The Westing Game

Well, I know this blog hasn't been used much lately, but I had a baby 3 weeks ago and have discovered that reading while I'm nursing helps keep me sane (especially in the middle of the night). So Anna, make sure you're well stocked on good books to read!

Newberry Award Winner

This was a great book! I have to admit when I first started reading it I was a little skeptical. It's a murder mystery with a lot of adult characters for a Children's novel, well, a lot of characters in general. It was hard to keep them all straight, especially since the author switches perspectives constantly, and most the characters I didn't even like. But I stuck with it and I was glad I did! You get to know the characters as they get to know each other and every single character has an arc, changing throughout the story. The plot is just predictable enough that you feel ahead of the game, yet there were startling surprises throughout and a terrific ending. I highly recommend this as a book that makes you think and keeps you guessing!

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie: A Flavia de luce Mystery by Alan Bradley

Reading level adult
number of pages 385
published by Bantam Books

I just finished reading a new mystery described as an "enthralling mystery", "a rich literary delight", "a quirky, delightful whodunit" about a little girl about the age of eleven who is both irresistible and incorrigible, a sleuth and a budding scientist. The story takes place in the summer of 1950 in England in a once -grand mansion where Flavia lives with her father and two older sisters. This wonderfully told tale begins when a dead bird is found on the doorstep, a postage stamp bizarrely pinned to its beak. This is the beginning of a series of events that was delicious to read and impossible to stop turning the pages to the very end. There were no slow or dragging parts to the story. Once begun, I was simply pulled in and enjoyed every twist and turn. I am happy to see that the second book in the Flavia de Luce mystery series, The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag is due out this month.