The Radleys: A Novel

The Radleys: A Novel by Matt Haig

The Radleys are the typical suburban family. They happen to be vampires, but not even the kids know that until their instincts take over. The daughter is at a party where a drunk boy comes on to her and won't take no for an answer. When he refuses to stop she ends up biting him. After tasting blood, she can't stop. Then the parents tell them they are "vegetarian vampires". They also invite over his brother, a not vegetarian vampire who can help fix things (or make things worse.) The novel covers dark material in a light-hearted manner. There are a few people that know about vampires (like certain police group). There are some interesting conflicts with vampires and humans that are appropriately managed, as well as some interesting vampire transitions. I liked the light tone for the vampire work.

The Korean War: A History

The Korean War: A History by Bruce Cumings

While subtitled "a history", this book is just as much a meta-history of the Korean war as a history of the conflict itself. There is a significant review of past writings about Korea. It explores how the war was perceived at the time and how perceptions have changed, especially after Vietnam. The actual western "Korean War" is placed as one small chapter in an ongoing conflict between Korea and Japan, with significant Chinese, Russian and American involvement. Korea itself has had well-defined boundaries for centuries. The division between North and South Korea, however, the divicsion between North and South Korea was based on an arbitrary line created by Americans. The North had been dominated by anti-Japanese freedom fighters, while the south had more collaborators. The sides both were filled with corruption and committed numerous atrocities during the conflict. Neither side could really lay claim to the title of "good guys". South Korea has looked into the atrocities with a truth and reconciliation commission. The North remains autocratic and continues to be officially at war with the South. The goals of the Koreans are not the same as the goals of other countries in the conflict. The western forces had little respect for Koreans themselves, and ended up fighting an indeterminate conflict that gets lost between the "success" of World War II and the "failure" of Vietnam. Korea continues to live with this small episode in the ongoing conflict.

Stephanie the Soccer Fairy

Stephanie the Starfish Fairy by Daisy Meadows

The girls and the fairy are trying to find the missing piece of the conch shell that is being guarded by a starfish. However, goblins are also looking for it. Early on, the goblins catch Stephanie in a net. She ends up out of commission for most of the book. However, she is able to use some fairy magic to lead the goblins on the wrong track. Meanwhile, the girls find the starfish. They can communicate only by signs, but they work together with some puffins to help rescue Stephanie and return the shell piece. This books is a rare one with the fairy out of commission for most of the book.

To the Rescue: The Biography of Thomas S. Monson

To the Rescue: The Biography of Thomas S. Monson by Heidi S. Swinton

There is an audiobook available from audible and ebook available from libraries. Thomas S. Monson grew up in a working class part of Salt Lake. His church unit was the combination of two wards, called the "6-7 ward" (This would be sure to attract giggles from children everywhere with the popular meme.) From a child, he was fairly sociable and had leadership positions from a young age. He liked the outdoors and was fairly sociable, though got into typical juvenile mischief. He had good leaders at a young age who encouraged him to help others. He continued to have a strong focus on the individual throughout his life.

He attended the University of Utah and worked in advertising and publishing. He would continue to have a keen eye for details throughout his life. He enlisted in the Naval reserves towards the end of World War II, but spent most of the time in San Diego. He became involved in church callings, serving as a Bishop and Mission President at a young age. He was also a young member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He was involved in many areas of the church, especially the opening of the church behind the Iron Curtain. He continued to have a reputation for individual focus and looked after individuals from his stewardship. 

He was always a master storyteller. I recognized many of the stories from his talks. This book "fills in the details" for many of the events that are already well known.

Who Was Rosa Parks?

Who Was Rosa Parks? by Yona Zeldis McDonough

I did not realize that Rosa Parks had a backstory of fighting for rights. There were other black people who failed to give up their seats for whites on Montgomery busses. However, they did not resonate with the general public the way Rosa Parks did. She was an educated, upstanding citizen. She had also worked behind the scenes for civil rights. The bus boycott and fame were challenging for her and her family. Eventually she moved to Detroit with other family members. 

This book is a quality, short introduction to her life and the background of the bus boycott and civil rights movement. It is somewhat sad that it was transportation that was attacked. In the name of improving civil rights we ended up hurting our transportation system. (Next step would be to bulldoze black neighborhoods for freeways.)

The Daddy Book / El libro de los papás (Spanish and English Edition)

The Daddy Book / El libro de los papás (Spanish and English Edition) by Todd Parr

A simple book describes things that daddy does. It can lend itself to doing actions like tickling the kid. This version had text in both languages (but my kid did not want to hear any Spanish)

The Familiars

The Familiars by Adam Jay Epstein and Lincoln Hoppe

Animals once controlled the fantasy world, not humans. This is a fantasy epic about them.

