Pages & Paws

Writing, Reading, and Rural Life With a Border Collie

Category Archives: Read


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‘Blink and Glow’ & Kimber’s New Best Bud

Wazzup?

Kimber: Mom! Mom! Come quick!

Her Royal Momness: What’s up Kimster? Earthquake? Fire? Flood? The imminent demise of doggie treats?

Kimber: ‘Course not. I just gotta tell ya about my new best bud, Petunia.

Mom: Petunia?

Kimber: Yeah. She’s furry and fluffy and she’s the star of the show in this new book for the little’uns, Blink and Glow.

Mom: Blink and Glow? By Raven Howell?

Kimber: That’s it! Mom, you’re a genius.

Mom: I thought that book was about two kids, Leo and Lilly. They catch fireflies, a salamander, and a Luna moth. For their classroom show and tell. The critters dim in captivity and grandma gently explains that they need to be free to live happily and shine bright.

Silly Mom!

Beautifully illustrated throughout!!
Hi, Petunia! (Note: We received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch…

Well. To cut to the chase, so to speak, Lilly and Leo think long and hard about what their grandma said as the lights of their trapped firefly and salamander begin to fade. It was fun to catch and jar them. But should the kids keep them?

This is a short, sweet story about loving and respecting nature and taking care of the environment. Bite-sized sentences are short and easy to digest and won’t strain young attention spans.

Delightful!

Besides a delightful story that’s both entertaining and educational, the text is complemented by vibrant illustrations. With bright, bold colors, the illustrations are top-notch. They’re gorgeous and dynamic, suggesting motion and fluidity.

Beautifully written, skillfully illustrated and briskly paced, Blink and Glow will make a welcome addition to any school or home library. It would also make an excellent read-aloud or bedtime story.

Bonus points:

Step-by-step instructions for making your own firefly sun-catchers are included!

Kimber: Leo and Lilly aren’t alone in their adventures in their natural world. An unnamed little white dog is supervising. Just so ya know, okay? I named her Petunia. She’s my new best bud.

Mom: Why Petunia?

Kimber: Cuz Her Royal Magnificence, Queen of the Universe and World’s Most Amazingly Brilliant and Super Gorgeous Canine was already taken. By me.

Silly Mom.

Pages & Paws Rating

Our Rating: 4.5

***

Additional Info on Blink and Glow:

Amazon

Good Reads 

Barnes and Noble 


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‘Camino’ & ‘Calamity’: Titan Two-fer?

If the genre is “thriller,” then two authors often come to the forefront: John Grisham and David Baldacci.

Grisham is the king of the legal thriller/courtroom drama. Has been for decades. Baldacci is a king of thriller fiction. Both are expert storytellers and hugely popular. Both authors have had their books turned into movies. And in 2024, both authors’ most recent releases focus on race relations and the courtroom, either directly or indirectly. It’s kinda like a “Titan Two-fer.”

This is noteworthy cuz legal thrillers are usually Grisham’s bread and butter, as is the case in his latest novel, Camino Ghosts. But Baldacci makes a memorable contribution to the genre too, with A Calamity of Souls. More on that in a min. So kindly keep your shirt on, Toots.

First, Grisham’s newest book, Camino Ghosts:

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Lost & Found: Dark Fantasy Percolates with Potential

Princess:

Light and Shadow Beginnings

By Katrina J. Daroff (Indie author, 2023)

Pages: 366 (Print)

Via: Library

Genre: Fiction/Romance/Dark Fantasy/Coming of Age

Mom’s a sucker. I know. This isn’t exactly news. If you’ve been reading along with us for any length of time, you know that Her Royal Momness is a sucker for pretty much any well-written ‘dog book.’ (Because, hey! Me!) Also horse stories. Good, solid action/adventure/outdoor-ish tomes. Historical fiction. Legal/crime thrillers. Children’s and YA books. Faith-flavored titles that aren’t preachy. Ghirardelli chocolate…

Almost smells good enough to eat! Almost…

But didya know that Mom’s also a sucker for ‘lost books’? Well, she is.

Lost

Like the other day when we were visiting The Book Place. (I have to wait outside. Something about ‘service dogs only.’ So annoying.) Anywho, Mom’s cruising along the shelves and comes to a sign that says:

Use You Library Card to Grab These Never-Before Checked Out Books

Well, Who can resist that?

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Karen Kingsbury Novel Doesn’t Disappoint

 

Forgiving Paris

By Karen Kingsbury

Simon & Schuster, Inc., October 2021

Genre: Christian Fiction

Pages: 273

 

Her darkest secret.

Her gravest mistake.

Can she make peace with herself… and Paris?

Kimber here, being my usual Magnificent Self. Telling you that Her Momness is doing that sparkly-eyed, sniffly nose thing again. Cuz of a book she just finished. Hang just a sec while a grab a hankie for Mom.

Ready, Mom? Okay. I’ll let her tell you more:

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Age 1-1/2 years ... with a book, of course!


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How to Get the Most out of Goodreads

 

Hey buddy and buddy-ette!

Can you spare five minutes? Good. Cuz that’s about all the time I’ve got on this Reading Goods thing. Ya see, Mom has her I’m Reading: Do Not Interrupt on Pain of Death face on. You know. With those eye glass do-dads and a furrowed brow. (No idea what that means. If you do, kindly holler.) So I gotta get this in like, pronto!

Squirrel!

Wait. Where was I?

Oh yeah. Reading Goods. You may know it as Goodreads. But let’s not get picky here, Buttercup.

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Linamen ‘Deja Nu’ or 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall?

“I love, love, LOVE Karen Linamen books!” gushed She Who Shall Remain Nameless. “They’re funny. Warm and relatable. Down to earth and practical.” She paused. “But…”

Her Momness raised an eyebrow. Cocked her head (looks a lot cuter when I do it. Nobody’s perfect). “But what?” chirpeth Mom.

We’ll get to the “But what?” part in a min. So kindly keep your hair on, Cupcake. Cuz we’re gonna take a look at two more Linamen books today. First….

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Why ‘The Ivies’ Needs a Mommy Very Badly

The Ivies

Alexa Donne (Crown Books for Young Readers, 2021)

Via: Library

Genre: YA/Fiction/Dark Academia

Pages: 309 (Print)

Ever want to just smack an entire cast of characters? That’s what we felt like after 309 pages of The Ivies.

Eau de Skunk

Now, The Ivies is the kinda book that’s gonna nab rave reviews all over the place. Not here, Toots. We don’t do that gob-smacked slobber stuff over a book that smells like Eau de Skunk. Walks and talks like it, too.

We’re just funny that way. Like:

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Summer Reading Olympics & Going for GOLD!

 

If you’re reading this blog, chances are you’re either: 1) A humungous book lover, 2) A humungous dog lover, 3) Both, or 4) Tired of kitty-sitting the neighbor’s feline.

Well. Have we got a deal for you.

The Challenge

Ya see, Her Royal Momness stumbled upon this “Summer Reading Challenge” thingy about three months back. (Stumbling. Ya know. Like Mom finds most things. Don’t tell her I said that, okay?)

Bronze, Silver, or Gold?

Anyhow, this SRC Challenge ’24 is hosted by the 52 Book Club. Since 2024 is a Summer Olympics, this year’s reading challenge had an Olympics-ish flavor. With 24 sports-inspired book prompts. Participants chose which “medal” they wanted to aim for, based on the number of books they planned to read during the summer in line with select Olympic-ish book prompts: Bronze, Silver, or Gold?

Via The 52 Book Club:

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‘The Boys in the Boat’ As Smooth as Silk

The Boys in the Boat

Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics

By Daniel James Brown (Blue Bear Endeavor, Large Perint Press, 2013)

Via: Library

Genre: Narrative Non-Fiction

Pages (large print): 684 + B&W photos and about 50 pages of Notes)

“They weren’t just nine guys in a boat; they were a crew.”

Two unassuming signs announce the entrance and egress to the City of Sequim in Clallam County, Washington State. Perched on the shoulder of U.S. 101, they’re almost impossible to read as you drive by at 60-ish mph. But Mom caught ‘em. Or at least, a few words: Welcome to Squim, Home of Olympic Champions…” Or maybe it was “Gold Medalists…”

We went by too fast to read the rest. But we’re willing to bet the name Joe Rantz, one of the boys in the boat, is on it.

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Hannah’s ‘The Women’: Awesome or Arugula?

 

The Women

By Kristin Hannah (St. Martin’s Press, 2024)

Genre: Historical Fiction/Vietnam

Via: Library

Pages: 464 (Print)

If you’ve been reading with us for any length of time – say, 20 minutes or so – you know that Mom and I are singularly unimpressed by the words “Best-selling author.” Or its kissing cousins, “(fill in the blank) Award Winner” and “Over a bazillion copies in print.” The fact that everyone and their neighbor’s cat is crowing about a new release impresses us about as much as a plate of overcooked arugula.

Yea, verily. We’ve heaped praise on unknown indie authors who’ve earned it. We’ve also panned Pulitzer Prize winners who deserved it. Ya just never know.

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