The Duomo is perfection in every form

Ooh, remember back in September when I posted my puzzle review and included my discovery that Ravensburger had a Duomo puzzle? Well, I went on a JOURNEY, y'all, and I discovered that not only do they currently manufactor a 500-piece version, they used to sell a 1000-piece version! Now, the title of that blog post was something about how good 500-piece puzzles are, so obviously I'm a fan. However, if I'm not working within a limited time frame (i.e. on vacation), I prefer a slightly more challenging option, so of course I had to go to Ebay to see if anyone was selling the 1000-piece puzzle.

And they were!

This puzzle, like the Duomo itself, is simply glorious. It was so much fun putting it together, working my way through different sections and then figuring out how they pieced together. 10/10 puzzle.

November Mystery Read

Only two mystery reads left for the year! Last month's was relatively mid - interesting premise but interminably slow pace. Nothing like reading close to 400 pages of basically nothing happening and then getting a "to be continued" for the real action. Especially when the second book in the series doesn't seem to have actually gotten published, so I couldn't even read it if I wanted to. Rude.

But hey, the November book seems promising so far. 

For starters, striking cover with gold sprayed edges. A good sprayed edge is my damn kryptonite. I'm a few chapters in, and it appears this is a multi-perspective book with at least three characters, all of whom are very intriguing. So far it's promising, so hopefully the cover and edges don't end up being the best part!

October Read Harder

My October books were Study Break and Monday's Not Coming, and thanks to fall break I finished both of them pretty quickly. Study Break was very nostalgic and sweet. Monday's Not Coming...possibly one of the most difficult books I've ever read. HEARTBREAKING. And it raises the question, who should be responsible for making sure people, especially kids, don't fall through the cracks? (If you're asking me, everyone - gotta have redundancies to make sure people DON'T fall through the cracks.)

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If you're a numbers person, you may have noticed that I do not share that affinity. You may possibly have also noticed that I incorrectly calculated how many books I needed to be reading over the past several months, which put me at two months left in the year with six prompts left to finish. Whoops, should have been picking more than two books before now. So, hey, I picked three challenges for November, AND I finished one of those already. Go me! 

Challenge #23: Read a wordless comic - I was not excited about this one, but there was a wordless graphic novel on the list of books I've been considering for my school library, so I decided to go with that one. I ordered Isla to Island by Alexis Castellanos, read it right away, and LOVED it. Should have been more excited for this challenge, I guess! It was so beautiful, such a touching way to tell a bittersweet story. I'll be adding this book to my school library.

Challenge #8: Read literary fiction by a BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, or Disabled author - I had several options and it was very difficult to narrow down to one, so I went with Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson and Cantoras by Caro De Robertis. Ideally I'll finish both, we'll see!

Challenge #17: Read a book about little known history - Look, little known history? Or history I know little about? There were three books I was interested in reading more about, but the library didn't have one of them, so that was helpful in narrowing it down and preventing me from picking SIX books to read this month on top of my book club book, mystery book, and whatever other books I've got going on. Thank you, library! Anyway, I'll be reading Lifting As We Climb by Evette Dionne and Information Hunters by Kathy Peiss. (Like I said, not necessarily little-known history, but definitely history I know little about.)

Middlegrade Microreviews

I've been reading a ton of middlegrade books for this award committee I'm on, and I thought hey, why not share my thoughts on all these books I'm knocking out? So here we go, several brief reviews of the books I've been reading the last couple of months.

1. Monster Tree by Sarah Allen - Started off strong, but ultimately ended up feeling somewhat half-baked. The explanation for the spooky things that were happening and the reason they were targeting the main character didn't track for me, the ending was rushed and unsatisfying, and overall I just didn't find it terribly spooky.

2. All the Ways to Go by Jessie Janowitz - I really couldn't decide how I felt about this one. On the one hand, it didn't really feel like there was anything driving the story forward, so I was like what is this actually about? On the other, I enjoyed it the entire time. So...I guess that means it was good.

3/4. Link and Hud: Heroes by a Hair and Link and Hud: Sharks and Minnows by Jerome and Jarrett Pumphrey - I accidentally read these out of order, and that mistake has me conflicted. The thing is, I read the first one (the "first one" being book 2) and was like wow, these boys have some pretty problematic behaviors, and at the end of the day those behaviors end up basically being celebrated, which is wild to me. Yikes. But then I read the second one (the "second one" being book 1), and while it starts with them having some similarly problematic behaviors, in the end it seems like there is more of a "we're learning that there's a time and a place for actions like this and that we should also sometimes think about how what we do impacts other people" message. So now I'm just kind of baffled. Like...not only NO character growth in the second book, NEGATIVE character growth. I guess book one, thumbs up, book two, thumb sideways.

5. A Split Second by Janae Marks - Realistic fantasy, all about the struggle of navigating friendships and conflict. I thought it was very sweet!

6. Not an Easy Win by Chrystal D. Giles - I'm disappointed I didn't like this one as much as I wanted to. I thought the first bit was excellent, but then it just dragged a little too long. If it were shorter, it would have been five stars. I still enjoyed it, but I have my doubts about if the age group it's intended for would stick with it when it slows down.

7. Heroes of the Water Monster by Brian Young - I think this is technically a "companion" novel to another book, Healer of the Water Monster, and I was hoping that not having the context of the other book wouldn't impact my experience with the story, but it did. I think Young did his best to make it work as a standalone, but there were references to the other book and I just felt the lack of context. Outside of that, I thought it was a slow pace but a good story. Very nuanced.

