Alexis Lampley's Blog, page 19

Every Heart a Doorway

by: Seanan McGuire


Children have always disappeared under the right conditions--slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells and emerging somewhere...else. But magical lands have little need for use up miracle children.
Nancy tumbled once, but now she's back. The things she's experienced...they change a person. The children under Miss West's care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy worlds.
But Nancy's arrival marks a change at the home. There's a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it's up to Nancy and her newfound schoolmasters to get to the heart of things. No matter the cost. {cover copy}
This was a strange and delightfully magical yet ordinary little fantasy mystery that I thoroughly enjoyed. I loved the premise of this book. And let's just take a moment to admire that cover. Something about it just speaks to my heart. I'm not gonna lie, there was a weirdness to this book, but I loved it. It was a quick read with varied and interesting characters, and I wish it had been longer just so I could have been immersed in the story longer. {OMG I just checked goodreads and there's more! Looks like there's one that takes place before this one and one that takes place after. I'm excited now}.

The girls were never present for the entrance interviews. {first line}
"'Real' is a four-letter word, and I'll thank you to use it as little as possible while you live under my roof."

"...hope is a knife that can cut through the foundations of the world."

"She had known girls on diets her entire life. ... Most of them had been looking for smaller waists, clearer complexions, and richer boyfriends, spurred on by a deeply ingrained self-loathing that had been manufactured for them before they were old enough to understand the kind of quicksand there were sinking in."

"I am a genius of infinite potential and highly limited patience. People shouldn't try me so."

"Nobody gets to tell me how my story ends but me."

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

Pout-Pout Fish: A Maddie Moo Baby Book Review

Written by: Deborah Diesen
Illustrated by: Dan Hanna

Swim along with the pout-pout fish as he discovers that being glum and spreading "dreary-wearies" isn't really his destiny. Bright ocean colors and playful rhyme come together in this fun fish story that's sure to turn even the poutiest frowns upside down. {cover copy}
Slobber Durability: 10/10
Tear & Fold Resistance: 10/10
Font Readability: 10/10
Baby Engagement: 20/10 {for real. read below}


I gush about this book on Instagram all the time, but I figured I ought to do a proper book review on it. So here we go!



When we got this book in our Bookroo box, I thought it was going to be the silliest book ever, doomed to be shelved in the section of Madeline's bookshelf she never thinks to touch. I couldn't take it seriously. But then we opened it and read it a single time through and Madeline and I were hooked! And then my husband read it to her when he got home and he was hooked, too! {No pun intended haha}

Okay, so it's a fun book that sticks with you like a favorite song, {and indeed, more than three people have memorized it just from reading it to her}, but why the 10 extra points for baby engagement? Well, because any time she gets fussy or upset or pouty, especially in public, we just start reciting that book and she's all smiles. If we ask her to pick a book and bring it to us, 80% of the time it's Pout-Pout Fish. {She has two other go-to books that occasionally get rotated in}. And sometimes she actually takes the book back into her room and returns with it, as if we wouldn't notice she didn't pick a new one.

Y'all. This book is really deserving of best-seller title. It's smartly written and the illustrations are so fun. We need some Pout-Pout Fish related baby shirts, asap. 

