Review: The Last of August (Charlotte Holmes #2)

{Goodreads}

I am a big fan of Sherlock Holmes -- give me everything from the original stories, to TV reincarnations, to book spin-offs and I'm more than happy to indulge. I read the first book in this series A Study in Charlotte, back in January and though I'm not usually a YA reader, I thought it was a pretty good start to a new series and certainly a fresh take on two of my favorite characters in literature. (Psst - If you think you might be interested in reading, stop here and go back for the first. This is one series you definitely need to read in chronological order.)

In The Last of August, we meet up with Charlotte and Jamie in London, where they are spending time with both of their respective families during the winter holidays. It becomes immediately clear that something is off -- something is not quite right in the relationship between our two main characters. That tension remains throughout most of the book, as the two battle with themselves and each other over what their relationship should look like going forward.

While trying to work out their angst, the two are also on a new case, as Charlotte's beloved uncle has gone missing, and they're pretty sure his disappearance was at the hands of the Moriarty family. I don't want to say much more here about the plot -- spoilers are not so fun in mysteries, you know -- but I can speak more to the experience of reading it. After reading the final page, I will say this: the last 30 pages or so were intense and somewhat confusing and for me that made it worth pushing through to the end. Overall, this book just did not captivate me as much as the first. I think that my waning interest may be due to the greater focus on the relationship between Watson and Holmes. I am much more interested in the mystery aspect than in the lives of the characters themselves, and I have to say that I felt like the mystery was hastily thrown together, and when it came to the big reveal I felt confused. In the end, I didn't appreciate how "genius" the plot was supposed to be, so I think when it comes to this series, the first was worth the read and the second was more take-it-or-leave-it. 

Bottom-Line Rating: 3/5

Title: The Last of August (Charlotte Holmes #2)

Author: Brittany Cavallaro

Publisher: Katherine Tegen, 2017

Price: $11 on Amazon

ISBN: 0062398946

Format: Hardcover

Source: Personal Library

Review: The Crooked Sixpence (The Uncommoners #1)

{on Goodreads}

I'm sure you can guess what first drew me in to this new middle grade series. (Hint: always judge a book by its cover.) It was both the cover illustration (whimsical & quirky) and the title that made me want to preview this new series for you before its release next week on January 31st. 

Fun fact: Jennifer Bell was a long-time children's bookseller before she became a writer. I love supporting booksellers-turned-authors -- only they see how truly difficult it is to write and successfully sell a book from both sides of the process. Freshman authors rarely hit their stride on the first try, and while I won't be granting this book 5 stars, I'll continue to follow the series when the second is released in June. 

The Crooked Sixpence introduces us to Ivy and Seb Sparrow, siblings who are staying with their grandmother when a strange chain of events ends with them standing in the ransacked living room of their now-hospitalized grandmother, staring at a very creepy and threatening message etched into the wall.

We can see you now.

Soon a pair of suspicious-looking police officers show up at their door, rambling about things the children don't understand and threatening them with...toilet brushes? Nothing makes sense, but the children know one thing: they need to run.

So begins Ivy and Seb's foray into the world of uncommoners and the market of Lundinor. They learn that hidden beneath London lies a market full of uncommon goods -- things that seem like ordinary objects but serve peculiar purposes -- and that only a select population of people are uncommoners, those who can use these items for their alternate purposes. This is the part of the book that I both loved and felt was underdeveloped. Bell's world building was super creative, and while I saw some comments online about it being too similar to Harry Potter, I actually felt that it was very different and appreciated the quirkiness of it. I only wish that there was more of an explanation, more time spent revealing the world to our protagonist and therefore to the reader. I thought that the characters could use a bit more substance too and am hoping to see that in the next installment.

In terms of plot, I enjoyed reading about the adventure of the siblings and the people that help them along the way, and I liked that there was a bit of a mystery component as well. Though there was some resolution at the end, Bell left a thread open for the next adventure, and I'm looking forward to seeing the return of some of these characters -- especially our remaining villain.

