book club - mister owita + a snicker of magic

I've gotten a little behind with my book reviews, so I'm combining December and January's books into one post. For those who are just tuning in here at Our Fifth House, I'm involved in a blogger book club where we read one book a month, review them on our blogs and link to each other's reviews.

For me the best part of this book club is that we take turns selecting a book for the group to read. Often times the book selected is one I never would have picked on my own; such is the case with December's selection Mister Owita Guide's to Gardening, which was chosen by Kirby.

I've never really been drawn to memoirs, but I very much enjoyed this one. This is a story about an unlikely friendship between Carol Wall, a middle-aged white woman who is a breast cancer survivor, and Mr. Owita, a humble gardener who is an immigrant from Africa. I'm not going to lie, it was slow going at the start. It was so slow in fact that I thought about setting it down.........but there's something almost magical about Mr. Owita that I kept reading and I'm glad I did. In the end while the story is bittersweet there is peace and joy in the realness of life, and if you've ever worried about what tomorrow might bring I think you'll find this book's honesty comforting.

It was my turn to choose the book for January, and I thought it would be fun to start the year with something fun and lighthearted so I chose a children's book.

A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd is geared towards grade level 3-7, but really it's a book for anyone who still believes in magic. Twelve year old Felicity sees the world differently than most people. She's a "word collector " finding words above strangers heads, dripping down windows and tucked into church eves. Though she's been collecting words for years she had never seen the word "home" until she arrived in Midnight Gulch, a place that used to be magical and where a snicker of magic still remains.

This is a heartwarming story filled with whimsical imagery that will leave you grinning from ear to ear. While it might be geared towards children and while a child would most definitely enjoy reading this story, I'm not sure they'd fully grasp the metaphors which is where the real magic of the story lives. Home is about so much more than a place and realizing that is really quite magical. I can't wait to re-read this story with my 8 year old girl!

February's book was chosen by Cassie - I'm Having So Much Fun Here Without You by Courtney Maum. Feel free to read along with us!

Blogger Reviews of A Snicker of Magic: Cassie, Kirby, Katie

Blogger Reviews of Mister Owita: Kirby, Cassie, Katie