Book Review

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn By: Mark Twain
Sadly not the edition I read

Sadly not the edition I read

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn By: Mark Twain

Plot:

Of all the contenders for the title of The Great American Novel, none has a better claim than The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Intended at first as a simple story of a boy’s adventures in the Mississippi Valley – a sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer – the book grew and matured under Twain’s hand into a work of immeasurable richness and complexity. More than a century after its publication, the critical debate over the symbolic significance of Huck’s and Jim’s voyage is still fresh, and it remains a major work that can be enjoyed at many levels: as an incomparable adventure story and as a classic of American humor.

Review:

This is the first book in my list of Classics I Should Read, as well as the oldest books on my to read pile. This year I’ve been trying to read more classics, non-fiction, and whittle down my to read pile. It’s taken a while but I’m finally getting there. There are just so many books!

The next time I hear someone say kids today are violent I’m going to point them in the direction of Huckleberry Finn. The very beginning of the book is Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn along with several other boys deciding they were going to be bandits and kill and steal from people. And if anyone was a rat their whole family would be killed.

The language was great, though at time hard to keep up with. It added another stop on my time travel vacation (the vacation I’ll take when I gain access to a time machine), I would love to hear Mark Twain read one of his stories. I bet it’s amazing.

I loved the first third or so, when it was just Huck and Jim. They got into scrapes and Huck had an interesting point of view on things. When the duke and the king joined them I didn’t find it as fun. They were conmen, to an extent so was Huck, but they were greedy. I was glad when he was finally free of them but what they did to Jim sucked. Then Tom Sawyer had to show up and cock things up again.

Everything was tied up by the end, which I always enjoy, but ultimately I only really liked reading the first third of the book. That’s not fair, I did laugh a couple times at the end with Tom Sawyer and his hijacks.

3.5/5

Side note: Symbolism is lost on me so I’m sure I missed some stuff.

 

Please Don’t Tell My Parents I’m a Supervillain By: Richard Roberts

Please Dont Tell My Paren'ts I'm a Supervillain

Please Don’t Tell My Parents I’m a Supervillain (Please Don’t Tell My Parents #1) By: Richard Roberts

Plot:

Penelope Akk wants to be a superhero. She’s got superhero parents. She’s got the ultimate mad science power, filling her life with crazy gadgets even she doesn’t understand. She has two super powered best friends. In middle school, the line between good and evil looks clear. In real life, nothing is that clear. All it takes is one hero’s sidekick picking a fight, and Penny and her friends are labeled supervillains. In the process, Penny learns a hard lesson about villainy: She’s good at it. Criminal masterminds, heroes in power armor, bottles of dragon blood, alien war drones, shape shifters and ghosts, no matter what the super powered world throws at her, Penny and her friends come out on top. They have to. If she can keep winning, maybe she can clear her name before her mom and dad find out.

Review:

With a title like that I had to at least read the sample. After a sample like that I had to at least read the book. After a book like that I have to read the next. Notice a theme?

I was nicely surprised by PDTMPIASV, it could have very easily been over the top cheesy with no plot or character development in sight, but it didn’t take the easy way out. There was certainly cheese and it was set over a couple of weeks so there wasn’t much character development, but it was still there and combined with the plot and world it made a great book.

The book was very long for a juvenile fiction book, possibly even for a YA. There were times when it did drag a little, because Roberts wanted to show you that Penny was a normal middle school girl, who just happened to find out that she made a good supervilian. Normal middle school girls are pretty boring.

I did wish that she had found a way to cement herself as a superhero and not just someone who worked both sides. If Roberts was trying to say something more there he didn’t do it clearly enough for me. I did however see why Penny would enjoy being a villain.

I thought her parents were very stupid, especially for supposedly being two of the smartest people on the planet, because of that I doubted everything they said. Obviously this would appeal to kids, she’s pulling something over her parents so easily. As a parent I’m annoyed, though.

If you happen to have a child in the YA/ juvenile fiction age bracket that loves to read I would highly recommend. Because of the length I’m not sure I would recommend for all readers in that age group, though.

4/5

Mockingbird (Miriam Black #2) By: Chuck Wendig

mockingbird

Mockingbird (Miriam Black #2) By: Chuck Wendig

Plot:

Miriam is trying. Really, she is.    But this whole “settling down thing” that Louis has going for her just isn’t working out. She lives on Long Beach Island all year around. Her home is a run-down double-wide trailer. She works at a grocery store as a check-out girl. And her relationship with Louis–who’s on the road half the time in his truck–is subject to the piss and vinegar Miriam brings to everything she does.    It just isn’t going well. Still, she’s keeping her psychic ability–to see when and how someone is going to die just by touching them–in check. But even that feels wrong somehow. Like she’s keeping a tornado stoppered up in a tiny bottle.    Then comes one bad day that turns it all on her ear.

