Book Review: A Stitch in Time by Daphne Kalmar

                                                                                   BOOK INFORMATION:                                                                  

Book Title: A Stitch in Time

Author: Daphne Kalmar

Publishing Date: June 19th,  2018

Publisher: Feiwel Friends

Page Count: 256 pages

Source: From the Library

An orphan grapples with her unpleasant aunt and the even more unpleasant idea of moving to Boston in this poignant middle-grade debut that handles loss and renewal.
Donut is an eleven-year old geography buff who keeps her taxidermied mice hidden in her late mother’s hope chest. Her pops passed away, leaving her an orphan. Aunt Agnes has moved in, bringing along her lumpy oatmeal, knitting, and a plan to drag Donut off to Boston forever.

Donut stands to lose everything: her friends, her village, her home, the woods, and walks where the memories of her pops are stored up.

While Donut dodges the ache of missing her pops, she and her best friend Tiny plan how to keep her where she belongs. Holed up in a cabin on Dog Pond, Donut clings to the hope that Aunt Agnes will throw in the towel and leave Vermont without her.

A Stitch in Time is shot through with gorgeous, evocative language, and gets right to Donut’s heart. 

Links for purchase: Amazon // Barnes and Noble // Abe Books // Book Depository  // Indigo 

                                                                        MY THOUGHTS ON THE BOOK:                                                             

I am very unsure of how I feel about this novel it was a weirdly interesting one, but I am still mixed on it. 

Donut, who was born Dorothy lives in a small village in the early twentieth center. Her mother died when she was born, and her father was killed in a car accident. Her existence is quite tragic given her small age. It seems very cookie cutter when reading it. 

Her Aunt Agnes is from Boston, comes to stay with her, and wants to take her back to the city. Something that she actually thinks will be a good thing, donut would get a good education, and she even works at a girls school. Donut doesn’t want to go, but not for a reason you would think. She doesn’t want to leave her neighbor Sam, who has taught her taxidermy. Or her friend Tiny. Even though Sam agrees to let her stay, her aunt doesn’t agree and wants her to leave with her. And frankly I think it’s weird that a child wants to stay with someone that teaches her taxidermy, but that’s my own biases. Like an average child, she decides to run away. 

Oddly enough she is actually slightly prepared to leave. She sets up to live in a cabin that belonged to a family friend of her father. Sam and her friend are the only ones that know exactly where she is. She ends up spending several days by herself. She investigates the boat her father left behind, befriends some animals, and realizes maybe she doesn’t know anything. A terrible accident ends up destroying her cabin and injuring her, and she must go back to her home. 

I think that this story had a lot of strengths to it. I enjoyed the orphan aspects of these novels. I loved these kinds of stories as a child, but as an adult, I see the issues in the logic of the stories. I guess I am not the right audience for this book. I am sure childhood Andrea would have loved this story with less skepticism. The other siren was that the women’s rights aspect was terrific in a children’s story, it wasn’t overly political or anything. It was just girl positive with a strong female lead, and young girls need more than that. 

There were some things that I hated about this book. Taxidermy descriptions that start the book were a tiny bit stomach churning. It really almost was too much for me. I don’t think that this was all that necessary and could have been done in a less gross way. I think the taxidermy was interesting but didn’t need all the details. 

All in all, I think it was a good book. Historical orphan novels are so beautiful, and female lead stories are so needed these days. I really enjoyed this novel, and will probably buy the book at some point. 

Book Review: Paths to happiness : 50 ways to add joy to your life every day

                                                                                   BOOK INFORMATION:                                                                  

Book Title: Paths to happiness: 50 ways to add joy to your life every day

Author: Edward Hoffman

Publishing Date: August 16th 2016 

Publisher: Chronicle Books

Page Count:  240 pages

Source: From the Library 

From positive psychology expert Edward Hoffman, Ph.D., Paths to Happiness guides readers through 50 fun, stimulating, mind-opening ways to achieve greater joy and feel more fulfilled. From dabbling in watercolors to expressing gratitude, embracing nostalgia to power napping, each suggestion in these pages has been shown by scientific research to increase happiness and support well-being. Every topic is explored in a digestible manner and invites readers to reflect on their lives, with easy ways to cultivate a happier mindset. The easy dip-in, dip-out style, and engaging activities make this accessible guide to finding happiness in daily living one that people will want to revisit again and again.

Links for purchase: Amazon // Barnes and Noble // Abe Books // Book Depository 

                                                                        MY THOUGHTS ON THE BOOK:                                                             

This was a book I picked up because my goal is to really work on actively being more active in self-care. Which is something I am terrible about. As I was looking through the self-help shelves this little book really caught my attention, by little it really is tiny, it took me an afternoon on a rainy Washington day to finish. 

I found that this book has lots of good ideas for self-care or paths to happiness, somethings are things like trying Tai Chi or Power Napping. Items that could be completed in a day or in a late afternoon. Whereas others are quite heavy and could day months or even years to finish such as Forgiveness and Self-Compassion and Authenticity. Which is quite disjointed at times and slightly random. Also, some of the advice or explanations were dull or impersonal and at times felt rushed. 

This book is an excellent summary and reminder of ways to take control of our own happiness. Comfortable and a quick read. It had a significant number of things people could use to combat depression or anxiety. Which is something I believe that most people will struggle with at various points in their life. It would make an excellent gift for someone who needs to do better at self-care. I hope you will check it out. 

