5 Minutes For Books

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Bookish Board Games

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I don’t know about you guys, but we like reading books around here. Furthermore, it’s a real treat to play games in our home (because I confess, mommy isn’t much of a game player!) But to combine the two activities? Well, to suggest such is to secure the enthusiasm of a certain little 3 1/2 year old.

Read my full review of this game and one other from I Can Do That! Games at 5 Minutes for Mom. And then you can enter to win a set for yourself (U.S. residents only). The giveaway will close on April 4.

Comments are closed here to remind you to enter at 5 Minutes for Mom.

Carrie comes by her book obsession honestly, having descended from a long line of bibliophiles. She blogs about books, and how she tries to draw her children into them, regularly at Reading to Know and Reading My Library.

Double Trouble

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Last May, I reviewed Susan May Warren’s Nothing But Trouble. In this story, PJ Sugar returns to her hometown after a ten year absence and finds herself in the middle of a big mess. At the conclusion of that story, PJ resolves to remain home and put the pieces of her life back together.

In Double Trouble, Susan May Warren continues PJ’s story. PJ is working toward a career in private investigating, and she finds herself at the center of a dangerous situation. Meanwhile, Boone, PJ’s high-school sweetheart, hopes to have her as his bride-to-be. Although PJ loves Boone, she is hesitant to answer yes because she is not sure she is the same girl he fell in love with, and she isn’t too sure about her feelings toward her new boss either.

As usual, Susan May Warren delivers a light-hearted, funny tale, and I can always see a little bit of myself in her characters. If you are looking for a fun, contemporary story about a woman who does not have everything in her life running perfectly (sound familiar?), be sure to check out Double Trouble.

You can enter to win a copy of Double Trouble by leaving a comment on this post. Additionally, you can enter to win a huge prize package from Susan May Warren by clicking on the button below. The $150 Super Sleuth Package includes:

* A brand new iPod Shuffle (perfect for those all-night stakeouts)
* A $10 iTunes gift card (we recommend the ALIAS soundtrack)
* A $10 Amazon gift card (why yes, they do sell spy pens)
* A $10 Starbucks gift card (for fuel, obviously)
* A pair of designer sunglasses (be stealthy AND super chic)
* A gorgeous scarf from World Market (can also be used as a blindfold, and/or for tying up bad guys)
* AND signed copies of both Nothing But Trouble & Double Trouble. (romance! danger! intrigue! sooo much better than Surveillance for Dummies!)

DoubleTrouble

We have several winners to announce this week. The three winners of Godmother are: #9 – edj, #39 – Laura Hartness and #47- Kelly

The winner of the Nuddle is #41 – Benita G.

The winner of the four novels in the Irish Country Village series is #23 – Noreen.

Also, don’t forget to check out the locket in the ad in the left sidebar. Get $20 off any order at Emma Parker & Co. Jewelry with the code: BOOKLOVERS.

Lauren is a wife, a mother of two, and an avid reader. She blogs at Baseballs and Bows. Lauren thanks Litfuse Publishing for providing the review copy of this book.

Children’s Classics Mystery Challenge – February

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mysterychallengeYay! We’re onto our second month of this challenge and I’m honestly wondering if six months is enough time to talk about everything and everyone that I want to talk about! You guys are making this challenge such a blast for me and I loved seeing what everyone else posted about last month. I can’t wait to see who and what you have to talk about this month!

As for myself, I spent a good bit of January catching up with an old friend of mine, Cherry Ames. I wrote up a bit about the Cherry Ames series which I’d encourage you to pop off and read if you didn’t get a chance to earlier. I have also reviewed the first title in the series, Cherry Ames, Student Nurse over at Reading to Know. (Click on the title to read my review of it.) Right here and right now I’d like to introduce you to Cherry as she had some adventures as a Rural Nurse!

In Cherry Ames, Rural Nurse we find Cherry accepting a job as a county nurse in southeastern Iowa. She’s the only nurse in the entire county and finds herself in a possession of a new vehicle to help her make her house calls. (Yes, this is back in the good old days where you stayed home when you were sick and the doctor/nurse came to you!) She is working on becoming acquainted with the local doctor as well as the people in her new community when she discovers a good number of people falling ill after taking a “natural remedy” which was peddled to them. Cherry can’t figure out who the peddler is or what the natural remedy is made of but she purposes to find out! She needs to find a sample of the product but the community is guarded and doesn’t want to share the information. The Food & Drug Administration is called in, Cherry is disguising herself to meet peddlers in the woods, and there is even a secret tunnel from the Underground Railway involved in this particular medical mystery.

This particular title was penned by Julie Campell Tatham, authoress of the Trixie Belden series and is a post-war peacetime mystery story. If you haven’t read Cherry Ames, you don’t necessarily need to start at the beginning. It’s nice to get a feel for the history of Cherry and where she has been, but each book stands alone because she has different jobs in every book. I really enjoyed Rural Nurse and it’s probably my second favorite in the series, coming in after Private Duty Nurse. I absolutely love Cherry’s adventures and heartily encourage you to check out a Cherry book or two during this challenge. I think you’ll seriously be missing out if you don’t!

Now it’s your turn. What have YOU been reading as part of this challenge? I look forward to finding out!

Carrie thought of Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden as her best friends growing up. She blogs about books regularly at Reading to Know and Reading My Library.

