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A Little Death
6.0
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Shortlisted for the Anthony Award for Best Paperback Original and the CWA Ellis Peters Award for...
The Close (Maeve Kerrigan #10)
9.0
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At first glance, Jellicoe Close seems to be a perfect suburban street – well-kept houses with...
Who Buried Sarah - New Brunswich (Canadian Historical Mysteries, #5)
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Sarah, the only child of Rev. and Mrs. Cranston Estey, was betrothed to Connor McLagen of the...
Historical Fiction
Night Reader Reviews (683 KP) rated Paper Snow in Books
Jan 9, 2020
Paper Snow by Azarius Boreaus was not what I expected at all. In fact, it was one of the few books that completely surprised me. The description on the back of the book is vague yet considering the book is fairly short it is understandable. It was hard to write a summary without giving too much away. That being said there is a lot packed into a short book but amazingly it did not feel rushed as the author was able to effectively get the point across.
23 year old Noah wakes up with no idea as to exactly where he is or what happened to him. Everything is all white except for the garden that his bedroom opens up to. In the center of this garden is a giant baobab tree. At first, the only other person Noah sees is Coal, his doctor, but in the garden, he meets the people living in the other rooms surrounding the garden. It is by taking with the other people that Noah comes to know that all is not as it seems and why Coal is so interested in his dreams.
Noah learns that he possesses a special form of empathy, as does the others living in this facility, and that it allows him to communicate with plants. The others also teach him about the sleepers and how they are all prisoners in the facility. The people running the facility believes that Noah and the other prisoners have the ability to save humanity. Noah receives memories from the baobab trees broken branches and tells the tree he is listening by creating origami symbols to represent each memory. With the help of the tree, Noah is able to find strength in himself and help others to escape.
What I liked best is that the author highlights the deep connection the humans once had with nature wonderfully. The connection that the characters had with plants, animal, and each other were well explained. The first fifty pages were slow yet they promised interesting developments later on. It was difficult to stick with the book early on and I almost gave up on it. The jumping from Noahs present to his memories, and then to the Arctic was rough at first but I was able to get used to it.
The target readers for this book would probably be around high school and older. The content is fine for younger audiences I just dont think that it would be able to be understood very well. This book requires a reader to have an open mind as it deals with empaths, communicating with nature, reincarnation, and the ability that our beliefs can shape our physical world if strong enough. I rate this book 4 out of 4. Originally I was going to give it a lower rating but the further I got the more I saw the book for what it really is. I am not even sure if the author knows what they created of if this was just meant as a story. It was an amazing experience to read and something I was able to connect with.
23 year old Noah wakes up with no idea as to exactly where he is or what happened to him. Everything is all white except for the garden that his bedroom opens up to. In the center of this garden is a giant baobab tree. At first, the only other person Noah sees is Coal, his doctor, but in the garden, he meets the people living in the other rooms surrounding the garden. It is by taking with the other people that Noah comes to know that all is not as it seems and why Coal is so interested in his dreams.
Noah learns that he possesses a special form of empathy, as does the others living in this facility, and that it allows him to communicate with plants. The others also teach him about the sleepers and how they are all prisoners in the facility. The people running the facility believes that Noah and the other prisoners have the ability to save humanity. Noah receives memories from the baobab trees broken branches and tells the tree he is listening by creating origami symbols to represent each memory. With the help of the tree, Noah is able to find strength in himself and help others to escape.
What I liked best is that the author highlights the deep connection the humans once had with nature wonderfully. The connection that the characters had with plants, animal, and each other were well explained. The first fifty pages were slow yet they promised interesting developments later on. It was difficult to stick with the book early on and I almost gave up on it. The jumping from Noahs present to his memories, and then to the Arctic was rough at first but I was able to get used to it.
The target readers for this book would probably be around high school and older. The content is fine for younger audiences I just dont think that it would be able to be understood very well. This book requires a reader to have an open mind as it deals with empaths, communicating with nature, reincarnation, and the ability that our beliefs can shape our physical world if strong enough. I rate this book 4 out of 4. Originally I was going to give it a lower rating but the further I got the more I saw the book for what it really is. I am not even sure if the author knows what they created of if this was just meant as a story. It was an amazing experience to read and something I was able to connect with.
