Tag Fiction

The Outsiders – Book Review

AnnatheHobbit Leave a comment

Book 5/100

Every high school English class has its go-to classics. In my English classes in Texas it was Inferno by Dante Alighieri, Beloved by Toni Morrison, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Firzgerald and others. In this area, I was introduced to The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. I had never heard of this book an apparently it is a very common read for middle schooler around here! Classic literature is so different regionally.

This book was chosen to be our January book of the month for The Shire Bookstore and it was a great success! Our food theme were side dishes, and our dress theme was to dress as a Greaser or a Soc.

The Outsiders is the story of Ponyboy Curtis (yes, that’s his actual name) and his life as a Greaser. Their rival gang is the Socs and they are the rich kids that everyone wants to be. Ponyboy has two brothers and is very close knit with his gang brothers, especially since he is an orphan. Ponyboy and his friend Johnny get into trouble and have to flee to another city and hide out for a while. Johnny is badly injured and life lessons are learned.

Surprisingly this book about gangs and boys behaving badly was written by a teenaged girl! Because of this, I was a bit more lenient with my critique. I can see why this book would appeal to teenagers. I made my children read it for their English class and 3 out of 4 of them liked it. There is a coming-of-age feel to the book. The book was easy to read and there were many tender moment between the brothers, but it did feel a bit juvenile of them to be hugging and holding each other all the time. The book had a strong emphasis on what it means to be family and taking care of one another.

We did also see the movie! That is another American classic in the movie world. I couldn’t believe how many famous actors were involved in that movie! And who knew Tom Cruse was such an ugly duckling? The movie does follow the book closely.

Overall the book was good. I give it a 3.8 stars out of 5. I recommend this book to middle and high schoolers. The book has no cuss words or sex scenes. The violence is minimal.

This book was publish April of 1967
This book is 208 pages long
It has a Goodread rating of of 4.12

One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot – Book Review

AnnatheHobbit Leave a comment

Book 4/100
Book Challenge: A book with a beautiful cover
Some spoilers ahead, so take caution!

This book was written by Marianne Cronin and is about a 17 year old girl named Lenni who has is terminally ill. She only has a few months to live and her perspective on life is one of urgency. Margot on the other hand, has lived a full life and is 83. She is relatively healthy and we get to travel back and forth between the present and Margot’s interesting life. Together between the life of Lenni and Margot there is 100 years worth of stories.

There were a lot of endearing moments in Margot’s story, but Lenni’s story was mostly sad. There is an interesting relationship that Lenni develops with the hospital’s spiritual adviser, Father Arthur. He is a clergy member and this is where I believe the book fell short for me. Lenni has so many questions about her life. She is about to die and a lot of her questions are very deep and Father Arthur doesn’t truly answer them. As a Christian, I was so frustrated with the dialogue between the two of them! The book towards the end even hints that Lenni may have jarred Father Arthur so much with her questions that he may have ended up questionig his own faith. She’s about to meet her maker and Father Arthur basically answers everything with “I don’t know”. We have the truth, Father Arthur, and in the end that is what Lenni was looking for. Also, the outright abandonment when life got tough was shocking. Lenni’s dad leaves her because he can’t handle seeing her waste away by her illness. Margot’s first husband leaves her when they suffer a devasting event, and Margot also leaves her second husband when the going gets tough! How can you love someone and just leave them to die alone! I would even understand if it was years of devestation, but all of these abandonments lasted months. And Margot running away to live as a lesbian in her 80’s and marry Meena, a woman who just used her, had me fuming. Meena only wanted Margot around when she needed moral support, and even then, she was elusive and never really invested in Margot. I was not happy for Margot and felt that in the end, Meena would leave her like she did multiple times because it wasnt convenient for her to stick around. Meena was not a good friend, and would be a worse partner.

