kailey_luminouslibro's Reviews (3.79k)

Jasper and Scruff enter a talent show. Scruff wants them to be a dynamic magic duo, but Jasper plans to give a serious theater monologue. There are many animals entering the contest, even Lady Catterly from the Sophisticats group. She sings beautifully, but Jasper and Scruff wonder if something else is going on. They hide behind the scenes, and sure enough... terrible accidents befall every other act. The tightrope walker's rope comes loose. There is a mysterious oil stain on the stage floor that causes the dancers to slip and fall. A sandbag falls and crushes Scruff's magic box. Can Jasper and Scruff prove that Lady Catterly is sabotaging all the other acts?

This is such a fun book! Jasper and Scruff are hilarious! I loved all the twists and turns of the plot, and how the two friends are resilient and resourceful through every circumstance. I love how Scruff is so enthusiastic about everything.

There are a few paragraphs of text on each page, making this the perfect type of book for children who are learning to read small chapter books on their own.

The illustrations are really cute and I love the designs for all the animals characters! Every page is so colorful.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

Jasper and Scruff have opened a bookstore together. They received a mysterious package with a treasure map to find the Golden Bone, a long-lost treasure of the pirate Black Whiskers. As Jasper and Scruff follows the clues, they must find a singing clock, a salty-sweet ice cream, and a tumbled-down old theater building. But they are trapped by their old enemies, the Sophisticats! It will take all their ingenuity and courage to escape and find the treasure.

This is such a fun book! Jasper and Scruff are hilarious! I loved all the twists and turns of the plot, and how the two friends are resilient and resourceful through every circumstance.

There are a few paragraphs of text on each page, making this the perfect type of book for children who are learning to read small chapter books on their own.

The illustrations are really cute and I love the designs for all the animals characters! Every page is so colorful.

The only problem is that now I'm craving ice cream! Jasper and Scruff ate an entire huge tub of ice cream, and now I want some too! haha!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone. 

Jasper is a very elegant cat who appreciates fine art, literature, and cuisine. His greatest wish is to be invited to join the exclusive Sophisticats Club. He sets up a dinner party and invites the Sophisticats. Everything must be perfect! But a dirty puppy named Scruff follows Jasper home, and Jasper can't get rid of him. Scruff just wants to play fetch and he gets into everything. Jasper is desperate to impress the Sophisticats, but when they arrive for the party, they aren't very nice to him. They complain and demand extra attention and they are very rude. Scruff ruins the party with his dirty slobber and wild antics, and he licks all the frosting off the cake! But by that time, Jasper has realized that the Sophisticats aren't at all the type of friends he wants to know. Scruff is much more fun!

This is such a fun book! Jasper and Scruff are hilarious! I loved all the wild circumstances of the ruined party, and how the two unlikely friends join together in the end. There are a few paragraphs of text on each page, making this the perfect type of book for children who are learning to read small chapter books on their own.

The illustrations are really cute and I love the designs for all the animals characters! Every page is so colorful. I especially liked the little details in the background of Jasper's apartment, showing his book collection, the elegant art on the walls, and his massive closet full of fancy bowties.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

An advertisement appears in the local newspaper saying that a murder will take place at a certain country house on Friday at 6:00pm. Friends of the family assume that it must be a murder mystery party, and they show up at the appointed time. What at first appears to be a mystery play turns into a deadly reality. Each of the persons present are suspected of murder and only Miss Marple can unravel the clues to discover the real murderer and the reason behind this terrible farce.

I loved this mystery! I had a few ideas about who could possibly be the murderer, but it wasn't until quite close to the end that I figured it out. Even then I didn't really know the "why" or the "how", so I was still deliciously surprised at the end when it was all revealed.

I liked that Miss Marple is a little more involved in this mystery than some of her others. She goes around questioning people, seeming quite innocent, and they tell her everything. She even discovers important clues herself, instead of the police telling her all the clues later on. I like it when she takes a more active role in the story.

The writing is brilliant, of course. Agatha Christie has that inimitable style that dives into the personalities and secret thoughts of her characters and leaves you wondering, "Could that person be the murderer?" Each character is so vivid and complex, and yet some of them seem like simple country people on the surface. Are they hiding something evil, or are they just hiding an innocent quirk?

The plot weaves all around, up and down, but each little detail has a purpose. There are so many layers to the relationships between characters, their history, their secrets, and their little foibles and habits that all pile up into one big mystery. Even when you think you have uncovered one layer, there is another hidden layer beneath that one, and yet another secret below that.

I loved the simple country setting. None of the people are particularly rich or important. Just ordinary country people in their quaint cottages, feeding the chickens or borrowing some butter from the neighbor. And yet underneath lurks crime!

I liked some of the art in this book, but some of it has nudity, which I did not enjoy. Most of the art is exquisitely beautiful, but some of it is sort of crass or disfigured.

I didn't like one page that portrays bunches of distorted faces coming out of someone's brain. I understand that it is to show how we all have different voices in our head and different aspects to our thoughts. It certainly makes you think, but it is so ugly and disagreeable that I quickly turned the page. I found it disturbing. I think the subject could have been explored in a more pleasant way, instead of in such a grotesque manner.

And then again, much of the artwork is delicate and beautiful. Some of it is so lovely that I stopped to stare at the page for a couple of minutes and soak it in.

There is one page with a child leaping and running through a lush green forest, riding on a "horsey" stick like many of us had when we were children. It took me right back to my own stick with a fabric horse-head attached that I played with as a child, defeating evil knights and galloping to the rescue on my trusty steed! What a beautiful picture of childhood. In that page of art, you can see the energy, the joy, and total freedom of the child playing in the forest. It's not just a horse-head on a stick to that child; it is all the glories of fairyland opening up. Beautiful!

And then there is another page with nudity that ruins it.

Some of it is beautiful. Some of it is ugly. Maybe that is the point. It reflects life, I guess?
Still, I did not enjoy this book, because of the disturbing and inappropriate content.


Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

When Valeria marries Eustace, she discovers that some dark secret has made him marry her under a false name. She meets his mother and finds out his true identity. She appeals to his friends to find out what terrible secret he is hiding. He begs her to leave it alone and warns her that it will only drive them both apart, but she persists and finds that he was accused of a terrible crime and never quite proven innocent. Valeria embarks on a desperate search for evidence that will prove her husband's innocence, and it leads her down a dark path of insanity. In the meantime, her husband, frustrated with her stubbornness, abandons her. She must sift through rumors of suicide, poison, lies, cruelty, and madness to arrive at the truth.

This is more of a sensational thriller than I thought it would be. It definitely has some dark and cruel scenes, especially when Valeria asks for help in her investigations from Mr. Dexter, a man with a disability and a wild imagination. He keeps many curious items of art in his home, which depict atrocities that shock and frighten Valeria. But he is the only one who seems to have the key to this mysterious crime her husband was accused of, so she continues to seek his advice. Eventually Mr. Dexter shows signs of insanity, and Valeria wonders if whatever happened in that dark past has unhinged his reason.

The writing is brilliant, and the mysterious plot keeps the reader guessing through an impenetrable web of clues and red herrings. I was completely immersed in the story, and appalled or delighted with each emotional scene.

The characters are vivid and complex, especially Valeria, our main character. The story is told from her perspective and we get to follow her every step of the way as she blunders her way through the mystery, trying to make sense of the strange facts. The supporting characters are all so different with their own personalities and secrets. It was fascinating to read their dialogue and wonder if they were telling the truth, or hiding something, or whether they were lying to themselves too. There are so many layers of intrigue and personal motivation that made each character an enigma unto themselves.

There are triggers for insanity, institutionalization, suicide, abandonment, and abuse.

Grady and his best friend, Aarush, are desperate to get accepted into the most elite school in the world, Templeton Academy. But the academy will only take students with unique abilities or strengths. Grady's guardian is adamant that Grady should not attend the school, hinting at a family secret from the past. While dealing with a bully, Grady and Aarush begin to have the first inklings that a deeper strength of mind might be required if they want to get accepted to Templeton Academy.

I liked this book pretty well. The concept is definitely interesting and the plot is full of mystery. The pacing is a little awkward, especially in the beginning. The first 100 pages could have been condensed to 50 pages. There's just too much set-up before the action really begins.

I really loved the idea of a school that teaches children to unlock hidden super powers! But some aspects of the plot felt too far-fetched or unbelievable within the parameters of the story. I mean, it's a story about superhero powers being developed at an elite school, so I totally believe that some kid can go invisible or another kid can turn his skin to rock. But I just don't see how the pterodactyls fit into it. Some elements of the story seem disjointed.

I can't tell if this is a stand-alone or the first part of a series. There are some loose ends left hanging at the end of the book that could point to another book later on, or it could just be one of those, "Off they go into the sunset to have more adventures someday" type of endings.

The writing style is good, but there are some grammatical errors that annoyed me. The characters are interesting and complex, but the writing "tells" you about their personalities more than it "shows" you. The result is that I was never completely immersed in the story.

I liked the introspective aspects of the story. The children have to meditate on deep ideas to unlock their own hidden potential. It's a mind-over-matter lesson that they examine and explore in their own ways. It was so cool seeing how these different characters tackle the problem from different angles.


Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

This book gives a comprehensive history of the development of videogames in the 1980s and 90s. I love that this book begins with a quote from George Bernard Shaw, "We don't stop playing because we grow old... we grow old because we stop playing."

