Here at Chapter Break, we don’t always write a full review of every book we read. Well, now we decided to do these monthly wrap-up posts with roundups of our reviews this month and mini-reviews to fill in the gaps. Enjoy!
Won’t Somebody Play With Annabelle Kay? This is a sweet book about a new girl in town who nobody wanted to play with. It’s rough being new, definitely something our family goes through often. But a pair of friendly birds helped Annabelle Kay see what wonderful skill she could use to help others, and that helped her make friends. The illustrations are super cute, and I loved the birds. Great read for kids in the situation looking for their own special talent to share with new friends. Thanks to the author for sharing this book with me.
Dang. I’ve read a lot of books this month. The power of books that aren’t 600+ pages!
The Four Winds: I don’t want to say anything horribly negative about this book. The writing was fine. Let’s keep it at the character-driven genre is not my thing. Depressing doesn’t begin to encompass the lives of the characters in this novel. I never really connected with Elsa. And Lareda is a brat. But if one thing came out of this novel, it’s that I thought more about the economic refugees trying to better themselves and how horrible global climate change could be. Living through the Great Depression AND the Dustbowl on the Great Plains is really eye-opening.
The Science of Sci-Fi: Physics teachers take note: using popular science fiction movies, games, and books to explain physics is much more engaging than the same old lectures! This is a series of 10 lectures on how warp drives, worm holes, transporters, and time travel, among other ideas science fiction are actually based in real science. I loved the examples from shows the Star Trek, The Expanse, and Star Wars. I will say the first lecture is very heavy on the math and science, which wasn’t the best for paying attention to while driving. But the following lectures are entertaining! The author narrates the lectures; she is engaging and easy to listen to. I love the recaps at the beginning and ending of each lecture. If you’ve ever wondered ‘how does that work in real life’ while watching or reading Sci-Fi, this series is for you!
Laws of Physics: Motion: After meeting Abram in CAPTURE, I was all onboard with his story. Even with knowing this book would end in a cliff hanger. (CURSE YOU, CLIFF HANGERS!) I do love an antagonists to lovers story. But I do not love a pretend to be your twin love story. That is messed up. Both Abram and Mona are well-developed characters. I appreciate Mona’s disinterest in being touched by random strangers and her convictions to help out her sister, no matter the personal cost. As for the cliff hanger, the ending was not where I expected it to be. And I’m certainly in for the next two stories for some resolution!
Laws of Physics: Space: I am OBSESSED with this series and I’m trying to savor them. The second installment of Abram and Mona’s story takes place 2 years after Motion. Abram is on the cusp of being a famous rock star (and underwear model!). Both Mona and Abram still have feeling for each other. The tension is high between these two! I stayed up way too late a few nights in a row to finish this novel. And I am ready to read the final one.
Sandman Book #1: Hear me out. I tried on more than on occasion to get through the graphic novel version of this and could not. So when I heard there was a FULL CAST audio recording, I was in! Then I forgot about it til I was scrolling through my audiobooks looking for something to listen to (because Covet was an 8 week wait at the library) and remembered I never listened. My honest assessment? The narration was amazing. I want Neil Gaiman to narrate all the books. With the addition of James McAvoy, how could you go wrong listening to this? Now the bad news. This book should be rated a hard R. No horror\scary scenes. But a lot of disturbing scenes (violence, sex, violent sex). If you have an trepidations, here’s your warning. I did enjoy most of the stories, especially following Death around. I love how Gaiman wraps seemly unconnected characters together by the end of the stories. And the characters in the Dreaming World are very interesting! Will I listen to Part 2? Unknown at this point. Will I watch the upcoming series? Maybe? With my eyes covered most of the time.
Books we reviewed this month:
- [15 Oct] You Are Revolutionary by Cindy Wang Brandt
- [16 Oct] Since You've Been Gone by Tari Faris ★★★★½
- [18 Oct] ParaNorthern by Stephanie Cooke ★★★★
