Ogre Enchanted

Title: Ogre Enchanted

Rating: 4/5

Author: Gail Carson Levine

Pages: 352

Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy

Synopsis:

If you’re familiar with the story of Ella Enchanted, then you know that some interactions with fairies are more trouble than they’re worth, especially if that fairy is Lucinda.

Well, Lucinda makes another appearance in this story to ruin someone else’s life. This time, she isn’t blessing someone with the gift of obedience. Instead, she curses a young healer named Evie, turning her into an ogre, all because she turned down a marriage proposal! Now Evie only has a limited amount of time to break the curse, and there’s only one way to do that. Someone must propose to her and she must accept—not the easiest task for a smelly ogre who finds it very tempting to eat a human being despite the fact that she used to be one.

Set in the same world as Levine’s award winning Ella Enchanted, this book is a good stand alone story reminiscent of the classic tale of Beauty and the Beast.

My Reaction:

I’m pretty sure I said it before, but I’ll say it again—I always enjoy a good Gail Carson Levine book. This story is such a great addition to her collection of books. If you know someone who is a fan of fairytale type stories, just buy them a ton of Levine’s books.

What’s great about Levine’s stories is that even if they have similarities to stories we’re familiar with they’re so uniquely their own. They are original with great characters. I had a fair idea of how the story would end after only a few pages, but really just one main plot point. Everything surrounding it and leading up to it wasn’t entirely predictable.

Evie is a strong, courageous character that learns a lot in the process of her journey. Sometimes people, or ogres, aren’t all that they seem. Maybe we can lift the lives of others even if our own circumstances are less than favorable.

Ogre Enchanted is a great read especially if you’re already a fan of Levine’s books.

Reader’s Guidance:

Well, there is a part where Evie kills a band of ogres and their heads are later left on display outside of a city. That’s probably the most violent event in the story.

Similar Books:

Ella Enchanted or anything else by Gail Carson Levine

Books by Cameron Dokey—she’s done a good handful of fairytale retellings

Books by Liesl Shurtliff like Rump

Epilogue:

I hope you all are enjoying this holiday season. I know I've been enjoying some good baking. We made up some goodies to take to some of our neighbors, and of course we saved a few for ourselves. So, basically a sugar cookie has been part of my dinner every night this week. And they are delicious! Also, some are in nerdy shapes like Yoda and Mickey Mouse. We couldn't help ourselves. I'm a bit of a cookie cutter fanatic, so we had a good amount to choose from besides the traditional Christmas shapes.

I also tried a couple things I've never done before like fudge (super easy by the way) and Mexican wedding cookies. Nom nom nom! I love baking! What are you guys enjoying as part of your Christmas celebrations? What are some cool traditions you have? I should start a book related tradition. It seems fitting especially when I know that there are some book traditions out there for this time of year. 

It's hard to believe that 2018 is almost over! Stay tuned for a post on my top picks out of the books I read this year!

My attempts to make a storm trooper cookie.

East

Title: East

Rating: 5/5

Author: Edith Pattou

Pages: 507

Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy

Synopsis:

There is an old superstition that children will inherit specific traits based on which direction their mother is facing when they are born. For Rose’s very superstitious mother, the last thing she wants is a north-born child, who would be filled with a need for adventure and wanderlust. Not only that, but when her mother is told that if she has a north-born child that child will surely be lost to her under an avalanche of ice and snow, she’ll do anything to ensure that none of her children are born in that fateful direction.

When her final child, Rose, is born in a rush, her mother is so distraught in finding that she’s a north-born that she convinces herself that she was actually facing east. Rose believed the lie all her life until one fateful evening when a great, white bear appears on their doorstep demanding that Rose come with him. In return, her ailing family would be blessed with much needed health and prosperity. Realizing that she was always destined for something like this, Rose accepts the bear’s offer. She is taken to a mysterious castle where she soon discovers that there’s more to her circumstances than meet the eye. When she makes a terrible mistake, she is forced with the most difficult decision of her life—return to the love and safety of her family or embark on a perilous journey to undo her wrongs and save the very creature that stole her away from her family in the first place.

