Alexis Lampley's Blog, page 17

The Stack: November 2016

To make up for the fact that I read nothing in October, I figured out a way to read a ton of books in November. Part of this was to say "to hell with it" and not review anything. A lot of them were the second or third or fourth books in a series, so I wasn't going to mess with it during the craziness of packing up nearly 600 boxes by myself atop the rest of my duties for work. The other part of reading this much in a month was a determined use of Audible. Because of the nature of my job, I had plenty of listening time, so instead of binge-watching a show or series of movies like I usually do, I listened. I'll make note of the ones I read vs listened to.

Drums of Autumn   Diana Gabaldon{Audible} As I mentioned in the October post, this was the only thing I read. But I wasn't too keen on the way my hand looked in the photo so I never posted it to IG, and used this photo to mention that I had read this the month before.
I Am Malala   Malala Yousafzai{Audible} This was a fascinating read that I absolutely devoured. I especially loved seeing the world from such a completely different viewpoint than my own. It made me more grateful for my life than I already am.

The Vault of Dreamers   Caragh M. O'Brien
{Audible} This was such an interesting concept, and though I sortof actually really didn't like the ending before discovering it was a trilogy, I really enjoyed the story. Knowing there is more to it, I am actually quite anxious to know the rest of the story.
The Spellman Files   Lisa Lutz{Audible} My best friend suggested I read this almost 7 years ago and I just got around to it, like an idiot. It was so entertaining and funny. I loved that particular slef-deprecating, dry-witted style of humor.

A Hobbit, A Wardrobe, and a Great War   Joseph Loconte{Audible} I have always loved the fact that these two gigantically successful, amazingly influential authors were not just friends, but that the one turned the other onto the path of becoming Christian so full of belief that he wrote some of the best faith-based novels I've ever read. So to dive deeper into the setting and world of these two men at the time of their friendship and see what brought them together and the circumstances that led them to become the dominant forces in the writing world that they were was really cool to me. 
Fantastic Beasts   J.K. RowlingI watched the movie beforehand since this was the screenplay verbatim. It was the right choice for order, in my opinion. And I ADORED it.

Blue Lily, Lily Blue   Maggie Stiefvater
{Audible} Just as good as the other two! On to the last one!

Nevernight   Jay Kristoff


This is now one of my all-time favorite books. I was not expecting it because it took me like 14 tries to read the first few pages. Distractions everytime I picked it up made it difficult to get into, and you really need to focus on those pages to get a grip on what's going on. But it's SO worth it. I miss it already. It's almost like Hogwarts for assassins.
The Raven King   Maggie Stiefvater
{Audible} I feel like I heard people say that this was a disappointing ending but personally I loved it and felt like it totally was cohesive with the other three {another thing people said wasn't the case}. 

Find Her   Lisa Gardner

This was super creepy and I am glad my daughter is still a little thing so I don't have to stay up worrying about her being out at clubs or bars or beach parties. We have a few years still before that's an issue. Till then, I'll teach her how to defend herself from cray people.
Crown of Midnight   Sarah J. Maas
These books are continuing to grow on me. I don't know what I am resistant to just absolutely fangirling over them. I wonder if perhaps it's because I'm listening to them and I think the narrator makes Celaena sound too girly and young. Either way, my resolve is crumbling. Sidenote: I really like Manon.

The Stack: October 2016

I never posted this because I was ashamed of myself for not reading anything in October besides picture books. But it's January now and I had plans for this blog, but I can't implement them until I catch up on all my posts I neglected to do the past two months. That's because I have a small OCD thing where I have to post chronologically and not skip things. It bugs me to no end if I don't. Anyway! Working from home was absolutely crazy during the holidays. I didn't know how to juggle it all. So I dropped the ball here. But I'm back now. I missed you! And no, I didn't actually read this with all that work going on. I listened to it on Audible.

Drums of Autumn   Diana GabaldonMy favorite so far! I really enjoyed this one. So much of me going "ugh!!! hurry up and figure it out! I'm dying over here!" It was great.

Maddie Moo Baby Book Review: Go To Sleep, Monster

Written & Illustrated by: Kevin Cornell

Getting George to sleep is a NIGHTMARE. But getting a monster to sleep? That's an ADVENTURE. {cover copy}
We got this book in our latest LitJoy picture book crate, and we absolutely love it! The wording
is short enough on each page to keep Madeline's mind from wandering, and making the voices for each of the monsters is really fun.



This is also a really cute one to keep kids from being afraid of monsters under their bed, since they get to see the monsters are also afraid of whatever is under them!

In conclusion, this will be read one billion times in the next month. No doubt about it. 

The Firework Maker's Daughter

by: Philip Pullman


"You want to be a Firework-Maker? Walk into my flames!"
More than anything else in the world, Lila wants to be a Firework-Maker. But every Firework-Maker must make a perilous journey to face the terrifying Fire-Fiend!
Can Lila possibly survive? Especially when she doesn't know she needs special protection to survive his flames...  {cover copy}
Ever since I read His Dark materials my Freshman year in college, I have considered Philip Pullman one of my very favorite authors. And yet it wasn't until {a larger number than I'd care to admit} years later that I stumbled upon this book. I was actually hesitant to buy it. I'm not really sure why. But then I did and I adore it. It was so cute and fun and the whole time I was reading it I was imagining how much fun this will be to read to Madeline when she's older. And bonus, it was really short, so I read it as quickly as I used to read bigger books back when I had free time!

A thousand miles ago, in a country east of the jungle and south of the mountains, there lived a Firework-Maker called Lalchand and his daughter Lila. {first line}
"But she had chosen to make the journey, and she could hardly turn back when she'd barely begun."

"No matter what happened, it was worth it, everything was worth it, for a moment of joy like this!"

"...there are no secrets among true artists."

• Firework-Maker • {last word}
{view on Goodreads} 

The Stack: September 2016

So it turns out September was my busiest month ever. I'm actually surprised I finished as many books as I did. And of course I'm late posting my wrapup, and I couldn't even take it in the spot I normally do because I was too busy to clean my office! I swear one of these days I'm going to actually get ahead in my work and have free time again. Maybe. Possibly. We'll see. Till then, I'll fight sleep tooth and nail to catch a few pages of reading. And maybe clean every once in a while.

The Assassin's Blade   Sarah J. MaasI really enjoyed this but was not surprised or all that affected by the bad thing that happens because a few of my friends hyped it up so much, it didn't blindside me. Sucks though what happened. I felt bad for the character.
Dark Matter   Blake Crouch
See review

The Kiss of Deception   Mary E. Pearson

See review

The Firework Maker's Daughter   Philip Pullman

Review is coming. I finished the book this month but haven't posted the review yet! Will update this when I do.

Maddie Moo Baby Book Review: Tickle Monster

Written by: Josie Bissett
Illustrated by: Kevan J. Atteberry

There is no better childhood memory than time spent laughing together. {cover copy}
Let me just start by saying that I now have to hide this book/glove set or she would make us

read it and rotate who wears the gloves every five seconds for hours every single day. 

That being said, when she does remember where we hid it {it's not hard to find, it's just not the first place she looks} she always gets really excited and pushes the box at us so we will open it up, put the gloves on {usually she wants us to put them on her} and read!

I absolutely love the idea behind this book, and knew I wanted it for my child the first time I saw it, which was like two years before I got pregnant! 

In relation to her current book-reading attention span, since she's going through a phase where the pages must be turned at a certain rate or she's over it, the wording is a bit long. But I think in a few months it will be perfect for her. Till then, we will enjoy reading it really really fast and distracting her by tickling her with these big ol' paws on.

The Kiss of Deception

by: Mary E. Pearson


She flees on her wedding day. She steals ancient documents from the Chancellor's secret collection. She is pursued by bounty hunters sent by her own father. She is Princess Lia, seventeen, First Daughter of the House of Morrighan.
The Kingdom of Morrighan is steeped in tradition and the stories of a bygone world but some traditions Lia can't abide. Like having to marry someone she's never met to secure a political alliance.
Fed up and ready for a new life. Lia escapes to a distant village on the morning of her wedding. She settles in among the common folk, intrigued when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive--and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her. Deceptions swirl and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets--secrets that may unravel her world--even as she feels herself falling in love.  {cover copy}
So, I didn't actually own this one at first. I got it on Audible. And then I listened to it. And now I own this and the second one. {Waiting till the third comes out in paperback to complete my set}. I really enjoyed it! There was a tricky little thing that happened about midway through that had my head spinning in a good way. I have confirmed with other readers that this is something they experienced as well. I have to say, it was impressive writing! Aside from that, I really like where this world building is going. I'm excited to see what happens next!

Today was the day a thousand dreams would die and a single dream would be born. {first line}
"A...sprinkles of sun dust trailing across her nose and cheeks."

"Some things last. ... The things that matter."

"And if one can't be trusted in love ... one can't be trusted in anything."

• needed • {last word}
{view on Goodreads} 

Dark Matter

by: Blake Crouch


"Are you happy with your life?"
Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks him unconscious.
Before he awakens to find himself strapped to a gurney, surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits.
Before a man Jason's never met smiles down at him and says, "Welcome back, my friend."
In this world he's woken up to, Jason's life is not the one he knows. His wife is not his wife. His son was never born. And Jason is not an ordinary college physics professor but a celebrated genius who has achieved something remarkable. Something impossible.
Is it this life or the other that's the dream? And even if the home he remembers is real, how can Jason possibly make it back to the family he loves?
The answers lie in a journey more wondrous and horrifying than anything he could have imagined--one that will force him to confront the darkest parts of himself even as he battles a terrifying, seemingly unbeatable foe.
From the author of the bestselling Wayward Pines trilogy, Dark Matter is a brilliantly plotted tale that is at once sweeping and intimate, mind-bendingly strange, and profoundly human--a relentlessly surprising science-fiction thriller about choices, paths not taken, and how far we'll go to claim the lives we dream of.  {cover copy}
I loved this book so much. The more I think about it, the more I love it. I am obsessed with alternate universe stories and I've talked about this one just enough to my husband that he wants to read it, too. He struggles to follow along with time manipulation stuff, but this is alternate universes, so either it falls under the same category for his brain and he won't get it or he'll understand it just fine and thoroughly enjoy it, but I love this book so much I want him to experience it anyway. So I'm not telling him how lost he might be. I'm also not telling him it may eventually be a movie. Because then he'll never read it. I am determined to get him to read it. It isn't often he shows interest in books {he's weird. I know} so I'm not letting this opportunity slip past me. {Indeed, I am slightly evil}. ANYWAY. For how busy I am this month, the fact that I read this book in less than a week means it was fantastic and I didn't put it down unless I was forced to. Go read it. Thank me later.

