Easy good read. SJM does a really nice job of hooking you in for the last 100 pages. She never disappoints. Excited to see where this new story line goes

In this post-pandemic world, raising a resilient, active and engaged elementary schooler can be a little tough. The helpful paragraphs and short, easy-to-understand suggestions are reassuring and giving the reader guidelines to follow.

Finished, and it was not bad but the main characters didn’t feel real or well developed. Not the big ending to the series I was expecting.

As I have read it, the Scarlet Letter is a fictional story inspired by historical events with major themes of religion, guilt, and human morals. Hester Prynne is publicly shamed for having a child outside her marriage and is forced to wear a red garment on her clothes as a constant reminder of her shame and guilt. Her daughter, Pearl, also serves as a reminder of her crime and plays a supernatural role in the story. It is revealed that Hester’s husband is not dead, but now goes by Roger Chillingworth and chooses to hide his identity, now becoming the village doctor. Hester had her affair with the Young Minister Mr. Dimmesdale but she keeps this fact a secret from the public during the course of her punishment. Despite this, Mr. Dimmesdale suffers by becoming physically weak and holding a hand over his heart, which conceals a (physical or metaphorical) letter A mark on his skin: the same letter sewn into Hester’s garment. Over time, Roger Chillingworth figures out that Mr. Dimmesdale is the man behind the crime and he begins to enjoy watching him suffer, causing him to become evil and connected to the devil (the minister does not realize this until Hester tells him). As years, progress, Mr. Dimmesdale's health continues to decline; Roger Chillingworth, who originally moved in with the minister to watch his health, becomes consumed by revenge and only worsens his state. After meeting in the woods and telling Mr. Dimmesdale of his "enemy", Hester and Mr. Dimmesdale devise a plan to travel to Europe (but soon realize they will never be able to escape the devil personified in Roger Chillingworth). In the climax event of the story, the Election Proceedings, Mr. Dimmesdale becomes revitalized (due to his motivation to speak the truth and the promise that his suffering will soon be over) and delivers an electrifying Election Sermon. As soon as the minister finished his sermon, all the energy left his body and he began to die. Wanting to die entirely truthful, he calls Pearl and Hester onto the scaffold and finally admits his part in the sin and his remorse for deceiving everyone over 7 years. He also reveals a literal Scarlet Letter "A" on his chest. After making a few final remarks to Hester, Pearl, and the general public, Mr. Dimmesdale dies on the scaffold, causing the public to go into shock. Roger Chillingworth dies within the same year and leaves Hester and Pearl with estates in both Europe and the colonies, causing the family to gain great wealth. The story ends with Hester returning to her New England cottage to live out the end of her life (continuing to wear the scarlet letter) and suggests that Pearl is living a happy married life in Europe with a newborn child. Overall, I thought the story was interesting, unique, and a great example of symbolism. The text even refers to talismans throughout the text and I believe they are a major part of the story's depth. The scaffold and scarlet letter are the most prevalent physical talismans, but Roger Chillingworth and Pearl serve as physical symbols for morals and virtue. I also think there is symbolism in the usage of reflections and alter personalities, though I’m not sure if it reflects different realms or the evil and pure sides of humans. Pearl is a very special case in the story, serving as a symbol in a variety of ways. I interpreted her as being a supernatural being who sends messages from Heaven and the universe (like a bridge or messenger between the spiritual and living world). At the same time, she is a deeply natural/wild being, known for being one with the forest and utilizing the color green. There is symbolism in her name, Pearl, as it usually represents purity, despite Pearl consistently being described as a physical representation of the Scarlet Letter. With Mr. Dimmesdale's death, Pearl is described as finally developing empathy and no longer tormenting her mother as a "messenger of anguish". To me, this implies that Pearl knew more than she was letting on, was a spiritual being with a mission to communicate spiritual messages, and was only able to be a fully functional member of society (for the time standards) when both parents were truthful and present in her life. In a way, Pearl carried the central themes of the text.

I usually enjoy Reese's Book Club picks and The House in the Pines was an enjoyable book although not what I expected. The book is written in third person with the main protagonist being a young 25-year-old named, Maya. When she was eighteen, Maya dated a man named Frank and she seemed to lose significant periods of time when with him. A key event is when Maya's best friend, Aubrey, just died for no reason when having a conversation with Frank. Fast forward to 7 years later when Maya was 25 and saw a video on social media where the same Frank is in a booth at a diner in Maya's hometown of Pittsfield, MA, and the woman across from him also suddenly dies while just talking to Frank. While depicted as a thriller, the book is just about Frank's interesting ability (no spoiler alert). My favorite parts of the book dealt with Maya's Guatemalan background, her late father, and her visits to Guatemala City.

I liked Puff the Magic Dragon and thought it was very funny that even that little boy got too old. Puff got sad at the end when the boy left him.

This was a good book. My son and I really enjoyed it. We laughed and we thoroughly enjoyed reading it together.

I enjoy Riley savers writing style, so I always enjoy his books. Usually I prefer his books with more shocking twist and speechless endings, but this book didn’t give me it.

I liked the plot of it but it had very technical writing about how volcanos worked and so I didn’t understand a lot of what was happening. I enjoyed it but found it to be a dense read.

This was the final book in the trilogy. I enjoyed it, but not as much as the other two. I found this book to be a little more contrived than the other books in the series.