A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd is about a young girl named Felicity Pickle, who sees and collects words. These words are words that people are thinking about or what they want. These words can even dance, glow, or wiggle around. She has traveled to many places in the world and has seen many words except for one, home. But when the Pickled Jalapeño, the family's van, drives into Midnight Gulch, Felicity believes that everything is about to change. She has found a place to make a friend and even make some good memories. This happens to be, because Midnight Gulch used to have magic! This is where people shared their magical talents, until a curse stole that away from them. From what all of the people believe, Felicity can tell there is still a snicker of magic left and all she has to do is find the right words for the magic to return to Midnight Gulch.
This is a great book full of adventure, friendship, and well magic. I chose this book because the cover caught my eye and it seemed interesting. My favorite thing about this book is how the author explained parts and how she used her words. My least favorite thing was how there really was no big change in the characters, but this was still a great book. I highly recommend this book for people especially early teens.
Therefore, I gave this book a 4.0 out of 5 stars!
Fans of Bartimaeus will not be disappointed by Jonathan Stroud’s series, Lockwood & Co. The “Problem” started about 50 years ago in London. Ghosts became true, dangerous, and very real threats to the living. Only young people have the ability to “see” and eradicate these creatures of the night. Enter Lockwood & Co., a company of three who go out nightly to defend the city. Great adventure, ghost story, and humor interweave for perfect storytelling in The Screaming Staircase, the first in the series.
Fans of Bartimaeus will not be disappointed by Jonathan Stroud’s series, Lockwood & Co. The “Problem” started about 50 years ago in London. Ghosts became true, dangerous, and very real threats to the living. Only young people have the ability to “see” and eradicate these creatures of the night. Enter Lockwood & Co., a company of three who go out nightly to defend the city. Great adventure, ghost story, and humor interweave for perfect storytelling in The Screaming Staircase, the first in the series.
The best way I can describe Raymie Nightingale is to say that it is a book you can fall into. Kate DiCamillo is a master of characters and story, and Raymie Nightengale is no exception. This author weaves magic through words. We enter Raymie’s life mid-stream; she is ten years old and floundering a little. Through some new, strong friendships, she discovers strength in numbers – and in herself. The subject matter might be a bit much for some. Raymie’s dad has “run off” with a dental hygienist. But DiCamillo is never heavy-handed with the details and navigates the discomfort with aplomb.
The best way I can describe Raymie Nightingale is to say that it is a book you can fall into. Kate DiCamillo is a master of characters and story, and Raymie Nightengale is no exception. This author weaves magic through words. We enter Raymie’s life mid-stream; she is ten years old and floundering a little. Through some new, strong friendships, she discovers strength in numbers – and in herself. The subject matter might be a bit much for some. Raymie’s dad has “run off” with a dental hygienist. But DiCamillo is never heavy-handed with the details and navigates the discomfort with aplomb.
The best way I can describe Raymie Nightingale is to say that it is a book you can fall into. Kate DiCamillo is a master of characters and story, and Raymie Nightengale is no exception. This author weaves magic through words. We enter Raymie’s life mid-stream; she is ten years old and floundering a little. Through some new, strong friendships, she discovers strength in numbers – and in herself. The subject matter might be a bit much for some. Raymie’s dad has “run off” with a dental hygienist. But DiCamillo is never heavy-handed with the details and navigates the discomfort with aplomb.
I believe that in this particular Harry Potter book you do not know what is going to happen next and you are full of suspense and Harry potter runs in to some very difficult problems and him and his friends, Ron and Hermione, have to resolve them by being clever, witty, and brave. It is so suspenseful and great that I did not want to set the book down. I hope that every one loves this book as much as I did.
I believe that in this particular Harry Potter book you do not know what is going to happen next and you are full of suspense and Harry potter runs in to some very difficult problems and him and his friends, Ron and Hermione, have to resolve them by being clever, witty, and brave. It is so suspenseful and great that I did not want to set the book down. I hope that every one loves this book as much as I did.
Harry Potter is an exciting twist of magic and book that no matter what you can not put down.
Harry Potter is an exciting twist of magic and book that no matter what you can not put down.
Harry Potter is an exciting twist of magic and book that no matter what you can not put down.
Amazing! Nick (the main character) runs away from his uncle and meets the ''evil" wizard Smallbone. He becomes the wizard's apprentice, but Smallbone dose not want to teach Nick magic but a bossy bookstore does. I suggest you should read it. Get it in the library and check it out so you can experience it yourself!
I really liked this book! I have read a few of Raina's books before, so I found this one and said why don't i try it!
This book is about a girl and her sister, and they have to move to a new city. At this town their are rumors about ghosts.These ghosts live at one special place in the town called, Bahia de la luna. Maya Cat's sister really wants to meet one,though Cat DOES NOT. One year every year the people of that town have a celebration. Remembering their loved one that died. All of the ghosts celebrate with the people. Those people are able to speak to their loved ones and catch on with their beloveds. Maya seeing that they celebrate this makes her think, maybe these ghosts aren't so bad.
This book is awesome you have to check it out at your local library.
This book is very interesting because it talks about a girl who has always lived in the middle of a war in Afghanistan where all women and girls can't go outside unless the have a note from a male or a male accompanies them outside, well for this girl named Parvana her life changed when her father was arrested and the only other male in her family was her baby brother!!! Big problem huh??? Well the only solution her family found was for her to dress as a boy. Read about this amusing book called The Breadwinner.
Backman's wit and humor ties in wonderfully with a tear-jerking finale. From beginning to end, I was torn between laughing and weeping. The innocence and wonder of childhood is captured perfectly, while also conveying the struggles of not being noticed. The grandmother in this story is eccentric and diligent, striving to create beauty for her granddaughter. Backman paints a masterpiece with his words, and keeps me hooked and enthralled at every turn of this book. I recommend this book heartily!
