Restart

Restart by Gordon Korman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved this funny tale of a bully who falls off a roof while doing something illicit, then wakes with near total amnesia and is pretty horrified to find out what a jerk he's been. I enjoyed reading from the other characters' points of view as well as from Chase's, and I loved watching him choose to be a better person the second time around. It was a little unbelievable that losing his memory would have instantly transformed him into a kinder, better person, but I'm in no way an expert on head trauma, so I will totally give Gordon Korman the benefit of the doubt on this one and hope he did his research.

The other thing that kept this book from being a 5-star middle grade story for me was Chase's dad's abrupt switch from being a grown-up bully into a supportive father at the very end. That didn't ring true. I would like to think he, too, could change! But probably not without a lot of therapy. Dude was a jerk for a very long time, and he didn't have the benefit of amnesia. Otherwise, though, I loved this book!

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The Ex Hex

The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Nine years ago, Vivi and her cousin Gwen got drunk and cursed Vivi's boyfriend after she broke up with him because he told her he was (sort of) betrothed to someone else back home in Wales.  Now he's returned to her small witchy town to recharge the ley lines, and she discovers her curse wasn't all wishful thinking.

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. Too much angst, swearing, and sex. I was listening to the eAudiobook, and I could only listen when my children were either in school or asleep--yikes! It might not have been as bad had I read the ebook instead and could more easily skim over the excessive bits, but I did at least take advantage of the 15-second-skip-ahead button quite a few times.

It wouldn't have bothered me so much if there had been more of a foundation for the relationship, I think. But I was never convinced they had enough in common besides magic to build a life together. They initially broke up because they failed to communicate or be honest about their feelings, and neither one really did enough growing in the intervening nine years before the present-day part begins. So when they reunite, they still can't properly communicate, and when would they fit it in between All The Sex anyway? Seriously, if you have a town full of witches and clueless non-witches with all magic going spectacularly haywire, maybe stop with the sex long enough to focus on figuring out a solution?? And maybe in doing so, you could figure out whether or not you make good partners? I honestly thought for a long time that maybe the sex was in there because it was going to turn out to be somehow related to breaking the curse, but no.

So, meh. I think this book might appeal to folks who are in the mood for an angsty, steamy, witchy fall romance and don't care about character development, multi-dimensional characters, or a well-thought-out plot, though.

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Small Move, Big Change: Using Microresolutions to Transform Your Life Permanently

Small Move, Big Change: Using Microresolutions to Transform Your Life Permanently by Caroline L. Arnold
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

While this book is a little repetitive, the concepts and concrete examples are fantastic. Arnold's main premise is that instead of getting totally overwhelmed trying to make sweeping changes in your life, the only way to truly alter your habits is to identify specific, measurable actions you can take--no more than two at a time--and focus on doing those relentlessly until they become automatic and no longer require any conscious effort, then move on to the next small shift, and so on. Sometimes this means altering your routine; sometimes this means altering your internal dialogue.

The hardest part for me is deciding where to start. So next up: finding a quiet hour to do some soul-searching to decide what is bothering me the most and what is a small change I could make that would have a positive impact and focus on continuing to do it, no matter what.

I borrowed the eAudiobook of this from my library, but I may need to buy my own copy to refer back to when I need a refresher.

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The Murder of Mr. Wickham

The Murder of Mr. Wickham by Claudia Gray
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hooray for an absolutely delightful historical mystery where the characters are all from Jane Austen's novels (or the children thereof), gathered at the Knightleys' estate for a house party crashed by the infamous Mr. Wickham of Pride & Prejudice fame! The second night he is there, young Juliet Tilney stumbles over his body on her way back from the privvy. He has caused most of the guests personal and financial losses, so absolutely no one mourns his death, but magistrate Frank Churchill still has to determine who killed him and why. Since Jonathan Darcy, eldest son of Elizabeth & Fitzwilliam Darcy, and Juliet are not under suspicion, they begin investigating, lest an innocent servant be falsely accused. Since seemingly no one was abed that fateful night, there are plenty of twists and turns in what is essentially a locked-room mystery. Everyone has secrets and is in need of courage and honesty if they are to heal their cracked relationships.

Claudia Gray has done an outstanding job of remaining true to Austen's characters even as she ages them forward in time according to the loose chronology of when the books were published. Jonathan's neurodivergence at a time before such traits were understood is sympathetically handled, making his growing relationship with Juliet both believable and endearing. Likewise, Fanny's conflict with Edmund over her brother's confession of love for his fellow sailor rings true for the era and indicates a possible path toward compassion and kindness for those today who still cling to the belief that homosexuality is a sin and not simply the way someone was born to be.

