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Top 5 My Sister The Vampire
Does anyone else remember this series by Sienna Mercer? I do and I think other people should read it too for a light Buffy the Vampire Slayer esque middle grade series (think Buffy flair and integration of vampires in real world, not the show’s violence and darker themes).
Vampilicious
The fourth book was an excellent wrap up of the series in how long list twins, the vampire Ivy and human Olivia finally figure out the whole story concerning their birth and the implausibility of it all. Not to mention, the heartwarming bonding Olivia and her Dad try to embark on after years apart. Plus the way their friends and family come together to resolve their love issues as well as their few conflicts. It was a wonderful end or so I thought. Until I found out on the internet there were ten more books after this!
Fangtastic
The second book in the series follows the life-changing announcement that vampires are real! Of course, we readers know this from the first book and how they keep their secret underwraps in a sort of subculture hidden in plain sight. But after one of the idiot boys decide to brag about their fangs on live tv, a reporter is determined to confirm out the truth. This was a fun book to see how increasingly unhinged the reporter becomes to get her story with a real suspense on how close she is to uncovering the truth. Luckily, Olivia and Ivy use some twintuition to save the day from the increasing Salem Witch-Trials hysteria rising up.
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Top 5 Sophie Kinsella books
My Not So Perfect Life
Cat has been telling her parents she has the perfect life back in London working at an advertising company. Really, it’s her flighty yet shrewd boss, Demeter who has the perfect life. Something which all her co-workers and her resent for the way she steps on their toes and requests them to wash her hair for events. However, when Demeter fires her, she is sent back home to her family farm/b n b. Which she lies, saying she has been sent on a sabatical in order not to crush her father’s joy in his girl making out there in the business world. But months later, Demeter and her family come to the bnb and Cat is furious how Demeter doesn’t even remember the lowly girl she fired, that she still has her perfect life. Well that puts Cat in the perfect place for revenge. But as you can tell by the title not everyone’s life is as perfect as it seems. Cat learns the truth about Demeter and discovers some heavy truths for herself and what she wants in her professional and romantic life.
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Top 5 TCM Books
I went on a bit of a Turner Classic Movie (TCM) book binge last year. Movies are my second favorite thing to reading and I loved reading their collection to find out behind the scenes facts and movie analyses. So here are my top 5 favorites.
The Making of Gone with the Wind by Steve Wilson
I got this 500 page insiders look on the making, filming and concepts of Gone with the Wind for my birthday, and wow, it is amazing. It starts from the very beginning introducing producer’s Selzick’s movie studio and the types of movies he was buying up until he got the rights to the movie. From there it takes exclusive photos, and papers from the TCM archive of studio memos for the search of Scarlet O’Hara, actresses writing for the role, costume sketches, script pages, and memo after memo about various issues on set from creating Tara to the burning of Atlanta scene to the pleas from NCAAP to portray black people well. It also sets up postproduction like the parades springing all over the South in honor of its premiere, Oscar night and more. It’s truly a compendium of all you could ever wish to learn about this classic film.
The Essentials: 52 Must See Movies by Jeremy Arnold
This book really adds to your To watch list. Written by movie critic Jeremy Arnold , he keeps things in layman’s terms by not going into the academic marvels and nuance that make these movies great, but just explaining the enduring appeal of each movie he highlights and how they changed the genre or the movie landscape thereafter. He includes a variety of genres and even a few foreign films, and manages to make them all sound so exciting. Plus it has little factoids in the sidenotes and behind the scenes tidbits.
Summer Movies: 30 Sun Drenched Classics by John Malahy
This is a fun breezy book just like your favorite beach movie where Malahy goes over classics like National Lampoon’s Family Vacation, Gidgit and more to talk about their charm and how they manage to hit that sweet spot to embrace all the craziness, the fun and the relaxation those summer months can bring. It also adds facts and a “If you like this, try” so you can come away with more than 30 movies to watch but 60. He wrote a companion book of Christmas at the Movies which take on those holiday classics. Fright Favorites, Must See Sci-Fi and Must See Musicals are similarly formatted in their respective genres.
