The Week in Review: 07.28.2017

Between the Covers

Finished last week:

WEIRD BUT TRUE KNOW-IT-ALL: U. S. PRESIDENTS by Brianna Dumont is a great way to get middle grade readers turned on to history.  This fabulous book gives facts about each president and briefly shares their accomplishments and failures in a very approachable manner.  There’s also a little trivia and lesser known facts that bring the presidents to life and make them feel more human.  Did you know Zachary Taylor was a champion spitter or that Benjamin Harrison wouldn’t touch light switches because he was afraid of being electrocuted?  This book is chock full of facts, photographs, and graphics and includes a caricature of each president.  I loved it and shared much of it to Carl, much to his dismay.  (Review copy provided by Media Masters Publicity.)

THE MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER by Karen Dionne is the story of Helena, a young woman who was the product of a kidnapping.  Her father captured her mother and kept her hidden in a remote cabin.  She was raised to be tough and learned many survival skills but she’d like to put the past behind her so she’s kept it a secret from everyone, including her husband.  All that changes, though, when her father escapes from prison and she realizes she’s the only one who can find him.  I thought this story was well written and full of tension but the survivalist scenes became a bit too much for me after a while so, while I liked the book a great deal, I didn’t love it like a lot of other people have.  The audio version of the book is very capably narrated by Emily Rankin – she brought Helena to life.  (Review copy provided by Penguin Random House.)

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Shaun Tan‘s books in the past so I was excited to pick up THE SINGING BONES.  The book is composed of two page spreads with a paragraph or two about a fairy tale on the left side and a photograph of a sculpture that was created by the author on the right.  With its full color photos and stunning sculptures, I found the book very visually appealing.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t familiar with most of the fairy tales it referenced so was somewhat lost as I read many of the passages.  I didn’t realize there’s an index with snyopses of the fairy tales at the back of the book until I was finished with it.  I did read the ones about my favorite sculptures but, at that point, I didn’t read them all.  This book is aimed at middle schoolers on up but I’m not sure how much it will appeal to that audience.  I think those who enjoy fairy tales and sculptures will enjoy this book the most.  (Review copy provided by Scholastic.)

Currently reading:

• SNAKES by James Buckley, Jr.
• FIERCE KINGDOM by Gin Phillips
• UNTIL I MET HER by Natalie Barelli
• HER EVERY FEAR by Peter Swanson

On the Screen

Not much of anything.

Off the blog

• Carl was out of town and then Vance was out of town so I worked a little extra this week.

• My friends and I had so much fun with our kindness rocks, we decided to paint more.

• I started a new jigsaw puzzle that’s proving to be a little more difficult than the last one.
• I walked at least three miles every morning and averaged just over 19,300 Fitbit steps a day.

What’s going on in your corner of the world?