diverse books Archives - Plaid Reader Reviews

Example: Meal for Chopped Readathon

Posted on January 27, 2022January 26, 2022 by Plaid_Reader

Since the meals for the Readathon seem to have confused some people. I’m going to do an example here of four books I’ve read and a dish that would come from them, that fulfills the prompts.

Also I’m not sure how Youtube works internationally but I’m pretty sure you could catch an episode of Chopped there or at least a clip. But anyway I’m going to do an example with four books I’m not reading for the readathon and for our easiest category Appetizers, I’ll do examples for the harder categories if needed but you guys will have to let me know if you want if you want that.

Pizza-Violets are Blue

Twelve-year-old Wren loves makeup—special effect makeup, to be exact. When she is experimenting with new looks, Wren can create a different version of herself. A girl who isn’t in a sort-of-best friendship with someone who seems like she hates her. A girl whose parents aren’t divorced and doesn’t have to learn to like her new stepmom.

Amazon: Violets are Blue

Strawberry-Book with a Red Cover

Over a year since being entrusted with Ginseng’s care, Greta still can’t chase away the cloud of mourning that hangs over the timid Tea Dragon. As she struggles to create something spectacular enough to impress a master blacksmith in search of an apprentice, she questions the true meaning of crafting, and the true meaning of caring for someone in grief. Meanwhile, Minette receives a surprise package from the monastery where she was once training to be a prophetess. Thrown into confusion about her path in life, the shy and reserved Minette finds that the more she opens her heart to others, the more clearly she can see what was always inside.

Amazon: Tea Dragon Tapestry

Milkshake- Soulswift-two people go on a quest

Gelya is a Vessel, a girl who channels the word of the One True God through song. Cloistered with the other Vessels of her faith, she believes—as all Ovinists do—that a saint imprisoned Elath the Great Demon centuries ago, saving humanity from earthly temptation.

When Gelya stumbles into a deadly cover-up by the Ovinists’ military, she reluctantly teams up with Tavik, an enemy soldier, to survive. Tavik believes that Elath is actually a mother goddess who must be set free, but while he succeeds in opening Her prison, he inadvertently turns Gelya into Elath’s unwilling human vessel.

Now the church that raised Gelya considers her a threat. In a race against the clock, she and Tavik must find a way to exorcise Elath’s presence from her body. But will this release stop the countdown to the end of the world, or will it be the cause of the earth’s destruction?

Amazon: Soulswift

Leftovers-Eva Evergreen Semi Magical Witch-A book you started but never finished

Eva Evergreen, Semi-Magical Witch by [Julie Abe]

Sometimes all you need is a pinch of magic…

Eva Evergreen is determined to earn the rank of Novice Witch before her thirteenth birthday. If she doesn’t, she’ll lose her magic forever. For most young witches and wizards, it’s a simple enough test:

One: Help your town, do good all around.
Two: Live there for one moon, don’t leave too soon.
Three: Fly home by broomstick, the easiest of tricks.

The only problem? Eva only has a pinch of magic. She summons heads of cabbage instead of flowers and gets a sunburn instead of calling down rain. And to add insult to injury, whenever she overuses her magic, she falls asleep.

Amazon: Eva Evergreen Semi Magical Witch

The Meal

You can draw, write, or, do any sort of artistic or written expression you can think of.

The meal for this is actually a drink, its a red and blue tea that shifts color as as you watch, you can see a storm forming above the tea. Drinking the tea will tea will give different looks you’ll look like a zombie, a mermaid, and a tiger etc. Drinking this tea will also make birds spontaneously appear on the branches in the trees in the tea garden around where you are drinking. The garden also has embroidered flags and a special tree in the center with a special kind of berries that might occasionally fall into your tea. You take in the whole garden and the tea and feel a special kind of magic.

Now lets break this down, the tea is from Tea Garden Tapestry. The shifting colors are from the red color book and the blue in the storm from Eva Evergreen. The shifting looks are Violets are Blue. The birds are from Soulswift where they were an important plot point. The flags in the garden are also from Tea Dragon. The special tree is from Soulswift which was a very important plot point as were the berries.

Now do you all have a better idea of what I’m thinking about for the meals? If not please comment.

Announcements, Challenges

Companion Quest: Pondathon II

Posted on January 24, 2022January 23, 2022 by Plaid_Reader

As well as my other Readathons I’m taking place in the year long Readathon by blog The Quiet Pond. They are having authors join them a companion to their larger quests this time the have Racquel Marie, author of Ophelia After All. The book is about

A teen girl navigates friendship drama, the end of high school, and discovering her queerness, called a hilarious and heartfelt comedy by author Raquel Marie.

Ophelia Rojas knows what she likes: her best friends, Cuban food, rose-gardening, and boys – way too many boys. Her friends and parents make fun of her endless stream of crushes, but Ophelia is a romantic at heart. She couldn’t change, even if she wanted to.

So when she finds herself thinking more about cute, quiet Talia Sanchez than the loss of a perfect prom with her ex-boyfriend, seeds of doubt take root in Ophelia’s firm image of herself. Add to that the impending end of high school and the fracturing of her once-solid friend group, and things are spiraling a little out of control. But the course of love—and sexuality—never did run smooth. As her secrets begin to unravel, Ophelia must make a choice between clinging to the fantasy version of herself she’s always imagined or upending everyone’s expectations to rediscover who she really is, after all.

Amazon: Ophelia After All

Since the book has roses as a central plot point we were supposed to make a rose after our favorite book cover. We could write draw, make a description of the rose, and then put the book cover with it.

Here is my best attempt at a rose modeled after Shannon Messenger’s Keeper of the Lost Cities Nightfall. I really liked this challenge because I got to draw a bit, which I should really do more of. I can’t wait to get the pride rose prize for my garden. And I really enjoyed this companion challenge!

Challenges, Chopped Readathon, Readathons, TBR

Sweet Dessert Chopped Romance Readathon

Posted on January 22, 2022January 20, 2022 by Plaid_Reader

So we’ve come to the most difficult part of the Readathon. The Sweet portion, you’re in for a bit of a challenge but if you’ve made it this far we know you can do it. I’ll show you what I’m reading for this portion of the readathon.

Champagne-A Protagonist with Anxiety

Quintessence - Best Middle-Grade Books About Anxiety

Three months ago, twelve-year-old Alma moved to the town of Four Points. Her panic attacks started a week later, and they haven’t stopped—even though she’s told her parents that they have. She’s homesick and friendless and every day she feels less and less like herself.

But one day she finds a telescope in the town’s junk shop, and through its lens, she watches a star—a star that looks like a child—fall from the sky and into her backyard. I’ve been waiting to read this sweet story for awhile now I’m glad I finally get the chance.

Amazon: Quintessence

Ring Pops: A book where someone gets married or a wedding shapes the plot.

Rouge Princess

Princess Delia knows she must choose a prince to marry in order to secure an alliance and save her failing planet. But she’d much rather have a shot a true love than an arranged marriage. She’s going to chart her own course in life so she steals one of her family’s spaceship and decides to runaway, only to find a stowaway. But who would have thought a princess on the run from an arranged marriage and a poor stowaway looking to find a better life off planet may be the only ones able to stop a planet wide rebellion.

Amazon: Rouge Princess

Baked Alaska: A book with a surprise.

Healer of the Water Monster by [Brian Young]

Nathan likes to spend time with his Nali during the summer in the Navajo Nation. even though he knows he’s in for a pretty uneventful summer with no electricity or cell service. On night when he gets lost in the desert all that when Nathan encounters a Holy Being from the Navajo creation story. A Water Monster and it needs his help!

Amazon: Healer of the Water Monster

Yuzu-A book with a sweet and tart protagonist

Eleven-year-old Fiona has just read a book that doesn’t exist.

When Fiona’s family moves to a new town to be closer to her older sister’s figure skating club—and far from Fiona’s close-knit group of friends—nobody seems to notice Fiona’s unhappiness. Alone and out of place, Fiona ventures to the town’s library, a rambling mansion donated by a long-dead heiress. And there she finds a gripping mystery novel about a small town, family secrets, and a tragic disappearance.