When She Flew

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whensheflewI like a good thrilling mystery (almost) as much as the next guy, but they do seem to often be written with guys in mind. I know that there are some authors, Cornwell and Evanovich come to mind, who are women who write for women, but in general, this genre seems to be dominated by men.

Though I haven’t read those other women, When She Flew by Jennie Shortridge seems to fit into this mystery/thriller/cop drama for women genre.

When She Flew tells the story of a 13-year-old girl and her father, who are discovered by some bird-watchers in their permanent encampment in the woods where they live, which brings up the question of neglect. When the police get involved, instead of it being about what’s truly right for the girl and her father, it becomes a political landmine of public opinion.

Jess Villareal is one of the few females on the force, and lately she’s been feeling the rift between herself and her daughter who left home when she became pregnant as a teen. Probably because of this, she ends up deciding to take a less traditional approach to figuring out what’s right for Lindy and her father.

The story is told in alternating viewpoints of Jess and Lindy. Each had a strong voice, and each told her own story in a realistic way. They didn’t always know what they were thinking or why they were doing what they were doing. This uncertainty led a vulnerability to the characters that causes the reader to get sucked right in.

I loved the theme of mother-daughter conflict, the suspense of seeing how the story was going come out, and the ability to peek into Jess’ and Lindy’s heads as they figured out something about themselves.

Jennifer Donovan lived in the Pacific Northwest for three years, and enjoyed the lush green Oregon setting of this novel. She blogs at Snapshot about food, travel, books, and her family.

The Sacred Cipher

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A couple of you told me how good The Sacred Cipher was and you did not miss your mark in saying that I would like it. Like it!? I LOVED it!

Typically, I’m not a big fan of suspense/action/intrigue type of books. I used to like such things a great deal until I finished up my time working in a District Attorney’s office and at that point I had pretty much had my feel of danger, mystery and intrigue! Somehow, having children also made me more wary of stories involving murder. And yes, The Sacred Cipher does have all of the above, however, it’s tastefully and well done (even though it’s more bloody than I’d like in parts)! I’ve seen this book compared to Brown’s DaVinci Code, but I haven’t read that so I cannot compare it for you at all.

This book opens up with theologian Charles Spurgeon locating an ancient scroll that is shrouded in mystery. The scroll itself then disappears for a hundred-ish years and makes its appearance again in New York City. A group of five guys are trying to decipher the scroll’s message and that proves difficult because it is written in an ancient and obscure (i.e., dead) language. It becomes obvious that there are others in the world who would wish the men not to discover the message of the scroll and their very lives, and the lives of their family, are put in danger.

The Sacred Cipher is spell binding. I would lump it more in the category of “clean read” rather than “Christian fiction” although it is that. I didn’t walk away with the impression that author Terry Brennan was trying to share the Bible with me (although that personally wouldn’t have bothered me if he had). One of my chief complaints about Christian fiction is that it is presented in such a squeaky clean manner that I find it hardly believable. Brennan does a good job talking about the Christian faith amidst bombings and gunfire. He has written believable characters, some with strong moral values and others who are around for comedic relief. Between the five guys trying to unlock the scroll’s mysteries, there is a nice balance. I’d recommend this book to just about anyone in a heart beat because it’s just clean, good fun. And yes, if they made a movie out of it, I would watch it.

This book is a winner and I know I’m not alone in saying so. Nor should I be. Brennan did his job well and deserves a little recognition for it.

Carrie comes by her book obsession honestly, having descended from a long line of bibliophiles. She blogs about books regularly at Reading to Know and Reading My Library.

The Secret of the Sacred Scarab

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Adventure, mystery and history come alive in Fiona Ingram’s middle-grade novel The Secret of the Sacred Scarab, the first in the Chronicles of the Stone series. The novel opens as cousins Justin and Adam embark on a trip to Egypt with their investigative journalist aunt and grandmother, where they inadvertently get mixed up in a complex plot to uncover the truth behind a little-believed myth. Could it be that there is significant truth and meaning behind the so-called myth?

The fast and suspenseful tone fits well for older elementary school readers, and Ingram weaves history lessons into the narrative, comfortably conveying information and context as the story unfolds. As an adult reader, I was intrigued by the story, even as I questioned certain plot points, so I had to remind myself of the intended audience. I tried to read this from the perspective of my own nine year old son, and I know that both the sinister bad guys and the courageous young protagonists will captivate his action-loving literary needs. With lush descriptions of the amazing setting, Egypt herself becomes a central character, rich with a culture and history on full display.

Readers will be transported as they follow Justin and Adam on an adventure marked by danger, beauty, mythology, history, and discovery. The Secret of the Sacred Scarab begins their journey, and as the novel comes to an end, many questions still remain unanswered and ready to be addressed as the series, and Justin and Adam’s adventure, continues.

For more information about the book and some fantastic resources about Egypt, head over to the book’s official site. While you’re there, be sure to check out the giveaway for a T-shirt and copy of the book for your child’s school or local library!

As her oldest child grows, so do Dawn’s reading habits. Her life with a toddler, preschooler and big kid is regularly chronicled on her blog, my thoughts exactly.

Books on Screen: Where the Wild Things Are

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It’s Z-Dad and the Z-Kids from Bookie Woogie signing in! Thanks so much to 5 Minutes For Books for letting us share our thoughts on the “Where the Wild Things Are” movie. For our review of the original picture book, you’re welcome to peek here. The following discussion picks up where that prior review leaves off…

Dad:  Alright, what movie did we just see?
Kids:  “Where the Wild Things Are!”
Lily (age 6):  With a wild rumpus!
Dad:  How did you like it?
Isaac (age 11):  It was good.
Dad:  You didn’t sound very excited there, boy.
Isaac:  Woohoo! It was good!
Gracie (age 9):  I love it!
Dad:  The book takes just two minutes to read. Was the movie two minutes long as well?
Gracie:  The movie was three minutes.
Dad:  So they added an extra minute?
Gracie:  Ha ha ha!
Isaac:  No, it was hours longer.
Gracie:  There is good news and bad news. The bad news is that my favorite character from the book — the monster that I named “I-Walked-Into-A-Tree–Ouch” — he was not in the movie. The good news is that since he wasn’t in the movie, they didn’t give him a different name. So I can keep his name however I like. And I’m keeping his name “I-Walked-Into-A-Tree–Ouch.”
Isaac:  If you read the book, in one of the pages you see a monster that looks like he’s walking straight into a tree.
Gracie:  The page where they are howling at the moon…
Isaac:  He’s the monster on the right-hand side.
Dad:  So what things were the same in both the book and the movie?
Isaac:  Max.
Gracie:  The private boat.
Isaac:  Going across the water. The monsters. Max becoming the king.
Gracie:  The wild rumpus.
Isaac:  The book starts with Max chasing a dog with a fork.
Gracie:  And the movie starts with him chasing the dog with a fork.
Dad:  That was cool.
Gracie:  And “Don’t go… I’ll eat you up, I love you so.”
Dad:  So what were some things that were different? Either things from the book that they left out, or new things that they added…
Isaac:  Max ran away instead of getting sent to his room.
Gracie:  There was no “I-Walked-Into-A-Tree–Ouch.”
Isaac:  There was no sea dragon.
Dad:  Yeah, I was disappointed about that.
Isaac:  The fort was new. There wasn’t a fort in the book.
Gracie:  Yeah, they built the coolest fort out of sticks! It was shaped like a ball, and it was so sweet. So sweet!
Lily:  I know something about the movie. When Max got to where the wild things are, stuff happened that was the same as in his life. You know how the kids destroyed Max’s igloo? Well, Max helped to destroy the monsters’ old homes.
Isaac:  Lily, that’s the most you ever said in a review at one time!
Dad:  I know… and what an awesome observation. Lily figured that out all on her own.
Isaac:  Good job Lily!
Dad:  So, some things from Max’s world are mirrored in the Wild Things’ world. Does anyone remember from one of our other reviews what that’s called?
Lily:  Parallelogram?
Dad:  Close! Parallel. What other parallels were there?
Gracie:  Max told his mom, “I’ll eat you up!” and the monsters said, “We’ll eat you up.”
Isaac:  No one would listen to the goat guy. Same for Max.
Gracie:  First, the mom had a new friend and Max didn’t like it so he yelled, Rawr! And later one monster didn’t like that another monster had new friends.
Dad:  What did you guys think of the creatures?
Isaac:  They were cool. Which was your favorite?
Dad:  I love that big buffalo guy.
Isaac:  My favorite is the goat dude. He’s awesome.
Gracie:  My favorite guy was “I-Walked-Into-A-Tree–Ouch”
Dad:  He wasn’t even in the movie!
Gracie:  Maybe he was invisible! And he walked into every tree in the forest.
Isaac:  I liked the buffalo monster too, Dad.
Elijah (age 4): (walking in on the conversation)  There was a buffalo? How come you got to see all the cool things?!
Dad:  Do you think we should have taken Elijah, or would it have been too scary for him?
Gracie:  Elijah, do you get scared of yelling monsters?
Elijah:  No way! I don’t, Grace.
Dad:  How about you three? Were there any parts that made you scared or nervous? Lily climbed onto my lap at one point.
Gracie:  What happened?
Dad:  It was when one of the monsters was chasing Max through the forest to eat him.
Lily:  My chair was just squeaky and I didn’t want it making noise…
Dad:  Suuuure……
Lily:  I wasn’t scared.
Dad:  Is there anything the moms and dads reading this should know about?
Lily:  I know, I know. If your kids are scared of monsters putting people in their mouth and then spitting them out, do not come to this movie theater.
Dad:  So there were some potentially scary parts. It was a pretty funny movie too.
Lily:  The part where the bird monster had ************ was SO funny!
Dad:  Well we don’t want to give it away!
Lily:  Oh! Erase that! Forget what I said! Blah blah blah blah.
Dad:  The movie was also pretty sad. Gracie, you said you cried?
Gracie:  What. I’m sensitive.
Dad:  How many times did you say you cried? Seven?
Gracie:  Not seven. Several. I did say “seven.” But apparently “several” is different from “seven.”
Dad:  Did Max learn any lessons in the movie?
Isaac:  Not to call himself a king.
Gracie:  He also learned not to stand on a table and say “Feed me, woman.”
Dad:  That is a fine lesson to learn indeed.

You can find weekly book reviews by Isaac, Grace, and Lily at their blog Bookie Woogie. You can see samples of their art on their other blog Chicken Nugget Lemon Tooty.

The Last Ember

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Some of the reviews I’ve read liken Daniel Levin’s novel The Last Ember to Dan Brown’s The DaVinci Code. I haven’t read Brown’s book so I have no point of reference but I will tell you the comparison I drew most often was that of the movie National Treasure (of which my family is a HUGE fan).

All the elements that made National Treasure such a smart movie are featured in The Last Ember: A hunt for lost treasure. A brilliant protagonist and an equally brilliant love interest. Conspiracy theories galore. Persistent bad guys. Betrayal. Adventure. And history. Lots and lots of history. Where National Treasure featured the American Revolution, The Last Ember is steeped in the ancient civilizations of Rome and the Holy Land.

An Italian antiquities squad discovers a woman’s preserved corpse inside an ancient column. Pages torn from priceless manuscripts litter the floor of an abandoned warehouse. An illegal excavation burrows beneath Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock, ground sacred to three religions.

Jonathan Marcus, a young American lawyer and a former doctoral student in classics, has become a sought-after commodity among less-scrupulous antiquities dealers. But when he is summoned to Rome to examine a client’s fragment of an ancient stone map, he stumbles across a startling secret. The discovery reveals not only an ancient intelligence operation to protect an artifact hidden for 2000 years, but also a ruthless modern plot to destroy all trace of it by a mysterious radical bent on erasing all remnants of Jewish and Christian presence from the Temple Mount.

With a cutting-edge plot as intricately layered as the ancient sites it explores, The Last Ember is a riveting tale spanning the high-stakes worlds of archaeology, politics, and terrorism, in its portrayal of the modern struggle to define — and redefine– history itself.

The Last Ember is a fast paced thrill ride from the Coliseum to the Temple Mount and back again. What results is an imaginative and exciting story that was difficult to put down. I will admit that the historical background, while thorough, seemed a little heavy at times, particularly in the beginning. It’s clear that Levin not only knows his stuff but he can tell a completely fascinating story about archeology of all things. Really well done.

Interested? Check out an excerpt here.

Wife and mother, Bible teacher and blogger, Lisa loves Jesus, coffee, dark chocolate and, of course, books. Read more of her reflections at Lisa writes….

The Knight

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I have been eagerly waiting for the release of The Knight, the third installment in Steven James’ Patrick Bowers Thrillers. The Rook, the second in the series, was most definitely a 5 Star Read (my review here) so I could NOT WAIT to read The Knight. Finally, I received it, promptly devoured it and am happy to report it exceeded my expectations! From the back cover:

The stakes have never been higher.

FBI Agent Patrick Bowers is used to tracking the country’s most dangerous killers, but now it looks like a killer is tracking him. Bowers faces a race against time to decipher who the next victim will be and to stop the final shocking murder–which he’s beginning to believe might be his own.

Gritty, chilling, and intense, this psychological thriller is guaranteed to keep you up all night.

Gritty. Chilling. Intense. Guaranteed to keep you up all night. Truer words have not been spoken. I often found myself holding my breath while reading it! James ups the intensity level and pushes the envelope of Christian fiction with the depth of evil and depravity portrayed in this novel. Suffice it to say, the bad guys are really bad. However, there is no gratuitous violence, no sex, no language, just good (really good) storytelling—and I think it’s a mark of James’ skill with the keyboard that he can write such an intense thriller absent of those elements.

And The Knight isn’t merely a suspense novel. James’ characters, Pat and his stepdaughter Tessa especially, are real—real in the sense that they are both believable and flawed. They struggle. They make mistakes. The development of their characters and their relationship is as compelling as the development of the mystery.

Speaking of mystery, the plot of The Knight is well crafted, one that kept me guessing (and holding my breath!) right up to the end. I hate it when I figure out the ending in the early pages of a book! No such danger here.

The Knight is a fabulous, fast paced thriller full of surprise and suspense—and I highly recommend it. And, for the record, I am now on pins and needles waiting for The Bishop to be released Summer, 2010. I can’t wait!

Interested in reading an excerpt of The Knight? Publisher Revell has provided one here.

Wife and mother, Bible teacher and blogger, Lisa loves Jesus, coffee, dark chocolate and, of course, books. Read more of her reflections at Lisa writes….

The Legend of Vinny Whiskers

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I really had no idea what was ahead of me when I picked up The Legend of Vinny Whiskers, beyond that it was a novel targeted at children nine and older and that it had to do with some prairie dogs. It sounded unique from the onset, and after turning the last page, I would definitely return to the word unique, and I’d add surprising, creative, and action-packed as well.

Gregory Kemp has given voice to the worlds of many a small mammal in this delightful story. I have to admit that I was a bit dense in the beginning, as the author does not outright state the setting, and apparently I was missing all the clues throughout the first part of the narrative (now obvious upon looking back). Once the light bulb went off, I was able to look at the story with new eyes, as the setting is one that is quite familiar to most of us, especially those of us with children. (But that’s all that I’m going to say about that– we have a general no-spoiler standard here!)

I was really taken by the creative ways in which the mannerisms and personalities of the cast of animal characters were portrayed. Simply picture perfect, time and time again with each new animal. The story line is a classic one of many seemingly different groups coming together to work for the common good against the forces of the selfish bad guys. While that sounds somewhat simplistic, this novel is anything but. I think that different aged readers will take away a variety of messages from the story, with older ones being able to draw social and political parallels, while younger readers will most likely be caught up in the action and adventure. I’m thinking that this book will go on my almost-9 year old’s reading list quite soon, and other than just a few body part jokes and mild expletives at the very end, I would deem it appropriate fare.

For an action-filled story complete with an underdog prairie dog hero, villainous rats and a lively cast of small mammal characters, The Legend of Vinny Whiskers is a perfect fit.

When Dawn’s not reading, she’s often blogging about her own three small mammals at my thoughts exactly.

Father’s Day Giveaway 1:
Fiction from Hachette Publishers

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Okay, okay, so we made a huge to-do about Mother’s Day, and we have to admit that we don’t have anything quite that big planned for Father’s Day. However, we do have three different giveaway packages that will be offered throughout the week.

Enter to win on each post, but also keep these books in mind this week as you are doing some last-minute shopping for the fathers on your list.

The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly

Even though character-driven literary fiction is my favorite type of novel, it is a well-woven suspense story that makes a true page-turner for me. The suspense can come in a character-driven novel when I just must know what is going to happen to that character.

Of course, The Scarecrow is not this kind of novel. But back in the day, I read lots of Dean Koontz and Stephen King, and I still enjoy a legal thriller on occasion, so I was interested to check out a new (to me) author, Michael Connelly.

One thing that I loved about this book is that it was so current. Veteran newsman Jack McEvoy is the victim of the decline in profitability of newspapers. The LA Times has laid him off as part of drastic cost-cutting and replaced him with a younger (and cheaper) reporter. In his last two weeks, he’s supposed to train her, but instead ends up chasing a story that he hopes will help him end his career with a bang. Unfortunately he ends up becoming part of the story himself.

The print versus online media plotline is strong, and throughout the internet is being used to create a trail that can be followed — both by the good guys and the bad guys. I was quite interested in the inside angle on these topics.

This novel contains a large amount of “street language,” as is common to this genre. If you are a fan, you probably expect that, but if this is not your normal read, I wouldn’t recommend that you delve into the genre with this book. The murders are cruel and the crime scenes are detailed.

However if you’re the reason that it seems like there’s a new Law and Order or CSI on some channel several times a day, then I think you’d really enjoy The Scarecrow.

Read an excerpt now — but beware, you might find yourself in a book-buying emergency if you can’t stop.

Supreme Courtship by Christopher Buckley

Dawn was delighted by the tie-in to current events when she recently read Supreme Courtship by Christopher Buckley, a novel about the long process of trying to get a nominee approved for the Supreme Court. Sound familiar? I’m sure we’ll continue to hear more about that in the news. To find out more about life imitating art (or hopefully not), read her full review which posted last month HERE.

Swimsuit by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

Win it before you can buy it! Swimsuit does not release until June 29, but enter to win today.

From the publisher: Syd, a breathtakingly beautiful supermodel on a photo shoot in Hawaii, disappears. Fearing the worst, her parents travel to Hawaii to investigate for themselves, never expecting the horror that awaits them.

LA Times reporter Ben Hawkins is conducting his own research into the case, hoping to help the victim and get an idea for his next bestseller. With no leads and no closer to uncovering the kidnapper’s identity than when he stepped off the plane, Ben gets a shocking visit that pushes him into an impossible-to-resist deal with the devil.

Read an excerpt right now from Hachette Book Group.

Enter to win all three books.

Three of you will win all three of these titles from Hachette Book Group (U.S. and Canadian shipping addresses are eligible to win). Please leave a comment letting us know which title you’d dig into first (or which one you think that the lucky recipient of your gift would like most).

Comments will be closed for entry on June 27 and we’ll announce the winners on June 28.

Enter our other current giveaways (including our other 2 Father’s Day Giveways). Subscribe to our feed. Follow us @5M4B on Twitter.

When managing editor Jennifer Donovan is not managing this blog, writing reviews, or blogging at Snapshot, she’s reading.

Just Another Girl

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Aster Flynn is not Just Another Girl. This girl’s got a tough life. A life no normal 17 year old would dream of. While other girls are enjoying summer vacation by hanging out at the pool and flirting with cute boys, Aster is stuck caring for Lily, her 15 year old mentally handicapped sister. It’s a job no one wants. Not Aster’s mother or her long-gone father, and least of all her self-absorbed older sister Rose.

Taking care of Lily is much more than a summer job. It’s been practically a full-time vocation for as long as Aster can remember. She has no real friends, no social life, and no hopes for the future…just Lily.


All that starts to change when one of the most popular guys in town miraculously asks Aster out on her first date. With a lot of finagling, Aster is able to make the date happen and perhaps begin a normal life. But does she want a normal life?

I became a fan of Carlson when I read The Samantha McGregor series, which I reviewed here. After reading Just Another Girl, I like Carlson even more. She confronts the hardships of having a mentally handicapped child in the home. As Lily’s primary caretaker, Aster is much more responsible than anyone else in her family. It’s a burden too heavy for a 17 year old to bear, and Carlson deftly balances Aster’s resentment for being put into this position with her guilt for for feeling that way.

Carlson has produced yet another quality work for youth, that adults might find enjoyable as well. I did.

Melissa has been captivated by books for as long as she can remember. She resides in Virginia and at Breath of Life.

The Dopple Ganger Chronicles: The First Escape

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I have never, ever read a graphic novel before and probably couldn’t have told you what one was before reading The First Escape (The Dopple Ganger Chronicles). Published by Tyndale House Publishers, this book took me on a wild ride. I’m really not sure what I think about graphic novels to tell you the truth. They are so different and out of the ordinary for me that I hardly feel qualified to really review it. However, that’s the glory of being a book reviewer – you are constantly exposed to new adventures through reading!

The story line of this novel is intriguing and I can see why the author, G.P. Taylor, has been at the top of the New York Times best seller list with works like Shadowmancer. He knows how to captivate his audience and I imagine that The Dopple Ganger Chronicles is in keeping with Mr. Taylor’s skills and talents as a writer.

In The Dopple Ganger Chronicles: The First Escape we are introduced to twin sisters, Sadie and Saskia Dopple, and their friend Erik Morrissey. All three reside at Isambard Dunstan’s School for Wayward Children, having all three been abandoned by their parents some time earlier. As you might expect, Isambard Dunstan’s school isn’t all that appealing a place to live. Throw in a vicious attack dog, a disciplinarian with a lisp, danger, an illusionist, intrigue, kidnapping, a lost family fortune and the best of “evil bad guys” and you have an entertaining read.

Having never read a graphic novel before, I have nothing to compare this to. It was just really intriguing to me! Cartoons to tell a story – novel thought! It read like I would IMAGINE a Batman comic strip to read (were I ever to have read one of those before either) except with scattered pages of dialogue and description to fill in the plot lines a bit. Although this book is published by Tyndale and thus does have Christian themes, they aren’t really hinted at until the very end of the story. Otherwise, unless you know what you are reading into, the Christian theme is relatively non-existent and I would say this book reads as a neutral, clean, exciting and edge-of-your-seat interesting tale. Unique. Different. Curious!

(Go ahead and laugh at me if you like. I’m really clueless when it comes to graphic novels!)

Carrie comes by her book obsession honestly, having descended from a long line of bibliophiles. She blogs about books regularly at Reading to Know.

Books on Screen: Inkheart

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Thanks for the invitation to review “Inkheart” (the movie) here at 5 Minutes for Books! For the Z-Kids’ thoughts on “Inkheart” (the book), and to get a non-spoiler idea of the plot, you can see our previous review at Bookie Woogie. The following discussion picks up where that prior review leaves off…

Dad:  Tell me what you guys did all morning because you were so excited to go see the movie “Inkheart.”
Isaac (age 10):  We had face paint…
Gracie (age 8):  And we dressed up as the characters!
Dad:  Isaac had some nice “Dustfinger” scars. Gracie was a lovely “Basta.”
Gracie:  And Lily dressed up as “Gwin,” the little martin with horns. She’s the only one who actually wore her outfit to the show.
Lily (age 5):  I had a little, black nose and little, black whiskers and cardboard horns.
Isaac:  Actually a blue nose, remember. Dad accidentally got the blue and black mixed up…
Lily:  A girl at the theater said, “I like your kittycat face.”
Isaac:  I ate too much popcorn… ugggghh…
Gracie:  Don’t hurl!
Dad:  So what did you think of the movie? How did it compare to the book?
Isaac:  I liked the movie. I liked the book. I liked them in different ways.
Gracie:  I liked the book better.
Dad:  And that surprises me. I thought you guys by default always like movies better than their books. I thought that was simply a “kid thing.”
Gracie:  The movie was funny, but I like the book better because it has cool descriptions.
Isaac:  You could never do that in a movie. Actually you could do it. Some movies do that.
Gracie:  But there’s no narrator in this movie. The other thing is that, in the book you can imagine people however you want to.
Dad:  Does that ruin it when the actors don’t match your imagination?
Lily:  No, it’s okay.
Gracie:  But Capricorn really did look like Howie Mandel the way I had imagined! Only a little shorter and a little more melon-headed.
Dad:  What do you mean by melon-headed?
Gracie:  You know… like Charlie Brown. The melon-headed kid.
Dad:  Do you know who that was? The actor who played Capricorn…
Isaac:  Who?
Gracie:  Howie Mandel?
Dad:  No, not Howie Mandel. It’s the guy that was Gollum in “Lord of the Rings.” Andy Serkis.
Isaac:  He was??
Dad:  Can you tell?
Isaac:  Gollum was a little, skinny guy. How was he so skinny? How is-  What the-  Uh…. I’m confused.
Gracie:  And he looked a lot shorter.
Dad:  When they filmed him for Gollum, they later replaced him with a computer guy. But he did all the actual acting. And they tried to make his face look similar.
Isaac:  Why are we even talking about Lord of the Rings?
Gracie:  Because Howie Mandel was in it.
Dad:  Now, when Inkheart was all over, I looked down at Lily during the credits and she had tears running down her face. Do you remember what you said when I asked you why you were crying?
Lily:  “Sometimes people cry when they are so, so happy.”
Dad:  And why were you so, so happy?
Lily:  Because everyone got back to their families.
Dad:  Actual tears were running down your little painted whiskers. But you had a big smile on your face.
Lily:  I loved that movie. It’s just… sometimes when you are really, really, super, double, really, really happy… you cry.
Isaac:  I didn’t understand something… In the Inkheart movie, Dustfinger can do this fire-breath thing where he would rub his hands together and flames would shoot out like a dragon blowing fire. And somehow he taught Farid to do it. But if he taught Farid, he could teach anyone. Not just people from the Inkheart land.
Dad: (laughing) Weren’t you guys trying make fire appear on the way home in the car?
Isaac:  That was Gracie. I was just trying to warm up my hands. It was freezing.
Gracie:  Yeah – It’s not fair! How come Dustfinger and Farid can make fire appear, but not me?
Isaac:  Uh – It’s animation. They change stuff on the computer.
Gracie:  Like how they did animation on ‘Lord of the Rings’ with Howie Mandel?
Isaac:  It’s not Howie Mandel.
Dad:  What did you guys think of “The Shadow”?
Gracie:  In the book it said the Shadow was formless and faceless. But in the movie, it definitely had a face.
Isaac:  It was cool.
Gracie:  Scary!
Dad:  That makes me think of a question…. We are going to be guest blogging on a site that a lot of moms visit. And they are going to want to know from you if the move is too scary for their little kids… What do you think?
Gracie:  You should wait until they are at least five or six. And at the end they will probably cry because they are so happy, like Lily did. But if they are a scaredy baby, don’t bring them there.
Dad:  So, you guys were never scared in the movie?
Kids:  No.
Dad:  What about the storm?
Gracie:  Yeah, the storm was very scary.
Dad:  What about people breaking into the house?
Isaac:  Oh yeah.
Dad:  Fire?
Gracie:  Don’t watch this if you’re scared of fire.
Dad:  What about minotaurs?
Isaac:  That was cool.
Dad:  What if a kid had a bad experience with a minotaur on the playground in their past?
Isaac:  Then they should not watch Narnia, Prince Caspian, or Inkheart.
Dad:  So the only way you could watch this is if you are not scared of anything in the whole world?
Isaac:  Well, there are no clowns in this.
Dad: (laughing)  Ah-ha!  So if a kid is scared of clowns, then this is the perfect movie for them?
Gracie:  Don’t eat popcorn if you are scared of popcorn. Or if you are allergic to it.
Dad:  What do you think — if you could bring a character out of any book, who would it be?
Lily:  I would bring out Arnie the Doughnut. I would gobble him up.
Laughter by all…
Dad:  He’d be yelling at you, “Don’t eat me!” But you’d still do it?
Lily:  Why not… He’s yummy!
Gracie:  We could just get a doughnut at the store!
Dad:  You’d go to all the trouble to bring a talking doughnut out of a book just to eat him?
Lily:  Hee hee hee…
Dad:  Well, any last words on Inkheart?
Gracie:  Read the movie. Oops….
Isaac:  Ha!  Read the movie. Watch the book.
Gracie:  That would be boring… “Hey, I’m watching a book…”

