus; Sarah Maizes 

Kara Kramer, Illustrator

Candlewick Press - 2021

Atticus Caticus features a day in the life of a quirky cat and her little human.  Yes, Atticus can be a tad annoying, it's just how some cats can be, but, above all else it is his quirks that make him the cool fun unique cat that is hard not to love.

The rhyme, fun verse is a delight but, may take some time getting used to. The illustrations were fun, (I can't call them adorable) but, the expressions on Atticus are just priceless.  I think most little ones who love cats will pick this one as a favorite.

Thanks go to Candlewick Press for sending these lovely books my way in exchange for my unbiased reviews.

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - Before We Were Yours; Lisa Wingate

Welcome to First Chapter/Intros, hosted by Yvonne @ Socrates Book Reviews. 

Each week readers post the first paragraph (or 2) of a book we are reading or plan to read. This week's pick is my book group's pick for June - we meet, in person, next week back at the library.

Before We Were Yours; Lisa Wingate

Ballantine Books - 2017

Prelude

Baltimore, Maryland

August 3, 1939

"My story begins on a sweltering August night, in a place I will never set eyes upon. The room takes life only in my imaginings.  It is large most days when I conjure it.  The walls are white and clean, the bed linens crisp as a fallen leaf. The private suite has the very finest of everything.  Outside, the breeze is weary, and the cicadas throb in the tall trees, their verdant hiding places just below the window frames. The screens sway inward as the attic fan rattles overhead, pulling at wet air that has no desire to be moved.

The scent of pine wafts in, and the woman's screams press out as the nurses hold her fast to the bed. Sweat pools on her skin and rushes down her face and arms and legs.  She's be horrified if she was aware of this."

What do you think, read more or pass? Have you read this one? I heard it was excellent so I'm looking forward to beginning it this week.

Book Reviews - Count the Ways; Joyce Maynard

 

TITLE/AUTHOR:   Count the Ways; Joyce Maynard

PUBLISHER:  William Morrow

YEAR PUBLISHED: 2021

GENRE: Fiction / Family Life

FORMAT:  eGalley / LENGTH: 462

SOURCE:   Edelweiss

SETTING(s):  New Hampshire (and Massachusetts)

ONE SENTENCE SUMMARY:  A beautiful story of an imperfect life: love, marriage, home, children and forgiveness.

BRIEF REVIEW:   Eleanor had never known love, as the only child of alcoholic parents who were married twenty years when she was born.  Her parents were wrapped up in each other and never seemed to want her around. She was sent off to boarding school and it was while she was at school at the age of sixteen that she learns her parents were killed in a car crash returning from a ski weekend in Vermont.   For Eleanor art, as a form of expression, was a way out her loneliness, her early passion turned into a way to earn a living.

With a little money and income from her illustrations and later children's books, she falls in love with a farmhouse with lots of land and even a brook in New Hampshire. She purchased the house complete with furnishings, housewares and tools and so much - it was a house with a history.  She is immediately in love with her home.  A few years later she meets handsome Cam at a craft's fair in Vermont where he was selling his wooden wares, there is instant passion, and before long three children make them a family.  Their Bohemian lifestyle and family makes Eleanor one of the happiest of women in the world.  She even overlooks the fact Cam isn't exactly the most hardworking, helpful or responsible partner but, they have built a life together and the children seem happy and their life is everything she ever wanted.  So when something terrible happens, Eleanor is beside herself and soon life as the family has known it has changed.

Count the Ways is a story that spans decades. Eleanor is a wonderful, fully fleshed character that women who have experienced the trials and tribulations of motherhood and marriage will be able to relate to (at least I did.)  I felt her joys, her disappointments, and her sadness. She experiences possibly more than her share of life's disappointments and difficulties but, she finds a way to cope and keep going.  There are a lot of things that happen in this story and yet most everything is still vivid and etched in my mind. I don't want to say too much, I was happy I went into the memorable story without reading what the book was about beforehand. There was so much nostalgia in this story for me as I was raising my children during the same time period: the music, the movies, the news events and more. Everything about this story felt realistic and I don't think it could have been improved upon.  The author covered it all - life, family and all the detours along the way that sometimes make our lives turn out different than we imagined when we were young.  I felt like I was a close friend of Eleanor and of this family when I turned the final page. I didn't want this one to end. The book is sure to make my faves list for 2021. Highly Recommended.

Thanks go to Edelweiss and William Morrow for allowing me to download this eGalley at no cost in exchange for my unbiased review.  This book releases on July 13, 2021.

RATING:  5/5

MEMORABLE QUOTES:

"This is my radical act, she had told the young Harvard woman. "Raising three human beings, who will go out and change the world."

"For me, being a feminist means manifesting the strength and confidence and tenacity to pursue whatever it is you most want to do with your life. In my case, the goal was having a family. I'm doing that. If I don't get to make art that much at the moment, I can live with it.  Nobody gets everything in life. You have to make compromises.

"Children had to know pain, or how would they ever know what to do when they encountered it?  Trouble would come, no matter what.   The best you could do was to raise your children in such a way that when trouble found them--as it would--they's be able to survive it." (Teach your children well)

"Standing at the kitchen counter, looking out the window, Eleanor could almost feel her heart expand in her chest. Two sensations came to her. Wild happiness at the sight of her three children, terror at the thought of what it would be to lose one of them. If it was possible to love someone any more than this, she could not imagine how."

EPIGRAPH (Ho'oponopono prayer, phrases spoken in any order, for reconciliation and forgiveness.)

I'm sorry.

   I love you.

   Thank you.

   Please forgive me.