I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
I wish I hadn’t wasted my time with this book. It started out ok, but it devolved into a message that I don’t think any child should hear. That message said that if you’re being bullied, you have to change. If you’re a little heavier than the average kid, you have to get fit to be accepted, and if you do, not only will others be more approving, but you’ll be perfect and everything will go your way. You’ll be a hero. You’ll be successful. All you have to do is get in shape. It’s likely that the author meant her message to be one of exercise and fitness being confidence and self-esteem builders, but that’s not how it comes across.
The other problem I had was with the plot itself. Events fell into place a little too easily, even for a children’s story. It also lacks any real depth. Many of the reviews I read for The Gift of Charms said this was an all-ages book. That’s not true. The only readers I could see enjoying this story without rolling their eyes at how easily Yoshiko succeeds at everything he does as soon as he’s gotten rid of his belly are children up to the 2nd, maybe 3rd, grade.
I don’t want to recommend this book to anyone, but if you’re still interested in giving or reading it to a child, take a couple hours (the book is really short) and read it yourself first, so that you’re fully aware of the kind of lesson that child will be learning. There are much better books out there that deal with the subjects of bullying, diversity, and fitness.
I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
While Nightfall Gardens is a very different story, many of its elements reminded me of the Chimera books by Phil Gomm, which is why I classified it as Cozy Horror. In addition to this, one of the characters, Deiva, instantly made me think of Miss Havisham from Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations. On top of that, the Blackwood family curse begins with the Greek myth about Pandora, and Lily Blackwood, who is primarily affected by the curse, isn’t perfect. Her character flaws become apparent right from the start, and she makes mistakes. She makes the kind of mistakes that almost get her killed several times. Suffice it to say, I enjoyed this book.
My one problem with it, however, is that it just ends. There’s no cliffhanger or any other event to make a good stopping point for the 1st book in a series. To make it worse, the story has only just begun. It’s really more of an introduction than anything else, and there’s still so much that is left unknown. In other words, there’s no real resolution to anything. Had I read this first book when it was originally published, I would have had to wait to read the 2nd book. Chances are, I wouldn’t have bothered, because, while the story is great, I’m not invested in it yet. I’m not left worrying about what might happen. A cliffhanger isn’t necessary to cause that feeling, but there needs to be some kind of ending that makes me want to pick the next book up.
Luckily for me, and any of you who haven’t yet read the book, the 2nd and 3rd books are available. We don’t have to wait. Like a 2nd episode of a never before watched TV show on Netflix, I’ll likely read at least the 2nd book, not because it demands to be read, but because it’s available, and why not? It has the potential to be even better than the 1st, since the story can get under way now that the introductions have been made. I recommend giving Nightfall Gardens a chance. It’s not a long book, and so, if you decide it’s not worth continuing, you’ve only lost a couple hours of time. I don’t think you’ll feel that way, though. If it weren’t for the ending, I would give the book 5 stars.
This check-in is for March 9th – 15th. My goal was an average of 8K steps per day. I came so close to meeting it that, even with going on a weekend meditation retreat, all I needed was a little more than 7K steps on Sunday. However, I hurt my back, and with that, any hopes of getting those steps went with me to the couch. I’m still in quite a bit of pain and not able to move around much, so I’m not even trying to meet my goal this week.
I’ll add 1K steps each week that I meet my goal, until I’m completing 12K steps per day. After that, I’ll add in resistance training and/or jogging.
If you’d like to add me as a friend on FitBit, you can find me HERE.
Currently Reading: Buan: The Perfect Mortals by Reece Bridger, a review book, The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott for The Classics Club, The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon, and The Essential Feminist Reader.
Finished: Shadowmagic by John Lenahan, The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer, and The Gift of Charms by Julia Suzuki, all of which I’ll be reviewing sometime this week, along with Nightfall Gardens by Allen Houston, which I was supposed to review last week.
SF/F Bingo: I’m working on filling in the whole card, and it’s starting to get a bit more difficult. I had to do some rearranging in order to get the squares I have marked now, but I haven’t decided yet which square I’m going to put The Gift of Charms on. The obvious one would be “Dragons”, but then I would have to move The Sunken by S.C. Green.
Total pages read for the week: 586
Total number of books for the year: 15. It’s Spring Break for me, and I hurt my back on Sunday, so I’ve got a lot of time on my hands for reading. I’m hoping I’ll be able to finish all of my current reads, or at least most of them, by the end of the week.
Top Commenters: This week, my Top Commenter was Shaina from Shaina Reads.