I love Thursday nights. {first line}
"No one tells you it's all about to change, to be taken away. There's no proximity alert, no indication that you're standing on the precipice. And maybe that's what makes tragedy so tragic. Not just what happens, but how it happens: a sucker punch that comes at you out of nowhere, when you're least expecting it. No time to flinch or brace."

"There's a weightlessness that permeates everything because no damning choices have been made, no paths committed to, and the road forking out ahead is pure, unlimited potential."

"I am not allowed to think I'm crazy. I am only allowed to solve this problem."

"She has a direct link hardwired from her heart to her mouth. No filter, no self-revision. She says what she feels, without a shred of guile or cunning. She works no angles."

"We have fumbling, backseat-of-the-car, unprotected-because-who-gives-a-fuck, protons-smashing-together sex."

"When you write something, you focus your full attention on it. It's almost impossible to write one thing while thinking about another. The act of putting it on paper keeps your thoughts and intentions aligned."

"This isn't how your life turned out. Only how it ended. Your life was beautiful."

"I know I took it all for granted. And how could I not? Until everything topples, we have no idea what we actually have, how precariously and perfectly it all hangs together."

"I don't want another version of you. I want you."

"If this is the end, be brave."

"Every moment, every breath, contains a choice. But life is imperfect. We make the wrong choices. So we end up living in a state of perpetual regret..." || "Life doesn't work that way. You live with your choices and learn."

"If one tiny thing were different, they wouldn't be the people I love."

"If you go in with fear, fear is what you'll find."

• you • {last word}
{view on Goodreads} 

Maddie Moo Baby Book Review: The Book With No Pictures

Written by: B.J. Novak

WARNING! This book looks serious but it is actually COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS! If a kid is trying to make you read this book, the kid is playing a trick on you. You will end up saying SILLY THINGS and making everybody LAUGH AND LAUGH! Don't say I didn't warn you... {cover copy}

Tear & Fold Resistance: 7/10
Font Readability: 10/10
Baby Engagement: 8/10
Mommy Engagement: 10/10

Despite this book having, as you may gather from the title, no pictures, we thoroughly enjoyed it. As a lover of all things "words" I was actually really excited when I spotted this book at the store. I didn't really know what to expect when I opened it up, so it was a great surprise when we started reading it. 


The concept of this book is really clever, which is no surprise, since I have read other stuff by B.J. Novak and found him to be a very clever writer. Plus, he's funny! And this book is definitely funny as well.   

If, like me, you enjoy reading aloud with your kids and making a bit of a production about it, you are going to have a blast with this one. Although, it might be even funnier if the parent reading this one doesn't usually read aloud that way, as it makes you say some pretty silly things. And it's always funnier when the silly things are said by someone you least expect to say them!

Maddie Moo Baby Book Review: Stanley Cat on the Mat

Written by: Whiona Moverley
Illustrated by: Don Hatcher

Stanley Cat is a snappish cat - and when he's like that... he's out on the mat! He's a contrary, defiant, sneaky, troublesome, calamitous, scratchy cat! BUT... he is also angelic {prrrrrr}. Sound like a cat you know? Stanley Cat is a cat who gets into trouble for doing "cat things". He glares at the finches, catnaps on a jet-black coat, lets a mouse into the house, coughs up a sticky fur ball, wrecks Mum's knitting and sharpens his claws on our antique drawers! BUT... he is also ticklish and kittenish. He purrs when you tickle his tummy and ultimately, like all cats, inspires unconditional love {prrrrrr}. {cover copy}

Tear & Fold Resistance: 6/10
Font Readability: 10/10
Baby Engagement: 9/10
Mommy Engagement: 8/10


I was sent these books in exchange for an honest review.


These books about Stanley cat are really cute. We also got Stanley Cat's Secret Dream, which Madeline actually seems to favor. {It's about all the different jobs Stanley Cat dreams of doing, incorporating colors into each as well, which is quite clever, I think}. The stories are cute, and the rhymes definitely stick in your head, which I think is good when kids are starting to learn to read {though we aren't there quite yet}.


The one thing that tripped me up was that occasionally the words that should have rhymed didn't, or the pattern of the rhyme changed. But a couple of these might be a difference in how we speak the words, as these are books published in Australia and I am decidedly not Australian.    

This doesn't seem to bother Madeline, of course. She constantly hands me these books so I can read them to her, and really enjoys pointing to the cat on every page! Overall, I am pleased with these books, and enjoy reading them to her.