My Reaction:

I always think twice before I give a book a 5/5 rating, but when I finished this book I couldn’t think of single thing wrong with it! Therefore, it earns a 5/5.

This book is based off of a fairytale called East of the Sun and West of the Moon, a fairytale I had never heard of before. However, it did remind me of other classic tales—Beauty and the Beast and Cupid and Psyche in particular. It also jogged my memory of a movie my sister used to like when we were kids. If I’m not mistaken, the movie is The Polar Bear King which is based off of the same fairytale. Beauty and the Beast is my favorite fairytale, so it really comes as no surprise to me that I would enjoy a book with similar themes (I’m not saying all Beauty and the Beast stories would earn a 5/5… I’ve read a couple that didn’t quite make the cut for me.). Part of what I enjoyed about it was how Edith Pattou incorporated some real history and landscape details. She clearly did her research as she developed this story.

The book is told from multiple points of view, which I know bothers some readers. Pattou pulls it off well, and it gives us glimpses of all aspects of the story. The readers get a more in depth tale through these different characters. I’d say the book is still predominately told by Rose, and I think that’s why the different perspectives work so well—there’s one leading voice that solidifies the story and keeps the reader on track. It also makes it a little bit quicker of a read, so don’t be daunted by 500+ pages.

This is a great take on a little known fairytale full of adventure, superstition, making amends, and the importance of love and family. I thoroughly enjoyed it and had a hard time putting it down. I read it during every free moment!

Reader’s Guidance:

This book involves trolls who capture humans to use as slaves. Rose sees a troll kill a human. She also discovers that when humans outlive their usefulness they are left in a frozen wasteland to freeze to death. Neither of these situations was super graphic. I didn’t find the telling of them bothersome.

Similar Books:

Beauty by Robin McKinley – A retelling of Beauty and the Beast that is worth the read!

Next Book:

Gail Carson Levine recently released a new book, and I love me a good Gail Carson Levine book! Set in the same world as her award winning Ella Enchanted comes her brand new story, Ogre Enchanted!

Book VS Movie: A Wrinkle in Time

Some of you may remember my “Times the Movie was ActuallyBetter than the Book” post. I’ve decided to have a “Book Versus Movie” post on occasion. That doesn’t mean that the movie will be better. I can see some of you in my mind’s eye going, “Duh, the book is always better.” If that’s you, go read the aforementioned post.

To start off this series of posts, let’s talk about Disney’s A Wrinkle in Time. You may recall that I reread the first few books of the series in anticipation of the movie’s release. I had decent hopes for it, but ended up not seeing it in theaters because of all the bad things I was hearing about it. I finally watched it a few weeks ago (Thank you, Netflix), and while I don’t feel the need to be quite as critical as some comments I’ve read, this is definitely a case where the book was better than the movie.

I had a few hopes/expectations for this film:

• If nothing else, it would be pretty. The trailers seemed to promise that.
• It would be better than the made for TV version that Disney made in the early 2000’s. If you haven’t seen it, I would suggest that you don’t bother.
• It would be a decent representation of the book despite whatever changes the creators of the film chose to make.

A little side note: I’m not one of those people who will hate a movie just because it’s not a copy and paste format of the book. Some things that work better on the page don’t work in quite the same way on the screen. I also sometimes value the different choices made in telling the story because you can actually end up taking more out of a story by having the two forms of media working together.

That being said, the film just didn’t quite live up to its full potential. It’s evident that a lot of time, thought, and effort went into the film. It truly was beautiful to watch as far as settings and good use of CGI. There were some changes that I was totally fine with them making (the absence of Meg’s twin brothers, for example, as that would have taken extra time and potentially distracted the audience with two new faces that would really only be a part of the story for about a minute). There were some other changes that I wasn’t quite sure why they did it (Mrs. Whatsit turning into a giant lettuce lady comes to mind).