Soon Fiona begins to notice strange similarities that blur the lines between the novel and her new town. With a little help from a few odd Lost Lake locals, Fiona uncovers the book’s strange history. Lost Lake is a town of restless spirits, and Fiona will learn that both help and danger come from unexpected places—maybe even from the sister she thinks doesn’t care about her anymore.

Amazon: Long Lost

Feature, Readathons, TBR

Romance Dinner Readathon Appetizer TBR

Posted on January 20, 2022January 20, 2022 by Plaid_Reader

So we just launched our Chopped Romance Dinner Readathon. Now I wanted to be a good host and show you my TBR early.

Appetizers for the Romance Dinner Readathon

Pizza-A comfort read

Flashback by Shannon Messenger

Flashback (Keeper of the Lost Cities Book 7) by [Shannon Messenger]

Shannon Messenger’s books are comfort reads of mine I’ve read each of them a number of times. This will probably be my only long book for the readathon though because I will be focusing on you all. In this one the Neverseen hit Sophie and Fitz particularly hard. But Sophie and her friends are never going to give up and decide it’s time to fight back. In this showdown there will be more at stake than ever!

Strawberry-Book with a red cover

Lies My Memory Told Me by [Sacha Wunsch]

In a world where memories can be shared Nova can’t trust her own memories in this thriller, after she meets Kade a boy that makes her question the system and doesn’t seem to trust her.

Amazon: Lies My Memory Told Me

Milkshake-Two People Go on a quest

In this gender bent version of Sleeping Beauty Fi and Shane are two treasure hunters looking to break a curse in Briar Rose’s kingdom as well as pick up some treasure in the process. Billed as a cross between Sleeping beauty and Indiana Jones, this book has everything you want, romance, adventure and possession.

Amazon: The Bone Spindle

Leftovers-A book you started but didn’t finish

That Thing about Bollywood

You know how in Bollywood when people are in love, they sing and dance from the mountaintops? Eleven-year-old Sonali wonders if they do the same when they’re breaking up. The truth is, Sonali’s parents don’t get along, and it looks like they might be separating. Dealing with this separation along with her little brother Ronak, Sonali, has a magical twist coming on and it’s about to shake up her life and her family!

Amazon: That Thing About Bollywood

Come back tomorrow for my Entrée TBR!

new releases, Recommendations, Reviews

Salaam with Love Review

Posted on January 19, 2022January 19, 2022 by Plaid_Reader

Now I’m going to preface this with the fact that I’m not Muslim so any errors I make are my own. But I love halal romance just because as an ace person I know I’m less likely to encounter things that are triggering. That doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy the plots as well and learning and apricating Muslim culture. I really liked Salaam, with Love especially do to the sweetness of the romance between the two leads.

Summary

Being crammed into a house in Queens with her cousins is not how Dua envisions her trip to New York City. But here she is, spending the holy month of Ramadan with extended family she hasn’t seen in years.

Dua struggles to find her place in the conservative household and to connect with her aloof, engaged-to-be-married cousin, Mahnoor. And as if fasting the whole day wasn’t tiring enough, she must battle her hormones whenever she sees Hassan, the cute drummer in a Muslim band who has a habit of showing up at her most awkward moments.

After just a month, Dua is surprised to find that she’s learning a lot more than she bargained for about her faith, relationships, her place in the world—and cute drummers. . .

Review of Salaam, with Love

I’m going to say I love halal fiction and here’s why, being ace I know it’s safe to read. I know it’s not meant for me, however I appreciate it none the less. Because I don’t dislike romance I just dislike how showy most YA is.

Now as for the story it is lovely, it deals with important issues but it like Islamophobia but it mostly focuses on a normal family during Ramadan and one girl trying to connect with Allah.

Dua’s faith is the thread that connects everything in this book. Which makes sense because the book is about Ramadan. She often questions her feeling for Hassan because she thinks she shouldn’t be focusing on romance during Ramadan.

I also like that Hassan and Dua’s romance comes about naturally. As someone who reads a lot of non-halal YA it was nice to see the characters who are not just in your face about romance especially the men.

I really loved the respect and care Dua and Hassan showed each other. And the last scene is pure cuteness another a plus from a new to me author who I will surely be watching for more.

