I'm a bit behind due to jet lag and other post-vacation woes, but I definitely wanted to mention the Old School Middle Grade Roundtable I participated in last week over @ the Book Smugglers. Ana and Thea took one of their weekly Old School Wednesdays (happily inspired by our very own Retro Fridays) and made it a special edition post, inviting five bloggers to sit down and discuss their top five old school middle grade books. I was there, along with Heidi @ Bunbury in the Stacks, Charlotte @ Charlotte's Library, Liz @ A Chair, a Fireplace and a Tea Cozy, and Ana @ Things Mean a Lot. So basically the stellarest of stellar company. As Liz points out, no titles overlap! Which was completely unplanned and which makes the whole thing sort of that much more awesome. I went with two historicals, two contemporaries, and one high fantasy. Stop in and see which ones I chose and check out the whole fabulous list.
This book has made the rounds and no mistake. I started seeing early reviews awhile back and read a few delightful interviews with Leanna Renee Hieber and found myself intrigued to read her first novel-- The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker . I was, therefore, tickled to receive a copy for review from Ms. Hieber and quickly set about settling in. I knew it was a Gothic paranormal mystery of sorts, featuring (among other things) a group of loyal comrades, a private London academy, a bit of magic, an albino, and a swoon-worthy broody professor a la Richard Armitage in North & South . *moment of silence for the awesomeness of The Armitage* And that was the extent of my pre-reading knowledge. That and the fact that I loved the cover with its simple yet moody, midnight blue and its slightly off-kilter, scripty title. Miss Percy Parker is about to embark on an adventure, albeit a much larger one than she imagines. Leaving the convent--the only home she's ever known--a...
I saw it last week due to Charlotte - such an amazing list, with so many things I now need to read.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I jotted down several titles! It was lots of fun.
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