July Recap

Recap:

Read:
1) Saige by Jessie Haas
2) Saige Paints the Sky by Jessie Haas
3) Clara Lee and the Apple Pie Dream by Jenny Han
4) McKenna by Mary Casanova
5) The Sherlock Holmes Handbook by Ransom Riggs

Crafts:
1. Fluttershy amigurumi
2. Various perler bead designs
3. Violet the Octopus amigurumi
4. Beary Berry amigurumi
5. Nine-tail fox amigurumi

A slow month for reading. When I can't think of what to read, I always browse the kids section at the library and pick up books. I started reading the recent American Girl series of books featuring Saige and McKenna. As a kid, I LOVED the American Girl series books.....but at the time there weren't as many girls. I would always go back to that series or to the Andrew Lang fairy books at the library if I was bored.

While browsing the kids section, my eyes were caught by a small manga style illustration on one of the book spines. I couldn't resist the soft and simple style of the illustration and so picked up Clara Lee and the Apple Pie Dream. It was a delightful book about a little Korean-American girl named Clara. I absolutely love the illustrations! So if you have the chance and an hour to spare, you should definitely go ahead and pick up this kids book.

The other book that I read this month was The Sherlock Holmes Handbook. I will admit that I skimmed through a good majority of the 'how to' sections of the book. While the few that I read made me giggle because I could remember the SH story they related to, I thought for the most part that they should have been condensed into one section of the book. That way you can read the sections you want to.

I found that the chapters on Victorian life and its role in the Sherlock Holmes books caught my attention more. I would venture to say that it would probably be the same way for any SH fan. Having say that, would I recommend the book? Absolutely, I think it would be a great book for a reader who has just started out in the SH world of stories because it is good about not giving away too many details of the stories. But sadly for the reader who has devoured all the SH stories/novels, it falls flat of a recommendation.

Until next time ^____^