The Iron King: The Iron Fey, Book 1

The Iron King: The Iron Fey, Book 1 by Julie Kagawa

The Iron King

Winter's Passage

This audiobook includes Iron King and the Novella Winter's Passage. The quality and originality of this book is a step above the typically female-driven fantasy. Megan Chase thinks she is just an ordinary girl who has had a tough time. Her father mysteriously disappeared one day when she was with him in the park. He was never found. Her mother remarried and she has a new brother. Together they live in the rural area outside a Louisiana City. She has a crush on a football player at school but things go really wrong when she tries to meet him for tutoring. He gets revenge by getting a picture with her and then photoshopping a nude body on her. She feels so embarrassed and goes to the nurse's office and then things get even weirder. She discovers that her younger brother has been swapped out for a changeling. Her friend is actually Puck from Midsummer's Night Dream. She then goes on a quest to get her real brother back. There she encounters a talking cat among others and discovers she is the daughter of the fairy king Oberon. She does eventually get her brother back and returns back home, discovering she has been gone for 3 months. (And that the cheerleader that got "pig-nosed" is now willing to be her friend.) This one ties into the real world as well as a Shakespearean universe as well as exploring things a little different from the standard tropes. The novella was about a return to Winter Court and was not as good as the main novel.

The Chronology of Water

The Chronology of Water by Lidia Yuknavitch

At first, I had assumed this was a novel rather than a memoir. It was interesting how it lead with writing and connected the origin of the book. The author loved to swim. She was good enough to get college scholarships, but not quite good enough to make the olympics. Her college swim career faded out as she was more interested in sex and drugs than school. She grew up mostly in Washington State before moving to Florida in high school. Her mother abused alcohol, while her father sexually abused her sister (and to a lesser extent the author). She was attracted to both men and women and would spent much of her adult life with sex, drugs and alcohol. She had a stillbirth that she had trouble admitting to. She spent time with Ken Kesey's writing group, despite not being enrolled at the time. Overall, it sounds like a rough life, with swimming and water being an ongoing theme. She has an interesting voice to her work.

Barn Storm

Barn Storm by Charles Ghigna and Debra Ghigna, illustrated by Diane Greenseid (Illustrator)

A big storm causes havoc on the farm, moving animals all over the place. After the storm is over, the animals are all in the wrong place. There is not much story, but there is some funny juxtaposition of animals and inappropriate places. 

Five Tumbling Tigers (Noisy Counting Books)

Five Tumbling Tigers (Noisy Counting Books) by Catepillar Books, illustrated by Debbie Tarbett

The book text is credited to "Catepillar books" and it includes an electronic device. That should be a big enough warning. The book tells the story of 5 tigers that play a game where the disappear then reappear. The text almost has a rhythm but then breaks it for its gimmick. With a dead battery, this is pointless.

Movie for Dogs

Movie for Dogs by Lois Duncan

Andrea enters a writing contest for young pet lovers and comes in second place. First place was the neighborhood bully, Jerry Gordon, which made it worse. To make up for this, her brother works with her to make a movie for another dog contest. They end up becoming a finalist, along with another girl at the school. At first, they think the girl is a girlfriend of Jerry (thought they later learn otherwise.) When they go out to the studio, they also meet a talking dog. Unfortunately, the video is not able to be shown because Jerry appears in it and refuses to sign a release form. Eventually, they discover from a jilted girlfriend of Jerry's cousin that Jerry's book was just copied from an old book. Andrea wins the prize. The talking dog also stops talking and they end up getting it from the other contestant. (This dog makes a great therapy dog.) 

This book rehashes much of what was in the other books in the series. It starts to get a bit predictable.

Kokoro

Kokoro by Natsume Soseki, translated by Meredith McKinney

A student meets an old man. The man becomes his Sensei, who he looks up to. The end of life is approaching for the student's father and the old man. The student graduates before his father's death. He doesn't feel graduation is important, but does realize where is father's view is coming from. Later the student grows up and gets married and learns more about himself. He also explores the relationship between the death of he emperor and death of people. How is Japan changing? The tale of personal relationships during times of societal change feels current even 100 years later.