Review:

Miriam does not do normal, at all. So when she tries to be normal for Louis it does not work and I really feel like she acted even more outrageous than she would have if she hadn’t been suppressed for so long. Louis didn’t seem like he was conscientiously trying to change Miriam, it was more like she felt obligated to try since she’d got his eye poked out.

This series is much darker than I normally read but I still like it. Definitely not something I could read a lot of all at once, but it’s nice to change things up every now and then. Wendig writes great characters and his women are not the damsel in distress sort. He tells his story from a unique perspective, and even though I really don’t like Miriam, I can’t help but hope she succeeds and figures her life out.

4/5

 

Miss Buncle’s Book (Miss Buncle #1) By: D.E. Stevenson
Miss Buncles Book

Love this cover

Miss Buncle’s Book (Miss Buncle #1) By: D.E. Stevenson

Plot:

Barbara Buncle is in a bind. Times are harsh, and Barbara’s bank account has seen better days. Stumped for ideas, Barbara draws inspiration from fellow residents of her quaint English village, writing a revealing novel that features the townsfolk as characters. The smashing bestseller is published under the pseudonym John Smith, which is a good thing because villagers recognize the truth. But what really turns her world around is when events in real life start mimicking events in the book. Funny, charming, and insightful, this novel reveals what happens when people see themselves through someone else’s eyes.

Review:

The cover on this book really drew me in and the story sounded fairly interesting. I got lost a few times in the language, I’m not completely up on my 50s British slang. There are also some British customs that I don’t understand, evidently you can be hurting for money and yet still have staff? I’m sure I’m missing something, but even not knowing the ins and outs of British customs I really enjoyed the book.

The peek into the lives of a small British village that is in an uproar over a book that didn’t quiet depict some people in the best light was very intriguing and entertaining. I loved the main character Barbara Buncle, she was very average, intelligence wise, but because everyone underestimated her she seemed smarter than she was.

When Sarah’s children were “kidnapped” I really wanted the masterminds to get jailed or the crap beat out of them but evidently that’s not how they doing things in Britain. I guess that’s the crass American coming out in me.

Loved the book, the next in the series is $9.99 so it’s a bit steep for an author I’m not too familiar with, but maybe I can pick it up on sale sometime.

4/5

The Last Word (The Spellmans #6) By: Lisa Lutz

the-last-word

The Last Word (The Spellmans #6) By: Lisa Lutz

Plot:

Isabel Spellman is used to being followed, extorted, and questioned—all occupational hazards of working at her family’s firm, Spellman Investigations. Her little sister, Rae, once tailed Izzy for weeks on end to discover the identity of her boyfriend. Her mother, Olivia, once blackmailed Izzy with photographic evidence of Prom Night 1994. It seemed that the Spellmans would lay off after Izzy was fired for breaching client confidentiality, but then Izzy avenged her dismissal by staging a hostile takeover of the company. She should have known better than to think she could put such shenanigans behind her. In The Last Word, Izzy’s troubles are just beginning. After her hostile takeover of Spellman Investigations, Izzy’s parents simply go on strike. Her sister, Rae, comes back into the family business with questionable motivations. Her other employees seem to be coping with anxiety disorders, and she has no idea how to pay the bills. However, her worst threat comes from someone who is no relation. Within months of assuming control of the business, Izzy is accused of embezzling from a former client, the ridiculously wealthy Mr. Slayter, who happens to have Alzheimer’s, which Izzy and he are diligently trying to keep under wraps. Not only is Slayter’s business and reputation on the line, but if Izzy gets indicted for embezzlement, she’ll lose everything—her business, her license, and her family’s livelihood. Is this the end of Izzy Spellman, PI? The answer makes The Last Word, hands down, the most thrilling book in this bestselling, award-nominated series.

Review:

After the previous installment in this series I took a break from the Spellmans. I love the series, I own the first four books in hardback, but the last one made me a little mad. It was a good book, I gave it four stars (this was before the blog), but I was mad that Izzy dumped Henry. I get that she was bad for him but I loved him and I didn’t take things wells.

Years later I’m finally reading the next book. I’d forgotten how much I loved the Spellmans. How much I love them, but completely don’t understand them. Seriously they are right up there with the Adams family in weirdness (not gothic, just weird).

Izzy is finally showing some little bit of growth, but only after a lot of poor decisions. I spent a lot of the books screaming at her, she never does what I say, though. I love how all the ends are always tied up, even though it almost never brings a happy ending. In fact she always has to blind side you at the end with some horrible news and this book was no exception. It hits you right in the feels.

I love the series and if this is the last book I’ll be sad, mainly because I really want a happy ending or some kind of ending for Izzy’s romantic life, but these aren’t those kinds of books so I’ll understand if I never get that. That being said, if she writes more I will want closure on that front. We’ll see what happens.

4.5/5