Amy | Lost in a Good Book

Fluffy McWhiskers Cuteness Explosion by Stephen W. Martin

07 Oct 2022 Leave a comment

by Amy in 5 Stars, The Picture Book Corner Tags: children's picture book, dan tavis, five stars, picture book, stephen w. martin

Published: 12 October 2021
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Illustrator: Dan Tavis
Pages: 40
Format: Picture Book
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ – 5 Stars

Meet Fluffy—an adorable kitten. So adorable, in fact, that anyone who sees her will spontaneously explode into balls of sparkles and fireworks. KABOOM! Poof.
Poor Fluffy doesn’t want anyone to get hurt, but everything she tries, even a bad haircut, just makes her cuter! So Fluffy runs away someplace no one can find her. Find out if there’s any hope for Fluffy in this funny and subversive story about self-acceptance and finding friendship in unlikely places.

This was instantly in my Top Five picture books of the year because this book is AMAZING. I laughed so much, I loved every page, I loved the words, the illustrations, the premise, the humour. I loved every single thing and I need other people to love this book.

Highlights begin before you even open the book. In lieu of author and illustrator it has ‘Explosions by’ and ‘Cuteness by’ which is FANTASTIC. Loved that. From there the greatness only went up.

It is filled with some dark humour, well as dark as a picture book can really go – animals and people do technically explode a lot in this book, but there are reasons, it is done in an adorable and hilarious way, and honestly it’s that wonderful absurd humour that makes this a brilliant book.

The illustrations are brilliant, Tavis captures the essence of Cuteness for Fluffy McWhiskers and with Martin’s blunt writing, the high logic of the situation and the lengths this poor burdened cat must go to it is the perfect combination to enhance the tone they’re aiming for.

I could reread this story multiple times and love it each time. This poor cat, who is doing the best she can, through no fault of her own, is trying to help people, to save their lives but nothing is working. I love Martin’s solution at the end and I love that there isn’t actually a solution either. It was the best way to end the story.

If you want something funny and clever, something kids will certainly love as there are many, many explosions on the page, this might be the book for you.

You can purchase Fluffy McWhiskers Cuteness Explosion via the following

QBD | Booktopia | Book Depository

Dymocks | Angus and Robinson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust

Agatha Raisin and the Busy Body (#21) by M. C. Beaton

06 Oct 2022 Leave a comment

by Amy in 3 Stars, Agatha Raisin, Audiobook, Mystery Tags: Audiobook, m. c. beaton, mystery, penelope keith, three stars

Published: 2010 (print)/14 Oct 2010 (audio)
Publisher: Constable & Robinson Ltd /Audible
Pages: 199/6 hrs and 15 mins
Narrator: Penelope Keith
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Cosy Mystery
★ ★ ★ – 3 Stars

Agatha Raisin has always been ambivalent about holiday cheer, but her cosy little village of Carsely has long prided itself on its Christmas festivities. But this year Mr. John Sunday, a self important officer with the Health and Safety Board, has ruled that the traditional tree on top of the church is a public menace; that lampposts are unsafe for hanging illuminations; that May Dimwoody’s homemade toys are dangerous for children.

Things have reached such a desperate pass that the Carsely Ladies’ Society joins forces with the ladies in the neighbouring village of Odley Cruesis to try to put a stop to Mr. Sunday’s meddling—only to find that someone has literally put a stop to him with a kitchen knife.

Agatha’s detective agency is on the case, but when a man has made as many enemies as John Sunday, it’s hard to know where to start.

We’ve had another Christmas (blink and you’ll miss it) and miraculously Agatha is still in her early fifties. I can’t remember which book it was but there was another one that had two Christmases in it and 21 books into this she is no longer in her early fifties no matter what weird time bubble they’re all living in.

I mentioned last time about things taking a long time, this takes place over the year and the fact people are still able to recall a murder so clearly and be as invested in it is a slight stretch, though I guess small town life people are quite nosey as has been shown through this series. Also over the course of the book quite a few more people end up murdered so that does keep the village interest high.

Agatha is still Agatha, I saw another review describe her has irascible which I absolutely love. It explains a lot about her and fits the myriad of moments where the second she gets inconvenienced or put out she turns to angry outbursts and starts insulting people or threatening to kill them. The stilted conversations reminds you again that Beaton can’t write a believable young adult conversation or stop herself from trying to mould them into the kinds of people she thinks they should be and their awkward dialogue reflects that.

