Pages & Paws

Writing, Reading, and Rural Life With a Border Collie

Category Archives: Book Reviews – Fiction


by Leave a comment

The Slug & I and a New Spy Thriller

Didya miss us?

Kimber the Magnificent here. Her Momness can’t come to the blog write now (that’s not a typo.) She’s being a lazy slug. Slacking on this post-y/bloggy thing. So I decided to step in and take over. After all, someone has to be the adult in the room. (And we all know who that leaves out, right?)

Anyway, the Slug and I? We’ve read like, 98 million books since our last post-y thing. Well. Okay. Maybe not “98 million.” Maybe only 97. But anyway. I wanted to tell ya about the last historical fiction thing-y we read. Cuz someone has to, Slugville notwithstanding. So here goes:

Continue reading →


by 6 Comments

Clean & Uplifting Alternatives to Kristin Hannah Novels

Kristin Hannah is a “#1 New York Times Bestselling Author.” She’s “Superb at delving into the character’s psyches and delineating nuances of feeling.” Her books are “full of honest emotion.”

Yawn.

So. Not. Impressed. Truth is, kids, Kristin Hannah novels are a mixed bag. Yeppers, she’s a prodigious talent. Greatly skilled at weaving masterful, suspenseful tales packed with emotion and dripping with drama. Her stories are compelling and usually read-it-in-a-day kind of quick.

But they often leave us feeling like we oughtta wash our eyes out with soap. Or take a shower inside our head.

Continue reading →


by Leave a comment

The Year’s Most Over-Rated Book?

It took some doin’. But Her Momness and I? We were up to the challenge!

“What challenge?” ask ye.

Finding The Most Over-Rated Book of the Year.

Now, there were some real doozies in the running, mind you. With apologies to high school English teachers everywhere, neither of us can abide ‘stream of consciousness’ prose a la Faulkner. That’s one reason The Sound and the Fury made the list previously. Ditto Wuthering Heights and The Great Gatsby. And no, you won’t find The Most Over-Rated Book in the English Language on our list either. Hint: Catcher in the Rye. Gag me with Meow Mix!

But we just plowed through the Sorriest Slog of ‘Em All. We’re talking dull as a blunt spoon. If boring, bland and redundant were Olympic sports, this hunka junk would bring home the gold.

Can you guess what galactically lousy title gets the nod?

Great. We’ll tell you:

Continue reading →


by Leave a comment

What Makes a ‘Classic’ Read? 3 Examples, 7 Key Elements

 What makes a classic?

I mean, besides being all bright, beautiful and brilliant like me, Kimber the Classic Magnificent Wonder?

A true classic. “Hey, it’s me!”

Glad you asked. We’re gonna get to that. So just hang on a min, Cream Puff. Cuz right now we’re gonna play a bookish guessing game. Like this:

Can you identify the classic books and/or authors in which these first lines appear? (Answers below.)

  1. “All children, except one, grow up.”
  2. “Walking back to camp through the swamp, Sam wondered whether to tell his father what he had seen.”
  3. “The wind blew hard and joggled the water of the ocean, sending ripples across its surface.”

Now that you have your thinking cap on – no idea what that is; Mom’s idea – here’s another question: What do these opening lines all have in common?

Continue reading →


by Leave a comment

Unlikely(?) Heroine Rides Tall in ‘Lost Girls’

Blessing of the Lost Girls

By. J.A. Jance

Genre: Fiction/Murder Mystery/Thriller

Pages (print): 328

Via: Library

Rodeos. Barrel racing. A serial killer. A heroine named Hazel.

A heroine named Hazel? Say what? you say.

Yo! Her Momness and I will get to that shortly. So kindly keep your hair on, Cookie. First a little back story:

I was waiting outside The Book Place the other day with the patience of Job while Mom was inside, skipping merrily through the stacks looking for something to nab. She skidded to a halt in front of the Lucky Day shelf. For you young whippersnappers, this is an actual, physical shelf near the checkout where lots of the latest releases live. So if you find one that’s available for checkout it’s like, “Whoa Nellie*! It’s my Luck Day!” (*Mom Speak for “Whoa, Nellie.” Super excited.)

Continue reading →


by Leave a comment

Picture Books & ‘A Little Bit of Pixie Dust’

One of us – the one who’s been around since the Ark made landfall – is old enough to remember this super cool TV show called Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color.

Remember that one? Hosted by Walt Disney. Came on Sunday nights. Right after Lassie, Kimber’s alter ego. (Arf! Arf!) Had some of the best family entertainment around.

But the real hook? The opening where Tinkerbell flies around Sleeping Beauty’s castle, waves her fairy wand and splashes Living technicolor all over the logo. It was like magic. Repeat for you young whipper-snappers: It was like magic. (This was waaaay before the days of cheating with CGI and all that jazz.)

What If…?

Anyway. What if you could find storybooks with that kind of magic for your littleun? Well. Thanks to Storybug, you can.

Continue reading →


by Leave a comment

‘No Ordinary Day’ Packs a Wallop

No Ordinary Day

By Deborah Ellis (Groundwood Books, 2011)

Genre: Children’s

Pages: 160

Via: Library

“The best day of my life was the day I found out I was not alone in the world” begins this slim, no-nonsense tome by Deborah Ellis, followed by, “This is how it happened.”

The Deets

Easily read in a day or two, No Ordinary Day is narrated by the protagonist, Valli, a young orphan girl who escapes the coal pits of Jharia, India to roam the highways and byways of Kolkata, India.  The story unfolds through Valli’s eyes, ears, and feet.  Yes, feet.  Feet that have been burnt, cut, and injured without an “Ouch!”

Continue reading →


by Leave a comment

‘Tundavala’ Adventure Tome Hits the Jackpot!

Wait. Do I smell bacon?

Well. Great gobs of galloping goose grease! And bacon! Lots and lots of bacon!

Mom and I got this book in the mail the other day. Added it to our TBR pile. You know. The one that’s about 256 feet tall. Her Momness says, “No worries, Kimmi. Let’s just take a quick peek at the book blurb. Maybe a gander at a sentence or two. Or a paragraph or… 67. A few pages… chapters… bases…”

Silly Mom.

Next thing ya know, it’s 1:47 a.m. We’re rounding third base. Sliding into home. And turning the last page. Silly Mom again. Cuz ya know what? We couldn’t put this thing down! (The book. Not the bacon. Well, okay. The bacon, too. But ya know what we mean, right?) Here’s why:

Continue reading →


by 4 Comments

Fantasy Flies High in ‘Last Witch on Skye’

 

Oh, me! Oh, my! It’s The Last Witch on Skye!

Okay, okay. That’s lame. Mom’s idea. So you know who to pin that one on, okay?

Anywho, we got this review request the other day from a lady in the foreign country of Nova Scotia. No idea where that is. Do they have burgers? (We received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)

Our review queue was closed at the time. Still trying to catch up. But there was something about this book and the review request that caught our eye. Convinced us to make an exception. Kimber: Probably had something to do with the smell of freshly barbecued…. What?

Continue reading →


by Leave a comment

Family Classic Still Warms Hearts

Spencer’s Mountain

By Earl Hamner, Jr. (Buccaneer Books, 1961)

Genre: Fiction

Pages: 247

Via: Interlibrary Loan (Richland Public Library, Richland, WA)

”Times is changen on this old earth, papa, and it looks like we’re goen to have to change right along with ‘em. I don’t mean me and Livy and Mama, but there’s some kind of world out there waiten for my babies and I aim to see ‘em get whatever they can out of it.” – Clay Spencer, Spencer’s Mountain

You may know it as “Walton’s Mountain.” But did you know that the beloved television series about a family growing up in rural Virginia during the Great Depression and WWII created and narrated by Earl Hamner, Jr. was based on his 1961 book Spencer’s Mountain and the 1963 film of the same name? The movie stars Henry Fonda (Clay Spencer), Maureen O’Hara (Olivia Spencer) and James MacArthur (Clay-Boy Spencer. MacArthur is too old for the part, in my opinion. But who’s counting?)

Continue reading →