Review: "The Never-Open Desert Diner" by James Anderson

Working a delivery route on a remote stretch of Utah highway, Ben Jones is just an eccentric character as the residents that he serves. Ben's cash is running low from the route that isn't profitable enough to pay his bills. The first half of the book gives an interesting peek into the lives of those societal outcasts, such as Walt who owns a diner that hasn't been officially open since his wife died, a preacher who carries a cross through the desert everyday, and a mysterious woman squatting in an abandoned house in a never-developed subdivision.


The woman, Claire, is hiding out avoiding her husband, whom she is in the process of divorcing. Though she at first threatens Ben to stay away, he's drawn to the mystery of her after seeing her play the cello through the papered up windows of the abandoned house. When people start snooping around the desert, he suspects it is Claire they're after, but he can't give her up--he's falling in love with her.

I absolutely loved the first half of the book because of the detail and complexity of the residents of the desert. I enjoyed reading how each one had a particular way of interacting with Ben, and he respected and understood the residents in a way that no outsider ever could. When he met the preacher along the road, they'd pretend to smoke a cigarette together. Walt, the owner of the diner always could seem to sense Ben's presence and was never particularly nice, but Ben considered Walt his best friend.

As Ben learns more through his customers and a police interrogation, things start to get muddled for Ben as he tries to sort out the right course of action.The second half of the book definitely holds more surprises, but for all the shock value they provided, it was ultimately not as interesting to me as the first part. The mysteries are resolved through an information dump at the end to explain all of the loose connections, which was not engaging or rewarding, especially after my initial excitement with this novel.

It's a decent read for anyone who likes in-depth looks at unique characters, combined with some mystery and suspense, but some parts were a little too dark for me.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

Review: "Wonderland: A Coloring Book Inspired by Alice's Adventures" by Amily Shen

Wonderland: A Coloring Book Inspired by Alice's Adventures is more than just pages to color: there's also activities and a story. The papers is nice and thick, so no need to worry about markers bleeding through the double sided pages.

The book is divided into 9 sections, each beginning with a "title page" and a few paragraphs of story. The following 4-6 pages are beautiful designs related to the story just presented. For this reason, this coloring book is unusual in that you may want to go through the coloring pages in order, to fully experience the story.





There are several activities spread throughout, such as a maze, hidden pictures, and suggesting that you add your own drawings to specific pages. You also get to solve the mystery of who ate the Queen of Hearts' cakes. I wasn't interested in the activity parts of the book, but they are not overdone or obtrusive if you're only interested in coloring.



Some of the illustrations are single pages, while others run both sides. While it's nice to have a large and complex scene to color, this book has a lot of designs that are in the fold, making it extremely difficult and testing for the perfectionist in me that doesn't want any white showing in the middle where the pencils can't reach!

Other features of note are a to/from dedication page and the removable dust jacket that you can color the inside of for an extra long coloring experience.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Review: "Nick and Tesla's Solar-Powered Showdown" by "Science Bob" Pflugfelder and Steve Hockensmith

Nick and Tesla's Solar-Powered Showdown is the the best in the series thus far. The sixth of the series, this book contains major developments from the overall story running through the entire series. That said, it also may be the last installment, as things were wrapped up nicely at the end. That would be a shame, because this series is fantastic for getting children interested in reading and in science.

Nick and Tesla are staying with their Uncle Newt while their parents are missing. Everyone in the family is particularly interested in inventions and science, and Nick and Tesla use their skills to try to find out what happened to their parents.

Filled with illustrations and instructions to build gadgets along with the kid sleuths in the book, this book is engaging for a child to read with an adult's help for some of the tools needed in the inventions. A solar-powered hot dog cooker, a ping-pong ball signal cannon, solar spy birdhouse, and a solar-powered long-range rover are among the projects that you can build along as you read this mystery. The components needed for these gadgets (including mini-solar panels) may be less readily available than the materials for previous books' projects.

New characters introduced in this book seem to be less developed and really don't have any specific traits, but they have minor roles as Nick, Tesla, their friends, and their uncle are the main characters.

The story refers back to things that happened in all of the other Nick and Tesla books (with footnotes from the authors reminding you which story it was in). Therefore, this book is best read after reading everything else to fully appreciate it.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Review: "Remember to Forget" by Ashley Royer

Levi hasn't spoken since the sudden death of his girlfriend, Delia. After months of therapy, there was no improvement on his depression, or his refusal to speak. Out of ideas, his mother decides that he should move from Australia to go live with his father in Maine. Levi is rude, sarcastic, and even cruel to his father when he arrives and to everyone he meets. Neighbors Aiden and Delilah go out of their way to befriend him, despite his attitude. Even Deliliah's name is similar to his lost love, making it even harder for Levi to accept her offers of friendship. But when he realizes he may have feelings for the girl he once hated, he'll have to sort through his emotions and finally work toward healing and moving on.

Even though he is absolutely horrible to everyone around him, the chapters told from his perspective allow the reader to see why he acts the way he does and to know what he is thinking when he is not speaking. There's also chapters written from Delilah's perspective, but they really don't give a good reason as to why she wanted to be friends with Levi when he was downright hostile toward her. She apparently wants to solve the mystery that is Levi, but I don't buy it as a motivation because of the consistency with which he pushes her away, not giving her any hint that he could eventually become friendly. Delilah also just happens to work at Levi's new psychiatrist's office, going as far as to snoop in his records to find out more about him.