This book does have a very good rating of 4.30 on Goodreads though. So there is a chance that you would like it. It has the feel of A Man Called Ove, so if you liked that book, there is a strong chance you will like this one. I just didn’t like it, but still gave it a solid 3 stars because the author does write beautifully.

This book was published in June 2021
It is 322 pages long

Remarkably Bright Creatures

AnnatheHobbit Leave a comment

100 Book Challenge – A book recommended by a friend:
3/100

One of my favorite animals are octopuses. And yes, that is the correct plural form for “octopus”, you can also use “octopi” if you so please, either way is perfectly fine, but I digress. I love their extrodinary ability to camouflauge, their sacrificial love for their offspring, and their adeptness in fitting into tiny spaces. They truly are remarkable.

I picked up this book both because it was recommended by a friend and because one of the protagonist is an octopus living in captivity at the local aquarium where the book takes place. In the book, the octopus’s name is Marcellus and he is too intelligent for his own good. He develops an affection for and eventually a friendship with the night-shift cleaning lady named Tova. Tova is lonely. She lost her son 30 years in a drowning accident prior and has recently lost her husband. She is a hardworker and is facing the difficult decision of what to do with the rest of her life. She is elderly and wonders what will happen to her and her things when she dies. A widow and a childless mother, we see her come to terms with her pain, loneliness and eventual joy.

The book has some loveable characters, but Cameron ruined the book for me. Cameron is a young man who is looking for his dad in the small town where Tova lives. He is very annoying and frustrated me the whole time I was reading his story. If it weren’t for him, I would have given this book 4 stars instead of 3. I also wish the author – Ms. Shelby Van Pelt – would have ended the story a little different.

I recommend this book to readers who like contemporary fiction or who want to read something light with a sweet, happy ending. Although Marcellus doesn’t audibly speak to any of the characters, we are privy to his thoughts – which I found cute and witty. There are some minor cuss words used. There are no sex scenes or gore.

This book was published in May of 2022.
It is 360 pages.
A solid 3 stars out of 5 for me.

Hidden Pictures – Book Review

AnnatheHobbit Leave a comment

Book Challenge: A book of your choice
2/100
Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak

I don’t often read books with pictures in them. I think the last adult book that I read with pictures was A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness. I will admit that the pictures in A Monster Calls did add a whole other dimension to my reading experience and Hidden Pictures did the same thing. Where A Monster Calls tugged at my soul, Hidden Pictures scared the mess out of me.

Hidden Pictures is about ex-addict Mallory Quinn and her goal to pursue a normal life after being in a half-way house. She has made several mistakes in her past and all she wants is to find a job where she can earn a living and make something out of herself. She soons finds a job nannying a little 5-year old boy, but his parents seem to be a bit over protective. The job comes naturally to her and she is also given living accomodations in a guest house towards the end on the couples large backyard. Soon things are not what they seem and Mallory starts experiencing things that made the hairs behind my nect stand on end! The creepy pictures that Teddy begins to draw also add another level of fright.

Hidden Pictures was entertaining. It wasn’t very deep, but at least the characters were easy to follow and likeable. The plot twist at the end completely shocked me. I didn’t see it coming at all. I think this book would fall under the genre of contemporary gothic fiction. There is a ghostly feel to the book and thankfully there were no graphic scenes of gore or sex.

I would recommend this book to anyone 15 years or older who likes stories of ghosts.
This book was published in May of 2022
It is 375 pages long.
I do not recommend this book in audio form due to the importance of the pictures found within it.
4 out 5 stars

The Shire Bookstore 100 Book Challenge

AnnatheHobbit Leave a comment

Our very first annual 100 book challenge. What rank will you reach this year? I know that some of you read more than 100 books a year, so you should be able to reach Dragon status with ease! There is no need to go in order, you can mix it up as you like. The purpose of this challenge is to help get you out of reading slumps and hopefully open up new genres you didn’t know you would like!

Happy Reading!

