The Natural Baby and Childcare Handbook: A Complete, Practical Resource on How to Care for Your Baby and Growing Toddler, from Birth to Age Five
Book
This title shows you how to raise your baby and child the way nature intended, with non-invasive...
We Need to Talk About Grief: How to be a Friend to the One Who's Left Behind
Book
Talking about death and grief has become something of a modern taboo. Most of us would rather avoid...
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Are We There Yet? in Books
Jul 1, 2021
This book was one of those happy surprises, where it was even better than I expected. It was real and captivating, highlighting how difficult it is to be both a parent and kid in the digital age. The story is expertly told from a variety of perspectives--Alice, Meredith, Teddy, Evelyn, and Sadie.
West does such a great job of portraying the interconnected people, both kids and parents, in her tale. All are mostly trying their best but often failing while some are judging others. Yet it seems like their world falls apart anyway. Everyone's story was told in such a unique voice, and I could not help but feel so sorry for these kids trying to survive in a digital age, and their parents attempting to maintain some type of control.
Overall, this is excellent book--very timely, realistic, and both heartbreaking and hopeful. 4.25 stars.
Happiness: The Crooked Little Road to Semi-Ever After
Book Watch
A shirt-grabbing, page-turning love story that follows a one-of-a-kind family through twists of fate...
Biography memoir parenting
A Question Of Faith (2017)
Movie Watch
Pastor DAVID NEWMAN is a loving husband and father, set to take over his dad’s church while...
How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success
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New York Times Bestseller "Julie Lythcott-Haims is a national treasure. . . . A must-read for...
Parenting
The Exercise Of Vital Powers (Legends of the Order #1)
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Some Lessons Must Be Learned The Hard Way. Since its inception, The Order has been dedicated to...
Adult Fantasy
The Rainbow Comes and Goes: A Mother and Son On Life, Love, and Loss
Anderson Cooper and Gloria Vanderbilt
Book
A touching and intimate correspondence between Anderson Cooper and his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt,...
Haley Mathiot (9 KP) rated The Legacy (Children's House, #1) in Books
Apr 27, 2018
The story then completely changes pace and goes forward about 30 years to a crime being committed, and that's where the main characters, Freyja and Huldar show up. Freyja is a child trauma psychologist, and Huldar is a recently-promoted detective in charge of his first case.
The first few chapters I really struggled to follow the characters, as it switched 4 times between different perspectives, but then once I figured out who was who I started to follow better. I loved how quickly the characters were developed and built, but it didn't feel like building, it felt like a gradual discovery. I figured out "who's the bad guy" about 15 seconds before it was revealed, which is my favorite way to discover a crime thriller. Looking back, of course there were subtle hints, but there's no way I would have figured it out on my own.
I'm very happy with the ending. It was conclusive enough to feel satisfactory, but definitely open to more adventures in the future. I anxiously await the next two books in the series, and will keep my eyes out for the author. (And no, I have no clue how to pronounce her name.)
Content/Recommendation: 17+, violence, language. It goes without saying that a crime thriller is for adults only, but I'll stress that even having read many crime thrillers over the past 10 years, this one managed to shock me.
**✿❀ Maki ❀✿** (7 KP) rated Wildwood (Wildwood Chronicles, #1) in Books
May 3, 2018
...and then the talking coyotes in red jackets tried to light a fire.
All I could think of was the Fire Gang scene from Labyrinth. Coyote-bird monsters who play with fire. I dare you to tell me those things aren't half-coyotes!
To the book's credit, it gets better. Once you get past the premise, it really does become its own story.
You've got to question what kind of parent doesn't get suspicious when their 1-year-old doesn't make a sound all night, though. Prue's able to just slip out by wrapping up some blankets to look like a baby, and telling her parents that Mac is "really tired". So they don't go to kiss him goodnight? They don't check on him at some point before the morning? These have to be the worst parents ever. Which I guess kind of fits in with what you learn about them later, but it seemed weird when I first read it.
Going into this book, I'd heard that it was a somewhat tedious read. I didn't feel that at all. Sure, it occasionally slowed down when you had to switch between Prue and Curtis, but mainly it was a lot of exposition.
Anyway, if you can get past the parts that feel like you're reading a Labyrinth/Narnia hybrid, it's not a bad book. I look forward to the sequel, which I've heard good things about.