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review 2019-02-24 03:15
Grump: The (Fairly) True Tale of Snow White & the Seven Dwarves
Grump: The (Fairly) True Tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves - Liesl Shurtliff

Audience: Middle Grade

Format: Hardcover/Library Copy

 

 

I was born just feet from the surface of the earth, completely unheard of for a dwarf, but it couldn't be helped.

- first sentence

 

 

The dwarf's name is Borlen and his nickname is Grump. This story is set in the same world as Rump, Jack, and Red and written by the same author, Liesl Shurtliff. I really enjoy this series and I am always happy to see a new book come out. The series takes fairy tale retellings to a new level. The characters are all part of the same larger world and I love the way Shurtliff weaves them all together.

 

Borlen is obsessed with the surface even though most dwarves are terrified of it. He always feels like a bit of an outsider. When he finally finds himself above ground, his first friend is Queen Elfrieda Veronika Ingrid Lenore (E.V.I.L.). Readers know she is the Evil Queen, but Borlen is fairly naive and thinks she is his friend (his only friend). And so, Borlen gets caught up in the Queen's plot against Snow White.

 

I loved the characters in this story and the story itself. Grump is so complicated and conflicted but also very clever. At first Snow White seems like a self-centered, spoiled brat, but later we find out she is more complex than that. The crew that Borlen is a part of consists of seven dwarves - of course, one of whom sneezes a lot - go figure.

 

I highly recommend this book to readers in grades 4 and up, especially fans of fairy tale retellings. I read this as part of the Goodreads HA A-to-Z Challenge and for space #1 in the Snakes and Ladders game (book with a female author).

 

 

 

 

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review 2017-10-23 17:49
Happy Days of the Grump Everyone Knows a Grump by Tuomas Kyro

 

 
Happy Days of the Grump Everyone Knows a Grump by Tuomas Kyro is a book released this month by Bonnier Zaffre and it is, trust me, spectacularly beauty!
Funny, ironic,dense of considerations about death, life, existence as every book written by a Nordic - Finnish in this case - author is.

The book is written following the thoughts in first person of The Grump. An R-x of this society without too much compassion from the Grump born in the 1930s and unable to understand the abrupt changes of the society and its new rules and "guidelines."
The modern society read and seen through the eyes of The Grump.

I knew more than a grump. My dad was born in 1926 and he was a grump exactly like the protagonist of this book. The people of this generation more or less Kyro considers the ones born in 1930s are all part of one of the most enchanting generations to me.
They experienced Mondial War, they have been starved, they worked hard for re-building the country where they lived or live in, but although the hard life they suffered, misery, poverty, God I don't think I will meet anymore special people like these ones.
Generous, altruists, they donate themselves to the others genuinely, people in grade to share good feelings and sentiments with other ones. Real friendship, real connections, real character, without masks, they are people of peace because they experienced the sufferance of war and they knew what it meant to live in time of wars and in time of peace and appreciated and enjoyed peace so badly.
It's a contradiction in terms but although we were born in a best time, with more modernity, peace, with good houses where to staying we are different.
Our generations to me has lost the humanity of that people.
Well, not everyone.

Reading this book will mean also to understand the point of view of someone who had known a different system where the navigator was the mind, where Instagram meant a good walk enjoying the beauty of nature, where Facebook a real house with real friends and real chats.

Mr. Grump is 80 years, and he lives alone. Sure he has a wife. Unfortunately because of her mental illness she was brought in a home and everyday The Grump loves to visit her, cooking for her some good meals so that she can eat with good appetite. Dear old times where he also discussed with his wife, where not all the moments were plain but love existed and was strong enough for arriving 'till here.
The Grump feels that he is like a fish out of the water when he is in company of his son, because the new generations changed this world completely.

And he complains. Please read this extract about the youth  and how frenetic is lived the perception of life from The Grump. It's because of the use of these devices. There is more velocity than not in the past in every sense.

His son tries to let him understand that after all this society is not so bad. The Grump wants to build two coffins for himself and his wife, in his spare time. There is a dissertation at this point about the burial traditions in the world.

The son of the Grump tried to let him appreciate during a trip the navigator, but the Grump doesn't understand why it's necessary a navigator. According to him this society creates lazy people because most of the intellectual work is done by PCS and other devices. Another guy will ask him to take a picture for posting it on Instagram.

Yes, another dimension for someone who enjoyed long walks, real talks with friends, good company.

I admit that some of the written words in this book are also the ones said by our priest every Sunday. Who became God for people with the time?

Please, read this passage of the book as well, and if you can please buy Happy Days of the Grump.
Maybe you have some grumpy relatives close to you, and so it will be a pleasure to discover the similarities that there are in these minds.

The experience of this Grump Old Man, will portray a picture of our society without too many compliments saying what there is to be said frankly.  It's better to understand where we are going.

I thank surely Bonnier Zaffre for the physical copy of this wonderful book. It reminded me every page at my dad! Another grump man I will always miss a lot.

Anna Maria Polidori
Source: alfemminile.blogspot.it
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text 2014-04-23 04:32
What are friends for, if not to be devil on shoulder?
Incubus Master: Complete (Yaoi) - Yamila Abraham

I've been quietly grumping to RL friends about hitting a mini-slump after reading Parts I and II of Meljean Brook's The Kraken King.  Despite the variety of reads on my immediate TR list, nothing kept my interest so after each failed attempt, I re-read an Iron Seas book or short.  Which was not good, b/c I's gots certain books to read, dammit!

 

So a friend got creative and offered to lend Incubus Master: Complete, which both snared my interest *and* made me grumpier.  Yaoi fantasy serial w/ incubi demons?  *growls*  8-part serial (99¢ for average 20pgs each) released as compiled edition @ $5.99 for @ 200pgs, give or take? *mutters choice words*

 

And thus, my dilemma... do I or don't I?  On the one hand, it's a lend so I'm not wasting my money.  On the other hand... *grumps anew*

Source: karmabites.booklikes.com/post/862345/what-are-friends-for-if-not-to-be-devil-on-shoulder-
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review 2013-05-22 00:00
Liam and the Grump
Company's Coming: Stir-Fry - Jean Paré Liam and the Grump by Graham Austin-King, Illustrated by Sarah Heseltine

5 Stars

Liam and the Grump is a beautifully illustrated children’s book about a young boy and his bad temper. Liam finds himself getting angry and doing ‘bad’ stuff but doesn’t know why. First his dad tries to teach him how to control it, but when that doesn’t work his mum has another suggestion.

On an educational level the message is quite clear about self-control and this is a lovely story to highlight to young children that being grumpy is normal and there are ways to make yourself feel better.

I read the ebook version on my PC and though the pictures were bright and colourful I think for a child to get the full benefit the printed version would be better. I could easily see myself sat on the sofa sharing this book with my grandchildren while they turn the pages with their podgy hands.

Copy supplied for review
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review 2013-05-10 00:00
The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World - Eric Weiner I liked it okay as a travel memoir, but not as a study of happiness. For me, the problem was mostly tone--it was hard for me to get beneath the layers of snarkiness to see any kind of earnest search for happiness. Eric Weiner was prone to over-generalizations and sarcastic take-downs, which would put me off even if this were not a book about happiness. It just didn't work for me, although I enjoyed learning more about Bhutan, Qatar, and Iceland.
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