The Inside Story: The Sisters Grimm, Book 8

The Inside Story: The Sisters Grimm, Book 8 by Michael Buckley

The Grimm sisters are now in a book of fairy tales to try to find their baby brother and hunt down Pinocchio. At first, they see themselves in the Wizard of Oz. One is Dorothy, while the other is Toto. They are expected to recite the lines in the story and follow the plot. The other characters want this to happen, for otherwise, the editor will get mad and the revisors will be after them. They also see other characters who are eager to escape out of their roles in stories. The Grimm sisters, however, are keen on continuing their quest, and don't want to follow the rules. This gets them in trouble. They get taken to see the editor who wants the to help find Pinocchio, who is causing mayhem in his quest for change. The girls are glad to help out. Their parents and granny do show up, but things still get worse. Their is a first kiss and the book ends on a cliffhanger.  The multiple levels of stories works well hear and makes it a fun book. 

The Emperor's New Poodle

The Emperor's New Poodle by Liza Charlesworth, illustrated by Kelly Kennedy

In this version of The Emperor's New Clothes, the emperor gets bilked into buying an invisible dogs. He is told that only fools cannot see it, so everyone tries to pretend they see it. Then in a parade, a poor girl is the only one to identify the dog as non-existent. The emperor likes her dog, and then learns he can get a dog he likes at the animal shelter. They live happily ever after. This ending is quite different than the real one. It is nicely told, but the changes to the original feel excessive.

Pimsleur Russian Level 1

Pimsleur Russian Level 1 Lessons 1-30 by Pimsleur

This is available for a 21 day checkout via Libby. Audible has the similar lessons in 5 lesson chunks. You can also purchase a CD from Amazon with 16 lessons. It looks like Libby is the best deal. However, you are supposed to do a lesson a day, and 30 spans more than the 21 day checkout. I started the lessons after it was checked out for a while. I did about a week's worth of lessons, then the loan expired. When the renewed one came, I had lost interest. I really need to listen at 1x speed to grasp it, and it feels like things take much too long at 1x.

As for the course, it seemed reasonable. It starts out with the very practle. A lot of "do you speak Russian?" conversation starters. Each lessons reviews the previous lessons and then builds on it some. It is specifically meant to be audio only. I felt I was learning some. When I didn't focus well, I did not make much progress. It is hard to listen to something for 30 minutes in a way you can stay focussed and speak things out loud.

New York, Phew York-A Scratch N Sniff Adventure

New York, Phew York-A Scratch N Sniff Adventure by Amber C. Jones (Author), Gabrielle Gold (Editor), Tim Probert (Illustrator)

A family explores many of the sites of New York City. Most of the pages have a "scratch and sniff" section to provide some of the odors of the city. The book stands pretty well on its own, even after the scratch and sniff items no longer provide odor. It covers a lot of the tourist sites around the city.

The Elephants and the Shirtmaker

The Elephants and the Shirtmaker by Liza Charlesworth, illustrated by Doug Jones

A shirtmaker is down on his luck and only has a few scraps of traffic. He leaves it out at night and wakes in the morning to find a shirt fully sewn. He buys more fabric, and each morning finds shirts made. There are some clues as to who did it : hay and peanuts. One day, the elephants are scared of a mouse and wake the shirtmakers. They see the elephants and their ratty shirts. They make nice shirts for them and thank them for their work and let them know they are doing well enough on their own now. It is a fun fairy tale I have not heard often before.

The Berenstain Bears and a Job Well Done

The Berenstain Bears and a Job Well Done (Berenstain Bears/Living Lights: A Faith Story) by Stan and Jan Berenstain

The bear family is doing spring cleaning, but the cubs get sidetracked playing ball. They repent and clean their playhouse after papa chases away the spiders. The parents then quote some bible verses that may be tangentially related, but don't feel necessary for the story. It is not bad as the series goes.

This Isn't What It Looks Like: Secret Series, Book 4

This Isn't What It Looks Like: Secret Series, Book 4 by Pseudonymous Bosch

Cass is in a coma. She tried to consume chocolate to travel back in time to find the secret. Max-Ernest's parents are now in love again, so much so that they ignore him and are expecting a second child. Max-Ernest is trying to figure out a way to get to her mind as well as deal with other challenges in the world. There is a renaissance fair (both "real" and modern.) There are also Junior High kids being junior high kids. People look in the minds and in the past. It is time travel, but is it? The book also has random commercial interjections, including an "if you liked this, you would also like" section. There was double monocle that gave each bearer special powers. (It may include mind reading or x-ray.)  Owen appears in a weird disguise - again. At times I got lost figuring out what the goal of the characters was, but the way it was carried out made it fun.