Whether you’re for or against the various changes from book to film (I won’t get into all of them), there was one thing that stuck out in my mind as I watched it. I felt like I didn’t truly know who these characters were, at least not from my movie watching experience. I knew who they were because I had read the book. There just seemed to be something lacking.

One example in particular involves Charles Wallace. As we head towards the climax of the story as told in the book, it is very clear that we each have strengths and flaws and that both of those things can either aid or inhibit us in certain situations. In the book, Charles Wallace is specifically warned upon their arrival at Camazotz, and it becomes blatantly clear why he was given that warning. Although he believes he’s doing what’s best, he ultimately is nearly lost to the darkness and has to be rescued. This sequence in the movie didn’t have quite the same effect, and I believe that’s because some of the dialogue and setup was either omitted or slightly changed.

While one of the overarching messages of the book is still present—Meg’s struggle with self-esteem while learning about her own strengths and flaws as well as the power of love—it still felt like we were missing some of the essence of the original story. There are some scenes they could have done differently, or even possibly cut, to make way for a deeper sense of connection with the characters.

The movie did some things well, but in the end, the book was the clear winner for me.

What are your thoughts? Is there anyone out there who liked the movie better? I promise I’ll still be your friend if that’s the case.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Title: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Rating: 5/5

Author: Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Pages: 274

Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis:

The war may be over, but the scars are still evident in the piles of rubble. Juliet Ashton, a writer met with some success with the release of her newest book, is looking for inspiration for her next book. It comes, although she doesn’t know it at first, when she receives a letter from a stranger with a simple request. What starts as a simple correspondence turns into a need to know what it was like on the island of Guernsey during the German occupation. Join Juliet as she meets the members of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, hears their stories, and learns how books gave them the strength to withstand the darkness of war.

My Reaction:

I was really hoping that I would love this book mostly because the preview for the Netflix adaptation made it seem like something I could potentially love. When I actually got it in my hands and started reading it, I was filled with a sense of dread that I’d set myself up to love something only to be met with disappointment. Don’t worry. This has a happy ending. I did give it 5/5 after all.

My apprehension came because the book is made up entirely of letters from the various characters. There’s no traditional sort of storytelling, if that’s what you want to call it. Instead, the story forms in your minds as you read these letters, most of which are from the main character, Juliet. I was afraid that this would be much too confusing and that there would be no way that I could keep track of who was who. Thankfully, I was wrong. It didn’t take long for me to get the main characters sorted, and I could follow the story easily. If you think this may be an issue for you, you may consider watching the movie first so you can put a face with the characters.

With my apprehension gone, I could fully delve into the story. It was one of those books that I didn’t want to put down! I loved hearing these character’s stories and how books gave them strength to make it through a very dark time in history. I’ve always enjoyed books that take place in the WWII time period. I think I must be a glutton for punishment because I know there’s going to be some part that will break my heart. This book was no exception, but I won’t tell you why. Spoilers, you know. But you also know that a book must be doing something right if your heart breaks for people you’ve never met and never will meet save on the pages of a book.

If you’re wondering how the book and movie compare, I’d say that the movie is a pretty fair adaptation. You miss certain aspects and characters as is prone to happen when you adapt a book to the screen, but the overall essence of the story was there. It was a good movie. I did enjoy the book a bit more just mostly because you have a chance to create a closer, more personal relationship with the characters.

Reader’s Guidance:

There is some mild language.

This does take place during the German occupation, so you can expect some mentions of brutality and what it was like at the concentration camps.

There is a mention of a brothel, but it’s only mentioned in a story where an islander would play tricks on German soldiers as they left the building and to mention that many of the women there had no choice—they were just more victims of war.

One of the characters is revealed to be homosexual. The lifestyle isn’t shown in any way. Juliet simply explains that this character is not a love interest for her because he’s homosexual.

Similar Books:

The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom

The Diary of Anne Frank

Goodnight Mr. Tom by Michelle Migorian

The Moon Bridge by Marcia Savin

Stepping on Cracks by Mary Downing Hahn

I could honestly keep going with a list of books that take place during this era. I keep thinking of them even as I write this very sentence! I’m making myself stop at five books though. I wasn’t lying when I said I’m drawn to these sorts of books. Each of these offer a little different perspective during a very difficult time in our world’s history.

