Happy Saturday everyone! This month I've been participating in the second round of the PopCulture Readathon, created and hosted by Whitney @ bookswhitme (with some assistance from Lorryn @ Reading Parental). You can check out my original TBR post here and my mini reviews for my Elm Street Board and TBR for the Adventures in Babysitting board here, if you like. I also met my goal of completing the Adventures in Babysitting board this month, for a grand total of finishing 18 books this month for this readathon. Without further ado, check out my thoughts on the books I read for the Adventures in Babysitting board:
Ghostbusters - Ghosts
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Unnatural Acts (Dan Shamble, Zombie PI #2) by Kevin J. Anderson is a delightful follow up to Death Warmed Over. It's just so much fun. I can't resist noir meets urban fantasy with a healthy dash of humor and this really checked all the right boxes for me. If you're a fan of the Black Box Inc. series by Jake Bible, I have a feeling you'll enjoy this too. I can't wait to see what's next for Chambeaux and Deyer in Hair Raising!
My review is also on Goodreads.
Dead Poets Society - Inspirational
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I really liked the premise of Mrs. Lincoln's Sisters by Jennifer Chiaverini and I enjoyed how it started off. That said the further I went into the story the less it held my attention. It suffers from too much telling and not enough showing from time to time. I know it's a fictionalized account of Mary Todd Lincoln's life as told by her sisters, but there were points where I began to feel that I was reading a very dull textbook.
My review is also on Goodreads.
Back to the Future - Time Travel
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To Say Nothing of the Dog (Oxford Time Travel #2) by Connie Willis is a great sequel to Doomsday Book. I wasn't quite as hooked on this one as I was book one but it was still pretty awesome in its own way. It's a little more of a light-hearted romp and it's quite a bit funnier too, especially when they get to the Victorian era. I guess you could say that the past really is another country! I'm really looking forward to what's next for this series with book three in Blackout.
My review is also on Goodreads.
Troop Beverly Hills - Nature on the Cover
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I must have read something different than everybody else because Lila by Marilynne Robinson just didn't work for me. I have a feeling this author's style isn't for me. I guess I'll just have to miss out.
My review is also on Goodreads.
Goonies Never Say Die - Treasure Hunt/ Heist Novel
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I studied Asian Art in college, I speak some Japanese, I love Van Gogh, and I enjoy heist stories. I thought Tokyo Heist by Diana Renn was going to be right up my alley, but it mostly didn't work for me. Pretty much all of that goes back to the characters. I just can't believe they'd be able to accomplish anything they do in this novel.
My review is also on Goodreads.
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids - Kid on the Cover
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Dead End in Norvelt (Norvelt #1 by Jack Gantos is one of those middle grade books I honestly wish I could have read when I was much younger. I think it would have really been right for me when I was about 11 or 12 years old. Looking at it now, though, it doesn't quite work for me as much as I would have liked it to. There are moments when it's really great, but for the most part I would just classify it as solid humorous historical fiction. You know, this is actually the first Jack Gantos book I've ever read. I've never even read the Joey Pigza books even though those would have been new back when I would have been part of the target audience.
My review is also on Goodreads.
Grease 2 - Standalone in a Series
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The Stuff of Nightmares (Sherlock Holmes) by James Lovegrove was such a fun steampunk read. Honestly, it had just about everything I was looking for. If you like, Benedict Cumberbatch's take on the detective plus Iron Man and Batman, I have a feeling you'll get a kick out of this too. I need to read more of James Lovegrove's Sherlock Holmes books.
My review is also on Goodreads.
E.T. - MG About Friendship
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11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass is a solid tween read. It feels very authentic and I particularly appreciated the pop culture references. I loved the inclusion of the Groundhog Day elements, but I also appreciated that it works as a good contemporary as well. I wish I could have had the opportunity to read this when I actually was the age of the main character or even just a little younger.
My review is also on Gooreads.
Annie - Retelling
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You know, for a 353 page book not a whole lot actually happened inOrdinary Girls by Blair Thornburgh. At first I appreciated the Jane Austen's style of Plum's voice, but honestly the longer it went on the more grating it became. Maybe I would have appreciated that more of I were actually in high school? I don't know, though, the whole talking about vaping with a Juul in Austen's style is where it really started to push me over the edge. Side note: this is the first piece of fiction I've read to feature vaping. Finally, Plum herself was fine, but her sister Ginny was a terrible piece of work.
My review is also on Goodreads.
Did you take part in this readathon? Have you read any of these books? What are you reading this week? As always, thanks for visiting my blog and perhaps even commenting down below!
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