This is an amazing collection of five novellas written by five extremely talented writers. They are offering this anthology for only $2.99, which breaks down to 60 cents a story. This is quite the steal, as they could have easily charged double, so you owe it to yourselves to buy this collection today.
That’s it—that’s my entire review.
Oh, did you want more information? Okay, but prepare yourself for gushing. Read more
Speaking from Among the Bones is the fifth book in Alan Bradley’s Flavia de Luce mystery series. These books feature a precocious child sleuth who solves mysteries in her sleepy English village in the 1950s. I’m slightly behind with this series, but I’ve been savoring them slowly so that I don’t run out of books.
Bishop’s Lacey is preparing to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the death of St. Tancred, whose tomb is located in their village church. Naturally, Flavia wants to be there for the big event, and when the tomb is opened, they find a body. However, it’s not St. Tancred in the tomb- it’s the body of Mr. Collicut, who played the organ at church. There is no way that he could have wandered into the tomb on his own, so it’s clear that he met with a gruesome end. Who could have killed Mr. Collicut? Read more
My Bare Naked Heart is a novel written by David Avery. I found it on Kindle Unlimited, and since I’ve been reading a lot of historical m/m lately, it seemed like the sort of book that I would enjoy.
John Branson is starting college at an all-male college in Vermont. He quickly falls in with the other young men in his dormitory, and this causes him to question his sexuality even more than he already has been. However, it is the 1950s, so coming out is absolutely impossible. Read more
I Am Half-Sick of Shadows is the fourth book in Alan Bradley’s Flavia de Luce mystery series. I have read the first three books in this series, and I was excited to find out what was going to happen to Flavia in this book.
Flavia de Luce is a precocious young girl who lives with her father and two older sisters in Buckshaw, a crumbling manor house near the village of Bishop’s Lacy. It is the Christmas season, and Flavia’s father has rented out Buckshaw to a film company. Flavia is thrilled about this turn of events, and is even more pleased when Phyllis, the aging actress who is starring in the movie, pays attention to her.
Needless to say, it is quite distressing when Phyllis is found murdered immediately after a theatrical performance attended by most of the village. When a blizzard traps everyone in Buckshaw, Flavia comes to the terrible conclusion that there is a murderer amongst the guests! Read more
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is the first book in Alan Bradley’s Flavia de Luce series of mystery novels. I actually listened to this book awhile ago, but I fell behind with my reviews and did not have the opportunity to write a review until now.
Flavia de Luce is a precocious young girl who lives in a crumbling mansion with her father and sisters. Her two passions are chemistry and tormenting her sisters. One day, Flavia finds a dead bird with a rare stamp pinned on its beak. Not too long after that, she finds a dying man in the garden. Flavia knows that she can solve the case faster than the police, and she sets off on her trusty bike to delve into long-buried schoolboy secrets and the intense world of stamp collecting. Read more
A Red Herring Without Mustard is the third book in Alan Bradley’s Flavia De Luce series. Curiously enough, this is the first book I have reviewed because I am woefully behind with my reviews.
Flavia De Luce is a young girl living in a crumbling manor house near a small village in post-WWII England. She lives with her stamp collecting father, her two teenage sisters, and Dogger, their father’s butler/valet/gardener.
A Red Herring Without Mustard concerns the events following a village fair. Flavia invites the gypsy fortuneteller to park her caravan in a remote part of the Buckshaw estate. When Flavia returns to check on her guest, she sees that the woman has been brutally attacked. As if that were not bad enough, Flavia then stumbles upon a body on the Buckshaw estate. With two crimes that may or may not be related, our intrepid young sleuth has two mysteries to solve! Read more
My girls and I have been listening to a lot of audiobooks this summer. We made our way through most of Beverly Cleary’s Henry Huggins series. Neil Patrick Harris’ narration really brings the books to life, and made the stories even funnier.
Henry and the Paper Route is the fourth book in the series. As the title suggests, Henry‘s main focus is getting a paper route of his very own. This is something that Henry has wanted for most of the series, and he has even helped his friend Scooter with his paper route… but he has been too young to have a route of his own. Of course, it would be too simple for Henry to receive a paper route as soon as he turns eleven, and you’re going to have to read the book to find out how Henry gets his route. Read more
I have had my three girls home with me all summer. We have some afternoon activities and we will drive to the lake/pool, so there is plenty of time in the Odyssey. We have been listening to some of Beverly Cleary’s Henry Huggins books while we drive around.
Henry and Ribsy is the third book in the Henry Huggins series. Henry is a young boy who lives in Oregon with his parents and his dog Ribsy. There are many other children on Henry’s street, and there is always something happening. Ribsy has always played a supporting role in the Henry books, but in this book, Ribsy’s actions have more of an impact on the plot. Henry wants to go salmon fishing with his father, but he needs to prove that he is responsible and that he can keep Ribsy out of trouble. Will Henry be able to go fishing with his father? Read more
My three girls and I have been listening to the Henry Huggins series in the car. A couple of years ago, Audible had a great sale and I picked up most of Beverly Cleary’s book for about $4 apiece. The girls had not really been interested in listening to the books before, but we have been reading the Ramona books, and they recognized Henry as one of the minor characters from the Ramona series. He’s much older than Ramona, so they don’t really cross paths in her books, but she plays the role of young antagonist in his books. This was enough for them, and they were sold.
Henry and Beezus is the second book in the Henry Huggins series. Henry is a ten-year-old boy living in Oregon. He has a dog named Ribsy, and many neighborhood friends. There are many small incidents throughout the book, but the main theme revolves around Henry’s attempts to earn enough money to buy a bike. This proves to be rather difficult, and involves dubious schemes like finding boxes of gum in a vacant lot and selling it to his friends at school. Will Henry ever be able to earn the money for a bicycle of his very own? Read more
A couple of years ago, Audible had a great sale on children’s audiobooks. I ended up getting most of Beverly Cleary’s books for about $4 apiece. I’ve been reading the Ramona books with my seven-year-old twins, so we’ve decided to listen to the Henry Huggins books when we drive around town.
Beverly Cleary might be best known for her Ramona series, but she wrote the Henry Huggins books almost twenty years before Ramona’s first book. The girls were excited to listen to Henry Huggins because they know Henry as a friend of Ramona’s sister Beezus. Henry is also the traffic boy when Ramona is in Kindergarten, and she antagonizes him, both inadvertently and deliberately.
Henry Huggins starts a couple of years before the events in the Ramona series. When the story begins, Henry is a third grade boy who finds a stray dog after his swimming lesson. The dog is so skinny that Henry calls him Ribsy. Henry is downtown by himself, and must get the dog home on the bus. This is quite the misadventure, and it sets the tone for the rest of the book- and, I daresay- the rest of the series. Henry is not a naughty boy, but always seems to get himself into “scrapes”, usually involving Ribsy. Henry grows very attached to Ribsy, but what will happen when Ribsy’s owner comes looking for him? Read more
"You Have Your Hands Full!" 