Book Review: Tower of Day (Throne of Glass #6) by Sarah J Maas

Tower of Dawn 

Throne of Glass #6

by Sarah J Maas

Hardcover, 664 pages

Published September 5th 2017 by Bloomsbury U.S.A. Children's Books

Synopsis:

In the next installment of the New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass series, follow Chaol on his sweeping journey to a distant empire.

Chaol Westfall has always defined himself by his unwavering loyalty, his strength, and his position as the Captain of the Guard. But all of that has changed since the glass castle shattered, since his men were slaughtered, since the King of Adarlan spared him from a killing blow, but left his body broken.

His only shot at recovery lies with the legendary healers of the Torre Cesme in Antica—the stronghold of the southern continent's mighty empire. And with war looming over Dorian and Aelin back home, their survival might lie with Chaol and Nesryn convincing its rulers to ally with them.

But what they discover in Antica will change them both—and be more vital to saving Erilea than they could have imagined.

Wunderkind Reads: TRACTOR MAC WORTH THE WAIT

Meet the next installment of the wildly popular Tractor Mac picture book series, TRACTOR MAC WORTH THE WAIT, by Billy Steers (FSG, on sale 05/09/2017)! {Book provided for review/feature consideration}

Wunderkind Reads - The Ru-Lan Series

Ru-Lan Volume 1 - The Prince is Born {Ages 4 - 6; 48 pages; $10.95; Heritage Builders Publishing} 

Shortly after his miraculous birth, made possible with help from the phoenix, prince Ru-lan is captured by Su-ling, the evil enchantress, who plans to raise Ru-lan and use him to take over the kingdom. Several years later, the phoenix reminds the little boy of his real identity, and he escapes from Su-ling’s cottage with the help of his animal friends. Once their son is firmly ensconced in the palace, the emperor and empress undertake a daring plot to forever rid the kingdom of the threat of the evil enchantress.

The first book in the Ru-lan series depicts Ru-lan’s origin. Thrown into one adventure after another, Ru-lan demonstrates the values of compassion, empathy, loyalty and friendship even when faced with dangerous enemies intent on destroying all he holds dear. Children not only learn valuable life lessons but also are also introduced to interesting aspects of Chinese culture creating an extended learning experience. Basia Tov illustrates this first volume in the series with a beautiful touch, the images of animals and the young prince have a naive child-like feeling that is at once familiar and exotic, sure to appeal to parents and kids alike.

Ru-lan Volume 2 - Attack of The Stink Bugs {Ages 4-6; 48 pages; $10.95; Heritage Builders Publishing}

The evil enchantress Su-ling had a sister, Ya-Mei, the good enchantress. For 200 years, Su-ling had kept Ya-Mei imprisoned in the body of a caged rabbit. Ya-Mei was freed when the Emperor destroyed her evil sister, and she is very grateful. Many years before her death, Su-ling had placed a curse on the kingdom, that upon her demise, would trigger the unleashing of a swarm of highly destructive, magically enhanced stink bugs on their crops, threatening their food supply and very survival. Once this happens, Ya-Mei, seeing the desperate situation, grants Ru-lan power over insects. This power helps the young prince save the kingdom from starvation. In victory, Ru-lan shows compassion for his enemies, teaching everyone a lesson. He also meets the young, talented, precocious Cai Hua, his future wife. The illustrations by Basia Tov continue to bring the story to life with a magical sense of realism that takes its inspiration from authentic early Chinese painting.

The Ru-lan series is entertaining and a great way to expose your young ones to new and different cultures. Until next time...

Be Chic Literate: The Time Traveling Fashionista (On Board the Titanic)

The cover of the book is just the tip of the beautifully illustrated iceberg...

The Time Traveling Fashionista On Board the Titanic by Bianca Turetsky is one of those rare novels that appeals to both young adults (like my daughter Peyton) and grown ups (like me) alike. Between the engaging story and the lovely illustrations, not only is the book a definite page turner, it is one that you will want to look at over and over again! {Book sent for the purpose of review-but in full disclosure, Peyton had already read and was a huge fan of the series}

Beneath the Glitter-AKA: Be Chic Literate

I'm a bit of a YouTube junkie and one of the first "beauty gurus" that I subscribed to was Elle Fowler, AKA AllThatGlitters21. She and her sister, Blair (JuicyStar07), have built quite an admirable empire, one of their most recent ventures has been a dip into the literary world. Beneath the Glitter is the sisterly duos first book (in what looks to be a series), and is loosely based on their lives. I won't give away the plot line, other than to say that the book deals with the relationship between two sisters as they try to build their business in LA, as well as their interactions with an entertaining cast of friends, pets, and love interests. I tried to keep my expectations low, and truth be told, it took me about 75 pages (and a week and half) to truly get into the book. But once I did get into it, I really got into it and literally couldn't put it down. Once I felt immersed in  the world of the fictional London sisters, I finished the last two thirds of the book in a day and a half (no easy feat for someone with daughters as demanding and talkative as mine). 

I think part of what made Beneath the Glitter entertaining was trying to ascertain how much of the London sisters and their fictional lives was based on the real lives of the Fowler sisters. But outside of that, the story was truly entertaining, even if slightly predictable. There's a bit of a cliffhanger at the end, which serves as the perfect segue to the sister's second book, due out in the summer of 2013. I'm not ashamed to admit, I'm seriously looking forward to seeing what's happening next. Until next time...