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The Evil Wizard Smallbone
The Evil Wizard Smallbone | Delia Sherman
18 posts | 11 read | 30 to read
In a hilarious tale reminiscent of T. H. White, a lost boy finds himself an unlikely apprentice to the very old, vaguely evil, mostly just grumpy Wizard Smallbone. When twelve-year-old Nick runs away from his uncle s in the middle of a blizzard, he stumbles onto a very opinionated bookstore. He also meets its guardian, the self-proclaimed Evil Wizard Smallbone, who calls Nick his apprentice and won t let him leave, but won t teach him magic, either. It s a good thing the bookstore takes Nick s magical education in hand, because Smallbone s nemesis the Evil Wizard Fidelou and his pack of shape-shifting bikers are howling at the borders. Smallbone might call himself evil, but compared to Fidelou, he s practically a puppy. And he can t handle Fidelou alone. Wildly funny and cozily heartfelt, Delia Sherman s latest is an eccentric fantasy adventure featuring dueling wizards, enchanted animals, and one stray boy with a surprising knack for magic."
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RosePressedPages
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Mehso-so

The writing style reminded me of The Girl Who Drank the Moon. I liked the main character, but almost everyone else fell flat for me. I couldn‘t bring myself to care about the Smallcove villagers, and their audio narrations were annoying. I really didn‘t appreciate how the other apprentice‘s storylines were handled either. Overall a good winter read, but a little bit of a letdown.

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Briary
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I'm currently in the middle of .. many new books, but since my brain is all tired and worn, all I wanna read are old favorites. So here we are. Again.

I found this lil gem by accident 2016 and have reread it every year. I love the bookshop, the animals, the weird undercurrents. 👾📚

9 likes3 stack adds
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Autumnscribe
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Pickpick

This book was well written, well paced, and had just the right amount of humor and action. (Plus the main character‘s best friend is a magical bookstore.) I cannot wait to give it to the kids to read.

9 likes1 stack add
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Autumnscribe
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I bought this on a whim at my youngest‘s school book fair and started reading it this morning... my expectations weren‘t high... but man... so far at about 1/3 in it is really quite excellent. It is well paced, interesting, funny and even believable. I can‘t wait to hand it over to the kids, they are going to love it!

12 likes1 stack add
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toofondofbooks
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Pickpick

Cute middle grade read with a wizard's duel obviously inspired by T.H. White.

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fiercelyhannah
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Pickpick

Synopsis: All Nick wants is a place to shelter from the blizzard that he gets caught in. He ends up at Evil Wizard Books run my the 300 year old wizard Smallbone.. who won‘t let him leave
Review: I really enjoyed this book! The characters were very well written and I loved how the bookshop itself was a character (a very bossy one) Overall this book had an interesting plot and it had amazing characters (including a very angry cat named Hell Cat)

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thegirlwiththelibrarybag
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Pickpick

This was unexpectedly lovely, it never moves at a great pace but I found the pay off worth while. It reminds me somewhat of the magic that Diana Wynne Jones books weaves over me. Really excellent ending and ridiculously photogenic cover 😍

elkeOriginal You said the magic words: DWJ! I have this, now need to move it up the TBR! 7y
thegirlwiththelibrarybag They are indeed magic words! @elkeo 7y
57 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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thegirlwiththelibrarybag
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I've been reading when I should have been packing...

Starting to feel slightly nervous about tomorrow 😅✈️

LeeRHarry Where are you off to? 7y
thegirlwiththelibrarybag @LeeRHarry, mostly the U.K. with a little time in Paris ☺️ 7y
LeeRHarry That's fantastic - have a brilliant time and safe travels! 😊 7y
See All 15 Comments
scripturient Safe travels! If you happen to be in Scotland between 19 and 22 Aug, let me know. I'm at the book festival at that time. :) 7y
kezzlou85 Ooh have fun. The weather is beautiful in England at the moment x 7y
thegirlwiththelibrarybag @kezzlou85, thank you! It'll be nice to be warm again! 7y
thegirlwiththelibrarybag @scripturient, no plans for Scotland, but if anything changes - I'll let you know 😊 7y
thegirlwiththelibrarybag @LeeRHarry, i plan to! 😊 (edited) 7y
Bibliogeekery I've been reading this one with my niece! What do you think of it? 7y
thegirlwiththelibrarybag @Bibliogeekery, it took awhile to get going but I loved it! 7y
kezzlou85 @thegirlwiththelibrarybag it's about 22 degrees today so hopefully the good weather will last. You picked the better week. It was horrible last week. Wet and even a bit chilly. X 7y
thegirlwiththelibrarybag @kezzlou85, rained buckets on the way to Oxford today but was mostly sunshine when I got there! 7y
kezzlou85 Yeah the weather has turned again. It's often this way here. You can never tell what it's going to do. Off to the dinosaur park with my girls tomorrow if the weather is good. Hope you had fun at Oxford though @thegirlwiththelibrarybag 7y
thegirlwiththelibrarybag @kezzlou85, I really did! Saw a dodo and trex skeleton in Oxford yesterday and went punting in Cambridge today - loved it! Hope the weather was dinosaur worthy! 7y
kezzlou85 @thegirlwiththelibrarybag sounds like you had a great day. Yep we had a great day there hunting down the t-rex 7y
63 likes15 comments
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thegirlwiththelibrarybag
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Nick didn't believe in wizards, evil or otherwise.
Not in the real world and certainly not in Maine.

Kalalalatja Awesome cover! 😍 7y
Gissy Yeah, beautiful cover! 7y
71 likes5 stack adds2 comments
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Bibliogeekery
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Starting this one on the drive up to cottage country with my niece #longweekend

70 likes2 stack adds
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thegirlwiththelibrarybag
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How amazing is this cover!!!

Do I have to go to work today?

BethM Those squirrel sheets :) 7y
thegirlwiththelibrarybag @BethM, thanks, picked them out myself 😏😂 7y
elkeOriginal I have been tempted by this cover already! You are eating away at my self control! 7y
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thegirlwiththelibrarybag @elkeo, do it DO IT doooooooo ittttttt 😂 we could buddy read it? 7y
elkeOriginal 🤣😂🤣Your pleas are hard to resist - Deal! I will pick it up this Saturday and then we can buddy read! 7y
thegirlwiththelibrarybag @elkeo 🎉 🎉🎉🎉🎉 7y
74 likes5 stack adds6 comments
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thegirlwiththelibrarybag
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While I was waiting for the Ariana Grande presale to start (needlessly as it turns out as little sister was so excited that she beat me to it 🙄) a box from the book depository arrived (so being at home and swapping onto the late shift has still been beneficial for me)

BookFreakOut Those all look great, just stacked several of them! 😁 7y
thegirlwiththelibrarybag @BookFreakOut, yeah! Book Depository has me figured out - all but one where impulse buys... 7y
Reviewsbylola Great haul! 7y
67 likes3 comments
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RivendellMom

Hey Littens! Does this get better? We are in chapter 2 and just not feeling it.

brandymuses I loved it, but it's a lot like Diana Wynne Jones books. I recognize that's not everyone's cup of tea. 7y
RivendellMom I haven't read anything by her. I think I'm going to read it myself and then go back to it if I like it as a read aloud. Usually I pre-read before reading aloud. 7y
6 likes2 comments
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RivendellMom
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Got a boatload of new books! It's hard to decide which one to start first. My expectations were completely met including a B&N gift card.

saresmoore Yay! Merry Christmas! 7y
Betty A local friend and I were texting back and forth this afternoon -- both of us feeling meh for different reasons. I said "problem with Christmas is expectations." So when I saw your bag, had to send photo to her! ?on target 7y
RivendellMom @Betty Totally agree. I didn't expect much and this was not disappointed 7y
9 likes3 comments
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bookishnerd
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Pickpick

I finished this book this morning. I can't even remember where I heard of it, but it basically is just a fun fantasy that plays with magic and classic fantasy novels. The blurb mentions T.H. Whyte. I actually was thinking it reminded me of The Sword in the Stone. (That's the name of the Disney movie, right?) I had a lot of fun with it. I really should read more from the author in general because always like her stuff. #dogsoflitsy #catsoflitsy

46 likes1 stack add
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bookishnerd
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Sparkpuppypup 😻❤️😻 7y
MMenefee Cute kitty! 7y
Eyelit 💜🐱💜 7y
59 likes2 stack adds3 comments
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frumious
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Pickpick

A good book to set the mood during a raging snow storm. Elegantly written and with a solid plot and characters. Major criticism lays in general lack of diversity, even in gender. Female characters are present but aren't given an equal footing, and the term "Evil Wizard" is bandied about without real explanation, which makes it a little void of meaning. Still a very recommendable book.

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quietjenn
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It's early yet, but really enjoying this fantasy for kids thus far.

11 likes1 stack add