Middle-Grade Review: The Strangers

I always enjoy Margaret Peterson Haddix's middle-grade novels, and The Strangers, book one in her Greystone Secrets series, is no exception! Like some of her best, it combines kids who feel real with a twisty, intriguing science fiction plot.

The Greystone kids live with their mom in a house in Ohio and live a pretty normal life. Chess, short for Rochester, is in 6th grade and is protective of his younger siblings. Emma is a math whiz in fourth grade. Second-grader Finn is active and enthusiastic and keeps things fun. One day, the three of them come home from school to find their mom engrossed in the TV news. As they watch with her, they hear the stunning report that three siblings in Arizona--named Rochester (who goes by Rocky), Emma, and Finn--have been kidnapped. As the reporter provides details on the missing kids, the Greystones realize that these kids not only share their names but also their ages and birthdates. How is that possible? The next morning, their mother abruptly leaves on a business trip, which is unusual for her. She works from home as a graphic designer, and on the rare occasions that she travels, it's usually planned well in advance. The kids are staying with their mom's friend who has a daughter a year older than Chess. They discuss the strange circumstances of the past 24 hours and decided to investigate. They're allowed to visit their house to feed and check on their cat, and when they do, they realize that the bizarre things happening have only just begun.

This is just the kind of story that Haddix excels at, with interesting kids, strange things going on, and lots of secrets and mysteries to uncover. The four children investigate what's happening and uncover mysterious codes, secret rooms, and some major surprises. When the twist was revealed, I squealed out loud because it was just perfect (and the kind of plot I really enjoy in fiction). As always, Haddix has created three-dimensional characters that the reader quickly comes to care about. Here, chapters are written from alternating viewpoints, so you get their very different perspectives on what's going on. The audio production was well-done, and the story and its mysteries provided gripping suspense that helped me finish this unique novel in record time. I definitely want to read books two and three now!

433 pages, Katherine Tegen Books

HarperAudio

This book fits in the following 2023 Reading Challenges:

 

Big Book Summer Challenge

 

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

 

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

 

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible.

 

Or get this audiobook from Libro.fm and support local bookstores.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

  

It's Monday 7/10! What Are You Reading?

Hosted by The Book Date

Life

Last week was mostly a quiet week at home. I was just trying to remember what I did last week, and the answer is pretty boring! I did catch up on a lot of things I needed to do, both around the house and with my work. I scheduled a Zoom meeting for the local chronic illness support group I run. I booked a camping weekend for us and our sons (and one girlfriend). I RSVP'ed to a family wedding. And I invited a friend to come visit. So, I have a lot to look forward to!  

The big news here is that my husband left Saturday morning (at 4 am!) for an epic road trip, driving his dad's old car (check out the photo - he bought that car at age 85) back to his hometown in Oklahoma to meet up with his two best friends from high school for a week of golfing on the newly renovated course they played on as teens. In other words, pretty much a dream week for him! He hasn't even arrived yet and is already having a great time. I get it. There's nothing like the freedom of a road trip and of being on your own.

Speaking of being on your own ... I have 9 whole days to myself! As a wife and mother, this is a very rare thing. I had a fabulous weekend, even though I didn't do anything special. I've been very productive, finally catching up on stuff that's been on my to-do list for far too long, decluttering, repotting my houseplants, and watching TV and movies my husband would hate. My childhood best friend since age 5 is coming to visit this weekend, and I've scheduled a walk with a friend this week, so it should be a pretty great week for me, too!

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On the Blog

 Blogger finally decided my book review contained no objectionable material (insert big eye roll), so I posted two reviews last week, both Big Books and both excellent:

Fiction Review: The House of Impossible Beauties by Joseph Cassara - moving, funny, heartbreaking story of a group of gay and trans young people in '80's NYC finding home and family with each other, based on a true story.

 Fiction Review: Voyager by Diana Gabaldon - when you read 870 pages and are sorry it's over, you know it's an outstanding book! Fabulous historical fiction packed with action, adventure, suspense, and true love.

And, remember, there is still plenty of time to sign up for the Big Book Summer Reading Challenge! It runs until early September, and you only need to plan to read one 400+ page book between now and then to participate. There's a whole community in our Goodreads group with fun Big Book chat all summer long.

Join the fun!   

