I received a copy of this book through the Goodreads First Reads giveaways.
Ten Second Synopsis: After experiencing merciless taunting from his older brI received a copy of this book through the Goodreads First Reads giveaways.
Ten Second Synopsis: After experiencing merciless taunting from his older brothers about his cautious nature, Tiny Rhino attempts to broaden his horizons.
To be honest I was expecting more humour from this one, given the title, but this tale is more in the vein of a Scaredy Squirrel, but with a social component. The story is told in rhyme and while there is a fair amount of text, it is commendably laid out in a carefully designed way, so it doesn't seem overwhelming and suits the exuberant art style of the illustrations. Young ones will no doubt love the bright colours and cartoonish characters that populate the story - it has a very contemporary feel overall and will draw the eye of even the most reluctant reader.
I'm not the greatest fan of stories where the moral or message is spelled out for the reader, and this is one of those, but I think the exciting ending will probably make up for that in the target audience. Overall this is a fun read, but I expected it to be more about whining, a la Aaron Blabey's Noah Dreary. ...more
I received a copy of this title through the Goodreads First Reads giveaways.
Ten Second Synopsis: A slight miscommunication results in Mick and Finley accidentally feeding mutational food to PJ's sea monkeys. Bloodthirsty mermaidery ensues.
I was surprised at how much I really enjoyed this tale. The story is pitched at a middle grade audience, but Mick himself warns parents at the very start with a disclaimer that this book is not for the faint-hearted reader. On the other hand, if you have a young male reader (or female, obviously, but particularly male) who loves action, fantasy violence, heroic actions, kids having to solve problems out of their depth (pun intended) and just general mayhem and adventure, then get them onto this series right this second.
Mick is a rough-as-guts narrator with a strong sense of right and wrong, and is highly protective of his younger brother. Finley is the thinker of the partnership, considering problems from all angles before making a decision. And PJ….well, PJ learns some valuable lessons about moving out from under his rich parents’ shadow and thinking for himself.
I read this book in one sitting I was so riveted by the narrative style and the action and I think it’s a book that will have great re-reading value. I’m excited to see what happens in the other adventures in the Slug Pie stories series as this seems to be a fresh, action-packed take on the standard middle grade fantasy genre. The back of the book features a handy little recap of all the tips and tricks that the boys have picked up for dealing with mermaids of the bloodthirsty variety, which was a nice touch.
What I liked most about this tale, as an adult reader, was the references to the retro sea monkey ads that used to feature in the back of comic books.
I would definitely recommend giving this particular Slug Pie story a go – particularly if you are in summer right now, because there’s nothing better than reading a story about bloodthirsty pool-dwelling monsters in temperatures which demand regular swimming as an antidote to heat-related death....more
I received a copy of this book through the First Reads giveaways.
Ten Second Synopsis: Sean, the creator of a mail-based role playing game, talks us thrI received a copy of this book through the First Reads giveaways.
Ten Second Synopsis: Sean, the creator of a mail-based role playing game, talks us through various traumatic events that have occurred in his life, working backwards chronologically from the present.
I found it hard to assign a star rating to this book because I think its narrative style will have a particular audience that others will find off-putting or too difficult to engage with. I personally prefer dialogue driven novels and find excessive monologuing tedious in most cases and this book is practically one long monologue where the reader only has Sean's thoughts for company. While I found Sean to be very engaging in parts, other parts lagged and I found myself wondering what the overall point of the novel was. I very much enjoyed the sections describing the Trace Italian game and how Sean interacted with the various players, but just as I was settling into these sections they would segue into more monologuing,
It took me a few chapters to orient myself in the story, as Sean isn't forthcoming about how he ended up as he is now and the early chapters seemed to meander a bit. By about the fourth or fifth chapter though I was engaged with the story and waiting for the action to take off. Unfortunately it's not the kind of novel where action is important, so my desire was never sated.
Overall, I'm not entirely sure whether I enjoyed this book or not . I finished it, which indicates that there were more positive points than negative, otherwise I would have put it aside, but I'm left feeling mildly dissatisfied with the overall experience., I suspect it was a little too introspective for my personal tastes, but I can think of a few people of my acquaintance who would love the style and the content and I'll therefore recommend it to them. ...more
I received this book from the publisher as part of the Goodreads First Reads program.
Ten Second Synopsis: Remy makes a scene at work and gets fired. PuI received this book from the publisher as part of the Goodreads First Reads program.
Ten Second Synopsis: Remy makes a scene at work and gets fired. Pushed for cash he approaches LifeChoice to consider trading some years off the back end of his life for a better life for his family. Instead they offer him a job.
This book was a big of a strange beast. Before reading I thought it would end up being a bit of a psychological drama with the characters getting tangled up in corporate shenanigans. It turned out to be a lot more philosophical though, with no real mystery to the proceedings. I enjoy stories told from multiple points of view and this one featured the POVs of Remy, his daughter Christine (whose storyline seemed a bit superfluous really), Jack, a young reporter on the trail of what he thinks might be a big story, and Victor, the founder of LifeChoice. It took me a while to get through this book because I kept picking it up and putting it down when my interest waned.
The book had definite peaks and troughs of interest for me, and while the ending has a bit of a twist in that the reaction of LifeChoice's founder is fairly unexpected, I was left with the feeling that the point of the book was to get the reader thinking about philosophical issues of existentialism and quality of life rather than creating a thrilling plot. I also found most of the characters irritating for various reasons. Particularly Remy. And his wife. And his brother and sister-in-law.
Overall this was a reasonably engaging read, but not groundbreaking for me....more
I received a copy of this book through the Goodreads First Reads giveaways.
I found Choked Off to be a pretty standard cosy mystery and I would recommeI received a copy of this book through the Goodreads First Reads giveaways.
I found Choked Off to be a pretty standard cosy mystery and I would recommend it for lovers of the genre or those looking for a light read that doesn't ask too much. I hadn't read the first book in this series before tackling this one, but that didn't affect my understanding of this one. The author seems to go to great lengths to outline the major players in the village and their back stories - weirdly, I still had a bit of difficulty keeping them straight, but this could have just been because there were quite a few characters.
The plot moved reasonably slowly, with the murder not occurring until about a third of the way through. I don't know why, but I was expecting a slightly more sensational murder but this one was pretty low key. The detectives were interesting enough and the final resolution of the case was satisfying.
Overall, the pace oft he book was probably a little slower than I would have liked, but the setting was enjoyable and the characters idiosyncratic, I'd be interested to go back to the first book in the series to see where it all began....more
I received a copy of this book from the author through the Goodreads First Reads giveaways.
This is a concise and relevant guide to raising physically,I received a copy of this book from the author through the Goodreads First Reads giveaways.
This is a concise and relevant guide to raising physically, mentally and emotionally healthy young men. Inevitably, as I was reading, I was mentally comparing it to Raising Boys, by Biddulph, and there are a lot of similarities between the two books, but The Making of Men focuses a lot more on the teenage years and the factors that contribute to the development of a healthy, holistic identity in young men. The chapters are well organised and contain real-life examples of each topic, and Rubenstein has included short summaries using dot points at the end of each chapter.
The section on the appropriate evolution of the mother-son relationship during the teen years was enlightening and, I suspect, will be of great use to readers who are wondering where there lovely little boy has gone and what they can do about it. Similarly, Rubenstein's cheat sheet for creating a boy-to-man rite of passage, for those who do not have ready access to one through their religious or cultural background, is something that readers will find valuable.
Overall this is a helpful and accessible addition to the literature on parenting boys.
I received a copy of this book through the Goodreads a First Reads program.
Ten Second Synopsis: Teenager with a fear of water unexpectedly finds himselI received a copy of this book through the Goodreads a First Reads program.
Ten Second Synopsis: Teenager with a fear of water unexpectedly finds himself cast int he role of world-saving hero.
This was an engaging story with the elements of fantasy woven neatly into the coming-of-age/discovering your identity theme. This would appeal to those who like new and different fantasy worlds that feature a range of familiar and created mythical creatures. The creation of the six worlds and the rules around the Chosens' travel between them was a unique plot device, which is always good to see in a genre in which certain elements have been done to death.
I had a bit of trouble with the writing - there's a lot of explanatory detail which could have been better written as dialogue or action to prevent the story from dragging in places. Also, I didn't really believe that a physically-able teenager taking one-on-one lessons would be utterly and completely unable to learn to swim, at least in a rudimentary way, so that part of the story didn't quite ring true for me.
Overall though, fantasy buffs should enjoy this take on between world travel and mythology....more
I received a copy of this book through the Goodreads First Reads giveaways.
Ten Second Synopsis: Grieving widow takes on job as Angel of Death to mixed I received a copy of this book through the Goodreads First Reads giveaways.
Ten Second Synopsis: Grieving widow takes on job as Angel of Death to mixed reviews.
This was a light, fun read with a nice mix of fantasy, humour and anticipated romance. It's a perfect beach or fireside read that doesn't require too much of the reader and delivers a likeable main character, a cheeky narrative voice and enough plot reveals to keep you interested. Just as the book ended, some interesting plot twists emerged that piqued my desire to read more, but I'm fairly certain I can wait in a patient and contented fashion for these to be resolved in a later book.
I received his book as a Goodreads First-reads win in a giveaway.
Synopsis: Sarah Vale, teenage daughter of Banville's resident lady-of-ill-repute goesI received his book as a Goodreads First-reads win in a giveaway.
Synopsis: Sarah Vale, teenage daughter of Banville's resident lady-of-ill-repute goes missing and no one seems to care except for Tommy Johns and Sergeant Henderson.
This book is currently being promoted in the Get Reading Top 50 Books You Can't Put Down guide....I found it to be quite an engaging read, despite some slow spots during which the characters become particularly introspective. Given that this book is set in a rural community, the slow spots won't necessarily detract from the story for some readers, because they seem to suit the setting. I, however, felt the need to skim these sections.
The first three quarters of the book kept me interested due to the likeability of both Tommy and the Sergeant. There were enough red herrings thrown in to keep the story and one's brain ticking over.
What really killed this one for me was the far-fetched nature of the ending. Not necessarily far-fetched in terms of how the characters might behave, but in the sense that the events of the ending seemed to bring in a bit of a feeling of heroism to some characters that I felt was misplaced. All in all, the final chapters were a bit too pat and convenient given the amount of time spent exploring the reactions and consequences of certain characters' life choices earlier in the novel.
Still, it's definitely worth a look and kept me engaged for the majority of the time....more
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