Recent Reads: We Want a Dog by Lo Cole

Source: From Sourcebooks in exchange for an honest review. This in no way alters my opinion or review.

We Want a Dog by Lo Cole
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Publication Date:  June 8, 2021

 

Format: Paperback ARC


Rating:


Goodreads Synopsis: 

From the author-illustrator of Ten on a Twig comes a hysterical dog book for kids and adults alike, perfect for any pet lover!

We want a dog! What kind of dog...?

This hilarious rhyming texts takes us through twenty-seven unexpected and amusing varieties of dogs that one could have, like "one that begs, one that sheds, one that rips things into shreds." And while the book is sure to delight any dog lover, the narrator's choice at the end will make readers laugh out loud! See how many of these lovable and amusing pups you can recognize from your own life.

Review: 

This was a cute book with simplistic yet striking illustrations that will be sure to catch your eye and keep your youthful reader involved... and it is about dogs! 

This children's book is all about finding the right kind of dog. Using open ended questions, rhyme, and a bold red, white, and black color palette to pull you in. It also showcase some of the weird, troublesome, and fun things that dogs like to do that may help you make your doggy choice. 

The finished copy of this book will also include a clever gatefold surprise, although my ARC did not have it, I expect that is is adorable and will be fun for readers. 

If you are a pet household, this will be an enjoyable read.

Recent Reads: Shipped by Angie Hockman

Shipped by Angie Hockman

Publisher: Gallery Books
Publication Date:   January 19th 2021

 

Format: Paperback
Source: Borrowed from Library

Rating:


Goodreads Synopsis: 

Between taking night classes for her MBA and her demanding day job at a cruise line, marketing manager Henley Evans barely has time for herself, let alone family, friends, or dating. But when she’s shortlisted for the promotion of her dreams, all her sacrifices finally seem worth it.

The only problem? Graeme Crawford-Collins, the remote social media manager and the bane of her existence, is also up for the position. Although they’ve never met in person, their epic email battles are the stuff of office legend.

Their boss tasks each of them with drafting a proposal on how to boost bookings in the Galápagos—best proposal wins the promotion. There’s just one catch: they have to go on a company cruise to the Galápagos Islands...together. But when the two meet on the ship, Henley is shocked to discover that the real Graeme is nothing like she imagined. As they explore the Islands together, she soon finds the line between loathing and liking thinner than a postcard.

With her career dreams in her sights and a growing attraction to the competition, Henley begins questioning her life choices. Because what’s the point of working all the time if you never actually live?

Review: 

Henley is a persistent and driven woman. She is a list-maker pursuing a full time career marketing for a cruise line and an MBA. It would all be coming together if not for Graeme who walked in and took credit for her idea and now she has to work with him daily and her boss who seems to be speaking down to her at all times. When a promotion comes up Henley and Graeme are sent on on of the cruises to get a feel for it, come up with a marketing plan, and land the promotion. 

This is a fun hate-ish to love-ish romance with a lot of flirting and build up. The romance itself is very PG and wholesome, not steamy at all. I enjoy that in a romance. The cruise put the characters in a romantic setting and their personalities were hilarious and them getting together was a fun rollercoaster ride. I had some laugh out loud moments and enjoyed this read.

I only liked it though for a few reasons. I felt like Henley and her sister's relationship was not fleshed out enough. There was a lot of loathing there and then all of a sudden it is all forgiven and pet names are used - it seemed like too much. And from experience with sister ... we can hold a grudge so I felt like there needed to be more there. I also felt like Henley and Graeme's relationship was more insta-love than a built up love story. This was more a story of miscommunication, paranoia, and misjudgment than hate to love.

Building the Book Pile #351

Welcome to Building the Book Pile!

Hello Readers, Bloggers, and Awesome people! 

Another Sunday folks! I hope you made it though the week in one piece. 

I had another productive week of reading...still have a few more days to finish my TBR for June - wish me luck (I'm close!). I also FINALLY finished Guards! Guards! haha it has been on my finish list for MONTHS.

July will bring a lot of things - a trip up north for work, a trip to the lake with family, finishing my Master's program!!!!, lots of blog tour reviews to come. I am already feeling overwhelmed. 

Sorry for the short update - it is late as I am finalizing this post and the puppy has just informed me it is time to go to bed. He will sleep. I will read for a bit.

I hope you have a wonderful upcoming week!