From a seasoned reader perspective, this was a solid freshman release with some things to be improved in the next, but I could see a middle grade reader really enjoying both the adventure and the world building. I'd recommend this to fans of Harry Potter, The Mysterious Benedict Society, and The Mister Max trilogy.

Bottom-Line Rating: 3/5

Title: The Crooked Sixpence (The Uncommoners #1)

Author: Jennifer Bell

Publisher: Random House, 2017

Price: Pre-order from Amazon for $10

ISBN: 0553498436

Format: E-book

Source: Net Galley

Note: Top Shelf Text was provided with a copy of this text by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own!

Review: The Fifth Petal

{on Goodreads}

First, you must know that Brunonia Barry is a local author. She lives in Salem, Massachusetts, a city rife with historical significance, and also the city where I teach. I was first drawn to Barry's novels because of Salem's storied past, along with my love of reading fiction set in places that I know in real life. I first read The Map of True Places in college and loved both Barry's writing style and her penchant for bringing the past to life in a contemporary novel. Last year, I picked up The Lace Reader and was blown away by the surprise ending. The Fifth Petal is the sequel to The Lace Reader and will be released next week on January 24th. If you haven't yet read The Lace Reader but think you might be interested, stop reading here and go grab it off the library shelf! Be warned, spoilers ahead.

The Fifth Petal begins sometime after the ending of The Lace Reader. In it, Rafferty, our charming and flawed investigator, is married to Towner and has been promoted to chief of police. The story opens with a new look into an old cold case -- what's known locally as The Goddess Murders. Back in the late eighties, three beautiful and notoriously promiscuous friends had formed a mysterious clique, naming themselves The Goddesses and using their ancestral link to the convicted witches of Salem as part of their lure for Salem's eligible (and ineligible) men. One night, they are brutally murdered at the site of a Wiccan ceremony. There are only two survivors from the ceremony -- an old woman named Rose and a five year old child, daughter of a goddess, who is whisked away to be raised by nuns after the traumatic incident. Flash forward to modern day, and Rose has become Salem's resident crazy homeless lady, while Callie (the traumatized child), returns to Salem to find that so much of her past is not what she thought it was. Old faces from both The Lace Reader and The Map of True Places come into play as Rafferty and Callie work to find out what really happened on the night of the Goddess Murders and how it's all connected to those original Salem witches.

I have to say that the beginning of this novel was a teensy, tiny bit slow for me. I wasn't really sure what Barry was getting at and went into it thinking that more loose ends from The Lace Reader would be addressed. I'm still waiting on some of those loose ends (Barry has commented that it will happen in book 3!) but as soon both Rafferty and Callie started to discover more details about the night of the murders, the more suspenseful it got and the more I became invested in Callie's character and her backstory. Over time, I tried to make my predictions about the resolution to the mystery, but if there's one thing Barry writes well, it's an all-is-revealed, high-intensity ending. This one absolutely rivaled the ending of The Lace Reader. If you enjoyed the first I'd highly recommend this second installment. You still have almost a week to pre-order your copy before its release -- enough time to have it on your doorstep early next week!

Bottom Line Rating: 5/5

Title: The Fifth Petal

Author: Brunonia Barry

Publisher: Crown, 2017

Price: $20 to pre-order on Amazon

ISBN: 110190563

Format: E-book

Source: Net Galley

Note: Top Shelf Text was provided with a copy of this text by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own!

Top Ten of Twenty Sixteen

Welcome Twenty Seventeen!

This year, I read 55 books. That's actually quite a bit less than I read last year, so I'm taking some time to reflect on what worked (and what didn't) as I plan my reading resolutions for 2017. You can read more about those on the blog next week!

As always, these are some of my most highly-rated books, and come to you in no particular order. 

I'd love to hear some of your top picks from 2016 in the comments if you'd like to share!

