The Running Bibliophile

Witch and Tell (Witch Way Librarian Mysteries, #7)  by Angela M. Sanders   opens with librarian Josie Way's magic being on the fritz. Josie is also in a bit of a funk since her boyfriend, Sam, ghosted her after she told him she's a witch. To top things off, Josie wakes up in the middle of the night to find a body in the atrium of the library, only to have it disappear again after calling the cops. Why is there such bad energy surrounding the town of Wilfred, and why do bad things keep happening? First and foremost, a big thank you goes out to NetGalley for approving my request for an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of this novel. I was thrilled to receive a digital copy for free in exchange for my honest review. Receiving an ARC always brightens my day!  To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect in this latest edition of the Witch Way Librarian Mysteries  series, but I wasn't let down in the least. Angela M. Sanders did a great job with providing plenty of twists and t...

Mary Downing Hahn is a children's author and a former librarian. She was born on December 9, 1937 in either Washington D.C. or College Park, Maryland to Kenneth Earnest Hahn and Anna Elisabeth Sherwood.   Before attending school, she was in the care of her grandmother, who terrified her with superstitious beliefs that mainly had to do with death. Hahn's grandmother is featured in many of her middle grade novels, including Daphne's Book , The Time of the Witch , The Doll in the Garden , Time for Andrew , The Old Willis Place , and All the Lovely Bad Ones . During the summer, she would play Mother May I  and Kick the Can  along with other games. She would also go into the woods, which were supposed to be off limits to her. Anyone else wonder if these excursions are the basis of Stepping on the Cracks ? During elementary school, Hahn was the class artist and enjoyed drawing picture books and disliked writing stories. It wasn't until her junior high days that she to plea...

The Old Willis Place, A Ghost Story Graphic Novel is written by Mary Downing Hahn and adapted by Scott Peterson, Meredith Laxton, and Sienna Haralson.  The story opens with siblings Diana and Georgie spying on the new caretaker and his daughter Lissa moving onto the property. Diana desperately wants to be friends with Lissa, but making friends might unleash evil spirits. I was absolutely excited to be approved and receive an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of this book for free in exchange for my honest opinion from NetGalley.  I first started reading books by Mary Downing Hahn in middle school and checked out every book by her that my school library had. The Old Willis Place was not available at my school, and my local bookstore didn't have it in stock.  So, this is the first time I've ever read this book. Right away, I knew that Diana and Georgie were ghosts. However, I'm not sure if I would have figured that out as a kid. I had a general idea of what would happ...

All The Lovely Bad Ones, A Graphic Novel by Mary Downing Hahn is a graphic novel adaption of the book of the same name.  Travis and Corey are spending the summer at their grandmother's inn.  The children love a good prank, but one of the pranks goes wrong when they awaken ghosts that wreak havoc at the inn.  Can Travis and Corey stop these ghosts? I'd like to thank NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for the Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of All The Lovely Bad Ones, A Graphic Novel by Mary Downing Hahn.  I loved this author growing up and hadn't read this particular book.  When I saw that this book was being turned into a graphic novel, I knew I had to read it.  I was ecstatic that my request to read it was approved. The storyline is an intriguing one and perfect to read around Halloween.  It's spooky, not scary.  It was engaging and held my interest.  Since I'm not the target audience, the story was a little young for me.  I'd r...

The Fear Street Prowler has every one on edge in Shadyside, especially Melissa, who wakes up screaming due to a tapping on her window. Strange things start happening to her like her new car veering into oncoming traffic, her presents being ripped open by an unknown entity, and something or someone trying to push Melissa out her bedroom window. Is it Melissa's imagination or the Fear Street Prowler. Find out in R.L. Stine's Haunted (Fear Street, #7) . The Fear Street book series by R.L. Stine was one of my favorite Young Adult Horror series when I was a tween and teen. I still had most of the books from them, so I decided to reread them, in the order they were published, as an adult to see if they still were as scary to me as they were back then. I didn't have a copy of Haunted , so I ordered a used copy through ThriftBooks.com. As an adult, this was a super easy read and only took a couple hours for me to finish. It was a creepy read that was perfect for a rainy night. Whe...

The Doll in the Garden, A Ghost Story by Mary Downing Hahn is a ghost story about ten year old Kristi and her mother moving into the upstairs apartment of Miss Cooper's house. Miss Cooper is an elderly woman who dislikes children and warns Kristi to stay out of the garden or there would be consequences. When a white cat that casts no shadow appears in the garden and a little girl crying could be heard coming from there, Kristi decides to investigate. I discovered Mary Downing Hahn's books at my middle school library and decided to check one of them out when I couldn't find any books I wanted to read. The Doll in the Garden was one of the first books I read by Mary Downing Hahn and contributed to my love of reading books in the horror, suspense, and thriller genres. In my quest to reread my way through my childhood, I decided it was time to find out if this story was as good as I remembered. Although I remembered the basic storyline of the book, I didn't recall all the...

While in middle school, I discovered a book by the name of The Time of the Witch written by Mary Downing Hahn. I immediately fell in love with that book and the author. After that, I checked out every book by her in my school library. One of the books I ended up checking out was Stepping on the Cracks (Gordy Smith, #1) . I didn't realize it then, but it was my first foray into reading historical fiction. Stepping on the Cracks (Gordy Smith, #1) written by Mary Downing Hahn follows best friends Elizabeth and Margaret as they enter the sixth grade while both of their brothers are off fighting the Nazi's in World War II. Both girls are extremely patriotic and support the war, but they are more worried about their own personal war with Gordy Smith, who is the class bully. When Elizabeth and Margaret decide to get even with Gordy and his best friends, Toad and Doug, the girls uncover a secret that the boys rather them not know. Even as an adult rereading Stepping on the Cr...

Whenever I shop at BJ’s Wholesale Club, I always make a point to stop by the book section. I can usually find something I’ve been wanting to read at a great discount compared to other stores. This time, though, I was disappointed to see the selection had shrunk from two tables down to just one. That said, I did have a nostalgic moment when I spotted The Girl in the Locked Room: A Ghost Story by Mary Downing Hahn. I first discovered her books in middle school and quickly fell in love with her storytelling, so seeing one of her titles on the table felt like a blast from the past. Naturally, I had to pick it up. While I’m not exactly the target audience for this book, I’d still give it four out of five stars. I was able to predict the outcome fairly early on, but that didn’t take away too much from the experience. The story reminded me a bit of The Doll in the Garden: A Ghost Story , though it didn’t quite reach the same level of creepiness or suspense. Even so, it was well written ...

Wait Till Helen Comes: A Ghost Story by Mary Downing Hahn is about the summer twelve year old Molly, ten year old Michael, and their bratty seven year old stepsister Heather, along with their parents, move into a converted church in the city of Holwell, Maryland. Believing that Holwell is much safer than Baltimore because it is out in the country, Jean and Dave feel it is safe for their kids to play outside and explore their property without constant supervision. But when Heather befriends another little girl named Helen at the cemetery on their property, bad things start to happen. I first discovered Mary Downing Hahn in the sixth grade when my English class visited the school library to be shown around and to check out a library book. Feeling frustrated that they didn't have any of my go to authors, I began perusing the shelves and came across a book called Time of the Witch by Mary Downing Hahn. Intrigued by the synopsis, I checked the book out from the library, and I ...

The Time of the Witch by Mary Downing Hahn  opens with  Laura and her brother being sent to live with their aunt in the country because their parents are going through a divorce. Hoping to reunite her parents, Laura confides in Maude about her wish, unaware that doing so could have dangerous and unintended consequences. When I was a kid, I used to dread reading chapter books because I often found them boring and hard to get into. That all changed during the summer between 5th and 6th grade . Sweet Valley Twins  and The Baby-Sitters Club  sparked a love of reading that has stayed with me for years. Unfortunately, my middle school library didn’t have these series in stock, so I began exploring the shelves, hoping to find something else that would capture my interest. That’s when I stumbled across The Time of the Witch by Mary Downing Hahn.  The synopsis immediately caught my attention, and I decided to give it a try. I instantly fell in love with the stor...