Search

Search only in certain items:

    Legends Khmer 1-9 End

    Legends Khmer 1-9 End

    Education and Entertainment

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    Cambodia has many legends about the beginnings of its country. These stories are accepted and...

40x40

Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Oct 3, 2021  
Sneak a peek at the middle grade historical fiction book ONCE UPON A CAMEL by Kathi Appelt on my blog, and watch an interesting short documentary about the US Army’s camel experiment which is referenced in the book. Enter the giveaway to win a signed copy of the book - three winners!

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2021/10/book-blog-tour-and-giveaway-once-upon.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
Zada is a camel with a treasure trove of stories to tell. She’s won camel races for the royal Pasha of Smyrna, crossed treacherous oceans to new land, led army missions with her best camel friend by her side, and outsmarted a far too pompous mountain lion.

But those stories were from before. Now, Zada wanders the desert as the last camel in Texas. But she’s not alone. Two tiny kestrel chicks are nestled in the fluff of fur between her ears—kee-killy-keeing for their missing parents—and a dust storm the size of a mountain is taking Zada on one more grand adventure. And it could lead to this achy old camel’s most brilliant story yet.
     
London Tales (Short Stories #2)
London Tales (Short Stories #2)
Tim Walker | 2023 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Very enjoyable step out of my comfort zone!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

What this is, right, is a step out of my comfort and I needed this book right now!

It's a wonderful tale of London, through the ages, told in short stories. You could, I suppose, skip ahead a few stories, and you wouldn't miss anything, other than a few years!

Each story is set at key points along London's timeline, right from when the Romans invaded, up to the present day, told by the Londoners who lived then. Ordinary people telling their extraordinary tales.

I found each story complete, and wholly engaging. I found myself fully engrossed in these tales, all of them. I even recognised a few places when they were mentioned. I'm not a Londoner, but have been a time or two.

As I said, a step off my usual book path, and one that led me to fabulous place.

4 very VERY good stars

*same worded review will appear elsewhere
  
Encyclopedia Brown Shows the Way
Encyclopedia Brown Shows the Way
Donald J. Sobol | 1972 | Children, Mystery
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Ten More Mysteries with the World’s Smartest Ten-Year-Old
What is Encyclopedia up to this time around? He helps his father prove who stole an electric drill. He helps a kid get his harmonica back from Bugs. When a girl wants to figure out who got her kicked off a baseball team, Encyclopedia Brown takes the case. He figures out who stole a rattlesnake rattle from a display at a museum. And he helps a friend who thinks he saw a ghost.

The ten stories in this book are fairly short, which makes them easy to breeze through. I still find I rarely solve the case before Encyclopedia does, but that’s okay. I have fun with them. There isn’t time for much in the way of twists here, and the characters are fairly thin. I don’t think kids will mind either one. What they might find off putting is the dated elements of the books. Like, what’s an encyclopedia? Still, if they are willing to pick it up, they’ll find these stories fun.
  
Roar: A Story for Every Woman
Roar: A Story for Every Woman
Cecelia Ahearn | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry, Humor & Comedy
7
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
On the whole, I enjoyed this book of short stories. They’re all stories about women who are unhappy about some aspect of their lives, have lost their way and are working out how to get back. They’re all a bit magical realism, and just plain fantasy sometimes (this is not a bad thing for me, by the way!), and ‘Feminist Aesop’s Fables’ kept popping in to my head. It’s definitely a book to dip in to, and I did so whilst reading other books - I could see that reading all of these in one go could be overwhelming.

I think that these stories have a bit of something for everyone. I didn’t enjoy all of them, but I did have my favourites: The Woman Who Grew Wings is about a woman who flees her country with her family to live in the West, and the negative attitudes of the other mothers at the school gates (they’re not nice people) - this brought me to tears actually. The Woman Who Was Swallowed Up by the Floor and Who Met Lots of Other Women Down There Too - because who HASN’T had this happen to them at least once in their lives?! The Woman Who Ate Photographs was another tear jerker about how visual prompts (the photos) can bring back feelings connected to smell, touch, and the memories of our children before they grew into hairy teenagers (this one did for me, I’m afraid!).

I think all of these stories will resonate with someone.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book to read and review.
  
Show all 3 comments.
40x40

ClareR (5667 KP) Nov 13, 2019

@James Koppert now THERE’S an idea!!🤣

40x40

Sarah (7798 KP) Nov 13, 2019

I'm in a phase of reading motivational books at the moment so will have to give this one a go!

40x40

Ross (3284 KP) rated Fires of the Dead in Books

Nov 12, 2019 (Updated Nov 12, 2019)  
Fires of the Dead
Fires of the Dead
Jed Herne | 2019 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Very short but compelling story
* I received a free advance copy of this book from BookSirens, and would like to thank them, and the author, for the chance to review this book honestly *
This short story (around 90 pages) somehow manages to establish a well-explained magic system, and enough information about the world, and a decent story in a very small number of pages.
The story follows a small group of battle-worn mercenaries sent on a mission through the fire-ravaged wasteland to capture the skull of a dead pyromancer. Along the way they cross paths with other groups on similar missions as well as a stronger foe they had not intended to meet.
Herne has a talent for writing, that much is abundantly clear. His narrative is pithy, concise and very immersive. He changes PoV at a few points of the story, so the reader is given different viewpoints at different times (though sadly they don't change back again).
The characters are all uniquely defined and have their own place in the crew.
His story was well laid out, with some excellent, flowing action sequences. The story is well told and exposed at a good pace. There were a few small background details of the overall plot which I felt should have been outlined earlier, but given the character in question's background I can see why this happened this way.
My only complaint about this book was that it was too short. This could easily be expanded with more backstory and more information about the world without feeling padded out, I think. I would happily read this book again with another 300 pages of the same added in.
I will be reading the author's free short stories from his mailing list with relish.
  
40x40

Becs (244 KP) rated Always You in Books

Oct 2, 2019  
Always You
Always You
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Always You by Krista Carleson

Genre: Short Story, Novella, Contemporary, Erotica

Synopsis: The army took my first love and left me with a broken heart. That was ten years ago, but fate has a funny sense of humor. Not only is Aidan Dowell my best friend’s older brother, he happens to be my new roommate: the one who chose duty over love- who I thought had left my life forever. Now that I have to live in the same apartment as Aidan, I try to avoid him and guard my heart, but it’s impossible when the person in question is one gorgeous, sexy billionaire. The pull is too strong. The heat between us is going to burn me again. Little did I know that Aidan has a painful secret that threatens to come between us and now I have to make a choice: Fight for him or refuse this second chance at love?

Audience/ Reading Level: High School+

Interests: Erotica, Novella, Short Stories, Best Friends Brother

Point of View: first person

Difficulty Reading: Short, simple, sweet with a lot of hot and steaminess.

Promise: A short yet compelling read that will leave you wanting just a bit more.

Insights: Writing was a bit amateurish but for being the style of book it is, it was a good read. Would recommend to others who like Eroticas.

Ah-Ha Moment: When the boy gets the girl he’s been in love with for the past ten years. And vice versa.

What will you gain: A simple yet refreshing read.

Aesthetics: It was cool to see a billionaire and his brother living together with Cat. But other than that, there was really anything that stood out that’s worth mentioning.