The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell

You know a book is good when you cannot stop talking about it. I've raved about The Year of Living Danishly to anyone willing to listen, and even talked a few of my coworkers into reading it too. Now we all gush about the Danish way of life. I am the type of person who thinks a lot about quality of life and how to improve my own, and this book actually gave me a few great ideas for finding that balance between work and personal life (spoiler: teachers rarely find that balance). Not to mention, I'd jump at the chance to relocate to Denmark, where quality of life is the driving focus for the entire population. You can read more of my thoughts here.

The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny

If you like mysteries and have not yet started Louise Penny's Inspector Gamache novels, then all I have to say to you is "What are you waiting for?!?"

The Beautiful Mystery is the eighth in the series and I think it's the best of them all, though I want to be clear in saying that this is the best mystery series I have ever (ever) read, so all of the books are great in their own right. I started this series over the summer and have been raving about it since. Even if you aren't a mystery lover, I would still recommend it to you. Worth a try, I promise.

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

I didn't read many classics this year (oops), but this 1938 gothic novel was one of the best books I read and continue to think about. I'm sure there are other reviewers who could put it into words better than I can, but it's haunting and mysterious and the character of Mrs. Danvers is unforgettable.

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

I have yet to speak with a reader who read Outlander and didn't love it. The only intimidation of it is the size of each book in the series. I flew through this first one in just a few days over the summer (when reading for five hours at the beach was possible) and went immediately to the bookstore to pick up the next two. These are books that you want to be fully immersed in, and I find the mix between historical fiction and fantasy to be perfectly captivating.

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

I read this in two days with no interruptions, thanks to a seaside vacation. It was beautifully written. Definitely a reading experience that I highly recommend, if you're interested in more serious historical fiction or stories from WWII.

The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley

This is a new-to-me series that I fell in love with this year. The vibrant cover is what first caught my eye at the library, but the story inside was just as mesmerizing. I'm looking forward to reading the second in the series in 2017.

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

How interesting is it that I have been a reader for twenty years and had not yet read Anne of Green Gables until this year? Looking back on it, I'm sad for all of those years I spent without the influence of Anne Shirley. I love this book so much that I read it twice just this year (once in paperback, once through audible -- I highly recommend the Rachel McAdams narration) and loved it equally both times. Tears were shed, giggles escaped, and I can't help but dream of my own little Green Gables.

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

Though I read this in childhood, I rediscovered it this year in an effort to read more children's classics. This is another one that I both read and listened to through audible. I love the level of writing in it -- sophisticated, and with the best closing line in all of literature (well, maybe except for Ulysses) -- and my students loved Templeton's character ("He's so rude!"). We celebrated finishing the book by watching the 1973 animated film and I loved how closely the film stuck to the dialogue of the book. 

Vicious by V.E. Schwab

I don't read a lot of young adult literature (something I'm attempting to branch out in next year), but this was a really fascinating read that mixed mystery and sci-fi with a classic villain character. Highly recommended for those who enjoy Marvel-esque stories. I'm looking forward to reading more of Schwab's work in 2017.

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo

I'm doing something unprecedented here -- I'm adding a book to my top ten for the second year in a row. The Tale of Despereaux easily holds a spot in my top three books of all time, and I swear it doesn't feel like a children's book when I'm reading it. The theme of dark and light, or chiaroscuro, has stayed with me and has had a profound impact on the way that I both interpret characters by other authors and try to write my own. If you haven't read this yet, put it at the top of your list for 2017. 

***

What made it to the top of your list in 2016?

You can find my top ten lists from past years here:

Twenty Thirteen

Twenty Fourteen

Twenty Fifteen

Jumping on the Bandwagon

Have you ever avoided reading a book just because it's popular?

I'll admit, I do this all the time. 

I hadn't really noticed this about myself until I started to reflect on some of the books that I avoided for long periods of time and then loved, and to be honest, I couldn't really come up with a reason why I avoided them. Maybe it's too-high expectations, or maybe it's not wanting to go with the crowd, but In the past year I picked up a few fan-favorites, and though I think they've been reviewed enough to not warrant one of my own, I wanted to say a few words about each of them.

