"How I Live Now" -Meg Rosoff

Let me just say, this is not my type of book; would never have pulled it off the shelf; would never have read a review and thought I would enjoy it. BUT, I think highly of the teen librarian who recommended it (and it's a fairly short book) so I took it to expand my Young Adult reading.

...Not a horrible book.

Actually, it's an interesting book that deals with an alternate/future(?) war and how the current generation might face it. Daisy is sent to live with cousins in England when a war breaks out. There, she lives a very different lifestyle to the one she's known in New York. However, this war arrives in England, and her now-family gets separated. Through starvation, abandonment, terror, and other symptoms of war, Daisy manages to get back to them, her now-home.

I liked the writing style, 1st person, where the reader is inside Daisy's teenage head. However, I was so fixated on which war was going on, that I probably missed a lot of points which flushed out the story. Regardless, the end is still ... poignant. (I hesitate to use that word but it kinda fits).

Read Also:

Margaret Rotkowski's After the Dancing Days is an emotional and physical look at war and how it affects the young, though not exactly the same type of book.

Because I don't read this type of book, Stephan Crane's The Red Badge of Courage was comparable in emotional trauma.

Funny enough, it's a depressing version of When Irish Eyes are Smiling by Suzanne Supplee.

"Blood of Tyrants" -Naomi Novik

It's finally here. I've recommended this series multiple times for both Adult and Children's books. This is book 8 and still going strong... Temeraire, where dragons are tame. Lawrence, a naval captain, inadvertantly is bonded with a dragon upon it's hatching. He then becomes an aviator, fighting Napoleon and traveling all over the world.

The last 2 books weren't as good as the first books but Blood of Tyrants starts out strong: Lawrence has amnesia and can't remember Temeraire. Oh, and he's also washed ashore in Japan. It comes back to him piecemeal, as they travel to Russia to be present for Napoleon's invasian. And remember the scorched earth policy, one of the few things I remember from social studies class? Yup, in the book!

Read Also:

Patrick O'Brien's Master and Commander series, though I've never read it, sounds like it reads the same. The writing style is a little more sophisticated. Also, Napoleon, naval ships, it's all there except the dragons.

E. M. Forester's Hornblower series is also same sans dragons.

For the kids, How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell.

"Beautiful Lego" - Mike Doyle

It's a picture book for adults!! If you like LEGO... If you're fascinated by LEGO... If you play with LEGO... If you create with LEGO... This is an amazing book of what can be done with LEGO.
It's a collection of works from LEGO creators around the world. There some interview and a lot of cool pictures!

By the way, that is a LEGO structure on the cover. Yeah, I had to look close when I realized that.

Read Also:

Logo Life by Ron von der Vlugt.Other People's Rejection Letters by Bill Shapiro.

There's a book out there that I can't get at a library (yet) but I'm excited to read called Bookshelf by Alex Johnson. It's about bookshelves as art.

Super Hair-O and the Barber of Doom - John Rocco

My goodness! I read dozens of picture books a week but I don't have time to post them all. However, I didn't expect to go the whole month without posting again. Well here's one that I thought was terrific:

Rocco has the craziest hair going on! He and his friends get their superpowers from their hair. But when Rocco is taken to the barber, how will he escape its evil clutches?! When he returns to school disgraced (with a haircut), he faces his friends only find they have also been sheared. When a teddy bear is in trouble, Rocco and his friends rise to the occasion and the save the day, learning their superpowers don't come from their hair but from within.

This was such a cute story! My favorite character was, of course, the kid who says "dude" to everything.

Read Also:

Zorro Gets an Outfit by Carter Goodrich has a dog feeling like a legendary hero.

Torando Slim and the Magic Cowboy Hat by Bryan Langdo.

"Hide and Sheep" -Andrea Beaty

They're fluffy. They're small. What isn't fun about mischievious sheep?

The sheep go looking for adventure while the farmer is asleep. He'll round them up for shearing but not before they get to do a few things...

The artwork is full, exciting, witty. Rogue animals!

Read Also:

Elanna Allen's Itsy Mitsy Runs Away.

Nicholas Oldland's Making the Moose Out of Life.

Jan Thomas' Rhyming Dust Bunnies.

"Henry and Mudge: The First Book" -Cynthia Rylant

The Henry & Mudge series are a staple among beginner reader books. Finally got the first one!

Henry wants a pet. When he goes into the pet store, there's the perfect dog: Mudge. A little pup that grows to a big, loveable dog. When Mudge gets lost, Henry goes looking and gets lost.

The artwork is cute, the characters are happy, the stories are charming. There really isn't a downside to this series.

Read Also:

Cynthia Rylant's "Annie and Snowball" series.

Erica Silverman's "Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa" series.

Shirley Mozelle's Zack's Alligator.

"The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" -Jacqueline Kelly

I don't listen to audiobooks often but changes in my commute has really cut down on my reading time. And so I've begun a shift to a little bit o'listening.

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate is the story of a young girl growing up in Texas at the turn-of-the-century. The book follows Cali from the summer of 1899 to New Year's Day 1900. Cali has an interest in scienec; she teams up with her grandfather to study her surroundings. As she learns, the reader sees how many things in her life mirror those of nature, evolution, and Darwin's theories.

This was a fascinating combination of period technology and modern issues. While characters gawk at horseless carriages, marvel over microscopes, and think the first snow is the end of the world, Cali faces a rocky mother-daughter relationship, annoying brothers, and what to do when she grows up.

Read Also:

Jane Birdsall's "The Penderwicks" series.

Joelle Stolz's The Shadows of Ghadames.

Margaret Sidney's The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew.