Quiet Keystrokes and Midnight Ramblings

  I have been trying to convince my grade schooler that mystery books are awesome. He's been suspicious, leery, and generally unconvinced that anything without Captain Underpants or DogMan could possibly be interesting. Luckily, school has required reading and one of the books this year was Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy. It's funny. It's magical. And the mystery is involved and surprising. My kid was surprised at how much he liked this mysterious urban fantasy, and he was even happier to find that it's the first book in a series . If you're looking for a clean, not-too-scary but totally engrossing mystery to start your young sleuth on, I highly recommend Skulduggery Pleasant. Please note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This doesn't cost you anything extra, but it does support the purchase of more books for my budding voracious reader. And maybe cookies.

 Hey-O! It's been a long time since my last completed read. I'll be honest, life has not made reading easy and I've let it slip over the last year. But I got back into the pages of fiction with Half-Breed by Hickory Mack. My TBR has been so flooded, I honestly can't remember if this was a promotional copy I got from the author directly, or if I bought it, or if I downloaded it from a giveaway... all I can say is it was on my Kindle and looked like the most interesting thing to read at the moment. The novel follows a young girl who discovers she possesses magic. She leaves her abusive and oppressive life as a human to live with magical creatures in the woods, away from the humans who hunt them. If you love magic, Japanese culture, and a landscape that is as much of a character as any of the moving parts of the story, this may be the book for you. Grab it at Amazon here (paid link*) and get lost in a world of fantasy that isn't too far removed from our own. ---- * As...

  (Paid Link) This fall, my kid has fallen in love with M.K. Radican's Zombie Reconstruction Squad . From my son: "It's ridiculous when they say, 'I'll get my dogs back if it's the last thing I doooooo!' It's funny because I like all the jokes. M.K. Radican is as funny as Dav Pilkey!" I have to add to his assessment of these books. They had my son parked on the couch, reading for hours, cackling like a madman at the jokes. There was one point where he was trying to tell me about one of the funny parts in the books and he was laughing so hard I had no idea WHAT he was saying. But it must have been good, because he kept reading. If you have a kid who likes Minecraft, monsters, farts and boogers, absolutely get them started on Zombie Reconstruction Squad . My kid says they're great. You can find M.K. Radican's books on Amazon here . Speaking of Amazon, they've asked me to remind you that as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purch...

My kiddo and I have been wandering through the pages of C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia over the last year or so, and finally arrived at the sixth book, The Silver Chair. It goes without saying that C. S. Lewis is one the most entrancing authors in children's literature, and he didn't fail to disappoint with The Silver Chair . This book takes Eustace and his schoolmate Jill on a terrific adventure through marshes, mountains, and caverns as they go on a hunt for a prince who went missing many years before. While this is a wonderful book on its own, it wasn't my favorite of the Narnia  series. The characters didn't seem as alive as in the other books, and with man-eating giants, a magical snake-queen and the freeing of an entire nation of underground people, their flatness was a disappointment. We aren't deterred though. We've started The Last Batle, the final book in the series and it's going along much better. Although this is a serie...

   My son and I have developed a strange game called, "Where's James Patterson?" We find his books everywhere. In libraries, stores, any mix of genres and age ranges. James Patterson is always there. Imagine my not-surprise when my son found House of Robots on one of the endcaps at our local library. We checked it out, cracked it open, and never looked back. House of Robots is a fun book about a kid named Sammy who lives in a house FULL of robots! His mom is an incredible inventor, and she's created robots that can do just about anything. Her latest invention isn't sitting too well with Sammy though, because she's designed it to go to school. The BEST part of this book, although much of it was wonderful, were the passages that talk about Maddie. Maddie is Sammy's sister, and she has an illness that makes it so she can't go hang out with the other kids because she might get sick. My husband is chronically ill, and Maddie's story helped my so...

For the last several months, my kiddo and I have been reading through the Chronicles of Narnia. We finally made it to one of my favorite books in the series, Prince Caspian. In this book, not only are the children transported back to Narnia once more, but they're also summoned to help Prince Caspian claim his right to the throne, and bring magic back to the land. What struck me the most is how much more I remember of this story in my mind's eye than what is actually described in the book. Part of this is likely due to watching the movies, which do change some of the details to be fit for the screen, but I think part of it is also the way our memories fill in gaps and embellish the small bits of information that we are given. If you haven't already read The Chronicles of Narnia with your kids, its one of the classic series that I recommend to help inspire children to love reading. Very little is as intriguing to young readers as imagining Aslan breathing magic i...

My kiddo and I have spent the last year or thereabouts reading A Series of Unfortunate Events . We've finally crested Book The Twelfth in the series, titled The Penultimate Peril . There are several things we love about these books. One is the fast paced language. Second, the explanation of difficult words and terms by the author in the middle of the storytelling. And third, the suspense of never knowing what dastardly deeds are coming next. With one book left in the series, we've been left unclear on if the Boudelaire orphans are becoming orphans, or if Count Olaf is becoming noble. One thing we have decided on is that most of the noble people in these books have suffered from a villainous case of indecisiveness where danger is concerned. Above all else, we are curious about what will happen in The End , book 13 in the series because we're no closer to solving the orphan's many mysteries than we were in book one. As a parent, I've enjoyed sharing these d...

I am so excited to tell you guys about a series I've been reading! The Starstruck series follows a rather disorganized mess of a girl as she traipses across the multiverse with aliens. Sally gets into SO many interesting situations, and these novels are packed with snark and wit that keep you turning pages and wanting more. Celestial, Book Four in the series will be released October 9th, and I'm SO blessed to be a part of S.E. Anderson's launch team! In Celestial, Sally is still trying to get back to earth with her friends Zander, Blayde and Nim but something goes horribly wrong and they end up lost on a strange world where Sally is mistaken for the local's goddess! I can't wait to read and review this latest installment in the Starstruck series. S.E. Anderson is a young writer brimming with charm, and I know if you pick up her books you'll fall in love. Get more information on these amazing books by visiting the author's website at:  http:...