Anne of Green Gables is apparently a childhood favorite of just about everyone, and I've had it on my shelf since I was about ten years old. I never read it because I kept thinking it would be like Little Women, which I attempted to read at that age and found excruciatingly boring. I finally plucked it off my shelf to kick-off my summer reading (and fulfill my classics category) and I fell head over heels for it. I loved everything about this book -- the setting, the characters, the writing style. I don't often laugh out loud when reading a book, but this had me giggling at regular intervals. If you haven't yet read this, I absolutely recommend it. Since reading it over the summer, I've also listened to the latest audiobook version, narrated by Rachel McAdams. One word: amazing. Spoiler alert: you'll be seeing this pop up again next week on my top ten list. It's convinced me that I need to try more classics in 2017, including giving Little Women another chance.

Outlander was another one that I avoided for a good long time. I finished the first over the summer, sprinted to the bookstore, stood frowning at the shelves when I discovered that they didn't have the second, and then proceeded to text my bestie in all caps about the ending. Allie urged me to read this for months (she's on the third? fourth? already) and I wasn't sure if I was going to like it. Ten pages in, my thoughts mostly consisted of scolding myself for not reading it sooner (seriously, what a waste) and obsession over its main characters.

The Mapmakers Trilogy

Last summer, I stumbled across in the first book in the Mapmakers Trilogy at my local bookstore. It was the cover that caught my eye, but as soon as I started reading I knew this would be one of those series that would become a lifelong favorite.

I read the first book (The Glass Sentence) last summer and loved it. The world building was fantastic, the characters unique and dynamic, and the premise so captivating. I waited eagerly for, The Golden Specific, the second in the series, and read it in the fall. Then of course, I pre-ordered the final installment, The Crimson Skew, and had to wait for what felt like forever for it to come out in July of this year. When it arrived on my doorstep, I realized that I really didn't remember a lot of the details from the first two in the series, so I put it aside and decided to re-read them before I dove into the final chapter.

I'm not usually the type to re-read a series just to continue reading the next book, but this turned out to be such a good idea. Because the world building is so complex, it really helped me to remember those details that I needed to know when reading the third book. 

I don't want to reveal anything specific from the third book because so much of it only exists because of events in the first and second book, but I do highly recommend this series. It's young adult, but I did recommend it to one of my fourth graders this year and he loved the series as well, so it could definitely appeal to more mature readers in the middle grade age range. I also think that it appeals to readers my age and older who love Harry Potter and similar types of series. I would definitely put it up there with some of my other favorite fantasy series, such as The All Souls Trilogy (a great October read) and The Paper Magician Trilogy.

Summer Reading Challenge

Because summer is only three (three!!!!) weeks away for me, I'm already anticipating which books I should put on my library holds list leading up to my first day of summer.

 I'm looking forward to summer for so many reasons, one of them being more time to read whatever I want. I'm thinking it'll be fun to challenge myself a little bit, so I've put together a summer reading list that's flexible and easy for you to use too! Next week I'll post a summer reading challenge specifically for kids, but I think this is flexible enough that it could be used by readers of all ages. I'll include suggestions for children's literature to fit the list next week, but this week I wanted to include some of the books that I'm thinking about using to fulfill these seven categories.

You can download the PDF version of the challenge here.

One: A Book that Features the Sea

I couldn't resist putting this on the list. If you know me in real life (or follow me on Instagram), you'll know that the ocean is close to my heart. I love living near the water and genuinely feel a huge difference when I'm away from it for long periods of time. Summer is the perfect time to spend hours at the beach with a book in hand, so I thought this was the perfect category to kick off my challenge.

I'm thinking I might fill this category with Island of the Lost: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World, which has been on my list since I included it on March's Currently Coveting list, although I've also had Isaac's Storm on my to-read list for quite some time.