The fact this takes place over a year is interesting because while the other stories weren’t exactly solved overnight, there were often only a few weeks of inaction, on occasion months; but this was a curious choice that made it less of a book about murder and more a snapshot of Carsely over a year that had a few murders in it which we move on from and reference ever now and again.

New characters are introduced and we see Toni trying to make something of her life with newcomer Simon but Agatha, who thinks she knows best, gets involved which was weird and incredible illogical but isn’t beyond what I expect of Agatha or Beaton at this point.

For all the faults in the writing and plot Keith does a superb job once again. Her narration is excellent and while listening to this kind of story tends to highlight the repetition and the jumping around of scenes it does make it more bearable.

You can purchase Agatha Raisin and the Busy Body via the following

QBD | Booktopia | Book Depository

Dymocks | Angus and Robinson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible

Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley

04 Oct 2022 Leave a comment

by Amy in 5 Stars, Young Adult Tags: cath crowley, five stars, loveozya, young adult

Published: 1st August 2010
Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia
Pages: 263
Format: Paperback
Genre: Young Adult
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ – 5 Stars

Lucy is in love with Shadow, a mysterious graffiti artist.

Ed thought he was in love with Lucy, until she broke his nose.

Dylan loves Daisy, but throwing eggs at her probably wasn’t the best way to show it.

Jazz and Leo are slowly encircling each other.

An intense and exhilarating 24 hours in the lives of four teenagers on the verge: of adulthood, of HSC, of finding out just who they are, and who they want to be.

Crowley has written a sweet and intriguing story of 24 hours of adventure and discovery and what I love about it is there’s established relationships so instalove isn’t a real issue given no one is professing love quite yet, but there are certainly connections and second chances.

Crowley captures the teenage friendship and interactions well, the story highlights that teens can have deep thoughts and dreams and ambitions. They aren’t just the outward persona they project to the world.

I liked the alternating points of view because it shows how the same experiences are seen through different eyes. I liked being in Ed and Lucy’s head and seeing their perspectives. The recapping on chapters was interesting. Often you’ll see with alternating voices the scene flips instantly but the small recap is repetitive but I didn’t mind because it brings a new perspective to the latest moment or event and then follows through with a new voice.

This story cemented my love for 24 hour stories. Stories and lives evolved and changed by a mere 24 hours can be so profound and powerful and Crowley does something phenomenal with this story in exploring the lives of these kids and their intricacies, passions and their friendships.

I would reread this in a heartbeat because it is short but powerful and getting to explore the city of Melbourne through the eyes of these characters again would be wonderful.

You can purchase Graffiti Moon via the following

QBD | Booktopia | Book Depository

Dymocks | Angus and Robinson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust

Dracula Daily

05 May 2022 1 Comment

by Amy in Classic, General Tags: bram stoker, classic, dracula, dracula daily

People, Devil, Vampire, Dracula, Halloween, Horns

I’m so annoyed at myself. I learnt about this weeks ago and planned to share it and then I completely got side-tracked and forgot about it. I was going to cut my losses but I am only a day or two late so I am charging ahead.

There is a fascinating project happening from Daily Dracula where the entirety of Bram Stoker’s Dracula will be sent to your inbox in snippets throughout the year coinciding with the time frame of the book. As the website states:

Bram Stoker’s Dracula is an epistolary novel – it’s made up of letters, diaries, telegrams, newspaper clippings – and every part of it has a date. The whole story happens between May 3 and November 10. So: Dracula Daily will post a newsletter each day that something happens to the characters, in the same timeline that it happens to them.

I think this is fascinating. You can read about the events in the story as it’s happening to the characters and because it’s in small segments and through various formats you can experience in a unique way. As I say, because I am late doing this, and not sending it around last week like I had hoped, you’ll miss the start in your inbox. However! You can catch up on the posts you’ve missed on the website archives, or read the beginning of the book and catch up before relying on those handy inbox arrivals to get your daily Dracula fix.