If you enjoy the blog and want to share some love and caffeine, you can buy me a coffee via Ko-fi

 

Coming up on the Blog

Recent Reads:  Shipped by Angie Hockman (Adult)

Recent Reads: We Want A Dog by Lo Cole (Youth)

Monthly Re-Cap - June 2021 / To Read in July 2021

Recent Reads: Sleeping Beauties Volume 1 by Stephen King and Owen King (Adult, GN)

Recent Reads: The Library Book by Susan Orlean (Audio, Non-fiction, Adult)

Books Received Recently...

 

For Review:

Pumpkin Heads! by Wendell Minor

The Happy Pumpkin by DK Publishing

Other Bookish Stuff:

Book Beau was having a sale so I got myself some goodies!

A book sleeve and a book beau (which will double as a travel pillow).

Have you missed anything lately?

Early Reader Review: Luna Howls at the Moon (MG) - 4 stars

Early Reader Review: Poison Ivy: Thorns by Kody Keplinger (YA, GN)- 4 stars

Recent Reads:  The Umbrella Academy Volume 3 Hotel Oblivion -  by Gerard Way (GN) - 1 star

 

 Recent Reads: Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett (Adult)- 2 stars

Comment or leave me a link and I will see you online again soon.

Happy Reading!

Recent Reads: Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett

Guards! Guards! by Terry Prachett 

Series: Discworld #8
Publisher: HarperCollins e-books 
Publication Date:  March 17, 2009

 

Format: Ebook
Source: Bought/Own

Rating:


Goodreads Synopsis: 

This is where the dragons went. They lie ... not dead, not asleep, but ... dormant. And although the space they occupy isn't like normal space, nevertheless they are packed in tightly. They could put you in mind of a can of sardines, if you thought sardines were huge and scaly. And presumably, somewhere, there's a key...

GUARDS! GUARDS! is the eighth Discworld novel - and after this, dragons will never be the same again!

Review: 

I should probably preface this review with the fact that I have not read the first 7 Discworld books before picking this one up. I read online that you could jump into this overall series at certain points and this was one of them. Our book club was looking for something with dragons and that was funny and Guards! Guards! was in that category. I think just about everyone in the book club gave up on this one. I inevitably pushed through just to add it to my finished pile because I was already 75% done when I decided to bail from the club aspect.

Guards! Guards! is funny and does have dragons so it met our criteria, it was just a very weird book. I know that people love Pratchett and Discworld and maybe I would feel differently going into the series properly, but I was not feeling this one from the beginning. The first major flaw for me was that there were NO Chapters/ no chapter headings... which means (for me) no good stopping points. This also made the book club planning not great. Don't get me wrong there were breaks and transitions where there could have been headers but there weren't. 

The plot of this story is essentially that some underground/illegal magicians are trying to overthrow the current leader and to do so they are going to summon a dragon to terrorize the city which would bring forth a prince to take over and rule. Their plot does not go as planned unfortunately. While we get the POV of these magicians for the plot set up, most of the book is told from the POV of the guards of the city. They are not taken seriously, they don't actually have any real rules they enforce, and are an overall farce. 

The characters were interesting, and as noted, funny. The plot was good. It just all took a little too long to get into the swing of it and without the chapters/dividing points I felt like I was reading a run-on sentence. It was exhausting. If you like this series - maybe it was me and the timing of it, but this was not for me.

Recent Reads: The Umbrella Academy: Hotel Oblivion by Gerard Way

The Umbrella Academy: Hotel Oblivion by Gerard Way 

Series: The Umbrella Academy Volume 3
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Publication Date:  September 17, 2019

 

Format: Paperback
Source: Borrowed from the Library

Rating:


Goodreads Synopsis: 

With a new Netflix series, the best-selling graphic novels return—with the original creators!

Gerard Way (My Chemical Romance, Doom Patrol) and Gabriel Bá (Two Brothers, Casanova) have earned awards and accolades on their separate projects, and finally return to their breakout 2007 hit, for the latest chapter in the bizarre lives of their former teen superhero team.

Faced with an increasing number of lunatics with superpowers eager to fight his own wunderkind brood, Sir Reginald Hargreeves developed the ultimate solution ...