Goblin
—- a book recommended by a friend
—- a book by an author you’ve never read
—- a book set in the past
—- a self-help book
—- a classic
—- a book with less than 250 pages

Barbarian
—- a book by an author with the same first, middle
       or last name as you
—- a book with a beautiful cover
—- a  book of your choice
—- a book by a female author
—- a book by a male author
—- a book with an amazing cover

Orc
—- a paperback book
—- a historical fiction book
—- a spy book
—- a book you think you’ll hate
—- a book by an author who has a different
      ethnicity than you

Fairy
—- a religious book
—- a book that is first in a series
—- a book set in another country
—- a used book
—- a magic realism book
—- a book about sports

Swamp Elf
—- a book over 100  years old
—- a history book
—- a book your mom or dad would read
—- a book where animals talk
—- a book of your choice

Gnome
—- a psychological thriller
—- a book that won a Pulitzer
—- a biography or memoir
—- a book with one word in the title
—- a children’s book
—- a graphic novel

Dwarf
—- a fantasy book
—- a book with a mythological character
—- a non-fiction book
—- a book on your bookshelf
—- a romance book

Hobbit
—- a young adult book
—- a fiction book
—- a mystery book
—- a book with pirates or mermaids in it
—- a book of your choice

Ranger
—- an independently published book
—- a health book
—- a book with 400 or more pages
—- a banned book
—- a sci-fi book
—- a book recommended on social media

Rogue
—- a book with two authors
—- a thriller or horror book
—- a dystopian book
—- a book with an animal on the cover

Sage
—- a black, red, or green book
—- a hardback book
—- an audio book
—- a book that won a prize
—- a book of your choice

Paladin
—- a book recommended by someone younger than you
—- a book set in the U.S.
—- an art or craft book
—- a book by an author that uses initials in their name
—- a book with a number in the title
—- a book by an author who shares your birth month
—- a play
—- a book on the New  York Times Bestseller list
—- a book in a genre  you’ve never read
—- a book published in the 1900’s

High Elf
—- a book written by John Grisham, Stephen King, James Patterson, Nora Roberts, Karin Slaughter or Colleen Hoover
—- a Christmas book
—- a book with an awful cover
—- a book written by a TV personality
—- a book recommended by someone older than you
—- a true crime book
—- a book about traveling or exploring
—- a book of your choice
—- a political book
—- a book about a king or queen
—- a book that was made into a movie

Wizard
—- a book published on the year you were born
—- a book set in Kentucky, Tennessee, Illinois, Georgia or Texas
—- a mass market paperback
—- a book on plants or animals
—- a book made into a series
—- a book found at a thrift store or garage sale
—- an old book
—- a book of your choice
—- a book involving a war
—- a book about zombies or the apocalypse
—- a book by an author you love

Dragon
—- a book by an author of a different nationality than you
—- a book in a trilogy
—- a funny or humorous book
—- a poetry book
—- a book about books or a bookstore
—- a book on WWI or WWII
—- a book of your choice
—- a book from a book club or reading group
—- a book you think you’re not going to like


The Shire Bookstore
100 Book Challenge

Not a Fan of Fan Fiction – Kinda

AnnatheHobbit Leave a comment

I have never read fan fiction. I had heard of it, but I truly didn’t know what it was all about.

This is why I Iove to recommend to readers that when they are in a reading slump, just ask their friends what they are reading. And that is what I did. I had no clue what I was getting myself into. My friend was reading Manacled by SenLinYu, and get this, there was no actual book. The only way that I could read Manacled was to read it online on a certain forum. No physical copies exist, unless you get the printed pages bound. And even that is looked down upon by the Fan Fic world.

Manacled is a Harry Potter FanFic story about an alternate world where Voldemort wins in the end. Not only has he won, but because so many of the Wizarding population has been killed due to the war, Voldemort has enacted a new effort to repopulate it. All of the characters we rooted for in the Harry Potter series are dead except Hermione. Harry, dead. Ron, dead. Tonks, dead. Moody, dead. All the other Weasleys, dead. Hermoine is left to rot in a dungeon cell, but is finally relased after months in solitary confinement. The new regime wants her memories because there is still someone out there who is causing havoc for those now in power. Maybe Hermione knows something that the Dark Lord has missed, but during her coninement, certain memories are locked behind a barrier within her mind that even Voldemort can’t penetrate. An idea crosses one of the interregators’ mind that Hermione should be used as a surrogate to help populate the diminished Magical population and through producing an heir, her memories would crack open. To Hermione’s horror, that is exactly what happens to her. With the help of special manacles, her magic is stiffled and cannot be used. She is trained and then is assigned to be the surrogate baby maker for none other than Draco Malfoy. And to help the Dark Lord, Draco will do anything – even sire an heir through Hermione – to get those memories she’s hidden and defeat, once and for all, the Order of the Phoenix.

I won’t lie. I was pleasantly surprised by this “book”. I was fearful of awful writing and unforgiveable grammar errors and spelling, but there were very few, if any. The writing style was also very different. The author didn’t have long paragraphs, but short snippets with paragraph spaces in between them which made reading the material somehow easier. Although the book was actually good, something didn’t quiet sit right with me. The author did an amazing job in making this alternate world. SenLinYu knew the world of Harry Potter extremely well, but to me something was off, and frankly the only thing off was that the author wasn’t J.K. Rowling. In my heart of hearts, its not what was intended. Harry is supposed to live. Hermione doesn’t end up with Draco, but with Ron. Draco settles with his struggles and Voldemort gets what he deserves. Manacled didn’t follow canon and that is why at the root of it all, I am generally not a fan of fanfiction.

But if you are . . . . .

Read this book! Or whatever it is.

Although I will warn any reader that this is definitely a book for adults only. There is gore, rape, toture and a tremendous amount of violence.

I still gave this book 4 stars because the story was very well developed even though I know Hermione would never love Draco!

You can read this book for free on AO3. Here is the link.

This book is 876 pages long. It has an astonishing GoodReads rating of 4.66. Over 56,000 people have rated this book. Words: 370, 256

Books Read: A to Z Challenge

AnnatheHobbit Leave a comment

Every year I set out to read books with titles that begin with A – Z. I don’t include the artcles of title pages and sometimes bend the rules, specifically with harder letters like “X” or “Z”. Here is this year’s book list of The A – Z Challenge.

My rating system based solely on my opinion:
* – Trash, hated it. Bad writing, shallow characters, predictable. Stay away.
** – Didn’t like it. Won’t recommend
*** – It was okay. Probably recommend to someone if they like that specific genre or author. This may be just because I’m not into that specific genre, bad writing style, I didn’t like the ending, unnecessary length, wokeness, or there was a whiny character that annoyed me.
**** – Most books I liked will fall into this star rating. I would recommend, and I thoroughly enjoyed the book!
***** – Life changing. I now have a copy on my personal shelf

A – Augustine of Hippo – A Life by Henry Chadwick ***
B – Butcher and the Wren by Alaina Urquhart ***
C – Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff ****
D -Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver ****
E – Elektra by Jennifer Saint ***
F – Foster by Claire Keegan ****
G – The Good Lie by A.R. Torre ****
H – The Housemaid by Freida McFadden ****
I – Innocence by Dean Koontz ***
J – John Newton: From Disgrace to Amazing Grace by Jonathan Aitken *****
K – Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi *
L – Live Your Truth by Alisa Childers ****
M – Man Called Ove by Frerik Backman *****
N – Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo ****
O – Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen *****
P – Pale Horseman by Bernard Cornwell ****
Q – Quitters Inc by Stephen King ***
R – Relic by Preston and Child ***
S – Sour Grape by Jory John ****
T – Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris ***
U – Unseen Realm by Michael S. Heiser ***
V – Vuelta a Mexico by Judy Goldman ***
W – Weyward by Emilia Hart ****
X – The X-Files: Earth Children are Weird by Jason Rekulak ****
Y – You Are Not Your Own by Alan Noble ***
Z – Zen in the Art of Writing: Releasing the Creative Genius Within You by Ray Bradbury ***

I love this challenge because it really helps get me into looking into different books I would never consider. It also helps me discover new authors and genres I didn’t even know existed!

