Roger and Ann's father is ill, and Roger wishes on an ancient lead soldier toy for his father to be healed. But the magical lead soldier tells Roger that wishes must be earned, and Roger, his sister, and their cousins are swept into an adventure of derring-do in the Merry England of Robin Hood, Ivanhoe, and King Richard the Lionheart.

The moment Roger arrives in this magical land, everything seems to go wrong despite his good intentions! Roger begins to doubt that he can ever do enough good deeds to earn a wish for his father, and it's only when he relies on his sister and cousins that the adventure truly begins to come together with surprising results for everyone.

This writer is so brilliant! I love his stories, especially because they are written in the tradition of E. Nesbit's magical books. Every page is so hilarious and fun! The characters are loveable and courageous. You never know what crazy magical thing is going to happen.

I read this entire book in one day. This would be so perfect to read aloud, because so many of the words are rich-sounding, and the dialogue would be so much fun to act out with voices!

Jane, Mark, Katherine, and Martha are back in another magical adventure, this time on vacation by the lake. A talking turtle guides them through the difficulties of wishing with "wet magic" from the lake, and they encounter mermaids, pirates, buried treasure, and take a trek to the South Pole.
But their selfish wishes get them into trouble, and it's only when they learn to use their wishes for the good of others that the magic truly begins.

One of the best things about Edward Eager's stories is that the children are doing ordinary things in between their magical adventures, and their everyday doings are interrupted by the extraordinary. Magic is around every corner, and it is the children's own willingness to believe and accept the magic that invites us into the story too.

I am so delighted with these books! I read this one because I had a migraine, and it helped me to feel better, took my mind off the pain, and I read it all in one sitting.

This collection of Montgomery's short stories is not really her best work in my opinion, but still well worth the read. All the stories are connected distantly to Gilbert and Anne Blythe, since characters in each story are vaguely acquainted with the Blythes, and their names are mentioned in passing, or they play bit parts in the story. After a while, this started to annoy me. It just distracted from the main story, by bringing in other characters from a separate story, who had no real business or impact in the main story.

A few of the short stories had some structural problems in the plots, I though, and a couple of times people in the story seemed to act out of character. But these places were very few and most of the stories are wonderful, and delightfully funny! A couple of them are melancholy and have a healthy dose of pathos mixed in too.

When three siblings get on a plane to go live with their Uncle Red, they are whisked away to a mysterious land of Falling Bird, where they must choose to become citizens, or remain passengers and try to return home. The temptations are many, and the siblings have to deal with their grief over leaving their old home, and decide if they truly are willing to step into a new adventure with their Uncle Red. Each of the children deals with their turmoil in a different way, and they make emotional choices in the face of danger.

The plot is all over the place, and there are a lot of things that are left unexplained.
When the children first arrive in Falling Bird, they are each given their dream home, complete with all their favorite foods, games, and even a parental figure who plays with them and understands them perfectly. Then the dream home is taken away from them, and they are told that it is "necessary" for the next part of their journey. But it is never explained why that was necessary or what part it really played in the plot. Why tempt the children to stay in Falling Bird as citizens, and then take away the dream home and still expect them to stay? It was just badly explained or something. Didn't make sense to me. There were a LOT of things like that which did not make sense, or didn't fit in with the rest of the story.

I really liked the interactions between the siblings. They are always arguing, and they each have their own weird quirks.

The writing is good, the dialogue is hilarious and sharp, but I just can't get past how disjointed the plot was. And then the ending was so disgustingly pathetic.... One of those "it was all a dream" deals, and I HATE those.
It also has a rotating POV between the three children, and I HATE changing POVs. Urgh!

Another thing that bothered me is that the children are all still dealing with the grief of losing their father in a car accident six years before. This issue is addressed several times, and we see the kids acting badly because of their heightened emotions, being kind to each other because their dad would have been, and talking about him and how much they miss him, but then the issue is never resolved! It's just left out there with this horrible grief, and they never come to a good conclusion or a little life lesson to help them. So many things unresolved!!

Ever since Cailen had a near-death experience, she can see ghosts. They hang around, bothering her, and because her internal defenses are weak, they can sometimes possess her body.
Her roommate, Gabriella, is a spiritualist who has a better grasp on exorcising ghosts, and Cailen is happy to leave all the ghost-hunting to her friend and go on ignoring the spirits as much as possible.
Everett is a student reporter who is convinced that a recent series of murders needs some ghost experts to investigate, and he drags the reluctant Cailen into the mystery.

This is a total departure from the type of books I usually read. I don't like horror or ghosts, but I thought I would pick this up because it looked more funny and sarcastic than scary. But then I was disappointed that there's a lot of alcohol and profanity in this book. It was almost unreadable because of all the nasty words.

I really liked the ghost-busting trio, Cailen, Gabriella, and Everett! They are sarcastic and witty and kind of strange. These guys are exactly what hipster characters OUGHT to be; not what pop culture says wanna-be hipsters are. It's odd that I liked them all, because usually I don't like cynical characters. Half the time they are drunk though, so that was stupid.

The writing is good, with a snarky attitude that makes you want to chuckle sardonically into your Thai iced coffee. I liked the mystery of the ghostly murders, and how the plot came together in a surprising way! The plot is what really kept me reading. I just HAD to know what was going on with those weird murders! All the suspense and excitement... I couldn't put it down and read it in one sitting.

If I were a person who liked ghost stories, and if I were a person who didn't mind drunken characters, and if I were a person who didn't mind profanity.... I would have easily given this 4 stars.

Seriously, a surprising amount of this book is focused on alcohol. So much stupid detail... what they were drinking in every scene, and how did they drink it, and what did the bottle say, and on and on. The author appears to be obsessed with it. It was just annoyed and gross.

I completely adored the few illustrations and wish there were more! I thought it was so cute that there's a little comic at the back of the book. I really could imagine the characters in detail from seeing the artwork.

Disclaimer: I received this book in a giveaway from the author. All the opinions stated here are my own honest thoughts and are not influenced by anyone.

So much funny!

Excellent, of course! Focused on character more than evidence. Very interesting human social study.

Another brilliant book in this series! This time Roger and Ann, and their cousins, are packed off to the seaside for the summer, and discover a garden of thyme where a froggy Natterjack uses the magic of thyme to send them back in time on various adventures.

I love how random and funny the magical adventures are, and how the cousins all have different reactions to the time-traveling situations they get into. Eliza is always jumping in and taking action without thinking it through first. Roger is sensible and worried about keeping everyone safe and doing the right thing. Ann is compassionate and sweet and takes the time to notice other people and their needs. Then there's Jack, who is growing up into teenhood, has little interest in magic, and starts noticing girls.

There is something so wholesome and delightful about each of these books that keeps me reading and coming back again and again!

A comprehensive look at many different meditation traditions and styles from different religions and beliefs, along with their development, prominent figures in history, and explanations of how to practice each meditation style. It includes easy meditation for beginners all the way up to more advanced techniques.

I found a lot of good ideas about how to deepen my meditation practice, and I was inspired by many of the concepts and quotes, but some of the religious and mystical practices were way too creepy and/or strange.