Now, just a few years after Hargreeves's death, his Umbrella Academy is scattered. Number Five is a hired gun, Kraken is stalking big game, Rumor is dealing with the wreckage of her marriage, an out-of-shape Spaceboy runs around the streets of Tokyo, Vanya continues her physical therapy after being shot in the head--and no one wants to even talk about what Séance is up to ...

The award-winning and best-selling superhero series returns, stranger than ever—And their past is coming back to hunt them

Review: 

I tried... I really did. I read through all three volumes, and I feel like I probably gave the other two more stars than they really deserved thinking that the ending would pull it all together in a beautiful way. The ending did NOT do that. It was just as disjoined and then had the audacity to leave you on a cliffhanger. I don't need a cliffhanger on the last book, the whole series felt like a cliffhanger - you are always hoping to turn the page and have an ahhhh moment. Sadly that moment never comes. I finished this series with far more questions than answers, confused about what I had just put myself through. 

This installment followed all of the Umbrella Academy team although they are a bit separated. They are trying to ensure that all the baddies from their past don't do more damage. Previously their father had sent them all to another dimension where he had built a hotel for them called Hotel Oblivion. You know... because nothing bad can happen when you put all the baddies in one place. (can you hear my eyeroll?). The hotel was a neat concept but overall very cliché. 

The only reason I even finished it was because the siblings started working together and I had higher hopes for some resolution. Overall the book was weird which has something going for it, but the story was too all over the place for my liking and there wasn't enough reason to care for the characters as they progressed.

Recent Reads: Poison Ivy: Thorns by Kody Keplinger

Source: From the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This in no way alters my opinion or review. 

Poison Ivy: Thorns by Kody Keplinger and Illustrated by Sara Kipin
Publisher: DC Comics
Publication Date:   June 1, 2021

 

Format: Ebook


Rating:


Goodreads Synopsis: 

New York Times bestselling author of The DUFF Kody Keplinger and artist Sara Kipin reimagine an iconic DC antihero with a gothic-horror twist.

There's something unusual about Pamela Isley--the girl who hides behind her bright red hair. The girl who won't let anyone inside to see what's lurking behind the curtains. The girl who goes to extreme lengths to care for a few plants. Pamela Isley doesn't trust other people, especially men. They always want something from her. Something she's not willing to give.

When cute goth girl Alice Oh comes into Pamela's life after an accident at the local park, she makes her feel like pulling back the curtains and letting the sunshine in. But there are dark secrets deep within the Isley house. Secrets Pamela's father has warned must remain hidden. Secrets that could turn deadly and destroy the one person who ever cared about Pamela, or as her mom preferred to call her...Ivy.

Will Pamela open herself up to the possibilities of love, or will she forever be transformed by the thorny vines of revenge?

Review: 

I have always really liked Poison Ivy in the Batman series and comics, she is a lover of plants and the environment and kind of a badass. I also love that she is besties with Harley Quinn and if you have been here long enough you know that I LOOOOVE me some Harley Quinn. I also really admire that she character is always portrayed as the lover of all, she can seduce anyone and she does. 

In this adaptation, we are getting Ivy's transformation story her final push to becoming the villain/ antihero that we enjoy later. Ivy is a high school student how is living with a lot of secrets. Her dad is not the greatest parent at the moment, she ahs a guy at school harassing her and the school won't step in, and the one nearby green space is up for demolition for a building. Everything just comes to a point for Ivy and she does what she does best. 

All that said we also get a beautifully blossoming f/f relationship that was casual and not over the top. It was well written throughout the whole story and the images to go along where broody when they should be. It was a great read, especially if you love Poison Ivy. 

Early Reader Review: Luna Howls at the Moon by Kristin O'Donnell Tubb

Source: From the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This in no way alters my opinion or review.

Luna Howls at the Moon  by Kristin O'Donnell Tubb  
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Publication Date:  June 15, 2021

 

Format: Ebook

Rating:


Goodreads Synopsis: 

The award-winning author of A Dog Like Daisy returns with a moving middle grade novel from the point of view of Luna, a Labrador therapy dog who accompanies her group therapy kids when they set off on an adventure across Austin, Texas.

Luna has always wanted to be a therapy dog at Therapy Dogs Worldwide. Now she’s a whisker away from reaching her fifty-visit pin that will make it official. But when her “clients”—the children who visit her—are put into a therapy group, Luna’s routine is upended.

