Tag: book review

Where the Forest Meets the Stars by Glendy Vanderah Book Review

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Years ago, I read Where the Forest Meets the Stars for the first time. It is the debut novel of Glendy Vanderah. Since reading it for the first time, I have read many other books and forgot most of the book sans the main plot. I did remember it was a sad book that ended on a happy note.

Earlier this year, I found my copy of Where the Forest Meets the Stars and decided to reread it. I was hoping to remember what made me think it is a sad book and the parts of the plot I forgot. Once I finished reading it, I wanted to write a book review about it. Lately I have been reading and writing a lot of book reviews about young adult novels that are either for future post or the posts have already published. This book is very different than the young adult novels, so it is a nice break from all the teenager themed novels I’ve been reading!

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Gradchanted by Morgan Matson Book Review

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Around this time last year, Gradchanted was published. It is the second book in the book collaboration between young adult author Morgan Matson and Disney.

When it was published, I debated if I should purchase it. Although I have some praiseworthy things to say about the first book in the collaboration between Morgan and Disney, I didn’t like it a lot. After thinking about it for a while, I decided to purchase it to see how I’d like it. Since that time, I have read and reread the book a few times and decided to share some of my opinions in this review. I already reviewed Promchanted, the first book in the collaboration. You can read the review here.

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Promchanted by Morgan Matson Book Review

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In 2024, a new book written by Morgan Matson was published. The difference between this book and her previous books was this book was published by Disney and is inspired by Disneyland and Disney’s movie, Sleeping Beauty.

The book, called Promchanted, was a book I was very curious about. I didn’t know if I would like it or not, but I decided to purchase a copy of the book and read it.

Since then, a second book was published, Gradchanted also by Morgan Matson. I also purchased and read that book, but, since Promchanted was published first, I decided to write a review about Promchanted before Gradchanted.

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Book Review: A Frozen Heart by Elizabeth Rudnick

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Back in 2015, while I was taking care of a relative, I saw A Frozen Heart by Elizabeth Rudnick for sale at Walmart. I read a copy of my friend’s book, but I wasn’t able to finish it before I gave it back to them. Even though I didn’t finish it, I liked it and wanted to continue reading it. Since it was available to purchase that day, I bought it, took it home, and began to read it… but still never finished reading my copy of it.

In 2025, I found A Frozen Heart in my book collection with my bookmark from 2015 left inside it. By this time, I was able to read my friend’s copy and know what happened in the rest of the book. Since my copy was left in the same state I left it ten or so years prior, I decided to reread the book and write a review about it.

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Book Review: Murder by Cheesecake: A Golden Girls Cozy Mystery by Rachel Ekstron Courage

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Last year, I purchased a novel called Murder by Cheesecake by Rachel Ekstron Courage. It is a cozy mystery inspired by the TV series Golden Girls. I am not a big fan of Golden Girls, but I know many people love the show. One of my friends is a fan of the show. They were really excited when they found out there would be a cozy mystery novel inspired by the show. I was happy for my friend, but I didn’t really think the book would be right for me. (After all, I’m not a big Golden Girls fan!)

After my friend read the book, they began to encourage me to buy the book and read it too. After listening to them describe the book, I began like the idea of the book, how it was written, and other parts of it. So, I decided to buy myself a copy of the novel and read it myself.

Before I read the whole book, I decided to try the cheesecake recipe in the book. I talked about it and if I liked it in a previous post. (You can read it here) Aside from talking about the cheesecake recipe, I didn’t talk about the actual novel. I have since read the book and decided to write a review post about it!

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Book Review: Victoria: The Romantic Heart by Linda Sunshine

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Many years ago, I decided to buy books I used to want as a girl but couldn’t buy because… well… I was a girl! For the most part, these books are ones that contained many pictures or were easy to read, yet they were pretty or caught my eye. One of the books was The Romantic Heart.

The Romantic Heart is by Linda Sunshine, who is the editor of the book. It is part of Victoria Magazine’s book series. Victoria Magazine, also known as Victoria Bliss, is a magazine that focuses on romantic and vintage topics, themes, and items. In the 1990’s, Victoria Magazine began to publish books that follow the same themes the magazine covers. The Romantic Heart, which was published in 1995 by The Hearst Corporation, is one of these books.

I purchased my copy of The Romantic Heart in 2025 second hand. After owning it for a year, I decided to write a review about this book, which I wanted to own since I was a little girl.

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Book Review: 12 Days of Christmas, A Little Golden Book Classic

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It is Christmas Eve, which is a perfect time for families with children to read Christmas themed bedtime stories. Although there are plenty of books about Santa Claus, including The Night Before Christmas, and the birth of Jesus, I wanted to review a book for Blogmas 2025 that didn’t focus on them.

Instead, I decided to focus on a book about a tradition that was honored centuries ago: The Twelve Days of Christmas. Although the celebration is still honored by many, many just know it by the song, The Twelve Days of Christmas. Last year, I found a reprinting of A Little Golden Book that tells the story of the song with illustrations. Since December 24th is the night when the Twelve Days of Christmas begins, I thought it would be a perfect time to review this book.

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Book Review: Christmas at Hogwarts by J.K. Rowling with Illustrations by Ziyi Gao

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Every year, there are new Christmas themed books. Some of them are for adults while others are for children. They tell classic Christmas tales while others tell new and original stories. There are some that are inspired by popular media such as TV shows, movies, and more.

After watching and browsing these books for years, I noticed a major trend for these books. For the past few years, there has been a trend to publish Christmas books inspired by popular media for adults… but these books are meant for children.

One of the books I was curious about was Christmas at Hogwarts. I am not a huge Harry Potter fan, but I was curious about the book. The art looked really nice and the premise peaked my interest. After debating if I would actually like the book, I decided to buy myself a copy and read it myself.

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Book Review: Skipping Christmas: A Novel by John Grisham

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Growing up, my relatives read a lot. One of their favorite authors was John Grisham. I grew up knowing John Grisham as an author of mystery novels, which is my relative’s favorite genre of books. When the movie Christmas with the Kranks was released, the news mentioned John Grisham wrote the book it was based off. I was really surprised by this because, like I mentioned, I only knew John Grisham for his mystery novels.

When I got older, I decided to make a list of books I wanted to own and read as a child. Skipping Christmas, the movie Christmas with the Kranks was based off, was on that list. I eventually purchased a copy of it and have read it on and off over the years. After years of reading it, I decided to write a review post about it.

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Book Review: A Far Wilder Magic by Allison Saft

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A few years ago, a YouTube I was following at that time recommended books to read during the fall months. One of those books was A Far Wilder Magic by Allison Saft.

At that time I wanted to read more books that were popular. In addition to the YouTuber recommending it, A Far Wilder Magic was one of the books that was pretty popular at that time. The plot interested me, so after a lot of thought and debate, I decided to buy the book and read it.

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