My recommendations for this category:
The Fossil Hunter by Shelley Emling
Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier
In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick
The Terror by Dan Simmons
The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan

Two: A Book Recommended by Your Best Friend

I know you probably have more than one best friend, so ask for recommendations from all of them and then take your pick! For this, I asked two of my besties for their recommendations. My bestie the high school civics teacher recommended Revolutionary, which is the story of one women who disguised herself as a soldier during the Revolutionary War. That she gave me a historical recommendation is not surprising, but she compares it to Mulan, which is a favorite Disney movie of ours so that's motivating me to read it. Another friend who is a speech language pathologist recommended the first in the Georgia Nicolson series, because she says everyone needs a silly YA book on their summer reading list and the wit and charm of this British series perfectly fits that need. I'll probably end up reading both books since they're so different.

Three: A Book that You've Been Meaning to Read

I have so many books that could fit this category, so I'm going to leave it open for myself. I have a couple books in mind, including Sue Monk Kidd's The Invention of Wings, Gabriel García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude, and Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. 

Four: The First Book in a Series

I've been meaning to read the Lunar Chronicles since the fall, so I'll be filling this category with Cinder, but I have a few other series that I'd like to begin too, so it's possible that I'll be starting more than one series this summer.

My recommendations:

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn

The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King

The Winter Palace by Eva Stachniak

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig

Five: A New Bestseller

I'll be sure to let you know when I discover which of the summer's most popular books is going to be on my reading list, but this category is definitely one that I'll have to think about for a bit longer because it requires browsing summer reading lists -- something that I savor when I have the time to do it.

Six: A Work of Classic Literature

I've been slowly working on reading more of the classics, but I'm the first to admit that they're not the first books I reach for when perusing a shelf. I'm still wanting to read more of Jane Austen's novels, having only finished Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility (and about half of Emma before abandoning it), so I may pick another one of her's to read this summer. I'm also thinking I may take another crack at Jane Eyre, which I read in college but didn't love at the time.

Seven: A Nonfiction Book about an Unfamiliar Topic

I'm super picky about my nonfiction picks, so this is another category that I'm leaving completely open for myself. I usually only read nonfiction when I happen upon a book or see one recommended by several sources. 

Here are a few that have caught my eye:

The American Plague: The Untold Story of Yellow Fever, the Epidemic that Shaped Our History by Molly Caldwell Crosby

The Killer of Little Sheperds: A True Crime Story and the Birth of Forensic Science by Douglass Starr

Review: The Master Magician

{Click here to view it on Goodreads}

~WARNING~

If you haven't yet read the first two books in this series, and you think that you might be interested in reading this series, then you should stop reading right here, because I am about to ruin everything for you. All of the surprises will be gone. So, if you want to find out why I love this series so much, click  here to read my review of the first book and then, once you've read all of them, come back and find this review. If you don't know whether or not you might want to read this book, then let me give you a short list of books that it reminds me of: Jane Eyre + Pride & Prejudice + Harry Potter, with its own twist and a wonderfully creative world that is something along the lines of magical realism (where magic is simply accepted as a part of day-to-day life). And if you have read the first two books but haven't read this one yet (it was published on June 2, for those who didn't have it pre-ordered), then go read it now (and come back later)!

Now that I've added a sufficient disclaimer, I can begin to tell you about this book, which is the third installment in the Paper Magician trilogy by Charlie N. Holmberg. I am rarely the type of person who gets hyped up about a series to this level-- really, only Harry Potter has made the cut in the past. So after I stumbled upon the first book in the series by accident on my Kindle, I was surprised to find myself pre-ordering the next two in the trilogy and eagerly awaiting their release dates. I love this story because I love its main character and the way that she fits (or doesn't fit) into her community. 

Ceony Twill is an exceptionally brilliant young woman who takes it upon herself to excel through secondary school and win a scholarship to be a magician's apprentice. In Ceony's world (which is set in a Victorian-esque era), magicians are a part of everyday life. Rather than all being lumped together, however, they belong to a category of magical occupations that focus on the manipulation of one material. There are smelters working with metal, gaffers working with glass, excisioners (who are evil unless they're certified to be a doctor) who work with human flesh, etc. Ceony is forced into an apprenticeship of folding, which is the manipulation of paper. She's disappointed at first, but in the first two installments she comes to find that the life of a folder doesn't have to be dull. At the end of the second book, Ceony and Emery's relationship finally became what it was meant to be, and at the beginning of the third book, they've settled into a comfortable routine of light affection while they await Ceony's magician test, after which Emery will no longer be her mentor and they will be free to make their relationship public (or more public than it already is, at least). 

