Summer Reading Celebration

In the fourth and final installment, Daine and Numair are in the battle for their lives. The barrier between the Divine Realms and the human realms has completely collapsed. The immortals, hurroks and Stormwings, have been unleashed upon Tortall. These immortals have aligned with enemies of Tortall and Daine and her friends are losing the fight. Daine and Numair are up against a new and horrifying threat when they are plucked from the human realms and dropped into the Realms of the Gods. Trapped in the Realms of the Gods and desperate to return to their friends, they must travels across the Realms to the Dragonlands to enlist aid in their return. Along their route they discover more immortals, spies, animal gods and a plot by enemies of Tortall to not only overthrow order in the human realms but the Realms of the Gods. The human gods are fighting against their sister the Goddess of Chaos. The goddess of Chaos has gained powerful allies in the human realms to aid in tipping the scales against her god siblings. Will Daine and Numair find a way to return to their friends and help in the fight against not only their enemies but the enemies of the gods? I love this series so much! I love Daine, Numair, Alanna and so many other characters from this series!

4.75 stars. I loved this book! Emma and Justin have my heart!

This history of the influenza pandemic of 1918-1920 was written for young adults, but is informative and even engaging reading for adults as well. It captures the horror of the flu pandemic and the First World War, and puts it into context using photos, letters, songs, art, and even children’s games. Science didn’t have a clear understanding of the differences between bacteria and viruses at that time, and the book chronicles the research of the day as well. When the book was published in 2018, 100 years after the events it describes, the cover depicting a woman wearing a cloth mask was quite arresting. Even though the mask is commonplace now, I recommend this book as a must read for anyone wishing to learn more about pandemics and their effects on various aspects of society and culture, and how the current pandemic was expected any time, by epidemiologists.

Mr Popper’s Penguins by Florence and Richard Atwater was a fun one to read to my children. The kids loved the absurdity of keeping a penguin in a refrigerator, and later loved comparing and contrasting it to the film.

By far the best series that takes place in Wonderland.

Wonderful journey through difficult relationships featuring love, forgiveness, understanding, betrayal and redemption. Kristin Hannah creates characters that seem to come alive right off the pages. She did a good job with creating Summer Island as well, so good that I have to Google it to see if these islands really exist off the Washington coast. This is a story of an estranged mother and daughter. Nora, the successful mom, hosts a radio call in show giving stellar advice and upheld as a model of morality. Her daughter, Ruby, thinks otherwise, and rightfully so. Ruby carries a huge chip on her shoulders and is unable to connect with others at any level of depth. She ends up having to spend a week caring for her mother at their childhood home on Summer Island. She is offered a huge sum to write a tell all story about her mom just before she makes the decision to go. What follows is the packed week, an old boyfriend and the untangling of many emotions, learned behaviors and walls.

This is considered an Young Adult book, but I enjoyed it. It is a dual memoir written by the 2 penpals. The letters change both their lives. It also gives an insight how different life is in other countiries, in this case Zimbabwe. I am sure that this book will have an impact for the better on anyone who reads it.

This book was great! I really loved the entire trilogy.

Heartwarming and heartbreaking, all at the same time. The aftermath of Ben coming out is what every queer person fears and what happens to so many people. The story handles it in a good way, however; it doesn't feel like suffering for suffering's sake. Even after being kicked out of their house for who they are, Ben is able to find happiness, love, and acceptance. This is a story of heartache, but also a story of hope.

Outlander fans will not be disappointed!! The latest installment in the series is as good as the rest.... the new characters are fully fleshed out and we fall in love again with the characters we've known for so long. I highly recommend this!!