Happy readings!

What Moves the Dead – Book Review

AnnatheHobbit Leave a comment

Book #13 of 2023 What Moves the Dead
By T. Kingfisher

I picked up the book “What Moves the Dead” solely because of the cover of the book. Very quickly the cliché “don’t judge a book by its cover” had proven true again, and the book was just okay.  The book is solid black with an image of a fungus infested hare. The fungus seems to have taken a life of its own, and seems to have entangled itself upon the helpless animal. The title also has an eerie ring to it, and you are left expecting a little fright. Frankly, the cover was better than the book!

The book is a reimagining of Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Fall of the House of Usher”. In the book, the year is 1890 and Lt. Alex Easton has received a letter from her friend Madeline who has taken ill. As Easton approaches her friend’s home, there is obvious evidence that something is off with the house where Madeline lives. There is fungus everywhere and it seems like it has taken a life of its own. We later find out that Madeline is also not really herself. She speaks funny. She sleepwalks at night. Her brother who is taking care of her is also a little off. And the lake that sits near the house seems alive somehow.

The book is definitely a Gothic novel. I really think that Ms. Kingfisher is a great writer, but I do have a small bone to pick with her. In the book, Alex Easton is from a country named Gallacia. Gallacia is a made-up country and so is its language Gallacian. In the Gallacian language there are over 7 pronouns (ta, tha, than, var, ka, kan,va, van are some of them) used to describe male, female, their ages, their occupations, God, and even inanimate objects. I just don’t understand why there are so many, since it is made up I would have liked it to be a little easier. The book stops several times to talk and explain about the proper use of Gallacian pronouns. It seems awkward to include this, and I found Lt. Easton’s pronoun mentality very unappealing due to the fact that in the 1890’s, pronoun preferences were really not on anyone’s radar. Personally, I speak 2 other languages other than English, and I understand that pronouns can be tricky, but this made-up language felt needless in such a short book, and destroyed the growing suspense Ms. Kingfisher was building. Here is an excerpt of what I mean: “Of course va did. Va doesn’t mean to. Va slowed the process as much as va could, but va couldn’t help but feed a little.” Va is the pronoun used to identify that you are talking with a child according to Gallacian. So, the person speaking was talking about a child. Why not just say that? All of this pronoun verbiage ruined the flow of a very well written book. I would understand a book that included pronoun preferences if the book was set in the present, but this is the late 1800’s, in Englad. According to the book, the pronoun “ka” is genderless and applies to soldiers, so Lt. Easton kept that pronoun after her service, but this feels a bit too crammed for me. Even if Gallacian is a made up language, this whole pronoun arrangement seemed bias. It felt like Ms. Kingfisher had an agenda she wanted to shove down my throat and I didn’t appreciate it.

I can set all this aside though. The book was creepy and dark. It actually entered into my nightmares! My nightmare actually included digging long tapeworms out of my ear – thanks to the autopsy scene! The book was well written, but Lt. Easton just didn’t seem real. She was too “woke” for a person who lived in the 1890’s. The other characters were also okay, but because there was an imaginary country with its own language, there had to be some world building of its culture in the story. So instead of more story-telling or character development, we have so many more explanations that seem excessive for such a short book.

If you like Gothic books and don’t mind awkward pronoun usage, you will probably like this book.

I give this book 2.5 stars out of 5.
This book is 165 pages long and has a Goodreads rating of 3.96.
What Moves the Dead was published July of 2022.

