Book Review: Wednesdays in the Tower by Jessica Day George

Title: Wednesdays in the Tower

Author: Jessica Day George

Series: Castle Glower #2

Publisher: Bloomsbury Childrens

Publication Date: May 1, 2013

Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy

Length: 240 pages

Format: hardcover

Source: borrowed

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N

Synopsis:

Strange things are afoot in Castle Glower: new rooms, corridors, and even stables keep arriving, even when they aren't needed. Celie's brother Bran, the new Royal Wizard has his hands full cataloguing an entire storeroom full of exotic and highly dangerous weapons, while Celie has her hands full... raising the creature that hatches from a giant egg she finds! Will they be able to find out what's making the Castle behave this way in time? 

My Thoughts: 

Celie is on her way to the schoolroom when she stumbles upon a new tower in the castle. Inside is a very large and hot egg. The tower isn't the only new addition to Castle Glower. There are lots of new rooms and a few old ones, too. Usually the castle only 'grows' new rooms that have a purpose, but now they seem to be scrambled. Celie and her wizard brother, Bran, try to figure out what is going on with the castle while raising the creature that has hatched from the egg, but the more the castle grows, the less they know what's going on.

In this return to Castle Glower, we learn more about the magical castle and it's past while Celie raises the mythical creature that the castle has given her in secret. Of course, there is mischief afoot and Celie and her siblings must find out what is threatening the castle. 

I really enjoyed Tuesdays at the Castle and I enjoyed this sequel just as much or more. This is such a cute and delightful middle-grade fantasy with great characters and a pretty awesome setting.

The only thing I didn't really like about this book was the major cliffhanger ending. I felt like I was in the thick of it all and then there just wasn't any more to read! Thankfully, I have the sequel and will pick right up where it left off as soon as I can!

My Rating: 4.5 stars

Picture Book Review: Never Follow A Dinosaur by Alex Latimer

I received a free ecopy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 

I received a free ecopy of this picture book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Title: Never Follow A Dinosaur

Author: Alex Latimer

Publisher: Picture Corgi

Publication Date: July 7, 2016

Genre: Children's Picture Book

Length: 32 pages

Format: ebook

Source: Netgalley

Goodreads | Amazon 

Synopsis:

Sally and Joe discover a mysterious set of footprints leading out into their garden and beyond - and they are convinced the footprints were left by a dinosaur. Could they possibly be right? Join them in a clue-finding adventure and discover why you should never, ever follow a dinosaur! 

A joy to read-aloud, filled with funny ideas and a clever, cautionary twist! 

My Thoughts: 

When Sally and Joe find a mysterious set of footprints, they are certain that they belong to a dinosaur. They follow the footprints and speculate what kind of dinosaur it is, what it likes to do, and what happened to it. When the footprints disappear with no dinosaur in sight they decide to set a trap! 

This is a very cute and somewhat silly book. It was fun to track the dinosaur with the children and speculate what had happened to it by the state of the footsteps. My daughter and I enjoyed the illustrations and I'm sure children will really enjoy the story as well. It is kind of a mystery and I kept wondering what was going to happen. The ending gave us a good laugh. 

Book Blitz: The Reader by M.K. Harkins

The Sunday Post #35 - Hurricane Hermine

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.

It's been a somewhat eventful week here. We had Tropical Storm/Hurricane Hermine blow through Thursday night. I live on Florida's Gulf Coast but up on higher ground and didn't have to worry about flooding but the towns right next to me on the coast are pretty much underwater right now and were without power for a couple of days. Nowhere near as bad as the flooding in Louisiana but I know a lot of people had to evacuate and have a lot of damage. We had a tree come down across the road but that's the extent of the damage in my immediate area that I've noticed. My Other Mother wasn't so lucky and ended up with trees on her ancient house (again).
That's just about all that's happened worth mentioning. I missed the train to Hogwarts again.
Reading has been pretty slow for me this past week. My toddler has been refusing naps recently and that means less time to read.
Hopefully you all are doing better with your reading goals than I am!

This Past Week On The Blog
August 2016 Wrap Up
September 2016 TBR
Book Blitz & Giveaway: Aspen Everlasting
Stacking the Shelves

Coming Soon
Picture Book Review: Never Follow A Dinosaur
Book Review: Wednesdays in the Tower
Book Review: The Evil Wizard Smallbone
Book Blitz: The Reader by M.K. Harkins

Books I Finished This Week

What I'm Currently Reading

Voyage to Magical North by Claire Fayers - I'm still trying to finish this book up. That slump really ruined it for me.
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell - I planned on reading this next year but I noticed the tv series adaptation is currently on Netflix so I figured I might as well dig in now. It's a massive book and sort of reads like a classic so I'll probably read chunks of it with other books in between to keep up with my reading goals. 

I hope you all have a wonderful week! Thank you so much for the encouragement to get out of that slump last week! It took me a while to respond but I really appreciated your kind comments!
Happy Reading!

Stacking the Shelves #71

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by TYNGA'S REVIEWS that features the books we bought, borrowed, were gifted, and were given for review.