You can find weekly book reviews by Isaac, Grace, and Lily at their blog Bookie Woogie. You can see samples of their art on their other blog Chicken Nugget Lemon Tooty.

Ask Click and Clack: Answers from Car Talk

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When I was growing up, my mom used to like to listen to Car Talk, which was a weekly radio program in which two brothers would diagnose the car problems of various people who called in to the show desperate for information on how to fix their cars. When I “caught” my mom listening to it, I wondered how exciting a radio program about car problems could actually be. She assured me that Tom and Ray Magliozzi, the brothers on Car Talk, covered a wide variety of topics and were excessively funny. Before I knew it, my brother and I were listening along with her. She was right. They were funny, funny guys.

The brothers of Car Talk did talk about deep subjects. They covered things like raising teenagers, marital communications, stupidity and brilliance, mostly in regards to relationships. Now, relationships are something that I love to poke fun at. These guys mock interpersonal relationships while talking about the best and worst of vehicles and vehicle maintenance. I find them hysterically funny at times, mostly because they give common sense advice and probably because I don’t know them personally. Not to say that they aren’t nice guys. Just sayin’ that sometimes it’s easier to take advice from popular strangers instead of personal friends. To learn more about their radio program, visit the Car Site website. Then find them on your local radio station. They are hilarious!

Imagine my delight then when I discovered that there was a Car Talk book! (I came to discover that there are a few books out but this is the first I’ve read.) Ask Click and Clack: Answers from Car Talk is a collection of short articles/stories from their biweekly newspaper column of the same title. Each topic is addressed quickly and easily making this book perfect for the person in your life who only has a few spare minutes of reading a day and would like to be amused and entertained. The reader of this book will not only learn about cars but about road etiquette, Tom and Ray’s relationship as they grew up, and the rules for Punch Buggy. Important stuff.

They write with the same style and grace that they do not have. They give very tongue-and-cheek answers to their reader’s questions and I find them laugh-out-loud funny at times. If you ever listened to and liked Car Talk, you are going to enjoy Ask Click and Clack. If you’ve never listened to the radio show, do that and then go buy this book. It’s good for a laugh and some days that is just what you need.

Carrie comes by her book obsession honestly, having descended from a long line of bibliophiles. She blogs about books regularly at Reading to Know. She knows absolutely nothing about cars.

Books on Screen: The Muppet Christmas Carol

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I have watched and enjoyed The Muppet Christmas Carol many times over the years. But since I just read this Dickens classic for the first time for the Classics Bookclub here at 5 Minutes for Books, I was interested to see what my take on the film would be this time around.

Like the book, the Muppets version is set in 19th century London. The Great Gonzo plays the role of narrator, Charles Dickens. And Rizzo the Rat (who gets a little distracting at times) is his side kick.

