Author: Andi

I recently finished reading Moon Over Manifest and really enjoyed it. This was our book club book for September. In early October, the author is coming to a local place to talk about the book. I think it will be fun to hear what an author has to say about their book. And I will be sure to let you know if anything exciting happens.  

Here’s a description of the book:

The movement of the train rocked me like a lullaby. I closed my eyes to the dusty countryside and imagined the sign I’d seen only in Gideon’s stories: Manifest—A Town with a rich past and a bright future.

Abilene Tucker feels abandoned. Her father has put her on a train, sending her off to live with an old friend for the summer while he works a railroad job. Armed only with a few possessions and her list of universals, Abilene jumps off the train in Manifest, Kansas, aiming to learn about the boy her father once was.

Having heard stories about Manifest, Abilene is disappointed to find that it’s just a dried-up, worn-out old town. But her disappointment quickly turns to excitement when she discovers a hidden cigar box full of mementos, including some old letters that mention a spy known as the Rattler. These mysterious letters send Abilene and her new friends, Lettie and Ruthanne, on an honest-to-goodness spy hunt, even though they are warned to “Leave Well Enough Alone.”

Abilene throws all caution aside when she heads down the mysterious Path to Perdition to pay a debt to the reclusive Miss Sadie, a diviner who only tells stories from the past. It seems that Manifest’s history is full of colorful and shadowy characters—and long-held secrets. The more Abilene hears, the more determined she is to learn just what role her father played in that history. And as Manifest’s secrets are laid bare one by one, Abilene begins to weave her own story into the fabric of the town.

Powerful in its simplicity and rich in historical detail, Clare Vanderpool’s debut is a gripping story of loss and redemption.

I really enjoyed this book and so did the other members of book club. I would definitely recommend this book for a good read.

Happy reading!

I just finished reading this book for book club.

Here’s a quick description for you:

It is the summer of 1950–and at the once-grand mansion of Buckshaw, young Flavia de Luce, an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison, is intrigued by a series of inexplicable events: A dead bird is found on the doorstep, a postage stamp bizarrely pinned to its beak. Then, hours later, Flavia finds a man lying in the cucumber patch and watches him as he takes his dying breath.

For Flavia, who is both appalled and delighted, life begins in earnest when murder comes to Buckshaw. “I wish I could say I was afraid, but I wasn’t. Quite the contrary. This was by far the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life.”

I have to say, as I was first reading the book, I was pretty excited about it. As I got into it, though, I was bored and kind of hoping it would end soon. (Great way to motivate you to read it, huh?!) But once I finished the book and was able to see the book in its entirety, I actually enjoyed it. Or maybe just appreciated it a little more.

I found the main character (an 11 year old girl) a bit hard to take seriously. She had an astounding vocabulary which just wasn’t believable. I don’t know how I would have felt if the author had dumbed it down, but it was just hard to take her very seriously because it didn’t seem like things an 11 year would ever say; even a very intelligent one.

I don’t think I’ll be rushing out any time soon to read the other books in the series, but it was a cute twist on a mystery novel and a lighter read than some we have read for book club. I think a young teen would enjoy the book, though. They may not understand some of the vocabulary, but there wasn’t anything in it that a younger reading wouldn’t be able to handle.

So, this might not be for you, but if you know of a young reader looking for a fun read, this just may be for them!