"The Bronte Sisters: The Brief Lives of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne" by Catherine Reef

I've wanted to know more about the real lives of the Brontës ever since I read Becoming Jane Eyre a few years ago.  I wanted something less sensationalized, more truthful, and that's exactly what The Brontë Sisters gave me.  I found this in the junior non-fiction section at my library, and I think it would be suitable for kids 12 and up, but not for younger readers.  It does discuss things like alcohol abuse and opium addiction, and it touches (non-graphically) on some more mature subjects that the sisters discussed in their books which shocked some readers of their day.

If you want to know more about these three remarkable authors, this is definitely a good place to start.

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: a high PG.  No bad language, but the subject matter is not always appropriate for (or interesting to) children.

"Wonder" by R. J. Palacio

There's a reason this book is super famous and got a movie made of it.  That reason is that it tells a very compelling story about characters you begin to care about quickly.

I am sometimes resistant about very popular, famous books that "everybody is reading now."  I get skeptical and suspicious.  Not sure why -- part of my stubbornly individualistic personality or something.  So it took me a few years to finally read this.  But I'm glad I overcame my inner resistance and read it because it's a very sweet, funny, heart-warming story.  I got tears in my eyes several times, and a few of those spilled down my cheeks at the very end.

Auggie has a rare genetic disorder that caused him to be born with severe facial abnormalities.  Other than that, he's "normal" -- not "developmentally disabled" or physically incapacitated in any way.  He just doesn't look like other people.  His mother has homeschooled him all his life, but when he's ready to enter 5th grade, his parents decide to try enrolling him in a local private school.  Joy and struggles and triumphs and setbacks result.

I loved that this was told from multiple points of view.  Auggie himself was almost a little too perfect to work as a constant narrator, so I was glad that chunks of the story were told by other characters.  It really helped the whole story be more well-rounded and believable.

My son is 11 and in 5th grade, and we homeschool.  So part of the reason this book hit home for me was just imagining if he was Auggie and he faced those same obstacles.

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It:  PG for some instances of taking God's name in vain, a scary/tense scene, and discussions of physical problems that might be hard for little kids to handle or understand.

The Bibliophile Sweater Tag

I wasn't tagged with this specifically -- I found it at The Book Hound, and RM Lutz tagged anyone who wanted to steal it, so... here I am, stealing the tag.  Like a year after it was posted.  Because that is exactly what my life is like right now.

I'm not just busy these days, I am STUPID BUSY.  Like, so busy it makes me stupid sometimes.  I hate it.  I need to unload something from my pile of life, but every time I try, something else jumps on the haywagon and I'm overloaded again.  GRR.  ARGH.

Anyway, here are the rules of the tag, which I am merrily disregarding because... I can.  (Just like I'm ignoring my laundry today...)

1. Give the person who tagged you an endless supply of cookies. (If I knew where she lived, I would.)
2. Answer the questions and use the blog graphic. (Check.)
3. Pass along the tag. (If you want to steal this from me, go ahead.)
4. Wear a sweater. (I only own one sweater, and while it's been cold-ish here again lately, I really don't want to wear it.  I don't like sweaters.)

Fuzzy Sweater -- The Epitome of Comfort

I turn to Rex Stout's mysteries starring Archie Goodwin and Nero Wolfe whenever I need cheering up.  They always do the trick.  I've collected all of them over the years, but only read about a third so far.  They get their own shelf in my library -- all the ones to the right of the Nero Wolfe Cookbook are the ones I've read and the ones to the left of it are the ones I haven't gotten to yet.

Striped Sweater -- A Book You Devoured Every Line Of

I can't help inhaling The Blue Castle by L. M. Montgomery when I read it.  I simply can't read it slowly!  I chomp my way through it as quickly as possible because it's soooooooooo delicious.

Ugly Christmas Sweater -- Book with a Weird Cover

I took a pretty picture of it for #AustenInAugust on Instagram, but this copy of Persuasion by Jane Austen has a very weird cover.  Look at the person on the cover!  I assume it's supposed to be Anne Elliot, but WHAT is going on with her clothes?  Her butt seriously cannot be that huge, and bustles weren't a thing during the Regency, so why is this even on this cover?  The more I look at it, the more it bothers me.

