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

Happy 2024

Throughout the year I read a number of books. Some are good, some less so. Most of my favorites end up here on my blog on featured reviews. Others are hard to describe or get pushed out by scheduling issues. So here's a short list of books that I read this year that I feel are worth your time but, for whatever reason, didn't post about already.

the Cat's Cradle series by Jo Rioux (ongoing)

We are the Beasts by Gigi Griffis

The Ghostkeeper by Johanna Taylor

the Marius Grey series by MR Fournet (ongoing)

Learning to Fall by Sally Engelfried

The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman by Gennifer Choldenko

Major Impossible by Nathan Hale

Unicorn Boy by Dave Roman

We Are Mayhem by Beck Rourke-Mooney

That's it for 2024. Anyone excited to see what 2025 will bring?

Christmas gifts

 Now that gift giving is done I can share with you some of the things I made as gifts this year. I did a fair amount of knitting and crocheting this year. 

First we have fish slippers for my mom. She'd had a pair of these that I made years ago in orange that finally completely wore out. So I made her new ones in this soft blue wool.

Next, for my gamer brother, a Link hat.

And for my sister, a pair of waffle weave mittens in woolease.

Non-fiction book review - Spices and Spuds

 

Spices and Spuds by Andy Warner

If you have any interest in history, social studies, or plants, this may be the book for you. Warner breaks down all the known history of a plant and how it has shaped society. From wood to agriculture, the spice trade to industrialization, it's all here. The book is divided into chapters focused on a kind of plant. It's structured like a graphic novel, though it is quite text heavy. This is not a book you're going to sit down and read all at once, but rather one to read slowly, allowing yourself time to absorb the information.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley