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Showing posts from February, 2020

The Monster of Elendhaven

"The problem is that I've been stumbling about in the dark." In the city of Elendhaven a monster lives.  Born of the dark sea, a taste for violence, and constantly asking one question...who am I?  Johann never understands himself. Not until he meets Florian, an important aristocratic member of the community with a secret of his own. The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht is a beautifully written and delightfully dark little tale.  It was a quick, exciting read.  It reads like a nice short story, concise and to the point, rather than a lengthy novel, which I found surprisingly refreshing.  I was left with a bit of a book hangover after The Winternight Trilogy (So. Good.) and wasn't ready to jump back into something heavy.  This little book proved to be the perfect cure.  Sometimes we cling to books and their long, drawn out stories.  We don't want them to end.  This was not one of those books and that's a very good thing.  ...

The Doughnut Fix

“I’d never met a “why not?” person before. In the city, there’s generally more of a “why should I?” kind of vibe.” Everything is fine in Tristan's life.  He lives in an amazing city.  He has a great best friend.  Things are awesome.  Then his parents pack him and his sisters up and move to Petersville, a tiny mountain town with one street and a super old house that they are now the proud owners of.  Tris's awesome life has taken a turn for the worse.  It isn't until his dad suggests he come up with a project to fill his free time that Tris learns to love the quaint little town.  With the help of his new friend, Josh, Tris is on a mission to bring Winnie's famous chocolate cream doughnut's back to Petersville.   The Doughnut Fix  by Jessie Janowitz is one of the 2019-2020 nominees for the Nebraska Golden Sower Award.  My 11-year-old son and I have been diligently working our way through the list together since September and t...