Joyce's mystery and fiction book reviews with some non-fiction too!

This edition of Buzz Books left me feeling quite excited.  A small sample of what is forthcoming includes A Light of Her Own, “a fictional account of artist and Rembrandt contemporary Judith Leyster;” Becoming by Michelle Obama; Louise Penney’s Kingdom of the Blind and a new novel by George Saunders who wrote Lincoln in the Bardo.  If you enjoyed The Dark Lake, there is Sarah Bailey’s sophomore effort, Into the Night and  new books by Lee Child and Lisa Jewell.  The nights may be getting darker but the reading will be bright!

This circle represents 1000 likes from those of you who read my blog.  Thanks very much!  It is such a pleasure to share the joys of reading with you.  I look forward to writing about more of my adventures in reading and hope you will continue to enjoy the blog.  Suggestions are always welcome.  Again, many thanks.

This volume will be a welcome addition to a young reader’s library! A number of classic children’s books are abridged and retold within it. All of the re-tellings are easy to follow and may well encourage children to seek out the unabridged versions of their favorite stories. Sixteen tales are included in this volume so there should be something for everyone. A sample of what is included…Alice in Wonderland, Treasure Island, The Wizard of Oz, The Secret Garden, Peter Pan, Anne of Green Gables and Little Women. I enjoyed revisiting these stories. The book is illustrated and the artwork added to my enjoyment of the book. Definitely a good purchase for a child’s reading collection.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me spend time with my favorite classics from childhood.

#TheChildrensClassicsCollection #NetGalley

Me Before You was truly a breakout book for Jojo Moyes. It was not her first book. Other novels that she has written include Ship of Brides, Windfallen, and Last Letter to My Lover (which I liked very much), among others. The sequel to Me Before You was Me After You. Honestly, I found that one to not be nearly as good. Then came Still Me. Still Me was an excellent read. In this one, Louisa finds her footing after some ups and downs. She has moved to Manhattan where she becomes the assistant to a wealthy second wife. It would be easy to caricature Mrs. Gopnick but Ms. Moyes does not do this; the reader feels empathy for her, along with the elderly woman whose dog’s name is Dean Martin and the building’s doorman and his family. There are two romances for Louisa, one with Sam (from Book Two) and one with Josh. Read the book to find out who the better man is. Louisa’s family also figures in the novel; her sister finds a happier life and her parents move forward as well. This book feels like it will be the last one about Louisa. She has been given a very good send off!

This book is a good one for a nursery or pre-k library. In this story, Alycat is looking forward to a school field trip. When she does not get to sit with her best friend on the bus, she at first is sad. However, Alycat figures out a way to have two good friends! In addition, this book has some health information because the field trip involves meeting with Dr. Katz. A bonus is that this book has instructions for making a simple friendship bracelet at the end.

#AlycatAndTheFriendshipFriday #NetGalley

This is a gentle and sweet read aloud story. At bedtime, Chick visits all of her animal friends and there are many including a hedgehog and ducklings, among others. Chick helps each animal to settle down for the night and even helps the owl to settle down for sleep in the day. Young listeners will like the repetition on a theme and they can also learn the names of many animals too! This one is a nice addition to the bedtime shelf with its simple sentences and appealing illustrations.

#AhundredKissesBeforeBedtime #NetGalley

I loved this alphabet book about all of the jobs that  girls can do.  With one entry for each letter of the alphabet and appealing, bright illustrations, this book is a winner!  A few of my favorites include:

W is for writer, U is for UN Ambassador, S is for Software engineer, Q is for quantum physicist…you probably get the idea by now; it is that girls can dream big.

Highly recommended for those who want to nurture possibilities in our children.

 

This is a comprehensive look at all things romance.  The reader will find movie and TV news, numerous book reviews (all by category), interviews and more. Some reviews that I enjoyed were short but helpful ones; for example on Jodi Picoult’s new book and the adaptations of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society and  The Bookshop with Emily Mortimer.  This time the holidays are a focus.  There are listings of ghost stories, Thanksgiving reads and lots for Christmas.  The quarterly gives a great deal of information to readers at a very reasonable price.

I have adored all of the Tana French novels.  Start with In the Woods and work your way forward.  In a clever schema, the first book has detectives A and B, the next detectives B and C, etc.  This keeps the books fresh by keeping old characters while introducing new ones.

Tana French’s newest book is a standalone.  It is one of the books that I have most looked forward to reading this fall.

From Goodreads:

Dublin crime novelist Tana French has the kind of critical reviews that other writers would…well, die for. Her debut murder mystery, In the Woods, won rave reviews and multiple literary prizes upon its release in 2007. Since then, her books have tended to haunt the bestseller lists, on both sides of the pond, and for months at a time. British newspaper The Independent has dubbed French “The First Lady of Irish Crime,” and The Washington Post says she is the most important crime novelist to emerge in the past ten years.

Like her literary hero Patricia Highsmith, French writes psychological thrillers that plunge fearlessly into the darkest depths of the human psyche. Her Dublin Murder Squad series includes the novels In the Woods, The Likeness, Faithful Place, Broken Harbour, The Secret Place, and The Trespasser. Where some writers aim for labyrinthine story lines, French specializes in labyrinthine character studies. In her stories, murder and motive emerge not from circumstance and opportunity, but from dark places of the heart and mind.

Her new novel, The Witch Elm, invites readers along on yet another ambitious expedition into the remote wilds of human psychology. Marketing specialist Toby, happily employed at a hipster art gallery, has lived a charmed life. He’s one of those people we’ve all come across—the guy who gets all the breaks. But on one fateful night, Toby’s luck runs out. Beaten to the brink of death by a pair of mysterious burglars, Toby retreats to his family’s ancestral home to recuperate. Brain damage is causing Toby’s memories to flicker and fade, but things really get weird when a human skull is discovered in the garden elm tree…

This novel has received absolutely amazing reviews.  I will add  mine once I have read the novel.  I both want to start and wait so as to have a fantastic read to look forward to.

 

Isn’t little white fish sweet looking? He is trying to find his mommy in this gentle picture book story for toddlers and pre-schoolers. Little Fish encounters a number of sea creatures while searching; for example there are a red crab, a green turtle and a purple octopus. Young folk will painlessly learn about colors and water life in this adorable read. A nice book for a young child’s bookshelf!

#LittleWhiteFish #NetGalley