mxhermit's reviews
949 reviews

A Pattern for Pepper was a lovely glimpse into the world of textiles. There was a bit of information about different patterns that one might see quite often, but not know much about. I recognized the patterns myself, but I didn't know some of the history that was shared about them. It was a nice learning experience.

The artwork was very pretty. I'm not sure of the style exactly, but I think that it was watercolor. I think it was a good match for the story and it flowed well with the narrative.

The reason I am not giving this a full five stars is because while this book will, I think, be entertaining for children, the adults that read it to them might notice a few things about Pepper and her behavior that bother them. For me, it was that she was mentioned as lying on the floor, having her shoes off (she shows off her socks, so I'm assuming this part), and generally being quite picky. Considering this is a business, I would've thought that her mother (shown only in one panel and never mentioned again) would've made sure she acted like a good customer. It was a family business, I understand, and one they're quite familiar with, but it still rubbed me the wrong way.

I would recommend this to read together as it's a good experience, but it would be good for a child to read by themselves, though I think some of the pronunciations might be difficult.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 2.6 Stars

Buzz Books is a fun collection to look forward to because it gives us the chance to get a look at forthcoming titles that may or may not have full ARCs available yet. This collection had 18 different samples, some longer than others, some more enjoyable than others. I've done a brief review of each. Please keep in mind that these reviews are based upon limited samples and not the full works.

5 Stars - The Flame in the Mist: Having read one of Renee Ahdieh's books before (The Wrath & the Dawn), I was pleased her writing style & quality continued in this novel. I tend to get nervous with authors when I've read one book and loved it. I get worried that I won't like their future works as much. The Flame in the Mist sample introduces some intrigue & questions I look forward to having answered.

2 Stars - The One Memory of Flora Banks: the premise didn't sound very good to me and the sample we got wasn't really enough to convince me to pick it up. The writing is fine, it's the story that feels lacking. There are so many holes I feel that are going to rip open due to Flora's short term memory loss & traveling across the world. I don't think I want to continue this book, at least not as a purchase I make.

1 Star - Dream Me: I am so glad that I don't have to read the rest of this book. Zat's chapter wasn't thrilling, but the sudden shift from third to first person in Babe's chapter was jarring and she wasn't an interesting character. She felt silly, dim, and boring. The writing didn't even save it.

3 Stars - Future Threat: even though I didn't read the 1st book in this trilogy, there was a decent recap so I knew enough to get by for this sample (I didn't know beforehand this was a sequel). It's not bad, kind of interesting plot. The writing was good, not spectacular. It didn't make me want to start from the 1st book, so did it succeed? If the 1st book feels superfluous, I'd say something's wrong.

2 Stars - Piper Perish: meh. Piper seemed like a very whiny character, much younger than she's supposed to be. I'm curious about why her sister Marli is such a bitch, but honestly, not enough to read the whole book. The diary format felt forced and I didn't understand why we needed each entry to be timestamped.

3 Stars - Roar: interesting premise. I want to hear more about these storm gems that they steal from the heart of a storm. I didn't like the abrupt change of point of view; it happened in the middle of a paragraph. Hopefully that's fixed before but publication.

3 Stars - This Is Really Happening: the excerpt we were giving was tough because, as Erin says, it's about one of the worst/weirdest experiences of her life. I'm not sure if I'd say her voice is the "freshest" I've ever read, but I would like to hear more about her experience with cancer, facing the future, and more.

4 Stars - Dividing Eden: another interesting concept. There's a lot of action that still needs to happen and I want to know what happens!

1 Star - Spirit Quest: the writing style bored me to tears. It felt too simplistic and dull to pull together the story.

2 Stars - The Black Witch: maybe it's because the excerpt didn't start from page one, but Elloren sounds like an
idiot. There wasn't a set up for the scenario we were in, so I'm not sure if this is a one off moment for her or her normal personality."

4 Stars - How to Be a Supervillain: in the style of How to Be a Wimpy Kid, this book looks like it'll be a lot of fun. Victor's a good kid, which in this case is bad. His parents are super(ish) villains, but he's a goody-goody. The excerpt leaves off as he's apprenticed to another semi-villlain and I need to see where that goes.

3 Stars - The End of Our Story: there's nothing too distinct about this story yet, but the synopsis has some promise and I liked the author's previous novel, Paperweight, so the writing is solid enough to make me want to read more.

