I don’t like doing book reviews all that much. If I love a book, that’s one thing. Often, though, I don’t like what I review. Then the book that someone took months, and possibly years, to write and sell, is read by me in a day, and torn up in a book review in an hour. It’s not something I enjoy.
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
President Theodore Roosevelt
Of course there are those writers who have never broken a sweat, who have not striven valiantly or in any noticeable way, who are enthusiastic about their books but not so much about learning to write well, who are mostly devoted to cranking out formulaic stories in as few days as possible, who are neither devoted to, nor spent for, their writing, and who at best fail quietly, and at worst know financial success and think they’ve succeeded in doing something good…those writers…those writers deserve to get ripped in reviews. Unfortunately they are the very ones who don’t care, I’m guessing.
So, for good or ill, my reviews follow.
picture books
A Man for All Seasons: The Life of George Washington Carver
~written by Stephen Krnesky, and illustrated by Wil Clay
Crocodaddy
~written by Kim Norman, illustrated by David Walker
The Daring Escape of Ellen Craft
~written by Cathy Moore, illustrated by Mary O’Keefe Young
God’s Winter Wonderland
~written by Allia Zobel Nolan, illustrated by Melanie Mitchell
Guido’s Gondola
~written by Renee Riva, illustrated by Steve bjorkman
The Heroine of the Titanic
~written by Joan W. Blos, and illustrated by Tennessee Dixon
How I Pray for My Friends
~by Jeannie St. John Taylor
Izzy the Lizzy
~written by Renee Riva, illustrated by Steve bjorkman
The Long Shortcut
~written and illustrated by The De Villiers Family
Mark Twain and the Queens of the Mississippi
~written and illustrated by Cheryl Harness
The Oak Inside the Acorn
~written by Max Lucado, illustrated by George Angelini
The Pirate Queen
~written and illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully
Princess Madison and the Royal Darling Pageant
~written by Karen Scalf Linamen, illustrated by Phyllis Hornung
The Raucous Royals
~written and illustrated by Carlyn Beccia
Sand to Stone and Back Again
~written by Nancy Bo Flood with photographs by Tony Kuyper
Seedling Bible
~written and illustrated by The De Villiers Family
Snowflake Bentley
~written by Jacqueline Briggs Martin and illustrated by Mary Azarian
Thank You, Aunt Tallulah!
~written by Carmela LaVigna Coyle, illustrated by Bruce MacPherson
This is the Feast
~written by Diane Z. Shore, illustrated by Megan Lloyd
Uncommon Traveler: Mary Kingsley in Africa
~written and illustrated by Don Brown
easy readers
Alexander Graham Bell
~written by Victoria Sherrow, illustrated by Elaine Verstraete
manga
Serenity: Bad Girl in Town
~Realbuzz Studios
middle grade
100 Cupboards
~ND Wilson
The Amaranth Enchantment
~Julie Berry
The Bark of the Bog Owl
~Jonathan Rogers
Birmingham Sunday
~Larry Dane Brimner
The Bridge to Terabithia
~Katherine Paterson
Calamity Jack
~written by Dean and Shannon Hale, illustrated by Nathan Hale
The City of Cannibals
~Ricki Thompson
Darkwood
~M.E. Breen
The Diamond of Darkhold
~Jeanne DuPrau
The Dragon of Trelian
~Michelle Knudsen
The Dog in the Wood
~Monica Schröder
Faery Rebels: Spell Hunter
~RJ Anderson
Farworld: Water Keep
~J. Scott Savage
Jimmy’s Stars
~Mary Ann Rodman
Landon Snow and the Auctor’s Riddle
~R.K. Mortenson
Landon Snow and the Shadows of Malus Quidam
~R.K. Mortenson
North! or Be Eaten
~Andrew Peterson
On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness
~Andrew Peterson
Princess Academy
~Shannon Hale
The Raucous Royals
~written and illustrated by Carlyn Beccia
The Rise of the Wyrm Lord
~Wayne Thomas Batson
Savvy
~Ingrid Law
The Secret of the Swamp King
~Jonathan Rogers
Small Steps
~Louis Sachar
Warriors in the Crossfire
~Nancy Bo Flood
The Way of the Wilderking
~Jonathan Rogers
The Year the Swallows Came Early
~Kathryn Fitzmaurice
young adult
The Book of Names
~D. Barkley Briggs
The Songwriter
~Barb Huff
A Countess Below Stairs
~Eva Ibbotson
DragonKnight
~Donita K. Paul
DragonSpell
~Donita K. Paul
DragonQuest
~Donita K. Paul
The Encore
~Sarah Anne Sumpolec
The Gardener
~SA Bodeen
The Giver
~Lois Lowry
It’s All About Us
~Shelley Adina
Outriders
~Kathryn Mackel
Something Wicked
~Alan Gratz
writing books
On Writing Well
~William Zinsser