Macky Reads: The Very, Very Far North

The Very Very Far North is a series of short stories that revolve around the every day life of Duane the Polar Bear. He moves to the Very Very Far North, settles in and just starts making friends.  Reading this book felt like a return to being a young reader, when you feel awesome for attempting to…

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Of Shadows, Dreams & Flames | Shadow Magic Series Review + An Interview with Joshua Khan

I don’t read nearly as much middle grade as Macky does, but I do (try to) listen when he puts a particular series on my radar - just like he did for the Shadow Magic trilogy. Shadow Magic , the first novel and the only one I’ll talk about in detail, introduces readers to two characters: Thorn and L…

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Macky Reads Twilight of the Elves

(Alexa's Note: If you haven't yet read the first book in this series, The Adventurers Guild , you may want to go over to check out Macky's review for it ! Otherwise, carry on.) Once again, the “me and my friends save the world” genre has done it for me. I cannot say enough how much I enjo…

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BookTube | What We Read S02E02

Ever since my channel shifted to become our channel (Macky & I, that is), it's been so much fun making videos to talk about books. Here's the third episode of the second "season" of What We Read, where Macky and I basically talk about all about whatever we've been reading…

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Macky's Middle Grade Round-up: Chilling with Wiley, Donut and Bob

Meet Wiley, the genius trapsmith behind the deadly traps that pepper the pathways of Carrion Tomb. He’s young, he’s super smart and though he believes he isn’t the best little hobgoblet specimen around, he is absolutely sure he has what it takes to keep all the machines and deadly creatures of Car…

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Macky Reads Red Right Hand + Black Goat Blues

I saw Levi Black for the first time in 2017 at BookNetFest on a writing panel. He was particularly inspiring in that he referenced that moment where most would-be writers are in the middle of reading a book and go, “I could write better than this.” I’m so glad he did. Otherwise, I would not have b…

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Topsea Turvy Time • Macky Reads A Friendly Town That's Almost Always By the Ocean!

A friendly town that’s almost always by the sea. At least, that’s what it says on the sign that greets you as you enter Topsea. That’s certainly the sign that greeted Davy and his mom as they came to this town to try to start a new life. And what do they find? School lockers located at the bottom …

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Macky Reads Charlie and Frog

Charlie Tickler’s parents don’t have time for him. They would rather rescue giant golden moles and send Charlie off the boarding school than spend time with him. While in Africa, Charlie stays with his aging and very silly grandparents... who don’t really have much time for him either. But everyth…

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Of Thorns, Flames and Houses of Shadow • Macky Reads Burning Magic

I had no idea what I was signing up when I said yes to doing this blog tour. All I saw was a manageable due date for a third book in a series that I had the time to catch up on. But for whatever reason (magic, perhaps?), my intuition said, "Macky, don’t wait on the library… just go and get th…

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Macky Reads Aldo and Futura

Every so often, Smith Publicity gives me a chance to review a couple of their books. As part of my bid to venture out of my comfort zone, broaden my horizons and just learn a thing or two by reading things I won’t normally read (but won’t drive me batty), I said yes to reviewing these books and I …

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