Hi everyone, I hope your needs to travel across Europe has been sparked by the first post earlier this week. These few extra titles I found took me across Europe; climbing the Alps, walking on cobbled streets in the Italian countryside and racing across hidden places of London. Although I haven’t been to all of Europe over my travels, every time I read travel stories, I find myself transported there. Hope you enjoy these titles!!
Titles: Secrets of Shakespeare’s Grave, Tower of Five Orders
Author: Deron R. Hicks
Illustrated: Mark Edward Geyer
Genre: Fiction – contemporary
Publication details: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Boston; 2012 & 2013
What these books are about: Thirteen-year-old Colophon Letterford is on the hunt for clues to a mystery that is threatening her family. These two books have her teamed up with cousin Julian running across the literary locales of London and Oxford University. Time is running out, and she will need more than book-smarts to unearth secret passageways and to brave locked mausoleums by moonlight. Will she and Julian discover the link between her family and Shakespeare’s before it’s too late?
My review: This entertaining duo of stories have us readers following a pair of puzzle-solving detectives through London and Oxford. Filled with plenty of fast-paced action, suspense and humour, these books will transport you just behind Colly’s footsteps as she races to solve the mysteries surrounding her quest!! Loved the description of the unique British literary landscape in these books!! I truly enjoyed both stories and liked Deron Hicks’ style of writing. Hopefully he will complete the mystery one day!!
My rating: 4 ⭐
Title: The Girl, the Dog and the Writer in Rome | The Girl, the Dog and the Writer in Provence | The Girl, the Dog and the Writer in Lucerne
Author: Katrina Nannestad
Genre: Fiction – contemporary
Publication details: HarperCollins Children’s Books; Australia, 2017, 2018 & 2019
What these books are about: For the first ten years of Freja’s life, she and her mother Clementine, have roamed the Arctic in search of zoological wonders. Happy, content, together. In the first book we find Freja being sent away to live with Clementine’s old friend, Tobias, a best-selling crime writer and his dog Finnigan. Together they stumble into an Italian adventure and eventually find themselves touring Europe into Provence in the second book and Lucerne in the third book. Unsolved mysteries, humour and new friendships, fill the pages of this delightful new series by award-winning Australian author Katrina Nannestad.
My review: Oh to travel through Europe like Freja, on a sidecar of a roaring motorcycle!! These books were equally funny and heartwarming!! Every chapter had me either in fits of laughter or weeping! Katrina Nannestad’s descriptions of each region were amazing as I felt myself transported from the streets of Rome, to the lavish lavender fields of Provence and the snowy Alps in Lucerne. Some awesome characters in Freja, her mother Clementine, Tobias and Finnigan the dog. For me, young Freja’s character arc showed some amazing growth and I found myself falling in love with her!! A truly lovely series for lovers of heartfelt family stories through some amazing locations!!
My rating: 5 ⭐
Miss Mahee's Library of Reads 