1 Star - Laugh Out Loud: I miss the good old days of James Patterson novels, when they had real quality. Any book he writes with a co-author suffers from a distinct lack of cohesion. This was, sadly, no acception. It sounded like an autobiography of a pretentious child.

5 Stars - Aftercare Instructions: this is the single most powerful & interesting sample I've read so far. It's about a tough subject, but the author doesn't let that hold her writing back. She's writing full strength and I anticipate this being a heartfelt, intense work that will resonate with readers.

2 Stars - Geekerella: Elle's kind of a bitch, which I was surprised by for the main character right out of the gate. She's the kind of person who hates on a person/fan of "her" fandom because she doesn't seem them worthy because a) they're too famous for being a pretty boy actor or b) can't answer one trivia question about the fandom. You don't have to know everything about a fandom to be a fan, just saying.

2 Stars - Rebels Like Us: the plot sounds like it's got potential, particularly the race split proms, but the writing style seems really rough so it's not going to be high on my list to read in the future.

3 Stars - Definitions of Indefinable Things: there wasn't quite enough in this sample to get a feel for how the story is, the voice of it or the pacing. There are some hints of a sarcastic sense of humor that I appreciate, which is a good start.

2 Stars - Gem & Dixie: the writing was decent if a bit flat. Gem and her sister Dixie need more time to flesh out. I couldn't get a clear picture of who they were, other than the front that's presented to the world.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

My family was never one for road trips when I was a child, but my husband's family more than made up for that and I've since heard many stories from across the country. Some of the best take place in the places they stopped for food, especially those restaurants that offered regional cuisince. Roadfood is a comprehensive guide to a wide variety of food stops for anyone's journey from one coast to the other.

Roadfood is well formatted, the stops being separated by region: New England, Mid-Atlantic, Mid-South, Deep South, Midwest, Southwest, Great Plains, and West Coast. Before each chapter delves into each restaurant there are two maps that are useful, a general one of the region to show what states are included and a second, much more detailed one that had black dots indicating what major highways they may be near or how close they are to one another. This is a great tool if you're using this book in conjunction with planning your trip and should prevent journeying too far off course.

The information for each restaurant is very inclusive. Not only do the authors include delectable descriptions of, presumably, their favorite dishes, but the restaurants that are local favorites are earmarked with a Locals Love It stamp (like Porubsky's Grocery in the Little Russia neighborhood of North Topeka, KS) and others with a Hot Ticket stamp, such as Harry Caray's, a popular if pricey eatery in Chicago owned by the voice of the Chicago Cubs, Harry Caray (a choice place for steaks like the sirloin or prime and "Italian" dishes like chicken Vesuvio). Helpfully, there are also stamps for Vegetarian Friendly places that call attention to dishes that are palatable for vegetarians. Together with the above stamps and contact information for each establishment (phone number, address, and website if applicable), there is also a handy guide for pricing. The more $$$ signs, the more expensive; the range in this book is $ to $$$ and each state has a good sampling of each price category.

I know this was published very recently, but if you're going to go out of your way on your road trip, I'd make a quick call to the place you're looking at. The most local place to me, Cliff's Dairy Maid, had an entry that was sadly inaccurate. Having visited it recently (4/4/17), the grills have been removed and they no longer offer any of the hot food items mentioned in this book (foot long hot dogs, chili dogs, fries, etc.). The ice cream is still well worth the trip, though; dozens of unique flavors will ensure everyone finds something to savor.

The only other downside I would take note of is that some states, such as Nevada (3) and Delaware (5). have very limited choices when compared to some of the surrounding states. Since this is the 10th edition and the authors make a note that there have been additions and subtractions from edition to edition, I hope that this is merely one in which other states are being given a chance to shine and that next time, perhaps they will find some culinary gems in the states that didn't get as much attention this time around.



I received a copy of this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

Rating: 3.5 Stars

The summary for this book sounds the basis for an exciting new movie or, at the very least, a television series. Eric, the main character, finds out that his family is missing under mysterious circumstances. Not only that, but he receives a video from his brother warning him against coming home and, not only that, but the video also shows his brother is in danger. What comes next? An international journey to discover where his family is, what they're involved with, and what he can do about it with the support of a few classmates.

