I’m missing book reviews. Not reading them, but writing
them.
The platform where I’ve been a regular, active reviewer for
over a decade is currently in a state of huge flux. At the moment, it’s unclear
whether or not the site issues will resolve so that book reviewers can remain
viable contributors to the site. I’m sad over this for several reasons, one
being that I do earn a small amount of consistent income from reviewing for the
site each month, and another being that I’ve met some wonderful people through
the site and would miss the camaraderie and community there if I had to step
away completely.
But the strangest thing of all right now is not having this
one niche to place book reviews – a niche I’ve relied on since the sweet girl
(now eleven years old) was a baby. In that time I’ve averaged between 2-3
reviews per week, most of them books. I had not realized how engrained the
review writing habit had become until the past couple of weeks, when I’ve not
been able to post reviews of several books I’ve read and enjoyed. Granted, I
could write and post elsewhere – like here – but I would miss the larger
readership I have there, and the sense that I’m building something that’s
connected to a community and not just me.
So what books have I read lately that I’m wanting to talk
about?
In children’s books, the sweet girl and I just recently
finished a “team read” of an amazing book called Team Moon: How 400,000 People
Landed Apollo 11 on the Moon. After searching for ages for mid-grade
resources on the moon landing and never feeling entirely satisfied, I felt like
we hit the jackpot with this gorgeous picture book. Well, it’s picture book
sized, but stuffed with text as well as photos. Written by Catherine Thimmesh, Team
Moon stuns you with beauty and fascinates you with “behind the scenes”
information about the moon landing. Despite the fact that the Apollo 11 mission
was 44 years ago, Thimmesh manages to build suspense into the telling. She also
shares about a number of people, beyond the three astronauts, who had a large
share in getting them there.
Also in children’s books, I’ve discovered a delightfully
wacky mystery series for mid-grade readers. I’m not sure how many Wilma
Tenderfoot books there are, but having just laughed my way through the
first, I hope there are a lot more. The book has a winking, all-knowing
narrator and a terrific way of spoofing both orphan tales and detective
stories. It managed to make me think of Harry Potter, Unfortunate Events, the
Benedict Society, and Sherlock Holmes. Oh, and Saturday morning cartoons. Not
to mention orphan girl Wilma (who so wants to become a detective) has a
delightful sidekick in a beagle named Pickle. This series is by British author
Emma Kennedy.
In books for grown-ups (I do still read those!) I’ve
discovered a new mystery series I’m enjoying. The author is Christobel
Kent, and the novels, which feature her private investigator Sandro
Cellini, are set in and around Florence,
Italy. Italy
has become something of a fascination for me in recent weeks as we’ve made it
our first geography study this year in school. Among other things, that’s meant
that we’ve watched some good travel documentaries (yay, Rick Steves!) which
have given me great visuals to keep in mind as I read. I’m not sure what I’m
enjoying most about the series: Kent’s
atmospheric writing, her lovable detective Cellini, or the great descriptions
of Italy,
but the combination of all those things definitely makes these books worth
reading. The mystery plots are also strong, always a plus in these days where
great characters and settings abound but writers tend to clunk their way
through clichéd mystery plots. Not the case here.
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