Come back tomorrow for my Chopped Romance Dinner TBR!

Amazon: Salaam, with Love

Readathons, TBR

Animals Royal Readathon TBR

Posted on January 17, 2022January 17, 2022 by Plaid_Reader

So while I’m aware that running a readathon saps your energy and you can’t keep up with your own readathon, I’m going to try to keep up with two. I never claimed I was very smart, however so not to make myself completely crazy I’m going to allow myself to double count books. The prompts for the royal readathon are based on the different Disney animals

Khan: A Battle or War

Echoes and Empires

The battle or war in this case isn’t directly against a thing or another person, it’s against magic itself and those who practice it. When Josslyn Drake finds herself infected with a dangerous piece of magic in world where it, not only illegal but dangerous and deadly she must ally with the unlikely Jericho Nox, who offers her a deal: his help extracting the magic in exchange for the magic itself. Will deal be worth it or will Josslyn find herself in more trouble than she imagined as she learns about the world, magic and things she never expected.

Amazon: Echoes and Empires

Thomas: Romance (Two People Meet and Fall in Love)

Rouge Princess

Aidan was hoping for much just borrowing a few palace trinkets to get off the planet, where he’s from a serving class that is treated like animals, he surely didn’t plan to have to deal with a princess stealing a spaceship. Maybe escaping on spaceship wasn’t the smartest idea but he sure didn’t expect to get kidnapped.

Unfortunately for Princess Delia she doesn’t even get off planet, but these two find their lives intertwined and in a perpetual battle of wits. But they soon find out there is much more at stake than their banter. They find out a rebel conspiracy that could destroy the planet forever together forever and now they must solve it together.

Amazon: Rouge Princess

Lucifer: Big Bad

Another Kind

Six not so human kids have been kept in the Playroom, a government facility that was has been protecting them. Or at the very least keeping them safe from the eyes of the judgmental word where some would consider them nothing more than animals. They are at home there until a security breach forces them them into the real world and the path of the Collector.

Can the group band together to thwart the Collectors plans, or will they end of the next part of his collection?

Amazon: Another Kind

Pluto: A book with an animal sidekick

Dog Star

Based on a true story of Laika the first dog to go to space and her human friend Nina. Laika and Nina are both used to having to survive. Laika is used to having to fight other animals on the street until she was taken in by the Soviet Space Nina’s friend moved to America and now she who is facing bullies at school alone. Her whose father is a part of the Soviet Space Program. When the two meet in Nina’s father’s lab they slowly bond thawing their cold hearts and warming till they need each other. But with the Space Race hurtling on, the two will have to hard truths and shocking secrets. But will they find the courage to make their way all the way to the stars?

Amazon: Dog Star

Raja: A Book not set in Your Own County

Healer of the Water Monster ( Navajo Nation)

Amazon: Healer of the Water Monster

Max: A book set in or by the Sea

Northwind

When a plague hits young Leif’s village he must flee to the water in a cedar canoe in along a wind driven fjord shore he must rely on his wits and his growing trust of the ocean as he goes from one situation to the next unsure of where he’ll end up. With hints of Norse mythology. Gary Paulsen does another wonderfully paced survival story.

Amazon: Northwind

Simba-A book with royalty

The Storyteller

It’s not everyday you learn you might be related to related to Anastasia or that the tragic princess actually survived her assassination attempt and has been living as the woman you know as Aunt Anna.

Jess Morgan is getting tired of living to please everyone else but after discovering her late aunt’s diaries, they show her she isn’t the only one trying to hide who she really is.

But what’s the truth was her aunt a Romanov princess or is this some kind of hoax? To help figure it out Jess brings in college student Evan.

But does Jess want to know the truth and what does it mean for her finding her way in life? Either way the mystery will be solved and Jess will learn new things about herself as she uncovers this century old mystery

.Amazon: The Storyteller

TBR Wrapup For Royal Readathon Animals

So that’s it for Royal Readathon Animals expect some of these books to show up in the Chopped Romantic Dinner Edition TBR when it comes out later in the week.

