Sarai Henderson's Blog, page 160

Book Review: Looking Glass by Christina Henry

Title: Looking GlassBy: Christina HenryGenre: Fantasy/Fairy Tale Pages: 304Release Date: April 21st, 2020Publisher: AceRating: ★★★★☆
Summary from Goodreads: In four new novellas, Christina Henry returns to the universe she created for Alice and Red Queen, where magic runs more freely than anyone suspects, but so do secrets and blood.
Lovely Creature
In the New City lives a girl called Elizabeth, a girl who has a secret: she can do magic. But someone knows Elizabeth's secret--someone who has a secret of his own. That secret is a butterfly that lives in a jar, a butterfly made by a girl called Alice.

Girl in Amber
Alice and Hatcher are just looking for a place to rest. Alice has been dreaming of a cottage by a lake and a field of wildflowers, but while walking blind in a snowstorm they stumble into a castle that seems empty and abandoned...at least until nightfall.

When I First Came to Town
Hatcher wasn't always Hatcher. Once, he was a boy called Nicholas, and Nicholas fancied himself the best fighter in the Old City. No matter who fought him he always won. Then his boss tells him he's going to battle the fearsome Grinder, a man who never leaves his opponents alive.

The Mercy Seat
Alice has a secret--a secret that not even Hatcher knows yet, but pretty soon she won't be able to keep it from him.

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Review:A different ride on a familiar tale. I love how Christina Henry can take a beloved childhood story and turn it into something more. When I was finished with this book, I felt like I finally knew the full story of Alice in wonderland and what I had known previously, was just brushing the surface. The characters really made me want know them more and the world building was colorful. I really want to read more from Ms. Henry.
Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.

Book Review: Don't Check Out This Book! By Kate Klise

Title: Don't Check Out This Book!By: Kate KliseGenre: Middle Grade FictionPages: 160Release Date: March 10th, 2020Publisher: Algonquin Young ReadersRating: ★★★★☆
Summary from Goodreads:  Is the sweet town of Appleton ripe for scandal?
Consider the facts:
       Appleton Elementary School has a new librarian named Rita B. Danjerous. (Say it fast.)
       Principal Noah Memree barely remembers hiring her.
      Ten-year-old Reid Durr is staying up way too late reading a book from Ms. Danjerous's controversial "green dot" collection.
       The new school board president has mandated a student dress code that includes white gloves and bow ties available only at her shop.

Sound strange? Fret not. Appleton's fifth-grade sleuths are following the money, embracing the punny, and determined to the get to the funniest, most rotten core of their town's juiciest scandal. Don't miss this seedy saga from the creators of the award-winning Three-Ring Rascals and 43 Old Cemetery Road series!


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Review:I have to say, I was a little worried about the formatting of this book, but I was gladly surprised. This story was fun and exciting. It made my loath certain characters and love other. The way the book is laid out in email form, really gave the pages a visual change. It was almost like having a picture on every page. I'm glad I read this book. 
Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.

Movie Review: The Spy Who Dumped Me

Title: The Spy Who Dumped MeGenre: Comedy ThrillerRelease Date: August 3rd, 2018My Rating: ★★★☆☆IMDB Rating: 6/10Cast: Summary from IMDB: Audrey and Morgan are best friends who unwittingly become entangled in an international conspiracy when one of the women discovers the boyfriend who dumped her was actually a spy.

IMDB Trailer
Review:If you are looking for a funny feel good movie that you don't really need to pay too close of attention to, this is the movie for you. I did enjoy the story and laughed throughout, but you have to be in the right mood for this film. I am a huge fan of Kate McKinnon and she was hilarious. I think she was the saving grace for me. I gave the movie 3 stars because it fell into a niche that you might not always want to watch.  

Weekly Menu #342 And The Book Of The Week

Monday! Again... Welcome back to the weekly menu. A place full of delicious recipes and the book of the week. You don't even have to think about what to make for dinner, because I've already done that for you.

How did we get here? Its been a little rough around the hovel lately. The little one has been causing trouble at school which is completely out of the norm for him. He's my non autistic child and is usually sweet and quiet. Last week he was suspended for the entire week. I'm not used to that with him. I think we are back on track... I hope.
This weeks read is Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick. I've had this book on my TBR for years now and I needed a book based in Maine. I've been told this book will fulfill that slot in my challenge. What are you reading this week?