Tandem

by: Anna Jarzab


Sixteen-year-old Sasha Lawson has only ever known one small, ordinary life. when she was young, she loved her grandfather's stories of parallel worlds inhabited by girls who looked like her but led totally different lives. Sasha never believed such worlds were real--until now, when she finds herself thrust into one against her will.
To prevent imminent war, Sasha must slip into the life of an alternate version of herself, a princess who has vanished on the eve of her arranged marriage. If Sasha succeeds in fooling everyone, she will be returned home; if she fails, she'll be trapped in another girl's life forever. As time runs out, Sasha finds herself torn between two worlds, two lives, and two young men vying for her love--one who knows her secret, and one who believes she's someone she's not.
The first book in the Many Worlds Trilogy, Tandem is a riveting saga of love and betrayal set in parallel universes in which nothing--and no one--is what it seems. {cover copy}
This book was on my TBR for way too long. I don't remember when or why I bought it {though the bird on the cover is actually quite a good clue as to why I bought it, and it's a first edition published in 2013 so that's a clue as to when as well} but I'm not sorry I did. I listened to this one on Audible, and I have to say that I think the book was slightly hindered by the narrator. There was something too... teenagery... about how she talked. I know that sounds weird, because, after all, the main character is a teenager, but it was more her inflections than the writing. Also, I'm pretty sure she mispronounced several words, which was mildly annoying. But I'm sure some of that was also the character Sasha. She took a while for me to warm up to her because I was on the fence whether she was kindof an annoyingly typical teenage girl protagonist or not. But all that aside, I couldn't help but like this story. There was so much of it that reminded me of Fringe. It was like Fringe meets, like, The Parent Trap or something. I guess you could maybe see it as a bad thing, how much I could see a reflection of Fringe in it, but it just made me smile thinking of Fringe every time that happened, so I'm not mad at it. This isn't going to be one I recommend right alongside Harry Potter, but I'm interested enough in what happens next to read the second one.

When I was a sophomore in high school, I enrolled in a Western Philosophy class to fulfill a graduation requirement. {first line}

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

Maddie Moo Baby Book Review: Whitney the Wannabe Wallaby

Written by: 
Illustrated by: 

Follow Whitney on her journey through the Great Forest! Whitney the Wannabe Wallaby features vivid imagery and lifelike characters who will guide young readers on a personal exploration to discover what makes them unique. This warm, colorful book makes a perfect story time read. {cover copy}
Slobber Durability: 6/10
Tear & Fold Resistance: 5/10
Font Readability: 9/10
Baby Engagement: 7/10 


I'll admit I was a little skeptical about this one when I opened the package and took out the book. This is a floppy paperback, which is not


something I have much of, save for one book which Madeline has already bent pages in. And while the title is cute, I wasn't sure where the story was going to go. But I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by the contents. 

This is a story about being yourself and loving yourself just the way you are, and the lengths this poor wallaby goes to learn this lesson was fun and fantastical. It really puts our desires to have others' traits as our own into perspective. 


Also, Mads is pretty much obsessed with the little wallaby plushie. She carries it around {sometimes in her mouth} everywhere. It's very cute.

The Undertaking of Lily Chen

by: Danica Novgorodoff

In the mountains of northern China, ancient custom demands that every man have a wife to keep him company in the afterlife.
Deshi Li's brother is dead--and unmarried. Which means that Deshi must find him an eligible body before the week is up.
Lily Chen, sweet as a snakebote, needs money and a fast ride out of town.
Haunted by the gods of their ancestors and the expectations of the new world, Deshi and Lily embark on a journey with two very different destinations in mind.
They travel through a land where the ground is hard and the graves are shallow, where marriage can be murder, and where Lily Chen is wanted--dead or alive. {cover copy}
This was a total cover buy. I was perusing Book Outlet's kids/YA section and stumbled on this. When I got it in, I realized it was a graphic novel, which was a fun surprise. When I started reading it, I realized it was most definitely not a kids book. Oops. For a while, I couldn't help but feeling it was weird. I didn't particularly like the personalities of the characters, but it was down more to the way they spoke than their actual personalities. It was kinda vulgar. And the artwork threw me off a bit. I wish the whole thing was as pretty as the cover {because I mean seriously, look how pretty! Do you see the skull?} but the way the characters were drawn was a little not to my taste, so that was disappointing. But I read this quite quickly and did find myself weirdly hooked, despite the things that made me feel awkward about it. Once I finished it, I could look back and say that it was actually an overall cool story, but I can't deny that I often said to myself "this is a weird book" while I read it. 

{view on Goodreads} 

Maddie Moo Baby Book Review: Red Socks Go With Absolutely Anything

Written by: Darla Woodley
Illustrated by: Evan Munday

Sometimes it is hard to find exactly the right words to show that you are sharing your encouragement and support. This uplifting story demonstrates that a simple pair of red socks can give someone special a boost when they are feeling down or out of their comfort zone. You'll find yourself smiling when you see how red socks go with absolutely anything! {cover copy}
Slobber Durability: 6/10
Tear &Fold Resistance: 4/10
Font Readability: 9/10
Baby Engagement: 4/10 {She's rather young for it}


I recieved this book in exchange for an honest review. The story behind this story is an inspirational and heartwarming one. I love the idea behind the red socks, that they can lend encouragement without a word. 

But I wish I could have gotten more of that feeling while I read the story itself. I really wanted it to be something more than just being really nervous, seeing red socks and suddenly all the nervousness goes away. It felt... incomplete. I think if on the first page, the mom said more than just that the socks go with anything, and said something to the effect of, "They can help you feel strong and ready and remind you that you can do anything," then that statement the boy makes at the end of each page would resonate so much more. Perhaps this is just a case of the book not being my style, or the fact that Madeline can't quite engage with a story like this yet, because I have a friend who has older kids and they and she had a much different reaction. You can see her review here.

In the end, I feel like unless you read the preface, you don't really get the emotion behind the socks, so it didn't quite live up to the potential I thought it had before I read it. But I do like the way the pictures are only black and white except for the pop of red socks. That was smart and eye catching, and Madeline seemed to enjoy that part {since she's too young yet to enjoy the story}. 

The Stack: April 2016

This is one very sad little month of reading. I was halfway through another book but of course I didn't finish it in time. And I was late posting this. But then, that's what happens when you've got a 10 month old and you launch a subscription box. So I won't be too hard on myself.


Out of the Silent Planet   C.S. Lewis See review
Lisey's Story  Stephen King
See review

Lisey's Story

by: Stephen King


Lisey Debusher Landon lost her husband, Scott, two years ago, after a twenty-five-year marriage of the most profound and sometimes frightening intimacy. Scott was an award-winning, bestselling novelist and a very complicated man. Early in their relationship, before they married, Lisey had to learn from him about books and blood and bools. Later, she understood that there was a place Scott went--a place that both terrified and healed him, that could eat him alive or give him the ideas he needed in order to live. Now it's Lisey's turn to face Scott's demons, Lisey's turn to go to Boo'ya Moon. What begins as a widow's effort to sort through the papers of her celebrated husband becomes a nearly fatal journey into the darkness he inhabited. Perhaps King's most personal and powerful novel, Lisey's Story is about the wellsprings of creativity, the temptations of madness, and the secret language of love. {cover copy}
I went into this one blind, and so I had no idea what to expect. I had picked this book up at the local used book store years ago, and only recently shared it on bookstagram, and I was told by so many people how good it was and I should totally read it. Well, King is usually more my sister's thing, but I've read his short stories and loved them, so when I saw this title on audible, I figured what the heck. And let me tell you. Whoa. What a ride. What a strange, sad, creepy, awesome ride. It is part A Grief Observed, part Supernatural, part magic and horror. It wasn't my usual thing, but I'm glad I read it. It's going to stick with me. All that slightly tweaked language like "smuckin" and the nicknames like "scooter you old scoot." But mostly the feeling this story gives you. I was wrapped up in it every time it came on, and missing it when I wasn't listening to it. And it's really not just one story, but three. Three timelines expertly woven together into one story, Lisey's present, Scott and Lisey's past, and Scott's childhood. I'm really glad I finally got around to this one. 

To the public eye, the spouses of well-known writers are all but invisible, and no one knew it better than Lisey Landon. {first line}
"Alone never felt more lonely than when you woke up and discovered you still had the house to yourself."

"But if every book is a little light in that darkness--and so I believe, so I must believe, corny or not, for I write the damned things, don't I?--then every library is a grand old ever-burning bonfire around which ten thousand people come to stand and warm themselves every day and night."

