Category Archives: Reason: Flourish & Blotts Reading Challenge

June 6, 2023 · 7:43 am

Forgotten City by Michael Ford

Forgotten City by Michael Ford

The first over half of Forgotten City was pretty bad. It moved incredibly slowly. There was too much world building, much of which really didn’t matter and could’ve been done just fine in fewer pages. I read it aloud to my teens and they both commented more than once that maybe we should just quit reading it and move on to another book. I have an inability to DNF books so we kept at it, though none of us were excited to read yet another terrible chapter night after night. This book is an example of why I find it so hard to abandon books. At around 55% there started to be signs of it getting better. By 2/3 in it was actually really good and the last third was excellent. Reading the book aloud was odd. I’ve been reading aloud to my kids for over two decades and I’ve never had as much trouble with the words and sentence structure as I have with this book, making it that much less enjoyable. There is a sequel, but I’m going to skip it. I only recommend reading this book if you are okay with it taking forever to get good.

2 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2023: 63
Pages Read in 2023: 19,873

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Filed under Dystopian, Reason: Bedtime Story for the Boys, Reason: Flourish & Blotts Reading Challenge, Young Adult

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May 19, 2023 · 10:44 am

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

The four main characters in Killers of a Certain Age are so well-developed and fun and interesting people I’d want to be friends with… other than the whole trained assassin thing. While there is a lot of (not very graphic) death going on, there’s so much humor that it doesn’t feel heavy. The plans the women come up with to kill people are very creative, too. While the basic outline of how the book goes is pretty obvious from the start, there were a couple twists I wasn’t expecting. Everything in the present is written in first person while the flashback chapters are written in close third person (focused on Billie, who narrates the present day chapters). I found that to be very effective, much more effective, I think, than today’s Billie recalling the things that happened decades ago. The pacing is slower than most thrillers, but steady throughout the book. The slower pacing made sense given the ages of the women. Speaking of their ages, it was great fun to read a book about sixty-something women being totally awesome. I recommend this book to all adults, and especially to adult women of a certain age.

4 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2023: 57
Pages Read in 2023: 18,249

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Filed under Reason: Alphabet Soup Challenge, Reason: B&N Book Challenge, Reason: Book of the Month, Reason: Flourish & Blotts Reading Challenge, Thriller

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May 12, 2023 · 9:49 am

Untold Stories of Nurses: The COVID-19 Pandemic by Kate Kalagher

Untold Stories of Nurses: The COVID-19 Pandemic by Kate Kalagher

The stories in this book and the way they are told are excellent. I really enjoyed them and wish there had been more (it’s a very short book). I really liked that they came from all over the world. The problem with the book is that is desperately needs an editor. There were so many times the wrong word was used (elicit instead of illicit for example), or the wrong ending was used (-ing when it should have been -ed or no ending at all), words that were missing completely, or words written twice in a row accidentally, along with a few typos. The most annoying thing, though, was instead of putting quotations in quotes they were in italics. That drove me completely crazy. This book would’ve been a solid 4 stars without all those editing issues. I do wish the author had been more consistent in adding short updates to the ends of the nurses’ stories and also that there had been at least a few paragraphs at the end to complete/sum up the book rather than just ending at the end of a story. If you don’t mind reading a poorly edited book, the stories really are good and any nurse would appreciate them.

2 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2023: 55
Pages Read in 2023: 17,655

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Filed under Non-Fiction, Reason: Asked by the Author, Reason: B&N Book Challenge, Reason: Flourish & Blotts Reading Challenge

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May 11, 2023 · 7:47 am

The Unforgettable Logan Foster by Shawn Peters

The Unforgettable Logan Foster by Shawn Peters

The Unforgettable Logan Foster is a very cute middle grade book about an autistic foster kid with an eidetic memory whose foster parents turn out to be actual superheroes. It’s great read for about second grade and up to read to themselves and would make a fantastic family read aloud. I recommend this to people of all ages, especially if they are into superheroes.