Lets get to the menu. Enjoy!
MENU
MondayBlackened Chicken Penne
TuesdayGriddled Onion Cheese Burger
WednesdaySesame Chicken Stir Fry
ThursdayLemon Caper Pork Chops
FridayBeef Tacos
SaturdaySteak Tagliata
SundayLeftovers Night

Sunday Confessions #34

Sunday is back and another week has gone by. I can't believe it's March all ready. This year is just flying by. Before I know it, my kids will be all grown up.
Lots of good things happened on the blog last week, so lets get to it. 

Sunday Confessions #33~Weekly Menu #341 And The Book Of The Week~February 2020 Wrap Up~Book Review; But You Do Not Come Back by Marceline Loridan-Ivens~Movie Review: Knives Out~Book Review: World War Z by Max Brooks

Weekly Menu #342 And The Book Of The Week~Book Review: Looking Glass by Christina Henry~Book Review: Uncovering a Terrorist by Bryan Denson~Sunday Confessions #35 




10 Books I can't stop recommending @ The Book Bistro~Grain Free Enchiladas @ Ancestral Nutrition~26 Books on Reese Witherspoon's Must-Read List @ Southern Living

29/50 Books in my Read Around the Country challenge~13/196 in my Star Wars Legends challenge~1/20 in my Scotland challenge~31/341 Gilmore Girls challenge~33/100 in my 100 books before you die challenge

Another great week under our belts, and another one to come. Lets get to it, shall we? 

Book Review: World War Z by Max Brooks

Title: World War ZBy: Max BrooksGenre: DystopianPages: 352Release Date: September 12th, 2006Publisher: CrownRating: ★★★☆☆
Summary from Goodreads:The Zombie War came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. Max Brooks, driven by the urgency of preserving the acid-etched first-hand experiences of the survivors from those apocalyptic years, traveled across the United States of America and throughout the world, from decimated cities that once teemed with upwards of thirty million souls to the most remote and inhospitable areas of the planet. He recorded the testimony of men, women, and sometimes children who came face-to-face with the living, or at least the undead, hell of that dreadful time. World War Z is the result. Never before have we had access to a document that so powerfully conveys the depth of fear and horror, and also the ineradicable spirit of resistance, that gripped human society through the plague years.
Ranging from the now infamous village of New Dachang in the United Federation of China, where the epidemiological trail began with the twelve-year-old Patient Zero, to the unnamed northern forests where untold numbers sought a terrible and temporary refuge in the cold, to the United States of Southern Africa, where the Redeker Plan provided hope for humanity at an unspeakable price, to the west-of-the-Rockies redoubt where the North American tide finally started to turn, this invaluable chronicle reflects the full scope and duration of the Zombie War.

Most of all, the book captures with haunting immediacy the human dimension of this epochal event. Facing the often raw and vivid nature of these personal accounts requires a degree of courage on the part of the reader, but the effort is invaluable because, as Mr. Brooks says in his introduction, "By excluding the human factor, aren't we risking the kind of personal detachment from history that may, heaven forbid, lead us one day to repeat it? And in the end, isn't the human factor the only true difference between us and the enemy we now refer to as 'the living dead'?"

Note: Some of the numerical and factual material contained in this edition was previously published under the auspices of the United Nations Postwar Commission. 


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Review:I wasn't a big fan of all the different stories in this book. I wanted them to have some sort of semblance, but I couldn't find it. The concept was wonderful though. i wonder if I would have loved the book more if I hadn't watched the movie first.

Movie Review: Knives Out

Title: Knives OutGenre: Murder MysteryRelease Date: November 27th, 2019My Rating: ★★★★★IMDB Rating: 8/10Cast: Summary from IMDB: A detective investigates the death of a patriarch of an eccentric, combative family. 
IMDB Trailer


Review:I LOVED THIS MOVIE!!!! It has been a long time since I've seen a movie like this. A murder mystery like clue, who would have thought. The story was well acted by a star studded cast of epic proportions. As we dive deeper into the movie, we find that every person has a motive to kill the father, but none of them seem smart enough to pull it off. There was humor thrown into the mix. Just enough to make you laugh at the right time, but keep you engaged in the thrilling aspect of the who done it. You must watch this movie.  