Night Reader Reviews (683 KP) rated The Wailing Snail in Books
Jan 9, 2020
The Wailing Snail by Claire Walker is a cute little rhyming book about a chain reaction caused by a little garden snail. It reminded me of a similar book by Dr. Seuss called Because a Little Bug Went KA-CHOO! but with a much darker ending.
In a garden, a little snail wails so loudly that it causes a major chain reaction. This reaction at one point causes a cat to get mad at a bird and chase after it. Once the bird escapes it is so tired and exhausted that it goes in search of something to eat. The story then comes full circle with the bird finding the snail in the garden that started the whole thing in the first place. The snail then once again lets out a wail
I really liked the illustrations by Diane Bonham. They are cute with simple shapes and colors that ultimately do not overwhelm children. The subject matter of the page is always depicted in a way that draws full attention to it. The rhymes give the book a solid rhythm and the rhyming words being bold and all caps puts emphasis on them for learning and teaching points for new readers. What I did not like was that while the story comes full circle it dose so it a dark and almost morbid way with the bird eating the snail. The back of the book does hint at something bad happening so I might just be used to childrens books have a feel-good ending.
The target readers for this book are young children, infants to toddler age range who would enjoy having this book read to them as the rhymes make it fun. Older toddlers and/or children just starting their first few years of school may question the ending. The ending is an interesting twist for adults though. I rate this book a 2 out of 4 because in the vast amount of childrens book available I would not go out of my way to recommend this book. At the same time, I also would not discourage anyone from it either, but I would warn them about the ending. This book sits firmly as a mid-range book, not good and not bad.
https://nightreaderreviews.blogspot.com/
https://www.austinmacauley.com/book/wailing-snail
In a garden, a little snail wails so loudly that it causes a major chain reaction. This reaction at one point causes a cat to get mad at a bird and chase after it. Once the bird escapes it is so tired and exhausted that it goes in search of something to eat. The story then comes full circle with the bird finding the snail in the garden that started the whole thing in the first place. The snail then once again lets out a wail
I really liked the illustrations by Diane Bonham. They are cute with simple shapes and colors that ultimately do not overwhelm children. The subject matter of the page is always depicted in a way that draws full attention to it. The rhymes give the book a solid rhythm and the rhyming words being bold and all caps puts emphasis on them for learning and teaching points for new readers. What I did not like was that while the story comes full circle it dose so it a dark and almost morbid way with the bird eating the snail. The back of the book does hint at something bad happening so I might just be used to childrens books have a feel-good ending.
The target readers for this book are young children, infants to toddler age range who would enjoy having this book read to them as the rhymes make it fun. Older toddlers and/or children just starting their first few years of school may question the ending. The ending is an interesting twist for adults though. I rate this book a 2 out of 4 because in the vast amount of childrens book available I would not go out of my way to recommend this book. At the same time, I also would not discourage anyone from it either, but I would warn them about the ending. This book sits firmly as a mid-range book, not good and not bad.
https://nightreaderreviews.blogspot.com/
https://www.austinmacauley.com/book/wailing-snail
Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated The Suburban Micro-Farm: Modern Solutions for Busy People in Books
Apr 2, 2019
This book is stuffed full of useful information! It focuses on growing food in your yard when you don't have much time to spend on the yard, so there's a lot of permaculture techniques and gardens that are largely hands-off once you get them set up, which is exactly what I want. With the chronic fatigue, I often don't have the energy to get outside and work on a garden, and Maryland summers exhaust me simply by stepping outside. I really want to garden and grow food, but I need easy ways to do that.
The Suburban Micro-Farm delved into planting hedgerows, which is something we've been thinking of, rain gardens (which we probably should do, we have a couple places in the yard that do not drain well), and tree guilds, which are plantings that go under trees to work together in little micro-environments. One of the tree guilds Stross specifically talks about is a Black Walnut tree guild, which I was excited to see because we have a huge, beautiful mature Black Walnut that I've been trying to figure out how to plant around. Black Walnuts produce juglone, a chemical that kills a lot of plants, so you have to be very mindful of what you plant near them.
