Reviews from the Children's Section - At the Back of the North Wind

One of my favorite genres and one that is the easiest for me to push aside is middle grade fiction. This year to make sure I get a little more children's and young adult fiction I thought I would designate the first Monday of every month Middle Grade Monday (though sometimes it doesn't end up working quite right) .  While a lot of my picks this year are classics I am trying to branch out a little bit and read new or at least recent releases.  This month's read is a classic that I had never read but had a bit of nostalgia attached none the less - At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald.

Goodreads:  At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald

This was one of my Grandmother's favorite books as a child so there was quite a bit of pressure on me to like it.  And at first I wasn't so sure.  I didn't love Alice in Wonderland and the beginning had the same whimsical nonsensical feel to it. All the back and forth discussion between Diamond and the North Wind didn't interest me and felt a bit like listening to someone describe there dream in minute detail.  However, suddenly the book gained traction and while there is a good deal of whimsy and a bit of nonsense I found myself really enjoying it and wanting to hear more about young Diamond's adventures.  The book was originally published in 1868 which was a time where children's fiction tended to lean heavily on a moral tale.  However, while Diamond is most definitely good and pure, the whimsical nature of it kept it from being overly preachy.  It occasionally lapsed into fairy tales which wasn't really for me but I enjoyed the story enough that I didn't mind.  This would be perfectly appropriate for any age reader and I suspect that it will entertain any reader who enjoys fanciful tales and doesn't mind a touch of sadness.

As a parent I would have no issue with a child of any age reading this.  I didn't find there to be much scary imagery or intensity.  This would be a good read a loud book and would be a fun fanciful story to share.

This Week in Reading - January 6

It's Sunday Post time!  This is hosted by the awesome Caffeinated Book Reviewer and gives us all a chance to recap our week.

What I Got:

None!  I'm hoping that will be the case more often than not this year as I'm trying to decrease the number of incoming books to help me catch up on the books that I already have.

Currently:

Reading:  Botched 4 Murder by J.C Eaton and Untouchable by Jayne Ann Krentz

Listening:  A Share in Death by Deborah Crombie

Watching:  We finished The Haunting of Hill House on Netflix.  I have mixed feelings on the end but overall I really liked it and at some point I'm hoping to be able to sleep with the lights off again.  

Off the Blog:

I do love the New Year.  I know technically it's just another day but there just feels something new and fresh about it and I always get inspired to reassess my routine and get things organized.  It's such fun!

I signed up for the Romance Package on Audible.  It's got a surprisingly varied selection including thrillers and classics.   They've got a lot of older Robyn Carrs and RaeAnne Thayne and a few Jill Shalvis books along with a decent number of older titles I've been wanting to try.  I do wish they'd come out with a Mystery Package as I think I'd end up getting more use out of that but this will be fun to play with for a bit.

Christmas decorations are getting packed up this weekend and the tree was put up on January 1st.  Everything looks so bare at first!    Hope everyone had a safe and happy New Years!

On the Blog:

What Happened:

Monday - A Year in Reading - 2018 Wrap Up
Tuesday:  First Book of the Year 2019
Wednesday:  My 2019 Library List
Thursday:  Series I Want to Catch Up On in 2019
Friday:  Friday Linkups - Island of Glass
Saturday:  The Cuckoo's Calling - Mystery Review

What's Coming Up:

Monday:  Reviews from the Children's Section - At the Back of the North Wind
Tuesday: Top Ten Tuesday - Ten Most Anticipated Releases for the First Half of 2019
Wednesday:  The Best of Us - Contemporary Fiction Review
Thursday:  Botched 4 Murder - Cozy Mystery Review
Friday: Friday Linkups with Current Book
Saturday:  TBD

Have a great week and happy reading!

The Cuckoo’s Calling - Mystery Review

Goodreads: The Cuckoo's Calling (Cormoran Strike #1) by Robert Galbraith

Rating: Very Good

Source: Library (Audio)

Description:  After losing his leg to a land mine in Afghanistan, Cormoran Strike is barely scraping by as a private investigator. Strike is down to one client, and creditors are calling. He has also just broken up with his longtime girlfriend and is living in his office.

Then John Bristow walks through his door with an amazing story: His sister, the legendary supermodel Lula Landry, known to her friends as the Cuckoo, famously fell to her death a few months earlier. The police ruled it a suicide, but John refuses to believe that. The case plunges Strike into the world of multimillionaire beauties, rock-star boyfriends, and desperate designers, and it introduces him to every variety of pleasure, enticement, seduction, and delusion known to man.

