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 give 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

The Twist of a Knife by Anthony Horowitz

 I discovered Hawthorne and Horowitz Mysteries a few years ago much to my delight. The Twist of a Knife is #4 in the series that has 5 books in it at present, although the author has said there are more planned in the future. Hawthorne is a former police detective in London and now works as a private investigator. These are unique because Horowitz puts himself in the story as the side kick to Hawthorne who has asked him to write books about him as he solves cases. The reader gets a unique look into the frustrations and insights of a somewhat unobservant companion to a brilliant detective. Horowitz inserts many things about his personal life in these stories that it makes you wonder if they are true and not fiction. My favorite part of mystery series are the reoccurring characters. Hawthorne is a well developed and there is a lot of mystery surrounding his history which makes reading the story engaging and so interesting. 

I listened to the audio book version and the narrator did a wonderful job. His voices of the characters really brought them to life for me. 

Recommend: Yes

Mystery, murder, detective, crime

A Darkness at the Door by Intisar Khanan

 Book #3 in The Dauntless Path. Book #2 ended with a cliff hanger so I immediately downloaded this on my kindle. The story continues of Rae who is, with the help of some thieves, trying to end the kidnapping and enslaving of the kingdom's children. She is up against insurmountable odds, mages, royalty, and deception at every turn. 

The pace of this book was excellent. I was engaged from the beginning and was swept up in the adventure throughout the book. I loved seeing the development of the characters and especially liked it when they did things that surprised me. 

Recommend: Yes!

Young Adult fiction, fantasy, child slavery, magic

The Theft of Sunlight by Intisar Khanani

 Book #2 in the Dauntless Path series. I really like Thorn, book #1 and happily started this one after reading a small short story called The Bone Knife which takes place in between #1 and #2. I read this very quickly (and the third one as well) and loved every minute of it. I rarely like the second book in a series more than the first, but this one is even better than Thorn. 

Rae is asked to come to court to be with her cousin who is expecting a child. While she is there she is asked to be the new princess's companion (the main character from Thorn). This suprises her since she was born with a club foot. She accepts the assignment and uses it to try and discover what is happening to the children of the kingdom who mysteriously disappear. 

Recommend: Yes.

Young adult fiction, fantasy, child slavery. 

23 Minutes by Vivian Vande Velde

 I read this book in July of 2023 and liked it so much I wanted to read it aloud to my boys. Vivian Vande Velde is one of my favorite authors and I loved how she told this story. 

Zoe, age 15 and a half,  has an unusual ability to travel back in time for exactly 23 minutes. There are restrictions, which I won't describe here. This ability irritates her mostly until she witnesses a bank robbery gone wrong. Now she has to figure out how to fix it. 

Recommend: Yes

Time travel, Young Adult Fiction