*Review* I Will Always be Happy to See You by Ellen Delange

Genre: Children's Illustrated

Published: May 10, 2016

Pages: 32

Goodreads

Synopsis

A sweet story about a little dog that knows he will always be welcomed home with open arms, no matter what trouble he may get into.

This is a great book to help your children — if they are starting daycare, school, or even university — to reassure them that, no matter what happens, you will always be happy to see them.

Review

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

I like the message in this story, that even when a person does things to make us less than happy, we are still going to be happy to see them, which I kind of interpreted as we'll always love them, no matter what. 

I read this story to my five year old and she said it was bad (this is the first time that's ever happened). She didn't like it when it looked like the girl was going to fall down. She did like the part where the neighbors flowers were picked though. (I believe she thought the story was bad because so many of the actions described were "naughty" things, and not that the book itself was actually bad though.)

4.5 out of 5 stars. - Katie 

Buy the Book

Amazon

About the Author

Ellen DeLange lives in Rothesey, Canada. She has been fascinated by picture books since she was a child growing up in the Netherlands. During her adult life, Ellen has traveled widely and extended her library with picture books from all over the world. While completing a doctorate in medical sciences, she wrote A Story with a Tail. This book was nominated for the Prize of the City of Hasselt. After moving to Canada and completing another graduate degree, she wrote her second book: I Will Always Be Happy to See You.

About the Illustrator

Jenny Meilihove is a freelance illustrator who loves making drawings, paintings and children books. She studied at Bezalel Academy of Arts & Design, Jerusalem, in the department of Visual Communications and majored in illustration. Currently, she lives in Tel Aviv .

*Review* Tito the Magician by Guido van Genechten

Genre: Children's Illustrated

Published: August 9, 2016

Pages: 32

Goodreads

Synopsis

Manu, the magician at Circus Rondo, is fantastic. With a little magic powder, a wand, and a few words, he can pull amazing things out of his top hat. Tito, the little clown, would love to do that kind of magic. But when he tries with his own little brown hat, the magic doesn’t work at all. Maybe it’s because he’s uncertain and shy. What would happen if Tito were to ask Manu to show him how the trick really works?

An endearing picture book about magic and daring, for children aged 3 years and up.

Review

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

This is a cute story about a kid who wants to do magic and gets a little bit of help from a real live magician. I like that the story doesn't give away the secret of magic and the bright, colorful illustrations.

I read this story to my five year old. She thought it was a good book. Her favorite part was when Tito pulled the white mouse out of the hat. She didn't like it when Tito didn't know how to do magic in the first place. 

5 out of 5 stars. - Katie 

Buy the Book

Amazon

*Joood's Reviews* World Without End by Ken Follett

You may or may not know this already, but Joood - Hooligan of Platypire Reviews is notoriously bad at writing reviews after she finishes reading books. I'm serious, her to be reviewed list is almost as long as my Platypire Read-A-Thon list, and that thing is monstrous. So after much cajoling on Joood's part, I have decided to help her out and once a week I'm going to write one of her reviews for her because I'm a good friend like that, and there is no way this could possibly go wrong. I will be writing the reviews as if I actually am Joood.

This week I will be reviewing World Without End by Ken Follett. 

Genre: Historical Fiction

Published: October 9, 2007

Pages: 1014

Goodreads

Synopsis

World Without End takes place in the same town of Kingsbridge, two centuries after the townspeople finished building the exquisite Gothic cathedral that was at the heart of The Pillars of the Earth. The cathedral and the priory are again at the center of a web of love and hate, greed and pride, ambition and revenge, but this sequel stands on its own. This time, the men and women among an extraordinary cast of characters find themselves at a crossroad of new ideas -- about medicine, commerce, architecture, and justice. In a world where proponents of the old ways fiercely battle those with progressive minds, the intrigue and tension quickly reach a boiling point against the devastating backdrop of the greatest natural disaster ever to strike the human race: the Black Death.

Because I'm not a quitter and Matt Schiariti made me read The Pillars of the Earth, I felt it was important to also read World Without End. However, since The Pillars of the Earth was so darn wordy, I decided to listen to the audiobook of World Without End. That was a big mistake, huge! The audiobook is like 45 hours long. I could have read the book myself faster. 

I felt like I related to this book a little bit more than TPotE, because I see some parallels to modern day America. Like I feel like we are currently at a crossroads of new ideas about medicine (health care), commerce, and justice. And being a more liberal minded person living in Texas, I feel like progress is a constant struggle, so I totally related to that in the book. And I'm pretty sure I had the Black Death a couple weeks ago, although it may have just been some allergies.

2.1 Platypires because Ken Follett's publisher clearly needs to update his bio on Amazon. - Joood - Hooligan

Buy the Book

Amazon

About the Author

Ken Follett was only twenty-seven when he wrote the award-winning EYE OF THE NEEDLE, which became an international bestseller. His celebrated PILLARS OF THE EARTH was voted into the top 100 of Britain's best-loved books in the BBC's the Big Read and the sequel, WORLD WITHOUT END, will be published in Autumn 2007. He has since written several equally successful novels including, most recently, WHITEOUT. He is also the author of non-fiction bestseller ON WINGS OF EAGLES. He lives with his family in London and Hertfordshire.

Alternate Reviews

If you would like to read some legitimate reviews of World Without End, just click any of the links below. 

The Independent // I'd So Rather Be Reading // Karen Brooks

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Should Bloggers Charge for Reviews

It's Confessions day on Indie Authors & Book Blogs, and once again, I find myself with something long winded to say. Before I get started, the above confession does not reflect the views of the folks at IABB (well it might, but it was submitted anonymously and they are just gracious enough to provide the platform for the airing). It also does not reflect the views of the graphics artist that created the graphic. They have just donated their time to put the graphics together so we can view them each week. Again, the confession is anonymous, and only reflects the views of the anonymous confessor. 

So this confession doesn't have me ranty, but it does make me feel like edification is called for. A little bit of background, a couple of common themes on confessions are authors complaining about bloggers not being professional and not reading and reviewing in a timely fashion; and bloggers complaining about how we don't really make much money doing this and doing it in our free time. I went into detail on that score in The Business of Blogging. This semi-consistent back and forth between authors and bloggers led to the above confession.

On the surface, this actually seems like a good idea. I can honestly say that I have thought about how I could make it work to actually get paid by authors to read and review their books. But I immediately run into problems. First, how much do you charge for a book review? It takes me on average 8 hours to read a book, and then another 1-2 hours to write the review and build the blog post. So do I charge $70 for one review so that I'm making almost minimum wage? That seems a bit steep for a little blog like myself. I doubt many indie authors could even think about shelling out that kind of money for one review, let alone the dozens they need to really get some traction for their books. Maybe $5 per review sounds reasonable though, right? Surely that's feasible. But then I'd be making less than $1 per hour of "work" and at that rate, I might as well not charge at all, really. So I've weighed both sides of the rates, and I still don't even know where to begin with pricing my reviews. I imagine demand for reviews would plummet simply because most indie authors just can't afford to be paying for dozens of reviews from blogs.

Second, if I'm being paid to review books, I can't post them on Amazon. That's a violation of Amazon's terms of service and could get me barred from even being able to shop on Amazon, and since I currently live in Germany where I don't have access to all the American amenities that I love, I NEED Amazon. Additionally (and this doesn't actually affect me), if Amazon believes that an author is paying for reviews that are posted on Amazon, that author can lose their publishing privileges through Amazon. This is why Kirkus reviews (which are paid for) are always seen as Editorial Reviews on Amazon rather than in the customer review section. This is also why I don't post reviews for the books that I'm hired to proofread on Amazon. Even though I wasn't paid for a review, I did receive financial compensation in connection with those books.

Third, if I'm being paid to review books, I would expect my readers to question the integrity of my reviews. I would question the integrity of reviews written by other bloggers who were being paid to review the books they're reviewing. In fact, I suspect that you question the integrity of the reviews I write for the books that I've been paid to proofread. I will tell you that I'm actually more critical of the storyline in my reviews of books I've proofread, and while that's the honest truth, I don't expect you to believe me (because would the average person really tell you if they were less than honest in reviews for books they've worked on for money?) But this is also why I start my reviews with a disclosure about my connection with the books. I want you to know right off the bat why I had the book I was reviewing in the first place, so you can make your own informed decisions about how much stock to put into my review.