Other books in this genre that I did enjoy and do recommend are:
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Beloved by Toni Morrison

The Housemaid

AnnatheHobbit Leave a comment

Book #9 of 2023

The Housemaid by Freida McFadden is a domestic thriller about a young woman named Millie who is just out of prison trying to make it in life. She has been living in her car and has applied to a housekeeping ad. She is finally called for an interview. The woman who will be her boss lives the life Millie could only dream of. Nina dresses meticulously in white, has tons of money, but there is something Nina isn’t telling Millie. Millie is soon hired and part of her job is to live in the house with Nina’s family. Millie’s rooms are not what she thought they would be, and it looks like the door can be locked from the outside. Then there’s Nina’s handsome husband who has to also deal with Nina’s outbursts. Little by little Millie begins to figure out something is not quiet right, but what Nina’s family doesn’t know is that Millie also has a secret of her own. What later transcends is a rollercoaster ride of suspense and a twist at the end that will leave you speechless.

The Housemaid was one of the books the Shire Bookstore picked to read for our latest book talk. Something I have come to enjoy about these book talks is that we tend to pick books that I wouldn’t go out of my way to read, and lately it has been very refreshing. I had heard of Freida McFadden on BookTok, and wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I was pleasantly surprised. The Housemaid is a fun read. There weren’t any quotes that I had to highlight or moments in the book full of wisdom. The book wasn’t thought-provoking or life changing, but it was entertaining, and that is sometimes what is needed in life. Nothing deep or profound, but something enjoyable enough to keep me in suspense throughout the reading. This is what The Housemaid was to me. The characters were not very deep, but the story line was good and the twist in the end did actually procure a small gasp from me. I am learning to try to read a book without trying to figure out the end of it, so I allowed myself to be carried away in this one, and I am glad I did

There is a sequel to this book called The Housemaid’s Secret. I have heard that it is good, but not as good as the first book. Freida McFadden has another book called The Inmate that I have heard is even better than The Housemaid.

I recommend The Housemaid to anyone who likes domestic thrillers or suspense. I was a bit fearful of graphic sex scenes, but there weren’t any – that just isn’t my vibe. There is some gore though and a lot of psychological suspense. Most of the ladies at the book talk enjoyed the book. If you are interested in joining one of our book talks, we get together about once a month towards the end of the month. Our next book talk will be on the book When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill. For more information check us out on Facebook or Instagram.

The book is 338 pages.
This book has a Goodreads rating of 4.36

Listen To Me – Book Review

AnnatheHobbit Leave a comment

Book #6

This is the 13th installment of the Rizzoli and Isles series by Tess Gerritsen. If you like this series you will not be disappointed in her latest book. This time, we get to know more of Jane’s mother, Angela.

The book starts off with a car accident and then moves into a brutal murder of a nurse. Somehow it is all connected to another murder. This twisty story is wrapped beautifully in the end and left me very satisfied. The scenes where Angela is involved are funny and she becomes a very likeable character. Although, some of her antics are a little over the top and exaggerated, I found that those parts made Angela a more charismatic character. All of these moving parts made the book a lot more entertaining.


I have read all of the Rizzoli & Isles books and have grown to love the differences in the characters. Most of Mrs. Gerritsen books in this series have vicious killers, and so does this one, but out of all her other books, Listen To Me was a little lighter. This was not a bad thing, but the book had more moments where I smiled a lot more. It was refreshing. Don’t get me wrong, there was still the all the drama that comes with medical and detective thrillers, but the book wasnt as “heavy” as other Rizzoli and Isles books.

If you love this series, you will love this book. I don’t recommend this book if you have not followed the series because I think the book may be found to be a bit silly to someone who isn’t familiar with the character Angela. Mrs. Gerritsen writes admirably, but this book would not be a good representation of her character development she’s nurtured in the people she writes about in her books.

I have given the book 4 out of 5 stars, and look forward to the next book by Mrs. Gerritsen!

This book is 307 pages
Was released on July 2022
It has a 4.18 stars on Goodreads