Book Review: Broken Lands

                                                                                   BOOK INFORMATION:                                                                  

Book Title: Broken Lands

Author: Jonathan Maberry

Publishing Date: December 11th, 2018

Publisher: Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers

Page Count: 544 pages

Source: From the Library

New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Maberry returns to the world of Rot & Ruin with this first novel in a brand-new series that’s more thrilling and filled with exceptionally terrifying adventures.

Ever since her mother’s death, Gabriella “Gutsy” Gomez has spent her days flying under the radar. But when her mother’s undead body is returned to her doorstep from the grave and Gutsy witnesses a pack of ravagers digging up Los Muertos—her mother’s name for the undead—she realizes that life finds you no matter how hard you try to hide from it.

Meanwhile, Benny Imura and his gang set out on a journey to finish what Captain Joe Ledger started: they’re going to find a cure. After what they went through in the Rot and Ruin, they think they’ve seen it all, but as they venture into new and unexplored territory, they soon learn that the zombies they fought before were nothing compared to what they’ll face in the wild beyond the peace and safety of their fortified town

                                                                        MY THOUGHTS ON THE BOOK:                                                             

This was an adventure. I was super happy to be back in Rot & Ruin. Although it is a terrible situation, Broken Lands was such a great addition to the world. I was nervous about the book because I tend to not enjoy other series set in the same universe as another book, especially books that I really enjoy, but this one was just as good. 

In this series, Gutsy is our main character. She lives in a place called New Alamo, which is a very protected and safe community. Safe from the “Los Muertos” which is the name for the undead that her mother uses. Her mother has just passed from tuberculosis. Which has returned as have many so-called eradicated diseases? The family buries her in a Catholic tradition, but someone digs her up and brings her back to the house. And it leaves everyone with questions, mainly who would do such a bizarre and unnatural thing like that. 

Gutsy has a great support group of friends, both new and old, that have been helping and supporting her through her loss. Later in the story when Gutsy witnesses more people being dug up, she quickly realizes there is more to this story than what it seems. The danger is within, somewhere in her safe, protected community, it is not just from the undead. At the same time, we learn that our beloved characters Benny and nix, as well as others, are safe in Reclamation. Although they seem quite bored.

Many of the towns have established contact with others. Such as Asheville, North Carolina, where they have a huge settlement and even their own government. It is almost back to normal in that town, or is it? All the sudden contact is lost with Asheville, the teens decide that they can't just wait around and wonder, they need to take action, to do something about it. They make a plan to leave and make it to the city to figure out what is going on. Clearly, as you have probably guessed the two groups of teens meet, I won't tell you more because you need to read this one for yourself!

As always I loved the Rot & Ruin series. I really enjoyed the start of this new series, Broken Lands. I can't wait to read more of this interesting story and see where things will go. I hope you will read this one also.

Book Review: Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions

                                                                                   BOOK INFORMATION:                                                                  

Book Title: Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions

Author: Mario Giordano

Publishing Date: March 6th 2018

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 

Page Count:  346 pages

Source: From the Library

On her sixtieth birthday, Auntie Poldi retires to Sicily, intending to while away the rest of her days with good wine, a view of the sea, and few visitors. But Sicily isn’t quite the tranquil island she thought it would be, and something always seems to get in the way of her relaxation. When her handsome young handyman goes missing—and is discovered murdered—she can’t help but ask questions . . .

Soon there’s an investigation, a smoldering police inspector, a romantic entanglement, one false lead after another, a rooftop showdown, and finally, of course, Poldi herself, slightly tousled, but still perfectly poised.

This “masterly treat” (Times Literary Supplement) will transport you to the rocky shores of Torre Archirafi, to a Sicily full of quirky characters, scorching days, and velvety nights, alongside a protagonist who’s as fiery as the Sicilian sun. 

Links for purchase: Amazon // Barnes and Noble // Abe Books // Book Depository // Better World Books // Indigo 

                                                                        MY THOUGHTS ON THE BOOK:                                                             

Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions was a rather annoying book for me to read. I didn’t enjoy it as much as I was hoping. I picked this up on a whim at the library, and if I am honest, it was solely because of that beautifully well-done cover. 

Auntie Poldi is a super eccentric Bavarian woman who always wears a wig, enjoys photographing innocent traffic controller, and is intending on retiring in Sicily to feed her drinking addiction. Another character is in the book is her nephew who is writing a book, and spends most of his time visiting her, and narrating the story. 

Honestly, with the way the book is written, he shouldn't quit his day job. The book regularly had sentences that started with,  "My Auntie Poldi" which got old after a while. I think the book would have been much better if the book was told from a different perspective, and he used better sentence introductions. Anyways back to the nephew, he is spending most of the time helping out his aunt, in fact, almost every person in her life wants to help her out. 

This includes the handsome Valentino Candela, who performs odd jobs for her before disappearing from her life. Although she doesn't have the best relationship with him, it seems she is the only person in this guys life that cares that he is missing. She sets off on a mission to discover his whereabouts. 

This is a mystery where the plot is entirely revolved around the characters, which is really not my favorite type of mystery. It is kinda weak in a way and kind of a detriment from my enjoyment of the story. The concern that Poldi shows seem more like a plot device rather than her actually caring for him as the novel progresses. 

Even though it wasn't my favorite book, I am excited to read the second. This is a first in a series so perhaps the rest of the story will grab my attention more than the first installment did.