"Some memories were all right, but others were dangerous. It was best to live in the present. Because if you got hold of the wrong memory..."

"Every bit of her strong heart and considerable will rose up in protest."

"Every long marriage has two hearts, one light and one dark. Here again is the dark heart of theirs."

"Maybe this was how it was supposed to go, but that did not make it easy."

"There's lots of things people think they can't do and then discover they can when they find themselves tight-wired."


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

Cockatoo, Too: A Maddie Moo Baby Book Review

Written & Illustrated by: Bethanie Deeney Murguia

Whew, it's a jungle in there. {cover copy}
Slobber Durability: 6/10
Tear & Fold Resistance: 7/10
Font Readability: 10/10
Baby Engagement: 10/10


So if there's a bird on the cover of a book, there's a pretty good chance I buy it. When it's a kids book with THIS title, and a dedication that says "For Word Nerds and Bird Nerds" there's a 100% chance I buy it. I don't even hesitate when the art is this fun, either.  


With that said, this is actually the most adorably silly book ever. And I know all the little plays on "to/too/two" are over her head right now, but she's nearly reading along with me since the word gets repeated so much, and it's really fun. Any time I pull this book out, she gets really excited. She loves touching the birds, too.
Did we wear our toucan shirt just for this photo? Of course we did.

Out of the Silent Planet

by: CS Lewis


The first book in C. S. Lewis's acclaimed Space Trilogy, which continues with Perelandra and That Hideous Strength, Out of the Silent Planet begins the adventures of the remarkable Dr. Ransom. Here, that estimable man is abducted by a megalomaniacal physicist and his accomplice and taken via spaceship to the red planet of Malacandra. The two men are in need of a human sacrifice, and Dr. Ransom would seem to fit the bill. Once on the planet, however, Ransom eludes his captors, risking his life and his chances of returning to Earth, becoming a stranger in a land that is enchanting in its difference from Earth and instructive in its similarity. {cover copy}
Don't be fooled by the thinness of this book. It was not a quick read. I was an idiot who has read nearly all of Lewis's fantasy and non-fiction works, and somehow neglected to recall my past reading experiences when I picked this up to "read quickly" before the end of the month. HA! It is as dense and rich as a 500 page novel, and true to Lewis's style, engrossing and magical and smart and entertaining. Obviously, I enjoyed this one. Yes, it took me forever to read. But part of that was not having an opportunity to read more than maybe seven pages a day. If that. So I'm sure others will read it faster than my turtle-speed. I am very excited about the next book in this series, but I will definitely wait to read it until I have a little more free time to really envelop myself in the words Lewis writes and the fantastic and richly detailed world he creates.
PS... reading this aloud on our walk, as I do now to get reading time and lull my daughter into her morning nap, was quite a challenge!

The last drops of the thundershower had hardly ceased falling when the Pedestrian stuffed his map into his pocket, settled his pack more comfortably on his shoulders, and stepped out from the shelter of a large chestnut-tree into the middle of the road. {first line}
"I always thought space was dark and cold," he remarked vaguely. // "Forgotten the sun?" said Weston..."

"There were planets of unbelievable majesty, and constellations undreamed of: there were celestial sapphires, rubies, emeralds and pinpricks of burning gold; far out on the left of the picture hung a comet, tiny and remote: and between all and behind all, far more emphatic and palpable than it showed on Earth, the undimensional, enigmatic blackness."

"A pleasure is full grown only when it is remembered. You are speaking ... as if the pleasure were one thing and the memory another. It is all one thing. ... What you call remembering is the last part of the pleasure ... When you and I met, the meeting was over very shortly, it was nothing. Now it is growing something as we remember it. But still we know very little about it. What it will be when I remember it as I lie down to die, what it makes in me all my days till then--that is the real meeting. The other is only the beginning of it."

"And how could we endure to live and let time pass if we were always crying for one day or one year to come back--if we did not know that every days in a life fills the whole life with expectation and memory and that these are that day?"

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