3rd Reread Completed in October 2017.:

I think that Azami is one of Feehan's more complex GhostWalker heroines. She is definitely the most tortured. Like physically and emotionally. Whitney used her for experiments and operated on her repeatedly and then literally threw her away. She rose like a phoenix from the ashes, which is why her tattoo is so appropriate. I love how badass she is. Not only badass, but also very calm and soothing and has a sense of peace that took many years of discipline to cultivate. I think she's perfect for Sam.

Sam is such a sweetie. I love him. He's definitely lethal and capable of kicking butt big time, but he's also like a big cuddly teddy bear. He's so loyal. I was so glad to see he got a good heroine.

I loved how Sam and Azami connected deeply, and one couldn't even say it was because Whitney paired them. They share a history of having grown up in trouble surroundings and being adopted, and a craving for a real sense of family and home. It makes me so happy that they are together.

I like how much of the action in this book is Azami on her mission to cut off Whitney's espionage supply pipeline. She is ruthless about taking out her enemies, but I'm not mad at her.

One thing that bothered me this time as much as the last, Feehan barely mentions that Sam is African American. I would have liked more references to his skin color just as it was important to get a clear image of him in my head. I made up my own image. However, someone who picked up this book first probably wouldn't even know Sam was black.

As always, I love seeing Team One work together and joke around. I like how Feehan takes the time to introduce some characters she hadn't featured before, like Jonas and Kyle. I liked how much Ryland, Gator, Tucker, Nico, and Ian were in this, not to mention the ladies such as Saber, Lily, and Flame.

I never get enough of these book. This completes the reread of the books I have already read at least twice. Now I'm moving onto Viper Game, for my first reread.

Snow Man and the Seven Ninjas - Matt Cos...

Little Snow Man grew up and became bigger and hairier, and with each push-up was more muscly than before. All those who saw him marvelled at his sixpack and were certain that never before had such abdominals existed.
Surely, no act could compete with the beefcake Snow Man, they though.

‘You may have a nice sixpack,
But you also have a hairy back!
The one with abs that make me blush,
Is the young Snow Man, you toilet brush!’

The stunt man was horrified by the super dude’s command, but he was so frightened of his powers and what he might do to the stunt man’s pet goldfish that he promised to do as ordered.

text and illustrations by Chris Tougas

age range: 2 to 5 years old

Owlkids Books

How do you prepare a surprise birthday party for a Master Ninja? He is SO aware, using his ears and eyes! The little ninja girls and boys tiptoe, hide, scurry, until everything is ready. Nothing is missing: cake, candles, music and the gift. 

This is not a quite story, on the contrary, it is very interactive. Kids have along the book many opportunities to scream "Aaah!" when the Master Ninja gets scared. Funny, noisy, and with lovable characters. Be prepared to read it lots of times. 

I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

All the hidden villages are united in a war against the Akatsuki, which means people from different villages are teamed up together and need to learn to work with each other. The teams find themselves fighting Kabuto's reanimated puppets, and some of the battles are bitter – for example, Sai must fight his brother, and Kakashi finds himself facing off against Zabuza and Haku. Meanwhile, Naruto is continuing to train with Killer Bee, unaware that all of this is going on.

I have less that 20 volumes to go before I'm done with this series. I've been reading it for so long that it feels like I need to make it to the finish line, but this volume made me wonder if I'm going to be able to manage it.

Part of the problem is that it's been so long since I read the volumes prior to this one. The result was confusion – so many characters I either didn't know or could barely remember. Personally, I think Kishimoto is better at depicting one-on-one battles than large-scale wars. I miss the days of reading extended battles that were really just an excuse to reveal characters' thoughts and emotions and to maybe throw in a flashback or two. It should have been a more emotional experience, seeing characters I knew and loved, like Haku and Zabuza, reanimated and forced against their will to fight. Instead, I had to struggle to feel anything. There was just too much going on.

I continued to dislike Killer Bee's efforts to rap all his lines. I can't wait until Naruto is finally done training with him, because I would like him to go away. Why does such an annoying character have to be so important?

I'll wrap this up with a quickie comment about the jutsu Kabuto used to reanimate people. We're told that it can't be broken, even with the caster's death, and yet

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)