5 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2023: 53
Pages Read in 2023: 17,255

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Filed under Middle Grades, Reason: B&N Book Challenge, Reason: Flourish & Blotts Reading Challenge, Reason: Owlcrate

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May 8, 2023 · 6:39 pm

There I Go Again by William Daniels

There I Go Again by William Daniels

I love Mr. Feeny so it’s no wonder I loved There I Go Again. Bill Daniels actually doesn’t have much to say about Boy/Girl Meets World, though he does quote part of the final scene of BMW. (I have some of the words he said in that scene on my living room wall: Dream. Try. Do Good.) He had a remarkable career lasting from when he was just a preschooler all the way until he was about 90. Along the way he played a car, a teacher/principal, a doctor, a founding father, and so much more. The book is divided into chapters each covering a different show/character, plus one about his time as SAG president. It’s very much the musings of a grandfather, or perhaps an elderly former teacher. I highly recommend There I Go Again to anyone who has ever enjoyed anything the amazing Bill Daniels has been in.

5 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2023: 52
Pages Read in 2023: 16,989

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Filed under Memoir, Reason: B&N Book Challenge, Reason: Flourish & Blotts Reading Challenge, Reason: I Like the Author

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May 6, 2023 · 8:03 am

Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert

Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert

Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute is such a cute book. It’s an enemies to lovers trope, which is one of my favorites, with the added twist of them having been childhood best friends before they became enemies. The ending is exactly how I wanted it to be, but the path to getting there was pretty convoluted and steeped in a common worry that the other just doesn’t feel the same way. I recommend this book to teens and up who enjoy a sweet, clean romance.

4 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2023: 51
Pages Read in 2023: 16,757

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Filed under Reason: B&N Book Challenge, Reason: Flourish & Blotts Reading Challenge, Reason: Grim Readers, Young Adult

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April 30, 2023 · 6:39 pm

From Twinkle, With Love by Sandhya Menon

From Twinkle, With Love by Sandhya Menon

From Twinkle, With Love is a super cute story with a perfect ending. It really shows how friendships change as you grow up and how your words affect others. At times I was so frustrated with the main character, but she realized when she did wrong and tried to fix it. I really cared about what happened to the characters. It’s written mostly in journal entry format which is somewhat unique and worked quite well. I recommend this book to teens and up.

5 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2023: 50
Pages Read in 2023: 16,451

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Filed under Reason: B&N Book Challenge, Reason: Flourish & Blotts Reading Challenge, Reason: Grim Readers, Reason: Owlcrate, Young Adult

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April 26, 2023 · 12:33 pm

Poverty, By America by Matthew Desmond

Poverty, By America by Matthew Desmond

In Poverty, By America Matthew Desmond explains in easy to understand language how so many of America’s policies keep people in poverty, how and why money earmarked for the poor doesn’t reach them, and why having so many living in poverty is a problem for all of us. He gives some ideas on how to work toward the goal of abolishing poverty which is very motivating, though there are so many changes that need to be made and so many ways to go about it that it is kind of paralyzing as well. Fully half of the book is notes and index. The research that went into writing it is impressive. I very highly recommend this book to every American in their late teens and up.

4 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2023: 48
Pages Read in 2023: 15,883

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Filed under Non-Fiction, Reason: B&N Book Challenge, Reason: Flourish & Blotts Reading Challenge, Reason: The Coven of Forbidden Books

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April 19, 2023 · 8:39 pm

Darling Girl by Liz Michalski

Darling Girl by Liz Michalski

Darling Girl is a unique take on the Peter Pan story. It focuses on Wendy’s granddaughter and great-grandson and great-granddaughter. I really had no idea where the book was going through most of the time, but really enjoyed piecing the clues together as I read. While I could easily put it down, I always looked forward to picking it back up again to continue the story. I recommend it to adults who like the world of Neverland.

5 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2023: 46
Pages Read in 2023: 15,352

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Filed under Fairy Tale, Fantasy, Reason: B&N Book Challenge, Reason: Book of the Month, Reason: Flourish & Blotts Reading Challenge, Reason: Grim Readers

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April 19, 2023 · 8:18 pm

Quackery by Lydia Kang and Nate Pedersen

Quackery by Lydia Kang and Nate Pedersen

The humor and sarcasm surrounding all the facts in Quackery is what makes it such an enjoyable book. A couple of the later chapters were mostly missing that humor and I found that part rather dreadful to read. The humor came back before the end of the book, though. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys learning about the history of medicine.

4 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2023: 45
Pages Read in 2023: 15,011

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Filed under Non-Fiction, Reason: Alphabet Soup Challenge, Reason: B&N Book Challenge, Reason: Flourish & Blotts Reading Challenge, Reason: We Be Book'N

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