8. My Name is Hamburger by Jacqueline Jules - A historical fiction about a Jewish girl whose father immigrated to the US from Germany to escape the Holocaust. I thought this story was beautiful, I couldn't put it down.

9. The Sasquatch of Hawthorne Elementary by K.B. Jackson - There are two parts to this story. The first, a boy who just moved to the Pacific Northwest with his mom forms a detective agency with two other students at his school to track a sasquatch. This bit, quite fun and enjoyable. The second, the boy's father, who is not on his birth certificate and has never been in his life, apparently decides that twelve years in he wants and is owed a relationship with his son, finds out where they moved, and follows them across the country, ultimately ending up essentially stalking his son until he gets caught. This was treated as an okay thing to do, and that is just BAFFLING to me. As much as I enjoyed the sasquatch stuff, the weird dad stuff tanked this book for me.

10. Glowrushes by Roberto Piumini - This is a beautiful story, but I'm not sure I would consider it a true kid's book? It's an Italian classic, and while it is short and very good, it seemed to me to be something with more adult appeal. I'm also a little baffled at it being included on our award list, because while the edition I read was published more recently, the story itself is from 1987. Soooooo....weird choice. Like I said, though, it's a beautiful story, read it if you can. Hell, read it to a kid and tell me if they like it.

11. The Curse of the Ten Broken Toes by Matthew Eicheldinger - Dude, the main character in this book can be such a little shit, but I loved this. "The Curse" aside, it felt very realistic, and I appreciated that while he had his asshole 12-year-old moments, there were also some genuinely thoughtful and kind moments. This was a fun read, and one that I think my students will enjoy.

12. The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers - Look, I'm not technically done with this one yet, but I love it. I had no idea what to expect, and it has surprised me in the best way.

And...that's it! The Eyes and the Impossible is the last book for me to finish, and then I've read them all. The end of an era...until next year's award cycle!

It was the worst of times, it was the best of times...

Had to reverse the descriptors in the quote to fit the puzzle order, but I still think it's a solid reference.

Anyway, we've had quite the backlog of puzzles at our house, and I decided I was going to really buckle down and knock them out. My ingenious plan was to alternate a harder one with an easier one, and that...worked out soooo well. (Sarcasm. That was sarcasm.)

This puzzle?

SO VERY HARD. Possibly one of the only times that I'll think "hmmm, those pieces that are all exactly the same color will probably be the easiest place to start." It took for. ev. er. to finish. All that said, is it weird that I kind of enjoyed it? Truly every piece that you found was a huge win, and the finished product looks so cool. Putting it all together felt like a victory.

Victory aside, after that monster of a puzzle, we needed a bit of a palette cleanser, so thank goodness it was time for an easy puzzle!

Look, I really enjoyed this puzzle - it's pretty, the pieces are funky shapes, and it was really fun to put together. However, I'm a little on the fence about this puzzle brand (Naturelish) for one reason and one reason only: the back has checkered patterns that are color-coded, so you can sort the pieces into different puzzle sections. Is that cheating? Because it feels like cheating! It did add a little fun, being able to pick a section and slowly work it all out, then fit it into the border and move on to the next section, but also isn't part of the challenge of a puzzle finding the one right piece from ALL the pieces? I know I'm overthinking this, but I can't help it. Is it cheating?! Aside from this moral quandary, I would highly recommend this puzzle brand to a friend. Some are super weird, which is fun in its own way, and others, like this one, are beautiful designs. Solid all around...except for the ethics of it all, of course. 🤣

October Mystery Read

It's that time again, another mystery read! This one is a book I randomly bought from Paperbacks & Frybread, The Lost Dreamer by Lizz Huerta. I believe I bought this and another book that seemed like a similar premise (or at least also centered around sleep/dreaming)...I wonder which I'll end up enjoying more!

So far I've only read the first couple of chapters, and I'm not totally sure what's going on yet. I suppose I could look up the synopsis and see if it clues me in at all...but I think I'll just ride it out and see where I end up.

September read harder

Well, as noted, already read Crier's War. It was interesting, sci-fi meets fantasy, full of suspense. I need to read the second book in the duology so I know what happens! I also finished Where the Library Hides, which I thought was not quite as good as the first book but still enjoyable. The will-they-won't-they between Whit and Inez was the best part.

Color me shocked, I finished The Priory of the Orange Tree, and it didn't even take me the full month! I thought it would take me so much longer to whittle away at, but it was so very good, full of intrigue and world-building, and I couldn't put it down. The biggest challenge with it being so long was how physically big the book is - pro tip? Get yourself a little d20 stuffy, it's the perfect size to sit in your lap and rest a book on top of.

Now I'm just wrapping up The Crimson Moth, my second pick for challenge 4, just to be thorough. I'm reading it at night before bed, so it'll take me a little longer than it normally would, but I'm really enjoying it so far. It immediately dove back into the intrigue of the first book, so much stress but in such a good way.

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For my October books, I rolled challenge #9, read a book based solely on its setting, and challenge #15, read a banned book and complete a task on Book Riot's How to Fight Book Bans guides. For #9, I'm planning to read Study Break: 11 College Tales from Orientation to Graduation by Aashna Avachat et. al. College counts as a setting, right? For #15, I'll be reading Monday's Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson, and for my action I'll be watching my school board's biweekly meetings and sending them emails and attempting to do the same with my city council. It's a lot of content, but I want to keep on top of it as best I can.