The Trick is set in two separate times. The first setting is in World War 2 Germany where a Jewish boy is taken with the stage and becomes an illusionist. The second is in present-day America where a young boy, Max, desperately wants to keep his parents together. Max is taken with the hope of finding the Great Zabbatini who recorded a spell of true love on a new scratched and worthless record.

The book is wonderfully written. The characters are very realistic and easy to keep clear. I had a vivid picture of everyone in the novel. The novel starts off a bit slow. The two storylines are not connected and are vastly different at first. It was jolting to go back and forth between the two. However, less than halfway through the novel it is very apparent how they are connected, at least partially. The story has a lot of different connections throughout, including one at the ending that I really did not see coming. Looking back there was build up for it, but it could have been better without giving it away.

By the end of the book, I was completely invested in both the characters and the book. I did not want it to end and was moved when it did. I was left feeling a little jilted. It just seems like something was missing, I wouldn’t want to speculate since that would give away too much of the book. Overall, a great read. It is an interesting perspective on World War 2, however, it is more a novel about people and how people and their interactions with each other.

I wanted to read this book since the first moment that I saw it. Yet 2017 passed and it still was in my TBR pile. I finally decided to make it a priority. I am so glad that I did. Graham is hilarious, and it was especially interesting to hear about her projects in her own words.

The writing was especially good. Grahams' voice was apparent throughout. It was humorous, but also serious at the same time. It has an amazing quote on body image:

"Plus, I think it should be against the law to feel down on yourself regarding any issues that Oprah is still working on, and OPRAH IS STILL WORKING ON THIS ISSUE. She has rubbed elbows with heads of state and every celebrity in the universe, opened a school in Africa among other accomplishments, made millions of dollars, and helped scores of people live a better life, but, by her own admission, she is still working on diet-related topics."

The book has a definite structure. The book is more thematic than chronological. She addresses issues that are important to her, in addition to her life, and her career. There is a little bit of everything in this book. I think she has one of the best writing tips that I have ever heard, and I have read tons of writing books. Sometimes within the chapters, she bounces around a bit, but it works adding more character to the book.

I found the book to be entertaining. I enjoyed reading it and had a hard time putting it down. It was light reading, funny, and at times eye-opening. However, I am a bit of a sucker for memoirs in general.

Are You My Mother? is a cute picture book about a bird who hatches to find that his mother is not there. He goes on a journey to find where his mother is and meets a lot of different creatures along the way.

The book is very well written. It uses easy to read language to tell a beautiful story. The cadence of the words is well timed without resorting to rhymes. The drawings are simple and beautiful, allowing the child to focus on the objects that the words are referring to. My favorite (and I imagine other's as well) is when he finds the "snort." It is funny and the language just has a hilarious rhythmic flow to it.

This is part of the early reader series for good reason. There is a lot of repetition in the language, once the child learns the word dog they will get to practice it over the subsequent pages. It is also a good book for tacting if you are working with young children, or children with language delays.

Amelia Bedelia is a children's picture book about a maid on her first day of work. She is left a list of chores to accomplish while her new employers go out. The story is about the literal use of language, and watching what we say as opposed to what we mean. It is a great lesson for children, but for adults as well.

While I have heard of Amelia Bedelia before I have never read the story. I was surprised to find myself laughing out loud. The picture of the turkey was as humorous as it was disturbing. I can see children laughing at the weird things that Amelia does, like hanging the light bulbs out in the sun. Although, I wonder if they would take away as much humor from the story as I did.

The illustrations are black, white, green, and gray. They are pleasing, well done, and work well with the text.

The fiftieth anniversary edition also includes pages about how Amelia Bedelia was developed, drafts of pages, and the history of Amelia Bedelia.

I'm Just Like You part of a picture book series by Sharon Cramer. The book is 38 pages and talks about two orphan cougar cubs who meet another cougar cub that looks different than them. The story is about how they learn not to judge others based on their appearance.

The drawings look like they are done with colored pencils and/or chalk and then transferred over to the computer. In the Kindle format, the words are separate from the pictures and you have to either read the book vertically causing the picture to be smaller, or horizontal causing the words to not be on the same screen as the picture. I find this format irritating, especially since there the book could be updated to fix this.

