Review: Like Clockwork by Bonnie Dee

by Carol9 Comments
Like Clockwork by Bonnie Dee Ah, steampunk romance. This one has great elements. The setting is an alternative London, 1898. A slasher is on the loose, killing women and keeping their hearts. Automatons have taken over many of the jobs previously held by the lower class, from manufacturing workers to household servants. The unemployed are angry and things may turn ugly in the city. Victoria is a scientist, part of the team responsible for creating the automatons, but she sees them being used in ways that aren't not what she had expected and she's concerned by the number of these machines that have malfunctioned. Dash is one of the unemployed. He kidnaps Victoria, hoping to use his group's cause, getting rid of the automatons, giving real people jobs again. He's surprised when she agrees with him and offers to help without having to be forced. Dash and Victoria are attracted to each other and against her better judgment, Victoria decides to pursue the...
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Friday’s Tale: The Boy Who Wanted the Moon retold by Donna L. Washington

by Carol9 Comments
"The Boy Who Wanted the Moon" retold by Donna L. Washington This tale from the Congo starts with a very spoiled little boy. He is a prince, the son of a great king who gives him everything he wants. At 6, he has his own house, gorgeous clothes and is carried around on a chair instead of having to walk. The king made this boy the king of all the children, and the young prince made the other children sit in the marketplace watching him eat, nap, whatever. One day, the prince states that he is the greatest child and has everything. A little girl in the crowd speaks up, telling him that he doesn't have the moon. The boy, of course, gets his heart set on having the moon, and the father, indulgent beyond reason, sets about getting it for him. It takes 10 years, but finally a scaffold is built to the sky and the king, prince, and their subjects...
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Review: Coral Snakes by Linda George

by Carol7 Comments
Coral Snakes by Linda George (Suggested reading level: Grades 3-5) I've mentioned before that Amber (11) is an animal lover and she picked this book up on a recent trip to the library. We read it together before bed the other evening. It's a decent book, but not outstanding. It covers a lot of information about coral snakes, from where they live and how they hunt to how deadly their venom is. One thing that I did find interesting is that can't open their mouths super-wide like other snakes, so they can't eat prey larger than their own heads. There's a lot of facts here, but it's rather dry and can be repetitious in spots. The photos didn't impress me either. It's definitely not worth going out of your way to find. Animals and the Environment: Snakes 48 pages Published 1998 by Capstone 2½ out of 5 stars Purchase through Amazon. Our copy was borrowed from the library and the above is my honest opinion....
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Another teaser from In the Woods

by Carol13 Comments
It was the unfairness of it that knocked the breath out of me. We'll see, Jamie's mother had said, don't worry about it; and we had believed her and stopped worrying. No grown-up had ever betrayed us before, not about something that mattered like this, and I couldn't take it in. We had lived that whole summer trusting that we had forever. (pg. 277, In the Woods by Tana French) Like I mentioned yesterday, I'm still reading this one. Good, good book, but it's taking a while. Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Play along. The rules are easy and I only cheated a little. Grab your current read, open to a random page, and give us two teaser sentences. Remember, no spoilers. I received my copy through PaperbackSwap, and the above is my honest opinion.....
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