This is an excellent reference book for suburban gardens, and she has lots of extra resources on her site, The Tenth Acre Farm. I will be exploring those as well!
You can read all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
The Suburban Micro-Farm delved into planting hedgerows, which is something we've been thinking of, rain gardens (which we probably should do, we have a couple places in the yard that do not drain well), and tree guilds, which are plantings that go under trees to work together in little micro-environments. One of the tree guilds Stross specifically talks about is a Black Walnut tree guild, which I was excited to see because we have a huge, beautiful mature Black Walnut that I've been trying to figure out how to plant around. Black Walnuts produce juglone, a chemical that kills a lot of plants, so you have to be very mindful of what you plant near them.
This is an excellent reference book for suburban gardens, and she has lots of extra resources on her site, The Tenth Acre Farm. I will be exploring those as well!
You can read all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
Gareth von Kallenbach (977 KP) rated Peter Rabbit (2018) in Movies
Jul 8, 2019
Had they not attempt to make a movie based off a beloved children’s book
classic by Beatrix Potter, this film would be exceptional. Unfortunately,
they chose to deviate from the innocent storytelling and put a slapstick
comical spin on it. Peter Rabbit (James Corden) and his sisters, Flopsy,
Mopsy, Cottontail, and their cousin Benjamin are constantly trying to steal
vegetables from the unpleasant and always grumpy Mr. MacGregor’s garden.
Fortunately, the rabbits have one human on their side, MacGregor’s
neighbor, Bea (Rose Byrne), who reminds MacGregor, the animals were on the
land first and everyone should share.
One morning Mr. MacGregor (SamNeill) keels over after trying to save his garden from those pesky
rabbits. His straight-laced city boy grandnephew Thomas MacGregor (Dohmnall
Gleason) inherits the property and is left with trying to maintain the
“rodent” problem. An all-out war ensues between Peter and Thomas!
What made Beatrix Potter’s books so appealing, was her ability to show a
vulnerability to where the reader could sympathize with such
mischievous rabbits.
This film was chalked full of naughty behavior, jealousy, and entitlement
within the story line characters. As a film, it’s hilarious—Home Alone
type shenanigans with a little Dennis the Menace antics peppered in. Live
action mixed in with CGI effects is quite impressive—too good, you almost
think the rabbits were real. If you can deviate from the stories we’ve all
grown to love, this film is excellent, entertaining, and for the intended
audience-kids under the age of 10……… which all thought it was
“totally awesome!”
classic by Beatrix Potter, this film would be exceptional. Unfortunately,
they chose to deviate from the innocent storytelling and put a slapstick
comical spin on it. Peter Rabbit (James Corden) and his sisters, Flopsy,
Mopsy, Cottontail, and their cousin Benjamin are constantly trying to steal
vegetables from the unpleasant and always grumpy Mr. MacGregor’s garden.
Fortunately, the rabbits have one human on their side, MacGregor’s
neighbor, Bea (Rose Byrne), who reminds MacGregor, the animals were on the
land first and everyone should share.
One morning Mr. MacGregor (SamNeill) keels over after trying to save his garden from those pesky
rabbits. His straight-laced city boy grandnephew Thomas MacGregor (Dohmnall
Gleason) inherits the property and is left with trying to maintain the
“rodent” problem. An all-out war ensues between Peter and Thomas!
What made Beatrix Potter’s books so appealing, was her ability to show a
vulnerability to where the reader could sympathize with such
mischievous rabbits.
This film was chalked full of naughty behavior, jealousy, and entitlement
within the story line characters. As a film, it’s hilarious—Home Alone
type shenanigans with a little Dennis the Menace antics peppered in. Live
action mixed in with CGI effects is quite impressive—too good, you almost
think the rabbits were real. If you can deviate from the stories we’ve all
grown to love, this film is excellent, entertaining, and for the intended
audience-kids under the age of 10……… which all thought it was
“totally awesome!”