 

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On Video

Friday Reads 7-6-23 - my brief weekly update on what I'm reading

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 What We're Reading

 

I have to admit to some serious book hangover after finishing Voyager. I wasn't ready to leave that world, even after being immersed in it for a month! So, I chose my quickest Big Book for my next read: Scythe by Neal Schusterman. We are huge Schusterman fans at our house. My husband, son, and I all loved his Unwind series, which is original, brilliant, and compelling, and I've been hearing great things about Scythe for years. This YA dystopian novel takes place in a future world where life is perfect: there is no disease, no government, no middle seats on airplanes. Nanites in the body immediately heal any injury or pain and even protect humans from negative emotions like despair. In order to control population in an immortal world, some are chosen as Scythes who "glean" (i.e. kill) selected people. Two teens, Citra and Rowan, have been chosen to train as Scythe apprentices and learn all about the dark side of a perfect society. It's excellent so far, as his books always are--gripping and thought-provoking.

 

 I also started a new Big Book on audio, Everything the Light Touches by Janice Pariat. This novel has been compared to Cloud Atlas and Cloud Cuckoo Land (also on my Big Book stack). It consists of four parts, stories of different people in different time periods, beginning in modern day India and moving back through time to Lapland in 1732. The connecting thread through all of the stories is the natural world, plants, botany, and human connections. It's beautifully written and engrossing.

 

My husband, Ken, finished The Quiet Boy by Ben H. Winters, his third Big Book of the summer, before his trip. He said it was very good and entirely different from Winters' The Last Policeman trilogy.  Now he's reading A Time for Mercy by John Grisham, book 3 in his Jake Brigance series, another Father's Day gift from me.We both loved the first two books, A Time to Kill and Sycamore Row featuring Jake, so this should be another good one. I don't expect him to have much reading time this week!

 Our son, 28, is now onto book nine, Shadowmage, of the Spellmonger series by Terry Mancour. This one is only about 800 pages long, a shortie for him! He loves this series.

 

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What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date, so head over and check out her blog and join the Monday fun! You can also participate in a kid/teen/YA version hosted by Unleashing Readers.

You can follow me on Twitter at @SueBookByBook or on Facebook on my blog's page.  

What are you and your family reading this week?

 

Fiction Review: Voyager

I finally finished my biggest book of Big Book Summer 2023, Voyager by Diana Gabaldon, book three in her amazing Outlander series that begins with Outlander and Dragonfly in Amber. It was 870 pages long, and I was sorry when it ended!

I will tiptoe around the description to avoid any spoilers for those who have not yet read books one and two. In the first book, WWII has just ended, and a young British woman named Claire has reunited with her husband, Frank, for a second honeymoon in Scotland. Claire worked as a nurse during the war, and Frank was a military officer. While Frank is doing some genealogical research, Claire explores a ring of ancient stones nearby. When she touches one, she finds herself instantly transported back to 1743. Lost and alone, two hundred years in the past, she eventually meets Jamie, a tall, redheaded Highlander. The rest, as they say, is history. Book two has Claire and Jamie traveling to France to try to convince King Louis XIV to support Bonnie Prince Charles in Scotland's fight for independence (we all know how that ends). Here, in book three, Jamie and Claire are apart for the first 200 pages or so, and through a series of flashbacks and story-telling, the reader finds out what has happened to each of them during the past twenty years, since book two ended. Once they are reunited, the title of the book becomes clear, as they set off on a voyage across the Atlantic.

This was my favorite of the first three books so far! I loved it so much that after reading 870 pages over a month's time, when I finally finished it, I immediately turned the page and began reading the first chapters of book four, included at the back. In fact, several days later, I am still dearly missing Claire and Jamie and the other characters. All of that is just to show you how incredibly compelling these books are. Gabaldon writes fascinating historical fiction, filled with both widely known events and the small details of everyday life. Jamie and Claire's epic, across-centuries love story is at the center of it, of course, but these books are not typical romances. Voyager, in particular, was non-stop action and adventure from cover to cover. So much happens in this novel! The characters encounter everything from prison to pirates in settings from 1960's U.S. to 1700's France to a ship in stormy seas to the jungles of the Caribbean. Tension and suspense were sustained throughout this gripping novel. It's not hyperbole to say that I stayed up much too late every single night because I just couldn't bear to put the book down ... just one more chapter ... I can't wait to read book four, Drums of Autumn.

870 pages, Dell

This book fits in the following 2023 Reading Challenges:

 

Mount TBR Challenge

Monthly Motif  - July: one-word title

Alphabet Soup Challenge - V

Travel the World in Books  - Scotland, France, Jamaica, Hispaniola

Big Book Summer Challenge

 

 

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

 

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible.

 

Or get this audiobook from Libro.fm and support local bookstores.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!
 

It's Monday 7/3! What Are You Reading?

Hosted by The Book Date

Life

Happy 4th of July weekend!