Book Review; But You Do Not Come Back by Marceline Loridan-Ivens

Title: But you did not come backBy: Marceline Loridan-IvensGenre: Historical Non-FictionPages: 100Release Date: January 5th, 2016Publisher: Atlantic Monthly PressRating: ★★★★☆
Summary from Goodreads:“You might come back, because you’re young, but I will not come back.”—Marceline Loridan’s father to her, 1944

A runaway bestseller in France, But You Did Not Come Back has already been the subject of a French media storm and hailed as an important new addition to the library of books dealing with the Holocaust. It is the profoundly moving and poetic memoir by Marceline Loridan-Ivens, who at the age of fifteen was arrested in occupied France, along with her father. Later, in the camps, he managed to smuggle a note to her, a sign of life that made all the difference to Marceline—but he died in the Holocaust, while Marceline survived. In But You Did Not Come Back, Marceline writes back to her father, the man whose death overshadowed her whole life. Although her grief never diminished in its intensity, Marceline ultimately found her calling, working as both an activist and a documentary filmmaker. But now, as France and Europe in general faces growing anti-Semitism, Marceline feels pessimistic about the future. Her testimony is a memorial, a confrontation, and a deeply affecting personal story of a woman whose life was shattered and never totally rebuilt.
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Review: A letter to the author's father about her times during ww2 and how much she misses him. It was a touching story full of tears and strength. I loved it with all my heart. 

February 2020 Wrap Up

February was a rough month for me, but books were my escape. I managed to read 17 books which is one of the highest months I've had in a long time. There were so many good books and a few that I just couldn't finish. Lets get on with the books.

The Roadby 
Cormac McCarthyThe searing, post-apocalyptic novel about a father and son's fight to survive.

A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food—and each other.

The Road is the profoundly moving story of a journey. It boldly imagines a future in which no hope remains, but in which the father and his son, "each the other's world entire," are sustained by love. Awesome in the totality of its vision, it is an unflinching meditation on the worst and the best that we are capable of: ultimate destructiveness, desperate tenacity, and the tenderness that keeps two people alive in the face of total devastation.
Ender's Game(Ender's Saga #1)by 
Orson Scott CardAndrew "Ender" Wiggin thinks he is playing computer simulated war games; he is, in fact, engaged in something far more desperate. The result of genetic experimentation, Ender may be the military genius Earth desperately needs in a war against an alien enemy seeking to destroy all human life. The only way to find out is to throw Ender into ever harsher training, to chip away and find the diamond inside, or destroy him utterly. Ender Wiggin is six years old when it begins. He will grow up fast.

But Ender is not the only result of the experiment. The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway almost as long. Ender's two older siblings, Peter and Valentine, are every bit as unusual as he is, but in very different ways. While Peter was too uncontrollably violent, Valentine very nearly lacks the capability for violence altogether. Neither was found suitable for the military's purpose. But they are driven by their jealousy of Ender, and by their inbred drive for power. Peter seeks to control the political process, to become a ruler. Valentine's abilities turn more toward the subtle control of the beliefs of commoner and elite alike, through powerfully convincing essays. Hiding their youth and identities behind the anonymity of the computer networks, these two begin working together to shape the destiny of Earth-an Earth that has no future at all if their brother Ender fails.






 

 29/50 Books in my Read Around the Country challenge~13/196 in my Star Wars Legends challenge~1/20 in my Scotland challenge~31/341 Gilmore Girls challenge~33/100 in my 100 books before you die challenge

It was an amazing February. Almost all the books I read were 4 stars or higher. I really enjoyed most everything I read.

Weekly Menu #341 And The Book Of The Week

Monday! Welcome back. It was  a long week and I'm hoping this week will be better. My youngest has been having some trouble at school which is out of the ordinary for him. He's usually a sweet and quiet child, that always has a smile on his face. Last week, I was at school everyday because he was acting like a bear.

I think something switched with him on Saturday. He's been smiling nonstop and his attitude has been amazing. I'm hoping this is the start of my sweet baby boy coming back. My running theory is when he was having issues with his tummy, he wasn't getting the vitamins and nutrients from his food like he was supposed to. I've been pumping him full of vitamins over the last couple of days and its been like night and day with him. Cross your fingers.

This weeks book is Date me, Bryson Keller by Kevin Van Whye. Its a review book I picked up from the publisher and I'm excited to dive into its covers. Review will be coming so make sure you check back in a week or two.

Lets get on to the menu. Enjoy!


MENUMonday- Creamy Tuscan Chicken
TuesdayPastrami Spice Rubbed Steak
WednesdayPork and Veggie Bibimbap
ThursdayBlackened Chicken Penne
FridayDouble Cheese and Pork Sausage Flatbread
SaturdayRio Rancho Pulled Pork Tacos
SundayLeftovers Night