Uncategorized

You’ve Reached Sam

Posted on January 13, 2022January 13, 2022 by Plaid_Reader

So this book has been super popular, did it live up to the popular. You’ve Reached Sam was a great book about grief and letting go and finding something beyond your grief, I can see why it had the hype, and I think it was well deserved. I don’t normally like romances, but this one wasn’t obnoxious and the protagonist, Julie spends time doing things other than talking to her boyfriend the whole time.

You've Reached Sam: A Novel by [Dustin Thao]

Summary

Seventeen-year-old Julie Clarke has her future all planned out—move out of her small town with her boyfriend Sam, attend college in the city; spend a summer in Japan. But then Sam dies. And everything changes.

Heartbroken, Julie skips his funeral, throws out his belongings, and tries everything to forget him. But a message Sam left behind in her yearbook forces memories to return. Desperate to hear him one more time, Julie calls Sam’s cell phone just to listen to his voice mail recording. And Sam picks up the phone.

The connection is temporary. But hearing Sam’s voice makes Julie fall for him all over again and with each call, it becomes harder to let him go.

What would you do if you had a second chance at goodbye?

Review You’ve Reached Sam

This concept has been explored in various media in different ways. Phones being able to reach each other through time and place isn’t a new concept, you’ve probably seen it before in at least one other movie or book. So what made You’ve Sam so buzz worthy, just because the concept has been done before doesn’t mean it doesn’t need a new twist. The connection between Julie and Sam is the heart of the book, it’s what makes it buzz worthy and the rest of the cast also rounds out the book perfectly. I love when Julie and Sam’s best friend Oliver become friends.

Oliver was secretly in love with Sam, Julie acknowledges this and the two become close because of it, Julie eventually giving Oliver one of Sam’s jackets so he’ll have something of his. I also like how and who Julie risks the connection for, they make perfect sense. Sam pushing her also makes sense but you can see even with the phone calls the Julie is growing through her grief with the help of Sam’s family and friends and new friends she makes. The final call is really a tear jerker, I didn’t cry because I’ve got a steel heart and it’s really tough to make me cry but I imagine make me cry. But I imagine people would tear up at the scene.

Overall it’s a great book worthy of the hype and that does an old trope well. Also it’s great to see more Asian writers and characters so there is always that as a bonus too.

Amazon: You’ve Reached Sam

Author Recommendations, new releases, Reviews

Girl in the Lake Review

Posted on January 11, 2022January 10, 2022 by Plaid_Reader

The Girl in the Lake was a great piece of middle grade horror as I would expect from India Hill Brown. I loved the Forgotten Girl and was excited when I saw this book, I hadn’t known Brown was coming out with a new book, so this was a delightful suprise.

The Girl in the Lake by [India Hill Brown]

Summary

Celeste knows she should be excited to spend two weeks at her grandparents’ lake house with her brother, Owen, and their cousins Capri and Daisy, but she’s not.

Bugs, bad cell reception, and the dark waters of the lake… no thanks. On top of that, she just failed her swim test and hates being in the water—it’s terrifying. But her grandparents are strong believers in their family knowing how to swim, especially having grown up during a time of segregation at public pools.

And soon strange things start happening—the sound of footsteps overhead late at night. A flickering light in the attic window. And Celete’s cousins start accusing her of pranking them when she’s been no where near them!

Things at the old house only get spookier until one evening when Celeste looks in the steamy mirror after a shower and sees her face, but twisted, different…

Who is the girl in the mirror? And what does she want?

Review of The Girl in the Lake

India Hill Brown hit it out of the ball park again. I was 3/4 through the book and couldn’t figure out how they were going to resolve the problem with the ghost. The pacing was excellent, a reader would be scared up until near the end. If you have a middle grader who likes creepy books this is definitely headed in the right direction. I especially love the elements of Black history Brown always brings into her books, so if you want a horror story by a BIPOC, this is the one for you.

Amazon: The Girl in the Lake

TBR

List of Books for January

Posted on January 10, 2022January 9, 2022 by Plaid_Reader

So I realized I hadn’t put out a list of the books I planned to read for the month, I put a few on Pondathon, but I hadn’t put out a TBR, so since my goal is ten I’ll show you the ten books I plan on reading. I can’t promise they will be the books I’ll read because we know I’m a huge mood reader. But here is a list and we’ll hopefully go from here.