 I had a sort of frustrating week last week, just working hard and feeling overwhelmed. As always, I know I am trying to do too much, but there's so much I want to do! On top of that, though, I kept getting urgent messages to upgrade to Google Analytics 4 for my two blogs before July 1. So, rule-follower that I am, I spent days struggling through awful behind-the-scenes tech stuff--not my forte! I have blogs because I'm a writer, not a coder. Google's instructions didn't even work for Blogger (which is owned by Google!), so I had to look for instructional videos, which still did not quite match up to what I was seeing on my own screens (of which I had about 10 browser windows open by then). I'm not sure I completed it correctly, but--even worse--after all that, I'm not sure I actually had to do any of it! I realized (too far into the process) that I don't actually use Google Analytics most of the time; I just use the simple statistics Blogger provides within the platform.

By Friday evening, I was feeling frustrated, overwhelmed, and grumpy. So, I took Saturday off and enjoyed a wonderful day with my husband. We went to a morning matinee of the new Indiana Jones movie, which was excellent! It was old-style movie fun, with plenty of suspense, action, and humor. After the movie, we went to a restaurant for lunch and sat out on their patio, with a lovely view of our favorite local creek. Take-out Thai food for dinner rounded out our day. And Sunday night, we watched the last-ever Ted Lasso episode - wah!! So sorry to see it end. If you haven't tried it yet, it's a must-see, full of humor and heart. We will definitely miss it. And tonight, we're looking forward to a picnic barbecue dinner with friends.

Movie in the morning - a treat!

Lunch al fresco

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On the Blog

More frustration from Blogger: last week, I wrote a review of The House of Impossible Beauties by Joseph Cassara, and Blogger immediately tagged it as "not meeting community standards." They've been doing this a lot lately. In this case, they say it looks like spam (it's a book review exactly like the other thousands of book reviews on my blog!). I am still waiting for them to review it--I suspect the holiday weekend interfered with them doing it quickly--so I can't share that with you yet. They did let this one go through:

TV Tuesday: Silo - we are enjoying the TV adaptation of one of our favorite book series! 

And, remember, there is still plenty of time to sign up for the Big Book Summer Reading Challenge! It runs until early September, and you only need to plan to read one 400+ page book between now and then to participate. There's a whole community in our Goodreads group with fun Big Book chat all summer long. 

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On Video

Friday Reads 6-30-23 - my brief weekly reading update

Rootin' Tootin' June on the Range Tag - this was a fun one! All about books, TV, movies, and travel in the American West. I included some photos of our many trips out West.

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 What We're Reading 

 

Guess what? Yup, I'm still reading my biggest book of the summer, Voyager by Diana Gabaldon, book 3 of the Outlander series. At over 800 (large) pages, this is an intimidating Big Book, and it's been on my shelf for two years and was in my Big Book Summer stack last year! But as soon as I started reading it, I thought, "why did I wait so long?" She writes such fascinating, detailed historical fiction, with a touch of time travel and an epic love story at the center of it. The series is about a British woman in 1945 who goes back in time to 1700's Scotland. This book is no exception and was completely engrossing from the very first pages: action-packed, suspenseful, and filled with fascinating historical details. I'm over 600 pages in and still can't wait to pick it up again every day! I should finish it this week.

 

 

I finished my second audio book for #BigBookSummer Challenge, The Strangers, book one in the Greystone Secrets series by Margaret Peterson Haddix, one of my favorite middle-grade authors. Her books are always engrossing, with twisty plots and in-depth characters. This one focuses on three siblings: sixth-grader Chess (short for Rochester), fourth-grader Emma, and second-grader Finn. They are shocked to come home from school one day and hear on the news their mom is watching that three kids--with their same names, ages, and birthdays!--have been kidnapped from another state. Then their mom takes off urgently on a business trip, and nothing seems right. The kids, along with an older friend, begin to investigate. The secret here is a good one! I really enjoyed it and now want to read book two.

 

 

 

My husband, Ken, is reading one of his Father's Day gifts from me (and another Big Book, though just barely), The Quiet Boy by Ben H. Winters. He and I are both fans of Winters' The Last Policeman trilogy, but he says this novel is entirely different, a legal thriller with two trials woven together, one in the past and one in the present, involving malpractice and murder. He's enjoying it.

 

 

 Our son, 28, is now onto book nine, Shadowmage, of the Spellmonger series by Terry Mancour. This one is only about 800 pages long, a shortie for him! He loves this series.

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What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date, so head over and check out her blog and join the Monday fun! You can also participate in a kid/teen/YA version hosted by Unleashing Readers.

You can follow me on Twitter at @SueBookByBook or on Facebook on my blog's page.  

What are you and your family reading this week?