A Brief Review: A Monster Calls

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, Siobhan Dowd (Conception)
Rating: 4 Stars
Series: Standalone
Length: 206 Pages
Purchase: [Amazon] | [Barnes & Noble]

Synopsis:
At seven minutes past midnight, thirteen-year-old Conor wakes to find a monster outside his bedroom window. But it isn’t the monster Conor’s been expecting– he’s been expecting the one from his nightmare, the nightmare he’s had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments. The monster in his backyard is different. It’s ancient. And wild. And it wants something from Conor. Something terrible and dangerous. It wants the truth. From the final idea of award-winning author Siobhan Dowd– whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself– Patrick Ness has spun a haunting and darkly funny novel of mischief, loss, and monsters both real and imagined.

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The Waffle Book Tag

A while ago, I came across this tag dedicated to everything waffles and I knew it would be fun to fill out the tag. I love waffles and prefer them over pancakes. I even have a waffle maker where I make my own waffles and stack them up for one, big, delicious breakfast. Anyhow, onto the tag!

THE RULES

• Link back to the original creator, Kat @ Novels & Waffles
• Tag as many people as you want (or don’t want) to. No pressure here, folks 🙂.

Graphic Novel Review: Hotel Dare

Hotel Dare by Terry Blas, Claudia Aguirre (Illustrations)
Rating: 4 Stars
Series: Standalone
Length: 144 Pages
Purchase: [Amazon] | [Barnes & Noble]

Synopsis:
It’s not your typical family vacation when Olive, and her adopted siblings Darwin and Charlotte find themselves falling into other worlds as they explore Grandma Lupé’s strange hotel.

OPEN THE DOOR. ADVENTURE AWAITS.

Olive and her adopted siblings Charlotte and Darwin are spending the summer with their estranged grandma at her creepy hotel and it’s all work and no play. They’re stuck inside doing boring chores but they soon stumble upon an incredible secret… Behind each room door of the hotel lies a portal to a different strange and mysterious place. The simple turn of a knob transports them to a distant magical world filled with space pirates. Behind the next door are bearded wizards. Down the hall is a doorway to a cotton-candied kingdom. But once the doors are opened, worlds start colliding, and only one family can save them before they tear themselves apart.

Written by Terry Blas (The Amazing World of Gumball) and illustrated by the talented Claudia Aguirre (Kim & Kim), this world-hopping fantasy tale breaks down the door to imagination and dares you to embrace the idea that family is everything.

Childhood Reads: Madeline

Let it be known that this is the first time I am continuing the series as its own official category! The last few posts were were categories as discussion posts, but now Childhood Reads is its own and I am excited to continue!

Today, I want to talk about a book that I deeply loved as a child and held onto for the longest time. It was about a little girl in Paris that had some adventures and wore a complete outfit in yellow (or sometimes blue) with her class and their school trips. I hope you know it because this was one of the greatest children’s book of all time.

Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans

Graphic Novel Review: Mooncakes

Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker, Wendy Xu (Artist)
Rating: 5 Stars
Series:  Standalone
Length: 259 Pages
Purchase: [Amazon] | [Barnes & Noble]

ARC provided by the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:
A story of love and demons, family and witchcraft.

Nova Huang knows more about magic than your average teen witch. She works at her grandmothers’ bookshop, where she helps them loan out spell books and investigate any supernatural occurrences in their New England town.

One fateful night, she follows reports of a white wolf into the woods, and she comes across the unexpected: her childhood crush, Tam Lang, battling a horse demon in the woods. As a werewolf, Tam has been wandering from place to place for years, unable to call any town home.

Pursued by dark forces eager to claim the magic of wolves and out of options, Tam turns to Nova for help. Their latent feelings are rekindled against the backdrop of witchcraft, untested magic, occult rituals, and family ties both new and old in this enchanting tale of self-discovery.

Book Review: Dragon Curse

Dragon Curse by Lisa McMann
Rating: 5 Stars
Series:  The Unwanteds Quests, #4
Length: 432 Pages
Purchase: [Amazon] | [Barnes & Noble]

Synopsis:
At last, after harrowing battles and devastating losses, the three Stowe siblings are reunited. Back in Artime, however, their joy at finding one another is short lived. Fifer loses her leadership position and struggles to find her place and purpose, while Thisbe is relentless in her determination to return to the land of the dragons and help Rohan rescue the other black-eyed children. Aaron fails to ward off increasing opposition from a resentful Frieda Stubbs and the dissenters, leading to a shocking and dangerous turn.

Meanwhile the Revinir pursues Thisbe and Drock all the way to the seven islands, putting the people of Artimé in peril. To save them, Thisbe makes an unthinkable sacrifice that leaves Fifer, Aaron, and the others to face political eruption and destruction in the formerly peaceful magical world.

September Recap – Crash and Burn

 

WHAT. HAPPENED.
I don’t even think ever I failed at this level before. I only read just 1 book for the entire month of October. I can’t even remember what happened. Was I busy the beginning of the month? Was I putting more effort in the blog rather than reading? I know there was some days where I opted to make posts rather than reading. I guess I just did not realize the trade off was going to be this. Well, hopefully this month, I’ll do better.

Read:

Dragon Curse by Lisa McMann – ★★★★★

The Sunday Post – Preparations

Welcome to The Sunday Post, which is hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer. This is a chance to recap the previous week and announce anything for the upcoming week. You can talk about whatever you want in this post as well.

Book Review: City of Ghosts

City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab
Rating: 4 Stars
Series: Cassidy Blake, #1
Length: 272 Pages
Purchase: [Amazon] | [Barnes & Noble]

Synopsis:
Cassidy Blake’s parents are The Inspecters, a (somewhat inept) ghost-hunting team. But Cass herself can REALLY see ghosts. In fact, her best friend, Jacob, just happens to be one.

When The Inspecters head to ultra-haunted Edinburgh, Scotland, for their new TV show, Cass—and Jacob—come along. In Scotland, Cass is surrounded by ghosts, not all of them friendly. Then she meets Lara, a girl who can also see the dead. But Lara tells Cassidy that as an In-betweener, their job is to send ghosts permanently beyond the Veil. Cass isn’t sure about her new mission, but she does know the sinister Red Raven haunting the city doesn’t belong in her world. Cassidy’s powers will draw her into an epic fight that stretches through the worlds of the living and the dead, in order to save herself.

Books from High School

The other day, I came across an article where it listed some books that are commonly read in high school that are actually worth reading. It made think about the books I have read during school and whether or not I enjoyed reading them. I gathered some books from the list and thought about each one from the the time I read them.

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