Thursday, March 31, 2016

March Favorites


The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson. Bill Bryson is always a treat, but he’s gotten better with age. Now he detests stupid people more than he used to, and it comes across in his writing. His informative prose is very well-written, but the glimpses into his thought process are more hilarious than ever.

Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson. A middle grade graphic novel about 12-year-old Astrid who finds a new hobby in roller derby. She expects her best friend to come along with her, since they’ve always done everything together, but instead they are growing apart. Loved this book, and can’t wait to read more by Jamieson.

If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch. Very emotional, dark young adult book, but not overwhelmingly dark. There is just enough hope and brightness to balance the book perfectly - not too depressing, not too overly perky. Carey has been living in a camper in the woods for year, taking care of her little sister while their mom leaves them alone for weeks at a time. When Carey and her sister are rescued, they have to fit in to a normal society they’re not familiar with.

Pretending to Be Erica by Michelle Painchaud. I really loved the concept of this young adult book. The jacket blurb didn’t really explain much so I wasn’t sure what the story was about, but I started it and loved the writing so I kept going and was SO thrilled with the subject matter and how it was written. LOVE. Highly recommend. Can’t wait for more from this author.

The Single Feather by Ruth F. Hunt. Rachel is a thirty year old woman who uses a wheelchair, and after escaping from a heavily-guarded home, she lives independently in a new town in England. To try and get her old life back, she joins a local art group and makes friends with some of the locals. The story is really compelling, and I was very drawn in to find out what happened in Rachel’s past as her disability was caused by an accident, and she doesn’t reveal much about the home she escaped from. The ebook I read had a lot of punctuation errors, especially with quotation marks, which occasionally took me out of the story, but overall it’s a great book.

A Blind Guide to Stinkville by Beth Vrabel. I started this book as an audiobook, and it was wonderfully read - I highly recommend it to those who have time to listen to audiobooks! My 2-year-old doesn’t give me much of a chance to listen peacefully, so after trying for a month I checked out the hardback so I could finish it - which I did in less than a day! I loved Pack of Dorks but I think I might have loved this one more… Alice has albinism so she is practically blind. When her family moves from her familiar Seattle to a new town called Sinkville (but it stinks from the paper mill, so it’s totally Stinkville), she has to try and be independent. Alice has always relied on a friend to help her get around, but now she has to make new friends and fit in, which is hard when you have albinism. Alice is a great character with a great voice, and the book is so realistic I’m still wondering how the characters are doing! Highly recommended.

Demon Dentist by David Walliams. I love David Walliams in Little Britain so I was excited to find out he has written loads of books (that’s me, late to the game as usual). I’m just happy that I’ve started reading his books, because this one was great! A strange new dentist moves to town, one who gives kids candy and makes her own toothpaste that burns through concrete. She's got to be up to something, right? Alfie is determined to uncover the tooth truth (sorry, couldn't resist!). Walliams cites Roald Dahl as his literary influence and I definitely see that, but in a good way, not a cheap imitation way. Can’t wait to read more of his, which I plan to buy since my library system only has two titles.

No comments:

Post a Comment