Good Night Darth Vader is of course a take on the famous Good Night Moon book. I was excited to have the opportunity to read this book to William with Matt as a bedtime story.
Category: Book Review
The Thinnest Air – Book Review
It’s been a while since I have blogged a book review. This month Amazon suggested a lot of suspense books for my free Kindle book, and it was hard to choose just one. I chose “The Thinnest Air” as it seemed like a fun mystery to get into, the disappearance of a young socialite in a ski town.
One of the best parts of the book is use of two narrative voices – Meredith who has disappeared and her sister, Greer. Meredith narrates from her honeymoon onward and Greer narrates from the present day. This way we get lots of details of who Meredith was before her strange disappearance and the mystery and tension build as we follow Greer as she tries to piece together who is responsible and if Meredith is still alive or not.
As many books do, there are some characters who are well fleshed out and others who we only get some details of. For this reason it is likely that some one or more of the well developed ones were part of the disappearance, though the book does keep you guessing. Many readers will be able to piece together whoodunit, but I did not. I can’t even remember one of the main characters names afterwards, only that it was an unusual name.
The book was very fast paced for the first half, I stayed up later than I should have getting through that part. It was even a great background distraction while I pumped milk for one session.
This being said the book had quite a few flaws. One of the biggest is that for the story to work at all Meredith had to not confide in her sister a lot of what was going on in her life, even though both Greer and Meredith said they were close. This is even more unbelievable as she did confide in a few other people in ways that created the whole situation of the disappearance.
The book involved characters acting out in ways that were just unbelievable. This was again required for the story to work, yet felt false. Two major characters had to act completely different in the second half than the first.
Lastly, the ending felt rushed and completely counter to other information we’d been given from the behavior of many characters. It’s possible that that is how people would react given how the disappearance is resolved, yet, it feels unlikely with what we’ve heard about the characters up until that point.
Rating – two baby booties out of five
Little Bunny – Book Review
As anyone who knows Candy can tell you, she loves animals especially cows and rabbits. So, I was not surprised that William’s Easter basket this year had a book about rabbits in it. As a new mom I’m constantly in awe of how much variety there is in board books for infants. “Little Bunny” is shaped like a bunny. This adorable color makes the book so inviting. The cover illustrations and throughout the book are some of the best I’ve ever seen in a children’s book.
Sick Girl – Book Review
Amazon recommends products to me based on my buying history all the time. It had been a while since it had recommended a book for me that I felt intrigued enough to buy. The premise of “Sick Girl” a psychological book with some dark turns was enough to get me to give the Kindle version a shot. Two women, with very different lives, both have cancer. One, Aubrey, is obsessed with the other woman, Melissa’s, husband and wants to help the other’s demise speed up so she can take the other woman’s place for the rest of her life. Some reviewers said the book had an amazing twist ending, and that was the final nudge I needed to give it a chance.
Wreckage – Book Review
One of the great perks of being an Amazon Prime member is the chance to select a free Kindle book to read each month. It introduces members to authors they may never have heard of and this month I choose the book “Wreckage” by Emily Bleeker whose name was unfamiliar to me. I was intrigued by the novel which was billed as the novel of a plane crash survivor and her fellow survivor, both of whom have lied extensively about the truth and whom a reporter is ruthlessly trying to understand and expose. 
Toot, Toot, Boom! – Book Review
Children’s books are full of ways to entice the child to look at the pages such as contrasting colors and shapes. I was delighted I’d have the chance to introduce William to a book with sounds entitled, “Toot, Toot, Boom!” The book is one of a press and listen series to help children be an active participant.
The book was one I received as part of his monthly Bluum subrscription. As these items and were to be part of his Easter basket, it was fortuitous that it arrived when it did, the same month he was to receive the musical toy, a Hand Drum Piano from his Godmother and Godbrother that I will review on Friday.
One important aspect about toys and books that make noise for babies is knowing how hard you have to push on things to get a sound. Additionally, some have on/off switches whereas others are always on (assuming batteries are installed if applicable). This one does require batteries and does thus have an on/off switch.
Inside the pages high contrast drawings show musical instruments with animals playing them. Each musical instrument is described by words suggesting what the sound is. Then tabs to the right allow the sound itself to be heard. At first I thought there would be alliteration with the type of animal and instrument having the same letter as both have P as their first letter.
However, the next page had a bear playing the trumpet instead of a tiger (which shows up later in the book). At this point I was pressing the tabs hard and in different spots and having little luck.
This colorful tiger is especially engaging. I think children will definitely enjoy the visuals in the book. Yet, still you have to press very hard to get any sounds.
My guess is either, the batteries in the book are worn out a bit, or the toy is meant to not be especially loud. Yet the book, billed as being for all ages, should in my opinion, make loud sounds especially as it’s supposed to engage young readers.
William did like the book, yet he, and other kids would like it better if the sounds were more easily heard. With an on/off switch, there really is no reason it couldn’t make loud sounds all the time.
Rating – three baby booties out of five
~ Danielle
What Bunny Wants for Easter – Book Review
After having taken William to see Santa, I felt like I knew quite a lot about the process and thought taking him to see the Easter Bunny would be similar. One thing I had loved about that visit was the chance to get a special book with an insert for the photo, and I was delighted to find one like it with the Easter Bunny as well.
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Thank You For Being My Friend – Book Review
One of the most delightful parts of having books to read to our son is finding out there are interactive books out there. While William is only able to interact back to some extent, it’s great finding out there are books that have components that are meant to be touched, move or both. “Thank You For Being My Friend” is a book that allows the parent to take on the role of the horse.
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Neighborly – Book Review
As a member of Amazon Prime, I get my choice of one free Kindle book a month from a few options. While I don’t always choose one, due to time, presented selections of both, I did find the summary of the book Neighborly, interesting enough to choose and read this month. The description of the book was one in which a couple, Kat and Doug, and their infant daughter, move to a new neighborhood for a fresh start. Kat has a huge secret that no one, even her husband knows, and she starts getting threatening messages soon after she moves in. The neighbors also have a secret they will learn. This seemed like a fun book to read from that, so I had high hopes for it.
The Magic of Children – Book Review
As I’ve mentioned before on this blog, I really love the variety of books I’ve found at my church’s book swap table. The book “the Magic of Children – Beautiful Writings About the Wonderful World of Children” immediately caught my attention.
Over 40 First Time Mom 