1)Yusuf Azeem is not a Hero.

Yusuf Azeem Is Not a Hero by [Saadia Faruqi]

The first of on my list and the first book I finished for the year. A very timely book book about a Muslim boy dealing with prejudice in the shadow of the 20th anniversary of 9/11. You can find my review here.

2)The Girl in the Lake

This is the book that I’m currently on it’s a great middle grade horror, I’m midway through and I haven’t figured out how they are going to resolve the monster yet so it’s really an A+ another hit for India Hill Brown.

3)Stowaway

Next on the list is Stowaway a sci-fi adventure about a boy who stows away on a ship with the hope of finding his father, there is war, there are aliens. It just sounds like a great adventure.

4) Your Life Has Been Delayed

Your Life Has Been Delayed by [Michelle I. Mason]

A great speculative fiction book about a young woman whose flight takes off only to land twenty five years later. Movies have explored some of the concepts here but this is the first time I’ve seen it in a book and I’m really looking forward to reading how it’s done.

5) Parked

I’ve been trying to read this book since last year but I’ve never been able to fit it in. I’m going to try to change it this month. Dealing with homelessness and told in alternating chapters this story shines with great characters all the while putting a light on an important problem.

6) Making Friends Volume 2

Picking up where the last book left off Dany still has her magical sketchbook and is friends with Madison she and her friends know about the magic of the sketch, and have defeated Prince Neptune what could go wrong from here?

7) Rouge Princess

I’ve been trying to get this sci-fi retelling of Cinderella read since last year, other things just kept coming up. This month I plan on getting it read.

8) Operation Sisterhood

Operation Sisterhood by [Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich]

Billed a good pick for fans of the new Babysitter’s Club I had this to the list, it’s about four new sisters finding ways to be a family.

9) The Kindred

Alechia Dow’s newest hit about people who are connected to others though what seem like minds or souls. It looks very interesting and I can’t wait to read it.

10) Lodestar

Lodestar (Keeper of the Lost Cities Book 5) by [Shannon Messenger]

Just re-reading through the Keeper of the Lost Cities books again.

Reviews, Uncategorized

Yusuf Azeem is Not a Hero

Posted on January 8, 2022January 7, 2022 by Plaid_Reader

I don’t think I have to tell anyone now I’m a fan of Saadia Faruqi’s stories. But I found Yusuf Azeem is Not a Hero especially timely. I was about two years younger than Yusuf’s uncle when 9/11 happened but I had the white privilege to not be aware of it, plus I had raging untreated mental illness at the time.

However everything did change after 9/11 just something in the atmosphere. Most older millennials I think see it as the end of our childhood, the carefree atmosphere of the 90s we grew up with as false as it may have been just never returned. I think Faruqi does a good job express this when the adults are asked in the story about 9/11, its like everything has changed in 20 years but nothing has changed at all.

Yusuf Azeem is not a Hero

Summary

Yusuf Azeem has spent all his life in the small town of Frey, Texas—and nearly that long waiting for the chance to participate in the regional robotics competition, which he just knows he can win.

Only, this year is going to be more difficult than he thought. Because this year is the twentieth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, an anniversary that has everyone in his Muslim community on edge.

With “Never Forget” banners everywhere and a hostile group of townspeople protesting the new mosque, Yusuf realizes that the country’s anger from two decades ago hasn’t gone away. Can he hold onto his joy—and his friendships—in the face of heartache and prejudice?

Review

This is a great book for teaching kids about 9/11 and delving somewhat into the divided atmosphere inspired by Trump extremism. The Patriot Sons could just has easily have been the Proud Boys, and knowing that this was inspired by a real event saddens but doesn’t surprise me. I’m sure things like this are taking place all over the US right now. I just hope some of them have the same results as in the book. Finally I learned a lot about robotics reading the book, it’s amazing what can be done. I’d be really interested to learn more about that subject. Overall though it was a great and unfortunately timely book. Great work from Faruqi as always.

Amazon: Yusuf Azeem is Not a Hero