----------------

IN MY MAILBOX

A Promise of Fire by Amanda Bouchet - I don't usually gravitate towards Fantasy Romance but this one has 4+ stars on Goodreads and great reviews and the synopsis has me very intrigued. 

The Giant Smugglers by Matt Solomon & Chris Pauls - A middle-grade fantasy about giants! I don't know too much more about it but giants are one thing I don't get enough of in fantasy.  

Serafina and the Black Cloak & Serafina and the Twisted Staff by Robert Beatty - Plus lots of other goodies, including a spiral notebook that I forgot to include in this photo. Thank you, Disney-Hyperion! 

Did you add any books to your shelves this week?

September 2016 TBR

Where's the giveaway?
I don't have a bookmark giveaway to go with this TBR this month but I will have a Halloween-ish bookmark giveaway coming up later this month so keep an eye out for that!
September
Once again, I didn't have the greatest reading month last month so a few of these are carried over from my last TBR. I'm running a little behind on everything it seems and will be trying to catch up this month.
It's also my birthday month so keep an eye out for awesome hauls! (My husband has assured me that he is the coolest and got me some great stuff off of my wishlist.) I also put in an order of books for myself from a gift card I received so it's very possible that I may end up adding to this TBR list. No, I won't get around to reading all these books no matter how much I read but these are the books I'm allowing myself to choose from. TBRs are tricky little things.
(STRUCK OUT = FINISHED READING)
(CR = CURRENTLY READING)

For Review
1. Timekeeper by Tara Sim (Nov. 1, 2016) CR
2. The Cartographer's Daughter by Kiran Millwood Hargrave (Nov 2016)
3. The Fearless Traveler's Guide to Wicked Places by Pete Begler
4. The Dream by R.K. McLay (Oct 15)

Banned Books Week is September 25th - October 1st

Lists / Challenges

1. The Crucible  (kind of pre-halloween)

2. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
3. The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

For Fun
1. Serafina and the Twisted Staff by Robert Beatty
2. Steamborn by Eric R. Asher
3. The Vanishing Island by Barry Wolverton
4. Shadows of the Dark Crystal by J.M. Lee
5. Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff CR
6. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell CR

Maybe (library holds and almost due)
1. A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab
2. Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi
3. The Crown's Game by Evelyn Skye
4. Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas
5. Voyage to the Magical North by Claire Fayers 
6. Thursdays With the Crown by Jessica Day George

Have you read any of these books? Are there any that you think I should bump to the top of my TBR pile? 

Book Blast & Giveaway: Aspen Everlasting by Kathryn Cooper

Aspen Everlasting by Kathryn Cooper 

 Water splashed on all sides then took control of the tires. The car swerved right toward the river. “No. NO. NO!” I turned the wheel toward the road. It didn’t work. Fast running water pulled the car into the flooded river. Aspen Foster thinks she’s just a normal sixteen-year-old, but when her car’s caught in a flash flood, Aspen and her sister discover the superhuman strength they never knew they had. Soon Aspen learns she’s not normal at all. She’s an Evermortal fairy, with powers beyond her wildest dreams. But the more Aspen finds out about her family’s past, the more dangerous her future becomes. This riveting fantasy is full of action, adventure, and romance. Suspenseful and exhilarating!

Praise for the Book

"Aspen Everlasting is a fun paranormal romance. This is the perfect fit for young teens as well as adults who want a clean romance that is entertaining to read." -Jessica from Books A True Story "Aspen Everlasting is a quick read, and packed full of action and suspense. . . I can't wait to read more from Kathryn!" - Tammy from Bluerose's Heart "I love this book so much! It was fantastic! It was so imaginative and different. I've never read anything like it before and it drew me in right away!" - author Shannen Crane Camp

  Excerpts 

 "Want me to come with you?" I looked up at his grin. Of course I did. I'd been crushing on him since we were ten. Six years was a long time to have a crush. But... "You'd better not. I'm picking up three sophomore cheerleaders. There might be too much girl drama for you to handle." He threw his head back and laughed, then stepped closer. "I think you're right. I'll see you tomorrow." Aspen talking with Nate A large puddle spread out in front of us on the road. It looked like we could make it through, so I pushed harder on the gas pedal. Water splashed on all sides but then took control of the tires. The car swerved right toward the river. "No. NO. NO!" I turned the wheel toward the road. It didn't work. Fast running water pulled the car into the flooded river. The girls screamed as we rode the car like a water ride at an amusement park. My brain froze. I couldn't think of what to do. The river took control of the car, spinning us around. Aspen with friends driving in a Texas flash flood

September 1st to 7th

Aspen Everlasting will be reduced to just 99 cents on Amazon!

Author Kathryn Cooper

Kathryn Cooper lives in the heart of Texas with her husband and four young boys. She has read and blogged about other authors' books for years. She is excited to finally have her own book out for readers. Aspen Everlasting is her first novel.

Website * Twitter * Facebook * Instagram

  Blast Giveaway 

 $50 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash Ends 9/19/16 Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader and sponsored by the author. 

VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

  a Rafflecopter giveaway