Reading the passages when Eric engages in parkour practice (is that the term?) was interesting. It was a combination action/art scene because while there was a lot going on (jumping, spinning, kicking off of rocks and walls), there was also the beauty to it that Eric espoused. It cleared his mind and gave him the ability to think. It was a unique skill for a novel character, at least for my part.

Having seen parkour on television and YouTube, I wondered if Hit the Ground Running would make a good web series. It certainly had the feel: mystery, action, family secrets, etc.

My favorite characters were Seth and Lakey, the twins that helped Eric clean up and learn more about the video that alerted him to his family's trouble. They're intense adrenaline junkies that also have a head for hacking and reminding me a little of Fitz & Simmons from Agents of Shield.

With really good characters to pull it along, I didn't mind as much that the writing wasn't as exciting as I would have liked for what felt like an action-adventure book. It took me awhile to really get into the story because there were just big portions where I could feel myself getting bored stiff, but I pressed on because I needed to know what happened to these people next.

The ending was a real cliffhanger (no pun intended toward Eric). I almost forgot this was a trilogy, but as the book was nearing 100% on my Kindle I realized that not everything would be solved, not everyone would be saved. The leaving off point makes me very anxious to get to the next book because we are left with two characters being introduced to a potential new baddie and it's one that's quite high in a particular society. Who will it turn out to be? Truly bad or someone that will ultimately help? Things could go either way and if you want to read the firsts step of the journey, you should pick up Hit the Ground Running and see for yourself.

It is well worth a try, especially if you like hackers, mystery, and if you've ever thought parkour looked cool.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Meatloaf is the ultimate comfort food in my house. It's rare that we have it these days, to be honest, because with our work schedules my husband and I rarely have the time or energy to pull together a recipe like one of the ones found in this book. However, reading this book gave me the inspiration to at least try to reinstate Meatloaf Sunday, wherein we'll try yet another of these recipes.

Even if you made one of these recipes every week it would take you almost a year to make them all because there are dozens of recipes from the traditional beef to pork to ones that include seafood. Those are the ones that surprised me the most because I'd never heard of a meatloaf like that. Thankfully, the authors of this book managed to find a good variety when bringing these recipes together.

Of the recipes included, my favorite non-traditional one was probably the Crab and Shrimp Loaf Muffins. They're great because not only do they include two delicious seafood meats, but they're also good for either an entree or an appetizer, depending on how many muffins you serve. The recipe I most enjoyed trying out from the more traditional chapters was the Jewish Christmas Loaf, an amazing recipe that takes a ground beef mixture and adds five-spice powder, soy sauce, and Asian garlic sauce to season not only the beef, but to top it all off with the glaze.

I learned a lot from this book besides the variety of recipes as well. There were methods for sauteing onions before cooking, which I never really thought of. Also, soaking bread in milk before mixing it in with the meat to give it more moisture was a tip I'd never heard before. The final chapter in the book was where I found the most help for planning a meal around meatloaf. Entitled "Eight: Sides", it offers sides options from macaroni and cheese to roasted broccoli to a Midwestern potato salad that sounds like something right off a picnic menu. I'm used to seeing accompanying dishes neglected in a book focusing on main courses, so this was a pleasant inclusion.

At the beginning of each chapter, the authors have a bit of a chat session which gives an insight into why they chose the recipes they included. Some of the recipes are from personal friends, some are from celebrity chefs such as Alex Guarnaschelli and Bobby Flay. These friendly introductions, as well as the fact that the book takes sides into account as well as the main dish, make it a fun recipe book that has something for practically anyone.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I got this book at just the right time! Last week as part of my Top 5 Wednesday post, I talked about what kind of Summer time reads I was looking forward to and I spotlighted contemporary novels. While this book doesn't take place in the summer, I think it's just the right kind of lighthearted fare to read during the hot months ahead (if you're in the Northern Hemisphere like me, though you should totally still read this if it isn't summer).

Edelweiss and James are two students at Brockmore Academy, a boarding school that I wouldn't be out of place comparing to Chilton from the television show Gilmore Girls. In fact, Edelweiss and her roommate Tuti talk about binge-watching this show and whose team they're on more than once in the course of the book.

Edelweiss (shortened to Edel) and James are at Brockmore for different reasons and both want to stay there. Through a slightly complicated series of events, they come up with an arrangement: pretend to be dating to show that James is serious to his father and so Edel can have the normal high school experience after being home schooled by her diplomat parents.

