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Alex Trybus (79 KP) rated Netflix in Apps

Jan 26, 2018  
Netflix
Netflix
Entertainment, Lifestyle
9
8.7 (589 Ratings)
App Rating
INCREDIBLE variety of shows, movies, and documentaries (3 more)
Everything is relatively easy to search for and find
Items you have watched in the past will be easily accessible to you again
The "recommended for you" section is pretty accurate
They have a really weird way of deciding which shows get to come and go... (why did they try and get rid of The Office?) (1 more)
It is kind of pricey, but in my opinion it's still worth it
Netflix is life, what else is there to say?!
I'm just another young adult female that is just as obsessed with Netflix as the next girl. My favorites are Parks and Recreation, New Girl, Gilmore Girls, Black Mirror, and a couple of the movies. Unfortunately, I had to borrow my friend's Hulu account to watch Golden Girls because Netflix refuses to add that for some reason. Regardless, you can't argue with the vast selection of titles!
  
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Flavia de Luce, #1)
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Flavia de Luce, #1)
Alan Bradley | 2009 | Fiction & Poetry, Mystery
8
8.3 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
11-year-old Flavia is most concerned about the tricks her sisters are playing on her during the summer of 1950 until the day their housekeeper finds a jacksnipe with a postage stamp attached to his bill on the doorstep. This really upsets her father, but Flavia is shocked to stumble across a stranger dying in their cucumber patch a few hours later. How are these two events related?

This is a well plotted mystery with an unusual (at least for an adult audience book) main character. Flavia can act her age at times and she does drone on in the narration about chemistry (her passion) on a few occasions, but for the most part she leads a cast of fun characters. The plot is very entertaining with some nice surprises along the way to a suspenseful climax.

Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2015/02/book-review-sweetness-at-bottom-of-pie.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
  
JA
Jethro and Joel Were a Troll
Bill Peet | 1990
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The two-headed troll Jethro and Joel have a problem. While Jethro is quite content to spend his days raising the turnips they love to eat, Joel wants to be terrorizing people. When Jethro finally gives in and allows Joel to have control of their body for one day, what will happen?

I’ve always loved the title of the book, and I still find the story fun. The way he builds up to that final sentence will please adults, and the fast moving story and pictures will entertain the target picture book audience. What surprised me while reading this as an adult is the clear allegory about the dangers of giving in to what you know is wrong. Oh, don’t worry, this is a picture book with a happy ending, and it never slows down the story to lecture us.

Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2017/03/book-review-jethro-and-joel-were-troll.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
  
TB
The Bungalow Mystery (Nancy Drew, #3)
Carolyn Keene | 2009 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
While out of town, Nancy meets Laura, a recent orphan who is about to meet her new guardians. However, when Nancy meets them, she thinks that something is off about these adults. Meanwhile, Mr. Drew asks Nancy to help him figure out how bearer bonds have disappeared from a bank in town. Can Nancy juggle these two cases? Or is there a connection?

I can’t remember if I read this one as a kid or not, but I quickly got caught up in the fun as an adult. There is plenty of action. Some of the twists were a little obvious, but I couldn’t figure out how everything quite fit together until the end. We still haven’t met Nancy’s usual friends, but with the emphasis on plot and action, the characters are thin anyway.

Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2017/08/book-review-bungalow-mystery-by-carolyn.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
  
Frank and Joe Hardy are thrilled when their father, Fenton, gives them an assignment as part of his latest case. He asks them to go up on the cliff and watch the bay for smugglers. They find the perfect spot near an abandoned house. Yet, they soon hear a cry for help from inside, have part of the telescope stolen, and witness an attempted murder. What’s going on?

This book is a perfect example of some of the weaknesses of the series – characters always making the perfect deduction right away and the thin characters. But even rereading it, I found it very fun. It helps that there is plenty of action. Kids today will get caught up in the story just as I did as a kid and rereading it as an adult.

Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2017/08/book-review-house-on-cliff-by-franklin.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
  
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Lindsay (1717 KP) rated House Broken in Books

Feb 15, 2018  
HB
House Broken
10
10.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
House Broken There a family mystery that Geneva does not understand. Thing go from bad to worse once her mother has an accident and need to recuperate. Geneva is relaxant to do so. Her husband convenience her to bring her mother in to stay.
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Geneva start to investigate about the relationship between her older sister Paris and their mother. Geneva mother Helen has dealt with since her eldest daughter turned sixteen. There mother had to do something about it to stop what was going on. That thing see had to do is something Paris and her mother could not forgive her for it.
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Ella and Charlies get themselves in trouble as well. Things gets worse after their grandmother comes to stay for a little while. Things start to startle Geneva while her mother starts to put some things together. It a fun read but not for children. It deals with teenage things and adult things. My rating is a &nbsp;5/5 stars.
  
SB
Spider Bones (Temperance Brennan, #13)
Kathy Reichs | 2010 | Fiction & Poetry
4
7.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
Definitely not one of the best of the series. The science plot twist was a bit of a surprise, but the "who is this guy?" was telegraphed (for me, at least) pretty early on. I'm fairly tired of the on again, off again love thing with Ryan, but the depiction of Brennan's relationship with her young adult daughter is very accurate to this mother of a 20-year-old. Bringing in the "gangsta" angle seemed ridiculous to me, but I suppose there had to be some immediate danger somewhere to keep the publisher interested.

I still enjoy the television show <i>Bones</i> far more than the novels, which is unusual - but the show has more humor. I don't think I'd read novelizations based on the show, however, because a lot of the humor requires the chemistry between the actors as well as good scriptwriting. There are few authors who can translate that from screen to text.
  
Boys Next Door
Boys Next Door
Sommer Marsden | 2017 | Erotica
6
3.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Hot steamy action from the first page but soon wears a bit thin as there's more sex than storyline to the book and I'm finding I'm scanning through the sex scenes the further I get in to the book just in the hope of finding some thing more interesting. This would have been a good book if a little more thought had gone into the writing, it needs more depth. I disliked the crudeness of some of the descriptions and it could have been more sensual but THEN, just when I think this is going to be a standard read the last couple of chapters are captivating. They have feeling and emotion, everything the rest of the book didn't have and I'm now feeling robbed that the rest of the book wasn't the same.

In the end the last few chapter more than make up for the rest, this is an adult read and I did enjoy it in the end.

3.5 Stars
  
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Connie (244 KP) rated Super Powereds: Year 3 in Books

Jun 8, 2018 (Updated Jun 8, 2018)  
Super Powereds: Year 3
Super Powereds: Year 3
Drew Hayes | 2015 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
10
10.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
The series you NEED to read!
Drew has done it again. After Year 2 I was worried that there would be nowhere new and exciting to go... But boynwas I wrong! I've never been so glad to be wrong, either. The twists and turns of the plot would do ANY Subtlety hero proud!

The Melbrook crew has made it to their third year, and things get even tougher as they go. A lot of questions (and a little bit of romance) keep the ball rolling, and we start to see the adult more and more in each of the students. Situations aren't what they seem at first sight, and not everyone is who they claim to be. How do you find trust in a world where everyone has a hidden identity?

This series is building toward a fantastic climax, and I can't wait to see what happens next!

This book has about 650 pages and cost $6 via Kindle.
  
Accessible for middle school readers (0 more)
My classroom library is somewhat lacking when it comes to non-fiction. I often have a difficult time finding non-fiction that is engaging for a middle school audience.

While I think that this will interest my students, as an adult reader, it's a bit lacking in depth.

I like the bite-sized chunks of information and the bold illustrations of each woman profiled in the book. The biographical information is just the right amount for this age group.

What I really objected to was the attempt to provide life advice from each woman. After each biography, the author imagines a modern real life question readers might have and then attempts to answer that question as the woman who was just profiled might. The whole thing feels incredibly contrived and, at times, not even loosely connected to the woman who was just profiled. I think I actually cringed with some of them because of how cliche and didactic they are.