All Star Batman Vol 3 First Ally

Alfred’s backstory is surprisingly interesting! Plus the always great team of Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque makes this a beautiful addition to the Batman story. All Star Batman Vol 3: The First Ally uses flashbacks effectively interspersed with the main Dark Knight plot line. The flashbacks tell Alfred’s origin storyContinue Reading

Baby Monkey, Private Eye

Cute, funny, easy reader with awesome illustrations. Baby Monkey, Private Eye contains five cases for Baby Monkey, who is of course a baby monkey, to solve. This is a brilliant mash-up of picture and chapter book. The illustrations are more frequent than words and were my favorite part.  Marketed toContinue Reading

Carson Clares Trail Guide to Avoiding Death

Poems about middle school threats with excellent illustrations. Carson Clare’s Trail Guide to Avoiding Death has poems about everyday fears like bullies and sharks along with less common ones like Australia, old people and cars. Fears abound in the Trail Guide.  Many are imaginatively described. Revenge is a zoo ofContinue Reading

Beatrice and the Basilisk

Highly recommended adventure tale for tween girls. Beatrice and the Basilisk is an modern updating of an adventure tale. However, it seems so realistic that it could happen again tomorrow in your town. This book is perfect for tween or younger girls. While the heroine is 12, she acts moreContinue Reading

People vs Alex Cross

#FrugalFridays short review for March 9, 2018. Alex is accused of shooting unarmed people and blondes are being abducted for a dark web snuff film. Interesting technology, dramatic courtroom scenes and great sound effects in the audiobook enliven the 25th entry in the series. The only Patterson series I stillContinue Reading

Burger

Everything (plus more) that anyone wants or needs to know about burgers. Burger is part of a Bloomsbury Academic series of object lessons. Each brief book takes a noun and writes an interesting essay about it. Each is written by a different author. I really enjoyed Souvenir, which I gaveContinue Reading

Lethal Licorice

Characters that feel like family and a deliciously different setting make Lethal Licorice a wonderful way to spend an afternoon. The small, mostly Amish, town of Harvest, Ohio is finally hosting the annual Amish Confectionery Competition (ACC). Bailey is competing for her grandparent’s Amish Candy Shop, Swissmen Sweets, along withContinue Reading