The Menagerie by Tui T. Sutherland and Kari Sutherland

I was motivated the other day to spend the morning cooking: bread, burrito filling, chicken breasts, etc. and I wanted to listen to something. As I scrolled through my Libby app I saw this title and was intrigued as one of the reviews said it was for fans of the series Fablehaven by Brandon Mull. Perfect, I thought, my time in the kitchen cooking will fly by as I listen. 

It is similar to Fablehaven in that it involves a secret place where magical and mythical animals are safely kept. And of course, there are those who want to expose them and who want to close down these safe havens. There are three young people who will do almost anything to keep them safe and adults who seem to not mind that they are often put in danger. Besides the basics in the plot line, that is where the similarity ends. The Menagerie plods along. I wouldn't call it boring, but it's also not exciting!  It was a bit wordy for my tastes and the main characters were a bit blah. I wouldn't recommend it to a reluctant young reader, but for an avid young reader of fantasy it may be fine. 

Recommend: not really

Children's fiction, fantasy, mythical animals

Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter

 My teenage daughter loves to read teenage romance novels and gushes about them to me when she is finished. She bought this one while at a bookstore with her brother. I picked it up and read it in nearly one night as I was waiting up for her to come home from her Homecoming date. It was pretty average and I admit I did enjoy the storyline and the characters, at least they kept me awake past midnight!

Liz is a hopeless romantic being raised watching rom-coms with her mother. Sadly, her mother passes away and those romance movies are Liz's connection with her mother. She frames all her relationships in the context of her beloved movies. Liz has a best friend who tries to ground her in reality and a neighbor, Wes, who tormented her as a child and continues to do so as a teenager. Between these two Liz starts to see things as they really are and is able to deal with the continued sadness of missing her mother and finds her happy ending. 

Recommend: Yes

Young Adult fiction, realistic fiction, romance, loss of a parent

Murder, Magic, and What We Wore by Kelly Jones

 Browsing my library's online library I saw this title and was especially interested when the summary compared it favorably to one of my favorite titles, Sorcery and Cecilia by Caroline Stevermer and Patricia Wrede. I enjoy a bit of magic and mystery intertwined with some romance with a backdrop of regency England. 

The story started out well, but after at least 6 or 7 chapters I was still waiting for something to happen. A few more chapters and still not a lot of action. The characters were fine and the setting up of the plot seemed to work well and had great potential. But I was disappointed overall. It seemed the book was in need of a fast forward button to get to the suspense and intrigue which all happened in the last few chapters. 

Recommend: Probably not

Mystery, magic, fantasy, regency England

Once Upon a Royal Summer by Teri Wilson

Needing a quick read that I could not think too much about I found these books that Hallmark puts out that are like the movies on their channel and since I enjoy cheesy Hallmark movies I downloaded this book. I recognized right away that the writing style was all about what the main two characters were thinking and the actual doing of the book could have been written in a couple chapters and there was almost zero conflict which together equaled a boring read. I quickly speed read over many pages trying to find something plot worthy and just didn't find it. The characters weren't frustrating or inconsistent, just uninteresting. 

Here is the book in a nutshell: young woman works as a princess at a theme park, young prince with young daughter escape across the pond for the young princess's birthday before she has to get back to being a royal. Young prince's wife died years ago. Theme park princess is just what the young princess needs to have a mother figure in her life and bring lightness into the heavy royal responsibilities. Prince invites theme park princess to his castle for a celebration. She goes. Wins over the queen mother. Former love interest of theme park princess graciously bows out of her life seamlessly. The book ends with a marriage proposal that is accepted. 

Romance, royalty

Recommend: Nope

Long Lost by Jacqueline West

 Sibling relationships can be joyous and difficult, hilarious and frustrating, fun and annoying. This story is about two sets of sisters, born 100 years apart. Fiona is in the present and is dealing with a new move, lost friends, and a sister she thinks likes her about as much as a bump on the head. Taking refuge at the library she finds a book that does not seem to belong to the library. As she reads it she is entranced by a story of two sisters that lived years ago in her very town that are inseparable until one of them goes missing. Fiona, with the help of a new friend, is determined to solve the mystery once and for all and in the process discovers her own sister is not the enemy she had believed. 

Children's fiction, ghosts, family relationships, siblings, mystery

Recommend: Yes

The 13 Clocks by James Thurber

 James Thurber was an accomplished author and humorist who published short stories and cartoons in The New Yorker magazine. This book was published in 1950 which he wrote while completing another novel. There is a princess under a spell, a disguised prince trying to rescue her, and an evil duke trying to thwart him and marry the princess himself. 

This book has many quirky characters and is written with a poetic like cadence. I think it would be best read aloud to children and enjoyed by adults as well. It's a short book, only 124 pages with large print in the edition I read. 

Children's fiction, fairy tale, prince, princess, good versus evil

Recommend: Yes

Nightbooks by J.A. White

 My three boys like to go to the library and then check out books for each other to read. Mostly these books sit around my house unread until it is time to return them. I picked this one up and unexpectedly really liked it. I realized halfway through that it is a retelling of the fairy tale, Hansel and Gretel. Alex and Yasmin are two children "trapped" in an apartment with the witch, Natacha. Alex finds out that the key to survival is to read aloud to her stories--scary stories, each night. Together Alex and Yasmin discover much more about the witch and uncover the final mystery around the magical apartment they can't seem to leave. It is a bit scary as they are trapped and as they find out the demise of other children. 

I also found that Netflix made this into a movie in 2021 and it received good reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. 

**I have since watched the movie and I liked it. Of course as is the case with books made into movies there are changes to the plot, with an especially big one at the end. Still, not a bad watch. 

Young adult fiction, fantasy, fairy tale, Hansel and Gretel, horror

Recommend: Yes