This Was Hollywood: Forgotten Stars and Stories by Carla Valderrama
This light hearted book does not go into movie history but Hollywood history with clarifying some urban legends and unearthing unknown quirks and stories of Hollywood’s elite like Hollywood pets and their lavish lifestyles, eccentric home designs and more. Perfect for Hollywood trivia.
Hollywood Black: The Stars, the Films, the Filmmakers by Donald Bogle
This book takes readers through the tricky, at times insulting and other times, empowering moments of black history through film beginning in the 1920s when racist depictions of minstrels were the norm and the only way blacks could be on fim, unless they were servants to the damaging effect of Birth of Nation, widely considered the first blockbuster movie, glorifying the KKK. It takes us all the way to the present though with Black Panther, and all in between highlighting breakout stars like Denzel Washington who embodied a new perception to black masculinity, to filmmakers like Spike Lee and his films that brought the African-American experience and conversations of racism to the forefront. A great, well-researched book.
West Side Story: The Jets, The Sharks and The Making of a Classic by Richard Barrios
Released just before Spielberg premiered his West Side Story in theatres, this book takes us back to the 40s with its original conception by Bernstein, Robbins and Sondheim and how they created a Broadway classic. It then goes into the historical impact, audience reaction, the creation of the movie featuring stories from cast and crew, as well as peeks from the TCM archive of casting decisions and more. This is a great book for any fan of the musical and its timeless legacy.
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Missed Potential in Tales from Shadowhunter Academy
If it isn’t evident as you read, these are all my own opinions. Feel free to agree or disagree or just add your own thoughts in the comments section.
Maybe it’s because I read the Shadowhunter Chroncilesout of order that I have this opinion. But I wish Tales from Shadowhunter Academy had more stories following Simon and George and the like around their training and their missions for the school. Admittedly the first time I read it, I had only read the City of series, and I was eager for more Simon and Izzy so TfSA seemed perfect continuation. In fact I was so attatched to Simon and Izzy, I pretty much skipped the book to just read their scenes.
However, after reading The Infernal Devices series and rereading the City Of, I felt more informed of the Shadowhunter world and tackled TfSA again. The stories made more sense now I knew who all these characters were.
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Book Highlight: The English Roses
I’ll admit I didn’t know where to put this as it’s been so long since I read it I can’t right a proper review, yet it didn’t feel like it would fit with the other genres I’ve posted about. Well, it probably could but it just stands out so much on its own it needs its own post.
For one thing it’s author is the world-famous Madonna! Now I know, I know most celebrities have a ghost writer or something so they can slap their name on the cover and say they’re a children’s author but from what research I could find, I believe she did so. She said that one of the main characters, Binah who is motherless was developed as a way for Madonna to work her own feelings about her mother’s early death.
Knowing that I do remember how well-done Binah was in going through her slow growth of shyness and timidity after her mother’s death and taking care of house in her absence to growing more confident with the help of her friends. There were relapses as she confronts mothers day activities and her father’s impending dating life, she navigates through her complicated feelings to accept this new mother who is also her favorite teacher, to accept that she has love to spare and won’t forget her original mom.
But it’s not only gloom and not only about Binah. The book centers on five different girls who are the best and closests of friends. The books reflect that age with its giddiness and silliness with imagination spots and repetitive phrases from the omniprescent that only get more ridiculous which is the point. They’re bright and fun, and though these girls sometimes get into a spot of conflict with each other, they can be mean, overdramatic and such, they will always come through tighter than ever.
They feel real in a sense being at turns goofy, hardheaded, melodramatic yet sweet together. Each story has a message but it is balanced by these well done characters so it doesn’t feel overly preachy. Plus there is a spot of magic in there too.
Plus the illustrations by Jeffrey Fulvimari are delightfully colorful and expressive and so fit in with the lighthearted tone.
I highly enjoyed this 14 book series and think its a great read for any lower schooler.
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Top 3 Julie Andrews Books
Not only can she sing and dance but she can write too. This British star has it all and here are my top 3 favorite books of hers. It would have been 5 but the other two I read are memoirs and did not not fit the criteria of my post here which was to focus on her fictional books.
The Last of the Really Great Wangdoodles
My teacher used to read this outloud to us in 3rd grade, and it’s easy to see why she chose it. It’s a rolicking adventure tale in the vein of Wonderland. Three siblings, Ben, Tom and Melinda sneek into the spookiest house on the lane on Halloween only to find its inhibitant not scary at all. In fact he is a Professor and with a Mary Poppins-like magic, he seeks to journey to Whangdoodleland so he can see the last of the Whangdoodle himself. With such an interesting place, the children are all too happy to try to help him and see the creature for themselves. However, Whangdoodleland has an overprotective and slippery prime minister, Oily Prock, doesn’t want them to interfere with his pristine land and disturb the king and seeks to thwart them at every turn in the real world and in Whangdoodleland. Like I said, its very Wonderlandesque with its colorful, imaginative creatures and amazing places. Plus its message of creativity, hope and imagination is one for every child and every adult too.
Mandy
This is a heartwamring book about an orphan girl named Mandy. She lives in a rather nice orphanage, not like those corrupt and poverty-stricken ones of Oliver Twist but she still longs for something of her own. Ideally, a family. But she settles for an abandoned cottage she finds on her secret exploration of the world outside the orphanage walls. She makes it her own, stealing supplies and knickknacks to make it homey. It’s her little secret until. . . well to say more would give away the climax and the ending. As it is I revealed half of the plot. As you can see it is a simple yet very sweet story for lower schoolers to enjoy.
Dragon: Hound of Honor
Written with her daughter, this tale of the Scottish Highlands follow a dark, deceoptive family feud and the one dog that can save them all. While it’s not so much from the dog’s perspective or about Dragon, he is a vital character to it. I love how they echo the prose and grandness of epic scrolls from the medieval ages that inspired the story.
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Smith High Rankings
Marni Bates’ Smith High series is endearing awkward but also a lot of fun so now I shall rank them from favorite to okay.
Invisible
Jane Smith, the averagely named school reporter wishes she wasn’t so average anymore. She hadn’t always wanted this. In fact she was content to be on the sidelines until her best friends in the whole world, Kenzie and Corey seem to be shedding their geeky exteriors as Kenzie’s viral star rises and Corey’s rockstar boyfriend calls. She can’t quite compeate with that but she does shoot to get a headlining story for the school newspaper, too bad she’s stuck with a jerk of a photographer. Even if he does have sexy green eyes. Even so, I enjoy how Jane in a surprising series of events and mistakes finds her voice and her power to realize that she’s not as stuck on the sidelines as she had thought. I found it relatable because, I too feel sometimes that I’m the sidekick in someone else’s story but Jane shows that that’s not true. You have the power to change your life and become the star.
Notable
The fourth book of the series takes a turn from geeky bystanders to the so-called antagonist. Well minor antagonist of Smith High. The queen of Notables, Chelsea Holloway whose blond hair and sparkling smile can strike fear into the heart of any mean girl and any geek faint from terror. But there’s more to this mean girl that meets the eye when she is forced into a corner. Chelsea’s bitterly divorcing parents decide to keep her out of their hair and to get her horizons expanded by shipping her off to Cambodia of all places. She’s not thrilled and so decides to play the part of ditzy party girl to the hilt. But Cambodia is Cambodia and when the group gets accidentally caught in the literal crossfire of a drug heist gone bad, Chelsea steps it up. I enjoyed her snark, not to mention the vaguely implied emotionally abusive relationship she got into and to see the walls of Chelsea come down to a ragtag group of dorks she wouldn’t have looked twice at before this wild adventure.
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Top 5 Ann M. Martin Books
Main Street
I literally read this series 10 years in a row, every summer. It’s just so comforting and wholesome. It starts with the orphaned Northrop sisters, Flora and Ruby who are taken to live with their grandmother, Min (short for in a minute) in Camden Falls, MA. It’s not so tragic as they’ve been there before so they already know their neighbors and have made friends. It’s very much a regular amount of sadness for the loss of their parents. It’s realistic, which is the tone of the series. It peeks into the lives of everyone in town following the seasons and their activities for the 100 years of Camden Falls festival to making secret book clubs. One might find it mundane, but I find it comforting. That it’s so simple that you can curl up and join them in their hardships and joys. Plus in its realism it tackles common topics that can happen to anyone like abuse, adoption, mental illness, grief, caring for a loved one with Alzheimers etc.
Family Tree
This quartet starts in the early 1900s with Abby Nichols of Maine as she goes to school, plays with her friends and even flirts with her close friend, Orin. A boy whom her father hates because he is Irish. Therein lies the appeal for me. Not the family which is interesting and the heart of the story, but how well-researched the story is in each time period 1900s-2010. Showing the changes in how the autistic spectrum is viewed, the changes in race relations, etc. as the book goes through the four generations. Each with a secret that haunts the next generation through their parenting. But it also speaks to the importance of family and maternal bonds.
The Babysitter’s Club
I’ll keep this short as it is so iconic and obvious why everyone loves the BSC. It has the appeal of being on your own, following your entrepreneuring spirit while also touching on those universal themes of friendship, and coming of age. Plus with each distinct girl, you can find someone to relate to.
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Top 5 Archie Comic Collections
Man from R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E.
No, not the collection of Archie spy stories from the 60s, but it was certainly inspired by it. Updated for the present in a mishmash of James Bond homage, R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E. roots and Archie hijinks by Fernando Ruiz and Tom DeFalco. I enjoyed the throwbacks to Little Archie by having the villainous Mad Doctor Doom and Chester return to take over the world. As well as the new characters like Archie’s super spy cousin, Andy and his nemesis, Sherry from C.R.U.S.H. as they all resolve to stop the Doctor from his plan of enslaving the entire race. The antidote will surprise you. It’s great spy fun and one of my favorites.
Clash of the New Kids
Clash of the New Kids brings many new faces to Riverdale. . . well technically Riverdale High. After budget cuts shut down several schools, the falculty and students are shunted off to neighboring ones. About 50 are heading to Riverdale High with Archie as it’s student ambassador. As one can imagine there are clashes in fashion and friendship with enjoyable new flirtations and brought so many new dynamics to the fore. It even includes the intro to the popular Kevin Keller (Though he didn’t do much in this story) and a rival for Betty’s affections with Sayid and Reggie is getting outwitted and pranked by one more mischevious than he!
Veronica’s Passport
I love traveling so Veronica’s Passport is one of my ideal summer reads as everyone’s favorite heiress explores the sights, maxes out her credit cards and sometimes foil a thief or two in her travels around the globe. Unfortunately her Archie Superstars special only has 4 of these stories, but you can find more of her travels in digests and the same titled Veronica’s Passport Magazine Digests I’ve been schooping up on ebay.
Love Showdown
What more can I say on this grand event that had everyone’s attention in the 90s. It brought back Cheryl Blossom turning the love triangle to a square. Well rectangle if you include Jason’s pursuit of Betty. No matter the shape, it has the drama and hilarity we all live from Archie in one big super special.
Archie’s Camp Tales
This one is included for nostalgic reasons as it is one of the first Archie books I got and is as good a primer as any to get into what makes Archie so fun whether it being getting lost in the woods or setting up camp festivals. It’s easy and wholesome and oh so enjoyable.
Now I couldn’t quite put this in with the comic collections as they aren’t comics, but I enjoyed these Archie-adjacent books and wished they had continued with them. It’s just like the comics with plots like getting a summer job and starting a band and such. But since it’s a book you don’t breeze as quickly through it, so you can savor the adventures more I think.
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Twisted Tales: Tale as Old as Time Review
Ah, one of my favorites, and Braswell did a lovely job with her twist of “What if Belle’s mother cursed the beast?” Yes, everyone Belle’s mother is alive and she’s the infamous Enchantress that kicks the whole story off.
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Rachel Reads & Reviews 