The Thought Spot

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group for the sneak peek of Summerlost by Ally Condie! This book has a middle school feel and the story has many aspects: tragedy, mystery, inspiration and a bit of the supernatural! I would like to finish the story and find out what happens to Cedar and her family. Many people enjoy Ally Condie’s books and she is a writer with variety! She has now added a young adult/middle school book to her list of published works.

Thanks to NetGalley and Watson-Guptill for the arc of Simply Calligraphy by Judy Detrick! I love this book with it’s easy directions and understandable illustrative examples of calligraphy. The focus is kept on the italic alphabet, which makes it more doable and the instructions are short and to the point! Recommended for everyone who wants to embellish their writing!

Thanks to NetGalley and Watson-Guptill for the arc of Wonderland: A Coloring Book Inspired by Alice’s Adventures by Amily Shen! The drawings are beautiful and open to creativity and the illustrations follow the story page by page. This coloring book is for anyone who loves to add color to stories and enjoys adding their own flair. Very fun!

 

I absolutely love The Witch Hunter Series by Virginia Boecker!  The writing is reminiscent of Sarah J. Maas and anyone who enjoyed The Throne of Glass should enjoy The Witch Hunter Series also.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Witch Hunter by Virginia Boecker! Fun, suspenseful and delightful, The Witch Hunter tells the story of Elizabeth; an orphan trained by Blackwell to become a Witch Hunter for the king at a time when witchcraft (all magic) is illegal. I laughed out loud when Elizabeth drank too much green ale because of the fantastic wit of the author. As the story goes on, Elizabeth is imprisoned for using herbs . She is saved by Nicholas Perevil because, according to Veda the Seer, Elizabeth is supposed to help Nicholas find someone who has placed a curse on him.

Page 193, “I don’t know what to think anymore. About any of it. Magic killed my parents; Blackwell tried to kill magic. Blackwell is magic; Blackwell tried to kill me. John saved me with magic; now I’m trying to kill magic to save Nicholas. It goes against everything I’ve ever known, a betrayal of everything I’ve ever been taught.”

This quote clearly shows Elizabeth’s confusion and struggles. The dislike shared between Elizabeth and Fifer is comical at times and I also enjoy the relationship built between Elizabeth and John because of the mutual respect.

Highly recommended for all fantasy readers! Very enjoyable! The ending leads into a sequel, The King Slayer, which will be released this summer.

Thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown for the arc of The King Slayer by Virginia Boecker! This is a wonderful book and anyone who has read Sarah J. Maas’ Throne of Glass will probably want to read this series also.

The King Slayer begins right where The Witch Hunter left off. Elizabeth awaits trial for all of her past actions. This trial will decide her fate. Elizabeth is being trained by Schuyler and Fifer, two fun characters! The stigma is changing John in such a way that his friends don’t recognize his actions and reasoning. Blackwell has become a monster and a battle has begun and the story continues with trying to resolve these problems. The characters are dynamic and the world building is complete and I highly recommend this entire series to fantasy readers!

Eternal by C.C. Hunter continues Della’s story. After Della is reborn, she struggles with her strange relationship with Chase. She and Chase share a vision of two trapped vampires that are trying to stay alive. Della and Chase try to identify and save the trapped vampires. Suspense is ongoing and, once again, the book answers some questions and ends in a cliffhanger – C.C. Hunter style!  Which makes it even more interesting.

Anna and the Swallow Man by Gavriel Savit is historical fiction set during World War II. Seven-year old Anna is left alone after her only parent, her father, is taken away. She meets the Swallow Man who speaks many languages just like her father did. Heart wrenching, worrisome, maddening, uplifting and also frustrating, the story doesn’t really end; it sort of drops off.  I researched into the potassium iodide that the Swallow Man supposedly took for his psychosis, but the uses for potassium iodide never were for mental disorders.  That frustrated me a bit.  I like things to be accurate as much as possible, especially with historical fiction.

The Ghost Chronicles by Marlo Berliner is a story about a teenager named Michael. Michael gets in a fatal accident and can see his body from the outside. He watches his mother and brother as they receive the news of his accident and its outcome. He meets another ghost, Tom, who explains to Michael what is going on and shows him ghosts at a haunted penitentiary that are all in different stages of despair. Throughout the rest of the book, Michael is trying to understand what his purpose is in not moving on. Michael meets Abraham Lincoln and because of this meeting, he figures out what Tom’s purpose is. The visit with President Lincoln was short but inspirational; “There is no greater joy than one’s children.” -Abraham Lincoln. The meeting with Lincoln was my favorite part of the book. The story’s unanswered questions and ending left an opening for a sequel.

Thanks to NetGalley and Storey Publishing for the arc of Natural Hair Coloring by Christine Shahin Wood! This book includes thorough and helpful information on dyeing hair with henna, cassia, amla and indigo powders. Do’s and don’t’s list how to test for correct and natural ingredients and what not to dye your hair with. Detailed instructions for all hair colors, including charts and photographs, make this book user friendly.

Thanks to NetGalley and Storey Publishing for the arc of Cable Left, Cable Right by Judith Durant! This book is very descriptive with wonderful pictures showing great detail. Perfect for knitters familiar with knitting vocabulary, not for beginners. Bead-work designs and the helpful charts, that go along with these designs, show weight of yarn used and size of beads needed for different projects. Advice on fixing ripples and calculating stitch count are also included. The projects are beautiful and intermediate and experienced knitters will love it!

Thanks to NetGalley and Storey Publishing for the arc of Crochet One-Skein Wonders for Babies! This book is a bit beyond beginning crocheters, but would be wonderful for intermediate and beyond. The illustrations, charts and descriptions offer great detail and help with each project. The hats, and clothing are beautifully done. I especially like the crocheted animals! I plan on purchasing this book and, of course, working on the animals first!