I hear you. You’re all saying, “What? This is not Michelle’s usual fare.” And you’d be right. But this summer, I was camping with my sister, sitting around the fire talking books. Somehow, we worked our way around to Frankenstein, which she had never read. I had. (Here’s that review.) As a result, she decided […]
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
I picked up an audio version of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children on a whim last week when I was leaving for a long bike ride. It came out in 2011 and never appealed to me, but the title was one I’d heard of in a sea of unfamiliar books, so I gave it […]
Beautiful Creatures, by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, 2009
I have terrible timing. After three consecutive posts about the research that went into my upcoming novel, this was supposed to be the grand finale, the big announcement that Ebb Tide has released!!!! But it hasn’t. It’s coming soon. I promise. In ten days, in fact. It’s undergone final revisions and is currently out to my last […]
A Monster Calls, by Patrick Ness, 2011, Book Review
This was a tough read, though I made it through the entire book in one sitting. You could say it was timely. Connor has been having the same nightmare over and over for months. The one where—oh, he can’t stand to think about it. He’s been having trouble at school with three bullies. He’s distanced […]
The Amber Spyglass (His Dark Materials, book three), by Philip Pullman, 2000
I did it. I read through the final book of this trilogy. If you haven’t read my first two reviews, you should probably start there. I was not that impressed with book two. The story moved on to several new characters and new settings while the old ones I came to love were set aside, […]
The Subtle Knife (His Dark Materials, book two), by Philip Pullman, 1997, Book Review
The Subtle Knife continues the story of Lyra, who is destined to change the universe as we know it. She has crossed over to another world and the main focus actually shifts from Lyra to a young boy named Will, who is from Earth. The story begins with Will, who is desperate to hide his […]
The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, book one), by Philip Pullman, 1995
I’ve heard a great deal of controversy over this book in recent years, particularly when the movie came out five years ago. It was time to tackle it and make my own judgments. What I found was a complex, evocative, skillfully crafted tale with breathtaking scenes, highly developed characters, and a plot that is out […]
Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, 1818, Book Review
I’m not a fan of horror, but the first time I read Frankenstein, it left me, well, horrified, but in pleasant sort of way. It was such a tragedy. I felt such sympathy and revulsion for both Victor and his monster. I was astonished at the monster’s feelings. Who would ever consider his point of […]
Things That Go Bump in the Night (3:15 Season One), by Patrick Carman, 2011, Book Review
I won this book last year from Erik, over at Thiskidreviewsbooks.com. (Thanks, Erik!) Since Halloween had just passed, my son and I waited to read it till the season rolled around again this year. We’re only about halfway through, but I thought this would be a great time to post a review. Because the book […]
Such Wicked Intent (The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein, book two), by Kenneth Oppel, 2012
I loved the occult-free scariness of book one. It left me with the same nicely unsettled feeling as the classic novel, Frankenstein, for which this series serves as a prequel. But in book two, after the Elixir of Life fails to save his brother, Victor burns all his books of alchemy and turns his focus […]