So you see, I'm not hiding behind doing this for free simply as an excuse to be rude (and I probably do come across as rude on occasion. I have a tendency towards snark, I don't sugarcoat my thoughts just to make them more palatable, and I have very little tolerance for people I feel to be inconsiderate.) I do this for free, because there is really no other way it can be done while maintaining my integrity as a reviewer, and for the most part, I am happy doing it, but I'm going to do it on my terms and my terms only. Do I feel undervalued? Yep...but as I mentioned before, I also don't really know how much I'd be worth and that is problematic in itself. And as far as the back and forth being a waste of time, I have to disagree. No one makes me engage with those confessions. I do that of my own free will. I make the choice to devote my time to commenting on them, just like I made the choice to devote some time to writing this post. Please don't blame others because of how you've chosen to spend your time. - Katie 

*Joood's Reviews* Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

You may or may not know this already, but Joood - Hooligan of Platypire Reviews is notoriously bad at writing reviews after she finishes reading books. I'm serious, her to be reviewed list is almost as long as my Platypire Read-A-Thon list, and that thing is monstrous. So after much cajoling on Joood's part, I have decided to help her out and once a week I'm going to write one of her reviews for her because I'm a good friend like that, and there is no way this could possibly go wrong. I will be writing the reviews as if I actually am Joood.

This week I've chosen Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins.

Genre: YA/Romance

Published: December 2, 2010

Pages: 372

Goodreads

Synopsis

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris--until she meets Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Étienne has it all...including a serious girlfriend. 

But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss?

Sofia the Great told me this was a pretty good book, and don't tell her I said this, but she has incredibly good taste in books (and cookies). I have to pretend to not want to read the books she recommends on principle, but I pretty much always enjoy them, and this book was no different. 

I was pretty excited about the prospect of Anna being shipped off to boarding school in Paris (Beauxbaton Academy anyone?), but at the same time, what kind of monsters must her parents be to ship her off to boarding school in a foreign country her SENIOR year of high school? Seriously, why now? (And I can't tell you the answer to that question because it's kind of a spoiler.) 

With Harry Potter on my mind, I was expecting the book to be rather magical, and the romance aspect was. Like I assume that Etienne's girlfriend must have been using some sort of love charm to keep him hooked even though he clearly wanted to be with Anna all year. And Anna was at a disadvantage because everyone knows that they don't teach magic at schools in Atlanta. 

I know most rating systems are 1-5, but I do what I want so I give Anna and the French Kiss 8.675309 Platypires. 

Buy the Book

Amazon

About the Author

Stephanie Perkins is a New York Times and internationally bestselling author. She has always worked with books--first as a bookseller, then as a librarian, and now as a novelist. She and her husband live in the mountains of North Carolina. Every room of their house is painted a different color of the rainbow.

Alternate Reviews

If you would like to read some legitimate reviews of Anna and the French Kiss, click any of the links below. 

All About Romance // Reading Books Like a Boss // Pretty Books

*Review* This Shattered World by Amie Kaufman

Genre: YA/Science Fiction

Published: December 23, 2014

Pages: 390

Goodreads

Synopsis

The second installment in the epic Starbound trilogy introduces a new pair of star-crossed lovers on two sides of a bloody war.

Jubilee Chase and Flynn Cormac should never have met.

Lee is captain of the forces sent to Avon to crush the terraformed planet's rebellious colonists, but she has her own reasons for hating the insurgents.

Rebellion is in Flynn's blood. Terraforming corporations make their fortune by recruiting colonists to make the inhospitable planets livable, with the promise of a better life for their children. But they never fulfilled their promise on Avon, and decades later, Flynn is leading the rebellion.

Desperate for any advantage in a bloody and unrelentingly war, Flynn does the only thing that makes sense when he and Lee cross paths: he returns to base with her as prisoner. But as his fellow rebels prepare to execute this tough-talking girl with nerves of steel, Flynn makes another choice that will change him forever. He and Lee escape the rebel base together, caught between two sides of a senseless war.

Review

I read the first book in this series, it was pretty cool. So I put a hold on this book at my library shortly after I finished reading the first one earlier this year.

When I started it I was pretty interested, the whole forbidden love thing is pretty awesome.

Except I just couldn't get into it. I kept trying, and I'd actually fall asleep while reading. Which is not something I do, ever.

I think the biggest issue is that I've read the Romeo and Juliet in space theme at least twice this year already. So, I can't help but compare this to them... and this one falls flat.

I made it to about 60% through the book before I quit. So, I really tried. And I debated struggling through to finish the last parts... but it is due back at the library in 2 days, and I'm just not going to finish it before then. - Joood - Hooligan

Buy the Book

Amazon

About the Author

Amie Kaufman is the New York Times bestselling co-author of Illuminae (with Jay Kristoff) and These Broken Stars, This Shattered World, and Their Fractured Light (with Meagan Spooner.) She writes science fiction and fantasy for teens, and her favourite procrastination techniques involve chocolate, baking, sailing, excellent books and TV, plotting and executing overseas travel, and napping. 

She lives in Melbourne, Australia with her husband, their rescue dog, and her considerable library. She is represented by Tracey Adams of Adams Literary.

*Joood's Reviews* The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

You may or may not know this already, but Joood - Hooligan of Platypire Reviews is notoriously bad at writing reviews after she finishes reading books. I'm serious, her to be reviewed list is almost as long as my Platypire Read-A-Thon list, and that thing is monstrous. So after much cajoling on Joood's part, I have decided to help her out and once a week I'm going to write one of her reviews for her because I'm a good friend like that, and there is no way this could possibly go wrong. I will be writing the reviews as if I actually am Joood.

This week, I will be review The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett.

Genre: Historical Fiction

Published: October 1, 1989

Pages: 973

Goodreads

Synopsis

The Pillars of the Earth tells the story of Philip, prior of Kingsbridge, a devout and resourceful monk driven to build the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has known…of Tom, the mason who becomes his architect—a man divided in his soul…of the beautiful, elusive Lady Aliena, haunted by a secret shame…and of a struggle between good and evil that will turn church against state, and brother against brother.
 
A spellbinding epic tale of ambition, anarchy, and absolute power set against the sprawling medieval canvas of twelfth-century England, this is Ken Follett’s historical masterpiece.

Favorite Quotes

"When she had the horse close, she looped the rope around the stump so that it could not move away."

"William felt sure people were cheating him--and they were probably laughing about it behind his back, too."

"The wind grew stronger, shrieking around the walls of the church, and she began to wonder whether even this was safe." 

Review

Matt Schiariti made me read this book. He came to my house and held an actual gun to my head and forced me to read this book all the way to the very end (it was a water gun, but, my hair). Thankfully, I'm a super great speed reader, so it only took three hours. He said his arm was getting tired by the time I reached the end (I should have read slower.) 

This book was so wordy that I'm starting to understand why Kanye West is a proud non-reader. He probably tried to read The Pillars of the Earth and just couldn't make it through to the end. It is such a long, pretentious book! I'm going to have to stick to picture books for a while just to regain my reading equilibrium. 

If I had to compare this book to another book, I would compare it to A Game of Thrones, because they're both really long and wordy. But The Pillars of the Earth has a lot less death and is about a church, not a throne made of swords. But there was some sibling rivalry, just like with Renly and Stannis in Game of Thrones. If you like big books and you cannot lie, then this is definitely a good book for you. 

3.42 Platypires. - Joood - Hooligan

Buy the Book

Amazon

About the Author

Ken Follett was only twenty-seven when he wrote the award-winning EYE OF THE NEEDLE, which became an international bestseller. His celebrated PILLARS OF THE EARTH was voted into the top 100 of Britain's best-loved books in the BBC's the Big Read and the sequel, WORLD WITHOUT END, will be published in Autumn 2007. He has since written several equally successful novels including, most recently, WHITEOUT. He is also the author of non-fiction bestseller ON WINGS OF EAGLES. He lives with his family in London and Hertfordshire.

Alternate Reviews

If you would like to read some legitimate reviews of The Pillars of the Earth, just click any of the links below. 

Dark Chest of Wonders // Dana and the Books // The Literary Bunny

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