Though some parts were unrealistic and contrived, overall the story was interesting enough. The details surrounding Delia's death are revealed slowly through out the book, which added some mystery and depth. There's some great feel good moments to combat Levi's horrifying depression and self-doubt that is abundant in the first half of the novel. When I wasn't rolling my eyes at the cheesiness or unbelievable characters, I cried, I smiled, and I was decently satisfied with the read.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Review: "Nick and Tesla's Special Effects Spectacular" by "Science Bob" Pfugffelder and Steve Hockensmith

For any kids interested in movies and making their own homemade movies, Nick and Tesla's Special Effects Spectacular is the perfect easy-to-read novel.

Nick and Tesla are spending their summer living with their inventor uncle while their scientist parents are away on a mysterious work trip. To entertain themselves, the kids and their new friends begin filming their own action movie complete with homemade props for special effects. The kids even get a chance to visit the scene of a big-time superhero movie being filmed in town. However nothing seems to be going as planned, and the children believe someone is trying to sabotage the movie. Using inventions, cunning, and critical thinking, the four friends work together to solve the mystery and save the movie.

As in all books in the Nick and Tesla series, this story contains several inventions/experiments that you can do as you read along. All require an adult's help but are mostly able to be completed by the child. Learn how to build a device to keep a smart phone steady while filming, a robotic grabbing arm, a stunt dummy, a grappling hook (with wrist launcher!), and zombie makeup. The instructions are all clearly written and a list of materials needed is provided. The inventions are described right after they are mentioned in the text so that you can use them along with the characters.

The mystery was decent, even though it was predictable. The best part is always reading about which things Nick and Tesla notice and how that ends up helping them solve the mystery.

As a part of the series, this book spent very little time "at home" with eccentric inventor uncle Newt, and only briefly mentioned the larger mystery of what was going on with Nick and Tesla's parents. There is, however, new information at the end, setting up for the next exciting installment in the Nick and Tesla series.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Review: "The Atonement" by Beverly Lewis

When her father brings home an Englisher, a person not of the Amish church, and begins teaching him the ways of a simpler lifestyle, Lucy is uncomfortably reminded of her past history dating outside the church and all of the hurt it brought her and those around her. Convinced she will never allow herself to love again, she spends every moment she can volunteering. Through grief counseling, family, scripture, and the wise words of friends, Lucy works toward forgiving herself and accepting the church back into her heart. With a young Amish man begging for her attention and her father's young Englisher acquaintance getting friendly with her, as soon as Lucy heals her relationship with God, she'll have another relationship to figure out.

Not a whole lot actually happens in The Atonement, but the main characters are very likable and there's enough interest in the day-to-day of the Amish life (at least for someone who has not read much about it in the past). From helping a young homeless mother and her child find employment and a home to sharing life stories with an old couple as the wife is in hospice care to helping a family in an overturned carriage, Lucy's kind heart makes this book a pleasure to read.

Most of the book is about the drama and lack of acceptance from the members of the church have about spending time with Englishers. Another source of conflict is that many families in the community are considering moving out west. The importance of family, repentance, and forgiveness are themes throughout.

The characters' speech was written in dialect and included some italicized Pennsylvania Dutch words throughout. It was usually pretty easy to figure out what the sentiment was, but not always what the exact translation was. I'm personally not a huge fan of reading written dialect because I find it distracting, but I can see how it adds to the authenticity.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

Review: "The Little Paris Bookshop" by Nina George

A novel about love, loss, and the power of books, The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George is a beautifully poetic piece of writing.

Jean Perdu owns a bookstore barge where he relates to his customers in a unique way - by "prescribing" the books they need and even refusing to sell books that he doesn't believe are right for them. Though perhaps a little pretentious, it's also endearing the way he cares for each person that steps in to his floating bookstore. A new resident, Catherine, moves in to his building and discovers an unopened letter in the table Perdu has given her. Catherine  (kindly) coerces Perdu into a promise that he will read the letter from his lost love, unopened for more than 20 years.

After reading the letter, Perdu sets off on a journey of healing long overdue in his bookshop barge. He gains travel companions and forms friendships along the way, including writing to Catherine daily.

The novel is beautifully written and has a lovely way of describing coping, loving, and accepting. The first part of the novel was a very quick read getting introduced to the unique methods of the bookkeeper and then the rush of setting off on a trip. It did get a little long towards the end, but I guess healing happens in the day to day as well. It was important that the passing time was also shown as part of Perdu's journey. It was a little hard to get through, but worth the journey.

Love is messy in The Little Paris Bookshop, but it is honest and believable. It's not a fairy tale, but there's no doubt about how important the characters are to one another.

The book is packed with extra features at the end: recipes (food and the emotions associated with it is also an important theme), a literary pharmacy (recommendations for about 25 books and what they can help you with), reader's guide, author interview, and an excerpt for the author's next novel (out in 2017).

FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review.  The opinion in this review is unbiased and reflects my honest judgment of the product.