Creaky Old House by Linda Ashman and Michael Chesworth

Our old house had a disease, the remodeling disease.

For details please refer to: The Disease Part I , II and III as well as More Roofing!

We set out to fix a stairwell wall and we did.

…and then we had to fix a lot of other walls, and wiring, and insulation, and stairs, and the roof…

The disease hadn’t even finished running it’s course when we moved out and the DOT knocked the whole thing down.

For a very sad picture please refer to: Weekly Photo Challenge: Split Second Story

With that said, no one should be surprised that this book followed us home from the library:

Would I recommend it? If you’ve ever had an old house with a touch (or a full blown case) of the remodeling disease this one’s for you!

Oh, the kids?

They liked it too!

Probably something to do with the great rhyming verse, detailed illustrations and the fact that there are labeled pictures of all the characters in the front.

My girls love any book with pictures of all the people… cat sitting on book

…the cat however has no appreciation for a good picture book when she thinks it’s dinner time.

Graffiti Knight by Karen Bass

Jul23

I love historical fiction but often I feel like I read a different spin on the same time and place over and over and…

Mind you, I’m not complaining, I still love it.

But a book written about post WWII soviet controlled Germany, from a German view point ? That was something entirely new.

Would I recommend it? This is a young adult novel and, as most young adult novels do, it contains a main character of an age that is full of angst, invincibility and self importance. He is crafted so well that I could imagine sitting in a room and talking to him – except I wouldn’t want to. However, he is so perfect in his irritating-ness that I’m still planning on shoving this book at all my friends and family that I know enjoy a young adult novel because it was really that good.

Moo! by David LaRochelle and Mike Wohnoutka

Jul16

We are absolutely spoiled in our house.

Mike Wohnoutka is the brother-in-law of a good friend of mine and many of the books he has illustrated have shown up on our doorstep complete with cute inscriptions to the kids.

See…

…spoiled.

Moo! is funny, the pictures are, of course, adorable and it made me laugh. But when it really got good was when the kids started reading it to each other!

Would I recommend it? Yes. I know it sounds crazy but, trust me, there is nothing like listening to a kid talk “cow” to a policeman to brighten your day and and put a smile on your face!

An Englishwoman’s Guide to the Cowboy by June Kearns

Jul9

For the first time ever I was given a copy of a book to review by it’s author. (Actually what happened was Rosie Amber put out a call for volunteer book reviewers and I stuck my virtual hand in the air and said “Me! Me! Pick me!” – and then the author gave me a copy.)

But when I got the book, I’ll admit, I was a little nervous. Cowboy and Englishwoman romance- it could be awesome, it could be terrible. I’ve exchanged words with a few authors via book reviews before but never before I read the book. What if I hated it? What would I say? What had I agreed to?

Nothing for it, I took a breath, dove in and on the second page surprised myself by snorting out loud in laughter. Worries banished I settled in, ignored everyone I was on vacation with and spent the remainder of the afternoon giggling, snorting and laughing as I thoroughly enjoyed the book!

Would I recommend it? Had you told me that someone could successfully combine Louis L’Amour and Janet Evanovich I would have rolled my eyes. I would have been so, so wrong.