The chapters are separated by year, going through each major game that was released that year. We get to learn about Super Mario Bros., Oregon Trail, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, Prince of Persia, Legend of Zelda, and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
I remember playing some of these games! Ah, those were simpler times. I lost count of how many times I "died from dysentery." The nostalgia is strong with this book!

Every page in this book is so colorful and full of beautiful photos and bright graphics. There is even a cool unfolding timeline of the most popular games in history! The whole design of this book is absolutely brilliant and readable. The book is huge and heavy with thick glossy paper, and it features hundreds and hundreds of games.

I like that the author includes little anecdotes about their own personal experiences playing these games in the 1980s and 1990s, and how much it meant to them and inspired them.

From the popular games to the flops, we get to journey through time and relive the fun through this book! They may not have had the fancy graphics and sound effects of games today, but those games had great stories and imaginative designs that kept us entertained for hours. Decades later, there's just nothing to compare with classic Tetris.


Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

In the 1930s, Tolkien began work on an epic alliterative poem about King Arthur's downfall. It was never finished, but Christopher Tolkien provides notes and explanations about the lines that we do have.

The actual poem only takes up about 45 pages in this book. It is beautiful and haunting and wild. The patterns in the alliteration are woven together in this tapestry of words that powerfully tell the story of Arthur and his knights, of Mordred and Lancelot and Guinevere, and the last days of the Round Table. I read most of it out loud to myself, because the words drip like honey, rich and resonant. It is meant to be read out loud!

The next chapter of the book explores old versions of the Arthur tale from Sir Thomas Malory and Geoffrey of Monmouth. We get to learn about the traditions of the legend of King Arthur and his knights, and how the legend changed throughout the centuries. There are some details from old poems that Tolkien chose to include in his own rendition of Arthur's story, but there were also a lot of plot points that he ignored in favor of focusing more on specific characters like Lancelot or Gawain. He also adds a more clear portrait of Guinevere than the older poems did, adding more of her perspective and her feelings.

The next chapter dives into Tolkien's imagination and how his work on the Silmarillion was connected with Arthur's last journey to Avalon. Avalon is mirrored in Tolkien's Lonely Isle of Tol Eressea at the edge of Valinor. There are a lot of parallels between Arthurian legends, legends about Atlantis, and Tolkien's islands of Numenor and Tol Eressea in the Silmarillion. We get to learn some of the little details in these stories that show the way Tolkien's imagination was connecting different threads of ideas.

There is a whole section devoted to explaining the various drafts of Tolkien's unfinished poem and small changes that were added in each draft. There are a few notes outlining the direction the story would have taken if Tolkien could have finished it, with Arthur sailing into the West to find healing in Avalon, and Lancelot following him in despair seeking forgiveness, with neither of them to ever return.

There is also a small appendix talking about the alliterative poetic style and how it developed in the early days of Britain around and before 1066. I found this very interesting, because he analyzes the patterns and meter of the style and gives some examples from ancient poems and then compares those patterns to Tolkien's epic poem here. It was really cool to dive into the poetic structure and realize just how brilliant Tolkien was to construct these complex and beautiful lines, and make it seem so effortless and natural because it flows along so gracefully.

I enjoyed reading this book! It's such a pity that the poem was never finished.

The fictional character of Tarzan heralded the beginning of the superhero archetype in literature. A man who is more than a man; stronger, faster, smarter, and capable of super-human deeds of courage and glory.

This book details the Tarzan phenomena from beginning to end; how the author first began writing the Tarzan series of books, and how the popularity of the character spilled over into movies, comics, and television. Although sometimes referred to as potboilers, the Tarzan books are widely accepted as serious literature for the impact that they have had (and continue to have) on pop culture.

We get to learn a great deal about the author of Tarzan, Edgar Rice Burroughs, including his childhood visiting a Western ranch, his failure at military school, and his obsession with wild stories. He was married twice and had several children to whom he was devoted. He started his own little town named after Tarzan. ERB seemed to have a limitless imagination, churning out story after story about Tarzan and other characters. He has been called one of the fathers of science fiction.

I found it very interesting to read about Burroughs and how Tarzan became so popular all over the world. The writing style can be sort of dry, but I enjoyed seeing all the cool photos of movie posters and rare book editions. I also liked hearing about the different actors who portrayed Tarzan and Jane in movies, radio shows, and TV programs. There were sometimes terrible accidents with stunts or wild animals on the set, but the actors kept the show going despite these dangers.

There are also so many different versions of Tarzan in the media that it's difficult to pinpoint which one is the "real" Tarzan. Some movie or comic versions portray Tarzan as more comedic, some are more serious. Some Tarzan versions are more erudite, and others more savage. But whatever the details, Tarzan is always more than a man; he's a superhero of epic proportions.

It is fascinating to see how the concept of a character like Tarzan has filtered into other characterizations in other stories from Star Trek to Batman. It has a wide-reaching influence on the popular consciousness to the point where we don't even realize how modern stories are derived from what came before.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.