Cashmere Sweater -- Most-Expensive Book

I just ordered a used copy of My Lost City: Personal Essays 1920-1940 by F. Scott Fitzgerald on Amazon for $29.95.  I am CRAZY excited about this!  This is probably not the most money I've ever spent on one book, but it's close, cuz I buy a lot of my books used.  But the reason I'm putting it here (and the reason I'm excited) is that used copies of this book usually go for between $70 and $200.  I've been wanting to read this book for ages and ages, but cost prohibited me.  Well, thanks to meandering around my Amazon wish list yesterday, I saw that there was an affordable copy on offer and snatched it up.  I should get it this weekend.  SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Hoodie -- Favorite Classic

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte... but you probably knew that already.  If you've been reading my blogs for more than like a month, anyway.  I even led a read-along of it a couple years ago.

Cardigan -- Book Purchased on Impulse

I'm not a big impulse buyer for books UNLESS I'm at a library book sale or yard sale where books are only a dollar.  This is why I have such high ratings for books on Goodreads -- I don't read books I don't already know something about and think I'll like.  I don't have time to read all the books I WILL like, so why waste my very limited time on books I know I won't?  

But anyway.  I bought Holiday Grind by Cleo Coyle at the library's semi-annual book sale last year, not knowing anything about it except what the cover told me, namely that it's a mystery that involves coffee and takes place around Christmas.  It's been languishing on my TBR bookcase in the basement ever since.  I'm hoping to read it this winter.

Turtleneck Sweater -- Book from Your Childhood

The Black Stallion by Walter Farley was my favorite book from age 7 until I was in my early 30s and finally admitted to myself that I like Jane Eyre and The Count of Monte Cristo better.  It's still my 3rd-favorite book, though.  HUGE part of my childhood.  I used to spend so much time imagining I was Alec Ramsay, marooned on an island, with a horse for my best friend.  Days and days and days living in that world in my head, while my parents just saw me doing my schoolwork and chores.

I re-read The Black Stallion as an adult a few years ago, and while I now can see that much of it is wildly implausable and hinges on massive coincidences... I don't care.  At all.  I still adore it.  And to be honest, my other two favorite books have lots of coincidences in them too.  I don't mind coincidences!

(I read 3 or 4 of the other books in the series and they were meh, in my humble childhood opinion.)

Homemade Knitted Sweater -- Indie Book

Getting so excited for the release of Soldier On by Vanessa Rasanen at the end of October!  I got to read an ARC of it to review for Sister, Daughter, Mother, Wife, and my review will be out in a few weeks!  I'll post about it here too, don't worry.  This book is fantastic -- meaty and deep and about so many of the hard things in life... but the good things, too.

V-neck Sweater -- A Book that Didn't Meet Your Expectations

Longbourn by Jo Baker.  Do yourself a favor and don't read it if you're a fan of Pride and Prejudice and want to keep liking Austen's characters.  Calling it a disappointment is a dire understatement.

Argyle Sweater -- Book with a Weird Format

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, which is told in overlapping circles, like the stories are ripples in a pond, intersecting and widening and changing all the time.  It took me a while to get the hang of it, but once I wrapped my head around the non-linear storytelling, I really dug it.

Polka Dot Sweater -- A Book with Well-Rounded Characters

Middlemarch by George Eliot is breathtaking when it comes to fantastically deep characterizations.

That's all, folks!  Happy autumn to all of you :-)  I'm not tagging anyone with this, so if you want to play, then play!

"The Westing Game" by Ellen Raskin

This is one of my favorite books.  I have a strict rule of not allowing myself to read it more than once every 5+ years because that way, I won't fully remember it, and every re-read will still have a bit of surprise to it.

I'm having my 3rd-6th graders read this for our homeschool co-op, which gave me a great reason to re-read it myself.  Neither of my kids in that group had read it before, and it's been so much fun watching them experience this mystery.  My almost-11-yr-old read the whole thing in one day, then re-read his favorite parts endlessly for the next week.  My 8-yr-old finished it this afternoon, and I think she's found a new heroine in Turtle Wexler.

