Grimmworld The Witch in the Woods by Michaelbrent Collings

Hello, everyone.  I hope you are having a great day.

I've talked about the neighborhood in which I grew up being called "Peanut Butter Hill."  Once you bought your house all you could afford to eat is peanut butter. Looking at it today, it is laughable, my house payment is ten times what my parents paid. Anyway, it was nice, safe, pretty and family oriented.  Like most kids, we had our suspicions about a certain house.  It was on the corner, with a darkly wooded yard.  The couple that lived there was probably in their 50's, we thought they were well over 100.  The woman, she committed the greatest sin of all; she had gray hair and wore it in a bun.  As far as we were concerned, it was confirmed... the lady down the street was a witch.  We avoided her house at all costs, only observing from a distance - mostly yard work.  They were definitely planting all kinds of poisons and child-eating plants. It was the perfect place for a witch to operate, in a neighborhood filled with young children.

I recently read Grimmworld The Witch in the Woods by Michaelbrent Collings. What if things that you thought were just childhood stories were actually true?  That is the premise for this book.  Willow and Jake Grimm are twins.  Their lives were thrust into turmoil when they move to a new area as their parents accept jobs at a top secret Think Tank.  The town, New Marburg, is far different from anything they've experienced.  The police are charming robots, older people fight with swords made of lasers, their car parks itself, their house walls won't hold pictures and terrible storms with lightning abounds. When they go to their new school, they are surprised to find it all very low tech; except for the cafeteria which moves between floors.  Their class is taught by a horrible woman who detests them and treats them terribly.  Willow and Jack count themselves as lucky to make two friends, a boy and girl, who they are surprised to learn are the children of their disliked teacher.  One day, after a particularly violent storm, the twins find their school has been transformed into a castle and they and their friends have been transported to another world.  Grimmworld is the place from which Grimm's fairy tales originate; where they are real.  While exploring this bizarre place, they discover that their friends have become Hansel and Gretel! Willow and Jack must save them from being eaten by the witch and find a way back home.

I usually don't read fantasy, but I couldn't resist this storyline. I was enraptured by this book.  The writing is absolutely wonderful.  This is a children's/young adult's book, recommended for 8-11 year old readers.  Forget that!  This is a novel for adults too...a creative thriller about children.  Besides the stellar writing, the story pulls you in, rich in details and description.  You will feel transported to each setting; so vivid you will feel the darkness of the woods, smell the cinnamon of the witch's house and see the children as they experience it all.  I simply cannot say enough good things about this book.   It will leave you wanting more.  Amazon lists this as volume one, I will be the first to buy each additional book, anxious to rekindle the deep affection I already feel for the Grimm twins.  

Now for the bad news, this novel isn't available until March 5, 2024.  I strongly suggest you preorder it for your children and yourself. In case you forget, I'll remind you in a couple of months.  The enchanting Grimmworld The Witch in the Woods is spellbinding and should not be missed!

Many thanks to the author Michaelbrent Collings and Cameron, his assistant.  This book was the highlight of my week and I am in awe.  Thank you!

Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow

Hello everyone.  I hope you are well.  I am still struggling with this creeping crud of a cough I picked up at Christmas. Such a nice present, wish I'd read the gift tag before I opened it! Hubby, who has had a worse version, seems to be doing much better. I am grateful for his improvement! Because of feeling so lousy we haven't begun to take down the holiday decorations. Okay, let me be honest, we wouldn't have begun anyway...I am a strict believer of Christmas decorations down by St. Patrick's Day! Well, maybe not that extreme, but I'm not in any hurry. I keep thinking I'll come up with some excellent new way of organizing all that "stuff" that will make it much easier later this year to put it all back up, but alas, I always get fed up with it all and start shoving stuff in boxes willy nilly. You know, I have heard of people that design closets in their homes that they push their holiday trees in...whole...and just pull them back out the following year. I'm starting to think they have the right idea that all these decorations are kind of like dusting, you just have to repeat over and over. Not that I'm not happy to be able to put up holiday decorations, we all know plenty of people in this world are not able for many reasons, so I guess I'll learn to enjoy the process. I refuse to enjoy dusting though, just for the record.

