The Fright Before Christmas by Jeff Belanger & Terry Reed (Review)

December 5, 2024

Step into the dark roots of Christmas past where the Krampus punishes the bad boys and girls.

Christmas time is truly the darkest and creepiest time of the year filled with devilish creatures lurking in the shadows waiting to get us. Best known is the Krampus who has been the subject of films and songs. There was a time in the late 1800s when people sent Krampus cards, not holiday greetings. There are other violent and dangerous monsters from all over northern climes who have been hunting naughty children for centuries. From shapeshifters to mountain trolls, to elves, to heavy-handed cohorts of Saint Nicholas, the Christmas holiday has been filled with ghosts and monsters ready to dole out punishment to those who need it.

The Fright Before Christmas will delve into the folklore of Krampus and his friends with the elf-like Tomten and the goblinesque Karakoncolas. The Belsnickel is ready to hit us with his switch of sticks and Gryla may drag you back to her mountain lair. And watch out for the Yule Cat ready to pounce! These are just a few of the yuletide beasties coming for us in The Fright Before Christmas in the hope they can save us from ourselves.

The folklore roots of Christmas under its many other guises (Yule, the Winter Solstice, Saturnalia) is examined in a different, darker light. The Winter Solstice is a time to be afraid. It’s the shortest day of the year. The longest night. In some parts of the world, the sun doesn’t rise at all. It’s dark, and we have to wonder if the sun will ever come back at all. Christmas has always been creepy and with The Fright Before Christmas you’ll see the other side. This is a book for everyone who loves a little darkness around the holidays.

Be good or the Krampus will get you!… Read More The Fright Before Christmas by Jeff Belanger & Terry Reed (Review)

— book review, children's —

Wild at Heart by Evan Griffith and Anna Bron (Review)

December 5, 2024

Mardy and Olaus Murie fell in love in–and with–Alaska. Then set out on an adventure across the Arctic for Olaus’s work as a biologist, encountering the beauty and danger of the wilds along the way. They learned from Indigenous communities to appreciate the interconnectedness of all living creatures and understood that the way humans were moving in on wild land was threatening the natural world. So they shifted the focus of their work to conservation, fighting to protect the land and animals–and lobbying for the creation of what finally became the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, nine thousand square miles of protected land! Mardy and Olaus’s story of passion and hard work will inspire all readers to fan their spark of purpose into flame. Backmatter includes additional information on Mardy and Olaus, their legacy, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and more… Read More Wild at Heart by Evan Griffith and Anna Bron (Review)

— book review, children's —

Jelly-Boy by Nicole Godwin & Christopher Nielsen (Review)

August 18, 2024

What happens when a jellyfish falls in love with a plastic bag she mistakes for a jelly-boy?

Jelly-Boy is different. He is big and strong. And not as wobbly as the other Jelly-Boys. By the time Jelly-Girl discovers the dangerous truth about her new friend, it may already be too late.

This is an inventive approach to tackling a conservation issue that is plaguing our world: too much plastic in the ocean. Told in a kid-friendly and humorous way, this is a story with the potential to encourage dialogue around an important issue… Read More Jelly-Boy by Nicole Godwin & Christopher Nielsen (Review)

— book review, children's —

Bear’s Lost Glasses by Leo Timmers (Review)

August 18, 2024

Bear can’t find his glasses. He must have left them at Giraffe’s house.

On the way over, Bear sees all kinds of animals he didn’t notice last time: an elephant, a crocodile, a flamingo, a deer. And who’s this long spotty snake lying on Giraffe’s deckchair?

The patient Giraffe finds Bear’s glasses―right where glasses always get lost, perched on his head. Then Bear takes Giraffe to meet these wondrous animals that he found on the way.

Leo Timmers’ details are full of expression and humor―the angle of Giraffe’s neck and lift of his eyebrows, hiding his skepticism as he helps his friend, the dear, artless bear.

Through an ingenious telling of this classic comical situation, Leo Timmers shows us how to enjoy the world through different eyes… Read More Bear’s Lost Glasses by Leo Timmers (Review)

— Adult, book review —

Salt & Broom by Sharon Lynn Fisher (Review)

February 29, 2024

A gifted healer unravels the mysteries of a cursed estate―and its enigmatic owner―in a witchy retelling of Jane Eyre . Salt and broom, make this room Safe and tight, against the night. Trunks packed with potions and cures, Jane Aire sets out on a crisp, clear morning in October to face the greatest challenge of her sheltered girls’-school existence. A shadow lies over Thornfield Hall and its reclusive master, Edward Rochester. And he’s hired her only as a last resort. Jane stumbles again and again as she tries to establish a rapport with her prickly new employer, but he becomes the least of her worries as a mysterious force seems to work against her. The threats mount around both Jane and Rochester―who’s becoming more intriguing and appealing to her by the day. Jane begins to fear her herb healing and protective charms may not be enough to save the man she’s growing to love from a threat darker and more dangerous than either of them imagined.… Read More Salt & Broom by Sharon Lynn Fisher (Review)

— Adult, book review —

Role Playing by Cathy Yardley (Review)

February 29, 2024

Maggie is an unapologetically grumpy forty-eight-year-old hermit. But when her college-aged son makes her a deal―he’ll be more social if she does the same―she can’t refuse. She joins a new online gaming guild led by a friendly healer named Otter. So that nobody gets the wrong idea, she calls herself Bogwitch.

Otter is Aiden, a fifty-year-old optimist using the guild as an emotional outlet from his family drama caring for his aging mother while his brother plays house with Aiden’s ex-fiancée.

Bogwitch and Otter become fast virtual friends, but there’s a catch. Bogwitch thinks Otter is a college student. Otter assumes Bogwitch is an octogenarian.

When they finally meet face to face―after a rocky, shocking start―the unlikely pair of sunshine and stormy personalities grow tentatively closer. But Maggie’s previous relationships have left her bitter, and Aiden’s got a complicated past of his own.

Everything’s easier online. Can they make it work in real life?… Read More Role Playing by Cathy Yardley (Review)