The first two books, The Hiding Place and The Diary of Anne Frank are both firsthand accounts of the WWII era. Anne Frank, as you know, was forced into hiding because she was a Jew. Corrie Ten Boom was sent to a concentration camp for helping to hide Jews.

Good Night Mr. Tom follows an older gentleman and the boy who his sent to his home to live for a time. Just like many children in Britain, the boy was sent away from his own home for his protection from the bombings.

It’s been a very long time since I read The Moon Bridge, but the thing I remember about it is that it takes place in America and deals with the treatment of the Japanese living there after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Stepping on Cracks follows two young, American girls whose brothers are both fighting in the war.

Next Book:

It was recommended to me the other day that I should read East by Edith Pattou. I had never heard of it until that point, but it sounds like it may just be my cup of tea! So I’ll be reading it without further ado!

Gossamer

Title: Gossamer

Rating: 4/5

Author: LoisLowry

Pages: 140

Genre: Children’s Fiction

Synopsis:

Have you ever wondered where your dreams come from? Or what dark creatures are lurking out there, waiting for the perfect opportunity to turn your dream into a nightmare?

Littlest One is working hard at her training. Everyone knows that bestowing dreams is not something to be taken lightly. It’s a delicate process, and there are risks involved. If that weren’t enough, her job gets a whole lot harder when a troubled young boy comes to stay at the home where’s she’s been training, a boy who’s nights are often filled with nightmares.

My Reaction:

This was a quick read, but a good one. Once I'd finished, I almost felt like there should be more, but at the same time I thought, "That was just enough." The story explores the answer to the question, "Where do dreams come from?" It illustrates how dreams can give us much needed comfort and strength in the face of harsh realities. Beyond that, it also shows how even though parts of life are bad, that doesn't mean it's ALL bad. We can overcome our negative circumstances and become more than the bad things that have happened to us. It's a sweet, sometimes heart wrenching, story with just a touch of fantasy.

Reader’s Guidance:

This book deals with domestic violence and child abuse. Most of the time there are just hints at it based on the things the young boy says. There is one experience where the boy goes into more detail, which involves him being forced to eat dog food as a punishment.

Similar Books:

The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson was the first book to come to mind. I believe I’ve mentioned it on the blog before. The main character is a girl who has been passed around to various foster homes. Her attitude and life experiences reminded me of the boy in Gossamer.

Next Book:

I got my hands on a copy of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society! How can I not read a book with a title like that?

Fall, Hobbits, and Lembas Bread

It has been far too long since I have done a baking post! Time to fix that.

In case you haven't noticed, it's Fall! Everyone knows that Fall is the perfect time for baking (so is Winter, Spring, and Summer for that matter). It's also a perfect time to remember our dear friends Frodo and Bilbo Baggins. Last weekend was Hobbit day. If you think I'm making that up, I'm not. In honor of that and baking, I'm going to share with you a not so secret recipe passed down by elves for millennia. It's the recipe for lembas bread--that stuff that can fill a grown man after one bite, but not a hungry hobbit apparently.




I've seen this recipe multiple places around the internet, so I don't feel bad sharing it. I honestly don't even know what the original source was! However, I have made it a few times, and I rather enjoy it. It's probably not very authentic, especially since I like to sneak a dab of whipped cream for the perfect finishing touch. Just don't tell the elves.

It's very much like making scones, and the texture is similar also. One bite is definitely not enough to fill a grown man's stomach, but it's tasty!

Lembas Bread

Ingredients:

 2 ½ cups of flour

1 tablespoon of baking powder

¼ teaspoon of salt

½ cup of butter

1/3 cup of brown sugar

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

½ teaspoon honey

2/3 cup of heavy whipping cream

½ teaspoon of vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425F. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Add the butter and mix with a well till fine granules (easiest way is with an electric mixer). Then add the sugar and cinnamon, and mix them thoroughly.