For readers' advisors: story and character doorways are primary, setting secondary. No on-screen violence, no sex, and I cannot recall any profanity, though there may have been one or two mild historical epithets uttered in the heat of the moment. I forgot to check before my copy returned itself.

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Julián Is a Mermaid

Julián Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love this beautiful picture book about a boy who goes swimming with his grandma and on the way home sees people dressed as mermaids on the train, then creates his own mermaid costume while his grandma is in the shower. He isn't sure how he is going to respond when she sees the mess he's made, but she doesn't get mad, she helps him accessorize and takes him to see a show with other mermaids.

I love how this book celebrates imagination and depicts the loving, supportive relationship between a boy and his grandmother. I love the inter-generational and diverse characters and body types depicted in the lovely illustrations. My son also loves to dress up in costumes and play pretend, and though I'm pretty sure I would not react well if he took down our curtains to make a costume, I try very hard to create an environment where he has no worries about being accepted for expressing himself. I love that this book features a scene where such support is not only possible but just the way things are. Our world would be an infinitely better place if that were true everywhere.

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Starla Jean: Which came first? The chicken or the friendship?

Starla Jean by Elana K. Arnold
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

My kids thought this book was great; I thought it was meh. A little girl goes to the park with her dad and comes home with a chicken. I totally sympathized with the dad who stupidly said she could keep it if she could catch it, never imagining she'd actually catch it. I also sympathized with the mom who did not want a chicken inside the house, though I would have been a LOT more forceful about keeping it outside and away from my dining room table.

It was OK. Silly enough to make my kids laugh; ridiculous enough to make me roll my eyes. (Putting a diaper on a chicken??)

Oh--one thing I didn't understand was that at the end of the book there were some "chicken facts," including that chickens can do basic addition, with an illustration showing a chicken at a chalkboard adding 1+2=3. What?? How is this a chicken fact? If chickens have somehow been proven to be able to add, then the illustration should explain this, not be wildly impossible. That...just...NO.

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Nora Goes Off Script

Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Nora Hamilton makes a living writing screenplays for The Romance Channel (a thinly veiled Hallmark Channel), swapping out the details but keeping the essential fantasy romance elements intact. However, when her deadbeat husband leaves, she turns her personal story into a major Hollywood movie, earning enough (barely) to get herself and her kids out of the debt he left behind. The studio even pays extra to use her actual tea house/writing studio for the last two days of filming. However, when they pack up and leave, she discovers the leading man--famous actor Leo Vance--remained behind. He begs to be allowed to stay and rest in the tea house, offering her $1000/day in rent--money she badly needs to fix her gutters. She agrees, and suddenly she finds herself playing tour guide and shopping tutor for a gorgeous man eager to participate in her family's life. As he integrates into her world, their relationship evolves into a romantic one, but will he actually stay, or will he leave like her ex-husband did? Nora felt relief when her husband took off; she's very much afraid Leo's departure could shatter her heart.

I absolutely loved this book. It both pokes fun at the formulaic Hallmark movies we all love and love to hate, and also works within that same basic framework. Thankfully, this story is one of the good ones, not the ones with the plastic blonde (or brunette) attempting to pretend to be a regular person. I loved that Leo actually did seem like he could fit into Nora's world, and later she proved she could hold her own in his. Nora's daughter Bernadette seems a bit older than her 8 years, but 10-year-old Arthur is entirely believable. Plus it was a breath of fresh air to read a romance novel where the protagonists are 40-ish instead of 20-somethings.

I think this would be a great book to discuss in a book group. What makes a person stay with someone like Ben who has no observable redeeming qualities? Yet Nora endured almost two decades of his freeloading and emotional abuse until *he* decided to leave. Even if his absence is welcome, those years he was around were traumatic and left emotional scars, so how did that conditioning impact Nora and Leo's relationship, particularly after Leo flew to L.A. for the audition?

For readers' advisors: story doorway is primary, character secondary. All sex happens offscreen, and there are only a few well-placed swear words, so the book is nearly a "gentle read." No violence. All the characters seem to be heterosexual, and racial identity isn't indicated that I can recall, aside from a few names that indicate some secondary characters might be something other than white. Pretty much like the majority of the Hallmark movies, really. (Honestly, that's the biggest drawback--how hard would it have been to make the characters more diverse?)

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