Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a favorite. It is the story of a very poor boy who finds a golden ticket and wins the chance to tour a chocolate factory. He meets Willy Wonka, a candy maker there. It is not one of my favorite books, but children seem to love it and we could always watch the movie afterwards as a fun way to increase comprehension! It's fun for readers to be able to see what they pictured in their head while reading up on the screen. Fountas and Pinnell suggest this book is a Level R which is the 4th grade level. For the activity, I think it would be fun for everyone to write a poem about their favorite candy! The students could have the week to write the poem, and on Friday they would bring enough of that candy to share with everyone, and present their poetry to the class. Then we could all eat the candy and watch the movie! (More like a class party)

I love this book for the message! "The Empty Pot", by Demi, is a great story to read when talking about honesty and how always telling the truth is best. In the story, the Emperor is looking for someone to replace him for when he is too old. He gives out seeds to all the children and sends them on their way to plant them and grow their seeds for one year. After a year, Ping, the main character in the story, has tried and tried to get his seeds to grow only to be left with an empty pot. Why didn't his seeds grow? When it was time to meet the Emperor, Ping had to present his empty pot while all the other children had beautiful flowers flowing out of their pots. Ping was upset, but the Emperor chose his pot because the seeds he had given the children were all cooked which mean they would not sprout. This showed Pings honesty and he was chosen as the next in line for the throne. It is always best to tell the truth and be honest about any situation, because honesty will usually keep you out of trouble. Another lesson that could be introduced is how seeds grow and how a cooked seed will not grow. The students could then plant their own seeds to grow in the classroom and watch how they sprout. They could also spent time observing plants and learning parts of a plant. This book could be used in several different ways.

Lexile: 630L

ATOS: 3.8

...kind of good.

I'm pretty sure that I've already mentioned this but just to refresh things. Rock star stories really are not at the top of my list to read. I don't know why they just never seem to appeal to me...however, as we all know one should 'never say never' because there are exceptions to every rule and the 'A Kind of stories' by Lane Hayes are among those exceptions for me.

Not only are the stories contained in this series beyond good but for me Seth Clayton is the perfect narrator for them.

Tim is the drummer for the rock band Spiral, which this series centers around. While he's been in each book we've really learned very little about him until now. We know he's the drummer and we know he's bisexual and  really that's about all we've learned until now. But 'A Kind of Honesty' changes all that we learn all Tim's secrets with this story and there are a few. 

Carter Hamilton-Temple is a successful financial consultant and a very rich man in his own right. He's also Zeke Gulden's best friend. We met Zeke in previous stories and learned all about Zeke in 'A Kind of Romance'. Carter may have money and the smarts to make money for his clients but what he doesn't seem to have is much luck when it comes to men.  He's had his heart and his trust broken more than once and as luck would have it the men who have done this turned out to be bi, so needless to say when Carter and Tim get together, Tim's already got one strike against him.

When Tim finally ends his relationship with his super-model from hell girlfriend. He decides it's time to explore the other side of his bisexuality and takes himself to a less than glamours gay bar with the intentions of getting laid and as fortune would have it, just about the time he's decided he picked the wrong place to put his plan into action in walks one of the hottest men Tim's set eyes on in a while. Luckily for him that man likes what the sees when he sets eyes on Tim. Mission accomplished after a couple of drinks they head out to a dive hotel and get their groove on. These two men are seriously hot together. They like their sex down and dirty...maybe not quite as dirty as their present surroundings though...

The real surprise comes for both of these men when they are once again brought face to face at a birthday party for a mutual friend. But it's no surprise when both men decide that they want to continue what started in that seedy L.A. hotel room...more down and dirty sex without the strings and hopefully cleaner surroundings.

As they explore their mutual attraction those strings just seem to add themselves. Both Tim and Carter start to find their happiness getting tied to one another and things become complicated pushing each man to his limits, until things explode and Tim is left alone with the realization that if he wants to keep what he's found with Carter, he needs to make some changes sooner than he thinks he's ready to.

I would have to say that when it comes to 'rock star' books this series is definitely at the top of my favorites list. Quite often if I read books that involve the music industry the MCs tend to be country & western performers, which is pretty ironic considering that I'm not really a C&W fan. I've read a couple other rock star series and one or two standalones that I enjoyed but honestly along with the 'Sinners' series by Rhys Ford, this is definitely my other top choice.  

My point being simply put Lane Hayes has done what only a very few authors have accomplished and that's to get me to not only read but thoroughly enjoy and look forward to a rock star series. In the scheme of things not really a big deal to anyone other than me. But from my perspective ...well, quite honestly I'm more than a little impressed.

Add to this the fact that somebody somewhere had the wisdom or just plain good luck to utilize the talents of Seth Clayton for the audio books and  this series for me has been a huge success. 

Listening to Seth Clayton narrate an audio book is a bit of a different experience than  I've come to expect from most narrators. I'm not sure that he really ticks my 'basic audio book' checklist. Although I have no problem in terms of knowing who's speaking and his voices are definitely expressive and consistent...ok, let's just say he hits the mark on these things for me and move on to what really appeals to me...which seems to be his voice in general. There's a comfortable tone to it no matter what character he's portraying. It feels like I'm curled up with a cup of coffee and a good friend who's telling me their story...it's comfortable and inviting.  I just really like his voice and no, it's not in that 'ohmygod, he sounds so hot' way although he does the sexy thing just fine as well.

One of my biggest issues with audiobooks was the fear that my inner 12 year old would run amuck during those intimate moments in a story and spoil things for me and while it has happened on occasion not once during any of these books did that little brat make an appearance and if it was going to happen this would have been the story...because hello!...dirty talk here, in abundance. But if it's done right it's howt!!! hella', hella' hot!!! and if not well...it's just a giggle fest waiting to happen...trust me there were no giggles to be found here, at least not from me. I was too busy fanning myself.

If you're like me and rock star stories aren't really your thing all I can say is check this series out, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised and if you like rock star stories you seriously need these books. These guys are all awesome and hot or maybe they're just awesomely hot...whatever, it works.

Sadly for now I'm 'kind of' out of audio books from this series but book 4 is coming soon and with any luck the audio book will follow without too much delay and Seth Clayton will still be the narrator...sorry, I don't want much...I just want it all. 

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An audiobook for 'A Kind of Honesty' was graciously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The first time I ever heard about this book was in my placement! I was able to read this book to my students and, wow, this is an awesome book! Without giving away too much, this book tells the story of a young Mexican boy who helps his abuelo find work. I would use this story in my classroom to include any Spanish speaking or Mexican student. This is such an excellent book that deals with the message of doing the right thing no matter how hard! I would also use it to teach students that honesty is always the right policy. I would use this book anywhere from 1st grade to 4th grade!