You may think you know detectives, but you've never met one quite like Strike. You may think you know about the wealthy and famous, but you've never seen them under an investigation like this.

Genre: Mystery

Why I Picked This Book:  I had heard good things about this one and wanted to see how Rowling did with a very adult very unmagical topic.

My Thoughts:

What I Liked

Cormoran Strike -  While he has more issues than he can count he’s not so dysfunctional as to be beyond repair.  His life has spun a bit out of control at the beginning but when he is given something to focus on he pounces on it.  He can be coldly logical but is never cruel.  He’s confident (most of the time) but isn’t a walking ego and he’s able to listen to ideas and take advice.

Robin - I immediately felt a link with her because she was so excited when she realized she was being sent to work for a PI.  I suspect I would feel much the same.  She’s smart, quick on her feet (and delighted about that) and endlessly tactful.  I loved that she didn’t hesitate to say her thoughts or made sure that Strike understood she didn’t like being ignored or dismissed without being confrontational.

The Mystery- This was so full of twists and turns that I had no idea on the who and why of it all though once it was revealed I could see the hints that had been carefully and subtly worked into the plot.

What Didn’t Work For Me

The pacing.  I listened to the audio so this may be a bit skewed but it felt like it took forever - especially for the first half.  I’m not sure I would have made it through if I was reading.  Part of this may have been that Robert Glenister’s narration was on the slow side but part of it was the book itself.  It seemed like it took forever for the investigation to start making any progress.  Once it did I was hooked but it felt like it took ages.

Overall, an enjoyable mystery with unique characters.  I’m looking forward to seeing more of them though desperately hoping Cormoran and Robin don’t become a couple.  For those who have read the series do they? Please let me know - I’m almost scared to continue!

pression:

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?  I Would.  I have the 2nd one coming up on my TBR and I'm really looking forward to it.

Would I Recommend this Book? If you like mysteries this is a good read - just be prepared for a slower read.

Friday Linkups - Islands of Glass

It's Friday linkup time!  I'm linking up with the Book Blogger Hop hosted by Coffee Addicted Writer, Book Beginnings of Fridays hosted by Rose City Reader, and the Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice

This Week's Book Blogger Hop Question:
Any books you are looking forward to in 2019?

My Answer:
I'm not the best about keeping up with new releases unless I have them for review already.  Two I'm looking forward to are Murder Once Removed by S.C. Perkins which is a cozy mystery with a genealogy twist and The Cliff House by RaeAnne Thayne which is more of a women's fiction read that focuses on the relationship between two sisters and their aunt.  I'm super excited to see what all will be coming out this year as well.

This week's book is one I'm almost finished with and is my first book of the year Island of Glass by Nora Roberts.  I've had this book on my shelves for ages and I loved the first two books in the trilogy but for some reason never got around to reading it.

The Beginning:
They met on the high hill, far above the world, beneath a sky struck with the dazzle of stars and a white, waiting mood.

My Thoughts:
This is one of Roberts' more fantasy leaning books so there are a few passages that get kind of fairy tale-esque.

The 56:
"You're saying that my brother was meant to die so I could be cursed?"

My Thoughts:
Well that sounds cheery!  Luckily, I know this is more the speaker working through some stuff versus an overall depressed outlook.

So what do you think?  Any books you're looking forward to reading in 2019?

Series I Want to Catch Up on in 2019

I love a good series.  I love opening a book and feeling like I'm catching up with old friends or absolutely loving everything about a book and discovering there are 4 more in that same world.  I'm not so great about actually keeping up with them though!  This was one of my 2018 resolutions but I didn't actually set in parameters it was more of a just read more kind of resolution.  This year I'm listing 10 series I actually want to make progress on so that I'll have something to track.  Because I love having something to track almost as much as I love a good series.

1.  A Perilous Undertaking by Deanna Raybourn (Veronica Speedwell series) - I read the first in this series and absolutely loved it.  I'm excited to continue to see where the series goes and I absolutely love the covers.

2.  The Storm Sister by Lucinda Riley (The Seven Sisters) - I enjoyed the 1st one in this series and got this one on audio a few months ago.  

3.  The God of the Hive by Laurie R. King (A Mary Russell Mystery) - I started reading this series years ago and loved it but for some reason I got off track and haven't read this one even though I read the companion to it within the same serious two years ago.

