Review: Yum-Yum Bento Box: Fresh Recipes for Adorable Lunches

Yum-Yum Bento Box: Fresh Recipes for Adorable Lunches by Maki Ogawa

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I'm familiar with Bento and expected to see 12 ingredients used in tiny amounts and arranged in an artistic way. Completely expected that.

What I was expected was something besides colored rice and pieces of nori. This book was more of a design manual that a recipe idea, which is fine...just not what I expected. I thought this book would include a wider variety of food and give me ideas of healthy lunches to pack for school. Instead, it's little snacks with pink rice, 2 pieces of cheese, a raisin, a noodle and some carrots. If you need help making a face out of nori, this is the book for you. If not, another book would be a better choice.



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Review: Trespasser

Trespasser by Paul Doiron

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



First, let me admit that I started skipping pages about 2/3 through through book. I simply couldn't take the main character's idiocy any longer. The game warden consistently made the worst decision any time he was faced with an option. Often, Doiron would include Bowditch's thoughts, which included the agreement that it was a bad decision. His drinking, his stupidity, his denial...I finally reached the point where I couldn't stand it and just had to get through the ending. Bottom line: It was okay. If no other books are available, read it. If you are faced with this and an old, battered physics text book, read this. Otherwise, choose something else.



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Review: Dash & Lily's Book of Dares

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I'm bookish. Thanks to Dash, I have decided to bring add more quirky and fun words to my conversations and I'm starting with one he used himself. Bookish. That's exactly what I am. And while I don't have an OED, I do treasure my dictionary with it's gilt edged, blue leather cover and hefty weight.

Excellent book. The story was one that I would have loved to have lived. It's a modern day fairy tale, complete with a quest for a missing boot. I loved Lily's extended family and Dash's friends. It was the kind of book that made you smile as you read it.



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Review: Divergent

Divergent by Veronica Roth

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I picked up this book at the library this afternoon and couldn't put it down. I finally finished it and can go to bed!

I really liked this book. It's similar in concept to Hunger Games and Maze Runner - a dystopian future where teens are faced with challenges that will upset the current regime while likely creating a new one.

This book was a GoodReads recommendation and I was fascinated. I requested it at the library that night. This is the first of many recommended books I've requested and so far I'm loving GoodReads' success rate!

When I was a teenager, dystopian reading amounted to "1984." I hated 1984 then and I hated it just as much when I re-read it this summer. I'm thrilled with this new sub-genre in youth fiction.



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Review: Insanewiches: 101 Ways to Think Outside the Lunchbox

Insanewiches: 101 Ways to Think Outside the Lunchbox by Adrian Fiorino

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I love this book, as does my family. In fact, my 9 year old had this in his room for a week. Both of my kids have requests in for the birthday cake sandwich and there are several more they would love to see in their lunch boxes! Most of these sandwiches are easy to make and would be a cute addition to a meal. Will I eat something that advertises itself as a clot-wich? Well, no...but does banana bread, ice cream and hot fudge sound delicious? Definitely! This book is a great way to show what a little effort can create!



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Review: Along for the Ride

Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



A girl from a dysfunctional family lives a quiet life on the outside of teen society. A boy you can't help but want to know more about. Girl friends that possess wisdom beyond their years. Classic Sarah Dessen.

What amazes me is that all of her books follow this format yet I enjoy them all! I wish there had been books like this when I was a teen!



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Review: A Cold Day In Paradise

A Cold Day In Paradise by Steve Hamilton

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I enjoyed the first 15 chapters of the book. In fact, I mentioned it to a friend as a book to look for. And then we reached chapter 16 and the entire book went weird. As in, I wondered if I had accidentally plugged in the wrong book. A suspect suddenly appears, the former cop makes a series of stupid B-movie decisions and an implausible showdown occurs. At that point, the end seems clear but I listed to the next few chapters while I waited for him to figure it out. I finally reached chapter 22 and I was so irritated by the author's closing technique that I'm still annoyed by it, hours later. I feel that a good mystery wraps up with a solid closing and all questions are answered in a quick conversation. I'm even fine with epilogues. But a monologue? And a suggestion of illegal revenge? I feel like I started a great book, lost it in the middle and ended with a bad book.



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Review: The Radleys

The Radleys by Matt Haig

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I didn't like vampire books. I probably would have if it wasn't for the fact that Twilight was such a horrible book and the nauseating love of 13 year old girls for it made it such a sensation. Realizing this, I had decided to give vampires another chance. I never found the right book, though.

When I saw this on the Goodreads Giveaways list, I was intrigued. It was vampires...but non-practicing and trying-to-be-mere-human vampires. How would that work? What would happen to them? How do you pull it off when you have no reflection? I liked the sound of the book and thought it might pull me out of my anti-vampire rut. I was thrilled to win a copy and hopefully optimistic when I began reading.

Good news - it worked! This family (the Radleys) was a group of misfits trying desperately to belong. Illness, lack of loving connections, a sense of forced propriety and an awareness that something was wrong...the kids were miserable, the father was longing for an old but not forgotten life and the mother was desperate to pretend everything was as it wasn't. And then Clara, in a moment of danger, transforms without intention or understanding and the family is left to make sense of a new life that is also an old life. In the time since the parents became abstainers, vampiric life has changed and the family needs to figure out how to act.

I really liked it. In fact, I stayed up late two nights in a row, unable to put the book down. I think I'm finally over the horridness of Twilight and can welcome the vampire genre into my library!



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Review: The Top 100 Recipes for a Healthy Lunchbox: Easy and Exciting Ideas for Your Child's Lunches

The Top 100 Recipes for a Healthy Lunchbox: Easy and Exciting Ideas for Your Child's Lunches by Nicola Graimes

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



This is my ideal cookbook style! Small, portable, easy to follow and designed so that each page has the same formatting. I loved having servings, prep time, storage and "serve with" recommendations in easy to skim locations on each page.

The recipes themselves are fairly simple. In fact, some are simply a matter of having three ingredients and spreading two on the third. Even the simplest of recipes was useful, though, because it gave me new ideas for boxed lunches. Most were kid-friendly...if you don't count the herrings, sardines and cajun salmon! My favorite was actually one of the most basic - salami, cheddar and pineapple on a stick. Yum!



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Review: Rumpel, a retelling of the Brothers Grimm Rumpelstiltskin

Rumpel, a retelling of the Brothers Grimm Rumpelstiltskin by Eileen Cruz Coleman

My rating: 1 of 5 stars



I don't think I've been this lost in a book since Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. Or my college calculus textbook. It just doesn't make sense. I can't figure out a plot and haven't recognized one since the first page. Perhaps it's a formatting issue since it's an eBook? I'm a huge fan of fairy tales being re-invented and updated and Rumpelstiltskin is a great option but this just didn't work for me.



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Review: Ghoulish Goodies: Monster Eyeballs, Fudge Fingers, Spidery Cupcakes, and Other Frightful Treats

Ghoulish Goodies: Monster Eyeballs, Fudge Fingers, Spidery Cupcakes, and Other Frightful Treats by Sharon Bowers

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I love holiday cookbooks, especially Halloween ones! This one had creative ideas that my kids can manage. We'll be making several recipes in October! I wish that we could take homemade treats into school because there are some ideas in here that my kids would love to make and share...and show off their cool kitchen skills!



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