5 Stars – Page 11 – Looking For a Good Book

March 22, 2021

THE STARS OF WHISTLING RIDGE – Cindy Baldwin

Ivy Mae Bloom’s goal is to find her ‘forever home.’ At thirteen (well, almost thirteen), Ivy wishes the magic of a place to settle on her and her mom so that they can stop the constant moving. Ivy’s mother is a fallen star who travels the globe to fix the magic that surrounds everything. Even… Continue reading

CHILDREN’S, SF/FANTASY, YA

5 Stars, Children’s Books, Middle Grade, SF/Fantasy, Young Adult

February 26, 2021

THE IMAGINARY CORPSE – Tyler Hayes

Where do ideas go when we’re done with them? If we believe in an idea enough, it becomes real. But if we abandon an idea that we once really loved, it falls into the Stillreal – a seedy segment of the Imagination. It is here we find Tippy the Triceratops. Tippy was once the imaginary… Continue reading

SF/FANTASY

5 Stars, Horror/Dark Fantasy, SF/Fantasy

February 1, 2021

ONE GIANT LEAP – Charles Fishman

We recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first Apollo moon landing. For those who missed it, there was plenty of buzz surrounding the event, with a release of high-definition video footage as feature-length documentary film, and plenty of books about the historic event. I followed much of it, read many of the books, and… Continue reading

NON-FICTION, Uncategorized

5 Stars, non-fiction

January 22, 2021

MADE IN CHINA – Amelia Pang

Most of us in the Western world know that out of respect for the United States we shouldn’t but products made in China. But our reasons probably differ slightly. We’ve likely heard that Chinese workers earn a substantially low wage and they work long hours, which is how China can undercut other countries and their… Continue reading

NON-FICTION

5 Stars, non-fiction

December 22, 2020

GONE TO THE WOODS – Gary Paulsen

I almost missed reading books by Gary Paulsen. His books came out well after I would have been interested in reading his kind of adventure stories, and my children had interests in other themes and genres. Fortunately there was a teacher or two who required my children (and their classmates) to read Hatchet – and I often… Continue reading

MEMOIR, NON-FICTION, OTHER

5 Stars, Biography, Book Reviews, Books, Children’s Books, non-fiction, Reviews

December 11, 2020

THE THIEF OF WORLDS – Bruce Coville

Bruce Coville has a new book?! This is big news! Why haven’t I seen this on CNN or Bloomberg TV (I’m pretty sure I know why it wasn’t on Fox)? Hurricane is a twelve-year-old boy who got his name because he was born during a hurricane. Perhaps it was that birth, but beyond the name,… Continue reading

CHILDREN’S, SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Children’s Books, Mythology/Legend, Reviews, SF/Fantasy, Young Adult

November 26, 2020

PROJECT HAIL MARY – Andy Weir

According to a 2003 article on the NASA website, “NASA-funded scientists have recently learned that cloud-to-ground lightning frequently strikes the ground in two or more places …” and that the third and fourth strokes of a lightning flash will follow the same path as the second stroke. In other words, lightning DOES strike the same… Continue reading

OTHER, SF/FANTASY

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Reviews, SF/Fantasy

November 19, 2020

ANXIOUS PEOPLE – Fredrik Backman

A small town is rocked by a bank robbery when the robber runs to a nearby apartment viewing and holds the group of people gathered hostage and then disappears in thin air even as the police and media vans surround the apartment. The local police department brings all those who had been in the apartment… Continue reading

OTHER

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Literature, Reviews

November 12, 2020

THE FIVE – Hallie Rubenhold

By today’s standards, sadly, a mass murderer or serial killer who kills five women is hardly even worthy of front page news. But mention the name Jack the Ripper and most people will have at the very least heard the name and many will know he was a notorious killer from the late 1800’s, and… Continue reading

NON-FICTION, Uncategorized

5 Stars, Biography, Book Reviews, Books, History, non-fiction, Reviews

October 29, 2020

THE SENSATION – Amanda Bridgeman

I feel like Steve Martin in The Jerk … I want to hold this up and run around saying, “The new Amanda Bridgeman book is out! The new Amanda Bridgeman book is here!” I have very much been looking forward to the release of this next volume in the Salvi Brentt series. Detective Salvi Brentt… Continue reading

MYSTERY, SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Mystery, Reviews, SF/Fantasy

October 23, 2020

WOVEN – Michael Jensen & David Powers King

The literary world, especially YA, is filled with romantic fantasies – I assume it’s what the publishers see the readers wanting. It means that in order to stand out, the story needs to be unique and engaging, and Woven, by Michael Jensen and David Powers King does just that. Nels is a knight in all… Continue reading

SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized, YA

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Reviews, SF/Fantasy, Young Adult

October 21, 2020

ACROSS THE GREEN GRASS FIELDS – Seanan McGuire

It’s not a secret that I’m a tremendous fan of Seanan McGuire’s work and no matter what kind of fantasy fiction you might like to read, McGuire probably writes it … and very well. Her Wayward Children series came on the scene in 2016 and everyone of them has been a really great read. And… Continue reading

Dark Fantasy/Horror, SF/FANTASY, YA

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Children’s Books, Reviews, SF/Fantasy, Young Adult