I’m writing this on Thursday night. I don’t have class on Fridays, so, for me, Spring Break began when I got out of class on Thursday afternoon. This semester has been nuts. As soon as I got home, I laid down for some quiet time with Dresden the cat, and my favorite stuffed toy, Bobo the monkey. The Boyfriend joined me when he got home from work. This normally would be Date Night for the Boyfriend and me, but something came up with his gaming buddies and their usual gaming night got cancelled, so he’s off with them, and I’m at home doing whatever I want while listening to a playlist full of every Feminist singer and band I have in my collection. The playlist is over 90 hours long. I’m also drinking wine, so this post is getting saved until I can look at it with a sober eye.
So, what does any of that have to do with this post’s title? Well, as many of you might know, at least those of you that have looked at my Goodreads recently, I started reading Amanda Palmer’s The Art of Asking on Monday. I’ve been listening to the audiobook during my commute to school. Normally that would mean I listen to about 2 hours each day. The book is just under 12 hours long. So, I should have had about 3 and half hours left by time I got home on Thursday. I only have about 30 minutes left. I’ve been listening to it whenever I have extra time, to the exclusion of every other book I’ve been reading lately. There’s a theme that runs alongside the main one of getting comfortable with asking. That secondary theme is all about connections. Whether it’s making a connection in art, whatever the form, or with the world in general, or with strangers, fans, and loved ones, those connections, every single one of them, are important.
This isn’t my review of The Art of Asking. I’ll be posting that later this month. However, the book has made me do quite a bit of thinking. The Boyfriend calls it “thunking”. Up until now, I’ve stayed fairly anonymous and kept my life private. I might comment about something vaguely personal on someone’s blog every once in a while, or mention something going on with school or the meditation retreat I’m on as this post gets published, but that’s been it, so far. If it didn’t relate to books in some way, I shied away from sharing. That needs to change.
I’m not saying I’m going to transition my blog into a tell-all so that everyone can read me like the proverbial book. There are some things that are just no one’s business but my own. However, when I have something to say, and the time to say it, I’m going to make that connection, or at least attempt to do so. That’s also not to say that I haven’t already made a connection with some of you. You’re following and reading my blog for a reason, whatever that might be. Some of you frequently comment on what I write, and I’m grateful for those connections. I’d like to make more connections, though. I think I’m ready to let all of you know who I am…in small doses, of course. I look forward to the possibilities. I look forward to getting to know all of you as well. So, whatever you want to share, whether it has anything to do with books or not, feel free to connect with me through my contact form or in the comments.
21 Times “Harry Potter” Was The Cleverest Book Series Ever – This made me appreciate the genius of the Harry Potter series and J.K. Rowling even more than I already did, which I didn’t think was possible. It also made me want to rescue my books from my storage unit and do a re-read.
Recaptains!– Are you about to read the next book in a series, but you can’t remember some of the important details that happened in the previous book? Let the Recaptains help you!
Book Related Problems– This is one of Reading By Starlight’s Top Ten Tuesday posts, and it’s awesome. I smiled, laughed, and nodded my head all in agreement over these book related problems.
This check-in is for March 2nd – 8th. My goal was an average of 8K steps per day. I was derailed by the weather for part of the week, and thanks to a ridiculous amount of school work, I wasn’t able to get out even when the weather wasn’t horrible. So, I’ll be repeating the week. Again.
I’ll add 1K steps each week that I meet my goal, until I’m completing 12K steps per day. After that, I’ll add in resistance training and/or jogging.
I’m already behind this week, and since I’ll be spending most of the weekend at a meditation retreat, I’m not likely to meet my goal. *sigh*
If you’d like to add me as a friend on FitBit, you can find me HERE.
Currently Reading: The Gift of Charms by Julia Suzuki, a review book, The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott for The Classics Club, The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon, The Essential Feminist Reader, and Shadowmagic by John Lenahan, which I listen to during my commute to and from school.
Finished:Nightfall Gardens by Allen Houston, which I’ll be reviewing sometime this week.
SF/F Bingo: I’m working on filling in the whole card. I haven’t decided which squares The Burning Land by Victoria Strauss and Nightfall Gardens will be placed on, and I might have to do some major rearranging.
Total pages read for the week: 486
Total number of books for the year: 12. I’m still on schedule, despite the insanity of the past week. I’m still feeling exhausted. I’ve got Midterms this week and then I’m kicking off Spring Break with a weekend meditation retreat, so I don’t know how much reading I’ll get done. I plan on finishing Shadowmagic and The Gift of Charms, though.
