Custom t-shirt

 I had a plain t-shirt in my craft supplies that I decided to decorate for my mother for her birthday (which is today - Happy Birthday to Mom!). I decided on this fellow from Animaniacs for the theme:

If you're unfamiliar, he was the star of a short segment where he would come out and tell a story, a common urban legend, as told to him by a kid named Randy Beaman.

Here's my take on him, painted with silver fabric paint.

WWW Wednesday

 What are you currently reading?

Where the Heart Should Be by Sarah Crossan - A verse novel about the Potato Famine

What did you recently finish reading?

The Secret of Honeycake by Kimberly Newton Fusco - When her sister falls ill with TB, a girl is sent to live with her strict aunt

What do you think you'll read next?

Danilo Was Here by Tamika Burgess

Listen With Me

 

Our Shouts Echo by Jade Adia

I've read books about kids being raised by preppers, but this may be the first I've read where the teen is the one instigating the changes. This book promises a protagonist responding to climate anxiety and trauma with prepping and a boy who turns her world upside down.

Non-fiction book review - Growing Up in the Shadow of Alcatraz

 

Growing Up in the Shadow of Alcatraz by Emma Bland Smith

Until the book Al Capone Does My Shirts I hadn't given much thought to the lives of children of Alcatraz guards. Most schools teach little about the prison, focusing primarily on it's fearsome reputation, but not much about the details of life there. This book aims to change that. We learn about the way the prison was set up, allowing for some families to live on island, and how the prison was a part of their daily lives. This book is very accessible, with simple language and easy to follow text all well-supported by photos and charts. There is, of course, little detail but it's compelling reading.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Pick 6: magic

Let's start out the year with excitement and wonder. And what better way to do that than with a book filled with magic? Some of these books feature a whole fantasy world populated by faeries and witches. Others have a small element of magic existing in an otherwise familiar world. No matter how it is represented, magic sparks our imagination and suggests that anything is possible. Here are six books published in the past six months that feature some form of magic.

Six new magical novels

1. Chasing the Shy Town by Erika McGann
2. Golemcrafters by Emi Watanabe Cohen
3. The Monstrous Adventures of Mummy Man and Waffles by Steve Behling
4. The Grimsbane Family Witch Hunters by 
5. When Wishes Were Horses by Cynthia Voight
6. The Night Librarian by Christopher Lincoln

It's a new year. Let's try new things

 When I started this blog ten years ago, I established a set structure for book reviews that I've followed ever since. It's worked for me thus far but recently I've found it more confining than helpful. So I've decided that 2025 is the year of new things. We're going to experiment with some different formats and find the one that works going forward. I'd love to hear any feedback you have as I implement these changes.

WWW Wednesday - New Year's edition

 What are you currently reading?

Same Page by Elly Swartz

Girl Forgotten by April Henry

assorted Asterix books

What did you recently finish reading?

Holler of the Fireflies by David Barclay Moore

What do you think you'll read next?

Ravencave by Marcus Sedgwick

What's a cool book you reread last year?

Primates by Jim Ottaviani

What book are you looking forward to this year?

The Greatest Stuff on Earth by Steve Tomecek