It is not a bad children's book at all. There is just nothing about it that makes it stand out.

Every now and then I get a book that I just really do not know how to review. This is one of those books. I really enjoyed this book. This book drove me absolutely nuts. Both of these are extremely true statements, even though they seem at odds with each other.

Someday, Someday, Maybe is the tale of Franny, a mid-twenties aspiring actress who is fast approaching her three-year deadline to make some headway in acting, or to get out and find something more stable to do. Franny is a delightful and completely neurotic main character. The reader can empathize with her struggle to understand her life and her surroundings. They can relate to her journey to find herself, and empathize that she is doing so in the competitive world of acting. Yet, at times she is a bit too over the top. She takes herself too far leaving the reader behind.

In Talking Too Fast Graham accuses critics of comparing this book to her own life story. After finishing it I wonder how they can not. While Franny is obviously not the carbon copy of Graham, she is built on her own experiences, and a manifestation of her own conscious. She even talks way to fast going on these massive rants. If there were no rants this book would have easily earned another start.

With all of this, I really enjoyed this book and am eagerly awaiting Graham's third book. Like I said, I'm torn.

I know that it is still January, but this is my favorite book of the year. Yes, I am cementing it's spot right now.

Angie Thomas is an amazing writer. Her characters are perhaps the best I have ever read. They are real three-dimensional human beings that are living right in front of you. They bring you into their worlds, letting you know their emotions and motivations without ever being over the top. Each character is distinct and complex.

Her writing is also amazing. The sentence structure, word choices, and descriptions make the world so vivid that it still seems real to me. Starr, the main character, lives between two worlds and these world show beautifully in the way that Thomas writes. I can not wait to read her next book, she is truly an amazing writer.

Then there is the topic of the book. Talking about the dynamics between police and the black community is a complex topic, especially since it involves the death of so many young men and women. I cannot imagine a better way to tell the story then Thomas does. Starr is caught between her world of being black and going to a white school. By including Starr in both worlds it bridges the gap between the cultures and allows to reader to not only identify with their culture but to emphases with the other. Then you have her uncle who is a police officer, allowing his voice to be heard. You have the Asian best friend that tends to represent all non-black minorities. I think an entire thesis could be written on the dynamics of how she chose to represent this issue in her book.

I am amazed by this book. I think that everyone should read it. I plan to get a hardcover copy so that my children will read it. Not only is it amazing literature it is a message that needs to be heard, and Thomas lends her amazing voice so that it can be understood.

Iron Kissed is the third book in the Mercy Thompson series and it is not losing its momentum. By the third book, the reader knows who all the main characters are. This book is a lot about character development. There is also a lot about Mercy figuring things out about Samuel and Adam. This book is not paranormal romance. While there is a relationship, it is one of the many aspects of both Mercy and the series. The relationships are complex, dynamic, and thankfully not keeping you entangled until you want to just scream "pick someone already."

If you have not read it before then you are not going to suspect how the book ends. It is very different than how the book ends. Except that I do think it is important for a reader to know that there is sexual abuse in the book. While it is not described graphically, it could still be a big trigger for readers. I am not sure how I feel about its inclusion.

Overal, it has good writing, great plot development, and great characterization.

Assessing Academic Programs in Higher Education focuses on implementing assessment within academic programs. Allen includes a lot of useful information within this small volume. It focuses on educational outcomes and learning outcomes, as well as aligning curriculum with learning outcomes. This is the role of assessment. Allen breaks down ways of implementing assessment, engaging faculty in the assessment process, as well as assessment techniques. The book contains a very detailed introductory guide to direct and indirect assessment techniques. It focuses on rubrics and focus groups specifically.

This is a great volume of a variety of academic assessment. At times it is very basic and could have gone into a bit more depth. However, overall it is extremely informative without being centralized to just one aspect of academic assessment. The book is written more towards faculty but is a good resource for anyone who is interested in learning more about academic assessment. It is also a great book to have on hand when you want a refresher on one aspect of assessment.