Monthly Archives: July 2017

July 30, 2017 · 7:40 am

Genghis Khan: 13th-Century Mongolian Tyrant by Enid A. Goldberg

Genghis Khan covers his life from his mother’s kidnapping by his father through his death. It explains how he took over so much of the world and how ruthless he was and how willing to stab his friends in the back. I am quite impressed with just how much information is packed into this relatively short book while still being easy for a middle grade age kid to understand it all. I highly recommend it to kids interested in Genghis Khan or studying him in school.

5 (out of 5) Stars

Books Read in 2017: 106 (this book is not counted toward annual total)
Pages Read in 2017: 29,324
Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks (more book reviews!)
Reason I Chose It: Pre-reading for Adrian for Next School Year

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July 30, 2017 · 7:30 am

Castle Diary: The Journal of Tobias Burgess by Richard Platt

Written in diary format, Castle Diary tells the story of one year (1285) in the life of a young boy sent to be a page at his aunt and uncle’s castle. He begins learning things he will eventually need to know to become a knight. The end is a section of information about castles, the fuedal system, and knights. This is an excellent book for elementary school age kids interested in or studying castles, knights, and medieval times.

5 (out of 5) Stars

Books Read in 2017: 106 (this book is not counted toward annual total)
Pages Read in 2017: 29,196
Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks (more book reviews!)
Reason I Chose It: Pre-reading for Adrian for Next School Year

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July 28, 2017 · 7:38 pm

Frankie Dupont and the Science Fair Sabotage by Julie Anne Grasso

Frankie Dupont is back and investigating who at the science fair stole Angus and Archie’s chip for their robot. Everyone has a motive, but Frankie must follow the clues to narrow down the suspects.

Frankie Dupont and the Science Fair Sabotage is a cute book. My 9- and 11-year-old boys enjoyed it a lot. They had fun following the clues along with Frankie and guessing who the culprit could be. I highly recommend this book to kids!

5 (out of 5) Stars

Books Read in 2017: 106
Pages Read in 2017: 29,073
Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks (more book reviews!)
Reason I Chose It: Bedtime Story for the Boys

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July 28, 2017 · 6:42 pm

Son of Charlemagne by Barbara Willard

Told from the point of view of Charlemagne’s son, Carl, Son of Charlemagne tells of King Charles of the Franks reign through being crowned Holy Roman Emporer. The story is engaging and drew me in. I recommend this book to kids learning about the Middle Ages.

5 (out of 5) Stars

Books Read in 2017: 105
Pages Read in 2017: 28,939
Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks (more book reviews!)
Reason I Chose It: Pre-reading for Fritz for Next School Year

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July 28, 2017 · 6:32 pm

The Origins of Everything in 100 Pages (More or Less) by David Bercovici

The Origins of Everything in 100 Pages (More or Less) very quickly covers about 13.8 billion years of history. Sometimes it made my brain hurt, though usually the explanations were easy enough to understand. I highly recommend it to people interested in the origin and evolution of the universe and especially the earth.

5 (out of 5) Stars

Books Read in 2017: 104
Pages Read in 2017: 28,727
Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks (more book reviews!)
Reason I Chose It: Pre-reading for Cameron for Next School Year

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July 22, 2017 · 4:41 pm

The Legend of King Arthur by Stephen Klein

The Legend of King Arthur is an overview of the King Arthur legends including the actual history leading up to when historians believe the real King Arthur lived and notes on when certain characters first appeared in the stories. The information provided in the book was quite interesting, but the author repeated himself over and over like a high schooler needing to pad an essay to reach the required length. The whole thing could have been about a third as long. The grammar was atrocious. There were many extra commas where they didn’t belong, tenses that changed in the middle of sentences, and pronouns that often did not match the sex of the character being referred to. Occasionally, the author would switch to an alternate spelling of a character’s name and then the next time return to the original spelling. Many times the author would write something and then in the next sentence write, “Therefore…” and draw some conclusion that actually didn’t make sense with the other information given. Somehow, the author made the Arthurian legends rather tedious and boring, probably because of the extreme repetition (how many times did I need to be reminded of the names of Morgause’s sons?). The final conclusion at the end of the book summed up everything that had been explained in the previous more than 100 pages and almost could have been all that was needed at all. Overall, this book is just in extreme need of an editor. Because of this, I cannot recommend anyone take the time to read it.

2 (out of 5) Stars

Books Read in 2017: 103
Pages Read in 2017: 28,575
Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks (more book reviews!)
Reason I Chose It: Pre-reading for Cameron for Next School Year

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July 21, 2017 · 8:35 pm

Augustine Came to Kent by Barbara Willard

Set at the time Pope Gregory I sent Augustine to England, Augustine Came to Kent is the story of the first Archbishop of Canterbury through the eyes of a boy. It tells of Augustine preaching, baptizing King Ethelbert, and on through the end of Augustine’s life. It’s a gentle story with excellent pacing. I recommend it for kids studying medieval England.

5 (out of 5) Stars

Books Read in 2017: 102
Pages Read in 2017: 28,464
Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks (more book reviews!)
Reason I Chose It: Pre-reading for Fritz for Next School Year

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July 21, 2017 · 9:21 am

Who in the World Was the Unready King? by Connie Clark

Ethelred the Unready was just 10-years-old when he was crowned king of England. Over the course of his reign, he dealt with bad advisors, boasting cowards, and Vikings. Who in the World Was The Unready King? tells his story to children. It’s written in a very engaging way and includes an author’s note about what was made up (dreams and thoughts) and what wasn’t (pretty much everything else) and where our information about Ethelred comes from. This is an excellent book for elementary age children who are studying medieval England or Vikings.

5 (out of 5) Stars

Books Read in 2017: 101 (this book is not counted toward annual total)
Pages Read in 2017: 28,276
Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks (more book reviews!)
Reason I Chose It: Pre-reading for Adrian for Next School Year

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July 20, 2017 · 7:36 pm

My Story: The Great Plague by Pamela Oldfield

Alice is just shy of 14-years-old when the plague comes to London. She survives only to see fire break out in her beloved city the next year.

My Story: The Great Plague is written in diary format. It tells the story of the plague and fire in a quick, easy to read way perfect for middle grade age kids. I highly recommend reading it!

5 (out of 5) Stars

Books Read in 2017: 101
Pages Read in 2017: 28,226
Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks (more book reviews!)
Reason I Chose It: Pre-reading for Fritz for Next School Year

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July 19, 2017 · 10:12 am

Withhold by Andrea Pearson

Keitus has found all the talismans and only needs Helen’s body to become stronger than ever. Nicole and her friends must stop him from reaching Helen before he starts a war encompassing all the worlds and earth dimensions.

Withhold is the ninth book in the Mosaic Chronicles series and the fourth in the arc that includes the world and characters from the Kilenya series. This one is packed with non-stop action. While I was reading it, I kept thinking the author isn’t very nice to her characters with the situations she puts them in (but at the same time I sure am glad she does since the book is so good!). This looks like the final end for Jacob and the other Kilenya characters so I’m a bit sad because I liked them so much and will miss them. The end of the book is a lovely wrap-up while opening it up for another storyline for the Mosaic Chronicles characters. There are very few editing errors (I could probably count them on one hand). I very highly recommend reading Withhold. Just make sure you read the rest of the series first (and maybe the Kilenya series, too) or you will be completely lost.

5 (out of 5) Stars

Books Read in 2017: 100
Pages Read in 2017: 28,066
Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks (more book reviews!)
Reason I Chose It: I really like the series

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