Like the moon, Luna shows different faces at different times. And her clients each have different needs—Beatrice is tangled in knots of anger, Caleb rushes like a waterfall, Amelia carries fear heavy like a shadow, and Hector is quiet as a rock. To comfort the kids, Luna can be what they need her to be, but can she be everything to them all at once?

When Hector doesn’t show up to a session one day, the kids set off on an unexpected quest to find him. Luna joins to keep them safe, and they must work together to almost learn the truth.

Review: 

First off, I love a book that is about a dog... or has a dog in it. I just really love the dogs. This book is pretty neat in that it is not just about a dog but told from the point of view of the dog. This particular dog is a therapy dog working to get her 50 visits completed to make her training official. The other dogs are giving her a hard time but she is almost there and determined to finish her appointments. 

Luna works with kids and her trainer is trying to implement some group therapy sessions which she believes will help the four kids that she has been working with. At the first session one of them tells the group that he would bring a hoverboard to the next meeting, but then doesn't show up so the kids take it upon themselves to go and find him. Luna must decide if she is going to let her clients go off on their own or tag along on this crazy adventure. Pretty obviously she chooses to go and they are off on an unlikely run through the city with Luna at their side.

I really enjoyed reading this book from Luna's POV, she is so determined to keep her people safe and the way that the author writes her makes her so easy to follow along with. The author describes pain and grief well and while an adventure it is also a journey of healing. The kids all are struggling with things and coming together helps them each in different ways. It was great not only to read about the important role of a therapy dog but also to see therapy normalized in this book. 

I think readers will really enjoy it and learn a lot along the way.

Building the Book Pile #350

Welcome to Building the Book Pile!

Hello Readers, Bloggers, and Awesome people! 

The weeks are flying by. Charlie puppy had gained a full pound and is now 7.6 lbs of puppy fun and terror. He puts everything in his mouth since he is teething, has some allergies, and is potty training too. It has been a lot 😒😴😵

Luckily work is in its slower period. It use to be the "slow time" but now for some reason it is just 'slower' but not officially slow... the timeline seems to creep up a bit every year 😕 but work is good.

School update - I just turned in ANOTHER paper... no surprise but I only have 4 weeks left now with  3 discussions and 6 responses to those discussions, a final research proposal, a presentation, and a professional reflection to be done. It is SO close I can almost taste it ... the freedom... all the reading for pleasure versus for a technical paper... oooooh it is going to be so goooooooood. I have been reading more lately too though - this course doesn't have much required reading, so I have been taking advantage already 😉 I hope it is noticeable.

What are you reading this week? 

This week my TBR is Shipped by Angie Hockman and hopefully A Pho Love Story by Loan Le.

If you enjoy the blog and want to share some love and caffeine, you can buy me a coffee via Ko-fi

 

Coming up on the Blog

Early Reader Review: Luna Howls at the Moon (MG)

Early Reader Review: Poison Ivy: Thorns by Kody Keplinger (YA, GN)

Recent Reads:  The Umbrella Academy Volume 3 Hotel Oblivion -  by Gerard Way (GN)

 

possibly... Recent Reads: Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett (Adult)

Books Received Recently...

 

Borrowed from the Library:

Fight Club 2 by Chuck Palahniuk 

Sleeping Beauties by Stephen King and Owen King

Broken (in the best possible way) by Jenny Lawson

  

From Sourcebooks for review: 

The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin 

Sunny Song Will Never Be Famous by Suzanne Park

We Want a Dog by Lo Cole

Pencilvania by Stephanie Watson

Once More Upon A Time by Roshani Chokshi

Must Love Books by Shauna Robinson

Have you missed anything lately?

Early Reader Review: Chucky by Yehudi Mercado (MG, GN)-4 stars

Early Reader Review: It's Raining Tacos by Parry Gripp (Youth)-3 stars

Blog Tour: Crownless by M.H. Woodcroft (YA) -4 stars

Recent Reads: The Umbrella Academy Volume 2 - Dallas by Gerard Way (GN) - 3 stars

Comment or leave me a link and I will see you online again soon.

Happy Reading!