The problem is that Saraj Prendi is back-- and this is where I ran into my first problem with the book. Saraj is just kind of a blah character overall, and I wish that there had been more development to his character in this book. Mostly he just pops out of hiding when it's convenient so that he can give Ceony a heart attack and then go back into the shadows while she chases after him. Ceony is just as fearless as ever, and my favorite part about this book was how she defied social norms by becoming a master of all the magic materials. Her determinedness is something that I really admire, and I love that she can be so incredibly talented and intelligent without needing to be praised by others. She's perfectly happy to keep her brilliance to herself. Let's not forget Emery either, whose quirks are endearing and who has a fiercely protective side when it comes to Ceony, despite the fact that he has zero control in their relationship (which I found funny and refreshing for this time period).  

I could go on and on about different parts of the story, but the gist of it is that I really enjoy this series and would recommend it to so many readers. There were only two issues that I had with this last book: the matter of finding and killing Saraj (it just didn't feel as dangerous as the first two books), and the ending. I know, I know...the ending was kind of perfect in its own way, but I wanted more. In fact, I want another book (or four) in this series. So I found myself wrinkling my nose at the last sentence because I just didn't want it to end, and I felt like Holmberg shut the door without letting me see the best part. I'll still be keeping this series close at hand for re-reading this year, because despite its flaws, it's become one of my all-time favorites.

Bottom Line Rating: 5/5

Title: The Master Magician

Author: Charlie N. Holmberg

Publisher: 47North, June 2015

Price: $4.99

ASIN: BOOP1N03G8

Format: E-book

Source: Amazon Kindle Store

Reading a Series

Since I decided not to set any reading resolutions for 2015, I've been taking it slow in terms of my reading pace. I started off the year with Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth, which I didn't end up finishing, and read Kingdom of Lies and Yes Please before picking up A Game of Thrones. It's taken me a few weeks, but I'm almost finished with A Game of Thrones, so I started to consider whether I want to continue reading the rest of the series.

Usually, when I read a series it's one that doesn't have all the books published yet. That was the case for Harry Potter when I was growing up, and more recently for my latest fantasy series obsession. If a series has more than one book (or even the entire set) available, I sometimes like to jump in and read each book in quick succession. With this read, I have many (but not all) of the books in the series available for reading, but I still can't make up my mind.

I'll be honest, I love reading Game of Thrones, but I don't think I could have made it through the first book without having watched the TV series first. I know that can be a serious crime for some readers -- to watch a movie or TV show before reading-- but in this case I am definitely a late-to-the-party fan. Plus, there are so many characters and so many complicated relationships; having those characters and their environments already built in my head is so helpful in allowing me to concentrate on the best parts of the story. I remember reading Trickster's Choice by Tamora Pierce (one of the best fantasy authors of all time) when I was younger and really loving the story but constantly struggling with keeping the numerous characters straight.

Considering that keeping up with the story takes some energy (and that I've spent three weeks reading the first in the series), I think I'll be taking a break before moving on to the second book. I am confident, however, that eventually I'll get around to reading the entire series. In the meantime, I'm considering how best to temper the mood of Game of Thrones with my next read. I like to mix up the genre or tone when selecting my next read, so this time around I'm looking for a non-fantasy read that is a bit lighter in tone. First on my list is this funny memoir, but I'm also considering this historical fiction read, or maybe I'll have a random book at the library catch my eye.

How do you read a series?