The Westing Game is called a "puzzle mystery" because all the major characters have to work together to solve a strange puzzle set forth by a man named Sam Westing.  They all live in an apartment building Westing owned, and when he dies, they're all named in his will.  But they have to play this game to inherit their share of his millions.  

Initially, they all think they're strangers, but it turns out many of them are connected in ways they're not aware of, which is another part of what makes this book fun.  But what really makes me love it is Turtle Wexler, the main character.  She's a wildly intelligent girl with a passion for the stock market and for kicking anyone who annoys her in any way.  She's very good at both.  In fact, she's very good at everything except understanding adults, and since she's just a middle-schooler, who can blame her there.  (To be honest, I don't understand adults much myself.)

I really don't want to say much more about this book because it's full of so many delicious surprises, I don't want to spoil any of them!  

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG for some danger and spookiness and mild violence (mostly kicking people in the shin).  No bad words or dodgy content.

This is my 7th book read and reviewed for the Old School Kidlit Reading Challenge and my first for the Reams of Rereads event.

"The Case of the Very Bad Cat" by Perry Elisabeth Kirkpatrick

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.  This is such a cute book!

How cute?  I totally just ordered a copy of it AND the first three books in the series in paperback for my daughter for Christmas.  She is obsessed with cats and starting to dig mysteries, and she is gonnna love these books.

Why?  Because they're mysteries narrated by a talking, reading, cat detective named Mia.  Cute and adorable and cat-like and... yeah, this is gonna be the perfect series for her.

Also, I totally want to read the first three books myself, hee hee!

In this book, Mia the detective cat is in hiding, working undercover as it were.  Another cat tries to frame her for killing some mice and birds, and Mia must figure out why.  She's also trying to help a human detective figure out a case anonymously.  I'd set it around a 3rd- to 5th-grade reading level.

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It:  G.  Clean, wholesome, no violence (well, a couple mice and a bird die off-page), no bad language, nothing objectionable at all.

Full disclosure:  I received a free advance copy of this book from the author. I was not required to write a positive review; all thoughts are my own.

2018 Tolkien Giveaway WINNERS

Congratulations to the nine lucky winners of the giveaway!  Check your email for a message from me later today asking for a shipping address and so on.

6 Tolkien-themed bookmarks -- Gabby A.
6 Tolkien-themed bookmarks -- Lydia B.
4 Tolkien-themed stickers -- Rose Marie
4 Tolkien-themed stickers -- Abby J.
"Not all those who wander..." bookmark -- Kendra Lynne
Tiny hobbit door -- Jenelle Leanne
The Children of Hurin -- Cordy
Hobbit-hole notebook/journal -- E.F.B.
Middle-earth Puzzles -- Middle Earth Musician

Thanks to everyone who participated in this year's Tolkien Blog Party!  I had lots of fun, and I hope you did too :-)

Answers to the LOTR Name Scramble

Here are the answers to the unscramble!  And everyone's scores, too.  How'd you do?

1. Airfarm = Faramir
2. Algierlad = Galadriel
3. Andflag = Gandalf
4. Angaror = Aragorn
5. Blobi = Bilbo
6. Bolenerc = Celeborn
7. Comradie = Meriadoc
8. Dolern = Elrond
9. Doorf = Frodo
10. Glumlo = Gollum
11. Gripneer = Peregrin
12. Leoslag = Legolas
13. Maurans = Saruman
14. Milgi = Gimli
15. Nothdeer = Denethor
16. Othneed = Theoden
17. Ribroom = Boromir
18. Swimsea = Samwise
19. Wrean = Arwen
20. Wyneo = Eowyn

Scores

Anna Holmberg -- 20
Beth -- 20
Fawnabelle Baggins -- 20
Gabby A. -- 20
Jenelle Leanne -- 20
June and Joze -- 20
Kiri Liz -- 20
Olivia -- 20
RM Lutz -- 20
Skye -- 20
Victoria S. -- 20
Ruth -- 18
Cordy -- 12