Top Commenters: This week, my Top Commenters were Julie from Chapter Break and Shaina from Shaina Reads.
I was invited by the publisher to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
I love Open Road Media. With only one exception (which I gave three stars), the books I’ve read have been four or five star reads. The Burning Land is one of them.
When I read the synopsis and then began reading the book itself, I was reminded of the kinds of stories that N.K. Jemisin is known for. That made me a little skeptical as to whether or not I would enjoy the book, since the two N.K. Jemisin books I’ve read were a bit boring to me. I don’t know how Victoria Strauss did it, but, with the exception of a couple slow points, her writing, story craft, and world building kept me engaged throughout the book. Also, towards the beginning of the book there were some details that led me to make a few predictions for how the story would turn out. However, every single one of them was wrong. Perhaps my research paper addled brain missed some signs and foreshadowing, but I can’t even remember the last time a book wasn’t at least a little predictable. Despite the unpredictability, the plot still made perfect sense. There was never anything that was confusing or made me turn back a page to reread and see if I missed something.
I recommend this book to everyone who loves Fantasy, especially if you happen to be a fan of N.K. Jemisin, or if you enjoyed her stories but found the telling to be lackluster. Though it didn’t bother me, I feel obligated to mention that The Burning Land does contain a rape scene. It’s towards the end of the book and, though it’s necessary to the story and not too graphic, may be an issue for some readers. In that case, I would still give the book a chance, since there’s enough “warning” before the scene, and it only takes up about a paragraph, so it’s easily skippable. Normally, I’d recommend otherwise, but this book is truly great and shouldn’t be missed.
This month’s #ShelfLove No Book Buying Challenge discussion topic is all about where we get our free books. We might have stopped buying books, but we still need that “hit” we get from acquiring new books, right?! Sure, you could search for free books on Barnes & Noble or Amazon, but more often than not, you’re going to come across books that aren’t free that you’ll wish you could buy. Like window shopping when you’re flat broke, it sucks, and will wear down your willpower until you’re at the bottom of a pint of Ben & Jerry’s (studies show that being bombarded with ads and enticing store fronts leads to increased calorie consumption.) Instead of breaking your book buying ban or eating half a pizza, check out the links to all the wonderful sites on the internet offering free books that I’ve discovered over the years. If this lengthy list doesn’t keep you neck-deep in books, figuratively speaking, then I don’t know what will!
ManyBooks.net – This is a searchable site to find and download free books, from every genre, in your prefered format. At the time I wrote this post, there were over 200 free Fantasy books being offered!
Podiobooks – Until very recently, I had no idea podiobooks existed. I subscribe to a couple podcasts that are short stories, so I got a bit excited when I found out there are whole books in podcast format, and they’re FREE!
Project Gutenberg – Most serious readers know about this one, but I have to list it because this is the go to place for the Classics, and it will save your wallet if you’re a Classic literature addict, or a member of The Classics Club.
Online Books Page – Another website to find the Classics. There’s some overlap with Project Gutenberg.
Internet Archive – I LOVE this website! It’s got so much more than free books, so make sure you’ve got some time to kill because you might not leave this site for awhile.
Open Culture – This site has a ton of free downloadable media, including ebooks and audiobooks.
Open Library – You don’t have a library card? First of all, shame on you! Second, go to the Open Library and sign up for a free account. Third, start borrowing ebooks to your heart’s content.
Lit2Go – Another site for free audiobooks, but many of the books also have a free downloadable PDF.
Free Classic Audiobooks – in case you need yet another site for finding free downloadable audiobooks.
Classic Short Stories – Look through the list to find the short story you want to read, and click on it to download.
East of the Web – This site has short stories you can read online, but you can also click on the “Printable Version” link and then save it as a PDF.
Nightmare Magazine – This is a Horror and Dark Fantasy short story magazine I recently discovered. You can read the short stories online or download the audio/podcast.
Storynory – This is a Children’s audiobook site that, amongst so many other kid-friendly downloads, includes Classic Children’s literature.
Kiddie Records – If you’re looking for children’s records from the 1940’s and 50’s, this is the site to check out. The downloads, including a Winnie the Pooh story, are all free.
BookBub – This is actually a website/newsletter to find out about the free (and on sale) books being offered under the genres you’re interested in by major booksellers like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I’ve discovered quite a few free books that I felt were worth downloading, but be careful since there is the temptation of .99 books.