This was a fast read that had all the hallmarks of a high school drama. It was a lot of fun to read and I didn't find any slow points. I think there are some parts that could have been fleshed out a bit more, such as the friendships that Edel formed between herself and her roommate and some of the other girls in her dorm, or some of the smaller chats that she and James must have had that lead to them falling in real love.

There are some cliches in the book, such as the high school Mean Girl who we don't learn too much about other than the cursory things (she's James's ex, she's jealous of Edel, etc.). Maybe it's because I don't read too many of these books, but this didn't bother me too much even though I know it's happened a lot before. I am curious if we'll learn more about her, though, her inner workings, that sort of thing.

The secondary characters introduced had the potential to be really great: Tuti, the YouTube celebrity that pays her bills by promoting her channel supremely well; Ainsley, the foster kid with a head for computers; Charlotte, Grant, Procter, and more. I learned just enough about each of them to be able to keep them separate in my head, but I wish I knew more. This book, however, was mostly true to Edel and James, so I understand in the end why we might not have heard as much as I'd have liked about the others.

I think this is only Brockmore Academy book #1, so there will hopefully be more adventures for all involved.. James still has half a year left as a senior at the school and Edel has her own senior year before the advent of college. Who knows what lays in store for these two? Will Emma, the school's Mean Girl and James's ex, come back with a vengeance? Will Ainsley, one of the friends Edel has made this year, find a resolution to her own familial questions? Lizzy Charles has authored a brilliant little book here and I hope to read more soon.

And, for the record, I'm with Edel on this Gilmore Girls opinion: #TeamLogan all the way!



I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The New Beginnings Coffee Club sounded like the perfect summer read, just the thing to kick off the weeks of sunshine and cool drinks (frappuccinos, anyone?) ahead.

Sadly, once I started reading the book, I found that it lacked the spark I thought it might have after sampling the summary. It relies quite heavily on cliches of the genre: a wife, whose entire identity has become wrapped up in her husband and child, finds out her husband is cheating on her (with her "best friend" no less) and she must find the strength to create a new life for herself and her daughter.

Jenny, the protagonist and wife in question, was perplexing. She didn't come from money and while she's gotten used to certain comforts being married to a millionaire, her utter lack of sense regarding the real world astounded me. Surely she couldn't have forgotten everything in only ten years? What it's like to not pay hundreds or even thousands for silly little things? It was odd when compared to the fact that she was the only one between her and her husband that could see selling their mansion was the only way to make some dent in their near bankrupt state. She got slightly better over time, getting back to the fashion ideas she had as a college student, so that is something in the way of her development.

What I didn't like about her, even as we got toward the end of the book, was that she kept making excuses for Zak's behavior regarding her friend/housemate, Elle, and their own relationship. He says and does things that are reprehensible and yet Jenny makes excuse after excuse. I get that he is the father of her child, but that doesn't mean letting him get away with murder like this.

Aside from the problems I had with Jenny's character, I didn't get much of a sense of familiarity with many of the people that she came into contact with in the village: Noah (the new love interest), Martini (a grandmother whose grandchild makes friends with April), etc. The person I liked the most was Elle, whose story I found much more fascinating that Jenny's, to be honest. Something I noticed was that the gossip that is alluded to in the summary actually has next to nothing to do with Jenny at all and more to do with Elle and the revelation that she's transgender. It's strange that they make Elle's story about Jenny and how it affects her. It didn't rub me wrong in the moment, but thinking back on it I get an off feeling and don't care for how Elle's unwilling outing was used as a plot device.

The writing was a letdown as well. It didn't have anything special to offer, which saddened me, because good writing can make up for an awful lot in a substandard or bare bones plot, but I didn't get any of that here. This was, regrettably, not the summer escape read I thought it would be.



I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When I requested this book, it was shortly before I went to see the Wonder Woman movie. I wanted to read this book because the art was very attractive for a picture book and I've been looking for things to read to my son. I didn't realize at the time that this was part of a series from an author I'd previously reviewed: Michael Dahl, author of Bedtime for Batman, which was a 4 star read for me.

What I like about Dahl's previous Batman book that carries over to his Wonder Woman book is the parallel story between Wonder Woman and the little girl in the story. While Wonder Woman is battling a super adversary, the main character is battling her own "adversaries": the first day of school, sharing, being brave, meeting new people, etc.

I also like the diversity of the children in the schoolroom. There were several ethnicities represented.

