I Am Half Sick of Shadows

I Am Half Sick of Shadows. Alan Bradley. 2011. Random House. 300 pages.

Tendrils of raw fog floated up from the ice like agonized spirits departing their bodies.

If you love Flavia de Luce, if you've enjoyed following her adventures, then you MUST read this one! If you haven't met this quirky eleven-year old yet, well, you need to give the first novel a try. You may just find yourself charmed because there is something so fun, so quirky, so lovable, so just-about-right, about this little heroine!!! (The first novel is The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. The second is The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag. The third is A Red Herring Without Mustard.)

In this holiday novel, Flavia finds herself almost a stranger in her own home. Her family in desperate need of money has rented out their home for movie production! It's just a few days before Christmas and everyone has started to arrive--including a very famous actress. But this holiday may not go as planned....

I just LOVE this character. I am not sure this is the best Flavia de Luce novel in the series. But. It is so much fun to spend time with a character that you love. And the novel certainly keeps you hooked!

If cooking were a game of darts, most of Mrs. Mullet's concoctions would be barely on the board. (35)

I'd been spending so much time sitting halfway down the stairs that I was beginning to feel like Christoper Robin. (61)

Theater, I suppose, is a form of mass mesmerism, and if that's the case, Shakespeare, despite his chemical shortcomings, was surely one of the greatest hypnotists who ever lived. (129) 

© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

The Fat Man

The Fat Man: A Tale of North Pole Noir. Ken Harmon. 2010. Penguin. 275 pages.

The straight dope is that you don't want to get on the Naughty List. It's my job to make sure you don't want your moniker anywhere near it. And brother, I like my job. I like it a lot.

While I didn't love this one, I certainly liked it. It won't be for everyone. Noir typically isn't for everyone. You have to have a certain sense of humor to appreciate all the places this one goes. But for anyone looking for a fun, playful MYSTERY starring some beloved and not-so-beloved Christmas characters, it may be just the treat you're looking for. It actually reminded me of Shrek, in a way.

Gumdrop Coal is an elf with a touch of dark side to him. That's why he's good at his job--he's the one who decides who gets coal in their stockings. He can spot a bad kid for sure. And what he's noticed is that bad kids typically are bad because of bad parenting. But what can he do? really? It's not like he can teach parents how to parent, right? Well, when Gumdrop Coal loses his job, he may decide to do something Santa would NEVER approve of...

But his actions may have unintended consequences...because soon he finds himself the prime suspect in a murder!

As I said, I liked this one because it was a quick read. I didn't love it. Some of the humor didn't quite work for me, but overall I liked its quirkiness.


© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Christmas in Harmony

Christmas in Harmony. Philip Gulley. 2002. HarperCollins. 96 pages.

My first memory of Christmas was in 1966. I was five years old and standing in line at Kivett's Five and Dime with my mother and brother, Roger, waiting to see Santa Claus, who looked suspiciously like Bud Matthews, the man in our town who did odd jobs. He smelled like Bud Matthews, too--a blend of Granger pipe tobacco, Old Spice aftershave, and sawdust.

I enjoyed this novella by Philip Gulley. My first introduction to Harmony was Home to Harmony. Home to Harmony is more a collection of short stories about one town--one community, one church--than it is a traditional novel. It introduces readers to some wonderfully eccentric (quirky) characters in a small town. Christmas in Harmony is a novella set within that community of characters. If you haven't met these characters yet, this book is a good place to start. Especially if you are looking for cozy-type Christmas stories. Not that the book is too sweet--far from it! It's very funny, in places, as different members in the congregation have strong opinions on how to have the right Christmas Eve service. One member STRONGLY believing that they should try something new, a progressive live nativity scene, where members drive through town stopping at each place on the map. (One house for the sheep, one house for the shepherds, one house for the wise men, one house for Mary and Joseph, etc. The last stop being of course the place where you find the cocoa and cookies.) Others want a more traditional service--the reading of the nativity in Luke followed by cookies in the basement, I believe. So along with the tension of the present Christmas, there are remembrances of former Christmases. Stories about Christmas trees, shopping, seeing Santa, etc.

I am enjoying reading Philip Gulley, for the most part, and this novella would make a great introduction if you are in a seasonal mood.

© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

A Very Babymouse Christmas

A Very Babymouse Christmas. Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm. 2011. Random House.

This review will be VERY short simply because there is not that much to say. If you love Babymouse, if you love Babymouse's crazy imagination, if you love her fantasies and daydreams...then you're going to want to read the newest in the series.

Christmas is fast approaching, and Babymouse is mainly just thinking of one thing. The thing that she wants the MOST of all. For she just knows that she HAS TO HAVE the WhizBang.

Will she be pleased on Christmas morning?

I love Babymouse. I do. I think she's a great character. And she's made me smile--made me laugh--plenty of times. While this wouldn't be my favorite in the series, I'm glad I read it!

© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews