January Reads

Extra Credit by Andrew Clements

Audiobook read by Gabra Zackman

Listened to on the Libby App

Released 2009

Children's fiction, letter writing, Afghanistan, school stories

Recommend: Yes, for sure

Abby is a 6th grader and not the best student. She is looking at repeating 6th grade unless she can complete an extra credit project. Her project entails writing a student in Afghanistan and learning about what school is like there and what his family and culture is like and creating a bulletin board and report about what she learns. She is hesitant at first, but motivated and it turns out to be a wonderful experience learning about Sadeed and his family. 

I always enjoy reading Clements' books. My favorite is Frindle which I read aloud to my kids when I was homeschooling. His books are easily engaging and inspiring and exciting!  Highly recommend all he writes. 

Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan

Bought at a used bookstore in Gladstone

This is a re-read for me

Published in 1985

1986 Newbery Honor book

Children's fiction, historical fiction, family

Recommend: Yes!

Anna and Caleb lost their mother years ago and together they, with their father, live in the midwest in the late nineteenth century. Sarah comes from Maine answering an advertisement from their father for a wife and mother. The children are excited and apprenhensive. They want her to love her new home and desperately want her to stay with them. 

This is a sweet short story that always warms my heart. The author wrote several more stories about Sarah and her new family: Skylark, Caleb's Story, More Perfect than the Moon, and Grandfather's Dance. There are also movies based on the books. 

The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder by C.L. Miller

Audiobook read by Emilia Fox

Listened to on the Libby App

Released in 2024

Mystery, murder, antiques

Recommend: Yes

Freya finds herself living alone after a divorce and her only daughter leaves for college. Her long ago past surfaces as she learns of the death of someone who used to be her mentor in the antique business, but with whom she has had a falling out. She is pulled back into the business of finding lost antiques and antiquites by her Aunt Carole. The two of them are a formidable pair as they go about finding lost treasures and the murder of their friend. 

I really enjoyed listening to this book. It was similar in setup to Agatha Christy mysteries. The narrator was wonderful and try as I might, I did not guess the ending! This author has more mysteries planned for the future. 

Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier

Read with Kindle

This is a re-read for me

Published 2009

Young Adult fiction, time travel

Recommend: Yes

Gwyneth is born into a family that has a time travel gene. Everyone thinks it's her cousin who has the gene, but then Gwyneth suddenly vanishes one day and shows up hundreds of years in the past. Her journey to the past only lasts a matter of minutes, but if she doesn't let her family know so they can get her to the chronometer which helps control her time travel she will continue to vanish at random intervals.  Not everyone is happy that she is the time traveler and she faces enemies as she is swept into a world full of secrets where she cannot tell who to trust and who to fear. 

I read this series, The Ruby Red Trilogy, when they first came out. Kerstin Gier is German and I had to patiently wait for all of them to be translated into English. Time travel books have lots of issues for me, but this one was entertaining. Gwyneth is a spitfire and I really enjoyed reading about her adventures. The next two book sin the series are Sapphire Blue and Emerald Green.

The Hotel Balzaar by Kate DiCamillo

 Kate DiCamillo is a wonderful storyteller and her books have won numerous awards including the Newbery Medal three times for: Because of Winn Dixie, The Tale of Despereaux, and Flora & Ulysses. I have loved reading her stories and one of my favorites is a recent one called Raymie Nightingale. 

This story is very short, a mere 150 pages with large print. Marta lives at a hotel with her mother. Each day she does the same things while keeping her promise to her mother that she will not bother anything or anyone. Both of them are waiting for their father to come home from a war. Her days are the same until an eccentric older woman checks into the hotel and changes Marta and her mother's world in a beautiful way. 

Recommend: yes

Junior fiction, storytelling, family, hope

Olive You to Death by Lynn Cahoon

 This is number 16 in Lynn Cahoon's Tourist Trap mysteries. I have to admit they are formulaic, but I still enjoy reading them or listening to them. The characters have become comfortably familiar. The writing can be a bit tedious, but overall not a bad listen as I work online. 

All of the Tourist Trap mysteries take place in the fictional town of South Cove, California, a city on the coast in southern California. Jill Gardner runs the coffee shop and bookstore, Coffee, Books, and More and her fiance, Greg King, is the town's head detective. There are a cast of other regulars in each book and together they solve the cases of the dead bodies that end up there. 

Recommend: sure. 

Fiction, mystery, California, series

The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery

 Anne of Green Gables is one of my favorite books I read as a young teenager. I have read many of Montgomery's works included the Emily books and all of the Anne books. I saw this book by her on Spotify and thought I would give it a listen. 

It starts out slowly, really slowly. At one point I wanted to give up and not finish it, but my sister assured me it would be worth it. And it was!  Once things took off it was wonderful. The characters are developed extrodinarily well and by the end I loved it!  

Valancy Sterling is living in Canada in the early 1900s. She is turning 29 and not married nor does she have any prospects. Here family is horrified for her and treats her as if she is worthless. Due to some health issues she decides to break free from her family's grip on her and live. She leaves home and nurses a sick girl and makes friends and finds love. 

A wonderful story!

Recommend: yes

Fiction, romance, Canada, families, 1900s. 

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

 In searching for something new to read I came across this book by Mark Haddon. I've read another book by him, a children's science fiction book called Boom! which I quite liked. 

John, a 15 year old autistic, is writing this book for a school assignment. He describes everything in his life including his struggle to interpret emotions and situations, tune out noise, deal with new people and experiences, and understand his parent's choices and relationship. Numbers and science make perfect sense to him and he looks forward to being a scientist someday. 

The book opens with him seeing his neighbor's dead dog and deciding that, like Sherlock Holmes, he will discover the murderer of the dog. This leads him to discover many things about his family that he did not know and he does not know how to process most of his discoveries. Even though his parents are divorced and have a rough relationship they try to help him, encourage him, and love him. 

I didn't love this book, but I didn't hate it either. Sometimes characteristics of the main character seemed inconsistent and I didn't love the language of the adults which seemed to get in the way of the story. The author has worked with autistic individuals in his life and that experience has helped him to see into their world a little bit. I was inspired by John's father's love for him and his patience that he displayed even when John's behavior was very difficult. I would still recommend it, however, because there are not a lot of books that I have heard of that showcase autism as well as this does. 

Recommend: yes

Young adult fiction, autism, parenting

Earwig and the Witch by Diana Wynne Jones

 Diana Wynne Jones is a genius. I adore all her books. The Chrestomanci series and Howl's Moving Castle being among my favorites. Her way of writing fantasy books is unique and her characters are memorable. 

I picked up this book at the library the other day and enjoyed the quick read; it's just over 100 pages. It has some great illustrations by Paul O. Zelinksky, who is a talented children's book illustrator. 

Earwig is an orphan and content with being at the orphanage until some interesting people come to adopt her. She finds herself in a magical household and with the help of Thomas the cat, decides to take control of the situation and become in charge. 

Recommend: yes

Children's fiction, witches, magic, orphans, cats

Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz

 I downloaded book #5 soon after finishing #4. I was happy to hear it was the same narrator and that the author himself narrated a bit as well. The premise of this installment of Hawthorne and Horowitz is a bit different. This time Horowitz is writing about a crime that has already been committed instead of seeing it unfold in real time. His publisher wants another book and Hawthorne doesn't have a case he is working on so they decide to resurrect an old case. Hawthorne slowly gives Horowitz information on the case so that he doesn't know the end from the beginning all at once. 

I really enjoy these mysteries and my only complaint is that this was just published in 2024 and I will have to wait for the next one to be published!

Recommend: Yes

Mystery, murder, detective, crime