Book Rants: April 2026

accidently here no. 2

I had a good reading month though it was busier than usual with the A-Z Challenge which I just finished. (I'll talk about that in a later post.) The art above have nothing to do with anything, I just thought I share it since I finished it and it's something cheerful to look at. Here are the books I read in April. 

01 - The house with a dragon in it by Nick Lake, illustrated by Emily Gravett
What's it about: a dragon, a witch, an orphan, wishes, family
It was disappointing that the dragon is only at the beginning and end of the book and didn't get involved in the main story. This is really about an orphan and a witch who grants her wishes. I half enjoyed this. It's mostly because I expected more of the dragon so it's like false advertising, perhaps this needs a new title and new cover art. The illustrations are wonderful.

02 - The Turnkey of Highgate Cemetery by Allison Rushby
What's it about: cemetery gatekeepers/turnkeys, ghosts, world war II, nazis
Flossie (the main character) is a turnkey and a ghost. She is in charge of the dead which means if one of them wakes up, she has to appease them to go back to sleep but that is only the little bit of the story. The main story is Flossie trying to stop a ghost nazi spy from helping the living nazis win the war. It just seemed like the author thought it was boring with a ghost turnkeys, the dead and world war II, so she added this Nazi storyline. I would prefer more of Flossie dealing with the dead rather the nazis. I do like that Flossie can go place to place with just a thought. The book cover offers something whimsy but it was a more serious book. I would say this is more of a historical fiction with ghosts than a ghost story.

03 - The Puppets of Spelhorst by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Julie Morstad & The Hotel Balzaar by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Júlia Sardà (The Norendy Tales)
What's it about: puppets, family, tales, hotel
These two books are delightful. I especially like The Hotel Balzaar where a lady tells the main character tales. I have read a lot of DiCamillo's books and they read like those old time stories, like old fairytales and these two are kind of like that. These are part of The Norendy Tales series but they can be read as standalones.

04 - The Sittaford Mystery by Agatha Christie (also titled The Murder at Hazelmoor)
What's it about: murder, snowbound, neighbors, a séance
I don't know what I was expecting. Maybe since there is not a character that stood out or that the murder was not particularlly enticing, I just didn't like this much.

05 - The Flight of Swans by Sarah McGuire
What's it about: six brothers, one sister, swans, enchantment, family, a bit of romance, fairytale retelling
I like this but I think the first-person perspective (Andaryn) is not enough. There are scenes, things done by other characters that the reader never got to witness – those I like more details of especially the ones at the end. I didn't like the romance and the man having a certain relation to the Queen (the villain) just seems too much of a coincidence. And the Queen – so powerful and yet, rather weak – it seemed she did a lot but because all we get is Andaryn's perspective, we don't see her do much. And why did it took Andaryn so long to figure out the Queen wasn't human? But I do like Andaryn and her strong will and persistency and her chicken pet whom she named after her twin brother.
    The cover didn't quite work for me since the main character was eighteen and considered an adult at the end of the book as they fast forward from when she was twelve. This is more of a young adult than middle-grade. I enjoyed this book but wish there is more details of what the other characters are doing at the end.

06 - Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale, illustrations by James Noel Smith
What's it about: a maid, a gentry, adventure, class divide, family, loyalty, bit of romance, fairytale retelling
I had expected the two main characters (Dashti, the maid and Lady Saren) would stay in the tower the entire book but that is just the first half of the story. I really like Dashti who narrators the book. She is strong and capable while Lady Saren is weak-minded and a bit childish (though they are about the same age, 18 or 19). It made me mad to read about Lady Saren because she is so helpless without Dashti and if Dashti wasn't there, she might have died right at the beginning of the story – she is that helpless but at least she grew a little toward the end. But it's more of Dashti's story anyway. The illustrations adds to the story though they weren't really necessary. Overall, a surprisingly good read.

Have you read any good books lately?