Recent Reads: The Umbrella Academy: Dallas by Gerard Way

The Umbrella Academy: Dallas by Gerard Way

Series: The Umbrella Academy Volume 2
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Publication Date:  November 1, 2009

 

Format: Paperback
Source: Borrowed from the Library

Rating:


Goodreads Synopsis: 

The team is despondent following the near apocalypse created by one of their own and the death of their beloved mentor Pogo. So it's a great time for another catastrophic event to rouse the team into action. Trouble is—each member of the team is distracted by some very real problems of their own. The White Violin is bedridden due to an unfortunate blow to the head. Rumor has lost her voice—the source of her power. Spaceboy has eaten himself into a near-catatonic state, while Number Five dives into some shady dealings at the dog track and the Kraken starts looking at his littlest brother as the key to unraveling a mysterious series of massacres…all leading to a blood-drenched face-off with maniacal assassins, and a plot to kill JFK!

Review: 

Um... what is going on? While not as disjointed as volume 1, this second installment of The Umbrella Academy is just as confusing and all over the place. This story centers around the newly reunited Umbrella Academy group and the assassination of JFK. 

Spaceboy is overeating in his depression and feeling lost, The White Violin is unable to walk or move due to volume 1 events, Rumor has lost her ability to speak and thus her power also from events, and Number 5 is being sneaky. While I liked seeing more of their personalities, I still felt like I didn't really have enough backstory to fully care about their plights. While I was interested in the overall story and Number 5's sketchiness was the only thing that pulled me through. 

I have the third volume and for posterity I will read it to see if this improves for me. I liked it but mostly for the weirdness, otherwise it was a very jumpy storyline.

Blog Tour: Review & Giveaway! Crownless by M.H. Woodscourt

About the Book

Crownless by M. H. Woodscourt
Publication date: June 19th 2021
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

A fugitive storyteller running out of time. A prince hiding from his mother. A kingdom on the brink of collapse. A search for a world of magic.

Convinced his tales are true, storyteller Jinji is determined to find the legendary fae realm of Shinac to save his world from a dread lord trying to cross over—before a fatal illness ends Jinji’s life.

Prince Jetekesh is caught between a controlling mother and his affection for his dying father—until he’s kidnapped and forced to journey with a delusional storyteller and a motley band of fugitives in search of a myth.

Hunted by the queen, hindered by a malady, and invaded by an enemy empire, Jinji and Jetekesh race across a crumbling kingdom to find the alleged gate between worlds.

But even if Shinac exists, how can a humble storyteller and deposed prince hope to stand against a devastating evil?

  

Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo / Smashwords

Crownless follows a cast of characters as they navigate through kingdoms, worlds, linage, understanding of each other, and attempts to survive. The centering of this tale is around a storyteller names Jinji. He has a price on his head for telling stories of the past, present, and future, or worlds that are mundane and magical realms. He is a strange one, able to pull people together and causing fear by just spinning tales. We also meet a prince named Jatekesh, his mother, a Blood Prince and his brother, a young girl names Rille, a king or two...some fae. It was a whirlwind of characters - they just kept popping up. 

What I enjoyed about this read was that each character had their own personality and even though there were a lot of them, you could tell them apart pretty easily. What made it extra interesting was that any time I thought "oh this us the bad guy" they surprised me in different ways, I couldn't just hate them throughout the tale, but only in certain bits and pieces of the overall story. I really wanted character to dislike but I found aspects in them all that were commendable and I really loved Jinji. Jinji is the star of this show - he is emotional, compassionate, I started to think of him as the therapist of this merry band of characters. He was a delight. 

The storyline, which I thought was going to be a pretty normal fantasy tale where the evil emperor cases all heck to break loose, was more layered and complex in ways that I could not have even imagined. The world-building fit in with it so well. It seemed at times a bit chaotic but it worked somehow. 

The book starts off a little slow, but give it a chance and you will fly through it. between the backgrounds you learn about the characters and how they are all woven together, you will enjoy this fantasy adventure. It will teach you to not always judge someone, that friendship can be found anywhere and that you should always have hope.

About the Author

Writer of fantasy, magic weaver, dragon rider! Having spent the past 20 years devotedly writing fantasy, it’s safe to say M. H. Woodscourt is now more fae than human. All of her fantasy worlds connect with each other in a broad Universe, forged with great love and no small measure of blood, sweat, and tears. When she’s not writing, she’s napping or reading a book with a mug of hot cocoa close at hand while her quirky cat Wynter nibbles her toes.

Learn more at www.mhwoodscourt.com

Find the Author 

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

Tour-wide giveaway (INT)

• A signed paperback copy of Crownless + $20 Amazon gift card
• 2x $10 Amazon gift cards

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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