Category: Book Review

Book Review: Shift

Shift by Jennifer Bradbury This book is justification for trolling the Middle School and YA (and even Juvenile) sections in the library. Even though it was listed as being for Middle Schoolers, there is nothing about this book that makes it inappropriate for adults. You can ask your kids’ permissions first if you like, but …

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Book Review: The Emperor of All Maladies

The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee My friend recommended this book, and I so value the strength of her recommendation that I bought it as an audiobook despite the daunting 20 hour length. It did occur to me that a book about cancer is perhaps not the best book for a hypochondriac to …

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Book Review: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs This YA fantasy shares many characteristics with other YA fantasies, but the thing that sets it apart are the unusual photographs that illustrate the novel, such as the one on the cover. You can’t really talk about this novel without talking about the photographs. The black …

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Book Review: The Poison Diaries

The Poison Diaries by Maryrose Wood I chose this book because my 12-year-old daughter highly recommended it. It has a lot of elements that pre-teen girls and young teen girls will find desirable: young heroine, cute mysterious boy, darkness, supernatural powers, and death. It’s a unique spin on the “pretty young woman meets pretty supernatural …

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Book Review: The Poisoner’s Handbook

The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York by Deborah Blum I feel like this book was written just for me: history, science, and murder mysteries all wrapped up in a fascinating and informative non-fiction book about forensic medicine. I got this as an audiobook, which was good …

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