Despite The Fifth Witness leaving the door open to an interesting diversion from the same defense lawyer story we’ve come to know and love from Michael Connelly’s Mickey Haller, The Gods of Guilt puts Haller back in the hot seat as the counsel protecting a digital pimp from a murder conviction. Some of the depth of the Haller character developed in previous books in this series was eliminated after his unsuccessful District Attorney run, but there was still enough humanity in him to advance his story. After all, his coping mechanisms and needs are some of what we all deal with in our own lives.
While I have come to expect a twist ending from Connelly, it was surprisingly missing from this book. For once, Haller’s client wasn’t as bad as everyone made him out to be, and that’s saying something for the digital pimp of Andre La Cosse. Perhaps that’s what made this story a little more uncomfortable than the others: the seedy underbelly of the adult entertainment industry is harder to relate to than simple foreclosures. Still, I can’t help but think that the same strawman tactics that Haller used in this case were quite similar to some of his other defense cases.
All this being said, Connelly is still a master of his craft. The pacing and advancement in the plot was excellent and the peril Haller found himself in after getting too deep into some serious side-investigations helped to make a rather standard book in the series an entertaining read, nonetheless. As was the case in The Fifth Witness, I appreciated the meta nature of this universe where the Lincoln Lawyer movie was a real part of Haller’s life.
Yet another predictable entry in the Mickey Haller series, I give The Gods of Guilt 3.0 stars out of 5.
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I’ll be honest and say that I had no idea what this book was about before I started listening to it. Once I got into it, I could clearly see how the title and cover image related to the story at hand. It’s interesting to think that a mere five years after the terrorist attacks on September 11th, a book like this could be written. Of course, there is plenty of highly descriptive language that helps to cement the story to the reality of the tragedy. That being said, there are many situations in the plot that feel quite cynical, if not downright dark in their humor. Perhaps it’s this mixture of the absurd and the tragic that gives The Zero its interest.
I did find the memory gaps experienced by the main character to be an interesting literary device, especially in their transitions. For the main character to have a series of memory gaps to add to the eventual reveal at the end of the book, I almost felt like I was listening to the film, Memento (2000). Considering how much I love Memento, this was a good thing. The character only knows as much as the reader, which leaves him and us piecing together what happened at the same pace.
Despite its ability to poke at the ridiculous nature of the nationalism that resulted from this disaster, The Zero does show the effects of this national tragedy on its citizens. Loss can be hard to deal with, and everyone does so in their individual way. The poignancy of the narrative is true even today, more than 15 years after the events that transpired that day.
A cynical and often darkly humorous examination of the effects of 9/11, I give The Zero 3.5 stars out of 5.
For more reviews of books and movies like this, please visit www.benjamin-m-weilert.com
In another “lapse” of my reading habits, I didn’t manage to read Ender’s Game until the movie of the same name came out in 2013. At the time, all the sci-fi fans were eagerly anticipating a film that had taken over 25 years to finally become a reality. While I thought the movie was quite well done and engaging, after I read the book, I can understand why some of the diehard fans of the series were disappointed. As is usually the case with book-to-movie transitions, sub-plots often find themselves on the cutting room floor. Of course, I don’t blame them for cutting what they did; after all, it is called Ender’s Game.
Even though watching the movie first spoiled the exciting twist of the ending when I read the book, I almost read the book differently knowing how it would turn out. I could see the signs leading up to the shocking reveal, almost as if I had read it before. I did appreciate the sub-plot with Ender’s siblings and their efforts back on Earth as their brother was winning the war in space. If anything, it helped to break up the intense action surrounding the eponymous main character so that the reader could fully absorb what was happening in the universe on a political level as well as a military one.
It is disappointing that there will likely be no more movies in this series since the source material is full of interesting ideas that I’d like to see on the big screen. Perhaps the series would be better suited for a television show (a la Game of Thrones) to fully include all the different elements that made it a classic of sci-fi back in 1985. Either way, I look forward to exploring more of Orson Scott Card’s universe in the next book of the series: Speaker for the Dead.
A fantastic sci-fi story with an incredible twist ending, I give Ender’s Game 5.0 stars out of 5.
In another “lapse” of my reading habits, I didn’t manage to read Ender’s Game until the movie of the same name came out in 2013. At the time, all the sci-fi fans were eagerly anticipating a film that had taken over 25 years to finally become a reality. While I thought the movie was quite well done and engaging, after I read the book, I can understand why some of the diehard fans of the series were disappointed. As is usually the case with book-to-movie transitions, sub-plots often find themselves on the cutting room floor. Of course, I don’t blame them for cutting what they did; after all, it is called Ender’s Game.
Even though watching the movie first spoiled the exciting twist of the ending when I read the book, I almost read the book differently knowing how it would turn out. I could see the signs leading up to the shocking reveal, almost as if I had read it before. I did appreciate the sub-plot with Ender’s siblings and their efforts back on Earth as their brother was winning the war in space. If anything, it helped to break up the intense action surrounding the eponymous main character so that the reader could fully absorb what was happening in the universe on a political level as well as a military one.
It is disappointing that there will likely be no more movies in this series since the source material is full of interesting ideas that I’d like to see on the big screen. Perhaps the series would be better suited for a television show (a la Game of Thrones) to fully include all the different elements that made it a classic of sci-fi back in 1985. Either way, I look forward to exploring more of Orson Scott Card’s universe in the next book of the series: Speaker for the Dead.
A fantastic sci-fi story with an incredible twist ending, I give Ender’s Game 5.0 stars out of 5.