In Pursuit of My Own Library

This was recommended by the woman who ran the children's department at the independent bookstore I worked at three years ago.  It got buried in the move, and I'm just now  getting around to reading it.   This book was compared to the "Chronicles of Narnia" and "His Dark Materials" series.  Those are some big footprints to follow behind.   I think the comparison is a bit too lofty for the outcome.   Sylas Tate woke up as a normal boy running errands for an oppressive uncle when he comes across the Shop of Things and his whole world is upended.  He must find his mother.  He enters upon the journey of his life. The novel is a trope and was a little hard to push passed my expectations.  Most of the time I felt like I was reading any number of other middle grade novels where the protagonist flees the evil overlord to come out the other side as a hero.   The story felt forced, but the  concept of the Glimmer Myth kept me from putting this away unfinished. 

I had stacked up a rather large Netgalley pile again, so despite having pre-ordered this novel, I felt it was only right to plow through my ARCs first.  The only problem was some of them were harder reading than I anticipated, and I was put off from reading this for quite awhile.  I missed the release day I had so hoped to help promote.  Que sera, sera. I pre-ordered this because 1) it was written by Charlie Holmberg and 2) it is about humans being vessels to spirits.  (I feel this could be turned into a really awesome anime.)  Sandis lives in an incredibly sheltered life as the favorite vessel to a criminally insane master.  Rone is a 25 year old parkour ninja.  How could I not pre-order? Sandis's character development as an 18 year old runaway is fantastic.  You can feel her naivety from having been sheltered most of her adolescence, but her street smarts from her childhood lie under the surface.  As she flexes her atrophied skills, the story takes a little bit of a slow star

Today is the release day for Immoral Code  by Lillian Clark.  I have a love-hate relationship with this novel.   I received an e-mail for the advanced copy at the beginning of the year.  I was instantly drawn in by their tagline: " Ocean's 8  meets The Breakfast Club  in this fast-paced, multi-perspective story about five teens determined to hack into one billionaire absentee father's company to steal tuition money."  Should have been suspicious at the 8 instead of 11, but I was completely focused on The Breakfast Club-- easily one of my favorite movies.   I didn't read the synopsis much further than that when I clicked the request button.  It took awhile for the request to be approved, and I mostly forgot what the story was all about by the time the ARC hit my inbox.   I really need to read synopses in much further detail before I request books.  It bites me in the butt when I don't.  Hence the love-hate relationship.   This is a story told from five

Husband and I want to live in an efficient home.   A floor plan that is less than 1,000 square feet, which apparently went the way of the dodo in the late '90s.   Making our dreams a reality has alluded us, and it's built some frustration. Then this ARC came through my Netgalley.  The Lord must have heard my quandary and provided some much needed guidance.  I didn't waste any time requesting a copy.  Now I'm itching even worse to get out of here, but at least I now have some ideas on how to make our dreams a reality.  Megan Edwards's home caught on fire back when the internet was nothing but a fledgling idea.  With nothing to their name, she and her husband decided to buy an R.V. and hit the road.  They didn't want the stereotypical experience of campers hauling themselves from state park to state park.  They wanted to work while exploring the United States. Megan recounts their adventures as they struck out on a road less traveled and made money doing it