2. Finally add the cream, honey, and vanilla and stir them in with a fork until a nice, thick dough forms.

3. Roll the dough out about ½ in thickness. Cut out 3-inch squares and transfer the dough to a cookie sheet.Criss-cross each square from corner-to-corner with a knife, lightly (not cutting through the dough).

4. Bake for about 12 minutes or more (depending on the thickness of the bread) until it is set and lightly golden.

Ignore this one's strange deformity.

***Let cool completely before eating, this bread tastes better room temperature and dry. Also for more flavor you can add more cinnamon or other spices***

I think the only thing that could have made these more complete is if I had wrapped them all fancy like in some leaves. And then perhaps I could have taken them on a long journey to new lands, never knowing if I'll ever return... Or I could just eat them.

Thanks for sharing some of your Fall treats with me on Facebook! I'm dying to make some pumpkin sheet cake, which I actually haven't done in many years. If you take a stab at making lembas bread, let me know. Share pictures even! I can't be the only one partaking in baking fun.

Happy Belated Hobbit Day!

The Mysterious Benedict Society

I meant to share this lovely post with all of you last Friday. Obviously that didn't happen. Then I thought, "I'll just do it next Friday." So, obviously, I'm sharing it on Thursday. I just want to keep you on your toes.

Guys, we're only a few days away from it officially being Fall! Don't be surprised if I start sharing some Fall baking because I haven't posted any baking in awhile. Also, we're only a few days away from Hobbit Day! It's a pretty big deal. If you're a nerd. I should make some lembas to celebrate, and yes, I do actually have a go to recipe for lembas. I am one of those nerds.

So, if we were going to have an in person session of The Book Club of Destiny and you were going to bring one lovely Fall themed baked good to share, what would it be?

And now, without further ado, I give you The Mysterious Benedict Society!

Title: The Mysterious Benedict Society

Rating: 4/5

Author: Trenton Lee Stewart

Pages: 485

Genre: Children’s Fiction

Synopsis:

“Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities?”

How can any child resist such a tempting newspaper ad? If they choose to participate, the must undergo a series of unusual, mind-bending tests to see if they qualify for—well, it’s not quite clear what the results will bring. Even with dozens of children showing up to complete these series of tests, only four are found worthy to proceed. They soon learn that there’s terrible danger at hand, and only they can stop it and save the world.

My Reaction:

Adventurous, intelligent, and stressing the importance of our own individual strengths, The Mysterious Benedict Society is an adventure worth embarking on.

The story holds some unique concepts and has a few twists that I didn’t see coming. Each character is individual and well crafted. They feel like children you could actually meet in real life. They each have their own strengths, weaknesses, and view points, and it’s only by working together as a team that they can complete their seemingly impossible task. This major plot point was something I thoroughly enjoyed. It reminds me that everyone has something good to provide to a situation. It was also a good reminder that we sometimes neglect to see the value or importance of an individual. Every one of our four main children are essential to success, even if they can’t always see how. It’s only in the end that we see how each of them would play a necessary part.

Full of action, adventure, and a bit of mystery, I enjoyed this story more than others that it reminded me of. The major difference is that I felt that The Mysterious Benedict Society could transition well to older readers, even adult readers, better than some others that seem to fit mostly within a certain young age range. I could see this as a fun adventure for parents and children to enjoy together.

Although there are more books in the series, I felt that this book also does well as a standalone book if you don’t quite feel like investing in a whole series at present.

Reader’s Guidance:

There is one light scuffle between one of the main characters and some other kids, but nothing major.

I wasn’t bothered by any content of the book.

Similar Books:

The Candy Shop War by Brandon Mull

This story has a few more fantastical elements to it in that eating candy gives you special abilities. This is another story filled with adventure and mystery.

Next Book:

I’ve read a good handful of books by Lois Lowry (author of The Giver), but I realized there’s one on my shelf that I still haven’t read. Next up is Gossamer!