"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." ~Thomas Edison~
Some Gifts for My Writer Friends:
Is your TBR list in need of some more books? Click
HERE for a link to books being made into movies this year, so if you want to
read them first, now is the time.
The Writer’s Almanac (which I love) published a
poem on Jan. 21 every writer and reader will enjoy. Click HERE to read it.
Kathy Temean wrote a wonderful post on her blog
about world building. This is important for all books, not just fantasy or
dystopian. Don't miss this one. Check it out HERE.
I want to give y'all a heads up that things might change a bit around here. I have had several requests to do picture book reviews and, frankly, I LOVE picture books and read tons of them. I have decided I will be adding those to my reviews now and again. I also will be reviewing some Young Adult books now and then and will likely be having some giveaways in that category, so stay tuned. Just don't be too surprised when you see some new things going on here.
When last I wrote, I promised a copy of the wonderful Will in Scarlet to one of my readers who left a comment. The winner is someone new to this blog -- Suzanne Warr, a writer from the Carolinas. You can get to know her by clicking HERE. Congratulations, Suzanne!! WooHoo. I will be sending Will in Scarlet to you this week.If you didn't win, hang on! I will have another great giveaway at the end of this post. Keep reading.
I read a middle-grade novel and wrote a review for the San Francisco Book Review recently, and it was quite an interesting book for a middle-grade. The name of the book is Lord and Lady Bunny - Almost Royalty! by Polly Horvath. I enjoyed reading the book. It was funny and there were lots of interesting adventures for the characters. That said, the characters were not children! Even the bunnies were not children. The youngest character, Madeline, worked part-time as a waitress and is concerned about setting up a savings program for her college. Some times these adult characters say some pretty adult things (“‘Shut the #%!@ up,’
Said Mrs. Bunny, thus blowing any shot at the nonexistent NBA. But that never
occurred to Mrs. Bunny.”)
and do some pretty adult things, but it is definitely being marketed as a middle-grade book. The writing is excellent and the story is clever, but I can't help but ask myself is it really a middle-grade book? Would my eight-year-old granddaughter, a third-grader find this book to her liking? And I keep coming to the same answer. No, I think it's misplaced, but that's just me. I have a nice ARC of Lord and Lady Bunny -- Almost Royalty! here to give away to someone who leaves a nice comment and is a follower of this blog. If you would like an extra chance in the drawing, spread the word on Twitter or your own blog or Facebook or some such and let me know. You will have your name in the had an extra time -- just like Suzanne Warr did. )
Check out Shannon Messenger's wonderful blog for more Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday books. You can find it HERE.