Review: The Paper Magician

This is one new fantasy series that I am so excited to follow -- if you like stories about witches, then The Paper Magician is a perfect novel to add to your reading stack. Ceony Twill is a recent graduate of the Tagis Praff School for the Magically Inclined, but she feels that her year of hard work there is wasted when she's assigned to be apprenticed as a paper magician. Ceony had dreamt of being a smelter (a metal magician) but with the paper magicians' population dwindling, she has no choice but to live with and learn from the eccentric Magician Emery Thane. As her apprenticeship progresses, Ceony realizes that there is an elegance to the paper craft. She learns to animate paper creatures and to bring the words in a storybook to life, but her lessons are interrupted when Magician Thane is attacked by an Excisioner- a practitioner of the darkest art, flesh magic. Thane's heart is (literally) stolen, and Ceony takes it upon herself to bring it back. Setting out to save Thane's life means an adventure that Ceony would never have dreamt of, and though she puts herself in terrible danger, she learns that paper magic is far more powerful than she thought.

I'm not even sure how I stumbled across this book on my Kindle last week, but before I knew it I was halfway through and raving about it to anyone that would listen. If I were to sum up this book in one word it would be: quirky. I loved it. What drew me in is the classic character of a girl freshly graduated from prepatory school, with big ideas about the world, intelligence, and spunk. In The Paper Magician, Ceony resigns herself to becoming a Folder, but soon she realizes that you get out what you put into it, and her eagerness to learn had me hooked. I also loved that she has depth to her character: she loves to cook, has an enviable work ethic, and there's something tragic being alluded to in her past (albeit that something isn't revealed until the end). I also thought the whole concept of the book was creative; there are a lot of books written about magic and this one is unique for sure, especially with its different divisions of magical occupations. Though this book only came out on the first of September, the second installment in the trilogy is set to be published in November. You know I can't resist a good series, so I may have pre-ordered the second on my Kindle. Oh, and did I mention that this is Holmberg's debut? Bravo.

Bottom Line Rating: 5/5

Title: The Paper Magician

Author: Charlie L. Holmberg

Publisher: 47North, 2014

Price: $4.99 (in the Amazon Kindle store)

ISBN: 1477823832

Format: E-book

Source: Kindle

Book #39 of 2014

Review: The Beekeeper's Apprentice

{on Goodreads}

In a play off the stories of the infamous sleuth (and avid beekeeper) Sherlock Holmes, King devises a whole new environment, with adversaries and allies both old and new. The Beekeeper's Apprentice chronicles the extraordinary relationship between Mr. Holmes and Mary Russell. When they first meet in 1915, Holmes is a recluse, drug addict, and retiree living in the quiet countryside. Russell- a bright, strong-willed girl in a time of emerging female independence- is newly orphaned and living under the watchful (and disapproving) eye of her insufferable aunt. Though they are an unlikely pair, Russell and Holmes manage to cultivate a deeply meaningful friendship, which starts as apprentice and mentor and grows into roles as equal partners in the solving of more than a few high-profile crimes. Russell's deliberate disregard for her expected role as a meek, womanly companion lands them both in some dangerous situations, but her vast portfolio of sleuthing abilities and expansive intellect contribute much to the maintenance of Holmes's reputation as the best detective in the world. As they discover subtle connections linking their many cases, the two must put their talents to the test as they face an unexpected but formidable enemy.

I confess I've had this book on my shelf for years, and simply was not motivated to delve into it until I recently cleaned out my bookshelves. I have always been a fan of Sherlock Holmes and love that his character (much like a Shakespearean play) can be shaped to any new environment, while the defining parts of his character are kept steady (Sherlock, anyone?). It took me a bit to get into the book, but I loved the addition of a younger, equally bright female character (who was not also a love interest for Sherlock). Though Holmes always plays well against strong female characters, King's idea to place him in not only a mentor, but also father-figure role, felt like a fresh take. By the time I reached the last few chapters, I didn't want the book to end. Like a classic Holmes case, I was unable to guess the ending, though of course the pieces of the puzzle were all carefully inserted throughout the story. Recommended for fans of the beloved character, as well as those who simply like a good mystery. 

Bottom-Line Rating: 4/5

Title: The Beekeeper's Apprentice

Author: Laurie R. King

Publisher: Picador, 2007

Price: N/A {Available online for a wide range of prices}

ISBN: 0312427360

Format: Paperback

Source: Gifted

Book #33 of 2014