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Written by Emma Engel

I had a childhood filled with books, and I remember nearly all of them. However, a few series stood out and withstood countless rereads that have continued through adulthood. One of these is Sam Campbell’s Living Forest Series. It was one of the Big Three (the others were Chronicles of Narnia and Swallows and Amazon) that greatly defined my childhood, and I have had great joy in introducing them to my children in turn.
Set largely in Northern Wisconsin with occasional canoe trips to Canada, the Sam Campbell books are the chronicles of his experiences living on a wildlife preserve.

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Written by Emma Engel

I know I said no reviews during NaNo – but I’m finding it hard not read when I’m done writing just to help step away from my characters and their shenanigans. As always, the fifty or so books on the to-read shelf are a mixed bag, but some have really stood out and required reviewing. A Christmas Home was definitely one of them. I really love animal stories but have tended to stick to non-fiction in the past. However, I’m starting to realize that some of the animal based stories coming from Christian authors are filling a real void for me as the stories are about creation from a Biblical viewpoint. I picked up Mr. Kincaid’s book expecting it to be one of those and found to my surprise while those elements were there, it was less about a dog and more about people.

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Written by Emma Engel

Once more, I’m rereading and re-rereading all of Seanan McGuire’s October Daye books, looking for all the subtle clues and, what seemed at the time, throwaway asides that should have told me what was coming in the sixth installment. Because once more, everything I thought I knew about the world and characters McGuire created just got blown to bits.
Rosemary and Rue opens with moody, Fae changeling October “Toby” Daye readjusting to living life in the human world after spending twelve years as a fish. She brings the skills she learned as P.I. in the mortal world across the border to Faerie as she searches for murders of one of the ruling Firstborn. Failure is not an option…Toby must solve the case or die.

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Written by Emma Engel

I just finished the first three novels of a fairly new series called Adventurers Wanted. I would have promptly set out on a quest to find the fourth book, but unfortunately, it won’t be out until next year.
This is the most refreshing fantasy series I’ve read in a long time. Somehow it manages to rip off both Tolkien and G.A. Henty at the same time in a completely endearing and honest fashion and simultaneously turns many a fantasy trope on its head. I started cringing on the first page when Alex reflects on his stepfather scolding him for something Alex’s stepbrother had done. I cringed even more when I realized that Alex’s mother had died after remarrying. “It’s going to be one of those books,” I thought. I was stunned when a few paragraphs later, Alex shrugged it off due to the stress his stepfather was going through and chalked it up to things like that happening in all families. That was only the beginning. Alex is the sort of main character it seems has been missing from YA books for a while. He makes mistakes and needs his friends and family to advise, encourage, and confront him at times, but he earnestly wants to be a good man and takes on his faults with determination. And for the most part, he is trustworthy, self-sacrificing, and generous.

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Written by Emma Engel

I wrestle with how to respond each time I’m asked if I read autobiographies. The answer is a resounding, “yes!” but I’ve found that what I consider to be an autobiography and what people are asking about are very different. I selected “biographies” as a section I was interested in on Goodreads. So far, I’ve managed to find three books there I’ve picked up, only one of which I’ve finished. When I go looking for Gladys Aylwards’ The Little Woman or Gene Kranz’s Failure is Not an Option, I find them in “history.” However, when the Leaky Cauldron posted a news article regarding Warwick Davis upcoming book, I found myself interested. Whether his name conjures pictures of a fuzzy warrior teddy, or a swashbuckling mouse, or a brilliant charms professor, Mr. Davis has graced the cast list of many blockbuster movie franchises. It took a while for me to find a copy this side of the pond, but I wanted to at least skim it for fun behind the scenes stories about making Return of the Jedi and Harry Potter. But my quick skim turned into a solid afternoon of reading as I fell under the spell of this charming book.