Lazy Day Literature

Sunday, February 7, 2016

The Sunday Post #5

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer

It's a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things you received, share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead, and more.

Something about February makes me a little sad. Maybe it's just the realization that January holds all the excitement of a clean slate and a new year and now that is over. Before we know it we will be half way through the year and on our way to 2017.
Our weather here in Florida has been wacky, as always. It got up into the high 80's earlier this week but then it rained and it dropped down into the 40's and is supposed to get colder this week. We are so used to our heat that we will be bundled up inside with the heat on.
In gardening news, I harvested my first head of cabbage from the garden and made a 'Stuffed Cabbage Roll' soup out of it. It's the same great taste without the hassle of forks and knives. We planted lots of seeds for the summer and we are trying jalapenos this year!

This Past Week On The Blog
Anticipating February - New Releases

Top Ten Tuesday #64

Children's Book Review: Art & Max by David Wiesel
Book Review: The Black Reckoning by John Stephens
Freebie Friday #2

Coming Soon
Book Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
Book Review: The Inn Between by Marina Cohen
Book Review: The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary
Children's Book Review Roundup #2

Books I Finished This Week

New Children's Books We Read This Week

What I'm Currently Reading

City of Thirst by Carrie Ryan & John Parke Davis

Yes, still haven't finished this. It's a fun read but reading it out loud is taking a lot of time.

Cogling by Jordan Elizabeth Mierek
This is my first 'steampunk' story and it is actually quite awesome! The world is full of unique characters such as talking birds, foxes with three tails, and silver-eyed hags that steal small children and replace them with a 'changeling' made of cogs, hence the 'cogling'.

Friday, February 5, 2016

Freebie Friday #2

I recently decided to start up Freebie Friday again. All titles are available through Amazon (mobi format) and will be striked out when no longer available.

{Covers link to Goodreads}

CLASSICS

In Search of the Castaways by Jules Verne

{~~Amazon~~}

Eight Hundred Leagues on the Amazon by Jules Verne

{~~Amazon~~}

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

{Amazon}

FANTASY & SCI-FI

The Sea Queen by Jovee Winters

{~~Amazon~~}

The God Killers by David Simpson
{~~Amazon~~}

The Knight by Kim Dragoner

{~~Amazon~~}

A Reaper of Stone by Mark Gelineau & Joe King

{Amazon}

Decoy (Assassin's Rising #1) by S.B. Sebrick

{Amazon}

Mr. Ruins by Michael John Grist

{Amazon}

Check out last week's Freebie Friday for more titles.

Thursday, February 4, 2016

Book Review: The Black Reckoning (The Books of Beginning #3) by John Stephens

Title: The Black Reckoning

Series: The Books of Beginning #3

Author: John Stephens

Genre: Middle grade, Fantasy Adventure

Published: March 2015 by Random House

Source: Library

Pages: 421

My Rating: 4 stars

Goodreads | Amazon

Synopsis:

The final book in the bestselling Books of Beginning trilogy that begain with 'The Emerald Atlas', which the New York Times called "a new Narnia for the tween set."

The adventures of siblings Kate, Michael, and Emma come to a stunning conclusion when they must find the last Book of Beginning--the Book of Death--before the Dire Magnus does, for when all three books are united, their combined power will be unstoppable.

Soon Emma is on a journey to places both worldly and otherworldly, confronting terrifying monsters and ghosts, and what is darkest within herself. As the fabric of time begins to fray, she becomes the final piece of an extraordinary puzzle. Only if she can master the powers of this most dangerous book will she, Kate, and Michael be able to save the world from the dramatic, deadly final confrontation between magical and ordinary people that the Dire Magnus has in store.

My Thoughts:

I loved 'The Emerald Atlas' and 'The Fire Chronicle' and wanted to read this book so badly but it took almost 3 years (give or take) for it to come out and for me to get my hands on it. Because of that, it took a while to get into and to remember most of the first two books. I feel like that big gap really took away from the enjoyment of 'The Black Reckoning' but I still really enjoyed this book. Once things started to pick up and I fell back into the story, I was hooked again.

I felt that the ending was a bit somber for a middle grade series but it really wrapped up everything that had happened throughout the trilogy very well.

I can't say a lot without giving away away the first two books but this series is filled with magic, time travel, and lots of fantasy creatures: elves, dwarves, imps, dragons, GIANTS, and more.

The main characters are 3 siblings who have been tossed from orphanage to orphanage until they are adopted by Mr. Pim, a wizard who claims to have known their parents. They then find the Atlas which takes them back in time to a time where magic and monsters exist. They learn that there are pockets of hidden magical areas in our own world that have been hidden away to protect the magical creatures and people. And of course, with any good story there are villains and these books have very creepy monsters as well. The villain, the Dire Magnus, is after the Atlas, as well as the other two Books of Beginning, the 'Chronicle' and the 'Reckoning' and the children's lives are at stake constantly throughout this trilogy. They find a great group of allies to help fight this battle between good and evil.

Overall, it's a great story. I would recommend it to any fantasy / adventure lover of any age.

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Children's Book Review: Art & Max

Title: Art & Max

Author: David Wiesner

Publisher: Clarion Books
Published: October 4th, 2010

Source: Library

Literary Awards:
Goodreads Choice Awards for Picture Book (2010)

Wisconsin Library Association Outstanding Book Award (2011)

Synopsis:

Max and Arthur are friends who share an interest in painting. Arthur is an accomplished painter; Max is a beginner. Max's first attempt at using a paintbrush sends the two friends on a whirlwind trip through various artistic media, which turn out to have unexpected pitfalls. Although Max is inexperienced, he's courageous--and a quick learner. His energy and enthusiasm bring the adventure to its triumphant conclusion. Beginners everywhere will take heart.

My Thoughts:

There are many different kinds of artists. Arthur (Art for short) is a professional artist who includes a lot of detail in his paintings. Max on the other hand isn't exactly sure what to paint, or how. Even though Max is trying to prove to Art that he can paint too, he finds himself needing to ask Art what he should paint. Art replies, "You can paint me!" So he does and something terrifying and amazing happens to art! As Max works on 'painting Art', Arthur learns that all art is different and that even a beginner can make something amazing and beautiful.

Art & Max is a delightful book for both seasoned and beginner artists. Whether you are coloring with crayons or painting with oils, all art is beautiful!

I was drawn to the cover of this book. The reptiles are very detailed and art has always been a favorite subject of mine. Even with all the detailed pictures, the story is simple and easy to get through with a small child. Some pages were a little more condensed and looked more like comic book pages with different frames of pictures on one page. Because of the detail and split pages I would recommend this for kids over 1 or 2 years old.

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Top Ten Tuesday #64

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Top Ten Historical Books I Still Need to Read And/Or Would Love to Read Soon

I love historical fiction but I haven't read much of it lately and so my tbr list has accumulated quite a few books that I need to read soon!

{Covers link to Goodreads}