I'm not quite sure who all the DC characters were except for the popular ones (Batgirl, Super Girl), which wasn't a huge issue, but a small insert at the back with what their names are would've been appreciated as I don't think I'll be the only one whose child asks "who is that?" and possibly not be able to come up with an answer.

Now, while I liked the parallel stories, I also felt that the text of the book felt a wee bit disjointed between the two. I don't think that a child (the intended audience) will make as many of the connections between Wonder Woman's actions and the little girl's without some explanation from whoever is reading to them. It may well make for a good reading time experience, but for a young one to read on their own, I'm not sure if they'll like the story so much as the bright and brilliantly stylized art.



I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Indrajit Garai has written a collection of short stories that surprised me in their simplicity and their truth. These stories are fantastical and they're not always pretty. There's a bit of harshness to each of them, but there is also goodness that speaks to the people there are in the world that aren't as bad as some. Reading each story, I took away something that, while not always happy, was important.

The Move

This story, of Guillaume and his dairy farm suffering against bigger, industrial farms and cattle blight, hit home the most of all the stories. I live in a rural area and there are several farms around here that mean a lot. They're not dairy farms, rather agricultural ones, but it still hits home because these are not large properties. The one I grew up across the street from was up for sale last year and I remember how much fear the town had that it would be sold to developers. While not my family's property, growing up with it made me sympathize with Guillaume and his son, Hugo.

The struggles that Guillaume went through in an effort to save his farm and provide a life for Hugo were heartbreaking. He fought so hard and while there is a bit of light at the end, the journey to get there had me cursing at some secondary characters!

There were some plot lines that didn't quite finish up for me, such as what happened to Hugo's mother, and other's that I wasn't 100% sure of (Guillaume and Anais had a past, yes, and there's a chance that Louis, Anais's son, is his, but their "resolution" felt funny to me, especially since Anais had been married for quite awhile by then). Also, there were some errors in the language, a few missing words for grammatical accuracy or typos that were spelled correctly but were obviously the wrong word, that took me out of the story from time to time.

The Listener 

Matthew was an admirable character who stood up for what he believed in more than a lot of adults I know. The tree in a nearby plot of woodland, more home to him than the apartment he and his mum share, is at risk of being chopped down for furniture and he does as much as he can to save "her".

There were some storylines with this short piece that felt a bit underdeveloped, like why Matthew and his mum have a damaged relationship (alluded to but not explained) or Matthew's friendship with Jerome, a fellow student and a foster child in a care home. The story was able to carry-on without these resolutions, but felt lacking.

There were also one term I didn't understand and had to look up: children's center. From what I could make out, in France it's like American day care, but having to look it up took me out of the story. I couldn't understand how Matthew's mum could drop him off there for weeks at a time because the way it sounded in the story, it sounded like an odd children's hotel, which wasn't in line with the setting/story.

The Sacrifice

Francois was a brilliant man, trying his best to provide for his grandson. They've both had tragedy in their lives, particularly relating to Francois's daughter/Arthur's mother. However, despite that, they both went toward the rest of their lives with quite a bit of strength. Francois did everything he could, even though he was 62, to provide a roof for Arthur, even accepting charity food and clothes from the church, which can be difficult to do. Arthur, in turn, was doing his best to help his grandfather: reading his book and giving him notes, studying hard in hopes of winning a scholarship at school.

The ultimate tragedy that befalls these two characters was heartbreaking, after all I'd been through with them via the text. There were some reliefs at the end, though I'm not entirely sure that Arthur would see them that way. In the end, he'd rather have his grandfather than anything.

There were some confusing matters that I wasn't sure about after reading The Sacrifice. Though they didn't detract from the story overall, as such, they gave me pause and had me wondering what was going on. Instance one, Francois believes that Arthur is his only legal heir after the death of his daughter, but Arthur believes that there are relatives in Brittany that would inherit anything; which was true? Instance two: who are these people that Arthur is staying with after the death of Francois? Their relationship, and why Arthur is with them, confused me.

Summary

While there were a few linguistics errors that made the text feel rough, the stories and the people within them remained interesting. There was strength and sadness, moments of joy and of tragedy. Garai's stories are of human interest and are written with them in mind. There's seemed to be a knowledge that, even if we work our hardest, sometimes things don't end happily. And then again, there are times, the times worth hoping for, that do.



I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.