May update in June

Well, shit, I got my weeks all mixed up, posted late last week, and then forgot that the last week of the month is my Read Harder update. Or maybe I blocked it out, because update? What update? I've been working on books for the committees I joined for work, the book for my book club was chonkier than normal, and so I have barely done any reading for this at all. Haven't started Persepolis. Finished a few chapters of Oathbound, but honestly, I'm struggling with it. The other books were solid, but this one is moving at a glacial pace. I'm gonna keep chipping away, but I don't know how far I'll get.

I'm out of school now, at least, so hopefully I'll get my butt in gear and finish some books. Persepolis, obviously. The Grimoire of Grave Fates and Perfectly Parvin are the next two on my list...I've got a vacation coming up next week, so that's the perfect chance to knock some reading out. If only I had planned ahead and bought copies. It makes me nervous bringing library books on vacation, so I guess I'll be checking out the ebooks to read instead. Congratulations, everyone who has ever told me "you know e-readers are a thing, right?" when they find out how many physical books I bring on vacation. You finally get your way. (Except my library apparently doesn't have the digital version of Perfectly Parvin. Womp. I'll figure something out.)

Strangeworlds Travel Agency - L.D. Lapinski

Initial Draw: ☆☆☆
Character Development: ☆☆
Plot/Writing Style: ☆☆
Overall: ⭐⭐

From the cover:

"When twelve-year-old Flick Hudson accidentally ends up in the Strangeworlds Travel Agency, she uncovers a fantastic secret: there are hundreds of other worlds just steps away from ours. All you have to do to visit them is just jump into the right suitcase. Then Flick gets the invitation of a lifetime: join Strangeworlds' magical travel society and explore other worlds.

But, unbeknownst to Flick, the world at the very center of it all, a city called Five Lights, is in danger. Buildings and even streets are mysteriously disappearing. Once Flick realizes what's happening, she must race against time, traveling through uncharted worlds, seeking a way to fix Five Lights before it collapses into nothingness - and takes our world with it."

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Sooooooo the thing about this book. While there's nothing outright objectionable about it, that little synopsis from the cover? That's literally the entire book. As in (sorry, spoilers) the discovery that parts of Five Lights are disappearing and that Flick and the Head Custodian of Strangeworlds need to travel through other worlds to figure out how to fix it IS the end of the book. Respectfully, I don't think that's how synopses on the cover are supposed to work. And honestly, that isn't how it should have played out. 

What I wish had happened: the synopsis takes us maybe a quarter of the way through the book, at which point the adventure really kicks off and we follow Flick through adventure after adventure as she pieces together what's going wrong in Five Lights. Instead, the book starts with Flick discovering Strangeworlds, then has a whole bunch of slow-paced filler with hints at bigger things that never really get answered or added to, and then bam, Five Lights, the end. Boring. And I don't even really fault Lapinski for it, because it's not like the writing itself is bad! No, no. I blame whomever edited this. What is an editor for, if not to be like hey, maybe cut this, rearrange these pieces, pick up the pace a bit...

Or, I don't know, maybe the plan was to spread this book out so it could be spun into a book two (and a 2.5, a 3, and apparently a 3.5). 🤔 I'm not saying this SHOULDN'T have been a series, but the way it was handled makes me scratch my head. There most definitely wasn't enough in this first book to entice me into going back for more, and I'm a completionist, so that says something. Disappointing, because the premise is interesting, but this gets a "you should pass on it" from me.

The House Swap - Yvette Clark

Initial Draw: ☆☆☆
Character Development: ☆☆☆
Plot/Writing Style: ☆☆☆
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"Allie is a middle child living in a sleepy English village who dreams of being a spy. Sage, an only child from Los Angeles, is more interested in her crystal collection than cracking codes. Though they have nothing in common, their worlds collide when their parents agree to a house swap - Allie's family will spend their vacation at Sage's house in sunny California while Sage and her mom will stay at Allie's cottage in England.

When the girls meet, it doesn't take super-spy skills to see that Sage is worried about the tension between her parents. Determined to fix things, the girls hatch a complicated plan. But while Allie is pulling the strings in Sage's family, she's struggling to feel heard in her own, with her obnoxious older brother and annoying younger sister taking up all her parents' time. It just may take a trip halfway around the world for Sage and Allie to find their place at home."

📚📚📚 

Good god, it's been two months since I wrote an actual review of a book. Well, here I go! The House Swap, a.k.a. The Holiday but make it middle grade. This book...was fine. Nothing terribly bad to complain about, but nothing especially engaging to gush about either. It was pretty slow-paced, probably as a result of the driving action being so milquetoast, thus not giving much to drive toward. Allie was fine, Sage was fine, the other siblings and friends were fine (although including bitchy neighbor Chloe and the whole bit with Sage's missing diary probably could have been left out and the story would have been better for it). The parents were...truly baffling. As many parents can be, I suppose. Overall, I give this a solid C+. If you're looking for something to read and don't have any other options, spend an afternoon on this. Otherwise, you could probably skip it. 

Travel the world through puzzles!

A friend has got us on a real puzzle kick, so since we've been so into them and been doing so many different puzzles, I figured hey, why not review some of them? It probably says something about me that my first thought when enjoying any kind of hobby or media, my immediate instinct is to share my thoughts about it with my friends on the internet, but I'm not going to dig into what exactly that is. Instead, let's look at our first puzzle!

Cities Around the World - Galison

This puzzle was designed by Michael Storrings (and is actually the SECOND puzzle that started this whole saga, but the first, Cats in the City, was a nightmare so I decided to let that one fade into memory). I really enjoyed the picture, and while the watercolor style makes things a little more challenging, aside from the building in the bottom left corner I didn't think anything was too nightmarish. The pieces stick to two standard shapes, which alternate, making it a little easier to put together. And as a bonus, the pieces stay together really well! We probably could have picked up the whole puzzle when it was finished without much of it coming apart. As someone who does a lot of puzzles with little kids, I love a puzzle that stays together. Overall, I'd say 4/5 stars. Approaching perfection, the watercolor just isn't our jam. I would try other Galison puzzles, though!

May Mystery Read

It's been a streak of somewhat heavier/longer books for my mystery reads for the last few, and May's is a bit lighter...or maybe it's just that it's a middle grade book, so it feels easier to fly through? Whichever it is, the book is Strangeworlds Travel Agency by L.D. Lapinski. 

This is an Owlcrate Jr book from back in the day, which became one of the many middle grade books waiting to be read and possibly added to my school library that I made my way through at a glacial pace. Congratulations, book, it's finally your time! I wonder if I can finish it before school lets out.

Reading so very hard in April

Briarheart wasn't bad, but I found it pretty meh. It had the potential to be exciting, but the style of storytelling felt almost clinical to me, and while the buildup and mystery of what was going on had me hooked, the ultimate payoff was a little bit of a letdown. Glad I read it, at least, so now it's off my list. I also started Oathbound and picked up Persepolis from the library, and I read the second book I had chosen for promp #24, a book of ghost stories, some of which were truly creepy. Good for me, reading TWO books for two prompts instead of reading books for other prompts!

I haven't gotten any better at keeping notes on my plans, either. I'm going to level with you, I joined a few committees for our state book awards, because my students LOVE voting for this award every year, and it's possible that in my enthusiasm for something I know my kids enjoy I bit off more than I could chew. So unusual for me, overextending myself? Not something I'm known for! 

Anyway, I swear I went back and tried to untangle everything with my last Read Harder post, but now I can't find those notes, and on the PDF that I use for tracking which books I choose, I have one listed for January but for a challenge that I'm not sure I'm actually doing yet? So...I don't know, I'm just muddling my way through. Look, with any luck I'll finish Persepolis in May and make decent progress on Oathbound (truly such a long book), and then school will be out and I can try to really straighten myself out. Until then, I'm out here building the plane as a fly it. It'll be fine.

Ahhhh, time isn't real

I really thought I had posted last week, but truly the last few weeks have run together. I can tell it's nearing the end of the school year because I am VERY tired. Could also be the lingering effects of being sick over spring break, but no...that's impossible.

Anyway, missed a post, it happens. I finished my mystery read for this month, and WHEW it was good. BUT. The whole time I thought it was a standalone, and then at the very end...I don't think it is. Or maybe it is and they wanted to leave you with an "and then..." Hold for research.

......

......

Nope, confirmed, it's the first book in a series. The age-old curse of fantasy, even realistic fantasy, everything has to be a series. Yet another book for me to decide if I read the sequel. Le sigh. I'm glad it was an enjoyable book, at least, and honestly even though it's part of a series I do feel like it was satisfying even as a standalone.

Now, related to reviews, if you can count this as a review, an announcement!

My household has recently gotten into puzzles, and I think we're going to post some puzzle reviews for funsies. So hey, if you like puzzles...keep an eye out for those.