Book Review and Giveaway of The Case of the Tabloid Tattler!

Author Perry Elisabeth Kirkpatrick is having a blog tour for the release of her new book, The Kitten Files: The Case of the Tabloid Tattler. She has graciously allowed me read the book ahead of time and post a book review as part of her tour!

A cat that writes? Impossible! But not so in The Case of the Tabloid Tattler. Detective Keith is shocked to discover the stray cat he took in can carry a conversation on paper. Together, they form a plan on how to solve Keith's latest case in which a wealthy young woman's secrets are being sold to the public by a perpetrator.

I first offered to write a book review because I thought the story sounded like something I would've been excited about as a young kid. I wasn't mistaken.

The book is charming and cleverly twists you around as you try to figure out just who is spying on Mrs. Thornblood and exposing her private life. The wording is simple enough for a younger reader to understand, yet incorporates just enough mystery and suspense to keep you on your toes and does a wonderful job in setting up future books.

I also enjoyed the special insight into a cat's life; the author did a great job in not letting us forget the protagonist was a domesticated animal while still providing a personal voice.

I wouldn't want to give away any spoilers by adding more details, but this story is perfect for your curious and mischievous young readers and would also make an excellent candidate for story time.

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A Bit About the Author:

Perry is a Christian, homeschool graduate who has written and published "The Heavens Declare," "Light of the World," "Pearl's Practice," and "The Case of the Tabloid Tattler." She lives in beautiful Oregon with her best-friend-turned-husband and their sweet baby boys. Find her books and other writings and connect with her at: perryelisabeth.blogspot.com.

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The book releases on the 17th, but in the meantime the next blog tour stop is at http://ekaiserwritesablog.blogspot.com , where E. Kaiser will interview Perry about her writing process, AND http://noblenovels.weebly.com, where blogger Holly Ciampi will be bringing you a character interview with Mia, the cat.

Perry Elisabeth is also hosting a giveaway for a signed, free copy of her new book, a chance to help name the dog in Book 2, or a free e-book version! Enter below for a chance to win.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Review: The Death of King Arthur

Last year in the fall I had purchased The Death of King Arthur: A Retelling by Peter Ackroyd. In the book, Ackroyd takes Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur and turns the language into modern English. The book was on sale, so I snatched it up; I have a hard time understanding old King James language, so this sounded perfect to me. (Plus, after finishing the BBC series Merlin, I wanted to learn more about the real Arthurian legends.)

Unfortunately, I've been less than thrilled with this retelling.

First of all, I do want to say that the book has been a good, basic introduction to the Arthurian legends. I've learned some things that I'd never heard concerning the legends, and some of the ideas in the book have been quite thought-provoking.

However, the style in which this retelling is written, though meant to be understood in modern language, is extremely simple. As I was reading, I felt like I had picked up a middle school book. It just all seemed very odd to me for the reading to be so incredibly simple, but the subject matter not always for young children.

For my reading experience, it felt unnatural and plain. This book might be preferable to keep on the nightstand for late at night when you're too tired to do any serious reading; The Death of King Arthur is broken down into several books and sections for each little story, so it's easy to choose one or two 3-7 page stories to read and then set aside. This is what I'm going to do and move on to another book for the majority of my reading.

My rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Would I recommend this to a friend?: For a fairly light read or, as I mentioned, night time book, yes.

Have you ever read this book? What was your opinion?

Have you read the original Le Morte d'Arthur?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments!