#NetGalley Book Review: Chicken Talk Around the World by Carole Lexa Schaefer

This is a lovely little book.
Chicken Talk Around the World
by Carole Lexa Schaefer
Pierr Morgan (Illustrations)

Publisher : Little Bigfoot; Illustrated edition (March 16, 2021)
Language : English
Hardcover : 32 pages
ISBN-10 : 1632172917
Reading age : 4 - 8 years
Grade level : Preschool - 3
Genre: Children's, Farm Animals, Multinational
My Rating: 4.75 of 5.0.

Explore world languages and different cultures as we see--and hear--grandmothers' chickens in the United States, Mexico, Kenya, Japan, India, and France, in this delightful book that introduces children to cultural diversity.
Kid-friendly text full of onomatopoeia and simple international vocabulary makes Chicken Talk Around the World a great read-aloud. Bright, charming illustrations show multigenerational families and chickens in different environments, celebrating cultural diversity; as well as universal elements, such as the special relationships grandmothers have with their grandchildren no matter where they live in the world.

Review:
This charming book shares grandmothers and chickens in at least six countries and languages. It is a lovely book to share with children as you show them how different cultures have much in common even as you share the differences in language, settings, chicken feed and types of chicken.

It is an easy read with bright, engaging illustrations. I would be glad to get this for my grandchildren!

Source: NetGalley 2020. This qualifies for 2021TBR and 2021NetGalley goals.

#NetGalley Book Review: Time of the Rose by Bonita Clifton

This is a traditional (originally written in 1994) romance with suspense and time travel complications.

Time of the Rose
by Bonita Clifton

ASIN : B08MBFY4GV
Publication date : December 12, 2020
File size : 2711 KB
Print length : 401 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance, Sci Fi & Fantasy, Time Travel
My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0.

This is the 2nd Edition of the compelling and beloved classic Time of the Rose, award-winning Holt Medallion finalist (Virginia RWA), dusted off, reimagined, with new material and *Bonus Epilogue, guaranteed to leave your head spinning! Prepare to feel good, laugh and fall in love...
A notorious gunslinger with a vendetta and an attitude. A divorced travel agent determined to heal. An extraordinary rose. 1878 and present-day are about to collide…
Colton Chase searches for the monster that murdered his parents. It’s been ten years and every day that passes only fuels his grit. When he plucks a single rare rose, a wicked thunderstorm catches him in its wrath, and after the clouds clear, his entire world has changed. Madison Calloway is on a business trip to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, when she quite literally stumbles into the biggest horse she’s ever seen. The rugged old man leading the animal looks like he stepped out of a historical Wild West catalog. Her love of antiques is piqued, and she strikes up a conversation.
He claims he’s from 1878 and she feels bad for him; clearly, he suffers from dementia. But there’s an uneasy undertone—everything from his clothes to his strange turns of phrase back up his story. So when another storm brews and he tells her he’s going back, she follows. The two find themselves in 1878 and the old man is gone—in his place a strapping young man, handsome, fascinating, and irresistible.
Can Madison adjust to life more than a century in the past, leaving behind the world she knows? Or will she return home and forever lose the man she’s falling for? Her biggest fears are realized when she’s abducted by Colt’s fierce enemy, and if she survives, this event may well send her running home for good.

Review:
Colton Chase is a gunslinger on a ten year vendetta to find and kill the man who murdered his parents. Recent cattle rustling brings Colton home to the family ranch that is being managed by his angry, dilatory, younger brother. Colton needs some down time to regroup. He rides to a favorite spot where he picks an unusual rose. He is caught in a wild storm and when he and his horse ride out of the mist, he discovers a new town that he didn’t know existed… because it didn’t in his time.

Madison is a twenty first century career woman who has invested her energy in her travel agency since her divorce from her cheating husband. She and her staff are visiting Jackson Hole, Wyoming for business. She is startled when she steps in front of a large horse and looks up into the eyes of an elderly cowboy who appears to be straight out of the historical west. The two are drawn to each other and Colton convinces Madison to spend a day out with him. She begins to see a young, rugged handsome cowboy rather than an elderly character. Colton is confused by his circumstances, but Madison fears he is suffering from dementia since he claims to be from 1878.

Colton is set on returning to his time and never expected Madison to accidentally follow him. Once she is there, Colton is ready to claim her as his wife. Madison isn’t so quick to commit to a backward time and she is still reluctant to let a man have any control in her life. Colton agrees to help Madison return to her time but first he has to follow a hot clue for his vengeance. Madison fears for his safety but in trying to help she gets captured. Can Colton save her and if he does will she agree to stay or still want to return to her own time, leaving him behind?

The time travel romance hit all the right genre buttons: Historical Fiction, Romance, Sci Fi & Fantasy. It is a romance with nice historical detail, a believable time travel trigger and well developed characters. I call this a ‘traditional’ romance as it contains some of the cliché’ description of the sexual encounters that I associate with romance from the 1990s. It was awkward to me, but it was still a nice story and easy read. I recommend this to fans of time travel romance who wouldn’t mind the older language and sexual descriptions.

Source: NetGalley 2020. This qualifies for 2021TBR, 2021NetGalley and 2021Alphabet goals.

#NetGalley Book Review: LOVE by Corrinne Averiss

This has a very good message that is sweetly delivered.

LOVE
by Corrinne Averiss

ASIN : B08NCN6LJD
Publisher : words & pictures; Illustrated edition (January 19, 2021)
File size : 10598 KB
Print Length : 32 pages
Children Age : 4-6 Years
Genre: Children, Educational, Emotions
My Rating: 5.0 of 5.0.

Funny, emotional, and uplifting picture book about separation and love, to help children understand their emotions.
Everyone loves everyone in Tess’s house, but when Tess has to leave for school for the very first time, she is worried that her family’s love might not stretch that far. Mom explains that love is like a string, it connects people together even when they are far away. At school Tess notices that all the children have strings! Some are new, some are old, some stretch a long way, and some even stretch right up into the sky. But what happens when a string breaks?
Love is the third in a trio of feel-good picture books from author Corrinne Averiss (Joy (2018), Hope (2019)) - a pure delight from start to finish. A wonderful story that subtly tackles difficult topics of death, grief, separation, and overcoming anxiety.

Review:
Tess is blessed to have a warm and lovely family consisting of mother, father, daughter and son. The time comes for Tess to go to school and she is concerned about leaving her family. Her mother explains that love is a string, connecting people even when they are far away. Tess’s teacher encourages her and reinforces the message. Tess sees other children with strings and one has a string that connects even an absent parent. But how will Tess react at the end of the day when the other children leave and her parents haven’t yet arrived?

This is a lovely picture book and an easy read for young children. The message is beautiful and perfect to share with children who will be experiencing time away from their parents whether for school or perhaps for deployment or medical reasons. The illustrations are clear and charming. I highly recommend this, and I would like to see Ms. Averiss’ previous books too.

Source: 2020 NetGalley. This qualifies for 2021TBR, 2021NetGalley and 2021Alphabet goals.

#NetGalley Book Review: Came A Horseman, A Hard Ride In A Fierce World by Paul McHugh

This mixes some philosophy with mystery and action in an interesting dystopian society.
Came A Horseman, A Hard Ride In A Fierce World
by Paul McHugh

ASIN : B08Q1VMH6G
Publisher : ElkHeart Books (December 20, 2020)
File size : 3689 KB; 261 pages
Genre: Dystopian, Mystery
My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0.

Ten years after Earth's electronics were fried by an immense solar flare, most human technology has turned useless and civilization has begun to fail. But one thriving pocket is a valley on California's coast, where farmers in a religious cult dwell. A tribe of local hunters protect them. But this arrangement gets upended when a young refugee, Kyle Skander, wrecks his kayak there as he seeks to paddle north to Arcata. Kyle finds himself accused of murdering a young woman from the commune. To win freedom, he must find the real killer. His combative personality and a background in logic and philosophy helps Kyle make headway at this task. His investigation begins to uncover the valley's deepest secrets. Then, buried rivalries erupt into a battle that alters forever this enclave's fate.
"Came A Horseman" re-imagines the Western as a post-apocalyptic adventure, with a murder mystery at the heart of its plot.

Review:
Kyle was a professor before technology crashed and society disintegrated into groups trying to survive. Kyle left his beloved wife in Arcata to travel south to rescue her father, Roy. Roy had become Kyle’s mentor in all things philosophy from the logic thinking of Socrates to the war strategies of Sun Tzu. Kyle will use these lessons through his adventure. After reaching Roy, Kyle sets out in a kayak to return home, hoping to avoid the land-based dangers. Instead, he crashes onshore during a storm.

He finds himself on a reclusive commune with several cooperative tribes. The main community consists of farmers in a religious cult. Above their town are the horse stables with a handful of stablemen. Then moving further up the mountain there is the rough tribe of hunter warriors and tree dwellers. When Kyle stumbles into the farmer town, he becomes the prime suspect of a recent murder. After the local Sayer decides that Kyle may not be the murderer, he is given the opportunity to prove his innocence by investigating the crime.

Initially, Kyle is met with skepticism, reluctance, and resentment. But he begins to win others over as he treats them with respect while showing bravery, commitment, and effective, successful techniques. Just as Kyle is prepared to expose the true murderer, a new danger arrives on the scene in the form of a convoy of men seeking to take over the commune.

I generally prefer to be entertained in an adventure rather than having to push my mind to thinking. However, this adventure combines a variety of characters and an interesting mystery while requiring concentration to find the way through the philosophical arguments and discussions of strategy. The full package is ultimately engaging. I recommend this to fans of dystopia and mystery with the understanding that it involves philosophical arguments.

Source: 2020 NetGalley. This qualifies for 2021TBR, 2021NetGalley and 2021Alphabet goals.

#NetGalley Book Review: The Pugly Duckling by Carla Siravo

This is very cute but has a major flaw.

The Pugly Duckling
by Carla Siravo
P. Santiago (Illustrator)

Publisher : Indigo River Pub (December 8, 2020)
Paperback : 36 pages
ISBN-13 : 978-1950906802
Reading age : 5 - 6 years
Genre: Animals, Children
My Rating: 3.25 of 5.0

Jean and Joe Duck were oh-so-surprised, When their duckling hatched, not quite the right size, With a curly-swirly tail and hairy-scary paws, And furry fat rolls and sharp beast claws. They loved their son, though he was ugly, Not quite a duckling, and a little bit pugly.

Review:
Jean and Joe Duck really want a child. They are thrilled when they finally have an egg to care for, even if it is a "ugly-wugly". And they are thrilled too when the egg hatches and produces their own pugly child. The problems come when the adorable pug tries to pretend to the other ducks that he is one of them. They are ready to accept him if he would stop pretending to be something he is not.

The story is a bit of a twist on the classic Ugly Duckling story. It is very cute and has wonderful rhyming that kids would surely like. I think the illustrations are adorable, like the cover. The story has a good message about being yourself and allowing others to accept you for the real you.

It was hard to give this only a 3.25 rating but I didn't feel right rounding up to 4.0. I wasn't thrilled with the repeated 'ugly" descriptions for the pug as that might give children the idea it is okay to call others "ugly" instead of finding kinder word choices. But the big flaw for me was that dogs don’t come from eggs. An adult understands this but it would have to be explained to children and, for me, that lessens the effectiveness of the story and message. Dressing up in a cute duck costume and trying to fit in with the ducks can be explained. But I think each parent/teacher who might share this book would have to think how they would address the egg issue.

Source: 2020 NetGalley. This qualifies for 2021TBR, 2021NetGalley and 2021Alphabet goals.

#NetGalley Audio Book Review: The Salvage Crew by Yudhanjaya Wijeratne

This went to an unusual, interesting conclusion.

The Salvage Crew
by Yudhanjaya Wijeratne
Narrated by Nathan Fillion

Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
Release date: 10-27-20
Publisher: Podium Audio
Genre: Humorous Sci Fi
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.25; Narration 4.25.

Publisher's Summary
Award-winning actor Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Castle, The Rookie) brings to life a snarky artificial intelligence you won't soon forget. Don't miss his hilarious performance in a story perfectly crafted for sci-fi fans of The Martian, Red Dwarf, and We Are Legion (We Are Bob).
They thought this was just another salvage job. They thought wrong.
An AI overseer and a human crew arrive on a distant planet to salvage an ancient UN starship. The overseer is unhappy. The crew, well, they're certainly no A-team. Not even a C-team on the best of days. And worse? Urmahon Beta, the planet, is at the ass-end of nowhere. Everybody expects this to be a long, ugly, and thankless job.
Then it all goes disastrously wrong. What they thought was an uninhabited backwater turns out to be anything but empty. Megafauna roam the land, a rival crew with some terrifyingly high-powered gear haunts the dig site, and a secret that will change humanity forever is waiting in the darkness. Stuck on this unmapped, hostile planet, lacking resources, and with tech built by the cheapest bidder, the salvage crew must engineer their way to payday...and beat Urmahon Beta before it kills them all.
©2020 Yudhanjaya Wijeratne (P)2020 Podium Audio

Review:
The AI Overseer began work with PCS, Planetary Crusade Services, as a human, becoming a super-soldier and then ultimately agreeing to become a ‘digitized’ human… or an AI. Now “OC” (as dubbed by the crew), has been promoted as an AI Overseer who is to lead a mission to salvage an ancient UN starship on a distant planet. The AI was promised an “A” team crew but ended up with three humans who seem to be barely capable.

Simon, the geologist, turns out to be good with weapons, although a bit gun happy. Anna is apparently Fake Anna and maybe an Army doctor. Milo is the inventor who is supposed to be able to shoot - but it turns out - not so much.

The shuttle from the ship misses the landing pad and ends up 50 miles away from the first salvage site. The crew begins to set up their base, but the work is soon interrupted by the discovery of a Megabeast who feeds on multilegged ‘dogs’. These creatures are only part of the problem the crew has to face as they are soon confronted by a crazy, dark, decaying metal humanoid.

The salvage assignment stretches out as the crew runs into one problem after another and even the ship has gone missing. Soon it is just a struggle for survival.

The story is told primarily by the snarky AI, a technique which I enjoy, especially with this fun character. There is plenty of action and, surprisingly, a bit of poetry as AI tends to make up verse and occasionally quote classics such as “Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward, All in the valley of Death, Rode the six hundred”. The ending takes an unexpected twist which changes the nature of the story … but that can be fun in the ironic nature of sci fi. There is a good mix of suspense and humor which makes this an engaging story. I recommend this to sci fi fans who enjoy humor and an unexpected ending.

Audio Notes: I admit that I snagged this because of the narrator, Nathan Fillion, (Firefly, Castle, The Rookie). I think he captured the snarky character of the AI and delivered the other characters well too. I did have a few short times when the voice was almost too soft and I had to go back to relisten. Other than that, I totally enjoyed the audio experience and feel it enhanced the story for me.

Source: 2020 NetGalley. This qualifies for 2021TBR, 2021NetGalley, 2021Audiobook and 2021Alphabet goals.