4.  No Mark Upon her by Deborah Crombie (Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James) - Pretty much the same as above.  I'm listening to the first one now and remembering just why I enjoyed the series so much.  

5.  Thursdays with the Crown by Jessica Day George (Castle Glower) - I really loved the first two and am excited to see what happens next.

6.  Murder of Crows by Anne Bishop (The Others) - I was really surprised with how much I enjoyed this one and am looking forward to continuing with this world.

7.  Cress by Marissa Meyer (The Lunar Chronicles) - I loved the first two but I think the page count has intimidated me from picking this one up.  I think I'm going to use my next Audible credit for this one to take care of that because I really want to see what happens next.  

8.  Classified as Murder by Miranda James (Cat in the Stacks) - Honestly, I didn't love the first book in this series but I've thoroughly enjoyed the most recent few and want to go back to the beginning and try again.

9.  The Whole Cat and Caboodle by Sofie Ryan (Second Chance Cat Mystery) - This is actually the first book in the series.  I read the most recent one in 2018 and really loved it and it's definitely a world I want to spend more time.

10. Death of a Dishonorable Gentleman by Tessa Arlen (Lady Montfort Mysteries) - Essentially the same as above.  

How do you feel about a book series?  Are you good about keeping up with them?

My 2019 Library List

One of my very favorite things is wandering the shelves of my local library and picking up al the books that appeal to me.  Some of these are new and some are older and the hype has ranged from high to nonexistent.  There's really no rhyme or reason to this list other than they appealed to me and I'd like to read them this year!

1.  The Bar Harbor Retirement Home for Famous Writers (and their muses) by Terri-Lynn DeFino - I know absolutely nothing about this one other than I like the cover and the title.

2.  Echoes of Evil by Heather Graham - I've heard some mixed reviews for this one but I enjoyed the previous two books in this trilogy that's part of the Krewe of Hunters series but I still have to read it!

3.  The Good House by Ann Leary - This book was everywhere when I first started blogging about 5 years ago and I really planned on reading it.  This is the year!

4.  Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover - I heard some really great buzz about this one and my library got it on audio so I figure that's a sign that I need to read it.

5.  First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen - I love Sarah  Addison Allen's books and try to read one every summer.  I'm planning on this one being my summer read this year.

6.  The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith - I really liked the first book in the series once I got into it and am looking forward to continuing the series.  

7.  Good Luck with That by Kristan Higgins - I've really enjoyed Higgins' more women's fiction titles so I need to get to this one soon.

8.  Hitler's Art Thief: Hildebrand Gurlitt, the Nazis, and the Looting of Europe's Treasures by Susan Ronald - I love art theft kind of books and this sounds right up my alley.

9.  The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern - I've been hearing raves about this one for ages but somehow never got to it but just noticed my library has it on audio.  

10. The Year of Eating Dangerously: A Global in Search of Culinary Extremes by Tom Parker Bowles - I know nothing about this one but I haven't read a foodie book in awhile and the title sounds pretty fun!

What books are you hoping to pick up from your library this year?

First Books of 2019

Today I'm taking part in the annual First Book of the Year hosted by Sheila over at Book Journey.  I always enjoy picking out which book I'm going to pick and what kind of tone that pick will set for my reading year.

This year I'm leaning heavy on favorites in hopes my reading count will be high and that I'll really enjoy everything I read this year.  I am going to go for 200 books again but in terms of genres or page counts I'm not really going to try to push myself.  I am going to try to read more of those authors that I keep meaning to read but most of them will be in my usual comfort zone genres - mystery, romance, women's fiction and nonfiction.

So the First Book of 2019 is:

Island of Glass by Nora Roberts - My reasons are pretty simple.  I've really enjoyed this trilogy but somehow never got to the third book even though I've owned it for a year!  I'm excited to see how it concludes and it has the added benefit that Nora Roberts is always a quick read so hopefully this will be a bit of a reading count boost!

First Ebook of the Year:

Untouchable by Jayne Ann Kretnz - Krentz's romantic suspense never disappoint.  They're not always the most memorable but they're always enjoyable.

First Audio Book of the Year:

A Share in Death by Deborah Crombie - This is one of my favorite mystery series but one I'm really behind on.  I've been really wanting to reread the whole series from the beginning and this year I'm going to get started!

What books are you starting with this year?