Both of these are books that I promised a review on a long time ago. Sadly, now that I am getting around to posting the review, I can’t find The Unruly Princess Anywhere. You can find The Hobson’s Choice on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
An Unruly Princess by Damaris West
4 stars
(Excerpt from Any Subject Publishers) The Unruly Princess is one of six stories in this collection which is aimed at children aged 4 to 12. All these charming tales have been written by a qualified and experienced Montessori teacher and they have a strong bias towards the natural world.
There are six stories in this book. I will break them all down for a review.
The Unruly Princess – A young princess was a big trouble maker. She wanted nothing to do with being a little girl. When her cousin comes to live with her family she starts to see how her behavior is not so acceptable.
The Best of the FD Lambert Collection – A young boy is given a six drawer cabinet cupboard with glass doors on it. He decides that this is the perfect thing to set up a collection of the many things that he has collected over the years.
Lucy’s Treat – Lucy woke to a rainy day. Thinking that they day has been ruined; she decides to stomp around in a fowl mood all day. When a special cabinet is made for her by her mom, things start looking up.
The Gift – Rebecca has lost something very valuable to her. Her parents didn’t share her view of the object. This sends Rebecca into running away and a depressed mood. Is there anything that can cheer her up?
The Talking Tree – A young boy stumbles upon a special tree that talks with him. But things are not easy for the tree as the winter starts to approach.
Alfred – Alfred is a frog that fancies a large mountain in gingham material. He speaks with the fairies to help him. But he doesn’t quite get the results he was hoping for with the fairy magic.
These are cute little stories that would be good to read to kids. They make you think about what is going on in them. It is full of things to make children think about with their behavior and such.
The one thing that bothered me about the stories is they seem to end before the end of the story. Or they are left open and not really finished. Beyond that, I thought he book was rather well done.
This is one that you will want to check out. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
The Hobson’s Choice and 15 Other Twist-In-The-Tale Short Stories by Clive West
4 stars
(Excerpt from Goodreads) This is a collection of stories whose endings you can try to predict, but you will almost always get it wrong. From the lottery-winner who inspires enmity in his neighbour, to the fraudulent fortune-teller discovering that she has a psychic gift after all, to the down-trodden schoolboy whose ‘daydreams’ reveal a crime which he then uses all his ingenuity to expose, a huge range of characters walk through these pages. Some of them are innocent; others, like the greedy property-developer, border on evil; but most of them are human with all the foibles and self-interest inherent in that condition.
To read these stories is to share in the author’s jaundiced view of the world – a world nonetheless illuminated by flashes of humour, pathos and warmth. You will be hugging yourself with glee at the ‘comeuppance’ doled out to some characters, and wishing you could dive into the story to give a timely warning to others. You will certainly be turning the pages rapidly to see what happens.
This is a collection of stories that is best described broken down.
A Good Education – Mornington, Moon, is attending school at Mercer’s School for Boys, a prestigious school. But he doesn’t fit in. Both when he hears a story about a young boy that drowned on the school, he can relate and has to speak up.
The Watcher – A man has found a great spot to watch the girls on a play ground. A couple of them have caught his attention, along with the guy whose apartment he is using to spy on the girls.
Moving Up – Jason finds a perfect suburb to buy all of the houses then turn them into big houses that people are demanding. The problem is the current owners don’t want to sell.
Hobson’s Choice – A family on vacation have a flat tire. Then their dog escapes. But the worse thing was the young daughter that followed the dog into the middle of freeway traffic. What are the options to rescue her?
Dear John – An aspiring writer is having trouble with a scene in her current book. She decides to enact it with her husband. But things don’t go as planned.
Every One a Winner – Eric was late to catch the bus to work. While wasting time for the next bus he purchases a couple lottery tickets. Forgetting about them he gets more than he asked for when they win the lottery.
Lucky Charm – Robert 3 is a clone. It is now the 24th century on Earth and people are not allowed to have kids or to live past the age of 50. But Robert 3 doesn’t want to die and comes up with a plan to keep alive.
The Racing Line – A famous race car driver is about to start a race when one of his pit crew start seeing strange people. Not thinking much of it the driver starts the race until he sees one of the people himself.
The Bench – A bench in the middle of a park has many visitors a day. It’s interesting how they all link up one way or another.
A Day at the Beach – A young couple spend time on the beach with their twin son and daughter. But things are not going to be as wonderful of a visit for some people.
The Return of the Centaurus – It has been many years since a spaceship was sent through a wormhole. But now that it is back, something is wrong with it. The computer is going to have to be restarted to figure out what happened to the crew.
Lost – Billy was playing an unsupervised game of hide and seek when he becomes lost in the woods.
An Enduring Smile – Margaret is an 82 year old widow. She spends her time in the beautiful garden by her house. It always brings a smile to her face to think about all the good things that have happened in that garden.
No Walk in the Park – A young lady is watching two kids for rich parents. But when an outing gets rained out, things go from bad to worse.
Seeing is Believing – Madame Voirtout is a fortune teller in the local fair. She has a hard customer that has other plans for her than just a simple reading.
Last Orders – Bo is 18 years old and a victim of his mother’s boyfriends. The latest one, Steve, has flat out told him it’s time to get a job and get out of the house. It’s strange when Steve helps Bo get a job in a bar, but it’s not going be as god of job as Bo thinks.
This is a nice little collection of short stories. My favorite is The Return of Centaurus. Creepy!!! I loved all of the little twists. You never knew what was going to happen next. This is a great little thriller story. Don’t miss reading this one.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
