PUBLISHED BY: A Skylark Book
PUBLISHED IN: 1996
ISBN: 0-553-54218-4
Pages: 99
Reviewed by Billy Burgess

Due to the success of the R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps series in the early 1990’s, other publishing houses tried to copy the format into their own series. The Graveyard School series came from that time.

The kids at Grove Hill call their school Graveyard School because there is a cemetery behind the playground. Several snowstorms have hit the small town. One playground afternoon, sixth-grader Kyle stumbled upon a strange glass eye near the cemetery. He had the idea of using it on his snowman. The other kids in his class were building snow statues, but Kyle was going to make a scary snowman.

Kyle’s snowman was tall - taller than the slides. He carved out a wicked grin for the face and used shark teeth. He found two strange branches and used them as arms. All of the kids were scared of it.

A strange thing happens. The student’s snow statues were destroyed, but one survived. Kyle’s snowman.

This is the first book in the series that I have ever read. It is a short book, but fun to read.

Jennifer from Crazy for Books has created this meme.

If you'd like to participate, here's Jennifer's instructions:


Every day I seem to find another book blog that I start following. In the spirit of the Friday Follow, I thought it would be cool to do a Book Blog Hop to give us all bookies a chance to connect and find new blogs that we may be missing out on! It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs that they may not know existed!


So, if you'd like to participate, just repost this on your blog, sign MckLinky and check out other blogs in MckLinky! Let's connect and make new book bloggy friends!! So, if you consider yourself a book blogger, come join the fun!

Question of the week: What do you consider the most important in a story: the plot or the characters?

My answer: If the plot doesn't interest me, I won't read it. Great characters in a well-plotted book is a wonderful treat.

PUBLISHED BY: Thomas Nelson
PUBLISHED IN: 2010
ISBN: 978-1-59554-714-9
Pages: 343
Reviewed by Billy Burgess

Charlie West wakes up in a terrorist torture chamber in book three of the Homelanders series. He has no memory of the previous year. He hopes to regain his memory by finding Agent Waterman, but Waterman only makes things worse.

Charlie finds out that he is wanted for murder and a team of ruthless terrorist is determined to stop him from finding out the truth.

I have not read the first two books in the series. It took me awhile to figure out what was going on. The book is aimed at a teen market, but the action sequences are written for adults. Many teen novels these days have a supernatural plot to them, I found The Truth of the Matter to be a bit of fresh air. There are plenty of mysterious twists and turns throughout the book to keep the reader’s interests. Overall, I enjoyed reading the book.

*I would like to thank Thomas Nelson for sending me this copy to review.

PUBLISHED BY: Bethany House
PUBLISHED IN: 2010
ISBN: 978-0-7642-0850-8
Pages: 318
Reviewed by Billy Burgess

In this contemporary fiction novel, Amy Gallagher has always wanted to be a writer. She is almost 30 years old and has just finished her first novel, but is still unpublished. In addition, she is unmarried, which bothers her mother.

Amy spends her days teaching and in her off time, she writes and dreams. She soon meets Eli and of course, falls in love with him. Amy decides to take a close look at her life and her aspirations.

I found it easy to like the main character Amy. I am also 29 and I am an aspiring writer. I found Amy’s life to be comical and real. I recommend reading Amy Inspired.

*I would like to thank Bethany House for sending me a copy to review.

At the end of WWII, Esther Lange, a single mother, wonders if her fiancé, Linus, is still alive. Esther had only met Linus briefly before becoming pregnant with his daughter. Before leaving for the war, Linus sent Ester to live with his family.

Jennifer from Crazy for Books has created this meme.

If you'd like to participate, here's Jennifer's instructions:


Every day I seem to find another book blog that I start following. In the spirit of the Friday Follow, I thought it would be cool to do a Book Blog Hop to give us all bookies a chance to connect and find new blogs that we may be missing out on! It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs that they may not know existed!


So, if you'd like to participate, just repost this on your blog, sign MckLinky and check out other blogs in MckLinky! Let's connect and make new book bloggy friends!! So, if you consider yourself a book blogger, come join the fun!

Question of the week: If you find a book that looks interesting but is part of a series, do you always start with the first title?

My answer: I would like to start with the first book, but there have been times where I start with book two or three.