~The Memory Palace by Mira Bartok~

This second book I have read for Free Press Blog Press Tours is an emotional and eye opening read. It is Martok's memoir of her life growing up with a schizophrenic mother. Mira and her sister literally run away and change their names to hide from their mother. After a debilitating car accident, Mira's life changes. She struggles through a traumatic brain injury. The need to recontextualize her life, leads Mira and her sister to reconcile with their mother.  
Mira's story sheds light on mental illness. Its effect on others and the connection of mental illness and homelessness. Mira's artwork adds to the text of the book, along with her literary quotes. My favorite being her quote from Nicolaus Steno. "Beautiful is what we see. More beautiful is what we understand. Most beautiful is what we do not comprehend." This book is a must read!

~The Radleys by Matt Haig~

This book was given to me read as part of the Free Press Blog Tours. The book is about "Peter, Helen and their teenage children, Clara and Rowan, live in an English town. They are an everyday family, averagely dysfunctional, averagely content. But as their children have yet to find out, the Radleys have a devastating secret."

Even though I am not a vampire fan, I expected more from this book. The author Matt Haig was described as being "one of Britain's finest young novelists." Reviews of his other books were positive.
I can't say many positive things about this book. At first I thought this book was written for the young adult audience, because it started out with the teen-age characters Clara and Rowan and their problems with peers and school. It read like a typical young adult novel, until the author added profanity and sexual innuendos. Did he add these as shock factor? This addition turned me off to the book! I am really concerned that it will be added to a teen's reading list unknowingly!

The Radleys had too much going on with too many character narratives. Too many loose ends! I struggled to finish it. If there was a sequel would I read it? No! There is talk of a movie...would I see it? Again, No! I believe lovers of the Vampire Genre would agree with me...leave this off the reading list!

How Reading Rewires the Brain - ScienceNOW

Check out this interesting article about How Reading Rewires the Brain - ScienceNOW

Can Censoring a Children’s Book Remove Its Prejudices?

Found this article at Nine Kinds of Pie talking about changing story content to reduce prejudices. Philip Nel uses Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Dr. Dolittle in his article Can Censoring a Children's Book Remove It's Prejudices? What is your opinion on the concept of removing or changing content? After reading this article, what edition of the book would you read to your child or student?

Loved This Book!

When I was in elementary school, I used to check out the same book over and over from the County Library. The book was called The K House Mystery. At first I couldn't find information on this book and could not remember the author. After intensive searching I finally found information on this favorite book! I was surprised to find that this book is the second of two-part series. My desire is to track down and read both books as a series. The McCoy Memorial Library in Illinois describes both books follows: 

Seven Go to Eastcroft, [by] Grace Trobaugh Hay. Illustrated by Sherman C. Hoeflich. Philadelphia: David McKay Company; Washington Square, [1939.] 256p.

An enterprising family turns misfortune into personal gain in this novel of farm life on the Illinois prairie during the 1930s. Determined that her family will earn its own way while her husband is in a tuberculosis sanitarium, Lucille Easterly moves with her four children to the abandoned family farm near Kankakee so that their expensive city home can be rented. As she and the children learn the rudiments of farming by the trial and error method, Ellen, the eldest daughter is falling in love, John is deciding on his future vocation, and the twins are experiencing an entirely new way of life and enjoying themselves immensely. The story is too idyllic and the characters too sweet by today's standards, but the novel offers considerable insight into 1930s farm life as experienced and viewed by the urbanite.

The K-House Mystery, by Grace Trobaugh Hay. [New York.] David McKay Company, Inc., [1958.]156p.

The Easterly family, introduced by the author in her earlier novel, Seven Go to Eastcroft, is on the move again this time to DeKalb, Illinois. Hard pressed to find housing in the town, they rent a sprawling mansion, complete with blind stairways, hidden passages, and perhaps a ghost. Although the DeKalb and northern Illinois area background is well defined, the characters seem one-dimensional and the strained plot is highly unlikely.

Book Review Digest, 1959, p. 464.

I do believe it is time for me to see reread The K-House Mystery to see what interested me so long ago.