Weekly Geeks #23 - Better Late Than Never

This week we are to pick any of the previous assignments and choose one. Since I am behind on reviews (what else is new?), I figured I would do some catch up with that. (I'm not sure what number it was.) And of course I have come up with a rather lazy way of doing so: No sentences allowed. Just think of it this way--readers will spend less time reading this post and have more time to read those books on their neverending TBR lists!

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
560 pages
My rating: 4.5/5
Summary: Meggie's father has ability to read characters out of books, some of them evil, and tragically reads Meggie's mother into a book. Struggle to keep evil characters from doing more harm and seek to create a happy ending.
Review: likable, interesting characters; great tribute to the love of literature; not super dynamic but captivating story; made me feel good; beautiful setting; definitely want to read sequels.

Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare
(Audio)
My rating: 3/5
Summary: 13-year-old Matt left in the wilderness of Maine in the late 1700's while father goes back for family.
Review: Didn't hold my attention; didn't even realize that I listened to Disc 3 before Disc 2 (oops!); wonder if I would have liked it better read than listened too; loved The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Speare, liked The Bronze Bow, ho hum about this one.

The Sister's Grimm: The Fairy Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley
(304 pages)
My Rating: 4/5
Summary: Sabrina and Daphne's parents disappear; move in with grandma in Ferryport Landing; they learn, but don't necessarily believe they are descended from the Grimm storytellers; get involved in solving a mystery involving Prince Charming and the Three Pigs.
Review: Read this with 9-year-old daughter and loved it; laugh-out-loud funny at times; creative story-telling.

Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke
(Audio)
My Rating: 4/5
Summary: Dragons must find a new home in the Himalayas; led by noble dragon named Firedrake; helped by a colorful cast of characters; challenged by power-hungry sorcerer/dragon.
Review: Lots of good/quirky characters that have good hearts; loved the geography of it; great narration by Brendan Fraser; perfect for a family road trip!

Creepers by Joanne Dahme
232 pages
My Rating: 3/5
Summary: 13-year-old Courtney moves into house next to a cemetery; both overrun by out-of-control ivy; with eccentric neighbors, Courtney to solve the mystery of an ancestor's missing body.
Review: Beautiful cover and illustrations; a little creepy but not too much for babies like myself; quick and fun read.

I think technically I may have used a couple of sentences. Oh well, if I make the rules I can break them too, right?

There are a couple of books I haven't covered yet: Daniel Deronda (it deserves sentences, even my sloppy ones) and The Lightning Thief (which I will probably have my son do).

September: Seven-Word Reviews

I'm so proud of myself that I was able to control my reading a bit this month! I'm trying to think of what I accomplished with that extra time but my mind is a blank. I'm sure I did something productive . . .
Of September's books, two were audio books, two were children's books, and one non-fiction. My favorite of these, In Defense of Food, is known for its simple seven words of advice for healthy eating: EAT FOOD. NOT TOO MUCH. MOSTLY PLANTS. In honor of this wise brevity, I'm going to attempt some seven-word-(ish) summaries of my own. And since seven words doesn't really say a whole lot about a book, I've linked each one to its Amazon page if you want to know more about it.

**Also, if anyone has reviewed any of these books, I would love to add a link of your review to this post.**

Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky: (Audio book)
MAN'S INHUMANITY EXPOSED IN UNFINISHED WWII ACCOUNT
For another review, visit:
Jules' Book Reviews

The Spiderwick Chronicles series by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black (Read-aloud)
ONE STORY DIVIDED BY FIVE: CHA-CHING!

Presidential Races by Arlene Morris-Lipsman (Children's book, read-aloud til kids got bored)
FROM FRONT-PORCH CAMPAIGNS TO YOU TUBE

Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett (Audio book, YA)
CHEESE-MAKING WITCH SAVES BROTHER IN ZANY FANTASY

In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan (Non-fiction)
REALIZATION: BEEN EATING FAKE FOOD SINCE BIRTH

Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

Well, it's only taken seven months, but my son and I have finished reading Tom Sawyer together. The girls and I have been reading Little Women, started at the same time as Tom Sawyer, and we thought we were almost done when I realized the edition of the book we have is just the first half of what I consider the whole story. So we may finish in about a year or two. But in the meantime, my son was kind enough to write a review of Tom Sawyer:

Tom Sawyer is a great book. It has everything. Action, adventure, suspense, and humor come together in this book. The author (Mark Twain) was very creative with inventing his characters. A young, mischievous boy who has a huge imagination. A superstitious boy who lives in the streets. These are both characters that you can't help enjoying reading about them. The story is a very good one. The plot mostly focuses on the misdeeds of Injun Joe and how Tom is involved, but it is balanced with Tom's other adventures. Tom's imagination constantly gets him in trouble whether he's attending his own funeral or searching for hidden gold. This story is also a very unique one. I highly doubt you will find any other book where a cat is fed painkiller. So, all things taken into consideration I rate this book:

5.5 stars
3 Thumbs up
10.735421/10

Thank you all, and have a good night/evening/morning/afternoon/lunch/naptime.

Read Aloud: Little Women and Tom Sawyer

We're still at the beginning of these--the going is usually slow because we can't find time to read every night, and sometimes I either lose my voice or fall asleep mid-sentence. I'm usually not ambitious enough to read the kids two stories at once, but I was not counting on Jeremy's traumatic reaction to my announcement that we were reading Little Women. I guess I just don't know what it's like to be the only boy(11) with three sisters(13, 8, and 5)! He had a complete, tear-filled meltdown in his room that night (and I should note that Jeremy is pretty mellow about things), so I offered to read Tom Sawyer to him. He has read it before, but I haven't, and I am enjoying it very much. Here's a funny part we read last night from Chapter 6:

"Monday morning found Tom Sawyer miserable. Monday morning always found him so--because it began another week's slow suffering in school. He generally began that day with wishing he had had no intervening holiday, it made the going into captivity and fetters again so much more odious.
Tom lay thinking. Presently it occurred to him that he wished he was sick; then he could stay home from school. Here was a vague possibility. He canvassed his system. No ailment was found, and he investigated again. This time he thought he could detect colicky symptoms, and he began to encourage them with considerable hope." Reading on you discover which illness he settles on faking, and the consequences of his deception.
In Little Women, all of my kids are amused that there is a girl named Jo, and a boy named Laurie! I've been impressed with how much the March girls adore their "Marmee." I am more often unaffectionately referred to as "VoldeMom."

One thing to note about these books is that we are reading from my husband's copy of Tom Sawyer from when he was younger, and my grandmother's copy of Little Women. She signed her name and the year 1941.