Book Buy of the Week

I love this series and can’t wait to see what happens next especially after the end of the last book. If the cover is anything to go by then it should be really interesting.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving

I’m thankful for friends, family, this awesome long weekend, and the plethora of great books I’ve read so far this year.

Questionable Music

What holiday song makes you want to never hear it again?

That honor for me goes to that horrible Christmas Shoes song.  I prefer my songs more upbeat and less about buying shoes etc etc...

I just never understood the point of this song besides being oh so sappy and intentionally sad.

What Craft Have You Tried Lately? - Zippy Loom and Zippy Corners

I love using my Zippy Loom and they just came out with corners. It is a lot of fun and I’m very happy that I’ve figured out how to make hats.

My Favorite Quotes/Lines - Upside-Down Magic

Upside-Down Magic by Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle, and Emily Jenkins

“And Sage Academy did not want wonky.”

“Some lies were safer than the truth.”

“Do not flux in the lunchroom.”

Review - Upside-Down Magic

Upside-Down Magic by Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle, and Emily Jenkins

4 out of 5 gnomes

This is one of those books that I actually found myself wanting to read because of the cover. I work at a library and when I saw this on the holdshelf I knew I had to read it too.

This book is pretty darn adorable and has a heck of an interesting way of looking at magic. In this world it’s common but only certain kinds of magic are accepted. There are Flares, Fuzzies, Flickers, Flyers, and Fluxers. All these magics would be pretty cool on their own but then the whole Upside-Down magic gets thrown in.

These kids with messed up magic are really looked down upon. They are all put into a special classroom to try to understand their brand of magic. All the normal kids don’t exactly look kindly on them though or give them a lot of slack.

Nory is a Fluxer who can change into animals but not quite like she’s supposed to. It’s pretty funny picturing what she turns into. Her family is more than a little dysfunctional too. I don’t like her father at all and her siblings aren’t exactly understanding.

All the characters you meet are fun and have some really interesting magic. It was great in the end how they were all able to work together. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.

Sentence Sneak Peek - Upside Down Magic

Upside-Down Magic by Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle, and Emily Jenkins

The first sentence from each chapter of Upside-Down Magic, it's a mini summary of what you can expect to read.

* Spoilers are highlighted like so :)

“Nory Horace was trying to turn herself into a kitten.”

“Hawthorn was sixteen.”

“The Hall of Magic and Performance was very grand.”

“Nory’s father rose.”

“That evening, Father and Hawthorn picked at their dinner.”

“Aunt Margo had fixed up a tiny guest bedroom for Nory.”

“The hallways of Dunwiddle School were nothing like the friendly hallways of Nory’s old ordinary school.”

“Nory was a bitten for only a minute, but during that minute she got a lot done.”

“Things worth doing are usually hard,” Ms. Starr said.”

“In the cafeteria, Nory and Elliott both got plates of mac and cheese.”

“The cafeteria was closed until further notice.”

“On Monday, Bax turned into a rock at the beginning of headstand practice.”

“Nory and Elliott practiced that afternoon at Nory’s house.”

“The next day passed with math, geography, poetry, group trust exercises, and interpretive dance.”

“The box of normal worked for Elliott, too.”

“The UDM students, Nory and Elliott among them, did math and geography and expressed their feelings through interpretive dance.”

“Principal Gonzalez pulled a blue leather leash from his pocket.”

“A week later, Elliott, Marigold, Willa, Bax, Nory, and Sebastian had a picnic in Aunt Margo’s backyard.”

Question of the Day - What are the Best Comics You've Read Recently?

These are both very different books but so interesting. I love the characters and stories of them both and can't wait to read more.

Review - Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Sword of Summer

Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan

5 out of 5 gnomes

Dear Magnus Chase,

You my dear are a whole different animal than what I’ve read from Rick Riordan before. I loved the Percy Jackson series and The Heroes of Olympus was awesome even if it had a pretty blah ending, and I never got around to reading the series he wrote about Egyptian Gods. This new take on Norse mythology though is really cool.

Stuff goes unexpectedly right from the beginning but makes perfect sense as you read it. Like the description of the book itself says: “Sometimes, the only way to start a new life is to die . . .” That little bit of info there was truly surprising but it lets you explore some truly interesting places.

You my beautiful book show relationships very well. His friends and family are all extremely different people. Yet all of these relationships feel real and will have you rooting for all of the characters.

Valkryies, Valhalla, Norse gods a plenty, and a plethora of other creatures and surprises leads to one heck of a fabulous start to this trilogy. Unexpected happenings abound and if you’re like me you’ll truly be surprised while reading.

Unlike past heroes written by Riordan, Magnus isn’t exactly a fighter and that’s pretty refreshing as he finds ways around that. I can’t wait to watch Magnus’s character grow and see how the rest of the worlds come into play.

My Favorite Quotes/Lines - Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Sword of Summer

Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan

* Spoilers are highlighted like so :)

“My name is Magnus Chase. I’m sixteen years old. This is the story of how my life went downhill after I got myself killed.”

“The guy was like a ninja. A homeless vampire ninja.”

“(Chocolate must be savored, not rushed.)”

“That’s a relief. I hate it when scholars disagree.”

“Myths are simply stories about truths we’ve forgotten.”

“In short, it was the saddest, flimsiest, most disgusting piece of scrap I’d ever magically pulled from a river.”

“Cool down, man. I have a corroded piece of metal and I’m not afraid to use it.”

“Bless their demented little hearts,...”

“Weakly, I raised my free hand. I flipped him a gesture that he wouldn’t need to know sign language to understand.”

“I never joke about calculus homework.”

“I wanted to be the harbinger of ice cream, or falafel.”

“Actually,” Blitz said, “humans don’t look that different from dwarves and elves.”

“It’s the Squirrel.”

“Our little hallway group was a veritable United Nations of Cussing.”

“Don’t be silly. Patterned fabric would look terrible on you.”

“What the Helheim?”

“Whenever I’m tempted to hug a dwarf, that’s usually a sign I need to move along.”

“Besides,” I said, “you don’t want my soul. It’s really small. I don’t use it much. I doubt it even works anymore.”

“They’d see the and assume it stood for ailure.”

“YARK!”

“It’s a really nice duck.”

“Yeah, that’s right. I’ve got a talking disco sword and you don’t.”

“As my vision went dark, Sam and Hearth helped me leap off the cliff. Because, you know, what are friends for?”

“But as you have probably figured out by now, I don’t listen to my common sense much.”

“Apparently,” I said, “if I heal too much at once, I glow.”

“You really should take better care of your elf. They need lots of sunshine—not this weak Jotunheim light. And you can’t overwater them by drowning them in rivers.”

“The bigger they are, the easier it is to fly up their nasal cavity.”

“As is so often the case, in the fresh light of morning our situation looked much worse.”

“We wouldn’t want to kill them rudely.”

“Hearthstone, trying to keep up with the conversation, signed I love you at the giant.”

“Just follow my lead,” I said. “It’ll be fun.” “Please,” Sam begged, “don’t let those words be carved on my tombstone.”

“Of course!” He laughed. “Thor without his flying chariot would be like a dwarf without an emergency parachute!”

“For every hero, a thousand cowards,” said Hel. “For every brave death, a thousand senseless ones. For every einherji…a thousand souls who enter my realm.”

““Somebody once told me that a hero’s bravery has to be unplanned—a genuine response to a crisis. It has to come from the heart, without any thought of reward.”

“My sign, he announced. My family’s sign. Blitzen sniffled. “I like that. A family of four empty cups!”

“Jack,” I said, “you are one awesome sword.”

“I was just happy to have this moment.”

Sentence Sneak Peek - Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Sword of Summer

Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan

The first sentence from each chapter of Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Sword of Summer, it's a mini summary of what you can expect to read.

* Spoilers are highlighted like so :)

“YEAH, I KNOW.”

“THE FAMILY MANSION SUCKED.”

“WELL, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!”

“YOU’VE HEARD ABOUT bad Boston drivers?”

“YOU CAN’T DROP a bombshell like that and walk away!”

“I’D SEEN SOME WEIRD STUFF IN MY LIFE.”

“WOW, MAGNUS, you’re probably thinking.”

“BACK IN SCHOOL, I loved ending stories that way.”

“WOULD IT SURPRISE you to learn that the place was bigger on the inside?”

“I WASN’T PAYING the closest attention as Hunding guided me through the hotel.”

“I COLLAPSED ON THE GRASS.”

“IN THE HALLWAY, my neighbors were starting to emerge.”

“WE WERE SWEPT UP in a tidal wave of hungry warriors.”

“HOORAY FOR GOING LAST.”

“MY COURAGE IMPRESSED NO ONE.”

“I REALLY WISHED someone had warned me I was going to die.”

“I DIDN’T SLEEP MUCH.”

“THERE HE IS.”

“I TOLD MY NEW FRIENDS I was allergic to dismemberment.”

“A FAMILIAR VOICE SAID, “Dead again, eh?”

“THE MAIN THING I discovered: Valhalla needed GPS.”

“FORTUNATELY, a friendly berserker found me wandering through the spa on the hundred and twelfth floor.”

“WHEN SOMEONE SAYS, It’s the Squirrel, you don’t ask questions.”

“TURNS OUT VALHALLA had been sending its recycling to home plate at Fenway, which could explain any problems the Red Sox were having with their offensive lineup.”

“ONE GOOD THING about being homeless: I knew where to find free clothes.”

“EVEN IF I HADN’T seen her in the park two days before, I would’ve recognized her up close.”

“AT THE NORTH END of the park, Sam crossed Beacon Street, heading for the footbridge over Storrow Drive.”

“BLITZ LED US down the Esplanade, where a pier extended into an icy lagoon.”

“WE DIDN’T TALK MUCH as we headed back through the park.”

“ADD TO MY LIST of Least Favorite Activities: eagle surfing.”

“I’D NEVER BEEN SCARED of boats until I saw Harald’s.”

“IT WAS A TERRIBLE AFTERNOON TO FISH.”

“WHEN I SAY the serpent opened his eyes, I mean he switched on green spotlights the size of trampolines.”

“I’M THINKING NOT,” I REPLIED.”

“AFTER GIVING ME the slightly shriveled apple of immortality, Sam left me at the docks.”

“CALL ME CRAZY.”

“I ALWAYS LIKED CLIMBING TREES.”

“I STOOD IN A SUNLIT meadow with no memory of how I got there.”

“MOM?”

“I DON’T REMEMBER LANDING.”

“I HAD TO HAND IT TO NABBI.”

“CRASHING AT BLITZEN’S apartment was the high point of our trip.”

“KENNING SQUARE looked like a basketball court without the baskets.”

“SAM PICKED THAT MOMENT TO SHOW UP.”

“I’M PRETTY GOOD at multitasking, so I figured I could flee in terror and argue at the same time.”

“I KNEW I WAS IN TROUBLE when I woke up dreaming.”

“AS LOKI HAD PROMISED, I woke up with a goat in my face.”

“JOTUNHEIM LOOKED a lot like Vermont, just with fewer signs offering maple syrup products.”

“I COULDN’T HELP IT.”

“YEP.”

“HEARTHSTONE WENT to sleep first, mostly because he was the only one who could sleep with Thor’s snoring.”

“THOR WAS STILL SNORING like a defective wood chipper when we were ready to leave the next morning.”

“JUST KIDDING THIS TIME.”

“RAPPELLING DOWN THE WALL was the easy part.”

“THERE’S NEVER A GREAT TIME for Daddy Giant to come home.”

“RUN!”

“GUNILLA JABBED HER spear tip against Blitz’s jugular”

“I STOOD ALONE in a snowstorm on Bunker Hill.”

“BEFORE I COULD plummet to my death, someone grabbed me and pulled me back.”

“BLITZ AND HEARTH were waiting for us outside the New England Aquarium.”

“I DIDN’T THINK anything could be worse than our fishing expedition with Harald.”

“I REMEMBER THE FIRST TIME I saw Plymouth Rock.”

“WELL, WELL,” said the Wolf.”

“VALHALLA’S DAILY COMBAT training finally made sense to me.”

“THE STRANGEST THINGS can save your life.”

“I DON’T KNOW WHY IT BROKE ME SO BADLY.”

“WE’VE GOT A FREY BOAT!”

“HE LOOKED LIKE a Hollywood Viking.”

“WE MUST HAVE LOST an entire day returning to Valhalla, because dinner was under way in the Feast Hall of the Slain.”

“ODIN GOT HIS DRINK, offered some toasts, then began pacing in front of his throne, talking about where he’d been and what he’d been doing the past few decades.”

“THE FUNERAL was held on the pond in the Public Garden.”

“THIS IS WAY BETTER than the last memorial I attended,” Annabeth said.”

“RANDOLPH HADN’T SLEPT since his nephew’s funeral service.”