Ebenezer Scrooge, Fred, and their significant others are played by humans, but the rest of the cast is played by Muppets. Great casting! Kermit plays a perfect Bob Cratchit, who is kind, loving, and humble. Fozzi Bear plays Fezziwig (easy switch). The three ghosts were specially designed for this film, and they all replicate the ghosts in the book very well.

One significant change is that instead of a visit from only Jacob Marley, there are two Marley brothers (Jacob and Robert). They are played by the old guys that heckle from the balcony, and they are funny. It is a little confusing that they use 2 Marleys, but when they start singing it’s important to note that one is “Avarice” and one is “Greed”. These are both important themes in Dickens’ book.

An additional change is that Fan, Scrooge’s sister, is left out of the Muppets Movie. In the book, it is plain to see that she adores her big brother. Not only that, he responds warmly to her. Her son inherited her enthusiasm, and yet we see how time and greed have caused Scrooge to respond viciously to Fred. This is an important relationship that I think could have easily been included in the Muppets version, but doesn’t hurt the story because it’s not there.

Michael Caine, who plays Ebenezer Scrooge, does an excellent job of making this character come to life on the big screen. He is easy to hate! I am glad they chose to cast Scrooge with a human actor, instead of a Muppet. He goes through an enormous personality shift from the beginning of the story until the end. I would not think a Muppet would be able to show the range of emotion required.

Having said that, I do love the Muppets in this movie. They bring whimsy to a dark and sometimes depressing story line. When I read the book, I feel like Dickens is tickled with himself (like pondering what it means to be dead as a door-nail). That is the same kind of light-heartedness that the Muppets bring. Some of the “real-life” adaptations I’ve seen are darker than the classic story because of the absence of Dickens’ wit.

In conclusion, I feel like this movie adaptation is as close as possible given the fact that it’s a children’s movie. How nice to give our children great entertainment and introduce them to the world of classic literature all at the same time!

Alicia is a Navy wife and SAHM to Timothy, 5, and Samantha, 3. She blogs at Experiencing Each Moment about life with two special needs children and any books they will give her a chance to read!

The Edge of Recall

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I admit it. I am a scaredy cat. Because of my irrational fears, I rarely read suspenseful novels or watch television shows that might keep me up at night. So, when I received The Edge of Recall, I was concerned about reading it. The story is about Tessa Young, a landscape architect who specializes in the creation of labyrinths. Tessa has had nightmares since she was a child, and while working on a labyrinth with a former colleague (also a former boyfriend) the nightmares turn into reality.

While I admit that I chose to read this book only when my husband was home (so he could protect me from the bad guys), I enjoyed it. It was certainly a page-turner, and the ending included an unexpected twist. The friction between Tessa and her colleague Smith Chandler added a romantic aspect to the story, and reading about labyrinths and their history added another dimension as well.

If you enjoy suspenseful novels, I encourage you to read The Edge of Recall. We have one copy for a lucky winner, so please leave a comment if you are interested. We’ll draw the winner next Wednesday.

Including this one, we have three live giveaways for this week, so be sure you’ve entered them all!

The winners from last week’s giveaways are

#1 Lindsey wins the Chronicle of Faith book.

#12 Jennifer wins a copy of Self Talk, Soul Talk and Set Apart Femininity.

Lauren is a wife, a mother of two, and an avid reader. Lauren blogs at Baseballs and Bows.

Lone Survivor

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While on vacation, I picked up my husband’s copy of Lone Survivor. It isn’t my typical fluffy chick lit mystery, but I’m always a sucker for a true story. This is the eye-witness account of Marcus Luttrell, Navy SEAL, and the only surviving member of Operation Redwing — a mission to capture or kill a key al Qaeda leader in the wilds of Afghanistan in 2005.

I’m here to tell you, this story sucked me in and wouldn’t let go. I read it in two days and sat up the second night until well after midnight because I couldn’t go to bed until I finished it.

At first I was distracted by the coarse writing style. The book was co-authored by Patrick Robinson, but this is clearly the voice of Marcus Luttrell. I have to assume this was intentional, and as I continued to read, I grew to appreciate the raw realism of the writing. The political views of Luttrell come across loud and clear, and he doesn’t waste time with tact or political correctness. His distaste for “liberals” and the American media is blatant and unapologetic. At the beginning, I was a bit put-off, but as I read on, I grew to appreciate his point of view, or at least understand it.

The first half of the book is about the training Luttrell received as a Navy SEAL. This is something that has always interested me, but I have never taken the time to learn much about it. The training those guys go through defies description. You just have to read it.

I remember after reading about the first four weeks of training, I looked up and said to my husband, “How can Hell Week get any worse?” Well, it did. I’ve always held a great deal of respect for the men and women of our armed forces, but reading this book gave me a renewed admiration and appreciation for everything they do to maintain our freedom.

The second half of the book was about Luttrell’s active duty in Afghanistan. Soon after his deployment, he was assigned to Operation Redwing with three other Navy SEALs. The goal was to take out a very dangerous and elusive al Qaeda leader. This battle led to the largest loss of life in the history of the Navy SEALs.

Luttrell wrote this book as a tribute to the bravery and sacrifice of his teammates.

Jo-Lynne blogs daily at Musings of a Housewife, and she runs a beauty product review blog, Chic Critique

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