Fortunately, The Milk - Neil Gaiman

 

Title: Fortunately, The Milk
Author: Neil Gaiman
Format: Audiobook
Rating: 4 Stars

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"I bought the milk," said my father. "I walked out of the corner shop, and heard a noise like this: t h u m m t h u m m. I looked up and saw a huge silver disc hovering in the air above Marshall Road."

"Hullo," I said to myself. "That's not something you see every day. And then something odd happened."

Find out just how odd things get in this hilarious New York Times bestselling story of time travel and breakfast cereal, expertly told by Newbery Medalist and bestselling author Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Skottie Young. 

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This book is ridiculous and silly and so cute.  If you have kids or you teach kids, this is a book you have to have around, because younger kids will LOVE IT! 

There are pirates, a bunch of talking dinosaurs (one of whom, obviously, is a doctor!), and some milk.

When the dad in this story ventures out to get some milk for their breakfast, the kids are left wondering why it is taking so long.  And when he finally returns home, he regales them with a story that includes all the above and more, and he does so in the most wonderful, adorable way possible.  

I don't even know what else to say, other than the fact that this is very clearly a book for younger readers (maybe in the 5-8 age range) and I STILL rated it 4 stars because that's how much I think kids will LOVE this book.

So, what are you waiting for - go have story time with this delightful and hilarious book.

Bout of Books 29 - Saturday Update

 

Howdy Reader Friends! Happy Sunday.  Welcome to the my update for the second to last day (Saturday) of this months Bout of Books readathon.  

Books Started: 3 

Books Finished: 1

Pages Read Saturday: 264

Total Pages Read: 411

Books I've Started:

Before the Devil Breaks You

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Books I've Finished:

The Fifth Season 

Okay, reader friends - tell me how it's going for you!  If you're doing Bout of Books, how's it going? If you're not doing Bout of Books - well, prepare yourself to join in January, because it's amazing! 

Bout of Books 29 Update

 

Hey Reader Friends!  Happy Saturday! I haven't really been feeling to well this week, so while I have been reading and doing twitter, I haven't done much blog updates for Bout of Books.  SO, here is my update for the past few days.

Books Started: 3

Books Finished: 1 

Pages Read Wednesday: 2 (I tried, but it was a LONG day)

Pages Read Thursday: 25

Pages Read Friday: 60

Total Pages Read: 147

Books I'm reading:

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Before The Devil Breaks You

Books I've Finished:

The Fifth Season 

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How's your reading going this week?  Let me know what you're reading down in the comments, and let me know if you've read anything I'm reading right now!  

Bout of Books 29 - Tuesday Update

 

Hey Reader Friends! Happy Wednesday.  It's been a day, let me tell you.  Anyway, let's just jump right into my Bout of Books update for yesterday! 

Books Started: 2
Books Finished: 1
Pages Read Tuesday: 40
Total Pages Read: 66.

I've Finished:

The Fifth Season

I'm still reading: 

Before the Devil Breaks You

If you're doing Bout of Books this week, how's it going? What have you been reading?  Heck tell me what you're reading even if you're not doing Bout of Books, because BOOKS!!!!!!!!!!

Bout of Books - Monday Update

 

Happy Tuesday, reader friends!  It's the second day of Bout of Books 29 - YEAH!  

This is, hands down, my FAVORITE readathon, because it's just so fun and relaxed and amazing.  

Yesterday, I worked and when I got home, I was feeling a little under the weather, so I didn't get a ton of reading done.  But I did what I could and that is what matters.

I finished up the last section of The Fifth Season for a buddy read, and when I have the review ready, YOU'RE GOING TO LOVE IT! 

So, the Monday breakdown:

Books Started: 1

Books Finished: 1

Pages Read: 26

Total Pages Read: 26

If you're doing bout of books, how's it going? If you're not doing bout of books, you should be! And also, tell me what you're reading! 

Bout of Books 29

 HEY READER FRIENDS!  I'm a giant slacker, because I've known about Bout of Books 29 for a while, and I've known I was going to sign up for it for a while. And now, I'm finally giving you my lovely, wonderful sign up post.  

Anyway, fellow bookworms, chances are if you've read my blog at all you know what Bout of Books is. And if you don't, go check out their website here! 

The Bout Of Books 29 Readathon starts tomorrow - YEAH! This week long readathon is literally one of my favorite bookish things ever.  Anyway, this simple little sign up below was written by a Bout of Books host and explains it really well.

The Bout of Books readathon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It’s a weeklong readathon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 17th and runs through Sunday, August 23rd in YOUR time zone. Bout of Books is low-pressure. All reading-in-place times, Twitter chats, and exclusive Instagram challenges are completely optional. For Bout of Books 29 information and updates, visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

As far as reading goes, I am going to put the following books on my TBR for the week and see how it goes:

Currently Reading: 

Before the Devil Breaks You
Girls of Paper and Fire

Going to Start: 

King of Crows
Cinder
Scarlet
Cress
Winter

If you're doing Bout of Books, let me know, and share your TBR, blogs, twitter, and all that fun stuff in the comments!  I can't wait to read with y'all! 

Beauty Queens - Libba Bray

Title: Beauty Queens 
Author: Libba Bray
Format: Audiobook
Rating: 2 Stars 

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The 50 contestants in the Miss Teen Dream pageant thought this was going to be a fun trip to the beach, where they could parade in their state-appropriate costumes and compete in front of the cameras.

But sadly, their airplane had another idea, crashing on a desert island and leaving the survivors stranded with little food, little water, and practically no eyeliner.

What’s a beauty queen to do? Continue to practice for the talent portion of the program - or wrestle snakes to the ground? Get a perfect tan - or learn to run wild? And what should happen when the sexy pirates show up?

Welcome to the heart of non-exfoliated darkness.

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I was excited to read this book - but unfortunately it was a miss for me.  I rated it 2 stars because there were some things in the book that I genuinely really did love.  What did I love? Well, let me tell you:

1. There is a lesbian character in the novel. 
2. There was a transgender character 
3. One of the girls was most likely bisexual.
4. There were actually beauty queens who were black and brown in the novel
5. The characters who were not white talked very openly about how the pageant community is still steeped in whiteness and they talked about how hard it is for someone who is not white to win a competition like that.  This whole idea that white is the standard of beauty needs to fucking change. 

In spite of what I loved about this book, it struck out with me because this brand of sarcasm was just a bit much for me.  I feel like many of the characters were written to be almost just overly stupid and obtuse.  

Even for satire, the whole book just felt way too over the top and dramatic, and it felt like the story was trying just too hard to be funny. That left me feeling unfulfilled with the story.  

In addition to the fact that there was an over the top attempt at humor, the book, to me, did not resolve in a way that was satisfying.  I don't want to spoil too much, but it did bother me that we never got to see the girls reuniting with their friends and family after they finally got off the island.  

This is a short review, I know, but I literally cannot think of any other good things to say about this book.  If you liked it, that's cool. If you didn't like it - I feel you!