While downing my zillionth cup of hot tea and cough drop this week I finished the book Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow, by Jessica Townsend. This is the second of what I hope is going to be a long running series. The first book, Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow, I loved. While not a big fantasy reader, I am totally into this story line. I always seem to like books that it doesn't take time to "get into", probably why I like thrillers so much because of their pacing. It seems like fantasy would take longer because you have to describe the location and characters so much. Don't get me wrong, I love the description in something like Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath....heck I'm still thinking about that turtle on the road. (Read it if you haven't it is a classic, though somewhat depressing, still a classic). Then there is the description in a book like Maguire's Wicked about the Wicked Witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz story. I adore Elphaba and all her glorious green-ness, but the description of the world, Geez! I was reading that book out loud to hubby one time in the car on a long trip and the words the author made up gave me a tongue cramp! (settle down all you perverts) Anyway, I'm not a huge fan of wasting valuable story time in so much description, I want to get to the plot. Wundersmith, like Nevermoor, spends only necessary amounts of time on description and has a strong plot. It has been likened to Harry Potter. I honestly thought it was just because of the fantasy, its popularity, and being written for an audience a bit younger than myself (no comments necessary). However, I've started noticing more and more similarities, is the villain a little Voldemortish? Do any of the building descriptions remind you of the Weasley's house. I don't know, I might be reading things that aren't there. Once thing is for sure, this is a classic good against evil. Wundersmith is every bit as good as Nevermoor, frankly, I cannot wait for more. Its almost 550 pages fly by way too quickly!

By the way, in my review of Nevermoor I told you about my fabulous artist niece. I saw her a Christmas and she took Nevermoor back to art school with her. So happy this will be something else we can share. I might even be willing to stand in line at midnight, ala Harry Potter, to get her another Morrigan Crow installment.

Nevermoor The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend

Hello everyone.  You may not believe me, but I know why you come here. You want to read about a book you are interested in and see me yap on about how cleaning the toilet is such a crappy job (ahem, yes, I saw it and yes, it is a bad job I dislike, you probably do too). However, like last time I have to tell you a story that relates to today's book.

I have a niece. She is in her early twenties. My niece was the first "kid" in our family so in an effort to be her favorite aunt I did some things I now don't know whether to be ashamed of or proud of.  Given how many thrillers I read perhaps I should pause here for effect, letting your mind wander. No, these things do not involve shovels, drives to the barren woods, or missing people. Possibly worse. I watched Ren and Stimpy. Think that is bad? Hold on to your chair...I learned all the songs from Blues Clues. Oh, yes, shutter you should! I know the mailbox song, complete with flag arm movement. You want to know about Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper, I'm your girl! I know, it is shocking.

When my niece was a teen, I read the Twilight series with her, despite her completely bailing after the first book. I have whole series-itis and had to read all of them. Then there is Harry Potter, we read the whole series together. It was bliss. Sometimes she'd get the book on her own, or it would "magically" appear from Amazon. One time, hubby and I braved the dreaded line at midnight at Walmart. I remember her calling me, saying she had been reading late at night, hidden in the bathroom so as not to bother her family, in tears. She was reading about Dumbledore dying. It was a bond, shared over books that I am so grateful for. No matter how old she gets or where she goes, those shared moments will always be with me and I hope with her.

Now my niece is in a famous design school, either destined for Disney or game design. She can draw, paint, sculpt anything from characters to realistic, from landscape to the intricacies of the human body. Sadly, I don't think she realizes how amazing she is, and she definitely is amazing. My niece is stunningly beautiful both inside and out, not only super creative but absolutely brilliant at math and science. She is funny and sweet, kind and thoughtful. She is the bravest person I know, in so many ways. Despite her young age, she is possibly the most inspiring woman I've ever met and I am in CONSTANT awe.

