Here are the books I read in July.
I like this but not a lot. It has many sub-stories, back stories, interruptions and I really don't like the narrator - it was slightly arrogant and annoying and it meandered a bit. I like the Orgress who was more like a docile child while the orphans are like responsible adults. I didn't like the Mayor/villain but he's not meant to be unlikable but we spent way too much time in his perspective and he's reptitive, mostly in telling us how lazy he is. The part I really like is the little history about the dragons wearing skins and living as different animals.
There are a couple of perspectives so the main story keeps getting interrupted every time they change perspective which I kind of hate but it's an okay book.
It's mostly about a boy chasing after information about how and why one of his classmates came back from the dead and living as someone else. I did enjoy this but I mostly like the story within - The moon is on the left - that was great, a fairytale-like story with similar theme to the main story. This is translated from the Japanese so I find the writing not all that appealing, very Americanized but it probably reads a whole lot better in Japanese but sadly, I can't read Japanese.
It's quite good, a little creepy sometimes but also a little amusing.
I didn't find anything amusing. I especially did not like the nicknames before each girl's name - Pocked, Stout, Dour, Dear, Disgraceful, Dull and Smooth (the cover even have these nickname listed). In the beginning of the book, there are illustrations with their nicknames and full names. How are readers not want to judge with these nicknames? The murder mystery is just a side thing here as the focus is more on the seven girls and how they kept on pretending their mistress is still alive and their romantic endeavors. I barely care who killed who. But I didn't like the girls didn't get any punishments, in fact, they got what they wanted which frankly was a lousy way to end. If actions have no consquences then what's the point of this book? I guess the author wanted a happy ending.
This was amusing in the beginning and it was quite enjoyable with ghosts and elephants though they were mostly in dream sequences. I know the focus is Mo and her family and mental health but I like the ghost aspect more. I was a bit disappointed by the epilogue - that was not necessary. It's like the author is choosing for the readers and not allow them to decide what to believe. I know it's just a tiny note and only affect a tiny portion of the story but it ruins the book a little for me.
Don't let the title fool you, there is no fun except for some quips from Devon, the dead boy who was awkened. This was just an okay read. I didn't agree with the ending.
[SPOILER: I really think the three people who was brought back from the dead by Kimmy (main character), shouldn't stay alive and go back to living their lives. It goes against what Kimmy and her grandmother had been doing which is basically help the dead move on by fulfilling their last wish. Bringing them back to life and letting them live is just wrong. And the witch/villain getting defeated even before we knew anything about her is just a bit too quick and easy. Why make a villain that powerful but is easily defeated by the main character? END SPOILER].
I'm not saying this was a bad ending, I'm just saying, this ending is too swift. It's like the author glossed over anything that might potentially be too dark and created this happy ending so there would be no violence or deadly consequences. I think Kimmy should have some consequences for what she had done but I guess you might say, those consequences will appear later on in her life but she's 12-year-old so some immediate consequences should happen to help her learn and understand what she did.
This one is from a china rabbit doll's perspective which is unusual, at least I had never read from such perspective. I enjoyed this short book though it's a bit depressing, showing all the human cruelty and unkindness of strangers. It's not dark but in terms of being a children's book, this is pretty bleak but it has a happy ending.
These are for younger children and yet, they don't seem to be. These are amusing shorts (most under 80 pages) that you can read if you didn't feel like reading, sort of something to get you to reading again or just to have a fresh palette in between reads. I enjoyed these and I love the illustrations.
This was a fun and quirky read.
Raymie Nightingale - This was good. If I was still ten years old, I probably would enjoy this more. It's like an adventure book with kids and their friends enjoying whatever schemes they come up with.
Louisiana's Way Home - This is an amusing, quirky read and my favorite of the three books. I really like the main character Louisiana. She can be amusing and contradicting. It's fun to read in her point of view. Although I didn't like she cried a lot but she's about ten or eleven years old. I quite find her amusing each time she said My goodness, like some weird adult.
Beverly, Right Here - This was okay, not as fun or enjoyable as Louisiana's Way Home or Raymie Nightingale. Not much really happens. But I think because Beverly is a much older character (at 14) that I guess she's more introspective and invloves less antics. This didn't seem to have much of an ending but then again, all these books end abruptly but in a good point in the girl's lives.
I liked this and I enjoyed reading it but probably not as much as I would have if I was a child.
I enjoyed reading this though it's too bad about the tiger at the end. I didn't expect that ending. Sadly, we do not get any views from the tiger so we don't know he was thinking or feeling. And I don't think anything really got resolved, especially the bullying of Rob, the main character, it was as if everyone was ignoring it or pretending it was alright for a kid to be beat up every day for no reason. But at least Rob and his father had a better understanding of each other.
I didn't like Despereaux but I didn't dislike him either. I wouldn't say I would enjoy the book more if I like Despereaux but I might. I find him plain and under-ordinary, like he knows he isn't a hero but he still tries because there seems not to be much choice? I don't know. The ending is a bit abrupt and kind of tame when compared to how the rest of the story seems to be building up to some kind of violent end. It ended almost calmly but it's still a happy ending.
This was almost fun. Ferris, the main character, is a fairy ordinary and good character but nothing about her really stands out. It's the people around her that are more interesting. Like her deranged six-year-old sister, Pinky who pulls her teeth out with a stolen plier. Well, it's one tooth with the other loosen but this child didn't feel any pain? Not much really happens to Ferris, it's more she's a witness to the things that happen around her which is a not a bad thing.
I almost love this especially the goat Answelica, she is one wild goat, what some might say deranged but she's so feisty. Some of those people she kicked deserved it. I like that Beatryce isn't some special snowflake with special power, she is just ordinary and smart and perceptive. The ending was kind of tame but satisfying. I guess reading so many Kate DiCamillo books, I should except such endings but I didn't but I still think this a great book. The illustrations are lovely.
This was a lovely, heartwarming story. I really like the writing and the illustrations are quite lovely.
How was your July? I hope August is being good to you.
Very good!
ReplyDeleteChristine: Thank you for coming by. Have a lovely day.
DeleteYou read a lot last month - and I am glad you enjoyed at least some of them.
ReplyDeleteElephant's Child: I read a lot of books but they were really short books, quick read actually. I did enjoy them.
DeleteThank you for coming by. Have a lovely day.
"The part I really like is the little history about the dragons wearing skins and living as different animals."
ReplyDeleteThat sounds quirky and fun!
"I was a bit disappointed by the epilogue - that was not necessary. It's like the author is choosing for the readers and not allow them to decide what to believe. I know it's just a tiny note and only affect a tiny portion of the story but it ruins the book a little for me."
I think I would have felt the same...
"Don't let the title fool you, there is no fun except for some quips from Devon"
😂 Too bad...
"This one is from a china rabbit doll's perspective which is unusual"
Definitely!
"Sadly, we do not get any views from the tiger so we don't know he was thinking or feeling."
Since the book is titled after the tiger, one would think that we should...
You sure have read lots of Di Camillo this month...
Roberta: That little about the dragons wearing skins of other animals and living their lives really was quite intriguing.
DeleteI don't know why this little epilogue was even added.
It was the title that me interested. The book couldn't have been fun but it wasn't.
The rabbit doll doesn't even move and yet, I never minded this.
I don't know it's called the tiger rising since it's the opposite.
Yes, I did read almost all of DiCamillo's books except the ones for really younger children. Her books are so easy to get into and they're short.
Thank you for coming by. Have a lovely day.