Wizard's Hall by Jane Yolen

So I picked up this book because it features a quilted monster. (How could that even be scary? Oh, maybe an ugly quilt? Just kidding. It's sewn up of people!)

And then when I finished the book, I wondered if this was part of a series. This can't be all, can it? It seems like just the start of a much bigger story. But it turns out that this is all in Yolen's series ... because eventually JK Rowling wrote the rest instead. Yolen published this book, about a reluctant boy wizard named Harry who's forced into wizarding school, in 1991. Rowling published the first Harry Potter book in 1997. 


Much, much too similar. And I just wasn't feeling the drama in Yolen's story like I was meant to. I wanted the original to be superior. But really, it just feels like it needs more (it's a pretty slim volume) - it feels like it should have been the first half of a longer book, or (I guess) the first book in a series. That never was.

I Suck at Girls by Justin Halpern

Justin Halpern was one of those geeky, awkward kids who hit puberty late and maturity even later. As he ponders whether or not to ask his girlfriend to become his wife, he takes a day to trip down memory lane to revisit what he's learned (or not) about women over the years.

Halpern's most famous for "Shit My Dad Says" on Twitter, in book form, and in the short-lived sitcom version. But this book proves he hasn't emptied his arsenal of straight-shooting parental munitions - and also, proves that Dad's not the only one giving hilarious advice in Justin's life.

100 Unforgettable Dresses by Hal Rubenstein

Underwhelming may be the best way to describe this coffee table book of fashion.

I love pop culture and was excited to revisit some iconic dresses and images - and there is a bit of that. The dresses are described elegantly, but I wanted more pictures of details and other angles to get the full drama. There's really only one photo of most dresses, along with tons of text and more history on the designers than is truly necessary. 

Additionally, the random pages featuring reversed out white text on black page are AGONIZING to read. Too fine a font makes the text smudgy and illegible. 

I was interested, but ultimately disappointed and wanted a lot more from this book.

Wild Delicate Seconds: 29 Wildlife Encounters, Black Bears to Bumble Bees by Charles Finn

Each essay is brief, so I was tempted to gobble up another and another, but I think they'd be better savored one or two at a time. Fans of Aldo Leopold will swoon - these are similar in tone, and perhaps more accessible (less scholarly) than his Sand County essays.

While not all of his 29 creature encounters are native to Wisconsin, local nature enthusiasts still will appreciate his reflective, observational style. The language is gorgeous, and Finn has a knack for simile. My only criticism may be that he's a bit heavy-handed with the religious, spiritual end of his reverie - but Finn's is an easy-going kind of "gee whiz, observing nature sure proves there must be a higher power!"

Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne

The bus ride to school takes a fateful turn in this gripping, completely engrossing apocalypse story. Boulder-sized hail and a deadly bus crash are just the beginning, and a group of kids (kindergarten through high school) are forced to persevere during an epic crisis.

Fortunately, they're trapped inside a superstore. As they find ways to be safe, stay well, and keep busy, the kids form a community - complete with romances, rivalries, and disagreements.

I loved this book, until I got to the very end: This book has NO conclusion. Perhaps they're planning on a series. Even with that plan, there needs to be some resolution at the end in order to make a stand-alone story. I needed something! Instead, there's action-action-action ... blank page. 

Planet Tad by Tim Carvelle

If your kids like Wimpy Kid or Fly Guy books, they'll like this one too.

Illustrations pepper the text, which is broken down into diary-like entries like they'd be posted on Tad's new blog. Sometimes it's a log of events in Tad's life, sometimes they're just the random thoughts and ponders of a 12-year-old boy. But in a word: hilarious.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Completely engrossing from the start, this twisting, tangled story takes the reader through a maze where you're never sure of what the end prize will be: a body? the truth? or something else?

The story gives two sides of a marriage in trouble - through the "now" viewpoint of Nick, whose wife is missing, and through Amy's diary entries. From the start, everybody (including the reader) has to wonder just what's up with Amy's disappearance. Was she abducted? Or did Nick do something to her?

Each new page and piece of information changes the story. I can't say much without giving something away, so I'll just say that all the hype about this book is true: pick it up, and you won't put it down. I read it in two sittings!