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The point of these quick takes posts is to catch up on my "To Write About" stack—emphasizing pithiness, not thoroughness.
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The Tattooed Potato and Other Cluesby Ellen Raskin Paperback, 170 pg. Puffin Books, 1975 Read: January 7-8, 2020 Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore! |
I've never claimed to have an exhaustive knowledge of Ellen Raskin novels, yet I was surprised to find a passing reference to this one last fall. So I grabbed it up and jumped into it with relish. It's been since I was in MG that I've read other works by her that aren't The Westing Game, so I can't say for certain if this is her usual kind of thing or not (I think this is closer to her norm than Westing, though). There's an over-reliance on funny names (frequently some sort of wordplay involving food) and outlandish eccentricities as a source of humor, but that's a minor thing.
This is really 3-4 short stories linked together with an overarching narrative to make a novel—which actually works pretty well. The pair have a few smaller mysteries to solve while a bigger one builds. This reads like a collaboration of Donald J. Sobol and Daniel M. Pinkwater—which absolutely would've been up my alley when I was the right age, and is still amusing enough right now for me to enjoy the quick read.
Is it my favorite thing ever? No. But it's a clever read that's entertaining enough.
This is a little more mature than usual for MG books (especially given its publish date, I'd think), but it's not mature enough for YA. Not that it matters, that's just me trying to categorize it. I think it's probably appropriate for MG readers, though (there's one scene that might push it over the edge, but...I'd risk it).
(the official blurb)
3-4 paragraphs
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Bloody Acquisitionsby Drew Hayes, Kirby Heyborne (Narrator) Series: Fred, The Vampire Accountant, #3 Unabridged Audiobook, 9 hrs., 52 mins. Tantor Audio, 2016 Read: January 31-February 4, 2020 Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore! |
(the official blurb)
I continue to enjoy these lighter UF books about the world's dullest Vampire and his supernatural friends. Of course, the joke is that he's not really that boring at all, Fred just thinks of himself that way.
The core of this novel is Fred dealing with a group of vampires coming to town to set up shop. The big question is: can they share the city with him? Typically, the answer is no, and he'll either have to join with them or leave. The last thing that Fred wants to do is to leave his home and business==he'll just have to figure out a way.
I think this works better as a novel than the previous two installments and is overall just a touch more entertaining. I'm not sure that I have much else to say—these are fun reads/listens.
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Dark Harvest Magicby Jayne Faith, Amy Landon (Narrator) Series: Ella Grey, #2 Unabridged Audiobook, 8 hrs., 32 mins. Tantor Audio, 2017 Read: February 22-25, 2020 Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore! |
(the official blurb)
I have even less to say about this one. I didn't enjoy it as much as I did the previous one, maybe because just about all of it felt like Faith was setting things up for the next book or two in the series more than telling a story now. This does mean that the next book or two should be really good, because I liked most of what she was setting up.
Aside from that, Dark Harvest Magic really feels a lot like it could be the next several chapters in Stone Cold Magic. Which means that pretty much everything I said about it applies here. An entertaining read/listen, I still like the characters and really want to see where Faith is taking this all, even if I wasn't gaga over this sequel.