When I talked to my niece a while ago, we were talking about book genres and she was saying how much she liked fantasy. Given her chosen profession, this is not a surprise. Fantasy is not my favorite. To me it just takes longer to get into a book if I have to go through all that "world building" too.  However, as you've seen in the past sometimes the "buzz" on a book gets the better of me and I have to read it. Such is the case with the kids fantasy book, Nevermoor The Trials of Morrigan Crow, described as being the new Harry Potter.

I loved this book. Thankfully, you are immersed in the story and world easily and quickly. The reader instantly likes and has empathy for the little Morrigan Crow and a chuckle or two for her quick wit and sarcasm. The story progressed quickly, describing just enough of the setting for your brain to take over without over doing it and slowing the plot. Obstacles and tasks are handled efficiently with neither too little nor too much time spent on each one. The pacing is perfection. Needless to say, despite it's 461 pages, I didn't want it to end. And it is a fantasy...I didn't want to end....461 pages...with lots to do at the holidays...461 pages...didn't want to end.  You get the point.

So, Thanksgiving is next week with Christmas close behind. I have cooking galore, cleaning and decorating to do. Something is going to have to go undone. The Nevermoor sequel, Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow was released this week. After finishing Nevermoor I had to immediately order it with it's 545 pages. Thankfully, my niece is also great in the kitchen, think I'll leave the cookie baking undone and get her help, she'll understand...maybe I can trade her a book for her help. I know just the one!

Fairest of All: A Tale of the Wicked Queen by Serena Valentino

Hello everyone. Hope you are well. I've been reading up a storm, well perhaps an intermittent shower for some of you but a storm for me. It is June 9th, and I've just completed my fourth book. My husband might tell you this is cheating as I finished my first book of the month at precisely 12:20 am on the first. But you have to cut the previous month off somewhere and everyone knows (read with exaggerated eye roll) that midnight is the cut off. So I have branded him wrong, me correct (as any happily married man will know his wife is always correct, because we ARE). That brings my total this year to 31 books read. That is as many as I read in all of last year, so I'm pretty darn happy.

If you read my blog intro, which shame on you I know you didn't, then you'd know already that I don't "do" audiobooks. For the record, I would read/listen to anything that had a great story so perhaps I should say I haven't "done" an audiobook yet. Another thing I don't usually do is Young Adult books. Sure, I've seen youtube, now branded "booktube", full of 20 somethings proclaiming they've read 8 gazillion books in a month. (By the way, one gave a very negative review on The Woman in the Window, not liking so much of what she read including how it was set in London.....really? It is set in New York...so I don't know about "reading" so many books in a month. Course, I could just be extremely jealous as I am, as you know, a confessed pokey ass reader.) (as a sidenote, what is with all the quotes in this post? geez),

Anyway, I don't get all these adults, men and women....not boys and girls, but men and women that are reading books for kids. There are so many adult books that are fantastic, why would you read outside books meant for you? Judgmental isn't it? Yeah I know. I've got a sink full of dishes and my left leg is falling asleep, I think I'm cranky. ...Breathe...."Anyway," she said sweetly and calmly, all that rant being out there I did see a few kids books I was a tiny bit curious about. Have you seen these books about Disney stories where they retell what happened, often before or after the official story? I wonder if these are a result of the whole Wicked series. Anyway, I might have purchased a few, okay three.

So last week, I could not resist and I opened, just to glance at the first page or two of Fairest of All. It is a story about the wicked queen in Snow White. No spoilers but it talks about when she was a child, her parents, Snow White's life before her, the wicked queen's marriage and relationship with the king. To be completely honest, I was blown away. The story by Serena Valentino intertwines with the Snow White story I know and love, brilliantly. It explains but doesn't rewrite or distort any part of the original.  Obviously, I read the whole thing and am trying to look away from the others I purchased as I have a long list of books to read this month. If you don't want to dish out the money for this book, check out your library, since it was published in 2012 it's probably off reserve! As for me, I have a sudden craving for a bright red apple.