Jonathan Auxier's The Night Gardener (Tuesday Intros & Teaser Tuesday)

It has been a long time.

It has been a long time since I've written a proper review (well, as proper as I ever get).

It has been a long time since a book has felt worthy enough than "oh it was great ... I'll slap five stars on Goodreads."

It has been a long time since I've read anything by Jonathan Auxier.

His Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes was amazing. The sequel,  Sophie Quire and the Last Storyguard even moreso. I have no idea why it took me so long to pick up The Night Gardener. 

For some reason I drifted away from my beloved middle-grade books. Sure. I'm about thirty years or more "too old" for them ... according to those who don't know any better. When I first read Peter Nimble I said that "A well-written book is a well-written book regardless of who it's written for."

Jonathan Auxier does a damn good job doing well-written books.

He also does a damn good job spooking the ever-loving bejeebers out of me. 

And making me cry a bit. 

And maybe more than a bit.

The Night Gardener is the story of two Irish orphans, Molly and her younger brother Kip. There's storytelling and magic and creepy old houses and creepier old people and so much love and so much creepiness that it ends up being the near perfect book to read when you're all curled up and cozy.

Safe under a blanket. 

With the lights on. 

When it's daylight. 

(Did I mention that it can get creepy?)

Now, I'm sure that Auxier and the publishers at Amulet Books know what they're doing when they slap thee ol' middle-grade ages on something but so far they seem to be just as suitable for middle-aged as middle-grade. After all, a well-written book is a well-written book.

"First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros" is from the first paragraph or two of a book being read now (or in the future) and is hosted by I'd Rather Be At The Beach.

"Teaser Tuesday" at The Purple Booker asks for a random line or two from anywhere in the book currently being read.

Jonathan Auxier's Sophie Quire and the Last Storyguard

My first official read of 2015 was Jonathan Auxier's amazing Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes so when I saw that the follow-up, Sophie Quire and the Last Storyguard, was available to request on NetGalley I was fully prepared to beg for a chance to read it early.

I shouldn't have asked for it.

Oh .... don't get me wrong .... it's not that I shouldn't have asked for it because it's BAD. My problem is exactly the opposite! I shouldn't have asked for it because I can't stand not having the actual real beautiful book in my hands to read. eBooks are great and definitely serve their purpose in the world and make reading while walking/falling asleep/pretending to work/riding on poorly lit public transportation/etc. a lot easier .... but ....

I've already hit the pre-order button for the hardcover (and, once my tax refund hits or the money fairy visits I'll be getting a hardcover of Peter Nimble to go with it ... which I fully figured was going to happen a year ago).

The book is being released on April 5th. I'm not sure how quickly it will get to me after that, but I may just have to call in sick to work so I can curl up with it.

The Book & The Tease

Sophie Quire and the Last Storyguard by Jonathan Auxier

The Meme

Jonathan Auxier's Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes

A well-written book is a well-written book regardless of who it's written for. It is exactly this reason why I have so many "middle-grade" books on my "Want-To-Read" shelf on GoodReads ... and exactly this reason why I chose Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes as my first official read of 2015 (and the "A" for my A to Z challenge).

Like an awful lot of books, lately, I first heard about Peter Nimble thanks to a GoodReads recommendation. They seem to know me well.

Peter Nimble is a ten-year old blind orphan who was raised horribly by a despicable man with a rotten temper and a rotten dog in a port town .... somewhere. Peter was raised to be a thief and has an incredible talent for it. Because of his blindness, all of his other senses work remarkably well and he can hear and smell like no one else.

One night he is out picking pockets in a crowd otherwise preoccupied with a man selling "magical" hats. Peter can smell riches. When he comes close to the man's wagon he smells something that he can't resist. Even though the wagon is covered in a variety of locks, once Peter is left alone with the wagon he is able to break in (I told you -- he has an incredible talent for thievery). He finds the smell coming from a small box which he takes off with and then the fun truly begins.

I really don't want to say too much about what the "fun" entails, but here's a brief tease:

• near-death experiences
• magical islands
• vanishing kingdoms
• more thieves
• more orphans
• talking birds, fish, apes, beetles, and this:

There's magic and science and science disguised as magic and goodness and evil and laughs and tears. 

It's a lengthy book (the paperback has 400 pages according to Amazon), but a pretty fast read since once I started I did very little else. I just HAD to know what was going to happen next! It's like Dickens heads to Narnia by passing through the Phantom Tollbooth and stops by A Swiftly Tilting Planet on the way.

You can read the first chapter at the book's website but you may want to hold off and just get the book. You might not want to stop after the first chapter is done. I have the ebook right now but have every intention of buying the physical book-book soon. In a year or so I fully expect that John will be reading it. Even though he's okay with ebooks, some books you just have to own "for real."

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