This is something that happened last year and the individual posts are available on the website so you can read them there, catch up any you miss in future and see how it went down last year. It might be a good place to start, not only because I am late in telling you about it, but you can see if the structure is something you’d want in comparison to having it in the book or another medium. The best part is because they’ll be coming to your inbox you can read each one as it comes or save up a few and do them in groups, read at your own pace.

Because of the way the story is written there won’t be an entry every day, and naturally they’ll vary in length, but if you’ve always wanted to read Dracula and felt daunted by the size of think it’s too intense, maybe this could be your way in.

There Goes the Bride (#20) by M. C. Beaton

27 Apr 2022 Leave a comment

by Amy in 2 Stars, Agatha Raisin, Audiobook Tags: Agatha Raisin, Audiobook, m. c. beaton, penelope keith, two stars

Published: 23rd September 2009 (print)/01 July 2012 (audio)
Publisher: Minotaur Books /Audible
Pages: 277/6 hrs and 18 mins
Narrator: Penelope Keith
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Cosy Mystery
★ ★ – 2 Stars

Agatha’s former husband James is engaged to be married to a beautiful, young woman and Agatha has been kindly invited to the wedding. To take her mind off this, Agatha decides she has fallen for Sylvan, a Frenchman she met at James’ engagement party. To distract her still further she decides upon a holiday and flies to Istanbul, where unfortunately she bumps into James and his fianc e not once but twice – convincing him she is stalking them.

So when the bride is murdered on her wedding day, naturally Agatha is Suspect Number One – but then matters are turned on their head when the dead bride’s mother engages Agatha to take on the case of her murdered daughter! And very soon Agatha’s own life is in danger while she tries to solve the mystery of the corpse bride while fighting off (halfheartedly) the advances of a very attractive and determined Frenchman!

I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this because even I can’t complain about the same things over and over again with this series. This plot was a mess. So many things happened, one after the other, sometimes on top of each other and you could barely adjust that one things had happened before it changed again.

The James/Agatha/new wife situation was a convoluted as you’d expect. Agatha is obsessing over James, falling in love with someone else, and trying to clear her name. Plus, no one seems to like anybody despite being in a relationship with them.

James is as horrible as ever, his self-centred misogynistic ways rear their head. Why Beaton is trying to bring back James only to have him leave time and time again is a mystery. It’s rehashing the same storylines of Agatha being in love, him being horrible, then leaving, her recovering only to have it cycle through again.

Beaton does reveal to us more about Agatha which gives us a bit of history on her life, and how she came to be how she is. There is a different side of Agatha that comes out every now and again, you see it sometimes when she is around Toni, around Charles. The vulnerable person who has a rough upbringing who is insecure and hurt, but that is often thrown against a shallow, abusive, selfish appearance that does make you less sympathetic to her plight.

In terms of audio Keith does a great job once again. Her narration is consistent and she does bring Agatha’s brashness to life, as well as the various other characters and their unique idiosyncrasies. With all the usual players involved we see regular characters in and out of the Cotswolds environment and the interactions with each other are always entertaining, even with the uninspiring writing.

The murder itself had intrigue, international crime and multiple bodies with uncertain connections but it also felt scattered. One saving grace is that sometimes cases take time. They span over weeks and months, there’s weeks where Agatha deals with other business with her agency – granted it’s summed up in one line as the same thing every time of finding lost pets and missing teenagers – but rarely is anything solved instantly which adds some reality, especially given the fewer resources. It also helps that characters are all too eager to give any information or access needed. The weak excuses and subterfuge always work, and even when found out people are still happy to oblige. It keeps the story rolling I suppose getting the answers you need without any real barriers.

The extra padding Beaton is adding to the stories recently never seems to fit. They are extra moments added in as weird side plots or scenes, and there’s multiple times you think the story is ending when it keeps going. By the time you get to the end of the book anything that happened at the beginning has no relevance. The murders have been solved, Agatha’s had multiple dates, done some local village good service, the agency has gone through an upheaval and she’s had a mini holiday. All of which sounds like it takes a lot of time but most of it is over in a chapter or less and the next random thing begins. Agatha and Charles had a moment together which I do always like because they are good together but on top of this weird mess of a book it didn’t really have an impact.

You can purchase There Goes the Bride via the following

QBD | Booktopia | Book Depository

Dymocks | Wordery | Angus and Robinson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible