Reviews With Lilah: SCAREDY SQUIRREL PREPARES FOR HALLOWEEN by Melanie Watts

Tags

Children 4-8, Halloween, NetGalley, Picture Books, Reviews With Lilah

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The subtitle for this chapter/picture book is “A Safety Guide for Scaredies.” If you’re familiar with Scaredy Squirrel (and if you have a young child, you SHOULD be), you’ll remember that Scaredy Squirrel is scared of EVERYTHING. Loud noises, surprises, germs. So, naturally, Halloween is TERRIFYING for him. He has put together this handy guide to surviving Halloween; he offers tips on safe trick-or-treating, non-scary costume ideas, a field guide to monsters, and more. The child who is apprehensive about Halloween will adore this tongue-in-cheek guide, and the parent who is apprehensive about Halloween will appreciate Scaredy Squirrel’s rules that include having an adult check all candy before eating any.

Lilah’s comments: Scaredy Squirrel is hilarious. This is a funny guide to Halloween, but he also has some really smart ideas! Like being careful when you cross the street and not using an ax to carve your pumpkin.

Mom’s comments: I think this is a great book to read to nervous children who aren’t sure what to expect with Halloween approaching. My almost-seven-year-old is on the young side for this one, but she still enjoyed it. When she was 3 or 4, it would have been perfect, since she’s a bit of a scaredy squirrel herself. Scaredy Squirrel is loads of fun in his more traditional picture books, and he’s fun in this “chapter” how-to guide as well. Lilah and I both enjoyed reading it; I just think that it could be a godsend for parents of younger, nervous children, as well as being fun and entertaining.

Source disclosure: I received an e-galley of this title courtesy of the publisher.

 

THE LAST WORD by Lisa Lutz

Tags

Funny, Mystery, Private Detective

 

This is really a love letter to the entire Izzy Spellman series, which began with THE SPELLMAN FILES. Start there. Don’t start here. THE LAST WORD may actually be the last word Lutz gives us about Izzy and her dysfunctional family of private investigators, and it’s been a long, crazy ride. Izzy’s growth and development are not to be missed. So if your interest is piqued by the following snippets, go read THE SPELLMAN FILES. I tend to recommend this series to friends who have enjoyed the early Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich but have grown bored with the love triangle business and Stephanie’s failure to evolve as a person or as a bounty hunter. Isabel Spellman is a smart, funny, deeply flawed person who grows as both an investigator and as a human being through the course of the six books in the series.  While dating is a part of her life, this is in no ways a romance series, nor is romance particularly central. When I compare her to Stephanie Plum, I mean only that she’s a smart, funny investigator and the books have both satisfying mysteries and laugh-out-loud humor.

Isabel Spellman has worked for Spellman Investigations since the age of twelve. In her family, surveillance is the norm and privacy is nonexistent. Wonder where your mother has been heading every Wednesday afternoon? Put a tracking device on her car. Your daughter is acting strangely? Put a tail on her. It’s no wonder Izzy has trust issues. In this installment of the series, Izzy has executed a hostile takeover of the family business. This novel is the fallout. 

Snippets from THE LAST WORD:

“I really must compliment you on your ability to lie to yourself,” said David.

“Thank you,” I said.

***

My point is, entering the house through the front door would have caused more hassle than necessary. I used the slim jim I keep in my purse to pry open the window, hoisted myself inside, extracted the money from the safe, and was back in Henry’s car in five minutes. “Still door-averse, I see,” he said.

“More parent-averse, these days.”

***

How well would I survive in a federal prison? Martha Stewart set the standard pretty high, and you know you can’t live up to that. And you wonder what kind of ridiculous hobbies you might take up. Ceramics? Gardening? Creative writing? That shit is not for me.

***

Rae gathered her belongings and reminded me to call Robbie. “Robbie and you are in a cyber-war right now and he’s winning. You need to throw in the towel. Do you know how to do that?”

“Apologize?”

“With a porn gift basket,” Rae plainly explained.

***

“This needs to be a professional conversation,” Rae said.

“Then maybe you shouldn’t have worn pants with anthropomorphized peanut butter sandwiches on them.”

***

Someone on GoodReads characterized Lisa Lutz’s books in the genre “hijinks,” and that’s very true. But I’m also always surprised that in the midst of the ridiculous revelations and snarky wit, she always makes me cry at least once per book. And if I’m honest, it’s probably more like three times. If you like your female characters complex and enjoy madcap hilarity along with your poignant doses of reality, this series is probably for you.

Note: I did a brief review of this book over the summer: http://hollybooknotes.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-last-word-by-lisa-lutz.html

Source disclosure: I received an e-galley of this title courtesy of the publisher, and I have also purchased copies of every book in the series.

SUBSTITUTE CREATURE by Charles Gilman

Tags

horror, LTER, middle-grade fiction

This is the fourth book in the TALES FROM LOVECRAFT MIDDLE SCHOOL series, and as I expected, it delights. The series begins with PROFESSOR GARGOYLE. Each hardcover features a lenticular image that shifts a normal teacher or student into his/her/their demonic alter egos, an image that foreshadows the story within. The premise: Robert Arthur is moved to Lovecraft Middle School, a brand-new, state-of-the-art facility built over the old Tillinghast Mansion site. Oops. Naturally, a connection to the old mansion (which mysteriously disappeared with its inhabitants) still exists, and even more naturally, Robert is the one to find it. In this installment, it is nearly Valentine’s Day and Lovecraft Middle School, among other more supernatural occurrences, also has to deal with a blizzard. It’s Robert to the rescue, along with his best friend (and former bully), his two-headed rat, and a ghost. There are plenty of otherworldly creatures and mild scares, making this an excellent readaloud for a Lovecraft-fan parent to his/her horror-loving child. If you’ve read Lovecraft, the references will tickle you, but you won’t be lost if you haven’t.

Highly recommended for reluctant readers who need a page-turner, anyone who enjoys horror, and boys who only like books with boy protagonists.

Source disclosure: I received a copy of this book courtesy of the publisher.

HOLY ORDERS by Benjamin Black

Tags

1950s, Ireland, LTER, Mystery, Police Procedural

 

I don’t generally pick up a series so far on–HOLY ORDERS is the sixth Quirke novel–but the premise snagged me, and I’m glad it did. I’ll be reading the first five in the series as soon as possible. The series begins with CHRISTINE FALLS.

There are plenty of deeply flawed, self-destructive sleuths out there, but Quirke has an appeal all his own. An alcoholic pathologist, he teams up with Inspector Hewitt to solve the murder of his daughter’s friend. This is 1950s Dublin, and Quirke finds himself butting heads with the Church’s powers that be and dealing with some of his own troubled past as he digs deeper.

Black (a pen name for John Banville) draws 1950s Dublin masterfully. It’s rainy, grim, and overshadowed by the Catholic Church. Quirke and Hackett are a delightfully complex pair: “They looked at each other, and had they been other than they were they would have smiled.” I’d say that sums up their relationship. Quirke’s struggles to relate to his daughter are poignant. The mystery is tightly paced and satisfying. I enjoyed Quirke and look forward to more.

Source disclosure: I received an advance copy of this book courtesy of the publisher.

THE BLACK COUNTRY by Alex Grecian

Tags

London, LTER, Mystery, Police Procedural, Victorian

 

Ah, another Alex Grecian novel! I so enjoyed the first in his Murder Squad series, THE YARD, and I was delighted at the chance to read the follow-up. While THE YARD was a police procedural at the dawn of forensic medicine, THE BLACK COUNTRY is darker, and more of a thriller than a procedural. That said, it was quite entertaining. Inspector Day, Sergeant Hammersmith, and Dr. Kingsley are sent to a coal town in the Midlands, where three villagers are missing. The village, built over the mines, could literally collapse at any moment, making for a dark sense of foreboding over the whole book. Portrayals of Victorian life and coal-mining are gritty and unflinching, with a sense of despair hanging over the whole village. Day and Hammersmith have a charming relationship and Kingsley adds his cutting-edge science to the mix. I had difficulty putting this one down to sleep.

Source disclosure: I received a copy of this book courtesy of the publisher.

THE BONE SEASON by Samantha Shannon

Tags

Dystopia, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA

Is it a cop-out to review a debut novel with the caveat “depending on how the next book in the series is”? It is? Well, too bad. I’m cautiously positive about THE BONE SEASON, but my opinion may change completely with the next book in the series. As a first book in a series, I think it’s solid, and the series has promise. The fact that I want to read the second book is probably review enough of the first. Paige is a heroine I want to follow, and Shannon’s worldbuilding is phenomenal.

The year is 2059, in a London under the firm control of the all-encompassing global corporation Scion, and Paige is a rare type of clairvoyant known as a dreamwalker. Her very existence has been outlawed, and she survives in a criminal underground of others with special abilities. When she becomes a killer, she is sent to an unusual prison and finds herself under the control of Warden. While there, she learns about the history of Sheol (the prison) and the relationships among the various inhabitants there. This is the first of seven books, so there’s quite a lot of setup in THE BONE SEASON–only future books will show if it pays off.

Paige is tough and smart, but she isn’t a know-it-all. She was a female character I could relate to, admire, and hope for. My one complaint (and it’s not a tiny one) is the beginning of what I fear (and dread) will be a series-wide romance. I could see it coming and every time there was a hint of it, my whole being screamed, “NOOOOOOOOO!” I fear it’s going to haunt me throughout the series.

The worldbuilding really is amazing. And there are two phases to it – first, we have to become acclimated to Paige’s world, then to the world of the prison, each of which has its own hierarchy, rules, and divisions. One of the criticisms I’ve read of THE BONE SEASON is that there is too much info-dumping. The reader is going to have to do a certain amount of work in a series of this scope, and I didn’t find it excessive. That said, there is a lot of information Shannon has to share, so if your patience for being dropped into a completely unknown world and slowly coming up to speed is limited, this may not be the book for you. If, however, you’ve breezed through the even more intricate worldbuilding of THE LORD OF THE RINGS or GAME OF THRONES, you, like I did, will wonder what the fuss was about. There is a glossary. And maps. If that scares you, skip this one.

Does it live up to the hype? (Shannon has a seven-figure book deal, and more than one source insists on calling her “the next JK Rowling.”) I’m reserving judgment until I see how the series pans out. It’s really nothing at all like HARRY POTTER so far, but it does have a magical, timeless feel. We’ll have to see what Shannon does next. As a first book in a series, it certainly did its job — I like Paige, and I look forward to seeing what she does next.

Source disclosure: I received an e-galley of this title courtesy of the publisher.