Smitten

Smitten by David Gordon

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars

Smitten is a sweet book about a mitten and a sock who have lost their partners and become friends. They have adventures and misadventures involving dogs & bicycles & the laundromat...subway tracks...a knitting store.... It's a story about friendship and taking care of each other. It would probably work for a preschool storytime, and it would definitely work for a bedtime story.

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The Boy Who Wouldn't Share

The Boy Who Wouldn't Share by Mike Reiss

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is so cute! Great rhymes--perfect for storytime or reading out loud to your children. The illustrations are fantastic, especially the puckered, frowning face of Edward, the boy who would not share. He reminds me of E.T. I love it!!

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The Sugar Queen

The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars

It took me a little longer to really get into The Sugar Queen than it did Garden Spells, but once I did, I loved it.

This novel falls into the category I believe is called "magical realism." How can you not love a story where books follow one of the characters around?! Books on whatever topic is appropriate to her life appear out of thin air wherever she happens to be. Ha!

At first I had to remind myself that the connections between some of the characters were supposed to be Magic. (I kept wanting to send the women to a PAX workshop...or 4.) But once my brain finally accepted it, that was when the story really started to flow & when I really got interested in piecing together the clues of what was REALLY happening with some of the characters--who people were and what happened with them in the past.

It's a lovely book. A bit poignant at times. Bad parenting is...so...ARGH!! But all's well that ends well, I guess.

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10-Minute Tidy

The 10-Minute Tidy: 108 Ways to Organize Your Home Quickly by Shannon McGinnis

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars

I discovered while reading this book that it turns out I'm more organized than I thought! :)

Yes, I'm a clutter-magnet and still need to work on keeping the stacks of paper & books & magazines, etc., under control. But I already do many of the techniques described in the book, which I must say made me feel much better about myself. And of course, I don't yet have kids, so I merely made some mental notes about organization strategies for the future. (My favorite was to label drawers and bins with both pictures AND words of what's supposed to go in them. Helps kids put their own things away AND helps teach them to read--brilliant!)

It's a quick read. Very short "chapters." Includes some websites of useful things like how to get yourself off junk mail lists and how to sign your phone numbers up on the Do Not Call list, etc. I probably should have jotted some of those down, but, well, it's a library book--I can always check it out again later!

In general I would recommend this book to anyone feeling overwhelmed by clutter who wants tips on how to deal with it in manageable chunks.

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Change in Blog Theme

In case you missed it with my last post (earlier today), I've decided to keep going with my blog now that I've finished the Discover 2.0 tasks. Since I am not likely to remember to blog about my life--nor do I particularly want to share everything with the world--I'm going to post my reviews of what I'm reading--which I'm perfectly happy to share with the world. :) These are also found on my Goodreads account as well.

I tend to read mostly genre fiction, but lately I've been branching out into some non-fiction as well. With a few odds and ends thrown in. We'll see how it goes. I'll try this for a while and then reevaluate somewhere down the line.

One caveat, though: people are welcome to comment, as long as everyone realizes that I may or may not notice soon enough to make any sort of timely response. I'll try, but no promises!

Amanda Quick's "The Third Circle"

The Third Circle by Amanda Quick

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
Another installment in the Arcane Society series--this one set later in the reign of Queen Victoria. It was pretty standard Amanda Quick for the most part. A little better on plot than some (there were actually a couple of minor plot twists I didn't see coming), a little weaker on romance than others (seemed rushed & almost forced--not as believable as is her usual style). Not her best work, by any means, but an interesting addition to the series--made me want to go back and brush up on the details from previous installments. I won't bother to buy it, but I'm not sorry I read a library copy.

It does have mention of some sexual content as well as paranormal abilities (crystal energy, para-hypnotism, etc.), so if you're recommending it to someone else, you should be aware of that. I think Quick overuses the word "psychical"--which doesn't even seem like a real word to me--but at least it wasn't quite as noticeable & irritating in this books as in some of her earlier works.

I'd give it 2 1/2 stars if I could. But since I have to choose, I'd say it's closer to 3 than to 2.


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